It turned out better than I thought. This time around I went with shades of purple and a scrap of white organdy ribbon.

The little flowers are a punch by Punch Bunch that I have shaped and glued down. See the little balls in the flower center? This is actually Styrofoam snipped off of a Christmas decoration. I just added a drop of crystal effects in the center of the flower, snipped the ball off the decoration and placed it in the center. You can also see that I gave the card an all over glimmer. I sprayed it with a mixture of hairspray & Pearl-x.

A clean and simple resurrected card that will not jump to the top of the pile and taunt me daily.

You’ll have to let me know if you think it’s still a flop.

Here are some of the supplies I started out with…take note of the scraps of lined card stock.

And the really pink card I came up with using all of the pictured items and a few more accessories.

I shaded the die cut lined card stock. I forgot to stamp first and then die cut so I eye-balled the Just Rite decorative boarder and stamped. You can see all the layers here cut with various Nestabilities. You can also see that I added a little glimmer by drawing a circle around one of the shapes using the Stardust Jelly-Roll pen. I also dotted some of the 3-d glitter fabric paint on the stamped border.

These are my homemade stick pins. They were originally bright yellow flower tops which I painted with cream acrylic paint. I added crystal gems and carefully tucked the pointy bits through the ribbon knot and into the card stock below. I was able to feel a layer of paper and slide the pin in without going all the way through to the inside of the card.

Here are the supplies; 3 distress ink colors; a Nestability oval and 2 rubber stamps. The larger love bird image is by Hero Arts and is from my September 2011 rummage sale finds. The other, a verse is by Studio G and is from last years $1 bin at Michael’s.

I started with butter cream card stock and embossed the Nestability oval onto the base. I cut some scrap paper to make a template and masked the oval. The bird image was stamped in Memento brown. Leaving the mask in place I sponged on the 3 colors of distress ink. Lastly, I center the sentiment and stamped in Memento brown.

I would have liked if the image would have been sharper but I do like how it turned out. This view shows the embossed oval and some of the sponged colors.

Hope you have a great day…I’m off to work so that I can buy more craft supplies LOL~

I had trouble finding a big enough envelope…I know, I know. I could have made one. But rather than do that I went for a smaller size and as requested here is the template.

I believe the easiest way is to start by using an exacto knife and cutting the slits. I do my cutting right on the Scor-Pal. The knife falls right in the groove. Granted, I do this gently so as not to leave any cut marks.

With the 5 1/2″ width against the top ruler, measure in 1″ and then down 1″ and insert your knife. Cut from the 1″ mark to the 5 1/4″ mark. Flip the card stock over and repeat along the other matching side. This of course can be done just as easily on your Paper Trimmer.

Now with the cut marks in place, rotate your card stock so that the 11″ edge is against the top ruler. Score in only 1″ and not across the whole width of the paper.

Score at 1″, 2″ and 5 1/4″. Flip the card stock over and repeat along the matching side.

To get the center fold, with the card stock still in the same position (11″ edge against the top ruler) find the 4 1/4″ line. Feel the groove with your scor-tool and starting at the exacto knife line (1″ in from the top edge); Score from cut line to cut line.

Now all you have to do is; fold as pictured.

The hardest part of the card is figuring out how to decorate it!

Hope you enjoy the A2 size Center Fold.

I kept with the Valentine theme as I will be mailing it tomorrow. I took the photo at an angle in hopes of showing you some of the folds for the Center Step card.

I did try to keep the design flat for mailing but couldn’t resist using a mini pop dot to add dimension to the little bird. The tree image is by Unity Stamps; the set name is Straight from the heart. I won this last year but Valentine’s Day had already come & gone so I set it aside. This is the first time it’s met ink. Another plus as I’m trying to use stamps that I haven’t before.

Although this photo doesn’t seem to show much can you see 5 different die cuts & punches? They are all there…3 Nestabilities, Tim Holtz, and Fiskers.

This last look at the card shows the sentiment by Victorian Originals that has been stamped in Memento brown onto cream card stock and heavily shaded. I lastly added ribbon and Jelly-Roll glitter pen.

Here are some of today’s supplies:

Still a one-layer variety, with a added sticker consisting of a ribbon slide. The flowers are a little brighter because I used watercolor markers. I used a gray marker to add a shadow or two and I think the vine looks a little darker because of it. I also used a corner rounder for the bottom corners.

Here is the ribbon slide. I embossed it after cutting and then using a dauber sponged on Old Olive. The sentiment is by Hero Arts.

The inside of the card is the same version as yesterday.

It seemed easier to make and more sturdy. I think this one maybe the winner for mass production.

Between the two; which is your favorite?

Heart vine by Annette Watkins, Nestability largest scallop circle die and the smallest Spellbinder heart.

I cut out the largest Nestability scallop circle making sure to not cut through the fold. The heart really is centered although I didn’t take into account that the heart is somewhat lop-sided. The center top and center bottom are exactly where they are supposed to be however; the vine is heavier on the top left. Next time I will have to ignore the obvious center and shift the design over a bit. I shaded the the scallop circle with antique linen distress ink, stamped the vine in Memento brown, colored with colored pencils and dotted with a stardust glitter Jelly-Roll pen.

I debated on whether to add a sentiment or the homemade heart sticker to the vine heart center. The sticker won out. It is a Spellbinder heart that has been embossed & shaded with brick red distress ink. Before removing the die I outlined the sections with the stardust Jelly-Roll pen. I added 3-d mounting tape and then a tiny scrap of white organdy ribbon.

I used the same verse on the inside as I did yesterday. I kept with the one layer theme here too. I added a Hero Arts heart and stamped the verse over the top. See the tiny punches (top center)? I added adhesive and positioned the punch pieces so they would act as reinforcements for the card fold. It felt really delicate and I’m sure it would have torn by the time the recipient received it.

Next I’m going to try a square version and see what that looks like.

Another thing I’m trying to do is pull out old things I haven’t used in years and put ink to them. Remember Bow Bear by Stampin’ Up? Didn’t we all HAVE to have this set? I know, it was one of my first purchases. It’s still stinkin’ cute.

Here you can see the Nestability mats I used. I also used a technique to let your stamped image hang over the die cut part of the border (tutorial below). See my feeble attempt at coloring? I forgot that if you are going to color, don’t emboss. I ended up chalking the image and hoping for the best.

This image shows a Spellbinder ribbon slide that I have shaded, glittered and added a verse to. The words are by Victorian Originals.

Lastly more of a front view. This frontal shot was more accurate in the colors that I used so I thought I would share. Now to package this up and wait for my assigned partner so I can mail it off.

Edited to add:
I got an email this morning before I left for work asking me about the inside of the card. I had a couple of minutes before I left so I quickly took a photo and here you go…
I realize the colors are “wonky” even though I have my camera adjusted for florescent lights. I was in a hurry and if I have time tonight I can try a few more shots and see if the colors come out better. I used all of the same card stocks and DSP on the inside as I did on the out. The verse is by Endless creations, the corner & border punch by Martha Stewart and the Heart by Spellbinders.
Thanks for asking about the inside too!

Center Step Tutorial Video courtesy of SplitCoastStampers

Image beyond the Nestability border Tutorial Video curtesy of StampTV

I used the Spellbinder flower die to cut the opening. Next I stamped the Linen image using Brilliance White ink. The text collage stamp is on vellum. I glued the vellum to the inside of the card.

After adding the ribbon and flower the bottom corner looked a little bare. These die cut words are by Cuttlebug and were laying on my desk from another project. I’m glad I used them before sweeping the rest into the trash can.

I also stamped the flowers using linen. The only way you can see this is really close up as it is very subtle. I layered 3 of the Martha Stewart flower punches and then added a brad to hold it to the vellum. On the inside I added another flower punch so it would add a little strength for the brad to hold onto.

Gotta scurry off for the morning commute. Hope you all have a good day.

The idea of a calender was inspired by my friend Maggi. Some months ago at a shoebox group meeting, this was the project she brought.

Here you can see the gate fold card closed. I embossed the background and matted it with olive. I added die cuts & punches, then paper buttons to make the closure.

The paper buttons are a Sizzlets die cut. I cut 4 buttons and then fussy glued them together. I shaded with distress ink, added ribbon for the centers and then attached them making sure to add a piece of 3-d mounting tape so there would be a spacer between the card base and the button. This is so that the ribbon can be wrapped around it, like and old fashioned envelope closure.

And now the gate fold, open. It is made to stand on a desk so that you can see the inside. Because the flowers that I made were pretty thick, I added an additional score line to make a wider fold. I could have gone a lot wider, but that will be a project for another day.

Here is a close up of the origami flowers that I folded. The instructions are in this months issue of Paper Crafts Magazine. This issue is packed with directions on all different variations of flowers you can make. All this past week after I finished eating my sandwich at work, I pulled out a 15/16″ square punch and some DSP and started folding petals. The hardest part of this flower is gluing all of the petals together. I needed tweezers, badly. All the petals stuck to my fingers so that each time I tried to put the flower together or down on the table, the whole thing fell apart, and I’d have pieces stuck to various phalanges. Sheesh.