I guess I’m over Winter. For when I started thinking about making these two cards, my mind immediately jumped to some yellows, florals, birds, bees and easter bunnies.
So, I’m inviting you to get started with me on some (very) early Easter or Spring cards, get some inspiration from my video or follow along with me to create these exact card designs.
The papers I used were by Craft and You Designs, from their Spring Garden collection.
Have fun crafting and I’d love to know: did you make these along with me, or at least feel inspired to get creating some spring projects of your own? Let me know in the comments down below!
And let’s start 2023 with a lovely vintage 1-sheet card, its browns & grayish blues so suitable for autumn and winter, and yet its pink roses remind us that Spring is coming (well, eventually it will).
There are many ways to fold beautiful cards with only one sheet of paper. You could also use cardstock and mat it (which would technically make it a 2-sheets card) but much easier is using a double-sided sheet of design paper.
I designed this particular card type myself, it takes a bit of folding, one cut with a paper trimmer and a little bit of glue, and it will turn into this very nice multi-faceted card with two pockets and a little doorlet on the front to tuck some extra niceties behind.
If you want to know the nitty-gritty of how to make this, there’s an excellent PDF tutorial in my Etsy shop, it’s Tutorial #9. (It’s very affordable btw).
I’ve made several of these over the years, and here’s my latest, using the beautiful vintage Time is an Illusion paper collectionby Stamperia.
Opening the front flap and finding a nice removable bookmark on the insideChecking out the center pocket, which holds a lovely tag, which I decorated with some stamps and a die cut image of a cup of teaOn the back of that same tag, I attached an actual bag of tea for my friendBack pocketThe back pocket contains a bookletThe inside of the booklet offers room to write a message on the left, and a nice stamped sentiment on the right
When your double-sided paper is beautiful on both sides and you cannot decide which one to mat on a card, it’s time to create a card without cardstock! This way, you can showcase both sides of your gorgeous design paper sheet.
For me it was a sheet from the Time is an Illusion collection by Stamperia. That design paper collection is truly a work of art!
Cut a 12″ inch strip of your sheet, at the height you want your card to be. Fold in two places to create a trifold – make sure one panel overlaps the other.
Use a strip of paper or a tag to create a closure. Watch the video on my latest steampunk mini album, which actually features this card and in which I go over the closure technique in more detail.
Decorate the front of your card.
Add a journalling spot on the inside. You don’t have to add anything else since your paper is already lovely in and of itself!
Add a decorative element on the back. I chose a cutapart with a sentiment. Done!
Have you made any cards without cardstock? Tell me about it in the comments, I’d love to hear about it!
Up until now my explosion boxes had always had at least two layers of decorated cardstock, oftentimes even three. This week however I’m sharing a different kind of explosion box:
it has only one layer;
it only needs two sheets of double-sided design paper to make and decorate
The two sheets I used were from the Vintage Circus collection by Scrapberry’s, which has beautiful muted tones, giving it a vintage yet colorful atmosphere. I decorated with fussy-cut bits from the design paper – and, I admit, a tiny little bit of colored cardstock to diecut some curls.
In its center it sports a tiny paper box with some birds and butterflies ‘flying away’ from it, and in its center there’s a ‘floating’ micro book with some actual pages!
So there’s an idea for an alternative birthday card, which mine is going for. You can’t mail it of course, you’ll have to hand it out yourself – but that only adds to the fun! 🙂
If you’d like to make one yourself, I offer a very elaborate pdf tutorial with dozens and dozens of clear pictures in my webshop.
