Gift Voucher Pouch

Gift vouchers are always a popular gift, especially at Christmas. However, they are a little boring on their own. You can whip up a very quick and easy pouch for your gift cards using a Tag a Bag Gift Bag. Simply fold up the bottom of the bag, and wrap some Designer Series Paper around to hold it in place. This gives you 2 pockets - pop your gift card in one and a card or note in the other. Easy Peasy!


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Product List

Tin Of Tags Photopolymer Stamp Set [142180] $37.00	Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper [141981] $19.25	Tag Topper Scalloped Punch [133324] $38.00	Real Red 3/4" (1.9 Cm) Stitched Edge Ribbon [141984] $15.00
Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine [141983] $10.50	Punch Corner Project Life [135346] $14.00	Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock [121685] $14.00	Kraft Tag A Bag Gift Bags [138315] $6.25

Christmas Specialty Class

This week I am running my last official class for the year. It's earlier than usual, as I am trying to fit so many other things in - 2 team training days, our Team Christmas Party, several family birthdays, a trip to Melbourne for the OnStage Stampin' Up! event, and a week away with Amy to celebrate the end of her school years. Add to that all the general pre-Christmas goings-on and I'm exhausted just thinking about it!! It's all good fun though.
For our last class we are making some Special Christmas Gifts - a Shaker Card, Gift Voucher Holder and little 'tent' box. The Gift Voucher was inspired by one that the talented Claire Daly made.
I've used the 'Season of Cheer' Designer Series Paper on all 3 of these projects, along with the Cozy Christmas stamp set. I've also used the Lots of Labels framelits on all 3 projects too....can you spot it as the base of the snowglobe?

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All About Sugar Flower Pot

It's always fun to find new and different ways to use stamp sets. I shared this one at our team meeting last week. For our make-and-take we used “All About Sugar” – it’s a stamp set designed to work with the Fry Box Die (Annual Catalogue, page 61). Here, I’ve used it to make a card instead. The Striped pattern becomes a pot, to hold a bunch of flowers. I've used a blade to cut a slit in the top of the 'pot', so the flower piece can slide in and out. You could also attach a gift card to the back of the flowers, making your card a present too!

I’ve used the Pretty Petals 6” x 6” Stack to decorate my card. To make this card, you only need half a piece from the stack (3” x 6”). The co-ordinating colours are Calypso Coral, Very Vanilla and Old Olive.


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Launch Party Thank you Gifts

All of the guests at my Launch Party took home a goody bag, and one of the items inside was this little treat holder:

I was inspired by a swap I received at Convention from Janette Clark. I thought it was so clever how she used a Medium Crumb Cake envelope, folded in half. A tasty chockie treat (from Aldi) fits perfectly in the open half, and a little metallic clothespin holds it closed:

I used the new "Moonlight" paper stack for my colour scheme (I did half Lost Lagoon and half Blackberry Bliss). Love these papers!


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Hello There Wood-Mount Stamp Set

$21.00

Moonlight Designer Series Paper Stack

$11.95

Crumb Cake Medium Envelopes

$10.95

Mini Metallic Clothespins

$6.95

Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

$29.95

1-3/4" Circle Punch

$29.95

1-3/8" Circle Punch

$27.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

One Stop Shop

I made a start on some Christmas shopping on Saturday. As I sat in the LONG queues to enter the car park I started to regret my decision. Parramatta Westfield is not a happy place to be on a rainy Saturday!)
Here's a good way to avoid the queues - buy a Stampin' Up! Gift Voucher! Here are some that I made recently using Blueberry Crisp Paper and Razzle Dazzle Stamp set:

And some Christmas themed ones using Jolly Holiday Paper and Sparkly and Bright Stamp Set:

Just email me and I can pop one in the mail to you, or your desired recipient, no car park queuing required!

Now, if only my Dad, hubby, Father-in-Law, etc were going to be happy with one of these for Christmas... I might have to slip a Bunnings voucher in there instead!

Gift Certificates

I love making pretty gift certificate wallets. This is an example of one of my birthday ones, and soon I'll get cracking on making a Christmassy version...I'm thinking Holiday Harmony paper and Pomegranate Satin ribbon may make an appearance on them!
If you would like to get your hands on one of these, just give your loved ones my email address or phone number, and I'll do the rest.
We all know the Silly Season is just around the corner, and we also know that our hubbies can sometimes take a while to get a hint, so you may have to start working on him now! A few strategically placed post-it notes should do the trick ;o)

On this gift wallet, I used Soft Sky cardstock and ribbon, along with Spring Silhouettes 12x12 paper. The embellishment has been made with a Pretties Kit flower, dyed using a dauber and Soft Sky Inkpad. I then layered circles in Soft Sky and Whisper White, and the centre circle has been stamped using the floral motif from 'Brocade Backgrounds', and finished off with a clear Rhinestone brad in the middle.

Strength in Numbers

Isn't it funny how a set of something is instantly more appealing than an individual item? Hang on, maybe that's why Stampin' Up! stamps are so popular?? ;o)
Just to show you what i mean....here's a card:

OK.... nice card?
But now, here's a set of cards. All the same, just a variation in colour:

Isn't it instantly more appealing? Let's go one step further (and you may have guessed where this is leading now!):

A set of 5 cards and envelopes and a matching card wallet to put them in. So, we've gone from one nice card to a perfect gift for Mother's Day!

These were really quick and simple to put together too. First take a piece of River Rock cardstock slightly smaller than a cardfront, and scallop the bottom edge (use the Corner Rounder with the guard removed). Sponge the scalloped edge with a sponge dauber and Chocolate Chip ink. Stamp the Baroque Motif swirl in Old Olive ink and then use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp it again, slightly below in River Rock ink. Stamp some small flowers in either Blue Bayou, Really Rust, Purely Pomegranate, Taken with Teal or Elegant Eggplant. Dot the centre with a Chocolate Chip marker. Stamp your desired sentiment in Chocolate Chip ink. Ink up the Floral motif in co-ordinating colour and use a Chocolate Chip marker to colour the outer ring of dots (because the marker is so dark, you can just colour over the coloured ink). Stamp on River rock cardstock, and cut out. Stamp a small flower in Chocolate Chip ink and cut out. Use the Crop-o-dile to set a brass eyelet in the centre of the Flower. Attach a piece of coloured cardstock behind the eyelet and fill the centre with Crystal Effects (I call it Cheat Bling ;o)

Here's what it looks like close-up:

You can find the instructions for making the wallet in THIS post.

Here's what the embellishment on the wallet looks like (Real Bling this time! A gorgeous Rhinestone brad):

Mother's Day Card Box Template

This is an idea that I tend to go back to again and again...especially around Mother's Day. This is a set of gift cards and matching wallet that I showed you at around this time last year, but this time, I thought I'd give you the actual directions for making the wallet! When I was looking for a suitable box to hold a set of cards for a gift, I could only find measurements for US cardstock, so I came up with my own. The great thing about this wallet is that it only needs 1 A4 sheet of paper, and it holds up to 6 standard cards and envelopes. I'm going to make a new set for the special Mums in my life, so stay tuned for that in the next day or so.
In the meantime, here are the instructions, so you can make your own!

You will need:
• one sheet A4 cardstock, stamped as desired (or decorate later)
• paper cutter with scoring blade in place (or bone scorer)
• sticky strip adhesive
• small piece of velcro or ribbon
• scissors

(All dimensions are in cm)
1. With your A4 cardstock in landscape orientation, score at 7, 8, 20 and 21 cm.
2. Now, with your cardstock in portrait orientation, score at 1.2, 2.2, 18.8 and 19.8 cm.
3. Fold along all score lines.
4. Cut out flaps as in picture.
5. Apply Sticky Strip to the edges of the smaller flap (this will form the bottom of your box), and a small piece to adhere the side tabs (see picture)
6. Adhere the two small tabs to the side flaps, then adhere the lower flap.
7. The larger flap is the top flap of this box. Use a small piece of velcro or secure some ribbon to use as a closure.

This is what your box should look like before you stick it all together. The Red lines are Sticky Strip (extra strong double-sided tape). The pencil lines are the score lines, where your folds should be. The dark black line that says "cut" is where the side tab is.

You can find the colours I've used in THIS post. Please email me with any questions!

All of the ingredients for making this project can be purchased from me :o)

What do you want for Christmas??

Wouldn't it be lovely to find one of these under the tree on Christmas morning? I've used Holiday Thyme papers to decorate a Gift Certificate wallet. There's also a sneak peak of some fabulous ribbon that you might be seeing more of very soon! Here's an inside view (you'll have to imagine it's filled out to the amount of say....ooooh $1000 should do it! ;0)

This is Christmas shopping made easy, and makes a perfect gift for anyone crafty (that's you!). The best thing about it is that you'll have some $$ to spend during Sale-a-Bration in January and February, when you can earn stamp sets for free for every $100 you spend!
Just get your loved ones to send me an email with Gift Certificate in the subject line, and I'll take care of the rest! Or do your own Christmas shopping right now, and get one for someone you love.

And here's how to make your own!

1. Cut your A4 sheet to 21 x 25.5 cm
2. In Landscape orientation, score at 8.5 and 18.5 cm
3. Fold along score lines and burnish the creases with a Bone Folder
4. Add Sticky Strip to the sides of the bottom flap
5. Adhere bottom flap and slip gift certificate inside
6. Decorate outside with stamps/patterned paper of your choice
7. Tie closed with ribbon or belly band

I'm Back!

If this looks familiar, then maybe you were one of the lucky people who had a chance to make one of these at the Papercrafts Festival on the weekend! It's a little Gift card wallet, and it opens up to hold one of those Gift voucher cards, or even a Scratchie, or some words of inspiration.

If you were there, I'd love to hear about what you thought of the Stampin' Up! stand, and answer any questions you may have about Stampin' Up! I can also subscribe you to my email newsletter, which has lots of tips and info about classes and the latest promotions. Just send an email to mail@marelletaylor.com

I hope you had as much fun at the Papercrafts Expo as I did!