4-1/4 x 4-1/4 Four Pack

Today's post is a little project I came up with Friday afternoon. I'm really into making packs of cards to have in advance, not so much for my own use, but because they make GREAT gifts! Everyone loves getting a package of handmade greeting cards they can just pull out and use. I also get a lot of satisfaction out of designing simple-to-assemble projects which efficiently use my supplies, and I think this one is a wonderful example. [Remember: you can see any picture at full size by clicking on it!]

A recent trend is to make 4"x4" cards, which use 12"x12" paper efficiently, but I'm one of those gals who stuck with cassette tapes for years after CDs came out, so most of my card stock is still letter sized (8-1/2"x11"). I guess one major feature of our 12"x12" card stock is that it comes in assorted Textured packages...which is really cool, but it's only textured on one side, and I tend to cover most of a card front, so that seems like kind of a waste of the effect to me.

Now, our Designer Series Papers (DSP) only come in 12"x12" sheets, which would efficiently make 4"x4" cards, because you can easily cut them in multiples of 4", but they are only paper and not card stock. So, my answer to this was to use my letter sized card stock cut to 8-1/2" squares, then cut in half to create two foldover 4-1/4" square cards! Then, I can layer neat 4" squares of DSP over them, and use the little bits of the leftover letter sized card stock to decorate them.

I added just a bit of scrap Whisper White and Very Vanilla card stock, and some coordinating punches and embellishments, a coordinating stamp set (Upsy Daisy--on SALE, get it at 15% OFF through September 30th!) and limited myself to the colors which coordinate with the Urban Garden DSP package I used. I also used Whisper White and Very Vanilla medium envelopes, neatly trimmed to fit 4-1/4" square foldover cards, and then packed the whole enchilada (four cards + four envelopes) in a custom-designed box which was also made from a coordinating letter sized sheet of card stock.

Of course, the Upsy Daisy stamp set and the Urban Garden Designer Series Paper are both flower themed, but you can come up with masculine cards using these supplies! Each side of a sheet of Designer Series Paper has a different design, and there are a number of gender-neutral designs available, even within some of the flower-themed packages. My striped "Birthday Celebrations" card is a prime example of using Urban Garden DSP to create a masculine card.

I'll post the instructions and tutorial for the cards and boxes after the weekend, but in the meantime, check out the Stampin' Supplies and click on over to my SU! web site and click on the SHOP NOW button near the top right to use Online Ordering to get what you need!

For your planning, you'll want to know that if you decorate each of the four cards PLUS your box front with 4" DSP squares (as shown in the photo at the top of this post), you can make 21 Boxed Sets of these cards using one package of DSP. If you only use the DSP to layer on each of the four card fronts, you can make 27 Four Packs of cards from one package of DSP. You can get two 4-1/4"x4-1/4" foldover cards from each sheet of letter sized card stock, and one box from each sheet of letter sized card stock. I'd vary between each of the four colors of card stock when making boxes for multiple sets, so that you use your supplies more evenly. Each package of medium envelopes contains 40 envelopes, so you'll want one package for every 10 sets you make. If your DSP colors will coordinate well, consider using two Whisper White envelopes, and two Very Vanilla envelopes per Four Pack, for variety.

Stampin' Supplies: Upsy Daisy stamp set, 8-1/2"x11" card stock in the following colors (Not Quite Navy, Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, and Kiwi Kiss), Classic Ink Pads in the following colors (Not Quite Navy, Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, and Kiwi Kiss), scrap pieces of Whisper White and Very Vanilla card stock, Urban Garden Designer Series Paper, Baja Breeze 1" Double Stitched Grosgrain ribbon, Whisper White Tafetta ribbon (and Stampin' Sponges to dye ribbon using ink pad), Very Vanilla 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon, Wide Oval Punch, Star Punch (small), Horizontal Slot Punch, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Cutter Kit (distressing tool).

DISCLAIMER: Both 4"x4" cards, and 4-1/4"x4-1/4" cards are too small to be mailed through the Post Office. You will want to save these cards to hand deliver, or you may place them in a full sized medium envelope for postal mailing.