Next time you want to send someone a card, consider trying out this tutorial! The result is memorable and artistic: it’s a card your recipient will be proud to display. All you need to get started is some card stock, a ruler, scissors, and a dash of patience!
My philosophy on thank you cards is this: the more unique and personal the card is, the more gratitude it communicates. If that’s true, then this stand up card radiates thanks! The concept is fun and flexible: you can easily personalize this card to look however you want it to. Feel free to play around with the instructions below!
You’ll want to begin by cutting out a 4.5″ x 9.75″ piece of card stock. The color of the card stock doesn’t matter; I have chosen to use yellow for today’s tutorial.
Use a pencil to draw two faint vertical guidelines. The first guideline should be 2.75″ from the left edge of the paper, and the second guideline should be 6.75″ from the left edge.
Next, draw a horizontal line in between the two vertical lines you just made. The horizontal line should be positioned 1″ from the bottom of the paper.
Once you have drawn the pencil lines, get out your hobby knife (or a sharp kitchen knife). Use the hobby knife to cut along the horizontal line you drew in the last step.
After you have cut the paper, use your pencil to draw a vertical line in the center of the two vertical lines you drew earlier.
Erase the bottom part of the left line and the top part of the right line. The result will look like this:
Now, it’s time to score the pencil lines you drew! Grab a strong — but not sharp — object to accomplish this. I am going to use the bottom edge of a Nikko G nib. You could also use a butter knife or a letter opener, among other objects.
Use a ruler to guide your object along the first pencil line. Make sure you’re exerting enough pressure for the object to score the card stock!
After you score the first line, gently squeeze the paper up to make a “mountain fold” as shown below.
Score the top part of the middle line, then fold it down to make a “valley fold”.
The bottom half of the middle line should be a “mountain fold”.
Finally, score along the right pencil line, and give it a “valley fold”. Once you have done that, you’ll see that the card is able to collapse neatly to the right!
You are now finished folding your stand up card, and you’re ready to add paper panels!
While you can draw directly on the card stock, I prefer to make paper panels to draw graphics on! Each panel should be slightly smaller than the area of the card that it’s destined for. As a result, you’ll want panels in the following sizes:
I used 70 lb. drawing paper for my panels, but whatever paper you have on hand should work! Once you have cut out the panels, it’s a good idea to place them on the stand up card so you can see what goes where.
The following steps aren’t necessarily steps that you’ll follow. Remember, this card is totally customizable! However, these steps may provide inspiration for you because they show you what I did with the paper panels. For the top left paper panel, I used George Style lettering to write “THANK YOU MUCH”.
Next, I used Kaitlin Style calligraphy to write “obrigada” on the bottom left panel. (The card’s destination is Brazil!)
I “cheated” a bit on the large right panel. Instead of drawing something by hand, I cut out a piece of the medium-sized printable Illustrated Roses Template that was equal to the size of the right panel.
I then used brush pens to give it some color!
I used the rest of the panels to communicate a message for the recipient. As I said, this card is destined for Brazil — I want to send a nice thank-you to a particularly wonderful AirBnB host in Tiradentes!
Once you’re satisfied with your panels — which may or may not look like the panels I’ve made here — you’re ready to assemble everything!
To assemble the card, you’ll want to apply glue or double-stick tape to the back of the paper panels. Center each panel in its respective area.
Once all the panels are glued down, you can assess where to make improvements. I wanted to add a little bit of color, so I filled in the negative space in my George Style lettering with a nice olive color.
Finally, if you want to, you can outline the paper panels. It’s easy to do so: the edges of the panels provide a nice edge for any pen to trace! I like the way that outlining visually sets the panels apart from each other, and increases their contrast with the card stock.
When the card looks good to you, try standing it up! I love how well this card supports itself; it’s perfect for display!
After you’re finished admiring your handiwork, you can put your card in an envelope and send it to a lucky recipient! You’ll absolutely succeed in making him or her feel special.
If you have any questions about today’s tutorial, please feel free to ask! I hope you enjoyed learning how to make a stand-up card. I recently learned as well, and am excited to create many more! Lots of paper panels equals lots of creative possibilities. 🙂 As always, thanks so very much for reading the TPK blog, and I hope you have a fantastic weekend!
Warmly,
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