Flowering Zinnia DSP cards - simple fun fold

I make a lot of cards for donation and depending on the organization I share my cards with, one has very strict rules about no embellishments. And because most of these organizations need lots of cards, I keep them fairly simple. But I still want them to look nice. And I always try to include a few simple fun folds in each batch.

I found a blog with a simple fold back fun fold but it was in metric. I tried to convert it to inches but had to tweak it a bit, plus one little size change as well. In the end, this is what I came up with and since this was back in April so I made a bunch of Mother's Day cards:

Card base: 4.25” x 11” scored at 1.5” and 5.5” Fold at the 5.5” line to create the basic card, then fold the  1.5” score line to the left so that the front of the card is shorter.

DSP panels: 3.25” x 4” qty 1 and  1.25”x4” qty 2 Attach the larger DSP panel on the left and the other two on the folded back area and on the “inside” of the card.

And here are close ups of each card: 

And as you can guess, this is a GREAT way to make a bunch of cards, as well as use up scraps and strips! Hope this inspired you to create some easy cards. Thanks for stopping by.

Peaceful Dock Father’s Day standing front panel card

Ah life has been extra busy these past few months so…whoops…forgot to finish posting several blog entries! Including a perfect Father’s Day card! I love fun folds but they don’t have to be complicated and this one is a simple one that stands up nicely and yet folds flat into an A2 sized envelope.             

To make this card, the card base is 8.25” x 5.5”  (note that this is .25” shorter than the standard 8.5” page width! I’ve made this card several times and tend to forget to remove .25” off of that end each time!!!). Then score the card base at 2”, 3” from each edge. Fold the 2” score as a valley fold (a “V” shape) and the 3” score as a mountain fold (the opposite direction). And then use a bone folder to get a crisp fold. The folded card base should fit easily in an A2 envelope.

I used an older DSP in my stash that looked “masculine” but don’t know the exact name. I adhered two panels on each side that measured 1.75” x 5.25”. The background of the front is 1 5/8” x 5.25” and the slim panels between the sides and front (which you can’t see in these photos!) is 3/4” x 5.25”.

The front panel is 3.75”x3.75” and I stamped it with the row boat from the Peaceful Dock stamp set. 

And on the back I’ve adhered a white panel 4 x 5.25” and attached it only on one side of the back so that it will allow the card to stand freely, but also fold and fit into the envelope:

I’ve made this card design several times and even made a bunch for donation! It’s easy and it’s fun. I hope you try it! 

Perennial Lavender meets Along These Lines Fun Fold

I had fun creating this card with the Perennial Lavender DSP. This particular print is perhaps my favorite print in the paper pack because of the touch of Proud Peacock in the foliage of the leaves. I knew I wanted to use the stamp set called Along These Lines as well as the Blooming Phrases stamp set. And because I love fun folds, I came up with this design which is a play of an often used partial Z-fold design:

This is the card opened and as you can see, I used another of the prints in the DSP pack on the inside as well. The split sentiment is from the Blooming Phrases stamp set and I decided to split it between the front and insides of the card. The front sentiment is stamped  and matted with the banner dies from the Stylish Shapes Dies:

And the “aerial” photo below shows the partial Z-fold design of the card better:

Here’s a close up of the coloring of the stamped rose. I also added splatters of ink (Fresh Freesia and Just Jade) on the background. The plain oval panel looked too stark otherwise and it needed something to add interest. 

And of course the finishing touch of the Fresh Freesia bow! 

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed a closer look at this card.

Paper Pumpkin September 2024 Autumn Abundance Alternates: Diagonal Joyfold & Book Binding cards

I’ve been working on my backlog of kits, including Paper Pumpkins. Figured it was a perfect time to finish up the autumn kit from last year. So I created a card with a new-to-me fun fold called a Diagonal Joy Fold Card using one of the the beautiful card fronts: 

I used a print from the Country Woods DSP pack for the background and I layered it with a rose gold panel. I have to admit that I regretted putting the sentiment on the front…I really liked it better without a greeting there and would have preferred (in retrospect), to have just stamped the inside with the greeting. Oh well…I will not be quite so hasty in the future with my glue! Cutting the original card fronts up, I was able to make several of these cards! Oh and embossing the focal panel “hid” the crease from the original card’s fold line…a great trick to remember!!

Another (set of) alternates were book binding cards made from pieces of the original card fronts, and parts of the envelopes too…and I made a whole bunch of them!

I love how they all look similar but each one is different. And the sparkle of the foil is really elegant, though it only shows on one card and only on one of the photos! I added some neutral sequins as accents in the top right corner and on the sentiment die cut (which is from the Stylish Shapes Dies set - love it!) 

Thanks for stopping by & hope you’re inspired to create something today!

Halloween bubbling cauldron gatefold

I’ve been making a lot of cards this past year and donating them. Basically, I’m trying to use up my stash in a meaningful way LOL and I found three nonprofit organizations where I donate them to. Most cards are simple since they need a larger quantity of cards. So it’s   been a challenge for me to make simpler but *nice* cards as well as in quantity!! 

I had a stack of 8.5”x11” Halloween card stock so these made a nice card base with decent thickness. To show off the fun prints, I decided to make gatefold cards and each sheet was cut in half to make 2 cards! This card is one of the cards that I made eight of to donate. I really liked the way it turned out though, so I wanted to share it here.

The cauldron is from the Potions and Spells stamp set by Stampin’UP! and I die cut two Deckled Circles to showcase the wonderful stamped cauldron. I used a sponge dauber to quickly add some color to the cauldron then used water color pencils and a blender pen to soften the pencil marks without the need for water! The tops of the bubbles have a hint of purple too (Gorgeous Grape!)

I loved the sentiment “double double toil and trouble“ (from the Potions and Spells stamp set) so I stamped and fussy cut it onto the card front! 

Inside the card, I stamped “Happy Halloween” and I added the potions stamp from Frightfully Cute stamp set in the lower corner.

Here are the two stamp sets I used for this card:

Do you send Halloween cards out? I’ve been making interactive ones for my (growing quickly) great nieces and nephew (which I’ll post soon) and one or two friends, but admittedly it’s not a huge card sending holiday for me…😆

Thanks for stopping by…and have a wonderful day!

Florals in Bloom fun fold Double Triangle Card

I saw this card design on many a card making website so I don't recall which I accessed for the measurements of this card. I love it but had a dickens of a time getting everything "even". I'm in love with the look but...I may never make another one again! But I suspect it's one of those that are easy once you make a second and third one...I am just not there! (yet?? LOL)

I should have used a different pattern from the DSP pack, but I was drawn the vibrancy of this pattern on a red card base, so that was what I chose to create with.

Since I hate when you write inside a card and it shows when the card is closed, I added a decorative panel as well as a white cardstock angled panel so that you could write a personal message inside and yet know what the boundaries of your writing should stay within. Here's what the inside looked like:

And since I don't know who I will send this card to, it remains without sentiment for the time being. But it is a pretty card, isn't it? 

Thanks for stopping by...have a wonderful day!

Country Flowers Tent Card

I just adored this card, inspired by fellow demonstrator Claire Ottaway from the UK. I had to update the measurements to make it easy to replicate here in the US but that was pretty easy...

To get a better idea of the "tent" design, here's a slight side view: 

And I guess I should have taken another photo more from the side so that you can see how the bouquet of flowers 'hangs' on the panel inside the tent fold! And also not very visible is that I placed an embossed  piece (embossed using the Brick and Mortar Embossing Folder) on the inside back of the hanging panel. Minor touches but nice to do with a special hand made card! Oh and there's a panel on the back with the flower bouquet stamped in the corner where I can write a personal message to the recipient.

Thanks for stopping by! Have an amazing day!

Happy Easter Bunny Chocolate treats & Easter Bunny card

I love making these little treats...they're so darned cute! I made them a few years ago but decided I had to do them again this year. I know I just missed posting in time for Easter but thought I’d still share these since Easter Monday was just yesterday. I just put one of these cuties at each place setting yesterday…how darling is that?

I found a wonderful tutorial on Pinterest by Wendy Lee (https://creativeleeyours.com/easter-blessings-treat-holder-printable-tutorial-maui-achievers-blog-hop/) but tweaked them a bit to conserve a bit of paper as I wanted to make a dozen of these! So the only thing I did differently was to make my strips 1” wide and that allowed me to make 6 treats from a 12x12 sheet of DSP.

Also late in sharing is an Easter card for some young ones using the Easter Bunny stamp set:

When you open the card, the front flap can rotate like this:

I love all the creative fun folds out there in Pinterest land! The daisy paper was from my stash way back during my scrapbooking days (decades ago!) and the daisy is the medium daisy punch from Stampin'UP! that retired a few years ago. I still use it often!

Thanks for stopping by…hope you had a nice Easter and have a wonderful day!

One More Year Dog Birthday fun fold book binding z-fold card

Humor is a funny thing, literally, and I usually avoid it because not everyone appreciates it, or perhaps not at the moment they receive the card. But this dog was just too cute! So I picked a new-to-me fun fold called the Book Binding Z-fold card and made this masculine birthday card:

Here you can see the view from the top which shows both the book binding design as well as the Z-Fold and someone brilliantly combined the two designs into one:

When you open the card, this is what you see;

And last but not least, this is how the card looks when standing...

Such a cute pup right? Thanks for stopping by & have a wonderful day!

Painted Petals - Paper Pumpkin alternate designs August 2024

Here I go again…getting a kit and loving it but…wanting to do my own thing with the components. To me, it’s not about making the most cards out of the kit (it usually makes 8 -10 cards) but mostly about doing something different with them. But this time, I did both and made 18 cards from the kit.

The Paper Pumpkin kit from August 2024 originally made 9 cards. But  by using the elements slightly differently than originally designed, I created 18 cards, 3 each of the following 6 designs:

 

Three of the designs use the identical sketch, using a front panel that is overlaid on the card front.  I love this design and use it often.  Here I've used different color schemes based on the printed focals:  

 

And the inside of each looks similar to this: 

The last 3 designs are based on the original plan for the cards in this Paper Pumpkin kit, with a few customizations of course: 

Thanks for stopping by. If you have this kit and haven't used it yet, I hope my cards inspire you to get the kit off the shelf and onto the crafting table. Have an awesome day!

Bee My Valentine flip it cards

This is a throw back to last year’s adorable bee DSP and one particular card I designed with it. I die cut several bases, but didn’t get to finishing them all (I think I finished and sent one out),  nor did I post any. So this is kind of a throw back to last year, and yet not.

The Sizzix die set that I used to create these cards is likely a decade old if not older. I bought my first die cutter way back in 2013 and I’m guessing this was purchased shortly after that. I seem to pull it out every couple of years, make a card with it, then put it away for another rainy day!

This is a flip card …so as you open the card, the greeting “flips” or swings and you see the back side of it. 

And since you might want to write IN the card without it showing when the card is closed up, I affixed and extra piece of die cut white card stock inside:

Hope you enjoyed the little quasi throw back to last year! Thanks for stopping by & have a wonderful day!

Halloween Wiper Card

 I have three young ones for whom I send special cards to: 2 great nieces and a great nephew. I try to make and send interactive cards, in other words,  cards that do something. This year I decided to make a wiper card and this is what it ended up looking like when closed:

And when opened, the oval with the "Boo" pops up from below and looks like this:

Hard to imagine the interactive aspect in still photos so here's a video: 

The mechanism is so simple and yet each time I make one, I have difficulty in putting the components together to make it work properly! Or my sentiment is the wrong size for the design! So simple and yet...mind boggling! LOL

This card folds up and fits into the standard A2 envelope. When you hold the top left side of the card in your left hand and the right side of the card with your right hand, you can pull the front panel sideways. And when you do, the "BOO" pops out from below! So much fun, or so I hope the kiddos will think!

Thanks for stopping by & have a wonderful day!

Poised Peony Birthday Card

Aren’t peonies perfect for June birthdays? I did create and give this card away in June…just am super late posting! LOL 

The printed paper is from my local craft store as Stampin’UP! did not have any peony print paper at the time. And loving fun folds, I had to pick a design that was different.

And yes it folds flat to fit into an envelope: