My Time To Craft Inspirational Design
Fun Fold Cards
Good day, fellow crafters. I am thrilled to introduce my inspirational submission for the My Time To Craft Challenge Blog, challenge #520. The theme for this challenge, “Fun Fold Cards” is a delightful way to add an element of surprise and creativity to your handmade greeting cards. What sets them apart is their innovative design, which deviates from the standard single-fold card. Unlike traditional cards, fun fold cards incorporate various folding techniques and interactive elements that engage the recipient in an entertaining manner. These folds can include gatefold designs, easel cards, pop-up mechanisms, or even origami-inspired creations. What makes them unique is the element of discovery; as the recipient unfolds the card, they reveal hidden messages, intricate designs, or even multiple layers of creativity. Fun fold cards provide an opportunity to experiment with diverse layouts and materials, making each card a unique and memorable experience for the person receiving it.
For every challenge we, as the design team, attempt to bring you themes and ideas that will test your abilities and, ideally, ignite your enthusiasm to explore fresh ways of thinking. However, what I like most about being part of the team is seeing how we each showcase our take on the theme and sometimes just what the card means to the creator.
I hope you are inspired to enter this challenge and I can’t wait to see your creative take on this week’s theme. Be sure to tag me on your entry and/or comment below so I know to watch out for you. Remember Crafting is Happiness!
To create this card I first had to determine what I wanted from a “fun fold” as I had never ventured into this style before. Sure I have done fun-shaped cards, like my Dragon before but not one with the elements I referenced above, so after careful consideration I decided that I would work with multiple folds and a basic interactive element for this project.
The first step was to create the interior of my card because that would determine my final card size. I personally don’t hold to always worrying about a standard size, sometimes it’s fun to just let the design lead the way and not think too much. I had decided that this card was going to be for a wedding so I looked through my paper packs until I found this lovely pink paper which I decided to use for my background panel.
The sentiment came from the My Favorite Things Happily Ever After stamp set, featured left, and I decided to use it in a unique way. I aligned the paper in my Misti Stamping tool, inked the stamp with embossing ink, and then stamped the image using
even pressure. As always I did this twice to make sure I had full coverage. I then applied white heat embossing powder and set it with my heat tool. I allowed it to cool and then repeated the same steps described above but this time with black heat embossing powder. Once it cools, you end up with a heat-embossed sentiment that has a slight shadow line to it and a really cool effect.
The next step was to create the foreground elements. Utilizing the My Favorite Things Let’s Say I Do die set, featured right, I was able to cut out and assemble the tuxedo and the wedding dress. The extra touches for the wedding dress were that the dress was cut from white glitter paper and the veil from a sheet of vellum. I also utilized some metallic gold paper to create wedding bands. I adhered all the pieces onto the background panel, adding a cute little heart sticker to go along with my sentiment.
With my background panel completed, the next step was to measure the size of the cardstock I needed to create the card base. Once those measurements had been made I trimmed the background to its final size so that I was left with a thin strip of the white border all around the panel. I then scored
and folded the card base making sure to crease the folds enough that they lay flat. I next utilized the beautiful Brocade stencil from Picket Fence Studio, featured left, by securing it over the folded card, placing a piece of paper inside to prevent unwanted embossing, and then stamping embossing ink over it. I then removed the stencil, covered the ink with silver embossing powder, and then heat set it.
The next step was to create the front elements. For this, I once again turned to My Favorite Things Let’s Say I Do die set and cut out the two doves and two more wedding rings. I decided to adhere these elements to the card right away because I wanted to make sure they would align in a way that helped hold the card shut. I then adhered the background panel to the card base with double-sided tape.
To assist in keeping the card shut I next created the interactive element, the belly band. I wanted something that would definitely get the attention of the recipient as well as be a memorable aspect of the card. For this band, I used some more vellum, the My Favorite Things Happily Ever After stamp set, and some black embossing powder. Just be sure you measure twice and cut once or your band might be two short. With that, I called the card complete.
