Funky Folds Blog Hop #1

ANYTHING GOES WITH A FUNKY FOLD

Welcome to the first Funky Folds Blog Hop.

We are a group of like-minded paper crafters who love to make cards with funky folds. Funky actually means "modern and stylish in an unconventional or striking way"... so we are featuring cards that are not your usual rectangle/square portrait or landscape style. Think 'easel', 'pop-up', 'gatefold', 'z-fold', 'shaped' or 3D cards etc. The list is endless. All Blog Hops have an 'anything goes' theme using any type of 'funky' card fold.

I have created a card with a range of Stampin’ Up! products, starting with the Trusty Tools bundle.  But you say, isn’t this blog featuring funky folds??? Yes, it is. This card has the surprise inside when it is opened — there is an internal pop-up feature. 

A friend had a recent birthday but what was I to create for him? This friend had taken up painting when he retired. His studio is positioned in an open atrium that is surrounded by his home.  The area itself has no roof and there is a bricked floor with plants in pots and hanging baskets scattered around. My friend’s hobby and his studio area were the inspiration for this card. 

To give a woodgrain background a neutral design was selected from the Perennial Lavender Designer Series Paper and it was embossed with the Timber 3D Embossing Folder. Some Crumb Cake Classic Stampin’ ink was lightly added to allow the timber effect to be softly visible.  A Shaded Spruce design from the same DSP pack was laid beneath a peg board die cut from the Trusty Tools dies. The stamped paint brush and pencils were from the Trusty Tools stamps and coloured with Stampin’ Blends. The die cut foliage came from the Painted Lavender and Notes of Nature sets of dies. The foliage is reminiscent of the plants in the atrium.

The front sentiment comes from the stamp set that is part of the Timeless Greetings kit. Linen Twine and Brushed Brass Butterflies give a special touch.

The pop up scene inside the card used some extra products. To add a basket of smaller brushes and an artist easel the Crafting With You stamp set was brought out. A couple of paintings and a clock adorned the wall above the work bench in the atrium so a part of the Perennial Lavender DSP was cut down and mounted to give an abstract painting feel. When I thought of the clock on the wall, initially I was stumped, but then remembered the clock-face in the Timeless Greetings card kit. Vellum was added to the bench top, with it hanging further down on one end to give a sense of plastic sheeting over the actual bench. The Vellum was also splattered with White Craft ink and Shaded Spruce ink to replicate the plastic sheeting - it may be difficult to see this detail in the photos. The “painting” on the easel was cut down from some of the Meandering Meadows DSP.

Here is a side view. You may see the brickwork ground that was created with an Exposed Brick 3D Embossing Folder and some Crumb Cake ink. The neutral gingham floor rug was cut from another piece of Perennial Lavender DSP.  The sentiment came from the Trusty Tools stamps.

The back of the card was used for writing a personal message. Another painting and some foliage provided linkage to the theme of the card. And yes, the card does fit into a standard A6 Very Vanilla envelope - it’s fat, but it does fit. I was going to hand deliver the card so didn’t need to worry about the card’s thickness to comply with Australia Post processing.

Thank you so much for dropping by on your way around our first Funky Folds Blog Hop.

Up next is our Host and Blog Hop initiator, the wonderful Bronwyn Eastley from Addinktive Designs in eastern Australia. I am so looking forward to seeing Bronwyn’s funky fold and to checking out everyones’ creations in our very first Funky Folds Blog Hop. Just click on the graphic below to be taken to Bronwyn’s blog.

If you love to make cards with creative folds and would like to join in with our monthly Funky Folds Blog Hops, you are welcome to head on over to our community group on Facebook to be part of the fun.

facebook.com/groups/funkyfoldsbloghops

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others.

Andrea 💕🐾

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the Stampin' Up 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and or the January-April 2024 Mini Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

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