How to Create a Fold-out Card - Creative Team Thursday with Marit Barentsen

In the USA as well as in Europe times are challenging and it sometimes feels as if the world grows darker... therefor I felt the need to create a colorful and happy little booklet. Creating it made me smile and I hope this tutorial will bring a smile to your face too. Enjoy!

Cut a wide sheet of paper into a strip and fold the pages (see photo.) The booklet in this tutorial is 23.25 inch wide, but if you don't have paper that size, you can adjust the sizes or go for less pages)

Collect all the houses-stamps that you have to stamp a neighborhood - the more different the images are, the better. You want to build a "multi-cultural neighborhood."

Mix and match; stamp all the houses, domes, fences, street lights, trees and cars in a strip at the bottom of the booklet. Stamp on both sizes of the booklet.

Use masking sheet to trace your 'neighborhood' and cut it out. Cover the stamped images with this mask.

Next step is to create a colorful 'sky'. I wanted the sky to go from dark (nighttime) to light (bright blue - daytime) and used different colors of spray ink to create the effect. Wet your paper first so that the ink will nicely blend into each other. Give the sky some extra interest by spraying through a stencil ('Circles and Squares.')

Spray both sizes of the booklet. Let one side dry before you start working on the other side - if you are impatient you can use a heat gun to speed the process.)

Remove the mask after spraying. There may be white gabs between the houses, that you can fill in with the right color ink and a small brush.

Next, color the stamped images. I used watersoluble crayons and a water brush to create a watercolor effect but you can also color the images with coloured pencils, copic markers etc.

To strengthen the effect of nighttime, I colored the houses that were in the dark "nighttime" area grey. The yellow windows show the lights are on in the houses...

...and I used all kinds of colors to create a fun, bright new neighborhood.

Now, fold the booklet and close it so you can see how the front and back looks like... (You may want to mark the front and back of the booklet before you start writing a quote on the pages. You don't want part of the lettering accidently show on the cover!)

Next, I found two quotes that I hand lettered on the back and front of the booklet. Write the quote with a soft pencil first to see if it fits. On this inside of the booklet the quote covers all pages, from left to right.

On the 'outside' of the booklet, leave the pages that will show when the booklet is closed as they are - no lettering there. The quote I used is from a famous Dutch song and says "Everyone belongs to the world and the world belongs to everyone."

Find a nice, fitting piece of ribbon that will close your booklet. Attach the ribbon to the spine of the book with a cotter pin. As you can see, I also glued a scalloped edge at one side of the booklet (remember those edges from that scrapbooking line?) This edge adds to the whimsical look of the booklet when it's closed.

You can show off this booklet by displaying it on a side table or cabinet if you like.

It also makes a lovely and personal (birthday) present.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial. Now go enjoy this diverse world we live in. Be nice to each other!

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SUPPLIES USED:

Stamps from the series 'Build a Neighborhood'

·         Artsy Apartment

·         Humble Highrise

·         Creative Condo

·         Perfect Place

·         Creative Condo

Stamps from the series 'Build a Villa'

·         Crown Top Dome

·         Artsy Arches

·         Doodle Dome

·         Castle Casa

·         Bohemian Hut

·         Whimsy Turret

·         Fonion Dome

Stencils:

·         Circles& Squares

Other:

·         Strip of thick paper

·         Some extra stamps (from my stash)

·         Black stamping ink

·         Masking sheet

·         Dylusions spray ink

·         Water-soluble crayons

·         White and black marker

·         Piece of ribbon

·         Cotter pin

Marit Barentsen is a passionate art journaler, mixed media artist, art instructor and creative writer from the Netherlands. Marit inherited a passion for words from her mother, who is a writer. Her father taught her to not only “look “ but also “see.”  That combination led Marit to become an art teacher and her art always showed images and words. After art school, she worked as a graphic designer. Years later, she re-discovered the  combination of words and images in art journaling and her art took flight.  Marit's art has been published in various magazines and art books. 

Find Marit on her website, Facebook page, and  blog.

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THANK YOU MARIT for an awesome post! 

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