Friday, March 14, 2014

Hello sunshine!

An A2 (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") card, I'm calling this one a double gate fold. It evolved from this card when I questioned "what if it wasn't square?"

Start with light weight cardstock (to accommodate the folds and not be too heavy or bulky) that is twice the size of the card you wish to make. For my A2 card, a standard sheet of 8 1/2 " by 11" is perfect. Score one quarter of the way in from both sides both horizontally and vertically. For my example that is 2 3/4" and 8 1/4" on the long side and 2 1/8" and 6 3/8" on the short side. Remove the corners. I suggest cutting just past the score line to make it fold easier. Fold carefully butting the gates up to each other. Fold both gate sets making sure they close smoothly. This may require a touch more trimming just to make sure both gates close easily over the other set.

Now you are ready to cut the openings. For my first card, I used Spellbinders nestabilities standard circles large for one set of gates and Spellbinders nestabilities blossom two for the other set. To cut, open the card, position the die cutting side up in the center of the card. When you are happy with the placement, fold the set of gates you wish to cut over the die, add your cutting plate and run through your die cutting machine. Repeat for the second set of gates. (Note, if you are using only one shape like my second card, you can cut all 4 gates at once.)

Decorate your card taking advantage of layering. I stamped Penny Black hello sunshine for the center image. The background is Stampers Anonymous wood grain from the TimHoltz collection. The frames were cut using the above mentioned spellbinders. The front sentiment is from Penny Black sweet wishes.

The second card uses one shape, Spellbinders nestabilities standard circles large for all 4 gates and shows how effective the layering can be using Spellbinders sprightly sprockets set by Donna Salazar.

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