Meowy Christmas Bendy Cards

Exciting news: I've made two more Christmas cards this month! Woot! I can't wait to show you my bendy cards!

This post is going to be picture-heavy simply because, as they (whoever "they" is) say, a picture speaks a thousand words. I'll sprinkle in some information as I go, and if I leave any questions unanswered I hope you'll leave a comment or email me.

Let's start at the beginning, the fronts of the fully assembled cards:

(click photos to see them enlarged)

I made two almost identical cards; the main difference is that one of the cards has candy dots on the trees in addition to the stamped ornaments, so it looks a little more detailed. I'm a novice at alcohol markers, but I got brave and decided to use my Spectrum Noir pens to color the stamped images.

Closer view of one of the cards:

Looking from the sides:

The stamp set I used exclusively is Christmas Cats from Simon Says Stamp, and I was grateful I invested in the coordinating dies. I chose this set because I needed images that I could glue back to back so they'd be seen on both sides of the hills - and the cats and the trees fit the bill.

Here's what the card looks like right out of the envelope (and yes, it does fit in a standard A2 envelope):

The recipient tucks in the two tabs to make the card bend, hence "bendy" card. (I've also seen this style referred to as a "bendi" card, but I think that is the East Indian version. ;) ) I haven't decided whether to label the tabs A and B or trust that whoever gets the card will figure it out, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! Here's how the tabs curl:

Top view:

When the right flap is open, here's what you see:

The inside of the left flap:

Completely open:

The tricky part of this card was shaping the hills so they'd begin and end in the right place. I think this is why most bendy cards I've seen have either straight or angled sides. Once I masterminded the shapes (okay, so it wasn't THAT hard, lol), I added shading and Dazzling Diamonds glitter along the top edges and the snowbanks. In real life they really are dazzling!

Close-up of the glitter-embossed sentiment:

I used some DSP to cover the back of the card and also hide the slots. I added a sponged Top Note die cut as a place to put a personal message since there's not a lot of room to write inside the card:

I started out this project following some directions sent to me by one of my StampNation Sistahs (Hi, Tristan!), but if you're interested in making a bendy card for the first time, I'd recommend the tutorial on the Splitcoaststampers website.

This turned out to be a time-consuming project for me, probably because of all the little details I put into it, but I'd say it was totally worth the effort!

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Coming up next: Some Stamp of Approval cards
Followed by: Birthday cards for two awesome young men

Bendy smiles,
Joyce Spear a.k.a. Stamper Joyce