Monday, September 1, 2008

Gift Card Tutorial


Do you like to give gift cards for special occasions? Well, here is a cool way to present them to the recipient. The one on the left is the original design and the one on the right is the one I changed as I think it works better!
I started with a piece of cardstock cut to 4" x 11". I scored on the 4", 5 1/2", and 7" lines. To make my altered version I also scored on the 10" line but cut 1" off on the left. I just love my Scor-Pal for fun projects like this. (In fact, I also have the Scor-Pal mat which is a blue plastic cutting mat with great measurement lines that match the Scor-Pal and fills in evenly the depression where you score your paper. I purchased mine from Scor-Pal and now I keep this great tool right on my work table. You can see parts of it in following photos.)

This is what the original should look like after you folded on the score lines. The altered version would have another fold turned in to make a flap and the other end 1" shorter.
I marked the glue lines. I tried this with 1/4" tape and it barely worked. I suggest a very thin line of glue, I use Designer Dries Clear or even Zip Dry Paper Glue.

After the glue has dried I layed my "gift card" behind the middle flap you just created and marked the edges with a pencil. It is important that you have the card placed with equal distances on each side.
Now lay your card with the glued flap as shown. Use your Coluzzle Nested Circle, Swivel Knife, and Mat to cut out a partial circle. I lined up the Circle with the pencil marks.
This is what your card should look like after cutting. I tried this with my Mega Circle Punch but it just would not cut the double layer of cardstock. You can still see the pencil mark on the "bottom" of the flap. I did erase these.
I gently pried open the cut area and inserted my "card" so you can see how it should hold the card. From here you can decorate to your hearts desire. The original design used a piece of adhesive hook & loop tape to secure the flap. The "flapped" card holder is secured with a notch. I used my Basic Grey Notch Tool and also carefully glued the decorative cover to the notched piece so it wouldn't come apart when in use. I used Kamahlat SWIC that TAC retired but any of our beautiful patterned papers/cardstocks would work wonderfully. I will be posting a picture soon of some that I'm making for a gift card swap on Paper Wings so stay tuned. If you have any questions please "Contact Me". You'll find this link in the left menu column.

Also, my prayers are going out to all those in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas at this time of Hurricane Gustav. I have a new friend and customer, Kathy, of Sulphur, LA , who has evacuated to Oklahoma at this time. She lost her home completely during Hurricane Rita and would appreciate any prayers that her home will be intact after this storm goes through.

2 comments:

Mrs. Nancy G said...

Wonderful tutorial! Thank you!!!

:-)

Barb said...

Great tutorial, Carol! I haven't done one of these, but I think it is high time!! Beautiful project!