CREATE: a day of encouragement...=)

 Hi there! Just wanna share these birthday cards i made for my friends. These are just simple ways to encourage and uplift their spirit..

Every time there is birthday celebration or baptism in our campus ministry at church i am thrilled and excited to make cards for them. Thought of making an accordion instrument inspired card because we usually give one big card to the celebrant where everyone can write their words of encouragement and this was one of them=). 

This card was created using paper scrap, corrugated paper to add texture, glue and  a puncher. I hand cut the flower and butterfly. And i punched holes on the edges to create butterfly path.

Accordion Card

                    I love these colors together..they're my favorite ones especially the turquoise/aqua..

My husband bought me a book ' Expressive Handmade Books " by Alisa Golden. Her book teaches wonderful techniques and materials in creating handmade books. I'm excited to learn from her. It's inspiring!

One technique i knew even before i saw it in her book is the accordion. I never knew it was called accordion though..haha!!! but one thing i know for sure is that this book gives me creative ideas for my next projects.

Two Connected Accordion Card

To make it longer and provide more space, i made two connected accordion card with eight panels. This was just made of brown folder, a little help from my glue and marker.

10 Easy steps: ( for more instructions, read 'Expressive Handmade Books' by Alisa Golden)

1. Cut the brown folder into two.
2. Measure the desired size of the card.
3. Fold the first folder in half, widthwise. Open. Make sure this folder is one inch longer than the other.
4. Fold the extra one inch then matching the cut end to the fold with one inch folded inside.
5. Fold the ends to the center fold, one end at a time. You should have valley,peak, valley folds, forming a
   "W".
6. Fold the shorter folder in half.
7. Fold the ends back to the center fold, and crease, making sure they are aligned.
8. Apply a thin layer of glue to the front of  first folder (the peak side).
9. Set the second folder on top of the first folder so that the edge are aligned. Press down (the folder1 will
    be hidden behind the second folder)
10. Then design it your way.

Have a great day everyone!=)