Well, I did not see this comin'. Another Christmas card. I swear, I didn't do it on purpose. 
You see, I bought a K&Company paper pack at Target and loved this pink and green patterned paper. Then I started looking at one of the stamps from my new PTI stamp set, Spooky Sweets II. Yes, that's right, the circular swirly piece that the snowflake is sitting on is actually from a Halloween set. The floral swirls matched perfectly with the patterned paper. Then I had to have something for inside the circle, right? Well, before I knew it, out comes a snowflake and another Christmas card was born. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.So a few things make this card a little different. First, the size. It's long - just the right fit for a business size envelope. Then there's the scalloped border. I cut the front cover so that I could add it to the card and still have the Kraft card base show through. Then, of course, there is that sweet little snowflake in the center. It's a chipboard piece that I covered with green patterned paper from the same paper pack. I used foam mounting tape for the whole center piece, to make it stand out from the card. The finihsing touch was to add some sparkle with my Stardust pen and a few touches of Liquid Pearls to add a touch more pink. I think it looks a bit like a snowflake sugar cookie! Yummy!
So, yes, I know it's still August (barely) and it's summer (barely, especially for those of us in Washington State), but I'm happy to be getting a head start on a few Chrsitmas creations. You're not too mad, are you? I promise I won't play Christmas music for another two months...or more!
P.S. I am almost done redecorating my blog, did you notice the changes? I have just a few more tweeks here and there. I still need to work on the tab thing. Thank goodness for a three day weekend!
Supplies:
Stamps: Mixed Messages and Spooky Sweets II by PTI
Ink: Dark Chocolate and Spring Moss by PTI, Dune pigment by ColorBox
Cardstock: Kraft and Sweet Blush by PTI, Very Vanilla by SU!
Patterned Paper: Sophie Collection by K&Company
Ribbon: Dark Chocolate satin by PTI
Tools: circle punch by EK Success, Crop-a-Dile, slit punch by SU!, circle Coluzzle
Other: Stardust pen by Sakura, Petal Pink Liquid Pearls by Ranger, chipboard snowflake by SU!, foam mounting tape by 3M
This was fun! I am definitely going to try out more of these challenges. They are a great way to get you going in a different creative direction! 
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.
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!
I have so many ideas on how to use this new shade of red, and they aren't just about Christmas, either! Stay tuned!
The recipe layer was adhered to the base and I attached a piece of patterned paper across the front with a few bronze brads. I love all the Fall colors on this project!
The ribbon isn't SU!, but from Martha Stewart's Crafts collection. It just so happens to match perfecting with the Soft Sky. I got lucky on that one! 
Now the cards were fully functional and looked as cute on the inside as they did on the outside! And the hostess was very happy and impressed with her gift! Oh, it was nothing...
Once I had one exactly like I wanted it, I used copy and paste to fill an entire page. I then printed it on a whole sheet of label paper, cut each one out and rounded the corners with my corner rounder. The round corners really make it fit nice and neatly inside the tin. I stamped each label with the little owl from the 
And there you have it! The only other item in this gift ensemble are the colored pencils, and I didn't make those! But I did make a simple tag that I punched out from my coordinating patterned paper. I made an overlay for the tag by printing on acetate and punching out, again using a tag punch (after much swearing, it did barely punch out - not all punches are created equally when it comes to punching out acetate! Test yours on a scrap piece first!). 
Thanks to all of you for your great comments on this project. It was quite fun to create and will be even more fun to give! Wouldn't this make you want to go back to school?!? 
Once covered, I adhered a piece of cardstock inside that will act as the "hinge" mechanism to open and close the holder. (Again, you can view all the instructions and measurements on Angie's blog.) You can see how it come together, below: 
For the embellishments on the cover, I again used acetate (transperancy) and chipboard photo corners for the title, and stamped and cut out another owl, as as I did with the journal. 
This journal started out as a plain composition notebook. You know, the black-and-white ones that are on sale everywhere right now. They make great projects to customize, especially since the book's cover is nice and sturdy and can be covered in paper and sanded, as I've done here. I used 
And now for more embellishing! (Wait, didn't I say I didn't need much of that? Oh, well...) I created a little pencil for my owl to "ride on." To do this, I used two pieces of rectangular shaped chipboard from my stash. I taped them together to make one long rectangle and cut the end to resemble a sharpened point. The shapes were already rounded on the edges, which was perfect for the eraser end! 
I covered the pencil with scraps of paper. I adhered some kraft at the end, some pink at the top for the eraser, and then a piece of yellow in the middle. I tore the end of the yellow piece before adhereing it, to make it look like a real pencil that has been sharpened. The band below the eraser is a piece of scrap paper that I inked with my Cooper pigment ink pad. I scored a few lines on it with a paper piercing needle, to make it look more realistic. Finally, I drew lines on the yellow piece with a fine tip brown pen, added some black ink to the top of the pencil, and inked all the edges with brown ink. I know, a lot of work, but I think the outcome was worth it! I'm so proud of my little pencil!
And now let's talk about the owl. He was stamped on Kraft paper and colored in using 
That's it, just a few simple steps and you're done with your journal (Ha!). Now you can see why I'm making this more than one post! Tune in tomorrow when I'll go through the Post-it-Note holder!
