Sylvia's Simple Shots

Another terrific sunrise this week.

Dramatic, overcast with some sun.

We have had a lot of dreary overcast days since snow arrived which makes winter a little harder to take.

Sunny Alberta is missing so I just had to take a hint of sunshine when it arrived.

It was the first Sunday of Advent on Nov 30th.

The first candle of Advent is HOPE.  It symbolizes hope and the promises made by God especially the coming Messiah.

I need to read my Ann Voskamp book which provides information for preparing for Christmas during this Advent Season.

I had a chance to visit with a couple of my sisters, a brother in law and niece when my sister's grandson was playing in a minor hockey game in a town about an hour away.

I dressed up to sit in a cold arena and watched the last period of the game and his team won!

There were a couple of  options for lunch so we headed to the pub for lunch.

The food was very good and I shared Butter Chicken with a sister.

I was able to get home before the sun went down which I was very happy about.

We had a good visit - Christmas, trips planned, next Christmas which will be a large one, my niece's new job and much more.

I had a few gift cards to wrap this week so I checked out my sister's post and loosely based mine on hers. I did have to ask her about it.

It's a long piece of fabric where you fold in both ends of the fabric. Then press the ends even which folds the remaining fabric in half with a fold at the bottom.

Top stitch both sides closed and your are done. She put ribbon on hers I did not.

I did add some accent fabric on the front piece after I folded but before I sewed the side seams. Needs refinement I would say but I was able to fill mine and have them ready which was the goal.

We had a pot luck meal hosted in the social room of our building.

Everyone brought a dish and we shared a meal with our neighbors.

As always the food was very good and there was plenty. I had one helping leftover of my scalloped potatoes.  I brought home a piece of chicken and chocolate cheesecake.

It was a very good time.

Looking forward to next year when I am sure I will know more people.

Tea Gift Card Holder

I'm making some gift card holders with a tea theme.  Who doesn't love receiving a gift card from a tea or coffee company.  It would be great if the card hinted to the inside.

The cup was cut with the Cricut and the Joy of the Season cartridge.  The flower embellishment was cut with the Sizzix Flower Layers & Leaves die from felt and the same card stock. Held with a flower sequin and white tiny brad.




The tag and greetings were done with the back side of the designer paper.  I have included several greetings with pop dots and will leave it for the user to decide.

It includes a half sheet insert for the user's personal message. 

The envelope on the top half holds the gift card.


The envelope is blue to coordinate with the card.  This is a 5x7 card size so is a little larger than the ones I usually make.

Gift Card

Here's another card.  I created the gift rectangles of solid card stock in blue and white with accents of Designer Paper. The designer paper is from Michaels Recollection paper.  The green card stock is from a value pack, interesting how they coordinate.  I cut narrow strips of DSP paper to add to the gift as ribbon.  The Gift Bow Topper die is from Lil Inkers which I cut in white. I placed the vellum greeting between the bow and the gift and trimmed it to the card edge on the right. Being a gift it can be customized to many occasions and seasons by changing the designer paper.  Versatile design. Love those.  Might work well as a gift card holder.

Gift Card Holder - Smaller Pop Up

Another gift card holder. I tried making the pop up smaller 4" W x 4.75" T.  It helps because there is less to match up but I'm not sure if it's the final one.  I chose double sided paper from Creative Imaginations. Design by Helen Dardik. There are light blue stars on a dark blue background on one side and the other has white and red stripes with a 6x6 of white hearts on same dark blue.  I cut the base with the Card Base Pop 'n Cuts die from Stampin Up.  Then I placed the Sizzix Pop 'n Cuts Magnetic Insert Die - suitcase and placed my heart paper on it and ran it through the Big Shot.  I folded it in the right places then trimmed the handle off with scissors.  I adhered it onto the fold.  I wrapped a piece of red cotton ribbon onto the join and tied it in a knot on the front.  I took the scrap from the 12" length and trimmed and placed at the top of the card front.  I added a light blue greeting below the striped piece.  I had flagged the right hand end with the SU Banner Triple punch.  Again, I tucked the tabs into the slots to keep it closed. The gift card is held in place with a Zot.

Pop Up Gift Card Holder

I'm working on gift card holders for last minutes gifts.

For this one, I used the Stampin Up Card Base Pop'n Cuts Die.  The card stock is River Rock with Holiday Thyme designer paper cut with the Top Note die.  I added an Ornament punchie stamped with the Delightful Decorations ornament in Cherry Cobbler on Very Vanilla.  I added a bit of Cherry Cobbler twine.  I created the dip in the pop up with the Word Window punch.  I added a piece of DSP which matched the front then a sentiment from the Festival of Trees stamp set. I followed up with the rest of the sentiment on a piece of Very Vanilla which I cut again with the Top Note.

I love the way this card closes with the tabs in the slots. 

Gift Card Holders - Felt Gifts

I had a good sale on Saturday so it's time to replenish some of my inventory.  I made more gift card holders in a different design this time.














It's still a tri-fold design but this time it features a felt gift on the front.  I selected coordinating 12x12 double sided card stock cut to 5.5" tall.  I used a narrow gold ribbon pulled through 2 holes in the bow to tie it onto the card. The bow repeats the bow on the felt accent.  The card is held closed with a gold metallic paper clip.

The inside features a quarter sheet insert for the giver's sentiments and a small envelope to hold the gift card, coupon or cash.

Gift Card Holders - Trifold

I made some Gift Card Holders for my sale tomorrow.  It's based on the design of this one.  It's a tri-fold made with 5.x5 x12 inch double sided card stock.  They are held closed with ribbon.  They have an envelope to hold the card or coupons or cash.

Gift Card Holder - DSP 12 inches

I'm working on tri-fold Gift Card Holders.  I started with 12 x 5.5 inch piece of double sided card stock.  I scored at 4.25" then flipped it and scored just shy of 3.5".  This allows the front to be just a bit wider than the second panel.  I chose a pretty paper and added a square of teal, a Stampin Up Window Frame diecut in purple and a greeting from Stampin Up Just Thinking set.  I chose a ribbon that pulled another color from the paper and added the ribbon to match.  The ribbon holds the card closed.  I placed a quarter sheet insert on the center panel for the personal message.  I then added a white envelope on the last smaller panel to hold the gift card.  The variations of this card is limitless!!

Gift Card Holder - Black & White Hearts

This is a wedding gift card holder.  I started with a piece of 5.5" x 12" piece of card stock.  I scored it at 3.5", 6", then 8.5" from each end.  I placed the 2.5" mountain fold in the center which fills the middle of the card.  This fold is glued together at the edges on the 3 open sides.  This will hold the gift card so put adhesive only along the outer edges. I then used the Stampin Up! word window punch to create a slit along the fold.  It takes almost 2 lengths of the punch to make the slit wide enough for a gift card which is usually 3.5" wide.  I used the SU! Tab punch to create the part circle dip below the slit.  This will allow the recipient to easily pull out the gift card.  I placed 2 pieces of white bond measuring 5.25"x 2.87" on the front flap and back flap which give the giver a place to write their sentiments to the one receiving the gift.  I used the SU! Slot punch to create the holes in the centre edge where the ribbon holding the holder closed is slipped through and knotted.  A knot is better than a bow because I find most people will avoid a bow every time. The finished size is 5.5" tall by 3.5" wide and fits in a standard A2 envelope.

For the front: I cut a piece of black and white DP which says Congratulations over and over.  I punched 2 hearts, one from pearl white and one from silver.  I embossed the white a bit.  I added piece of white 1/8" satin ribbon across the width of the designer paper then adhered it to the card front.  I adhered the hearts to the card with 3D foam tape. I added an embossed SU! Modern label punchie in the pearl white also raised with 3D foam tape. I cut 3 lengths of satin ribbon - silver, white and black with silver edges, pulled them through both slots and knotted them.

GC Holder - Musical Notes

I'm finally getting to some of my Christmas shopping.

I made this gift card holder with the Sizzix Jumbo Crescent Tag die and black cardstock.  I folded the card stock in half before cutting. Here's a link to the ones I've made before. This time I placed the fold on the side instead of the bottom.  I added some music paper to the front.  I hand cut the curve at the top and punched the hole with a 1/4" punch.  I cut the music notes with the green Sizzix small music notes die.  Some in copper and some in black.  I added the greeting with the Stampin Up! Modern Label punch and the Word Window punch with the greeting being color printed.  I added a copper metallic ribbon to keep it closed.

Gift Card Holders

I made these Gift Card Holders for the gift card prizes we are giving away today in a Valentine Surprise fund raising event we are having today!

I started with brown base cut with the Sizzix Jumbo Crescent die.  I placed the fold in the card just inside the flat end of the die.

Top:  I found a scrap piece of designer paper and added a border punch in blue on the right hand side. I added 2 silk flowers in coordinating colors and adhered them with a coordinating blue flower brad.  I then added an apricot gross grain just below the border punch.  This was then glued to the front for the large tag.  I used the same ribbon to hold it closed once I had used Zots to hold the gift card in place inside.

Bottom:  I found a scrap of designer paper and trimmed it leaving an interesting central element.  I added black wavy cutter borders on each edge.  I then added 3 square brads in the upper left hand corner.  Rounded the right hand corners with a punch. Added a length of black gross grain ribbon to hold it closed once I had used Zots to hold the gift card in place inside.

Gift Card Holders - a Tim Horton's Break

I got together with a couple of friends tonight to make gift card holders for those soldiers who go over seas to help, support and put themselves in harms way. We did a bit of fundraising and had enough cards for a unit serving in Afghanistan. I hope they know how grateful I am for what they do. We put Tim Horton's gift cards in these which will provide for a bit of a break.

Be safe, keep your head down and come home! Thank you and God bless!

I color printed the greeting and punched it out with the Stampin Up 1.25" circle. The black is a the 1 3/8 circle punch. I cut the holders 4"x5.5". I scored at 1.5" and 4" which is efficient use of 12x12 cardstock. We then folded the slighter large flap up and stapled it down on both sides. Slipped the TH card inside and applied adhesive to the back of the greeting and used it to keep the flap closed.

Gift Card Holder - Crescent Tags

I made several blue snowflake ones. The snowflakes are iridescent confetti held in place with tiny brads.

The penguin is a 3D Christmas tag.

The gold wreath has a gold embossed "Peace" greeting at the top.

Silk flowers are great for layering. I added a stamped greeting.

Gift Card Holder - Crescent Tags

Gift Card Holders - I used the Sizzix Jumbo Crescent Tag die to make these. There is a card inside that holds the gift card. See previous post.

Vellum greetings held with brads and sequin stars ended up on a couple of these.

I placed a Stampin Up! Lattice Die (trimmed) with a stamped greeting and white poinsettia in the centre made from daisy confetti. The bottom daisy was colored with a stamp pad and they are held in placed with a brad.

The snowflake is MS with a horizontal punch greeting and a matching gross grain ribbon.

Gift Card Holder - Crescent Tags

These Gift Card Holders are made with the Sizzix Jumbo Crescent Tag die. The picture on the top right hand corner shows the additional card I placed inside that holds the gift card. I used the Stampin Up! Slit punch to create small crescent shapes to slide the card into. Each holder has an organza ribbon to keep it closed.

I folded the cardstock and placed it just inside the steel rule which leaves the fold on the bottom on the card. I used scrapbook paper, 3D Christmas tags, silk flowers, sequin stars, stamped greetings,

Gift Card Holder - Recyled Cards

Some of these cards are so pretty they don't really need any other embellishment. For this blue one I added punched snowflakes and bling in their centres.

The holly card was great just the way it was so it was very easy. Check out the previous posts for a pic of how the gift card holder gets added to these cards.

Gift Card Holder - Recyled Cards

These are tri-fold cards which provide an envelope to hold a gift card. I cut out the fronts of old Christmas cards and glued them to coordinating cardstock. I added a few embellishments as required. See the previous post for how the card holder envelope is incorporated into the third flap.

These have an insert with a Christmas greeting.

Gift Card Holder - Recyled Cards

I'm creating some items for a fundraiser in November. I made several gift card holders.

These are full cards with a complete insert. I used a piece of cardstock 12x5.5 inches. I scored at 4.25 and 8.5 inches. It becomes a trifold card with 3.5 inches folded into the card. I placed a small envelope with a thumb space on this flap to hold the gift card.

The fronts are recycled Christmas cards. I added sequin stars to the Bethlehem on the left. In the cente a snowflake punch has been added to the night sky and the bottom was ripped below the greeting. The right hand picture shows the 3 pieces (front, back and flap) of the card.

Gift Card Holders

These are gift card holders. I folded a piece of cardstock in half. Then using my Sizzix large crescent tag die I placed the fold of the cardstock just short of the bottom cutting edge and I passed it through my Big Shot. I created a vellum card holder on the inside and placed a piece of paper on the opposite tag for placing a sentiment to the receiver. I added an organza ribbon bow. Then, I decorated the front with decorative paper and silk flowers. I think they turned out great!