BEAUTIFUL DAY GATEFOLD

How do you feel about gatefold cards? Are you familiar with them? Basically, a gatefold card doesn't open the traditional way. Instead the recipient opens the card by the middle of the card, so two "gates" open to either side.

Personally, I love gatefold cards. They are a fun fold, easy to create and look a little more special. Usually I like to add panels of Designer Series Paper to each of the two gatefolds. In this card, however, I opted to make my own DSP by using a loose outline stamp in a coordinating color to provide the design on two strips of plain white cardstock.

Another thing I did a little differently is that I stamped in black over a gray and white DSP for both the flower and the sentiment tag. I love that look!

Read on for a tutorial on how to create a gatefold card similar to this one.

SUPPLIES:

White cardstock

Designer Series Paper

Beautiful Day stamp set (retired)

A retired birthday sentiment stamp

Smoky Slate ink

Black ink

Gray ribbon

Oval punch or die

Die Cutting/Embossing Machine

Layering Circles dies

Stampin' Dimensionals

INSTRUCTIONS:

Take a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of white cardstock, and, with the Simply Scored, score it at 2 1/8". Turn it 180 degrees and score again at 2 1/8". Crease on the two score lines to get your card base. The two flaps should meet nicely in the center.

Cut two pieces of white cardstock to  1 7/8" x 5 1/4". On these two pieces, stamp an open image (I used the flower) randomly in Smoky Slate ink. Adhere these to the two gatefolds.

In black ink on a section of the DSP, stamp the flower in black ink. Fussy cut this flower, leaving no white borders. 

Cut two 4" pieces of gray ribbon. Crisscrossing the pieces on the back of the fussy cut flower, tape the ribbons in place. Trim the ends at angles.

From white cardstock, use a circle die to cut a 2 3/4" circle to fit the flower on. Adhere the flower with ribbons to the white circle.

In black ink, stamp your sentiment on another piece of the DSP. Use the oval punch or die to cut this out. Because the other side of the Designer Series Paper will show when the card is open, use the same oval with white cardstock. Adhere the DSP oval and the white oval.

Adhere the two components to the flaps of the card. Add Stampin' Dimensionals to the flower only on the right side, and mount it to the righ hand flap about 1/2" from the top.

Repeat with the sentiment oval, putting Dimensionals only on the left side and mounting it to the left gate about 3/4" from the bottom.

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The world is all gates, all opportunities, 

strings of tension waiting to be struck.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson -

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Gated

Smiles.