I have had a few requests with how I made this fancy fold card. They seem to be the "flavour of the day" due in large part to an awesome tutorial by Dawn Griffith (
link here). It was just a little too fussy for me to make a "card class" for my girls with (they get a cool Christmas card in a couple of weeks) as it involves a whole center panel so I took it apart and figured I just needed a center mechanism and then the search was on to try to find measurements/recipe. I did find something but for the life of me, I can't find it again to link here (apologies to the creator). If I do find it, I will edit this post. There is a die out there that can be used too but... this is just fun (and cheaper lol).
So, for now, I've done a quick mock-up with some copy paper to try to show you. The most important part is the center mechanism. I've worked out for a smaller mechanism and a horizontal card, but let me show and tell the standard A2 size. This particular size of mechanism is the most sturdy.
8" x 3-1/2" cardstock. Score on the short side down the center at 1-3/4". With a pencil, mark 2-1/4" in from each side, top and bottom, on the long sides (see pic) and then with a ruler, score to connect the diagonals. Valley fold the center, mountain fold the diagonals and then "pinch" the valley fold each side of the center diagonal and pull the right and left side toward you and you will see it start to "pop up" and form "legs" with a triangle on top lol.
Now take the folded mechanism and place it at the center fold of the card with the "legs" toward the bottom and put glue only on the triangle, close card and repeat on the other side. Let dry, then open flat for the next step.
NOTE: if you want decorative paper inside, do it BEFORE you glue the mechanism in place.
The center "panel" for the A2 is 3-1/2" x 10" scored at 2-1/2", 5" and 7-1/2". Burnish the scorelines, then center it on the mechanism. Fold up the two outside panels toward the center, put adhesive on the indicated spots of the now exposed mechanism;then unfold the "wings" of the panel and adhere them onto the adhesive. Let dry then close the card (you might have to manipulate the underneath mechanism a bit to make it pop up, twist and fold onto itself). Re-open and decorate.
The card I've shown here is 6"x6" finished and the center pop up panel is the only change. I made it 3-1/2" x 11" scored at 2-3/4", 5-1/2" and 8-1/4". This width is a little too big for the A2 as it'll show at the bottom (the height - 3-1/2" here - can vary quite a bit but the cardstock "length" is very dependent on your card size).
Hope this helps some. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me.
Coloured with Copics
~Shelley
