Wednesday 17 February 2016

A butterfly explosion card

Back in the day, explosion cards, where a piece of paper bigger than the actual card opens out when you open the card, were A Thing and I've noticed them popping up (groan...... see what I did there?) again here and there, so I thought it was about time I revisited the technique.

The idea is quite simple, once you've worked out what size of paper to use. There is a  simple fold called the Turkish Map Fold (lots of articles and videos about it can be found by googling) that makes the paper sit neatly folded in the card until it is opened and then...... POP!!! The whole thing springs open.

I used a 20cm square of paper to sit inside a 10cm square card, which worked very neatly. I wanted to make sure I got the orientation of the stamping right, so I did a test fold with scrap paper and made notes on it to show where I wanted everything to go.

Then I did the stamping on a still-unfolded square of paper, using a gorgeous set of Indigo Blu stamps that was a magazine freebie last year. I set it aside for a few minutes to make  sure the ink was completely dry before starting to fold (actually that's a bit of a porkie-pie, I set my second attempt aside to dry, on account of what happened when I folded the first too soon). If I'd remembered to use a faster drying ink, it wouldn't have been necessary.....

For the outside of the card, I used more stamps from the set to make the panel, then unearthed an ancient scrap of shrink plastic and stamped the large butterfly twice with Stazon, cut it out and shrank it to make the embellishments. 




I am sharing this with

Crafty Gals Corner - Fancy Folds
Use Your Stuff - Black and white
Addicted to Stamps - Anything Goes
Butterfly Challenge - S is for Stamping (sorry, no sapphire this time!)
Shopping Our Stash - Fantastic Plastic
Mod Squad - The Great Outdoors
Inkspirational - Pop 

20 comments:

Liz said...

WOW, Jane! What an amazing fold - I've not come across this one before. Love monochrome colour scheme......off now to google Turkish Map Fold! xx

Kath said...

A fabulous card! Love this technique - haven't seen it before but, like Liz, I'll be googling it!
Kath x

Donna said...

Ohhhhhhh beautiful! I love the black and white and the butterflies and dragonflies...just awesome!! Thanks for joining the SHOPPING OUR STASH crew for our "Fantastic Plastic" challenge this week!

Barb said...

Wow I'm impressed Jane. I've not seen this fold before either and also off to google it. I love your monochrome card. I love your butterflies too. Shrink plastic is not my favourite technique to do although I really like the results. Barbxx

AlisonC said...

Oh, I love this. The stamps are gorgeous and I love the inside. You might be starting a trend... You did make me laugh, how many times have I smudged ink by not waiting?
It is good to see you over at the Butterfly Challenge.

Mrs A. said...

We used to do this fold as kids but never knew it had a special name. Must brush up on it. Love the monochrome black and white. I'm bereft without my heart gun. It sits in the drawer unused for months but then when I do need it I'm pulling my hair out. Just saw your shrink plastic butterflies and thought I need to make a few more up for my stash. Darn I can't without my heat gun. Der!! A new one has been promised for delivery Friday. Thankyou for fluttering by my stamping challenge. Hugs Mrs A.

Judy Woodland said...

What a beautiful and fascinating card!!! I love the black and white palette, very stunning. And your use of the butterflies is perfect here. I really need to get some of that shrink plastic - it's beautiful!I have never seen that fold before, very intriguing. I will have to try it! Great take on the challenge! Thanks so much for playing along this week at
Mod Squad Challenge






Tracy Welham said...

Amazing, fabulous design. Creative Blessings, Tracy x

cotnob said...

This is brilliant Jane, such a fabulous design and lovely sentiment.
Pauline
x

Darnell said...

Well, if that's not a card that POPS, I don't know what is! This is brilliant, Jane!! (Although I will admit I was a bit tripadashus about opening your post after reading the title!! Glad no butterflies were harmed in the making of your awesome card!!) Enjoy your day! Hugs, Darnell

Lori said...

This is a fantastic card! I love it! Thanks for joining our black and white challenge this week at Use Your Stuff!

Jeanie Ellis - Scrapbookingmamaw said...

Great job! It's wonderful!Thanks for joining us over at Crafty Gals Corner! Jeanie, DT

Judy V said...

Beautiful explosion card! Love the black & white scheme! Thanks for joining us at Crafty Gals Corner for our Fancy Folds Challenge!

Shirl said...

Oh wow an explosion card! I haven't seen one of these in ages. I got to the first frame and was "wow how lovely.. simply stunning" and then I scrolled on. And OMG wowsers! The inside is also just breathetaking! What an awesome card. Thank you so much for playing along with my challenge over at UYS - Hugs DT Shirl

Chris Dring said...

Shrinky dink butterflies and an exploding card?!! How awesome is this!! Thanks for joining the fun at Shopping Our Stash!

Dawn S. said...

Beautiful card! I have this stamp set, so I may try this technique! Thanks for the inspiration.

Lilian said...

That's such a cool card! Love it!
Thank you for joining us at ATSM!
Lilian
The Leaf Studio

Lena said...

Beautiful card. Love the black and white colour combo. Very elegant.
Thank you for playing along with us at Crafty Gals Corner.
Hugs ~ Lena, DT
Lena’s Creations

Peanut said...

What a lovely project, jane! Thanks for joining us at ATSM.
x Asha

Nonni said...

Brilliant, I've never seen a fold like this, looks very impressive! Thanks for joining us at Inkspirational!