Fun Fold: Angled Gate Fold Card

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Angled Gate Fold Card

As soon as I saw this Angled Gate Fold card I knew I had to give it a try.  It’s so interesting with the different angles.  You can have either the left flap or the right flap of the card be the one that has your focal point on it.  The sample I saw had the focal point on the right side but wanted to change it up and have my focal point on the left.  Personally, I like it better on the left.

The card base for this card is pretty easy to make once you’ve figure out the little tricks to it.  You are going to start with a 5 ½” x 11’ piece of cardstock.  Score it along one the long sides at 3 3/8” and 7 5/8”.

The easiest way to figure out how to cut the angles on the flaps of the card base is to watch the quick video below that I recorded. I’ve also posted a few photos below.

To make the top angle you want to line up the 7 5/8″ score mark in the cutting grove of your Stampin’ Up! Trimmer. Then line up the top corner of the card base at the right edge of the trimmer grid. This actually is at 1 1/2″. Then cut along the cutting grove.

The second or bottom angle of the flap is just as easy to make. This time you are going to line up the corner piece that you just cut in the cutting grove and then line up the bottom corner of the card base with the 1″ mark. You can view this in the photo below.

To cut the angles on the left flap of the card base I completely flipped my card base over and repeated the steps above.

It was easier to flip the card so that I could use the same measurement points on the right side of my Paper Trimmer.

To cut the designer paper and/or cardstock to layer on top of the card base flaps you will want to start with a piece which is 3 1/4″ x 5 3/8 . The important thing to remember when trimming these pieces is that it is not going to exactly match up to the flap. Your borders may not be exactly equal. If you are super particular about your crafting you may need to tweak things a bit.

You will trim the 3 1/4″ x 5 3/8″ pieces the exact same way that you trimmed the angles on the flaps. Instead of starting the first angle on the score mark you will start it at the left top corner of the paper.

Most of the samples I saw using this fun fold had the same pattern of designer paper on both the left flap and the right flap of the card. I tried that but with the pattern I was using and with the white card base it was just too much white. My card needed a little contrast so I decided to cover the right flap with Misty Moonlight cardstock which I embossed with the Bark 3D Embossing Folder. It was just what my card needed!

I hope you like this week’s fun fold. Give it a try and leave a comment with your project. I’d love to see it! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

A Whimsy & Wonder Card Sketch

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Whimsy & Wonder Card Sketch

Here I go again using Stampin’ Up!’s Whimsy & Wonder Specialty Designer Series Paper thatI was sure I wouldn’t like. Who uses pink and light green on a Christmas card? The more I use this paper the more I like it. There are some really nice patterns even if they include pink! Ha!

I like having a starting point for my design when I use a card sketch. When I look at the sketch I try to envision different stamp sets and papers in the design and then go from there. Sometimes I just thumb through my designer papers to see which ones I think will work best with the design. As you know, the design of a project is usually the hardest part of creating.

What products would you use with this card sketch? Make a card and share your design in the comments section! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine with a Penguin Place Birthday Card

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Guess what?  My inspiration today didn’t come from the internet.  It’s straight from Stampin’ Up!’s July – December (Holiday) Mini Catalog!  You can find the adorable Penguin Place stamp set (and coordinating Penguin Builder Punch) on page 33 of this publication as well as the inspiration for today’s card.

I love all of the fabulous samples that Stampin’ Up! shares with us in their publications but a lot of times I don’t really look at them.  I need to do more of that.  This sample caught my eye because it’s not a holiday card.  It’s a birthday card which is a great way to remind us that not all holiday stamp sets are just for the holidays.  This Penguin Place stamp set has a number of sentiments in it that could be used year around or at least all winter long!

Penguin Place Card

I stuck fairly close to my inspiration on this card (unlike last week!)  I added a layer (naturally!) and changed the colors of the gifts as well as not stamping the “happy birthday” on the balloon.  As I was writing this up I realized that I also forgot the little bow tie on my penguin.  Hmm….if I had remembered to add it I wonder what color I would have made it.  How about you?

This penguin is so dang cute!  I probably wouldn’t have purchased this stamp set and the coordinating punch if Stampin’ Up! hadn’t offered the fun Penguin Playmates Designer Paper in the Sale-a-bration Brochure.  How could I resist?  You know how much I love coordination. 

The Penguin Place Bundle (stamp set and punch) are only $31.50 which means that when you purchase it you only have to add a few more items to reach $50 and be able to choose the Penguin Playmates Designer Paper as your free Sale-a-bration item.  Only one month left of Sale-a-bration!  Don’t miss out!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Book Binding Fun Fold Christmas Card

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Book Binding Fun Fold

When I first saw the Whimsy & Wonder Suite in Stampin’ Up!’s July – December (Holiday) Catalog I had a hard time with it. To me Christmas items should be red and green with maybe some blue, silver or gold thrown in. Pink, although it’s my favorite color, does not say Christmas to me.

Then I started messing around with the Whimsy & Wonder Specialty Designer Series Paper. Too fun! I kind of got into the pink and other light colors of the paper. This card made rethink the whole “no pink for Christmas” thing. Ha!

Book Binding Fun Fold – open

Today’s Fun Fold is the Book Binding Fun Fold and is SO easy! Start with an 11″ x 4 1/4″ piece of cardstock for the card base. Score at 4 1/4″ and 5 1/2″. Fold the score marks in opposite directions. Adhere the small section of the card front to the inside of the card base. This will leave you with a 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ section that opens for your card and a 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ section on the inside of your card. Then on to decorating!

I used all of the accessories/embellishments in the Whimsey and Wonder Suite of products on my card. The gorgeous paper, the iridescent foil snowflake and the fun Blushing Bride pink ribbon. The Basic White layers on my card are 4″ x 4″ and 1″ x 4″. The designer paper layers are 3 3/4″ x 3 3/4″ and 3/4″ x 3 3/4″. I adhered the snowflake to the front of the card with a Stampin’ Dimensional which fits perfectly in the center of the snowflake.

What you may not have noticed in the first two photos I shared of this card and which is still a little difficult to see in this photo is that I actually used two different ribbons layered together on my card.

The Blushing Bride 3/8″ Frayed Ribbon looked nice on the card but it seemed a little flat. That’s where the fun, new White 3/8″ Glittered Organdy Ribbon comes in. When layered with the pink, the glitter ribbon gives the last perfect, sparkly touch to the card!

That Rule of 3 came into play again on this card. The designer paper sparkles, the snowflake sparkles/shimmers and the ribbon sparkles. Three different items that make my card shine!

If you like the look of fun fold card but some seem a little involved for you be sure to give the Book Binding Fun Fold a try. It’s the perfect fun fold to get you started.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Expressions In Ink Card Sketch

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Here is today’s card sketch. I think I did pretty good on this one. Just a few additions, right? Naturally I had to add another layer….

I used Stampin’ Up!’s gorgeous Expressions in Ink Specialty Designer Series paper as the focal point for my card. This paper is so beautiful! The sentiment is from the Artistically Inked stamp set which also is part of the Expressions in Ink Suite of products that can be found on pages 96-97 of Stampin’ Up!’s Annual Catalog. “thanks” is heated embossed with Gold Embossing Powder .

Did you notice how I used the “Rule of 3” with the gold? There is gold in the designer paper, the sentiment is embossed in gold and my added layer is gold. If you don’t remember what the Rule of 3 is it is this: when things are used in threes they are more pleasing to the eye. You may use this when creating your projects and not even realize that you’re using the “Rule of 3”.

Once again, I’m going to encourage you to try creating with card sketches. Whether you get your sketches from Freshly Made Sketches where I’ve been finding mine or some other source, card sketches are a great way to start the creative process.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

A Non-Traditional Halloween Card for Make It Mine Monday

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Nontraditional Halloween Card with Sparkle of the Season

Today I really changed things up with Make It Mine Monday!  Both cards are made using the fun and versatile Sparkle of the Season Bundle but after that…..well, you decide!  Ha!

There were two things on the original card that caught my eye and made me want to make it mine.  The first was my favorite checked ribbon and the second was the little bats on the card.  I love stamped, punched or die-cut bats but I’m pretty sure I’d be totally freaked out if I encountered a real bat.  After including the those two items on my card all bets were off and the card was my own.  I guess I did use the same pattern of the Cute Halloween designer paper.

The bundle used to create both the original card and my card is the Sparkle of the Season Bundle (page 58 in Stampin’ Up!’s Mini Catalog).  In the Seasonal Swirls dies that coordinate with the Sparkle of the Season stamp set there are three different swirled wreath dies.  One has Christmas greenery, one has leaves and the last one has stars.  On the card that inspired me the creator used the wreath with leaves and added pumpkins.  For a Halloween card I wanted to use the wreath with the stars and I wanted my stars to be yellow which is why my Halloween card is black and yellow instead of black and orange.  Now that I’m writing this I guess I could have used the traditional Halloween colors but…I didn’t.

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Fun Fold: Modified Z-Fold 2.0

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In my newsletter early this week I shared a card that was similar to this with a single leaf and the same color combination. I liked it so much that I wanted to use it again with a fun fold.

Today’s card is a modified Z-Fold. I’m actually calling it a Modified Z-Fold 2.0 because I’ve already shared one type of modified Z-Fold card with you. You really can do a lot with a Z-Fold.

Modified Z-Fold Fun Fold Card

As you can see in the photos above, the front and back of the card aren’t connected to each other at all. The inside Z-fold section connects the front and the back of the card. It’s a fun little modification to change things up a little.

Each of the outside panels are 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″. The inside Z-fold is a piece of cardstock that is 11″ long and 3 1/2″ wide. It is scored on the long side at 1 1/2″ and 6 1/4″. Fold the 1/2″ score mark into a mountain fold and the 6 1/4″ score mark into a valley fold.

The large outside section of the Z-Fold is adhered to a 5″ x 3 3/4″ piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock which is then adhered to the back section of the card. To adhere the front piece of the card to the small section of the Z-fold first close up the Z-fold and place adhesive on the small section. Now line up the front of the card with the back of the card and press down so the adhesive adheres. The card base should be complete and ready to decorate.

I love the way the Stitched With Whimsy die perfectly frames the leaf and sentiment on the card front. It also brings out the stitching on the Stitched Leaf die. The “hello” is from the Biggest Wish stamp set and the speckles behind the leaf are from the Gorgeous Leaves stamp set.

Below you will find a quick video on how I made the base of the card.

Modified Z-Fold Card

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Spot On With A Wintery Card Sketch

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I hope you agree with me that I hit the nail on the head with this card sketch. I didn’t add anything and I didn’t change anything. Can you believe it? With recreating projects I have a hard time leaving well enough alone.

How about you? When you are inspired by a project do you copy it verbatim or do you switch things up to follow your own personal style more? Even with step-by-step instructions right in front of me I change things up….mostly because I didn’t read the directions correctly or I wasn’t paying close enough attention to the video/instructor.

Whether you do follow something step-by-step or completely change things up, the important thing is that you are happy with the results. You need to enjoy what you do and that includes enjoying the finished product!

Go create and enjoy! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Celebrate With Sunflowers: Make It Mine

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This lovely card made with Stampin’ Up!’s Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set really caught my eye. My first thought was “nice card but sunflowers are yellow!”. Well, I had to look it up but apparently you can find sunflowers in colors other than yellow if they are crossbred. Who knew? I admire the creator of this card for stepping outside the box. I also admire them for doing such a nice job of coloring with their Stampin’ Blends Markers!

How do you switch up such a nice card? Well, you first make the sunflower yellow! Ha! I guess I’m a purist. Of course then I had to decide which of Stampin’ Up!’s yellows to use. As with many of the color decisions I make when creating a project I let my ribbon make the decision for me. After seeing the lovely original I knew that I wanted to add ribbon and thought that the Bumblebee Gingham Ribbon would work perfectly with a sunflower.

Celebrate Sunflowers

Lately, I’ve really been into using dies on my projects so that is what I chose to do with my sunflower. I’m not very good at coloring either.

I stamped both the flower image and the leaves before die-cutting the solid portions and then I die cut the intricate pieces after adding a piece of Adhesive Sheet to the back of the cardstock.

The more I thought about it, I guess I did change up quite a bit on the card. The only things that I didn’t change were the basic layout of the card and the stamp set I used. That’s the whole idea of Make It Mine Monday. Get inspired! Take a card that catches your eye and start from there.

Have a great day. Take care. Happy stamping. Be inspired!

Double Dutch Door Fun Fold Card

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Guess what? There is an actual Double Dutch Door! Just like the name suggests, it’s double! Both the top and bottom parts have two doors each! Who knew?!

Last week I shared the Dutch Door Fun Fold with you and today you get the Double Dutch Door Fun Fold.  These folds are similar, yet different.  The Dutch Door Fun Fold only had one piece that opened on the card and the Double Dutch Door Fun Fold actually has three!  OK…maybe it should be called the Triple Dutch Door Fun Fold but that name doesn’t have quite the same ring. Ha!

Double Dutch Door Fun Fold

In these two photos you can see the three different flaps on the card. The top flap will fold down and the two smaller flaps at the bottom will fold in. So fun!

Here is the closed card. You can easily see the three flaps. The circular focal point helps hold the flaps down.

When I saw the Nuts About Squirrels stamp set on page 49 of the new Mini Catalog I thought “here we go again…another cutesy stamp set and I don’t do cutesy”. Hmmm…as you can see, I changed my mind. These little squirrels are too stinkin’ cute and I really like the sentiments. There’s your basic “happy birthday” but the “hope you’re feeling bright-eyed & bushy-tailed” was the clincher for me.

As you can see, this stamp set makes a very cute card! Cinnamon Cider was just the right color for my squirrel and the In Good Taste Designer Series Paper completed my card perfectly!

Here is a template to help you make the card base. You need to start with a piece of cardstock that is 8 1/2″ wide by 9″ high. Then cut and score according to the template.

Have fun with this fold. I think you’ll like it! I’d love to see what your Double Dutch Door Card looks like! Leave a comment and share!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Ephemera Wreath Card Sketch

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I’m going to start today’s post with a definition of “ephemera”. At first I looked it up in the dictionary and the definition didn’t make any sense at all. Then I “googgled” it and had better luck. I typed in “ephemera in crafting” and got a more useful definition. “Ephemera is generally defined as collectible memorabilia that is was for a short term purpose. … Ephemera is almost always paper-based and is often written or printed items that were expected to have short term popularity or usefulness.” When I look in Stampin’ Up!’s catalog at the Expressions in Ink Ephemera Pack on page 141 of the Annual Catalog I would call it “pretty stuff to put on my latest project”. I wouldn’t call this the best description but it works for me. Ha!

The reason I went into all this detail for today’s card sketch is because the gold wreath on my card is part of the Expressions in Ink Ephemera Pack. Since I was using it I thought I should figure out what the word “ephemera” meant.

My take on today’s card sketch is pretty close. That is if you discount the extras I added. Ha! In my opinion the sketch needed another layer and I added the sentiment to finish it off.

Are you wondering how I got the gold ephemera wreath to adhere to the card front? I didn’t. I placed the wreath where I wanted and when I adhered the flowers and the sentiment they held the wreath in place. There was no way I would have been able to get glue on the back of that skinny wreath!

That would be my tip of the day….when trying to adhere something really thin and narrow to your project use another piece to actually anchor your thin item.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine With Daisy Garden

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Daisy Garden

You may have missed the Daisy Garden stamp on your first, second and maybe even third time through Stampin’ Up!’s Annual Catalog. It’s a hidden gem on page 106. The colored samples on the page are what catch your eye and the image of the stamp is on the smaller size.

Daisy Garden is a single large stamp. It’s perfect for backgrounds but also works well as a focal point. Once I finally noticed it I knew I needed it on my stamp shelf. Who doesn’t like daisies? (wink, wink!)

When looking for a card to make with the fun Daisy Garden stamp I came across this striking black and white card. It’s simplicity caught my eye. There I go again with the simple cards. My tastes must be changing. Anyway, I liked this card so much I decided to Make It Mine.

The first thing I had to do was add another layer to the card. You know me and my layers. Then I decided it needed a little color so I added the layer of Bumblebee cardstock and colored the centers of the flowers with my Bumblebee Stampin’ Write Marker. Next was adding the Bumblebee Gingham Ribbon.

As you can see from the photo of my card I didn’t stop there. I liked the card but it looked a little flat. I had seen another card online where the creator had stamped the daisies a second time, cut out three of them and popped them on to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals. So that’s what I did and it made the card just right! It gave the card a little dimension.

What you can’t see from the phot is that I also added a little Wink of Stella Glitter Brush to the centers of the flowers. Such a fun and summery card! I love the way it turned out!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Dutch Door Fun Fold Card

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What the heck is a Dutch Door and how can you make it into a fun fold card?

Dutch Door

In the first photo above you can see what a Dutch Door is. It’s one of those doors where the top and bottom of the door open separately. The second photo is the adorable card I’m sharing with you today.

I know, you’re looking at the photos thinking that the card doesn’t look anything like the Dutch Door. It looks like a regular card.

That’s what is so fun about this design. Check out the photo on the left. You can now see that only the bottom of this card opens! Sneaky, right?

The top section of the front of the card base is trimmed away. The focal point is then adhered to the bottom section of the card front so when it’s closed it looks like a normal card.

I lined up the short edge of the card front at the 2 3/4″ mark on my paper trimmer and cut down to the fold. Then I lined up the fold of the card on the cutting line and cut down to the edge of the paper. Easy Peasy. All that was left to do was decorate!

The adorable Penguin Place stamp set from the new Mini Catalog and the coordinating Penguin Playmates Designer Series Paper from the Sale-a-bration Brochure were the perfect choices for this card. Cheerful and fun!

The two pieces of designer paper as well as the Basic White insert for the card all measure 4″ x 2 1/2″. When adhering the focal point to the card base just remember to put your adhesive (I used Stampin’ Dimensionals) on the lower portion of the card.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Card Sketch: Summer Sunflowers

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How about some sweet sunflowers for today’s Card Sketch? I saw this card sketch and had to try and figure out what type of image to put in the two circles. After scouring my stamp shelf I decided on these small sunflowers. As you can tell though, I couldn’t stick to just two. You know….that rule of three….things are more eye catching/pleasing in three or odd numbers.

Once I decided on the images to use this sketch came together quite easily. Of course I had to add a few extra layers but that seems to be par for the course! The sunflowers are from the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set. I colored them with my Stampin’ Blends markers. Coloring isn’t my favorite thing to do but it’s SO easy with Stampin’ Up!’s Stampin’ Blends markers. The sentiment is from the Tasteful Touches stamp set. I needed something large to fill the space.

I heat embossed all of the stamped images on my card. I like to do this when I used the Stampin’ Blend Markers. It makes it easier to stay in the lines (Ha!) and is especially nice when using the lighter colors. Just my preference but give it a try sometime.

If you haven’t tried playing with card sketches be sure to give it a try. It’s fun! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine Monday: Flowers of Friendship

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The Flowers of Friendship stamp set can be found in Stampin’ Up!’s current Annual Catalog.  I wasn’t going to purchase this set but finally gave in.  Once I saw this card by Tracy Bradley I was glad I did.  Tracy’s card is clean and fresh.  I like the red and white with just that little pop of green.  The sentiment is from one of my new favorite stamp sets, Biggest Wish, which I first shared with you last week.  Tracy also used the new Pretty Flowers Embossing Folder.

When you like an original card so much how do you change it up to make it your own?  I actually started with the embossing folder and used the side that Tracy didn’t use.  I love the fact that you can get two different looks when using an embossing folder.

The next thing I changed on Tracy’s card was to add a layer behind the scalloped rectangle.  Now the focal point really pops.  Did you notice that instead of adhering the scallop rectangle to the red rectangle and popping that up I adhered the red rectangle directly to the card front and popped up the scallop rectangle.  When I di it this way I feel it really makes that focal point pop. 

I only made two other small changes.  I added another leaf so that there would be an odd number and I stamped the sentiment in black instead of red.  I was going back and forth between black and red for the sentiment but black finally won out.

How would you have changed Tracy’s card? Leave a comment and let me know or better yet share a picture of your Make It Mine!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!