Iris Fold

I'm really excited to share this card with you today, I've been thinking about trying the Iris Fold Technique and I just bought the perfect stamp set to do it with.  I got the technique from Splitcoast Stampers, and you can find it here.  Splitcoast calls it the Iris Twist, but its all the same thing no matter what you call it.  Anyway, here's the story of how I ended up with the finished product.  The first time I did it I used the Ornament Punch and some Designer Series Paper (DSP).  Since I didn't know how this was going to turn out I didn't want to use my Christmas DSP, so I used the In Color Designer Series Pack with Concor Crush cardstock, and this was how that turned out.

And this is how the back of the card stock looked.

I think it turned out pretty good and I could easily layer that on a card base and it wouldn't be too heavy.  So now I move on to the stamp set I want to do this technique with, Christmas Collage.  I stamped the image, used the Extra Large Scallop punch to punch out the "25" because that is where I want to do the iris fold.  I'm still not ready to use my Christmas DSP yet, so no problem I'll try it with Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke.  The tutorial tells you to cut a 1 inch strip of DSP and then fold it in half, and I think that fold definitely adds something to the overall look of the Iris Fold.  So, I stamp my image in Cherry Cobbler, and start layering my cardstock, (insert doh! and slap on the forehead here - don't try this at home).  I got about halfway through and realized this isn't going to work out so great, but what the heck I was half way there so why stop now.  This is how it looked.

Now either you knew right away why this wasn't going to work, or your looking at the picture thinking that's not so bad, I don't see anything wrong with it.  So I will show you a little close up.



And in case that isn't working for you let me just show you the back.



And there it is, if I tried to layer that on a card base there would be a 1/4 of an inch space between the base and the layer, and I'm sure some extra postage with it.  So now I'm bummed because I really want to use these colors and I'm still not willing to use my DSP.  And as I watch my cat Muzby try to get at my ribbon it hits me, I have some beautiful 1/2" Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke Seam Binding.  Yep, I'm excited again!  And so I saved the best picture for last.



Don't you just love it?   I think it turned out awesome and it layers on the card base without a problem.  Now I know, the card can use some more work and I want to play around with the area that is punched out.  I just couldn't wait to share the card especially since I haven't seen anyone else do this technique with this card yet.

Anyway, I hope you're as excited about this card as I am, I'd love to know what you all think.