Week 1: Four-patch cards

Card Blanks
We always have a tight budget for the card classes. This trimester we will be using white cardstock and making envelopes. A 250 sheet ream of 8 1/2″ by 11″ white cardstock makes 500 cards and a 500 sheet ream of white 20# paper makes 500 envelopes. That works out to less than 4 cents for a card and envelope.

 For a card
Cut full sheet of cardstock in half to make two 8 1/2″ by 5 1/2″ card blanks.
Fold the card blank in half to make a 4 1/4″ by 5 1/2″ card

For an envelope
Trace an envelope template onto a sheet of paper
Cut, fold and glue according to instructions

 Here are some templates to use:
http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/3210/e00008/downloads/e-white0008_k03l4s.pdf
http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/3210/e00001/downloads/e-white0001_k03l4p.pdf

Four-patch Cards
When I first started the card class in 2005, my sister shared several of her cardmaking ideas. One of them was to use a single 6″ by 6″ piece of decorative paper to make two cards OR two coordinating 6″ by 6″ sheets (light and dark or plain and patterned of the same color) to make four cards. Here’s an example: 

In week one we are making monochrome four-patch cards based on this idea using coordinating papers and very basic supplies and tools. Here’s the how-to:

1. Select two papers one light and one dark of the same color or one plain and one patterned of the same color.
2. Cut a rectangle measuring 3 1/2″ by 2 1/4″ of each paper. (PDF showing how to make the good use of a 6″ by 6″ piece of paper.)
3. Stack the papers and cut horizontally about 1/3 from the top. The cut can be straight, v-shaped or curved, but the cut start and end must be the same distance from the top.
4. Arrange the four pieces on the card – swap tops or bottoms, separate patches with equal spacing horizontal and vertical.
5. Create a medallion for the card center – cut a 1″ to 1 1/2″ square of cardstock or punch a 1″ circle. Decorate with a rubberstamp or with punched paper.
6. Glue medallion to the center of the card.

You’ll notice that on the brown card colored-pencil was used to outline the lighter color patches.

Wrap-up
That’s what we will be making at the card class this week. I’ll let you know how it goes. The class always has students with varying degrees of crafting skills – from none to advanced. Some like to make cards that look exactly like the samples and others want to do their own thing.

If you give this card a try, please let me know. I’m also interested in comments and suggestions.

Images of cards can be posted to the Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/cardclass/