• Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial

    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!

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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!

    How to Make a Stand Up Card

    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.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    Erase the bottom part of the left line and the top part of the right line. The result will look like this:

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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!

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    After you score the first line, gently squeeze the paper up to make a “mountain fold” as shown below.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    Score the top part of the middle line, then fold it down to make a “valley fold”.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    The bottom half of the middle line should be a “mountain fold”.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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!

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    You are now finished folding your stand up card, and you’re ready to add paper panels!

    Adding Paper Panels to Your Stand Up Card

    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:

    • 3.25″ x 2.5″
    • 3.25″ x 1.75″ (cut out two panels of this size)
    • 4.25″ x 2.75″
    • 0.75″ x 4.5″
    • 0.75″ x 1.75″

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    Adding Graphics and Lettering to Your Paper Panels

    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”.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    Next, I used Kaitlin Style calligraphy to write “obrigada” on the bottom left panel. (The card’s destination is Brazil!)

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    I then used brush pens to give it some color!

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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!

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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!

    Assembly and Finishing Touches

    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.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    When the card looks good to you, try standing it up! I love how well this card supports itself; it’s perfect for display!

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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.

    Folded Stand Up Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    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,

    Lindsey's Signature | The Postman's Knock