Category: Fun Folds

Botanicals · Country Flowers · Fun Folds

Buckets of Thanks

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This week, we are looking at all the ways we can use parts of the Stampin’ Up! suite of products called Country Woods. In particular, we’ve been focusing on the Country Flowers bundle, which includes stamps and coordinating dies, and the Country Woods designer series paper. Today, we continue with a brand new fun fold design.

Today’s fun fold is called the Front Panel Z-fold. What I love about this particular fun fold is that you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. For this card design, I went somewhere in the middle. This design requires a little fussy stamping and some die cutting but all-in-all comes together pretty quickly once you get the hang of it. You can download the full PDF tutorial for today’s card, which includes a complete materials list and measurements, by clicking here. But for now, let’s take a closer look at how this card comes together.

Our card front consists of the smaller panels of the Z fold. Using the small detail stamp from the Country Flowers stamp set, we stamp a repeating pattern tone-on-tone on Smoky Slate cardstock. I chose a very symmetrical pattern and used a sheet of grid paper along with grid lines on my stamp block to accomplish this. This stamped panel is then cut into two smaller panels that are just a tick smaller than the card base. We cut a second quarter panel of white cardstock to make an identical sized mat that is adhered on the outermost fold to precisely overlay the inside message panel.

We start with a card base of Basic Gray cardstock. Our card base is of standard size and scored to give us our Z panel. The full-sized panel is our inside message panel, while our Z fold serves to give us a look inside with the overlapping front focal panel. For the inside panel, we cut a sheet of the gray woodgrain panel just a little smaller. The inside message panel is a quarter sheet of white cardstock that has been cut to size and then adhered to the center of the woodgrain panel. Be sure you only adhere to the outermost small panel so that your card will open. Next, we diecut a piece of the Pool Party woodgrain pattern from the Country Woods paper pack using the Deckled Rectangles die set. Using a glue dot, a faux bow is adhered diagonally across the front white mat and then the Deckled Rectangle piece is adhered over it using dimensionals. Using the Country Flowers stamps, stamp a bucket in black ink on Smoky Slate. I used Stampin’ Blends to provide shading and shadowing to the bucket, then diecut the bucket using the coordinating die from the Country Flowers die set. The greenery is cut from Old Olive and Mossy Meadow cardstock using the die from Country Flowers. The bucket and greenery are adhered with layers of dimensionals to give realistic visual planes. The sentiment from Something Fancy is stamped in black on white cardstock and then diecut using the Spotlight on Nature die set. The sentiment is adhered over the corner of the image panel using dimensionals. To draw the eye to the sentiment, rhinestone basic jewels are placed in a triangle around the sentiment panel.

Want to watch how this card comes together? You can watch the full episode of this week’s Terrific Tuesdays where we walk through the making of this card:

Tune in tomorrow for another fun fold design that showcases the beautiful greenery in the Country Flowers bundle. You want want to miss it!

Products used in today’s card:
Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Basic White cardstock
Country Woods DSP
Country Flowers stamps & dies
Something Fancy stamps
Deckled Rectangles, Spotlight on Nature dies
Stampin’ Blends
Linen thread
Rhinestone basic jewels
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Fun Folds · Masculine Designs

True Blessing

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This week, we’re working through our stash of Stampin’ Up! products to honor all the guys. It’s hard to believe that it’s already June and Father’s Day is quickly approaching. I hope one of this week’s designs inspires you to create something special for your fellas.

Today, we’re combining some gorgeous designer series paper with our dies to create this stunning fun fold called the Faux Fold-Over. We get started with a base of Early Espresso cardstock that has been cut to give us a flip-up panel, or the faux fold-over panel, in the center. Our full background layer is the sheet of Pool Party woodgrain from the Country Woods designer series paper pack.

For the center panel, we emboss a piece of the Pebbled Path luster paper using the Leaf Fall embossing folder. The sentiment panel consists of three layers — the bottom two layers utilize both sides of the white woodgrain sheet from the Country Woods paper pack and the third panel is white cardstock. Each circle is cut using the Spotlight on Nature dies. The white sentiment panel is stamped with the Unbounded Love sentiment in Copper Clay. The sentiment panel is adhered to the darker circle to create a matted sentiment. This layer is then adhered with dimensionals to the largest circle and the full panel is adhered using dimensionals to the center panel over a twist of linen thread. From Copper Clay luster paper, we diecut deer and branches from the Grove die set and a maple leaf from the Autumn Leaves dies and then adhere them to our panel to create our scene. The card front is finished off with swirl dots. Our inside sentiment from the Something Fancy set is stamped atop the small leaves from the Autumn Leaves stamp set in the bottom-right corner of the message panel.

This week’s Terrific Tuesdays episode walks you through making this card step-by-step. Missed the episode? You can watch the full episode right here:

You can also download the FREE step-by-step PDF tutorial for today’s card by clicking here.

Tomorrow we’ll be heading through the grove. I hope you’ll stop by and check it out!

Products used in today’s card:
Early Espresso, Basic White cardstock
Country Woods, In Color Luster DSP
Unbounded Love, Something Fancy, Autumn Leaves stamps
Spotlight on Nature, Grove, Autumn Leaves dies
Leaf Fall embossing folder
Linen thread
Swirl dots
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Friends for Life · Fun Folds · Gifting

Happy Birthday, Friend

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Today we’re continuing to explore all the many ways we can use the Friends for Life bundle by Stampin’ Up! to create fabulous projects. I don’t know about you, but I like to have birthday cards of all kinds on hand for those moments when I need to grab a birthday card on the run. And today’s design is a two-for-one — a gift and a beautiful card!

This gift card design is a modified version of the Slide Up Gift Card Holder by fellow demo Jackie Bolhuis over at Klompen Stampers. I simplified the design to have a slide out gift card holder rather than the slide up version Jackie makes, but both are equally as wonderful for providing a lovely way to give a gift card. What I really loved about this design is it offers so much visual interest. From a beautiful card front that serves double duty as the gift card pocket to the ample space on the inside to dress things up, you have plenty of opportunity to express your creativity.

We get started with a base of Pretty in Pink cardstock. The cardstock is halved on the long edge for this design, but rather than scoring in the center, you’ll instead score at 3 3/4-inches and 9 1/4-inches. That gives you a center portion of standard size and then a flip-up flap and smaller bottom flap for the card front. The smaller flap should be adhered to the card base on either side to create the small pocket, which will be visible when the card front is closed. I chose a sheet of the Flowering Zinnias designer paper as the background panel and cut it so that a small border shows on each of the front panels. The fun background image is the large heart from the Friends for Life die set. I cut a Pretty in Pink heart and used the center portion as the background for the Pretty in Pink glimmer hearts. For the glimmer hearts, nestle the leaf heart die inside the large heart die when diecutting. I then used both the outside and inside hearts on top of the Pretty in Pink solid heart. The sentiment panel is diecut from Pretty in Pink using the smudge banner and then the sentiment is stamped tone-on-tone toward one end. The word friend from Friends for Life is stamped in Pretty in Pink on white cardstock and then diecut with the coordinating die. The sentiment is adhered to the card front with dimensionals .Two small hearts are diecut from white glimmer paper and used as eye-catching accents for the sentiment. The card front is finished of with a few In Color shimmer gems.

The inside of the card is finished to coordinate with the card front. The top flip panel has a piece of the Flowering Zinnias designer paper. Two shimmery banners diecut from glimmer paper and cut using the Filled with Fun dies bring festive fun to this top panel. The inside sentiment from Filled with Fun is stamped on white cardstock diecut using the Autumn Leaves dies. TIP: In order to get the banner long enough for the sentiment, you’ll want to use the extension method.

The gift card holder itself is a pocket within a pocket. It’s made two-sided so that the portion visible through the card front disappears into the background. A tug on the Pretty in Pink bordered ribbon reveals the gift holder and the gift card in the pocket on the reverse side. Each side has a piece of the Flowering Zinnias paper to coordinate with the rest of the card, along with a repeat of the happy birthday sentiment. I chose to keep the inside of my card very simple, but you can see where you could really dress it up.

I hope you’ll join me tomorrow for a more masculine inspired design.

Products used in today’s gift card:
Pretty in Pink, Basic White cardstock
Flowering Zinnias, In Color glimmer, White glimmer DSP
Friends for Life, Filled with Fun stamps
Friends for Life, Autumn Leaves, Filled with Fun dies
Pretty in Pink bordered ribbon
In Color shimmer gems, In Color resin dots
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Flowering Zinnias · Fun Folds · Shop the catalog

Wishing Strength

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We’re finishing out this week’s tour of the Flowering Zinnias suite with a beautiful fun fold featuring the designer series paper. The paper in this suite is what initially caught my eye, but once it was all said and done, I ended up with all of the coordinating products after being inspired by what other crafters were able to do with the suite as a whole.

Today’s card design uses a double fold-over panel fun fold and showcases the Flowering Zinnias DSP. We’re using the coordinating Simply Zinnia dies to accentuate elements of the gorgeous paper.

We start this card with a standard base of Mossy Meadow cardstock, which is scored in the center. The front panel is cut diagonally to make a smaller fold-over panel in order to reveal more of the gorgeous designer paper on the fold-over panel underneath. This small panel is then covered with the leaves and stems patterned sheet from the Flowering Zinnias paper pack, which is matted with a piece of Soft Sea Foam cardstock. Each layer is 1/8-inch smaller than the next.

Next, we move to assembling the overlapping front sentiment panel. The base layer is Mossy Meadow cardstock that has been diecut with the second largest hexagon from the Nested Essentials die set. Cut an identical size hexagon from Soft Sea Foam and then cut a sliver from the center so that a small border of Mossy Meadow is exposed on either side at top and bottom when the two hexagons are adhered together. The sentiment panel is cut from white cardstock with the next-smallest nesting hexagon from the die set and the sentiment from the Inspiring Snapdragons stamp set is stamped in the center. All three layers are adhered together in one flat panel and adhered directly to the bottom of the front fold-over panel. I cut a second sentiment panel from white cardstock and stamped the sentiment from Something Fancy in the center. This is adhered to the back of the hexagon on the inside of the small fold-over panel.

Now we move to assembling the inside fold-over panel. This panel also begins with a base of Mossy Meadow cardstock, which is cut so that there is a 1-inch flap to adhere to the card base and serve as the hinge for this panel. The sheet of designer paper from the Flowering Zinnias pack is matted with a sheet of Soft Sea Foam and then adhered to the flap base. Each layer is 1/8-inch smaller than the one underneath. The inside message panel is a plain white sheet of paper that has been left blank for an extended message.

We finish off the card design by accentuating the zinnias in the patterned paper panel. Using the Simply Zinnia dies, I assembled two blooms. The petals are cut from Calypso Coral and Flirty Flamingo, while the flower centers are cut from Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie. I also cut a single bloom from the edge of the sheet of blooms paper from the paper pack and adhered a flower center to the top to add that bit of realism to it, as well. The partial flower is adhered to the left side of the sentiment panel to cover the center seam of the Soft Sea Foam layer. The two diecut zinnia blooms are placed so that they give some life and realism to the two DSP panels—one over the stems and leaves flap and one nestled in the floral DSP panel just under the sentiment. Everything is finished off with sequins and a butterfly.

Click here to download the detailed PDF tutorial for today’s card. Don’t be intimidated by the number of steps! I break things up into bite-sized pieces to help ME not miss a step the next time I pull out my directions. *wink*

Tomorrow we’re (finally) going to get a look at those By Your Side Kit alternatives. I hope you’ll pop in to see how you can make a few little tweaks to kits to give them a fresh look.

Products used in today’s card design:
Mossy Meadow, Soft Sea Foam, Calypso Coral, Flirty Flamingo, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Basic White cardstock
Flowering Zinnias DSP
Simply Zinnia, Nested Essentials dies
Inspiring Snapdragons, Something Fancy stamps
Paper butterfly
Shiny sequins, sequins trio
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Fun Folds

Brighter Tomorrow

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Hello, friends! I hope your week has gotten off to a good start. Thanks so much for hanging with me as I took a little break to tend to my hubby who was in the hospital. I’m pleased to report that we are now home! And as the saying goes, there really IS no place like home!

Over the weekend, I had a small bit of time to play around with some of the products I purchased from the new Annual Catalog. I kept things really simple and used a few sketches that I pulled from my sketch book.

Today’s card is a faux fold-over fun fold card. The center section lifts up, just as a fold-over would, but this card is constructed entirely of the card base without any extra layers like the usual fold-over design has. The front panel of the card is cut to give you a large center section and the two small side sections are adhered to the card base so that, rather than the entire card front opening, only the panel in the middle opens. I like to call this a fun fold cheat because it has all the pretty and half as much work — haha!

We begin with a base of Petunia Pop cardstock, which is one of the new In Colors. The base is cut to standard size and scored in the center. After selecting a side to serve as the card front, cut a one-inch strip on each side of the card front, leaving a larger panel in the center. Be sure you’re only cutting from the bottom edge to the center score line. Next, choose and cut a piece of the Thoughtful Journey designer paper so that it is slightly smaller than the entire card front. Then cut a three-quarter inch strip from each side. This will leave you a center piece of designer paper that should lay perfectly over the entire center flap of the card front, leaving only the small border of Petunia Pop on the top and bottom. The sentiment from Unbounded Love is stamped in Petunia Pop and black on a piece of vellum diecut using the Nested Essentials set. It’s adhered to the center section using glue dots on each end. A few sequins and a paper butterfly finish things off and draw the eye across the card to rest on the sentiment.

I have a few more cards to share this week from my weekend crafting mini session and hope to get back into the swing of things as we settle into an appointment schedule here at home.

Products used in today’s card:
Petunia Pop, vellum cardstock
Thoughtful Journey DSP
Unbounded Love stamps
Nested Essentials dies
Paper butterflies
Shiny sequins
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Clean and Simple · Fun Folds

Picked for You

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This week, we’ll be frolicking in the meadows and stopping to smell a few flowers along the way. Stampin’ Up! has a whole host of papers and stamps that put us squarely in the middle of beautiful fields and fragrant flower patches. And we’re going to explore some of my favorites throughout this week.

We begin today with a new take on an old fun fold. I recently ran across the hidden barn fold design and knew I had to give it a try. Why is it called a hidden fold? When the card is completely closed, the two sections of the front panel meet, they make the center cut virtually disappear.

So our take on this card begins with a base of Blackberry Bliss cardstock. The focal panel consists of a bottom mat of Lost Lagoon soft shimmer paper that is diecut using the largest Perennial Postage die, followed by a layer of Highland Heather cut just a tick smaller, and finally with our section of Meandering Meadow designer paper on top. To accomplish the two perfect sections, I cut the shimmery layer in half after I diecut it. I adhered the DSP and Highland Heather mat together first before also cutting them in half with the trimmer. Then these three layers were adhered together before carefully adhering them in place on the card front so that they meet together perfectly at the center. The sentiment from Charming Sentiments is stamped on white cardstock and diecut using the smallest Thoughtful Expressions die. The sentiment mat is cut from Lost Lagoon shimmer paper. A twist of silver & white sheer ribbon and Lost Lagoon bordered ribbon are adhered in between the two sentiment layers. Using dimensionals, the sentiment is adhered to the left flap of the card front. I added a few purple fine shimmer gems for sparkle and to move the eye diagonally across the card front.

This particular design is super easy to put together. And by changing the color palette and DSP, each card has a completely different look. This is going to be a go-to design for me if I need to make a whole host of simple yet beautiful cards!

Tune in tomorrow as we explore the rolling Hills of Tuscany!

Products used in today’s card:
Blackberry Bliss, Highland Heather, Basic White cardstock
Meandering Meadow, Lost Lagoon soft shimmer DSP
Charming Sentiments stamps
Thoughtful Expressions, Perennial Postage dies
Silver & white sheer trim, Lost Lagoon bordered ribbon
Purple fine shimmer gems
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Fun Folds · Terrific Tuesdays · Tutorials

Terrific Tuesdays: Episode 13

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Welcome to a new episode of Terrific Tuesdays, where each week we’ll explore new projects using some of the latest projects from Stampin’ Up! I know what you may be thinking….wait, it’s not Tuesday. And you’d be right. If you’ve followed me here or on any of the socials for the last several months, you may remember that I had to take a break due to a family emergency. And I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for sticking around and waiting for my return. While I’m back to posting more regularly now, it will still be necessary for me to take breaks here and there as we continue to address some long-term medical needs.

But today, I’m bringing you a new Terrific Tuesdays video. Earlier this week, I shared a treat holder fun fold with a teaser that a video tutorial would be forthcoming and this is it! I walk you through this cute treat holder step-by-step and give you some pointers, i.e. lessons in avoiding mistakes that I learned the hard way! *wink* For those folks who like to watch and also follow along with written instructions, I’m including the PDF tutorial for FREE download.

I hope you enjoy this twist on our Terrific Tuesdays format!

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Fun Folds · Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team

Big Hugs Giftie

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Our monthly Luv 2 Stamp Team challenge is using designer series paper and to include at least one 3D project in the mix. I decided to make a fun treat holder for my 3D project since I had just recently made a whole slew of this design for a craft fair.

What I love about this particular fun fold is that you can adapt it to numerous occasions based on what you stuff in all of the treat holder slots. For today’s design, I chose to focus more on afternoon tea time. But I’ve also used these little gifties to feature get well items, like a package of tissues, some tea and honey, and vitamin mixes. There’s really no limit to how you can tailor them to any occasion.

For today’s treat holder, I used a sheet of the Delightfully Eclectic designer paper. The decorative insert has a base of Gorgeous Grape diecut using the Thoughtful Expressions dies. The sentiment from Perennial Postage is stamped on white and then diecut using the All That dies. I cut a flower from the DSP to tie everything together. I hope to post a tutorial video tomorrow (cross your fingers) and will also share the PDF tutorial.

Products used:
Gorgeous Grape, Basic White cardstock
Delightfully Eclectic DSP
Perennial Postage stamps
Thoughtful Expressions, All That dies
Rainbow dots
Silver trim
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Fun Folds

Sprinkling of Love

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The Bright Skies stamps and dies in the current Stampin’ Up! Mini catalog are some of my favorites because they allow you to make so many different cards for a variety of occasions. This is one of those sets that will remain in my stash even after the current mini catalog retires.

This card design uses a peek-through fun fold design to reveal the sentiment. And for me, the eye-catching twist on this fun fold is the use of the vellum.

This card is built on a base of Pretty Peacock. I removed 2 1/2-inches of the front panel to create the peek-through portion. A piece of the Sunny Days designer series paper serves as the base for the front panel. A sheet of vellum is diecut on each end using the Bright Skies cloud bank dies and then embossed with the Raindrops embossing folder. This vellum panel is adhered with dimensionals over the base. To create a variety of clouds, I stamped two of the four clouds on cardstock using the Bright Skies stamps and simply diecut two from colored cardstock. Dimensionals help create the cloud layers over the vellum.

The sentiment for this card is stamped in the inside message panel which is visible thanks to the peek-through panel we created with the front card panel. The little scene is created with the Bright Skies stamps and begins with the little hill of flowers. I used the back of one of the smaller clouds to stamp the hill and then filled in with the flower stems and tulips. And finished with the sentiment. A few foiled gems help the eye settle on the sentiment.

Peek-through designs are such a great way to dress the inside and outside of your cards at the same time.

Products used in today’s design:
Pretty Peacock, Shaded Spruce, Lost Lagoon, Smoky Slate, Basic White cardstock
Sunny Days DSP
Bright Skies stamps
Bright Skies dies
Gold foiled gems
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Fun Folds

You Are Loved

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Happy Thursday, everyone! And more importantly for us here in the U.S., happy Thanksgiving! My family will be gathering today to celebrate but, more importantly, we will be together to laugh and spend time together. I am blessed to have a close-knit family who gathers together often, not just for holidays. We share in joys and sorrows and tough circumstances together. And when we have friends who are far away from their families for the holidays, we wrap them right into ours!

I hope you have reasons to offer thanksgiving today. And if you are far away from family, I hope God sends you friends who will love you like family. And it’s the idea of being part of a community that inspired this week’s card design. Let’s take a look!

The new Meandering Meadows designer series paper currently available in Online Exclusives is simply stunning, and each of the scenic sides of these papers lend themselves to beautiful cards with very little else needed outside of the gorgeous paper. There are a whole host of fun folds that allow us to retain large sections of paper while still providing variety of design and, of course, gorgeous cards.

Today’s card design is based on a fun fold, known as a Split Panel, that I learned from fellow demonstrator Jackie Bolhuis with Klompen Stampers. This fold came by its name because the front and back panels are split apart and held together by a Z-fold in the center. I chose the portrait orientation, but you could easily turn the design landscape.

The two panels of the base of this design are Pretty Peacock cardstock. I wanted to draw out the beautiful pinks in the clouds and flowers in the sheet of Meandering Meadow DSP I selected, so I chose to mat the sheet with Moody Mauve. I used the Deckled Rectangles dies to cut both the mat and DSP panel. I tied a piece of silver and white sheer ribbon around the bottom of the panel before adhering to the card front with dimensionals. A few pink tinsel gems in opposing corners add a little sparkle and allow the eye to move across the focal panel. Although difficult to see in these photos, I highlighted the pinks in the clouds and across the mountain front by going over them with Wink of Stella. It’s a truly stunning effect in person! I stamped the sentiment, from the Softly Said stamp set, in the center of the inside fold-out. The message panel is framed on one side by a scrap of the DSP I cut for the card front.

I made this card with a particular friend in mind. Life has thrown my friend a lot of difficult things lately, and I wanted to offer a word of support. You know, I think we should do more of that these days. Life is hard for so many people, and some feel like the whole world is against them and they have no one who cares about them. A simple word of support or encouragement can make all the difference in whether that person carries on. Food for thought as so many of us are blessed to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends today.

Products used:
Pretty Peacock, Moody Mauve, Basic White cardstock
Meandering Meadows DSP
Deckled Rectangles dies
Silver and white sheer ribbon
Tinsel gems
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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