Papertrey Ink August Blog Hop

This month's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop challenge was to create something out of a CD case. And let me tell you, it was a puzzler for me right up until the last minute! After a lot of thought, I decided on this creation...a gift card holder. But wait, there's more (read on).

Before I get to the inside, let me tell you about the outside of the case. I covered the entire thing with beautiful patterned paper from the Crush collection by Crate Paper. I saw this, I loved it, I had to have it! I decided to cover the sides, too, to really transform the project and disguise it's original purpose (you can see it better in the second photo, below).

The front cover was embellished with a velvet trim layered on Dark Chocolate cardstock that I scalloped. Before adhering the trim, however, I added the brown satin ribbon for a tie. The focal point is a heart that I cut out of chipboard and covered with the back side of my patterned paper. I stamped a few flourishes on the heart and inked the edges. More brown satin ribbon is wrapped around the heart and a little tag was added with a few more touches of ribbon (if too much ribbon is wrong, I don't want to be right!). I love the sentiment here: "Enjoy the Moment." I thought it would be fitting for any occasion.

Now, on to the inside! Since my patterned paper was double-sided and the glue dried clear, I didn't need to cover the inside with paper.


Once I decided I'd make this a gift card holder, I quickly realized that once the recipient received it, they would likely want to use if for another purpose. So my challenge was to not use too much adhesive or do anything to the inside that would prevent it being used differently in the future. So let's talk about the left side.


I added another strip of my patterned paper layered onto the scalloped Dark Chocolate. But I only adhered it on the top and bottom, so it could easily be removed, yet still keep in place. The birthday verse was adhered using foam tape, which can easily be removed from the plastic case. Now the other side.




I used Kraft cardstock to make a folder of sorts to hold the gift card. I covered it with the same patterned paper and Dark Chocolate. The ribbon is tied on the front of the folder very strategically. Remember I said I didn't want to do anything permanent? The ribbon not only embellishes and give me a reason to tie on another tag, but it hold the gift card inside, right were it belongs until the recipient unties the ribbon. And the Kraft folder was adhered on all edges, with the exception of where the ribbon was inserted, so that later the ribbon can be pulled out and used in another way. Here is what it looks like when opened:


Now, can't you think of some other possibilities here? How about a little accordion album tucked inside? Or just one photo adhered to the inside of the folder with journaling included on the patterned paper "flap?" And the other side is wide open for more photos or journaling. And there you have it: The gift that keeps giving! Thanks for visiting! Can't wait to see what everyone else has put together!



Supplies:

Stamps: Mixed Messages by PTI, Swirls v.1 by Autumn Leaves
Ink: Dune pigment by ColorBox, Dark Chocolate and New Canvas Palette by PTI
Cardstock: Kraft and Dark Chocolate by PTI, Very Vanilla by SU!
Patterned Paper: Lagoon/Crush Collection by Basic Grey
Ribbon: brown satin, velvet trim by Hallmark, green eyelash, blue sheer by American Crafts
Tools: Cuttlebug by ProvoCraft, Tiny Tags die for Cuttlebug, slit punch by SU!
Other: CD case, chipboard