Fancy Fold Card

It's one of those days when I didn't get a card done. I was trying all day to make something I actually liked with my Carnation Creations Die set. I finally found this page a few minutes ago, and may try this one. She's got a bunch more flower tutorials on her site. I haven't looked at them yet, but the carnation is really pretty! Probably part of the reason I didn't get anything good made was because every time I sat down, the phone would ring. It was driving me crazy today!

Anyway, I am uploading a card I made years ago, but never uploaded. I made it so long ago, I don't even remember what these cards are called! At the time I made this one, I only had about two or three Spellbinders dies, so I used this Pendant Die to give the illusion of a doily. I don't remember what the image on it was, but it might have been an Anna Griffin one from a card kit I had.

Maybe I will do better tomorrow!

Aquarium Card

I was going through some very old tutorial folders on my computer, trying to figure out something new to make when I came across this tutorial by House of Stirfry. I saved it several years ago, and never tried it. When I saw it again this morning, I decided it would work with some K&Co stacks and die cuts I had.

I was going to make it like the folded tunnel card she did, but on my computer, I am seeing a bunch of question marks instead of numbers for the measurements, so rather than spending hours trying to figure it out, I made mine differently. It's sort of like a regular tunnel card, where you have accordion folded sides, but rather than making tunnels, I added two squares of acetate into the accordions so my fish would swim. There are four layers to this card, the background layer, two acetate layers, and the front of the card. The front was cut with Spellbinders Grand Labels One, and has dimensional die cuts on it.

The die cuts were larger than I wanted for the inside, so I cut smaller images from the paper in the stack and added them to all three inside layers. The only inside image which was a die cut is another plant which was printed onto acetate. I put that plant onto the bottom layer of acetate so some fish would be behind it.

The card is 6x6, and if you want to make one like it, the accordion folds are from sheets of CS which are 4x6 and scored lengthwise at every half inch. This makes enough folds for two layers of acetate inside.

Now I want to try the folded tunnel card like hers if I can figure out the measurements!

Butterfly Peek-a-Boo Card

I made this card using this tutorial. I'm glad the card stock I used was really heavy, because I didn't know that when you make this card, for it to work, the back is actually only attached on the outside edge. If I hadn't used such heavy CS, it probably would have been floppy.

The top photo shows the card closed, but when it is open, as in the bottom photo, the image in the window changes. It actually is quite interesting.

The DP is from the Mariposa Stack by DCWV, and the green paper is some pearlized green from my stash. The card was stamped using Memento Bamboo Leaves and embossed with clear EP. All dies are from Spellbinders, and the stamp set is from Becca's November Kit Club by Becca Feeken. The stamps are made by JustRite.

Blue Hydrangea Card

I finally got around to making a triple time card. It's one of those cards I've been wanting to do for a long time, but never did until today. I had this beautiful background stamp from Anna Griffin, and was thinking it was 4"x5", but I should have measured it. It is a bit less than that. It also didn't stamp very darkly on the bottom layer. The layers looked pretty anyway, so I made the card. The stamping was done with VersaMagic Aegean Blue, and the matting was white CS, shaded with the same ink and a sponge dauber so it would match exactly.

The sentiment is from one of my JustRite sets, and cut with two sizes of Spellbinders ovals. Both layers were shaded with the same ink, and all layers of the card and sentiment panel were mounted dimensionally. The hydrangeas are Prima, and are actually the same shade as the ink, but they look brighter in the photograph.

The white card under the layers was covered with a pearlized blue linen textured CS from my stash. I made this a little wider than the matting around the layers because I wanted the card to be at least 5x6. (Most of my rectangular cars are 5x7).

My Second Trifold inside a Gatefold Card

I really need to stop photographing my cards at night. It's so difficult to get them to look nice with the flash.

When looking at my recent cards the other day, I realized just how much I like opening my last card like this. It's sort of like opening a present, with the gift of another card inside. This paper is so glossy and heavy, and so elegant, so I decided to make another one.

This time for the front, I used a teal colored sheet with gold foil designs. It reminds me of a fancy garden gate, or a fancy door. I used the same Spellbinders die as I did on the last card, to cut the gate "handles" out of gold mirror card, and added teal pearls to the die cut, and gold ones to the corners.

This is the card open.

This is the first part of the trifold open.

This is the whole card open. The round tag was on another sheet from the same paper pack. I fussy cut around it and added it for a writing space.

We're going off the island today, so I'll visit you all tonight!

Seashell Fancy Fold Card

I made another card in almost the same style as yesterday's card. This time I used a seashell paper and dimensional die cuts from K&Co. I also added three staggered tiles on the front. I didn't cut holes behind them on this card like I did on yesterday's card.

All patterned paper is K&Co and the antique gold is from my stash. The patterned paper is outlined with a Krylon pen. I used Antique Linen on a Fantastix blending thing to shade around the tiles, and added some gold pearls.

For those who read yesterday's post about the mail problems, I managed to get three of my packages today. When I checked the tracking this morning, one was on it's way back. I called the last scan location, and they let me drive all the way there to pick the package up. Not exactly convenient when you live on an island, but I wanted my gum arabic, Stamp-ama-jig, and refill for my ATG, so I went after it. This was the package that was supposed to come FEDEX. It had lots of strange tracking information on it.

The other two packages were the ones I called about last night, which were about to be sent back. One was my Lindy's Stamp Gang Try Me set of pearl sprays and powders. It looks yummy! The third package was my Score Tape. It was very expensive because they charged $8.00 shipping, plus the cost of the tape. Unfortunately, I don't know a lot about shopping on Amazon, and didn't know the shipping was going to be so high on one inexpensive item.

Now I'm waiting for the other three packages.

I did go to the Amazon Forums last night about this problem, and was surprised at how many other have the same problem, and their orders are sent back too. If anyone else reads this and has the same problem with not being able to enter both your PO Box, and your address, one of the suggestions over there is to try to fool the computers by using zeros instead of the letter o, and space it differently, such as P 0 B0X or P0B0X using zeros. Not sure if this will work though, my spelling checker just saw that combination as PO Box.

Anyway, so far I managed to get four out of seven. I hope I get the ones with the Spellbinders!

Blue Butterflies Fancy Fold Card

I made this card much more difficult than it had to be. I started out by cutting half of the inside of the gatefolds where the square tiles are so they would swing out when the card was opened. It was a bit of work to make sure they would line up exactly with each other. As it turns out, it didn't add anything to the card, and I would have been better off just to make a gatefold with flaps and add the tiles to half of them.

The top photo shows the card closed.

This photo shows it open. I really prefer the butterfly on the right, but the set it was in only contained one. Since I knew I couldn't put much dimension inside the card because I didn't make allowances for it to fold flat, I put that butterfly, which will fold flat inside, and the other one, which is dimensional on the outside.

This shows the card laid out flat.

The DP is from K&Co, and is outlined with my Krylon pen. The butterflies are also K&Co.

The light blue sparkly paper is from my stash, and is also outlined with the Krylon pen.

The frames on the tiles are cut with a Spellbinders Die, and I cut the centers out with a smaller square Spellbinders. I used Core'dinations Pearl for them.

The larger flowers are more of the ones I got at Michaels. They were off white, and I dabbed them with Brilliance Sky Blue, then added light blue Stickles to them. The small ones are from my stash, and I added Stickles to those as well.

There are Stickles in each empty corner of the card and on the die cuts as well. They will probably be lighter than this, but they were all still wet when I took the photograph.

Butterfly Fancy Fold Card

It's been quite a few years since I've made one of these cards. For this card, I used the Mariposa Stack by DCWV. All the ink is Brilliance Cosmic Copper, and the EP is Tsukineko Sparkle.

For the card base, I used one sheet of DP folded so the design is on the inside. Then I used another sheet for the inside window part. Next I used the same green print on the front of the card as I used inside the window, and cut a matching border from the same yellow DP, and punched it with a MS edge punch and added it to the front of the card.

For the sentiment, I used Our Daily Bread Designs Eternity stamp set, and their matching Elegant Ovals custom die by Spellbinders. Those were mounted dimensionally to the front of the card, and green Stickles were added to the scalloped border on the DP.

On the inside, I punched a bunch of tiny MS butterflies and added them to the green DP inside the window.

The large 3-D butterfly is from the Spellbinders Wonderful Wings set, and was cut from the same yellow DP. First, I ran a sheet through my Xyron, then cut and embossed the butterfly four times. I removed the backing sheet from half of two butterflies and stuck them together. Then, I kept adding butterflies until I came to the last set of wings. I put a bamboo skewer into the center, and adhered the last two wings.

Now, I'm glad I used my Xyron, because it kept everything lined up nicely, but unfortunately this new refill of permanent Xyron stuff doesn't stick too well for some reason, so I slid the butterfly down the stick a ways, and put some silicone glue on the skewer, and slid the butterfly back up so the glue would hold it.

Then I added glue to the inside edges of each of the wings, since they also didn't want to stick together very well.

Last, I added green Stickles to the butterfly's bodies, and diamond Stickles to the edges of the wings, then mounted him to the fold using silicone glue.

The silicone glue seems to hold really well, and he's in there firmly. It's the kind of glue that you buy in a large tube at the hardware store, and is good for gluing all kinds of things. I used to use it a lot in my dollhouses, and love using it to glue flowers and things on cards. If you've been wondering what to use to stick odd embellishments on with, try it, it dries clear, and really sticks!

Grow with Love Fancy Fold Card

I decided to try making another card using a fold by Thea Wildeman. The first one I made was here.

The background of this card was made using some DP by Anna Griffin that I've had in my stash for a number of years. The three tags are all from two different sets by K&Co. The scalloped borders in the card's window were made with a MS edge punch.

The top photo is of the card closed, and the bottom two are different views of it open.

Thea has made a diagram for this card on her blog. I changed my measurements into inches, and for this card, I used a piece of CS which is 6" x 12".

My card is scored at 4' and 8".

Where Thea has 3cm, I made mine 1".

Where she has 2cm, I have 1.5".

Where she has 3.5cm I have 1.25".

The measurements I used on this card make it look nicer when closed than it looked in my first card.

Lighthouse Christmas ODBDSLC131

I made this card for Our Daily Bread Designs Winter Holiday Challenge.

Since I live on an island, and we have several lighthouses here, I wanted to make a Christmas card with a lighthouse, so I decided to use ODBD's Keep My Lamp Burning Set. This morning, I saw this card by Thea Wildeman and decided to try this fold for the card.

I cut the card with green CS, and made the panels with white. I embossed them with the Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss EF to simulate snow, then mounted them onto the card.

All the stamping was done with Memento Cottage Ivy. I cut around the lighthouse, and made a wreath around the compass with green EP accented with red for a bow and berries, then mounted it dimensionally on the large panel.

The rear sentiment is from the same set, and the front sentiment is from ODBD's Blessed Christmas Set. They were also mounted dimensionally, as was the tree, which was made with a Marianne Creatables die.

I made a poinsettia from another Marianne Creatables die, and used it in one corner, with greenery from the MS Branch Punch.

Last, I added some red pearls and more branches to the corners.

For all the people who have asked for a pattern for this one, It's been quite busy for me for a few weeks. When I made this card, I was experimenting. When I fold this card, it isn't quite right. I need to make the vertical sides a bit wider so the back of the inside box doesn't show. I need to figure out new measurements. When things slow down a bit, maybe even in a few days, I will try to figure it out and make a diagram for you. :-)

Update: I just went back to Thea's Page, and I see that she has added a diagram for the original card she made. I apparently made my card in the same way as she did hers, only I used inches. It looks like hers will do the same thing as mine, since her sides are also narrower like mine are. Mine is 6x12 inches, with the top and side measurements as 1" each, and the folds in the inserts are 1 1/2" each. It's the extra half inch that makes this card look a little strange when folded.

Anyway, since this is actually her card, it would be nice if you used her diagram even if you use my measurements, and leave her a little love on her blog.

I will still try to figure out measurements so this card won't look strange when folded as soon as I get a chance.

Christmas Tree Card using Noor! Dies and Creatables

I made this card from the measurements of this card on the Noor! Designs blog.

For the panels on my card, I chose two kinds of ribbon which were the right size for the folds, and cut separate strips of paper the same width as the ribbon, and a little shorter than the card. Then I applied the ribbon to the strips and mounted them onto the card.

Next, I cut out the Noor! dies, and shaded them with metallic gold ink. I mounted them dimensionally onto the card, and cut a red Christmas tree with one of my Marianne Creatables dies. I still haven't found a shade of red paper I really like, and had none to match the red ribbon, so I colored the die cut tree using Copics, and used a gold metallic pen to add the ornaments with.

To decorate the die cuts, I punched some tiny flowers out of gold mirror card. They look more like scalloped circles, which is what I wanted, rather than flowers. Then I added deep red pearls to them, as well as adding some to the die cuts without the punched flowers behind them.

I like the card while it is open, but next time, I will make the folds next to the center narrower, and the outside folds wider. It looks a little strange when folded, as only the center shows, with the rest hidden behind it.

Center Step Card with Noor! Dies and Creatables

This is only the second center step card I've ever made. I know it's pretty easy if you have a Fiskers cutter that works, but unfortunately, the first one I bought was smaller and didn't cut very straight. Everything was a little wider at one end than the other. Then I bought a larger one, and the cutting thing doesn't move smoothly in the track. It has always stuck in places, and doesn't cut evenly because of this. The track has defects in it, and since I've had it for quite a few years, I can't return it. Anyway, way back when I bought those two cutters, I got fed up and purchased a more expensive one from a different company at Staples. This one works well, but it has a wheel, and you can't use it to start and stop precisely in the spot you want it to like you can with the Fiskers ones, so making these cards is kind of a pain.

I made this card as a 5x7 card, with 1 1/2" sides, and a 4" square center.

I took two photos of this because with the phone's flash, it doesn't show the shiny gold, and with just the lamp shining on it and no flash, the colors aren't great.

The die cuts on the sides and in the center are Noor!, and the one behind the tag is a Spellbinders Fancy Tags One. The trim on the bottom is Dresden paper, and the large flower motif is K&Co. The tag is from my stash, and the poinsettias on the sides are Marianne Creatables.

I also added green rhinestones and gold Liquid Pearls.

Ornament Fancy Fold Card JRC_085

I made this card for JustRite Friday Challenge #085 - Happy Holidays. For this challenge we were to use two or more dies.

I decided to use three different JustRite stamps for this. Deck the Halls - Cling, Christmas Miracle Ornaments, and Noel Christmas Ornaments, and cut them with their matching dies: 2012 Heirloom Ornaments, 2011 Heirloom Ornaments, and 2010 Heirloom Ornaments, as well as JustRite Custom Nested Medallion Labels Dies.

After making the card and cutting, embossing and coloring everything, I found out that on this particular card, the smaller ornaments were a bit too large for the card because I had added so many, so I trimmed the white border from all except the Large ornament in the center page, and the star shaped writing space.

The papers are from my stash, and all the ornaments are mounted dimensionally. The writing space is mounted directly onto the card. The three center ornaments have a gold cord attached to a gold Stickles "nail".

Everything is embossed with gold, and colored with Copics. I also did shading with Distress Antique Linen. The gold outline stickers are from my stash, and I added more dots of gold Stickles.

Ocean Tryptic Card JRC_083

Here is my second card for the JustRite Friday Challenge #083 - "Three's Company".

This one was pretty easy for me. I had done a similar card a few months ago, only that one had corners that folded down. The woman who bought it wanted me to make another card like that that didn't have corners that fold down so she could put it on her dresser and use it like a tryptic.

This fits the JustRite challenge because it uses six different patterned papers, plus two JustRite stamps.

All DP and embellishments on this card are K&Co.

This is the front. I used JustRite's Sea Shell Bay Labels Twenty Two for the stamp. All stamps on this card were done with VersaFine Onyx Black, and embossed with clear EP. The stamp looks very fine and detailed in person, but my camera's flash made it look funny in the photo. Both this stamp and the next one were also shaded with VersaMagic Aegean Blue and accented/outlined with a gold pen. On this stamp, I also colored some of the details with Copics.

Everything on the card is mounted dimensionally. I added four shells I cut out with scissors to the corners of the front. The label was cut with the matching Spellbinders Labels Twenty Two.

When you open up the front cover you see these two pages with dimensional K&Co stickers decorating them.

This is the card fully open. There are quite a few dimensional stickers here, and another label made with JustRite's At the Beach Oval Medallions.

This is the back of the card. The fish isn't a sticker, it's part of the paper design. I didn't want to put anything dimensional on the back of the card.

Creatables Diorama Card

I made this card from a tutorial by Angie Crockett on the Our Daily Bread Designs Blog. At first, I was going to use a few of my ODBD stamps, but the ones I chose didn't really match up with the size.

Anyway, after trying to plan around stamps, I decided it would be easier just to use some plain paper and a DP for the outside with some Marianne Creatables inside on my first card like this.

I chose a generic dark blue CS, a piece of very old Hot Off the Press paper to cover the front and sides, and Core'dinations Pearl for all the die cuts.

I placed the Creatables villages on the back wall, the sleigh and reindeer on the second layer, and the tree and poinsettia on the front of the card. The frame was cut with a Spellbinders die.

This diorama is two inches deep, with the second layer one inch from both the back and front, so there is a lot of depth to the card. It actually was quite easy to make once I decided what I wanted to go into it.

Creatables Front Pop Out Card

When I was making my front pop out cards, I kept wanting to try this Marianne Creatables die, but since it is only one size, I used Spellbinders instead. I really liked the depth I could create by using several sizes. Today I gave in and tried one with this die. I'm thinking now that I wish I had made the center part wider, but it really is quite pretty in person.

The blue paper is pearlescent and is from a stack I bought quite a few years ago. I think it was probably from DCWV. The white is Core'dinations pearl.

The flowers are some old Prima ones, and the ribbon is very old from Wright's Trim. The Stickles are Crystal.

Iris Pop Out Front Card

I decided to make another card I call a front pop out card. This was made from a tutorial by Marianne Skjelstad.

For this card, I used some peach pearlescent CS mounted onto a textured white CS. All the cutting on the DP was done with Spellbinder Labels Four, and Grand Labels Four, and with scissors on the white CS, so I could cut a narrow border. All parts were outlined with Krylon 18K gold.

The stamping was done using JustRite's Botanical Medallions & Banners-Clear. It was stamped with VersaMark, and embossed with Superfine Detail Gold.

I stamped the background, and cut it with Labels Four rather than the custom die which was made for these stamps, so it would match the card. The iris was colored with copics, and is stamped on Core'dinations pearl paper, to match the pearlescent background paper. The darker red in the irises isn't really dark in person, I think it just reflected differently when I took the photograph. I used shades of pink and yellow to make the peachy color, which matches the DP. To add the irises, I traced the inside of the frame stamp, and cut the oval with scissors. The irises, frame, and layer beneath it are all mounted dimensionally, which gives a lot of depth to the card.

The top photo shows the card closed, and the bottom photo shows it open.

Ship and Fish Fancy Fold Card

This card uses JustRite's Anchors Away set, and K&Co paper. The coloring was done with Copics, and the distressing with Antique Linen. I stamped the medallion again and cut the center part out and mounted it dimensionally on top of the bottom medallion so the ship and antique paper part are raised above the wood and rope part. The medallion was applied with dimensional tape only on the top triangle, because you lift the triangles to open the card.

This is how the card looks when the first two triangles are lifted.

Then when you open the two triangles out, it looks like this. The center part has space for writing.

Double Zig Zag Card JRC_074

I got seven new JustRite Stamp sets, and two JustRite dies today, so I had to make a new card for JustRite Friday Challenge #074 - "Vintage Masculine". I made this card from another wonderful tutorial by Marianne Skjelstad. I wanted a mottled paper for the card and tried to make my own, but it came out terrible. I didn't have anything I liked for the card, so I used two pieces of handmade paper for the backgrounds. I'm not terribly happy with them though.

The top photo shows the card closed.

The lobster is green because it matches the paper better, and here in Maine, we see more green lobsters than red ones, because most of the lobsters we see are uncooked!

Since I used so many different JustRite products, I am listing them at the bottom of the page.

This photo is when you open the card. All the shells are JustRite stamps from the sets listed below.

While the card is open, you lift the flap, and there is a place for a saying.

All the coloring is done with three Copic markers. One brown, one yellow, and colorless blender. The stamping is done with Distress Peeled Paint, and the distressing is done with Antique Linen.

These are the JustRite products I used.

JB-10025 Nested Oval Medallion Labels Dies

JB-03730 Vintage Label & Banner Dies

CL-03645 Oceanside Oval Medallion - Cling

CL-02220 Sea Shell Bay Labels Twenty Two - Cling

CL-03655 At the Beach Oval Medallions - Cling

CR-03710 Anchors Away

Front Pop Out Card JRC_073

I made this card for JustRite Friday Challenge #073 - "Anything But Square".

I don't think this card has a name, so I just called it something that fits the style. I made one of these once before just by trying to figure it out, but Marianne Skjelstad was nice enough to make a tutorial on how she made her beautiful card, so that is what I used this time.

This card uses K&Co. paper, and JustRite's JB-09755 By The Sea Borders & Centers. I used Spellbinders Labels Twenty One to cut the card, and one of their oval dies to cut the stamped part. I used Antique Linen Distress on the edges and creases.

The top photo is the card closed, and the bottom two are what it looks like opened.

Thank you so much Marianne for your wonderful tutorial!

I am excited to say that this card won at JustRite Stampers!