More gift card holders... and a little bit of a naughty puppy!

Hi there :)

Following on from yesterdays post about using my new Lawn Fawn small stitched envelope die to create gift card holders I wanted to share a couple more that I made.  Since I had the basics sussed I thought I'd try something a little more creative with the next two... and I remembered to take step by step photos!

I started off using a Winnie & Walter stamp called  Do you see what I see to create my background.  I stamped the background with embossing ink and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  This stamp is only 3x4 inches but it's perfect for little projects like this.

Next I got out a couple of my Gansai Tambi paints to give my background some colour.  I really like how soft and creamy these paints can be... but they're also perfect for doing colour washes.  Colours used: Pale Aqua (50) and Cornflower Blue (61). 

Another cool thing about using Gansai Tambi paints is that if you use one colour a lot you can actually just buy individual watercolour blocks in the little plastic trays to replace the colour you've run out of... totally brilliant!

Right, back to the project, after letting my little background dry a bit I ran it through the Big Shot with the front panel die from the set.

So pretty and the stitching really adds a finishing touch!

Next I decided to add a gorgeous polar bear from MFT Polar Bear Pals stamp and die set.  After stamping and heat embossing my image I die cut him and then coloured him using my Zig Clean Color Markers.  I was able to colour match his scarf pretty well with the background colours too!

Then I decided to stamp a sentiment on the background.  It looks a bit patchy in the photo but in real life it's pretty good.

Since I was trying to take things up a notch I decided to stamp and heat emboss another sentiment on the back of the envelope.

Then it was time to adhere the front panel and the polar bear to the envelope.  The front panel was adhered with tape runner and the polar bear is on foam dots for a bit of added dimension.

Of course, it's a bit silly to say 'I come bearing gifts' without there being some polar bear gifts so I decided to stamp, emboss and colour a cute little bucket of fish from the set.

It really did help finish off the back panel:

At this point I decided the front panel needed something... and I had just the right something for it... some GORGEOUS sequins from Lucy's Cards... this pack is called Cool Breeze and I'm totally loving all the little bits of gorgeousness included in the pack!

Just an FYI: The packs from Lucy's Cards arrive in little zip lock bags but I wanted to have mine on display... I've bought several sets... so, while I was at a local chemist I saw these gorgeous little glass jars and couldn't resist them.  I emptied all the packs into their own jars, peeled the stickers off the little bags and added them to the fronts of the jars and voila... lots of pretty things to look at and USE!

Here's how the front panel turned out:

At this stage the mojo was still completely flowing so I kept going and made another gift card holder.  This time I used a Prima Stamp from their Bedtime Story collection.  I bought this stamp several years ago and never got around to opening it so it's definitely a NBUS item!

This time I used Rangers Queen's Gold embossing powder and stamped the image in two halves to create a full background.  I didn't worry too much about the 'join line' because it wasn't going to show up in the finished project.

This time I used dark colours from the Gansai Tambi paints to colour my background, Deep Blue (67), Deep Violet (38), Menthol Violet (66),  Dark Brown (47), and Black (20).

Then I die cut the label from my newly created background and stamped, embossed and die cut an image from MFT Adorable Elephants stamp and die set.

I coloured my elephant using Zig Clean Color Markers... I love how gorgeous he is!

I stamped one of the sentiments from the Adorable Elephants set and die cut it with a little banner die from MFT Tag Builder Blueprints 6.

Then it was time to put it all together... and add a few little glimmer star sequins along with a rhinestone on the sentiment banner!  After all, who can resist a little bling??

I wanted to 'dress up' the back of the gift card envelope so I stamped and heat embossed some stars from Lawn Fawn's Summertime Charm stamp and die set.  I also die cut some little stars from some of the left over background.  Unfortunately I didn't check my photos very well because it was a bit fuzzy... but I'm sure you get the idea.

I did think to get a 'group photo' with all my little envelopes... so much cuteness in one space!  You definitely want to click on the photo to see them in more detail!

So there you have it... an Auntie's solution to making a gift card more than just a gift card!

Now for something from the 'home files' section... our fur babies KNOW they're not allowed on the bed... but I often find one or the other one on the bed having a little nap... actually it's more Toby than Nivea that does that!

Having said that, on the weekend, Michael often says that they can come up on the bed for a cuddle... but yesterday I walked in to find something quite different... Miss Nivea was not just on the bed... she was IN it.  Actually she was TUCKED IN!  Thankfully I had my phone on me so I was able to capture a quick snap of her!

Daddy (Michael) was still in bed and this naughty little girl was all snuggled up beside him and had her head on MY pillow!!!  When I got the first photo she looked up at me as if to say... but Daddy said I could be here:

If Auntie Nina saw this she'd be saying... Back to the pound!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today xx