Accordian Cards

Hey Ya'll,

The SASSY DUDE here, from Cricut Couple. Sheila has asked me to become a regular designer!  YAY!  Thanks so much Sheila!  Today is my first official regular designer day, so I thought I would share a tutorial on something that looks very complicated, but really isn't at all.  It seems that way at first, but once you have made a couple, it's super simple.  I hope you all give it a try because they are lots of fun!  It's Accordian Cards.

To start with, I am going to show you how to make the frames.  Both cards are going to be 6" x 6" in size.  That's the easiest to size to start with because of the square.  Once you get the hang of it, start playing with other sized cards based on what you normally work with. I normally work with half cards, so this was a lot of fun to try for this tutorial.

Here, you can see that I used my Gypsy to create the frames.  You don't have to do two of them, but this particular card was very simple for making a double mat on the window open to the folded background.

Basically, you will need a square and a label shape.  There are so many great ones on so many cartridges, so I will leave this up to your favorites.  For this one, I used a couple of squared designs from Damask Decor.  This first "Layer 1" on the Gypsy is the wrapped frame that holds in the folding.  You want to make this one inch larger than your base.  Since we are using a 6" x 6" card for the base, we need a 7 inch square.  I pulled a square from George and Basic Shapes, sized it to a height of 7.00 and centered it on the mat.  I then picked a label shape and added it in the center of the square.  For this one, just make sure that it is smaller than 5 1/2 inches square.

For this mat, I wanted to make more of a cover.  Basically, the decorative papers used in this particular card were from thinner paper, so I had to use a stronger card stock for the wrapped portion.  For this, add a 6" x 6" square.  Then add your label shape to the center. Note... keep this one a little larger than the first.  This layer will sit on top of the other and by doing so, you create a double mat.

For the next step, I am going to switch to the halloween design.  I hope this doesn't cause any confusion.  For the inside, you want a piece of paper that is 12" x 5 3/4".  Using a scoring board makes this process very simple.  If you don't own a scoring board, you will need to use a ruler and a bone folder.  It may be simpler for you to pencil mark your paper before scoring.  You want to score every half inch on one side of the paper.  Then flip over the paper and score again, starting a 1/4" and then every half inch after that.  This way you are starting the scores perfectly to the zig zag.

If the paper is scored correctly, this is what it should look like when scored.  The next thing is to fold it on the scoring lines.

This is what you have when finished.  Pretty cool, huh?

Take your " 7 inch " square that you cut earlier and put it on the scoring board.  Working from the outside in, score the side at 1/4" and then again at 1/2" on all four sides.  (I wanted another accent on this one, so I scored again at 1" but you don't have to do that.)  When you have completed scoring, cut the outer 1/2" corner on the scoring lines.  This will allow you to fold correctly.

Once you have scored everything, fold the 1/4" and 1/2" This preps the frame for the insert.

For the next part, you will need your insert, frame and your card base.  The card base is a 12" x 12" piece of card stock, cut in half to a 6" x 12" piece.  It is then folded in the center to create the 6" x 6" card.

Insert the folded part into the frame and using a little tacky glue, glue the corners.  Just so that the corners are prepared attaching.  Using a glue runner or ATG gun, spread adhesive on your card base.  Don't use liquid glue for this application.  It will really wrinkle the card base.

 Once you stick it all together, this is how it turns out.  Once you are done with this part, simply embellish however you want!  It's that easy.

 For the halloween card, I cut a witch from A Child's Year and a frame from Happy Haunting.  I used George and cut a couple of ovals.  I also cut the frame larger and smaller to create a window frame in the purple for this card.

 You can embellish with whatever to make it your own.  Just be careful to not go too overboard.  You don't want to cover up all that beautiful folding you did.  Hee! Hee!

 For the inside, I simply used more of the same label shapes and added a couple of bats.

 For this one, I cut a couple of ovals and stamped the Happy Birthday.  I cut some flowers with coordinating paper using Mother's Day Bouquet.

 You can see here that the frame for this one was made with white card stock.  The striped paper is added to the top.  This gives a nice double mat frame around the folding. I added some stickles and gems to finish it off.

 On the inside, I simply added the cuts that were left over from the front for the sentiment mats.  I also added a couple of the leftover flowers.

Well, I sure hope you enjoyed today's tutorial.  Another big Thank You to Sheila for having faith in me that I could play along with such a talented bunch of Sassy Ladies.  I would love to know what you think about this project, so please leave a comment!  That's what makes this all so much fun!

You are also welcome at either blog anytime!  Here is a link to My Blog - Cricut Couple.

I have cards for the most part, but there are some fun projects from guest designing for Sheila and you all!  I look forward to your visit!

Most Sincerely,

Bobby - The Sassy Dude!

Cricut Couple