A Year of Card Techniques ~ June Blog Hop ~ Creative Card Folds!

Welcome to A Year of Card Techniques Blog Hop where each month we feature a different card technique.  We’ve assembled a team of card makers who range from new to advanced, so you’ll see a great variety of cards and ideas.

June‘s hop is devoted to basic card folds; featuring drapery/curtain fold, peek-a-boo fold or double-z gate-fold.  And we’re adding a twist of using double-sided paper.   We hope this gives you lots of ideas and will inspire you to try these card folds yourself...and pull out that double-sided paper as well!    If you would like to check out our past technique hops, you can do that here:

• January-Shaving Cream Marbleizing
• February-So Sketchy
• March-no hop this month
• April-Stamp Set Showdown
• May-World of Watercolors

We have an amazing sponsor this month, Candy Spiegel.

Please take a moment to check out all the crafty goodness on her blog, Candy Scraps.

And the awesome prize this month is:

We  really appreciate feedback, so please leave a comment on each of the blogs in the hop today.  While you are encouraged to comment at any time, only comments received by  Friday, June 23, 2017 at 8:00pm (EST) will be eligible to win.   The winner will be announced on Sunday,  June 25, 2017 on A Piece of (my) Heart’s blog, so be sure to check her blog on Sunday.

And speaking of winners, the lucky hopper from last month is SUSAN ELIOT; picked by Random Name Picker.  Congratulations, Susan!  Please get in touch with last month’s sponsor, Jodie Park, to claim your prize.

You should  have arrived here from the talented Sharon. If you're visiting  here first, you might want to start at the beginning so you don't miss a thing and increase your chances of winning by commenting on  each blog.

So here are my creations for this months challenge. I do love to make folds on my cards, but sometimes you have an idea and then...well, the paper is not quite right and the fold is not what you thought it should be and ....still it had to work. To make a long story short, this first card is cute, but I anticipated it to look a little different ;-)
I went with the drapery fold and thought about creating a flower with it. After a few pieces of scratch paper and some folds I decided it will be a butterfly. 
Next I tried to find the right spacing between the folds so the drapery wasn't to big. 

I did got a great one from my scratch paper, but when I folded my design paper I must have skipped to some measurements from another try....so my butterfly got a little bigger. I used a total of four drapery folds in two sizes. To keep them from unfolding I added a piece of red sticky tape all the way across the back of the folds. The body started out as an oval shape and after I was finished it looks more like a bowling pin LOL.

My second card is a Peek-A-Boo card which is one of my favorite folds, because it is super easy to make and always a great look. Again, you need a double-sided paper with two complementing designs. 
I picked the poka-dot paper for the outside and the flower one for the peek-a-boo part. First I adhered a piece of colored cardstock to the card base front flush with the right side of the card. I then cut my design paper down to 5 1/2" x 4 1/4". 
To make the peek-a-boo fold, measure the middle of the right side of the paper and cut in a straight line about 2/3 into the paper. 

Fold the corners back and adhere the paper to the card base on top of the cardstock. I placed a small foam dot under each fold so it would stay open but wouldn't get flat. 
I stamped my Happy Birthday with white pigment ink inside opening. To decorate, I used a few paper flowers, a double layered die-cut of a butterfly and a couple of rhinestones to finishing of this card.






For my last card I used a double-z gate-fold card as my base. I know, sounds complicated, but it isn't.

I picked a nice double sided paper to start with. I cut it down to 12" x 5 1/2". Next I scored the piece at 2", 4", 8" and 10".
To create the gate look, mark 2 3/4" from the bottom on the left and right side of the design paper. Now cut from the left mark up to the 4" score mark and again from the right mark up to the 8" score mark.

Next you fold your score lines, starting on the left side with the 4" score line...fold it to the right and fold the 2" to the left. Use a bone-folder to really crease the scorelines well.
The other side is done the same way; first 8" score line to the left and the 10" to the right.

Take the cut of pieces, flip them over and adhere them to the bottom of your base (in my case it is the grey shown on the bottom).

For the inside I picked some matching cardstock. I used barn red and cut it at 3 7/8" x 5 3/8" and adhered it in the middle part of the inside. Next I followed with the grey patterned paper cut at 3 3/4" x 5 1/4". Last I added a piece of cream colored cardstock cut at 3 5/8" x 5 1/8". I stamped my images and phrase on the inside.

For the "closure" I simply used a scalloped oval cut from gold glitter paper and an oval shaped cream cardstock for my phrase. I placed a piece of ribbon between the two and adhered it with foam dots only to the left side of the card.

Today we tackled some of the easier folds and I think my favorite ones are the double-z gate-fold and the peek-a-boo fold. They are quickly done and look great. The drapery fold is a bit time consuming, but still interesting to work with. I hope you enjoyed this months challenge, I sure did :-)

More detailed pictures of these cards will be here on my blog in the upcoming Fridays.

Now  you’re off to visit with my good friend Kim and her wonderful creations. Hope you had fun and thanks for stopping by.  See you next month with another technique!

Claudia

Always remember:

"Art comes from the heart.

So there is never a right way or a wrong way;

there is only Your Way."

Here’s the full line-up in case you get lost:

• Sharon
• Claudia
• Kim
• Wilma
• Jearise
• Amanda
• Card A Day Challenge Team
• Lisa Frederick
• Sandy Bell Hentzel
• Jodie Park
• Candy Spiegel
• Debbie Rumrill Bonczek