Papertrey Ink Design Team Tips {Offset Gatefold Cards}

Hello, Friends! I'm so happy to be here today sharing this week's Papertrey Ink Design Team Tips! Do you ever feel like you get stuck in a design rut? I know I do! For today's Design Team Tips, I'm sharing an easy way to create visual movement on your cards using an offset gate fold card! Not only does it create visual interest, but with its unique fold, it gives the recipient a bit of the unexpected as well! 

 I will be sharing all of the measurements that  I used for today's cards as well as instructions on  how I put them together.  They are so easy to assemble, you'll be whipping out a whole set in no time! To begin, I chose a bright and springy color combination that I thought would help us remember that no matter how cold it is TODAY, Spring really will come! LOL! I chose Enchanted Evening and Green Parakeet for the two card bases. The base of the offset gate fold card measures 8 by 5 1/2 inches. The small flap on the right side measures 1 1/4 inches and the large flap on the left side measures 2 1/2 inches. This will leave a small gap between the two flaps.

This gives you a nice visual of how the card looks underneath. I used a 4 by 5 1/2 inch piece of Bitty Big: Harvest Gold pattern paper to place inside the card. This gives just a little peek-a-boo from the front and gives the card some extra visual detail. If you don't like that aspect, you could always just do some stamping along this portion, or leave it blank depending on the theme and feel you want your card to have. I was going for a playful and fun spring-like card, so polka dots were the perfect choice. 

I chose to use one of my favorite stamp sets; Friendly Flowers for this pair of cards. I used the Friendly Flowers die cut and the Friendly Flower Extras dies to die cut  all of the pieces I needed and then got to work stamping them. I used my mini MISTI to make it go quicker.  The ink colors that I used are: Hibiscus Burst, Harvest Gold, Pale Peony, Green Parakeet, and New Leaf. 

 I just love the subtle detail that the Nesting Basics Pierced Rectangles dies add to my designs. You can see how I added it to the edges of the card flaps. I don't use buttons nearly as much as I used to, or nearly as much as I OUGHT to, but they just seemed fitting for today's designs. I attached some Enchanted Evening Buttons using mini glue dots to the centers of the large flowers. I also added some sparkling clear sequins to the centers of the small flowers for some shine.

The sentiments, which are both from the Friendly Flowers set, are heat embossed in white onto strips of cardstock. I used the end of one of the XO Skinny Mini tag dies to give it the notched look. Normally I just use my scissors, but I really wanted them to have nice finished edges. I arranged the flowers and leaves in a zig zag pattern to create the movement I wanted using foam squares.

I decided that I wanted the card to have a white background, so I added the entire gate fold card to a white base. This is not folded or anything, just a backer to give the card a little bit of contrast. You will want to be careful, if you add this, to make sure that your card can still open and that the white portion won't impede any movement from the overhanging embellishments. The leaves on the right side of my card simply fold behind it when it is opened, but I didn't make the pink portion quite long enough, so it catches a little bit. Also, you will have plenty of room to stamp or write your greeting inside, but be sure you don't stamp or write in the gap. I hope you've enjoyed today's Design Team Tips. As always, if you have ANY questions, please leave me a comment and I will get back to you! Thanks for fluttering by!