If the winter holidays are the Super Bowl of cardmaking, Valentine’s Day is the World Series.
Back in December I scribbled an idea for a Valentine’s card in my notebook. Instead of opening left-to-right, I wanted the front to open like double doors, with a heart in the middle. I could glue coordinating paper onto the the top and bottom edges of the card front just to tie it all together.
Easy enough.
But what about the inside? Well, I’d line it with paper from my almost-six year old Valentine paper pad.
Easy enough.
And I’d have to make 20 of them because I signed up for an additional card exchange.
Easy enough.
Friends, there was nothing easy about these cards. From the precision folding to finding paper that could be cut in half across the card front and still coordinate with what was inside, none of it was easy. And very little of it was pleasurable.
For each card interior, I cut three pieces of paper: one for the middle panel and two for the inside of the “doors.” However, after cutting all the paper, I realized my measurements were off. As cut, the paper covered the folds, making it impossible for the cards to close.
I ended up shearing tiny slivers off of sixty pieces of printed paper just to get the cards to fold properly.
Then there was the matter of the paper itself. The paper from the pad was very busy, which meant any sentiment stamped on top of it would be practically illegible. To fix that, I stamped and embossed a large “LOVE YA” in white on red cardstock, hand-cut each one (because I didn’t have a coordinating die) and glued them inside each card.
After hours of cutting, trimming, embossing, and gluing across two weekends, I finally had 20 completed cards.
And while I would absolutely try this double-door technique again in the future, I would limit myself to three or four cards. Maximum.
That said, I really do love how they open. There’s something unexpectedly delightful about pulling those doors apart to reveal the inside.
So maybe, JUST MAYBE, the trouble was worth it after all.
If you want to see the tools and supplies I reach for most often, I’ve collected them in one place on Benable. Some of them are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
(Accountability: I texted 2 of 4 people this weekend!)
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