Gatefold card & envelope

Cut a 12 x 12 piece of paper in half so it's 6 x 12.
Score a 3" from each end.

Fold both sides in so you have your "gatefold."

You can decorate as desired. Your finished card will be 6 x 6.

Envelope:
To fit a 6 x 6 card, you'll need a 9 5/8 x 9 5/8 square.
Measure 5 inches from each corner and score at an angle. Cut the "tabbed" pieces where the lines intersect. Fold as shown.

To line the envelope, lay a piece of coordinating paper down on the inside on the envelope and trim to fit.

To create the envelope, close opposite sides (left and right), then fold up the bottom section. Glue down or use double-sided tape, making sure you don't glue the folds to the other side of the envelope. You don't want to glue it shut. Once you're finished with your envelope, and your card is all ready, just slide it inside and then seal the envelope shut with a sticker.

Card Making 101

That's my level of card making.

I worked on a couple of cards last night. I want to make a get-well card for my SIL, but I didn't have everything I needed. So, I decided to make a couple of "blank inside" thank you cards.

They turned out OK but I do know I still need to do some more practice.

Altered Canvas

I entered a swap last month to do an altered canvas. The person I made mine for is giving it to another person as a gift for Mother's Day. The colors I chose were picked from the colors in the pictures that will go on the mats.

To create this, you'll need:

a 12 x 12 stretched canvas frame
acrylic paint
disposable paint brushes
assorted embellishments
paper
ribbon
mats
adhesive

First - decide what background color you want for your canvas and apply the first coat of acrylic paint. Let it dry very well between coats. For this one, I painted the backside first, then the sides, and finally the top. I put two coats on in most places.

Once your canvas is dry, lay out the items you would like to see attached in the layout. I started with the pictures and went shopping with the pictures and canvas in hand. I purchased more than I used but I wanted to make sure I had a variety of things in case I changed my mind in mid-stream.

I used the following items:

Paper
Making Memories
Basic Grey
Cosmo Cricket
Office Lingo Collection
Old World

Mat Stack
Die Cuts With a View Luxury Stack

Misc
Center Kissed Floral Ivory Rhinestones
Center Kissed Floral Fuchsia Rhinestones
Color Box Chestnut Roan ink
Color Box Creamy Brown ink
Prima Essentials flowers

I also had a few odds and ends around the house that I used like the buttons, the ribbon-covered frame, and the little skeleton key on the ribbon. I made the origami flower box.

After your canvas is dry, and you've got a layout that you're happy with, you can start gluing the items down. If you use Mod Podge as your adhesive, keep in mind that on thinner paper the edges will curl up. I glued my items down with Scotch Quick Dry adhesive first and then went over the whole thing with the Mod Podge.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the before or in progress, but here's the finished product. I made a tag that is reversible or can be taken off altogether.

Exploding box directions

Here are the instructions for creating an Explosion (or pop-out) Box. This is my first tutorial so please bear with me.

You'll need:

3 pages of contrasting paper for the box. I used 2 green and 1 red.
1 page of paper for the lid that follows the same color scheme as the box papers. I used a paper with the green and red in it.
Liquid glue for the lid.
4 paper clips.
Embellishments (as desired).
Double-sided adhesive for the box.
Scissors.
A score board and scoring utensil (I used The Ultimate Papercraft Companion).
Paper cutter (to trim the paper to exact dimensions).

1. Cut three contrasting papers to the following sizes:
a. 9 inches (square)
b. 9.25 inches (square)
c. 9.5 inches (square)
2. Score 3” in on all four sides.
3. Fold on all four sides on score lines.
4. Cut along score lines to remove corners.
5. Align and attach. You may need to trim excess off some of the tabs if you cannot see each color.
6. To create the top, cut a 5.25 square.
7. Score 1” in on all four sides.
8. Fold up all four sides on the score lines. You want the pattern side of the paper to be the outside.
9. Cut a notch in the four corners to make tabs.
10. Flip the top over and put glue on all four tabs. You need to use liquid glue here instead of 2-sided tape or glue dots.
11. Fold in the tabs, line up to make sure they’re even, and paper clip to hold in place. Set aside to dry.
12. Once dry, check the lid for fit. You may need to trim a little off of the flaps if the lid is too snug.
13. Decorate the box as desired.

Christmas boxes and cards

It is time to get started on the Christmas boxes. I decided that I really don't have time to make and mail Christmas cards, but I can start on next year's right after the holidays. I got a really nice box to keep them in as they're made.

I have 13 Christmas boxes to make for my co-workers. I am sure I can get them finished but I better get cracking or I may run out of time. I think we're going to play Dirty Santa on the 16th and I'd like to have them finished by then.

That is only 10 days.

A different box

Technically, I guess this is another exploding, or pop-out, box. But, I put a gift inside, so I'm calling it a box treat holder. How original...

We did Secret Santa gifts at church and my recipient loves Starbucks. I decided to do a coffee theme and include a $20 gift card to Starbucks. I also included an angel ornament with the Legend of the Christmas Angel.

I looked at more than one scrapbook shop but I could not find any coffee-related items except for one style of paper. I could not believe that there was no coffee embellishments so I ended up cutting things out of the paper. I took the designs and words and put them on with either glue or pop-dots.

I cut squares to put on the inside flaps of the outside layer.Then I did ribbon and words on the inside of the middle layer. Finally, I did words and designs on the inside of the inside layer. Santa with a string of lights and a sack of toys finished off the inside.

First "exploding" box

I finished my first exploding - or pop-out - box. It's not bad for a first try. I know I'll get better with practice, though. My disappointment is really not having a large selection of embellishments and paper to select from.

I have enough paper to make 3-4 more boxes but before I can add embellishments, I'll have to make a trip to the store. The ones I'm concentrating on first will be for my co-workers. I'd like to get them out of the way so I don't have to worry about them at the last minute. Before I can make my Secret Santa gift, I'll definitely have to take a trip to the store. I don't have anything that would even remotely resemble coffee items.

Here are some pictures: