Card holder folder (quick!) and one sheet wonder cards.

I'm doing a quick(????) post today (well I originally thought it would be quick) on an easy greeting card holder folder using one sheet of 12x12 paper..... and I mean, it's VERY fast to make! I've been needing a few folders for the many cards I've made that are sprawling all over my craft room. (Note: if you scroll on down, there are some photos of my SUPER FAST one sheet wonder cards, and a link to the YouTube video I got the idea from).

I absolutely LOVE this paper! I got it on sale at Tuesday Morning for $2.99. It was a pack of 24 of the same sheets (two sided even!) with all sorts of words on it.....  denoting travel and road trips. I just loved the colors and that's why I bought it!

1.  GREETING CARD HOLDER FOLDER:

Here's the inside of the card holder folder. It can hold 4-5 cards and envelopes on each side and uses one 12x12 sheet of designer paper:

You score your 12x12 sheet of two sided design paper (heavy duty is best) at 5-7/8" and then again at 6-1/8". This makes a little 1/4" gusset down the middle. To make the pockets, score at about 7 to 7-1/2" down from the top, and then make about a 1" score at the very bottom to make the little fold-over at the top of the pocket. (I didn't really make this a tutorial, so didn't take photos as I worked, but see below for a video you can watch that IS a tutorial).


On the inside, I cut a diagonal cut from the pocket by the gusset (see above photo), out about 3/4", so that when the folder closes, the flaps don't hit the fold line. May May didn't do this, but I had seen it done on other videos, and thought it would work well. The inside pockets by the gusset are left unglued, but I glued the outside pockets down with a thin line of wet glue.

I used some stretch lace to tie the folder closed - very easy.

I pretty much exactly followed a video from May May Made It Crafts on YouTube here. She glued two pieces of one sided paper together to get her two-sided paper, but I liked just using a fairly heavy two-sided paper. She also didn't put the gusset in hers, but I did, as wanted to hold 4 or 5 cards and their envelopes on each side. It works great! Go check out her tutorial. My post isn't really a tutorial, so if you want instructions on how to make these (easy) folders, please check out May May's video. I checked out several other videos, but most were more involved and I wanted something simple.

This folder could be taller for larger cards, with a smaller pocket if you wanted to. You could also put little envelopes on the inside pockets, that could hold your postage stamps.
 

I made two folders. One holds "greetings" cards and "just a note" cards, and the other holds "thank you" cards and "thinking of you" cards. I made little labels for the folders, so I'd know which cards are in which folder.

2.  ONE SHEET WONDER CARDS:

What precipitated me making these folders (which I've wanted to do for some time now) was my making of TWENTY (yes 20!) one sheet wonder cards, using this same pretty paper! I'll show my cards below. I followed a tutorial from Brenda Quintana on YouTube here. She made (20) 3-1/2 x 5 inch notecards using one sheet of 12x12 paper for all of the strips and rectangles that decorate the cards (thus "One Sheet Wonder" cards). 

I wanted full-sized A2 cards, so I just decorated a 3-1/2" x 5" piece of some pretty peach or dark blue paper like her notecards, and then glued it onto my regular sized A2 card (using some cards and envelopes that were pre-made).

Here are my cards. I basically followed Brenda's tutorial, but changed things up a little bit, by using my little squares in different ways. I didn't have a flower punch, so I actually stamped my flowers on cream paper, then fussy cut them out. Yes.. I know... its a slow way to go. I would love to have a nice flower punch and stamps to match (like Brenda used in her video).

The template is free from Brenda Quintana, on how to cut out the strips and rectangles. You get enough strips and rectangles for 20 cards! My photos are fairly self-explanatory. I used either dark blue or peach (also on sale at Tuesday Morning!) for the 3-1/2" x 5" "matt".. then put a strip or rectangle on top at various placements. Stamp your sentiments right onto the matt, or on cream cardstock and glue them on.

Since I didn't have my white pigment ink with me (I'm house sitting at my sister's house), I tried my hand at using a white gel pen to write "Thanks" (above card). Is kind of funky, but oh well, was fun!

No white pigment ink, so I stamped on cream cardstock (above). I would rather have stamped right onto the blue but as I said, no white pigment ink!

I didn't "vintage up" my cards like I usually do, by inking and distressing the edges..... and NO embellishments added other than a little gem in the middle of a flower here and there. I just wanted something simple and easy to mail.

This was a fun project. I've done one other set of One Sheet Wonder cards that you can view on my blog HERE, but they were more involved. I liked how fast this set of 20 went together!

Have a fun crafty day!