A Simple, but Effective Technique

It's called Iris Folding, and it's used to create sometimes intricate designs inside an "iris" or window, in a card front. I witnessed the results last spring, when a student of mine gave me a beautiful iris'ed card as a Thank You at the end of the term, and I wondered how it was done. Cue my sister-in-law, Bridget, who gave me some marvelous paper-folding and crafting books for Christmas this year. (Trust me, there are more techniques to come!)

I'll be putting a full tutorial together tomorrow, but for now, here's a tease of a simple card you can make with some spectacular results:

Stamp set: Vintage Vogue (just the sentiment)
Ink: Creamy Caramel
Papers: Very Vanilla and Green Galore cardstock; Tea Party Designer Series Paper, several scraps; Eggplant cardstock for interior (seen only in smallest part of the iris in the picture above).
Circle Scallop Punch

What I really like about this technique is that it can use up all those little scraps of designer series paper that pile up as you work with larger pieces. I hate wasting pretty paper, and this can use up all those little scraps to make something beautiful. It's recycling at its best!