Aloha, all!
When I was playing around with Pinwheel Tower Cards a few weeks ago, I found dozens of great samples. In a few posts last week, I showed off my version of two of the cards that fit nicely into Invitation or A2-sized envelopes. But then I stumbled onto a design by Rick Adkins. It had not four but SIX sides to it! I could hardly wait to try it out. So today we’ll go over what I learned in my first go at the design.
First the Measurements
For this card, I cut the base at 4-1/4″ high by 8-1/4″ wide. On the 8-1/4″ side, I scored at 1″, 2″, 3″, 4″, 5″ and 6″. The other sections of the card are 4-1/4″ x 2-1/4″. The 2-1/4″ section is the width of the widest section of the card. When the card is folded flat, on one side of the 2-1/4″ section there will be a 1-1/4″ section and on the other there will be TWO 1″ sections. That means that, folded flat, the card is 5-1/2″ wide. And what you want for an A2 envelope is a 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ card.
To decorate the sections, it’s a good idea to use Stampin’ Up!’s Designer Series Paper rather than cardstock because of its thickness and weight. This card can really get thick and heavy if there’s too much in the way of layer thickness. To get the measurements for layers for any of these cards, just substract 1/4″ or 1/2″ each from the vertical and horizontal measurements of the section on which you’ll be adhering the paper.
Then There’s the Papers
At the time that I found this design, I was also trying to figure out what kind of a card I was going to make for my niece for her birthday. Her mother is a card-designer so I was such that my niece would be very appreciative of any kind of an unusual design in the way of a birthday card. So birthday card it was.
A problem with patterned papers and areas to cover as small as those in this card design is that many prints are just too large to be fully appreciated on such a small space. Then it dawned on me that I’d already used one of the latest Sale-a-Bration Christmas Designer Series Paper sets for something that wasn’t Christmas. And it worked for this project, too! All three designs that I used for this card are from the Penguin Playmates Designer Series Paper (unfortunately no longer available). These design are the “back” side of sheets with penguins and other critters in a Christmas time type of design. The featured colors are Just Jade, Misty Moonlight, and Fresh Freesia. I used Fresh Freesia Cardstock as the base of the card.
A Fun Design Element
I mentioned that there would be four sections showing when the card lies flat. That helped when I was trying to design what I was going to do in the way of decorating the larger sections of the card.
I had chosen the striped print from the paper set to be the top layer of the 2-1/4″ sections. What I’d intended to do was to die-cut an image (or two or three) and adhere them to that layer. After I found that I didn’t have exactly what I wanted, I thought, “why not just leave them blank?? So I did and went on to create a note-writing page that would be the “back” of the card. I layered up some of the same Just Jade print and then a Basic White Cardstock rectangle, stamping it with “Happy Birthday” (from the Timeless Tulips Stamp Set) at the bottom.
That’s when I got my fun decorating idea. I’d put a label with “Happy Birthday” stamped on it on all the other 2-1/4″ sections. With the extra side showing on the card when it lies flat, there would be THREE such labels showing. I stamped the five labels that I’d need using Just Jade, Fresh Freesia and Misty Moonlight Inks.
Layering Paper on the Inside of the Pinwheel
In some of the Pinwheel Tower cards that I’ve made, I added a layer of Designer Series Paper on the inside, and then just scored and folded the card base/Designer Series Paper layer as one piece. While that worked for the 4-sided cards, it didn’t work so well with the 6-sided card. I’m not sure why. But I do know that, in the future, I’ll be cutting small strips of printed papers for the inside rather than cutting one long piece.
The print that I used on the inside, as well as the bottom layer for the 2-1/4″ sections is a dotted pattern with the same colors as those on the striped paper. As I wasn’t going to be doing too much decorating on this card, I thought that print livened up the design a bit. That I’d definitely do again!
This was fun! And, once I finish with my vacation, I’m sure that I’ll be making another one of these before long. I’m already thinking of Christmas cards!
But next will be one more Halloween card – because I know it’s time to get those done and in the mail!
Happy Stamping!
