Friday Focus - Fancy Folds

Hello Flourishes Friends! It's Christine here today with another Friday Focus. Do you ever have those times when you'd like a really special, or really fun and different card for an Occasion? Today I'm going to show you a couple of Fancily Folded cards that would fit the bill wonderfully.

I call this first card the"Christine Tri-Fold Book". I was playing around with an idea one day and this is what I came up with, I first did this card HERE if you'd like to see another example. Essentially it is a graduated height Tri-Fold that you can do open like an accordian or closed and sealed like a book.

Here is what the finished card looks like...then I'll show you how to get there!

Closed (excuse my finger holding it together :)

And slightly open:

Alright to start with you'll need the following paper sizes cut:

5 1/2" x 12" panel for your base (here in Soft Sky)

a 4 1/4" x 2 3/4" panel to add to this (also in Soft Sky)

Then you'll need smaller panels for each section after you've assembled it as accent pieces to decorate.

I scored the 5 1/2 x 12 panel at 4 1/4, 7 3/4 and 11 1/4. Then I added the extra 4.25 x 2.75 inch panel to that little leftover fold. Adhere with something like Sticky Tape or Scor Tape to hold it firmly together. Below are the pieces adhered together.

Then you want to create your graduated heights. First begin by trimming of the tiny piece above the lowest level. I trim right in the crease right past the fold line, so it will lie flush with the seam and not show any of the scored edge.

Then you want to take that middle layer, the one next to the lowest panel and trim it down about 3/4 of an inch, this way you've created your graduated layers.

Next I did all my "pretty-ing", I created layers for each panel in 1/8" smaller sized pieces, rounded the corners with my corner rounder, and added all my stamped accents. On this card I used the new set Drummer Boy and colored all the instruments and Holly and bows with Copic Markers accenting with a white gel pen.

You have 2 options with this style of card, one you can leave it openable like an accordian as below:

Or you can seal the middle panel shut to be more like a book. Which I did here:

Here are some closeups of the panels:

See how the ribbon disguises the front panel attachement?

And the last panel:

And just for good measure, how about another style of Fancy Fold? This is a Z-Fold done vertically rather than how many of you may have done it in the past - horizontally. This idea is from the very talented Valerie Stangle . She did a tutorial for this style on World Card Making Day link is HERE. (see the first post).

These doves from the beautiful new Dove and Holly set are watercolored and sponged, I just followed all of Val's steps to create a real show-stopper style of card. (I'll have more pics of this one on my blog if you're interested).

Alright...the very talented Design Team girls have also jumped into this challenge of creating Fancy Folds today, so be sure to give them a visit!

Christine Okken (that's me :) !)

Cindy Lawrence has done an Easel Fold Card

Julie Koerber made a fun card in a box with some fancy folds

Latisha Yoast has made a Criss-Cross Fold Card

Leslie Miller has an Accordian Gate Fold
Stacy Morgan has a Wallet Tri-fold to show you.

Flourishes Focus: Putting the Pieces Together

Hi, everyone! It's me, Leslie, and it's my turn to share something I love for Flourishes Friday Focus. I've chosen to write about designer paper because it's become one of my favorite elements in card making. I entered this relationship timidly, not quite sure how to use all those beautiful patterns and colors without clashing with each other or competing with the stamped image. It can be a little overwhelming when you first venture forth, wondering which patterns you can combine, or how much you can get away with -- what's okay or not okay. Is your inner artist right or wrong? Well, I don't think there's a lot of right or wrong when it comes to art. Where would we be without the world's trendsetters? Our jaws would be hitting the floor, but probably with a great big yawn, rather than a gasp of delight.

It's difficult for one individual to tell another how to express art, since it's such a personal thing, but if you're at that "testing the waters" phase of using designer papers, perhaps there are a few fundamentals which serve well as a jumping off point. Some of my favorite papers to work with are BasicGrey, specifically the 6x6 pads since the patterns are scaled down for cards. Patterns, colors, and mood are what I look at most often when matching papers, and one pad of BasicGrey provides many coordinating options, relieving me of some of the guesswork.

Shown below are three different papers from the Euphoria pad. Not only do the colors match, but the leafy pattern is repeated in the two rose red pieces, one more prominent than the other. The lightly patterned green paper provides nice separation between the other two. Repeating pattern and matching colors -- a sure thing!

Here's a card combining those papers with Sweet Peas. I accented the image panel with a brad from the Euphoria collection. The pattern in the brad is the same as that of the card's upper panel, but scaled down even further. I watercolored the flowers with SU!'s Rose Red ink, and added a little Eggplant in the shading around the flowers and in the stamped word. There's a tiny bit of purple in the pattern on the upper panel of the card, which is what helped decide my use of Eggplant.

These papers are also from the Euphoria pad, and they illustrate another virtue -- variety. It's almost hard to believe they're from the same pad as those in the first photo, yet there's that Rose Red and Eggplant, two of the colors prominent in this collection, along with a pretty crystal blue, some green, and pink. What brings these papers together is color and mood; the two busily patterned pieces remind me of a celebration...

...so I made a birthday card. The more solid mats and scalloped border provide separation and definition, allowing the patterns to get along nicely. The presents are from All Wrapped Up, the words are from Signs of Spring, and the flourishes added into the main image panel are Ornamental Elements. I love to mix up sets as much as I love mixing up designer papers! The clear rhinestones and pretty satin ribbon are from Flourishes, too.

Well, that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using designer papers -- color, mood, and pattern. As long as one or the other or all are common in the papers used, we can cast off inhibitions and see what develops. The rest of the design team gals have prepared some samples for designer paper fun, too. Let's go have a look: Christine, Cindy, Faith, Julie, Latisha, Laura, Stacy. There's another sample on my blog, as well.

I'm so glad you could stop in for a while. Have a super day!

-- Leslie

What has the DT been up to??

Here we are half way through the week and we have a dose of inspiration for you to get those creative juices flowing! We thought you'd like to see what our Design Team has been up to already this week! If these creations don't inspire -- I don't know what will! :-)


Our first stop is to see the lovely Faith Hofrichter. I am sure I have never seen a blue poppy - but isn't this beautiful? See? All flowers don't have to show their true colors. I think this one using the Poppy Patch set is just a beauty!
These next two cards have gone to the birds! Sets featuring those fine feathered friends seemed to be ones a couple of our designers picked up this week!

First up is Christine Okken, who, with a little watercolor turned this birdie from the Home Tweet Home set into a cardinal with such a fabulous pop of color! I just love the mix of decorative paper, the sponged edges and the dose of paper piercing!


Laura Fredrickson picked up the Love Nest set for her creation this week! Isn't this card just darling? I love the soft colors she picked, the flourished corner and how those birds are popped up to make them really stick out! Another plus? If you like what Laura did with this set -- it's still on sale through February for 25% off!

Latisha Yoast created a darling pocket card using one of our newest sets - Birthday Celebrations! I just love everything about this card- from the bold graphic decorative paper to the pop of pink and the way she situated those cute little cupcakes! Too cute! Here's the card in the pocket...

And, here it is out! Pretty fab!

And... yours truly took some time this week to make some ATCs for the ATC swap going on over in the Flourishes Forum at SCS! This is only the second time in my life that I have made ATCs so--- be kind please! :-) I used the Spring Ephemerals set along with some Basic Grey and Memory Box papers. There is still time to sign up for the swap so -- be sure to check out the thread HERE.

You might notice one of our gals is missing this week-- Yep -- Miss Cindy Lawrence is running amok all over CHA checking out the newest papers and products! We told her to keep her eyes peeled for fabulous things we might "need" to stock in the store.

If you liked today's focus on our designers -- we hope you come back and see what we have in store! These ladies have a few fun things up their sleeves that they hope to share with YOU!! So, stay tuned!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

~Julie