Men's Faux Leather Birthday Wallet

This birthday wallet was inspired by one I saw in CardMaker magazine (January 2010).  I used the same dimensions but I made mine differently.  For the base of the wallet, you'll need 1 3 1/4" x 8 1/2" piece of brown cardstock.  For the inside liner, you'll need one 3 1/8" x 8 3/8" piece of coordinating brown cardstock.

For the window pockets, you'll need two 2 7/8" x 3 3/4" piece of brown cardstock (same color as cover).  I die cut an oval in the middle of each using my Creative Memories oval cutter.  To give mine a faux leather look, I inked the cover and the window pockets with Distress Ink, sanded them lightly, then covered the top with VersaMark.  I added clear embossing powder and then heat embossed them for to get the shine.  When cool, I lightly sanded the tops again for a slightly worn look.

Before adhering the liner to the cover, add a tab...cut two 2" x 3/4" pieces of brown cardstock.  Round one end of both pieces.  Put a brad through one piece, then adhere the pieces together to hide the brad back.  Adhere the tab between the layers of the wallet.  You can leave the top open if you want to insert money into the body of the wallet.  Adhere the pockets to the inside by applying adhesive to the bottom and sides of each window pocket...this allows the contents to be removed.

Mine holds a picture of my kids in one pocket and a giftcard to Home Depot in the other...for my dad's birthday.  I added a strip of cardstock with a stamped "Happy Birthday" on the outside of the wallet, held on with a spiral paper clip.  It's hard to come up with crafty things to make for a guy, but I think this is super-manly and I hope he'll like it!  :)

Thanks for looking and have a creative day!

Faux Leather Purse

This faux leather purse was cut at 7" with the Cricut using the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge ("purse2") and a sheet of dark brown cardstock. I scored the fold lines before doing the faux leather technique b/c it would have been difficult to see the guides once the embossing was done.

After scoring, I rubbed a VersaMark ink pad over the surface of the purse to completely cover the cardstock. Then I sprinkled clear embossing powder over the cardstock, tapping it to removed the excess powder.

Next, I used the edge of my Cricut spatula tool to make wavy, uneven lines both horizontally and vertically through the embossing powder. You could also use a ruler, bone folder, etc. I shook off the excess powder that was lifted when making the lines. Then I used my heat gun to heat emboss the powder until set. Once the faux leather techniqe was complete, I constructed the purse, added adhesive Velcro for the closure, a large silver brad and some leopard ribbon for the handle.

The result is this shiny, leather-looking brown purse! How fun would this be for a gift to hold candy, trinkets, jewelry or even a gift card???

Thanks for looking!  :)