Coffee and Cupcakes Gatefold Card Tutorial

Hello there crafty people, it’s Terri from VeegsTez Creates back on the blog today with a tutorial for a fun and colourful make!

In this project, I used the Coffee and Cupcakes digital stamp set. I chose the images I wanted, resized them in a text document and printed them off on to some alcohol marker friendly, smooth cardstock. The images were great fun to colour up and I really enjoyed choosing a really fun and bold colour palette for my project.

I like to choose my colour palette first, i.e. find card and paper I like, then choose colouring mediums that complement these. I find this much easier than colouring a bunch of images in random colours and then trying to find card and paper to match! For this vibrant card, I went with predominantly yellow, green and pinks. I chose a selection of card and paper I thought I might use (more is always better, then you can narrow it down) and then coloured my images in corresponding colours using my Copic Alcohol Markers and Polychromos coloured Pencils, before fussy cutting them so that there was a small white border left.

How to make a gatefold card

For the base of my card, I chose a piece of yellow card with white polka dots on one side and plain on the other. I cut it to 10 inches wide and 7 inches tall. I used my scoreboard to score lines at 2.5 and 7.5 inches. The two shorter panels on each side are then folded towards each other, to make a 5×7 inch gatefold card. I burnished the score lines, being sure that the card folded nicely and the sides met evenly.

Next it was time to make a belly band, to keep the card closed and flat. I chose a piece of complementary green cardstock and cut it to around 2 inches tall, across the shorter side of an A4/US equivalent sized sheet of card (around 8.5 inches long). I laid this strip across the front of the closed card. I then added a coffee cup and a cupcake onto the front centre of the strip to figure out the placement I wanted on the belly band. These two images, plus the word “cupcake” which was included in the digital stamp kit looked perfect.

Next I drew pencil lines at the edges of where the strip of card met the edge of the gatefold card base, a slight bit out from the edge of the card width, to allow for score lines on both sides of the belly band. You want the belly band to fit snugly and keep the card nicely closed. Next I scored at the pencil lines, folded them and tried it over the card. It was a little too snug, so I moved one scoreline over a touch, which was then perfect. I then stamped “Have a” directly onto the coffee cup, so the the belly band sentiment read ”Have a cupcake”.

I then applied glue to the part of the belly band that would be underneath the top fold, on the reverse as below and put it aside to dry. Once dry, I added my cute little cluster of images and sentiments and the belly band was complete!

Next came working on the inside of the card. I chose a beautiful, vibrant pink paper for the centre panel and the two side panels. I used my usual method when creating mats and layers in cards of using a quarter inch gap between layers. This makes the maths nice and easy, plus you’re sure to get even borders! The centre panel was 4.75 x 6.75 inches and the two side panels were 2.25 x 6.75 inches. I then cut an extra panel of white card to go on top of the pink centre mat to make the sentiment pop and the personal greeting easier to read. This white panel measured 4.5 x 6.5 inches. I adhered the pink panels to the card blank with wet glue, being sure to leave an even white border. Little details like even borders can really make or break a card in my opinion. If the mats and layers are uneven, it’s just not as pleasing to the eye.

Before adhering the white centre panel, I stamped the sentiment “Have a sweet Birthday”, which was from a stamp set by Made to Surprise, available at Craftstash. After this was adhered, I played around with the placement of my remaining images and adhered them with wet glue when I was happy with them.

This was such a fun card to make, due to the fun images which were a pleasure to colour and the vibrant colours I used – perfect for a Birthday Card for anyone of any age who is partial to coffee and cake! This card can be displayed either with the belly band attached, leaning against the wall on a mantelpiece, or it stands up beautifully without the belly band – the choice is yours. If you’ve not tried making this style of card before, I’d highly recommend it as it is so easy, yet is sure to impress the recipient!