Tutorial - Book Fold Cards

Today's fabulous card fold was created by the very talented Hilary Wilson who kindly allowed me to recreate her fold and share a step-by-step tutorial with you. Some clever cutting gives the illusion of a thick, hard-cover book, but what you're actually looking at is a single fold card that will fit into a flat envelope!

Hilary has a video for creating this fold here: Craft Oasis Book Fold Video

as well as several other video tutorials you can view: The Craft Oasis on YouTube

Or you can visit the Craft Oasis page for more fun card folds.

1. Start with a piece of card stock measuring 91/2" x 61/2". For the best results, use card stock that is coloured on one side and white or cream on the other. Both Hillary and myself have chosen to use single-sided gold card, but you can use a solid colour or pattern if you prefer.

2. Place the card stock horizontally on your score board and score at 43/4" and 51/2".

(IMPORTANT NOTE: the score line at 51/2" is decorative only. Do not fold.)

3. Fold along the 43/4" score line, which will give you an evenly folded card blank. Remember that the second score line is decorative only.

4. Open the card out flat. Cut a horizontal line from the right-hand side of the card to the 51/2" score line. The cut should start 3/4" down from the top right corner. Refer to the template above for correct placement.

5. Use a pair of small, sharp scissors to cut a scooped line from the end of the cut you made in step 4, to the top of the first score line. I've marked the line with pen so you can see the location of the cut. The section that we cut away will become the template for the remainder of our cuts.

6. Fold the card base in half. Place the template over the end of the visible white section, which is the inside of the card, lining up the score line on the template with the edge of the card stock. Use a pencil to mark the curve.

7. Use the template again at the bottom, left corner of the folded card, keeping the template flush with the bottom edge of the card. Mark the curve with a pencil.

8. Use scissors or a craft knife to cut along the pencil lines you made in steps 6 and 7. As you can see, our card is now starting to look like a large book. By echoing the same curve shape, we're tricking the eye into seeing a three dimensional object.

9. Now to decorate. I added some brown chalk ink to the inside edges of my card to reduce the contrast between the white and gold surfaces.

10. Add a large picture and embellishments to the card front, keeping to the area between the right hand edge and the decorative score line.

11. If you wish to add something to the "spine of the book", simply use the template to shape the top and bottom to complete the illusion of three dimensions.

12. The last step is to add some "pages". I used a very light pencil (PC1069) to draw quick, rough lines from the spine toward the outer edge. Don't worry if the lines don't make it all the way to the other side of the card, and it doesn't matter if they are not entirely straight. They are supposed to represent the pages, which don't always sit flat and uniform if a book is slightly ajar.

Stamps:

Sincere thanks go to Hilary Wilson for allowing me to reproduce her beautiful card and share the instructions on my blog for everyone to use. If you enjoyed this tutorial, please visit Hilary's pages to let her know.