Lillybet's Papers

At a recent crafting weekend in Bundaberg we created this easy fancy fold. I'm not sure what it is called but it reminds me of a squash book, which I have made a long time ago - so I'm calling it a "Squash Fold Card" ! It is another card which is great for using up DSP - and since I have such a lot of paper we used some from this retired selection. The colours and the gorgeous shimmer had a Christmas feel to me but any paper works well.  Cutting instructions: Cardbase  4 1/4 x 11     score at 4 1/4 and 5 1/2.  The 1/14 panel is glued close like the spine of a book - when the card is open the inside space is 4 1/4 square DSP 4 1/8 x 5 1/4 then trim at 1 1/8 to give a square 4 1/8 x 4 1/8 and a piece 4 1/8 x 1 1/8 5 7/8 x 5 7/8 square Cardstock coloured - cut 2 squares 2 7/8 x 2 7/8 white      - cut 2 squares 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 To fold the "squash book"  choose which side you want to be the most visible, start with this face up. Fold valley folds in half both horiz

We were focusing on Fancy Folds for the recent Christmas card class and I used the same Lovely Layout #2 ( see this post ) but switched to the Joy of Christmas paper  and changed it to an easel card. I chose the Sweet Sorbet cardstock for a fresh take on the traditional Christmas red and green palette. This great layout uses 2 pieces of DSP - one 3 x 3 inches and one 4 x 2 inches. You can alternate which piece is forward and which is behind depending on the pattern on each piece and which one looks best as the feature. Add a stamped sentiment and a feature element to finish off your layout. I cut some gorgeous pine fronds and some holly leaves from some "painted" green paper in my stash. The holly leaves were cut from a sheet of watercolour paper which I coloured with both Shaded Spruce and Old Olive. I used the Magical Meadows dies . - it has quite a sharp holly leaf.  I also really love the stylised leaf and berry frond from the Sweet Sorbet ombre glimmer paper - so lusci

This layout is perfect for quickly creating a stack of cards, which is just what we need at this busy time of year. Let the beauty of the paper do all the heavy lifting for you. This set uses the beautiful Winter Meadow DSP, and while Christmas in Australia has not an inkling of Winter I just love the colours. The Lost Lagoon cardstock picks up the colours nicely for the sentiment tags. Liz's  Lovely Layout #2 uses 2 pieces of DSP - one 3 x 3 inches and one 4 x 2 inches. You can alternate which piece is forward and which is behind depending on the pattern on each piece and which one looks best as the feature. Add a stamped sentiment and a feature element. When the card mat is also embossed it adds a nice layer of texture. I have used the gorgeous Winter Meadow 12 x 12 DSP and cut a stack of pieces then just mixed and matched which was in the foreground and which was in the rear.  The amazing Magical Meadow dies have some stunning detailed elements,  as well as dies that coordinate

I wanted to use the beautiful  Wishes All Around  stampset for class and loved the suspended book fold. Most samples are a large 5 x 7" card and I searched for a while until I found one that is able to fit in a C6 envelope. I love this design because the front "book" is the same height as the card base so the card will stand on its own. I hope you give this a try. It was fun to put together. There is an acetate piece that sits in front of the "book" and can have elements attached so they sit forward and also appear suspended. This was the second version with a long sentiment and white ribbon. This set has a beautiful font and a nice uncluttered feel.  I have also made some great wreath cards using the wreath dies and they look great as well. This is by far the most complicated card I have ever prepared for a class! It is not difficult to put together but it was complicated to prepare as there were so many pieces to cut. However, the effect is fantastic and ever

I love a quick card that gives me the opportunity to use lots of matching papers  - because lets face it we all have plenty! I call this the FOLD BACK card - not sure if it has a proper name but this is how you can make it. Card base 14.5 x 21 cm           Score at 3.7 cm and then at 10.5. ( the 3.7 score line is a feature on the metric scoring plate  DSP      cut one 14cm x 3.5 cm -  this adheres to the front fold back flap cut one 14cm x 4 cm    -   this adheres to the inside of the card base on your                writing panel - it is slightly wider so the edge is not visible when your card is    closed cut two 14cm x 6.5cm     these adhere to the wider panels on the front and one on the inside. Mat for writing cut one 14cm x 10cm Fold your card base in half as normal and then fold the right edge of the front page back towards the spine of the card- then decorate the flap with a strip of DSP and layer coordinating pieces in the different locations to display them all. Create a sent

 The spare weekends are few between now and Christmas so I had a quick opportunity to host a Fancy Fold Christmas card class. We used the gorgeous Shining Brightly 12 x 12 DSP to create these Acetate Tent Fold Cards - simple but so effective.  For this sample I trimmed the 4cm flap to 3cm to allow more window space to see the embossed background, and also because I was not trimming the flap with any dies. In the alternative version uses the Around the Bend dies to shape the top flap, but any border die would work. It's a simple fold and the acetate is adhered with strong tape. I love that the card stands for display. You may need a belly band to hold it closed when it is in the envelope, however I found these ones sat quite flat enough. There are endless combinations of the layering of the embossed stars, It's fabulous that the hybrid embossing folder cuts out 3 stars at once at the same time as embossing them. I used the tiny star dies to cut some gold glimmer paper which add

In my last class we made a Gate Fold using the Layering Leaves set. It's such a nice fold I had fun creating a few more samples using up some of the elements from my "useful box"  (thanks to Playschool I have always had a useful box, although  there are no cereal cartons or egg cartons are in mine these days!) Some time ago I heat embossed the flower in gold onto watercolour paper and painted it with Poppy Parade and Petal Pink, it was in the box and was the starting point for this creation. this sample uses the beautiful Irresistible Blooms  bundle I love the Dry Brushed Metallic DSP for decorating and die cutting You can see the original post and the measurements I used here. Don't forget I have a whole page with links to instructions on different Fancy Folds - if you scroll right to the top of this page you'll see all the different pages available and the FANCY FOLDS is the far right tab. The second sample was very quick, just using DSP for the pattern and int