As you know by now – and if not, check out my previous post – I love to send my friends some tea over the mail. But I also figured out a way to send them some perfume, integrated into some new card designs. A little while ago I wrote some short blog posts on these three designs, but this week I’m not only summarizing them in a video, I’ve also filmed a short tutorial on one of the designs.
So check out three designs I came up with (thus far) to send people some fragrant love!
In my last post I shared one way of adding a perfume sample to the inside of a card. In this post I’ll illustrate a second way of doing that: by way of what I would call an integrated belly band.
By ‘integrated belly band’ I mean a belly band which is not layered on top of a (design) paper surface, but which has seemingly been integrated with it instead.
Basic construction is the same: fold a card and make sure it has a wide enough gusset (or spine). But before you start matting and decorating, attach the belly band first! Simply dry-fit a strip of (design) paper around a small perfume vile or sample and glue its ends to the base card, on either side of the spine.
Only then mat & decorate. And a nice ribbon closure would be fun too 😉
In this example I created an ATC card-sized double card with a spine, of about 3 x 4″ (7.5 x 10 cm). I used design paper by Mintay Papers.
Done! Let me know in a comment: have you ever sent out perfume samples over the mail, as a little extra ‘something something’ for a dear friend or a loved one?
Video tutorial available a couple of posts above this one, check it out here!
In my previous post I shared the idea of fastening a perfume booklet to the front of a card. This allowed for the rest of the card to be a standard folded card, since the bulky part was on its outside.
But what if you want to add your perfume to the inside of your card?
One way of doing that would be to create a belly band on the inside.
However, this only works if your perfume sample comes with its own booklet (see picture below), for then you can tuck the edges of the booklet behind the belly band. If it didn’t come with a booklet, then we’ll need a different design – so keep an eye on this series of blog posts! Simply click the tag Perfume cards and you’ll get all relevant posts on my blog at any given time.
But first things first: your card will need a gusset, otherways it would not close around the vile. Depending on the girth of your perfume sample, create a gusset that is wide enough. For most samples a gusset of 3/8 to 1/2 inch (1-1.2 cm) will probably suffice.
If you use only one sheet of double-sided design paper that already has 6 double-sided 4×6″ cards as a pattern, you’ll be able to create two VERY quick & easy cards! 🙂
I decorated a little bit but not too much, for I only wanted to enhance this stunning paper here and there and not get in its way.
The end result was lovely. I simply tucked the perfume booklets behind the belly band, which automatically kept them closed.
Don’t underestimate the importance of details: I colour-coordinated my perfume samples with my design papers, and this definitely enhanced the card design! 🙂
Have fun crafting! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment with this post!
Click here to go to the next perfume card.
Over the years I have often shared design ideas for cards to send someone an original ‘hug-in-a-mug’, or in other words, how to incorporate a teabag in a creative way.
I’d like to add to that a new series of design ideas, this time centered around perfume and how to send someone an actual vile of perfume. This can be a decant from that awesome niche bottle you own yourself, a small test sprayer you bought online or the official samples that brands hand out and are often added for free to your purchase at your local perfume shop.
These are small enough to send over the mail, but you will have to find original ways to add them to a card design. Fret not! For that is where this new series comes in.
And here’s my first idea: take a brand’s sample booklet and add it to the front of your card. Choose or create a coordinating background. Keep the booklet closed with a swing tab closure. Stamp a nice sentiment, decorate, and done!
I sprayed my own background in the below example, but you could make this card with design paper too.
I diecut the butterfly with a 2-die set from some papers I inked myself, and added some extra Stickles to highlight.
It’s fast. It’s easy. It adds a lovely little extra ‘something something’ to your card.
Have fun creating!
