open if you dare

October is finally upon us; for a lot of people, that means a Halloween crafting frenzy. I am joining in the fun today, sharing a fancy fold Halloween Card.
I love making these types of cards, they are so fun to open and discover all that lies inside, and the design allows for many opportunities to incorporate all sorts of holiday ephemera.
Let's get started.

To create the card base, you will need a square piece of paper. For this card, I have used a 12x12 sheet of black cardstock. The piece is folded into quadrants and then, using a bone folder, I ensure the creases are sharp. Next, open the sheet to a flat position and fold the entire square in half, diagonally. Use the bone folder to ensure a crisp diagonal fold and then flatten the sheet once more. The card base is ready to be adorned.

Using some of my favorite decorative papers, I cut a 6x6 square panel that will be attached to the card cover. I build my scene on this paper and set it aside. It is important to note that I set this aside and always attach the cover panel last. This allows me to attach fasteners through the card base that can be concealed. I also find that creating the cover panel first, allows me to set the tone and theme that can then carry throughout the interior. Since the cover is not attached, I can refer back to the design without having to open and close the card multiple times. Most importantly, as many of you know, I love making the cover dimensional, when the panel is secured in place the open card does not lay flat. It is much easier creating the interior when it is flat, thus not crushing the cover design.

The focal point on the cover of my card is one of the houses from the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts haunted houses set paired with "frightful" from the Halloween word set. The haunted houses set come with three different designs, I paint both sides of the house I am using with black soot paint. Once dry, I coat the front side with Deco Art one step crackle and allow it to work its magic. Once the crackled finish is completely dry; to accentuate the crackle and dull some of the shine, I rub distress crayon in fired brick and gathered twigs over the surface and into the cracks. 

I color a piece of vellum with fossilized amber distress oxide, spritz with water and allow to dry. I use this vellum to fill the window openings. From the back side, pieces sized to cover the entire openings are adhered with collage medium around the window opening edges. 

I carefully remove the word "frightful" from the Halloween word set. This set contains five Halloween words, each in a different font. "Frightful" is an extremely delicate font, use extra caution when removing this from the surround. Once I have removed the word, I use use twisted citron distress oxide ink to add color to the chipboard. I add the ink in layers, allowing to dry in between each coat to give the word a wonderful intensity of color. I then coat the colored word with glossy accents, to add stability and shine. I set the coated word aside to dry completely.

While the glossy accents is drying, I am able to work on the background. Using a die, I cut random patterns of stars from the top of the square. I color a 6x6 square of mixed media heavy stock with layers of twisted citron distress oxide, distress ink, and distress spray stain. When I achieve the desired look, this piece is layered beneath the decorative paper. The beautiful layers of twisted citron show through the star die cut openings. I adhere the haunted house piece to the background with distress collage medium and set weights on it until the collage medium is dry, to keep it flat.

The two bats from the black creepy critters set are added to the starry sky, in addition to a die cut crescent moon face. Once the cover design is complete, The fully dried frightful word is adhered to the house front with collage medium. As I mentioned before, the completed cover piece is set aside while I work on the card interior.

The fancy fold card interiors can be as simple or complex as you desire. Keeping with the Halloween theme, I used some colored Ideaology paper dolls, masquerade die cuts, quote chips, halloween remnant rubs, clippings stickers, and incorporated the remaining pieces from the black creepy critters set among the panels. There are no limits to designing the fancy fold interior.

One thing to note is that when attaching pieces to the triangular folding panels, only attach a piece that spans both panels onto one of the triangles. This way, when the card is folded closed, the extended pieces will not impede the process and can remain flat. If necessary, you can always test out the design with removable tape to be sure everything functions properly before doing the final gluing. The pictures above show how the paper dolls are only attached on one of the triangular panels. The picture on the right shows how the children were only attached on the base triangle for the quadrant while the gentleman was only attached to the upper triangle.

Here are some pictures of the inside panels.

These cards can become a bit thick when you add a lot of layers inside. I like to wrap the base with a coordinating ribbon that can be tied together to keep the card closed (for mailing or storage.) I attach this ribbon to the card base cardstock before I add the cover and back panels. The ribbon is completely concealed, except for the lengths to be tied together.

  I hope that you have a wonderful October, filled with creativity.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I truly appreciate it.

~Ann


Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts used:
Black Creepy Critters Set
Halloween Word Set
Haunted Houses Set