The last couple of months have been rough ones for me.  I lost my dad last month, and its’ been pretty hard to find my motivation.  My family and friends have been so wonderful and supportive, and I’m finally beginning to get caught up.

We made this card at Stamp Club back in October, and I promised to write a tutorial.  So, I’m kicking off my return with step-by-step instructions for this card.

The first step is to cut the window in your card front.  I used a square.  My card base is 5 1/2” x 8 1/2”, folded in half.  If you want to emboss your card front, be sure to cut out the square before embossing.  Save the square; you’ll need it later!

The inside panel is 5” x 8”.  Score and accordian fold at 2”, 4”,  and 6”.

Adhere the back fold to the inside back of your card, leaving 1/4” border.

Accordian fold the panel and secure it so that it doesn’t slip.

Close the card and use a pencil to mark the square on the accordian panel.

Here’s the tricky part.   Unfold the card so the panel is flat and not layered with your attached card front.  Using the same square die you used on the front of the card, line it up with your pencil marks (you might want to use a sticky note or washi tape to be sure it doesn’t slip).  You only want to cut the panel that is marked with the pencil, so you’ll only be cutting half of the square.  This is easy to do by lining up the edge of your cutting pad so that it covers only the half of the square you want to cut.  The Big Shot won’t cut the part that’s not covered by the cutting pad.  How cool is that?!  If you find it easier, you can just use a hobby knife to cut your half square, too, and skip all of the above instruction.

When you’re finished cutting, it will look like this.  I chose to cut the flap off, but you can keep it if you want to.  It works either way.

Place adhesive around the window and on the lower area of this panel. Close your card to adhere the card front to the panel.

Place adhesive on the panel inside the window area.  (If you chose not to cut the flap off, be sure the flap is open and put adhesive on the entire square.)

Remember the square we saved from the card front?  Decorate it as desired and put it right back where it came from, adhering it to the panel.

All done!  Your card should now look like my card at the beginning of the post.  You can decorate and add any embellishments you wish.

Stamps:  Painted Harvest

Cardstock:  Old Olive, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Ink:  Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive

Dies/Punches:  Layering Squares Framelits, Leaf Punch

Other:  Layered Leaves Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Triple Banner Punch, Linen Thread

If you enjoyed this tutorial, or have any questions, please leave a comment below.