Paper Seedlings: FUN FOLD FLOWERS

As we established in last Saturday's post -- and in many before that one -- I am a saver. Of anything with possibilities. You know, just in case.

One of the things that I've saved for years are printouts of cool projects, as well as torn out magazine pages with good-sounding projects.

Going through some of them the other day, I came across the idea for a fun fold card. The creator had stamped, colored and fussy cut large flowers and leaves for her card. She also put the flowers and leaves on all of the three layers.

Here's another example of my saving instincts: Awhile back I had invested in some lovely Specialty Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up!. It is heavyweight paper that is ideal for creating boxes and other containers. I was drawn to the paper because . . . YOU CAN COLOR THE ELEGANT IMAGES -- and then . . . FUSSY CUT THEM! Woo hoo, right up my proverbial alley.

The designs on the creamy white paper are done in a foil and are simply lovely. Anyway, as I was saying, As soon as I'd acquired a pack of this paper, I went to work with my Stampin' Blends to color in the flowers and leaves.

It takes a surprising amount of time to color in an entire 12X12 sheet of paper. Then fussy cutting all those elements is another huge job in itself. After I'd completed this extensive labor intensive project, guess what I did with all the pieces. Yup. You're right. NOTHING! Argh.

When I sighted the fancy fold card featuring larger flowers, aha! (Oprah, could this have been my life's Aha Moment??) I immediately thought of those pretty flowers and leaves languishing in stashland.

I grabbed those little honeys and went to work on my card:

The following photo shows the card almost completely extended open.

The paper to make the card measures 4 1/4" x 11". I featured Very Vanilla in my card. Using the Simply Scored tool, the score lines are at 1 1/4", 2 1/2", 5 1/4" and 7 1/2". Fold them in the mountain/valley formation, with the first fold a mountain type and going on from there.

Then, the way I did mine, adhere your flowers as desired on the first two mountain folds. Follow with leaves wherever they appeal to you.

I left the last flat surface blank to either stamp a sentiment or to use as a little area on which to write thoughts to the recipient. To echo the gold metallic in the paper, I cut two strips using a long-retired die from Stampin' Up! and added it to the edge of the card.