This is a gift card holder I made to swap.  I used the Island Oasis DSP.  One of my pet peeves is wasting paper so I made this from a 6×6 piece with very little left over at all!  I had a bigger version too but it wasn’t as efficient.  I’ll post that one too though in case you prefer a larger size.  Anywho – here’s how you make this one. 

Start with a 6×6.

Cut it to 5×6.  Save the 1×6 for the inside pocket.

Fold the 5×6 in half so it’s now 3×2½.

From the open edge, measure in ½” and make a small mark.  Do both sides.  From that mark, cut a straight line down to folded edge corner.  This tapers the sides just a bit to be more purse shaped.

Open it up and adhere the strip you cut off earlier along the fold of one side.  This becomes the pocket to hold your gift card or business card so don’t glue it all the way – just the edges and a bit of the bottom edge.

Cut a Top Note with the Big Shot to be the purse flap.  Fold it in half and adhere half to the back of the side with the pocket.

Decorate the flap, add a little velcro closure and there you have it!  You could add ribbon handles if you wanted but it’s so small, I kind of like the way it looks like a clutch instead of a big bag purse.

Holler if you need better instruction or more pictures.  I’m happy to help!

Thanks for stopping by –

kirstin

Hi – Here is another version of the box, this time in a Valentine’s design.  I reconfigured the box portion to better fit on the scallop square pieces.  I like it better with a little more of the scallop visible and it is still plenty big.  I cut the square from Chocolate Chip and layered Very Vanilla and a piece of the Sending Love Specialty paper on top.  The heart and “u” are chipboard.  The “u” was just colored with a marker in Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa.  For the heart, I glued a piece of the DSP on top, cut it out and sanded the edges.  The pretty little brad is an epoxy brad from the current mini.  The box measures 3½” x 3½”  and is 2” tall.  I fit 30 Tootsie Rolls inside – in case you’re as visual as I am!

Hope you like it!  Holler if you have any questions and thanks for stopping by!

kirstin

Hi – Here’s a cute desktop organizer I made a bit ago with my dear friend Julie.  It’s made from 6 small pint sized paint cans.  You can get them at your local hardware store and since they are new, they are a breeze to cover and decorate!  I covered mine with Delicate Dots DSP on the outside and then slipped a different design inside the cans too.  Those on the inside are not adhered so they will be easy to change out anytime!  The cans are stuck together with the large glue dots and then the ribbons tied around help to stabilize the whole thing.  For size perspective you can see that I put my Stampin’ Write markers in one, paper snips in one, blender pens in one and even Snail in the top one.  It was truly easy to make and helps to organize those things you need all the time that are usually tucked away in a drawer – or in my case, spread out all over the room!!  It sits happily on top of my cubby shelf and looks pretty cute.  Hope you like it!  Holler if you have any questions.  Thanks for stopping by –

kirstin

Hi – Tonight’s card is a shabby chic Thank You card done in Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip and Kraft with touches of white.  The edges were all distressed with Chocolate Chip ink to give it a shabby look.   I cut the Chocolate Chip layer into the Top Note shape with the Big Shot die and then ran it through again with the mini polka dot embossing plate for some added texture.  The green DSP is non-SU, but I liked the design on it for the layout I had in mind.  The corduroy button holds the two ribbon loops in place behind the curly label punch.  I hope you like it!  Thanks for stopping by –

kirstin

Hi – Happy Friday!  Kids started school here on Wednesday and get to ease into things with a 3 day week followed by a long weekend – no sense rushing into things!  Here are two mini backpacks I made for the lovely secretaries at my son’s elementary school.  I filled them with candies and a large paperclip bookmark that matched the scallop circle on the front of each one.  The first one is Real Red and Basic Black.  I used a retired wheel that goes with Crayon Kids for the main background and then some striped DSP in black and grey from a Halloween pack.  The front flap is held closed with a velcro dot.  The top strap and the back straps (which you can’t see…) are black grosgrain ribbon.  The apple is from the Tart and Tangy stamp set.  The whole thing is about 5 inches tall!  I closed that small pouch in the front but you could leave it open and fit something cute and tiny in there.   The second one is  Old Olive  with the Summer Picnic DSP.  Also retired – can you tell I’m trying to use up some old things!!  More room for new things :0) that way!  For this one I used white twill for the handle and straps.  Same apple stamp.  One has a definite “school” look to it and the other is a bit “fresh” looking.  I love them both!  Hope you like them too!  Thanks for stopping by -  kirstin

Hi – I’ve been a bit scattered in posting lately so I’m trying to get my act together!  I’m experimenting with Live Writer to do my posts to see if I can move things around and edit a little more easily…so this is my trial run! Let’s hope it works – Today’s card features the owl from the Animal Stories stamp set. I have him sitting in the tree from the Season of Friendship stamp set above some grass I snipped out of Old Olive. Both the owl and the tree are cut out and popped up on the card. This was one of those cards where I got carried away adding details! :0)   The card colors are Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron and Whisper White.  The DSP is Tall Tales.  I punched the bottom edge of the Chocolate Chip layer with the scallop edge punch and then scooted it over and punched again half way through each scallop.  It gives it a more ragged edge which I thought worked better with the grass piece.  I did the same thing to the scallop circle but it was a bit trickier to do.  TIP: punch the scallop circle  once and then lightly adhere it to a scrap piece of cardstock. This becomes your handle to hold the scallop circle in place.  Then put it back in the punch, turning it upside down so you can see what you’re punching. Then line it up again and rotate just a tad so that you can punch the center of each scallop off.  Now you can peel away the scrap piece and you have a sunburst type shape!  The Rose Red buttons are threaded with skinny pieces of Old Olive cardstock.  It’s easy to do this if you first break the fibers up a bit by rolling the strip gently over a table edge.  I curled the ends around my paper piercer.  That’s it! Hope you like it!  Thanks for stopping by today – I’m off to get my act together! :0)

kirstin

Hi – I’m back to the land of stamping and updating my site after 18 wonderful days of vacation!  I was able to check my site but not really able to upload any pictures easily and I didn’t take any (gasp!) stamping supplies with me so nothing new to post.  But I’m back now.  I have a few of the flip top boxes to post that were made using my tutorial.  It’s fun to see how others put their own spin on it!  I’ll work on getting those posted as well.  Hope you have a super day -

kirstin

Hi – The tutorial for my flip top box is now ready!  It is 24 pages in length will lots of photos and step-by-step directions for making the boxes and embellishing it to match the one below.  I used the Tall Tales DSP and the Animal Stories stamp set from the new catalog that lauches today! 

Remember that dimensions for both size boxes are included in the tutorial.  The ones pictured here, here and here are all the larger size that will fit 12 cards and envelopes.  (more, if they are flat cards!)  I also have a version that is skinnier and holds 6-8 cards and envelopes.  It is made with two sheets of 8½x11 cardstock.   The sample in the tutorial of the smaller box is made from Pumpkin Pie cardstock and the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP.  I like to make measuring easy, so the directions will be easy to follow and you’ll be able to make lots and lots of them without getting bogged down in little tick marks on a ruler!   I know you’ll be happy with it!  To order, just click the “Buy Now” button below, and I will email you a link to download it.  I would love to see your versions of it! 

Thanks,

kirstin

Flip Top Boxes Tutorial – $4.95

Hi – Today’s cards are made with a few of those random things I seem to accumulate and set aside to use later.  Probably because they aren’t Stampin’ Up! and I try to stay pretty close to using just SU! I decided to  either use ‘em or lose ‘em – which in this case would mean chuckin’ them out or giving them away…but who would want one orange flower brad or a piece of ribbon or that one red flower I stamped ages ago and saved?!  So I made cards. :]  Hope you like them!  Thanks for stopping by -

kirstin

Hi - I must be in a Kiwi Kiss mood lately!  No matter what paper I start with, I always end up back with the Kiwi…  Today’s card is even Kiwi on top of Kiwi!

The background piece of DSP is from the Raspberry Tart series and the Top Note piece is from the Rockabilly series.  The “thank you” comes from the Garden Greetings stamp set.  The rest is pretty simple!  Thanks for stopping by -

kirstin