Tutorial: Folded Thank You Card

I created this card for the Jacksonbelle challenge #JBE021. You can read about the challenge and see the sketch at http://jacksonbelleembellishments.wordpress.com/.

I incorporated their design sketch into a folded card. I had been experimenting with different folds and cuts, and this sketch was perfect for the folded card template that I had been working on today. When closed, the card looks exactly like the sketch. When it’s opened, the front greeting pops out from the card and the inside greeting is revealed.

I also used the colors from the color challenge at SplitCoast Stampers, CC185, for this card. I had made a card a few days ago with these very colors and the scraps were still on my work table, calling to me to be used again.

I used a bright blue textured card stock that was as close to the designated color as possible. I had scraps from two designer papers (Debbie Mumm) that coordinated well with it. I used the palest ivory card stock I had in place of “vanilla” to form the oval and the center medallion, which I made out of two separate pieces. The oval was matted onto designer paper and the same paper was used to line the central squares, which then became mats for the heart and greeting. I did the reverse with the inside greeting, which was generated from the computer.

I used the flower sprays, a floral heart, and greeting from Inkadinkadoo clear on clear stamps for this card. I used a designer punch for all of the corners, which gave it a more finished, tailored look. The border stamp from “Friendship” was used to embellish the background by stamping along the length of every other stripe of my second designer paper and then embossed to give a “vanilla” floral stripe.

In the oval, I stamped off the larger floral spray so that it would appear as a faint background image and then stamped the smaller floral spray over it. I masked off the stamp when I stamped these flowers so that I could stamp two separate colors. I stamped the image onto paper and cut out the two sections – blooms and leaves. I stamped the green first, using a piece of removable tape to mask off the blooms. (A post-it would have worked as well, but I find that the removable tape holds better on the stamp.) I repeated this for the blue blossoms. I quickly heat dried the leaves before I stamped the blooms because I wanted to emboss the flowers with clear embossing powder. Using the clear stamps made it easy to line up the blossoms and flowers.

I stamped the heart and greeting and embossed both with clear embossing powder.

Assembling the card: Unfolded and spread flat, the card measures 5 inches high and 9.5 inches wide. When folded, the card measures 5” by 7”. Here are some pictures of the template I made for this:

I mounted the stamped designer paper onto the card stock and then scored it at 4 ¾ and 6 inches. The front (left) folds toward the back. The right side folds over toward the top/front. The oval and inside greeting were attached and then the two front squares were positioned but not attached. I held them in place with removable tape so that I could mark my cuts.

With the card open and lying flat, I lightly traced around the right edge of the medallion, marking the edge that extended beyond the fold line. I cut just inside the line with an Exacto knife and with the card lying flat and open, I secured the medallion in place.