Materials

 1 x Sheet of A4 Card.

The Cardmaker’s Year CD – I used images from page one of the March and May sections.

Scrap Magic Octagonal Template.

Peel-offs to decorate.

Optional – JS Secret Garden CD.  (There are some beautiful delicate backing papers on this CD).

DST or Glue.

Craft Knife and Ruler

Step One

Fold the sheet of A4 card in half (A5 orientation) and place it on the cutting mat with the spine (fold) at the right.  Some people may prefer the spine at the left.

Place the scrap magic template sideways on the folded card so the template butts up to the top edge of the card and with the right side of the octagon template butting up to the spine (fold) of the card.  (See Fig 1/A).  Carefully cut round the octagon, leaving the spine uncut. 

Top Tip .  I find it easier to cut the card using a ruler, cutting across the full width, at the bottom edge of the template, and then cut the sides of the octagon.  There is no cutting at the top of the template as this is placed against the top edge of the card.  I mark my cutting lines prior to cutting using a fine embossing tool – I prefer it to a pencil.

Step Two

Turn the remaining piece of card so the spine is on the left side and centre the template on the folded card.  Cut around the right half of the template (shown by black dotted line) and make a score line (shown in RED) from the top inside edge of the cut line to the bottom cut line.  (See Fig 1/B).  The half octagon should be cut where the card opens (See Fig 2/B) and both the front and back of the card should be cut. 

Top Tip.  I find it easier to mark where I want to make my cut with a fine embossing tool, remove the template and cut using a craft knife and ruler.  With a sharp knife I am able to cut through the front and back of the card at the same time.   

Bend the score line (shown in red on Fig 1) inwards. (See Fig 2/B)

Step Three

The octagon A fits over the cut sections on the body of the card B. (See Fig 3) with the fold line of the octagon butting up to the side cut edges of the Octagon on the card.  Assemble the card without fixing and ascertain where the DST/Glue needs to be placed.

I prefer to decorate the octagon before I fix it the octagon sections together.    I covered the card with a pale pink background paper from the Secret Garden CD.  The inside should also be decorated before the final assembly.  I used DST as my preferred method of fixing, but everyone has their personal choice.

Step Four

The images I used were taken from the Cardmaker’s Year CD   March and May sections.  I copied the image and pasted it into Word (Sharon explains how on the CD).  I had to re-size the images to fit the octagon and did this by making sure the rulers were “on” in the Word document.  I clicked on the pasted image and using the mouse pulled the little boxes at the corner of the image to re-size it.

This card closes flat perfectly, but does not open out fully flat.   I have also used the same principle for different shapes and substituted OLD CDs for the template but making the card up to full size A5.

Sheila Weaver