Father's Day - My Dad, My STAR!

Here's a look at the card I made for Father's day last week. I wanted to make something with star as my theme , so I made a star shaped iris folding card.

I took the iris folding pattern from here and traced the pattern on the cardstock paper. Then I cut it creating a star shaped window.

Iris folding is done by layering strips of papers in a spiral form. Once it is completed, it resembles the iris of the camera and hence the name. Next, I placed the back side of the card over the pattern. The lines/numbers on the pattern indicate the order in which the strips have to be placed. I used two shades of origami paper for this project. Selecting the number of papers would depend on the pattern, but there is no such norm. Ideally, I should have used five colors for the star pattern, but I ended up using only two. For example : a square pattern can be done with either 4, 2 or 1 color paper. 

I then cut 1-1.5 inch strips of the paper and folded them in half. At this time, I assigned colors to the numbers. I generally make 2 copies of the pattern.. one which is taped to the card and the other one I use for tracing on the card and then assigning the colors to the numbers. 

Then I started taping the strips of paper with the folded edge towards the center of the pattern. Using thin paper gives it a crisp look and doesn't make the project bulky. Alternatively, you can use ribbon or just thinner strips of paper without folding them. That's something I want to try too. 

I trimmed the pieces as I went along so that the paper didn't extend out of the card. While taping the strips make sure you tape only on the card/paper strips and not on the pattern guide as it will show on the right side of the card. 

Once I finished taping all the paper, I stuck a bright colored paper over the iris. For a finished look inside I stuck the same colored cardstock on the back side, so that the tape and strips of paper won't be seen. You can also make the aperture card that I showed in my previous post. I used the decorative frames set with the Big Shot  machine for the tag. 

Here's the link to a tutorial that I found interesting. They also have some free patterns that you can use. I find this to be a very simple, easy technique to make unique handmade cards, especially when I have less time on hand. Until next time.. 

-Smriti.

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