This week at
we've got a fun challenge for you.....and we're gonna make you work at bit. We want to see a "technique card", you know, something that's not you're standard fold-a-piece-of-cardstock-in-half card. Like an easel card, or a centre-step card, or a side-step card, or a bendi-card or even a shaker card, or magic card etc. etc. etc.
I tried something completely new to me. You can find the tutorial
here. It's a Twisted Card and it looks like this....
and this.....
Pretty neat, eh? And look, it's got.....
a pocket inside to hold a gift card. These cards are peeeeeeeeerrrrrrrfffffffeeeeeeeccccccttt for all those people you want to give a little holiday gift to, like teachers, bus drivers, mail carriers, etc. etc. etc.
I have a couple of tips if you decide to make this. First, watch the video. Now, I generally hate watching tutorial videos (which is why I love Splitcoaststampers tutorials 'coz they do both the written tutorial and a video) because I'm impatient and I want to learn how to do it at my speed rather than the speed the person is going in the video. Now, because of impatientness and my unwillingness to watch a whole video and just pick and choose parts, usually missing a key step.....my first try is always wrong. Like always. Like so much always always that I'll use paper I'm not that fond of because I know I'm going to mess it up the first time. So why am I advocating watching this video? Well, first of all it's a good video. Succinct, informative, and well put together. And, there is one spot you'll want to pay close attention to. It's the spot where she says,
"Don't do this. No, no, no."
And, guess what I did when she said that during my first watch through. I snickered. She's quite cute when she says it, but I wasn't snickering in the aren't-you-adorable way. I was snickering in that of-course-I-won't-do-that way. And, of course, I did it. Yep, after she specifically told me not to, after she quite politely showed the right and wrong way, I still did it wrong. But, luckily, I was able to salvage the pieces and trim them up this way and that and managed to get them to work. So, that's Tip #1. Pay particular attention to that point.
Tip #2 is when you cut the patterned paper, lay the side that you want to use on the front face down on your trimmer. It matters. With my reindeer card I actually wanted to use the other side of that paper which is a dark brown on the front but I didn't know the face-down tip so it wasn't cut to fit the front. I ended up darkening my wooden reindeer with some ink so he'd show up better on that paper. I think that did the trick well enough.
Tip #3 is just to tell you that a gift card doesn't fit completely snugly in its spot. So you'll want to use an envelope for this (go
here to see what Dina says about using an A2 envie, or you could just make one for it with an Envelope Board Punch) or use a glue dot on the back of the gift card. Wouldn't want that sucker sliding out and leaving the recipient with an empty pocket, would we? If you're looking for a gift card holder that'll be completely secure, you might want to try something else. I did a tutorial for one way back in 2011 that ties the gift card right in there. You can see it
here if you're interested.
So why not stretch your creativeness and join us for our challenge? Then you can head on over to
Little Red Wagon and link up. And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.
