Tutorial - Accordion Z-Fold Cards

I recently taught this fabulous display card at one of my local scrapbooking shops. It has an accordion section that helps it stand open for display as well as a smaller card that keeps everything in shape. You could easily adapt the size to whatever you need and there's plenty of room to add personal messages and sentiments.

1. Place an 11" x 51/2" piece of cardstock horizontally on your score board and score at 13/4", 31/2", 51/4", and 7". Fold along the score lines, alternating between mountain and valley folds to form a concertina. Set aside.

2. Place a 61/2" x 31/4" piece of cardstock horizontally on your scoreboard, and score at 31/4". Fold in half.

3. To decorate, you'll need a 33/4" x 51/4" piece of white cardstock for the inside of the card, two 3" x 3" pieces of patterned paper, four 11/2" x 51/4" pieces of coordinating patterned paper, and a 1" x 33/4" piece of patterned paper (optional).

4. Adhere all the paper and cardstock to the base cards as shown below. If using the 1" x 33/4" piece of patterned paper, reserve it for a little later.

5. Fold the small card in half and position the folded edge along the right hand side of the large card. Open the small card.

6. Place adhesive along the left hand edge of the small card, about 1/2" wide. Carefully bring the accordion section over the adhesive, ensuring the small card doesn't move.

7. Now fold the accordion section closed as shown below. Place adhesive on the right hand edge of the small card and, if desired, a little on the edge of the accordion section ensuring you don't extend beyond the width of the small card. Fold the small card closed, securing it to the accordion section.

8. To decorate, secure the 1" x 33/4" strip of patterned paper to the white cardstock, about 1/2" from the bottom so that it's visible when the card is closed. I added a sentiment at the top right-hand side of the white cardstock, placing it carefully so it can be seen when the card is folded.

9. Decorate the front panel of the small card as desired. I used a combination of die cut images and another sentiment.

Products:

Day 4 - "D"

I used one of the little birds from the Christmas Cardinals set of digital stamps for today's card, but instead of colouring the berries red or green, I decided to turn them into little glowing lights to match the sentiment.

YOUR TURN: Create a card using the letter "D" as your prompt.

Click the link below to add a photo of your creation to the challenge:

CLICK HERE

INSPIRATION WORDS:

December, decorations, Dasher, Dancer, Donder, Dutch-fold card, double diamond fold, diagonal tri-fold card, diamond glaze, die cutting, digital stamps, dimensional, dry embossing, distress ink, dark blue, deep red, doodling

Digital Stamps:

Day 29 - "Z"

Z-Folds are super easy to make and always look fabulous stood open for display. Happily, they also take care of the "Z" prompt each year, which is always a tricky one right at the end of the challenge!

YOUR TURN: Create a card using the letter "Z" as your prompt.

Click on the link below to add your creation to the challenge:

CLICK HERE

INSPIRATION WORDS:

Z-fold, Z-box fold, Z-fold slider card, zentagle, zzzzz (as in snoring)

Stamps:

Tutorial - Z-Fold Box Card

Z-Fold Box Cards are constructed with a loose concertina section in the centre that allows you to build fabulous three dimensional scenes right inside the card. They fold flat for postage - as every good card should - and can easily be adjusted for size. 

TEMPLATE:

1. You'll need one piece of cardstock measuring 111/2" x 41/4", one piece measuring 111/2" x 11/2" and one piece measuring 111/2" x 2".

2. Place the 111/2" x 41/4" piece of cardstock horizontally on your score board and score at 27/8" and 53/4". Fold along each score line, starting with a mountain fold then a valley fold. This will form your card base.

3. Place the 111/2" x 11/2" piece of cardstock horizontally on your score board and score at 27/8" and 53/4". Fold along each score line, starting with a valley fold then a mountain fold. Rotate this piece of cardstock 180 degrees so the long section is now on the left side. These two pieces form the card base.

4. If you wish to add a decorative edge to the cardstock, now's the time to do it. I used a "grass" die to add edges to both of the narrower pieces of cardstock for an outdoorsy look.

5. Flip the 111/2" x 11/2" piece of cardstock over so that the front is facing down. Add adhesive to the right hand section and adhere to the far right hand side of the 111/2" x 41/4" piece of cardstock.

6. Stretch the narrower piece of cardstock all the way across the wider piece. They should be the same length. Turn both pieces over so they are face down on the desk. Fold back the right hand panel of the wider piece of cardstock and apply adhesive to the piece of narrow cardstock that is showing. Press the wider panel back down over the adhesive to secure the two pieces of cardstock together. (See the photos below.)

7. Place the remaining piece of cardstock on your score board and score at 1/2", 33/8", 37/8", 63/4", 71/4", 101/8" and 105/8". Trim away the excess cardstock after the final score line so that you have a 1/2" tab at each end.

8. Fold along the score lines to create a loose concertina, which should fit comfortably in the "box" section in the centre of the card.

9. Your concertina section needs to be secured inside the box. The easiest way to do this is by folding up the concertina as shown below. The tab should be folded down. Add adhesive to the tab and to the last 1/2" section of the folded piece. See the photos below.

10. Turn the concertina over so the glue is facing downward. Place it under the narrow piece of cardstock you adhered to your card base earlier, positioning it centrally and keeping the bottoms flush.

11. The concertina will be secured to one side of your card base. Now add adhesive to the same sections at the other end of the concertina and press the card flat again. This should secure the concertina in place.

12. Time to decorate! I've used all five of the little animals from the Big Love set of digital stamps, printed in colour and fussy cut. I also cut out some fluffy white clouds and die cut some tiny flowers to scatter throughout the card. Remember when you're decorating that the card will be seen from two angles... closed and fully open on display, so take care to decorate accordingly.

Stamps: