The Thankful Season Pumpkin Spice Card Folio with G45 Seasons Collection

Hello, G45’ers!  Have you had a chance to play with Graphic 45’s new Seasons Collection yet?  I finally had a chance to play with the Autumn pages.  Ooh la la!  Talk about inspiring! This Thankful Season Pumpkin Spice Card Folio has such a warm, cozy feel that I think you are really going to love it.

This is a 5″ x 7″ top fold card folio with a .25″ spine.  I’ve become rather addicted to making these folios because they serve multiple purposes.  It’s a card, a gift, and home decor all in one.  Making a folio like this also allows me to use up my scraps, which I love.

Pumpkin Spice Card Folio: Fussy Cutting elements

The base layer of this Thankful Season Pumpkin Spice Card folio is made from the “B” side of the Autumn page.  When you trim the 8″ x 8″ paper to fit the card cover, you are left with a 3″ scrap.  Turn this over, and you’ll find a portion of the lovely autumn wreath on the “A” side.  Turn this into a design element by fussy cutting around the wreath, inking the edges and popping up with foam tabs or waste chipboard.  This creates a sort of shaped edge on the card and adds wonderful dimension to the design.

How to Create Quick Card Layers on Your Thankful Season Pumpkin Spice Card Folio

Here’s a handy tip you can use to create quick card layers.  Die cut patterned paper with basic geometric shapes.  For this card, I used the 12×12 Patterns and Solids in  both the brown floral and the brown stripe.  The simple patterns don’t compete with the patterns from the Seasons pad, and the earthy brown tones soften the vibrant colors of the collection.  Matting the die cut patterned paper on brown cardstock gives the finished composition a crisp, clean look.

Add Texture with Your Embellishments

You all know by now how much I enjoy embellishing my cards.  I find it is a great way to add texture to the overall design.  Here, I’ve used a faux canvas bow, burlap string, burlap leaves and burlap flowers as embellishments.  The texture from these elements gives the card a wonderful organic feel.

The Thankful Season Pumpkin Spice Folio: The Inside Job

One of the reasons I began making these card folios was because I hate to deal with scraps.  Rather than stash them away in a drawer, I began looking for creative ways to use them on my cards.

Scraps make lovely side pockets, like the one where I’ve tucked this little tea bag wallet.

The wallet is made with a 3″ x 7.5″ strip of leftover brown stripe paper that I used for the die cut layer on the card front.  I simply scored it at 3″  and 6″, then folded it.  Next, I used a circle punch to create a thumb hole in the 1.5″ section.  Then I glued the sides to form a pocket.  This is the perfect place to tuck in a tea bag, a gift card, a personal note, small photo or wrapped chocolate.

The Thankful Season Pumpkin Spice Card Folio: Tags and more tags

I’ve used another scrap of the brown stripe paper to create a pocket on the bottom of the card.  It’s decorated with a border scrap and image from the 8×8 paper pad.  Then I stuffed it with all kinds of lovely treats.

Use a border scrap to decorate the top edge of the page.  Then fill the pocket with a lovely Kraft Staples Tag.  The belly band on the tag is, you guessed it, another scrap.  Then I decorated an Kraft Alpha ATC tag (T for thankful) with more bits and bobs of leftover paper and tucked it behind the belly band.

Even the honey stick (to go with the tea bag) got in on the scrap action.  I had a 2″ piece of leftover border.  After cutting a fishtail banner on one end, I wrapped it around the honey stick and secured it with a glue dot.  This 4″ x 6″ ephemera card has room on the back for a personal note, a favorite pumpkin recipe or a photo.  Now this is so much more than a card: it’s a gift, and it works well as home decor, too.  That’s what I call getting a lot of bang for your crafty buck!

I hope I’ve shared some tips and tricks that you can use in your own crafty adventures.  If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below.

Wishing you all a blessed, happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Cheerio,

kathy

 The Thankful Season Pumpkin Spice Card Folio Supply List

Graphic 45 Seasons Collection

• 12 x 12 Autumn Collective
• 8×8 Autumn Collective
• 8×8 Autumn
• Brown Patterns from  Seasons 12×12 Patterns and Solids
• Seasons Ephemera Cards
• Decades Dark Cashmere Ink by ColorBox
• Staples Kraft Tag
• ATC Alpha Banner (Letter T for thankful)

Other Supplies

• Petaloo Autumn Hues Briar Roses, Burlap Autumn Leaves
• Brown Faux Canvas Ribbon, Burlap String, ¼” Brown Gingham (from Really Reasonable Ribbon)
• Tea Bag, Honey Stick (I get mine at the health food store), removable glue dot
• Scoring Tool, Circle Punch
• Stick pins, Mini Pumpkin, Vintage Button from my stash