NC Demos Blog Hop – Mini Bendi Christmas Card

Welcome to the North Carolina Demonstrators November Blog Hop!  I hope you just came from Tina Lessons’ post.  And, I bet she inspired you just like she inspired me with her project.  Thank you so much for stopping by to see the card that I am sharing this month.

This month, we are all focused on sharing our favorite Christmas color combination and a little background about what makes our choice special.  I’ll be honest – I didn’t have to think about this very long at all since my favorite color combination is really very traditional.  Reds, greens, golds, and earthy tones are definitely my go-to colors for Christmas.  Those colors are the ones that decorated our houses at Christmas when I was growing up.  My dad served in the Air Force, and our family moved quite a bit.  I think having those colors as our tradition for Christmas really helped us make the season comfortable and familiar.

You’ll definitely see the colors that I mentioned in the card that I’m sharing this month.  I would like to thank Gloria Plunkett for her recent tutorial on SplitcoastStampers.  Her card was the inspiration for my Mini Bendi Card pictured below.  There is a second Mini Bendi card that I used as I took pictures to write up the instructions that you’ll see below.  The second card is shown at the end of the instructions.

This card is very quick, fun, and truly addictive.  Listed below in words and pictures are the basic steps that you’ll need to follow to make the card.  It flattens to fit into a regular A2 envelope for mailing!

  • The card is made from Real Red card stock and Designer Series Paper (DSP) from the gorgeous Poinsettia Petals DSP collection.  Choose three patterns from the collection that work well together for the card.
  • There are three pieces to the card – the back, the middle, and the front bendi piece.
  • The back piece is made from a piece of Real Red card stock cut to 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″, essentially this is a quarter sheet of 8 1/2″ x 11″ Real Red card stock.  The DSP for the back piece is cut to 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″.
  • The middle piece is made from a piece of Real Red card stock cut to 2″ x 4 1/2″.  The DSP for the middle piece is cut to 1 7/8″ x 3 1/2″.
  • The front bendi piece is made from a piece of Real Red card stock cut to 1 1/4″ x 6 1/2″.  The DSP for the front bendi piece is cut to 1 1/8″ x 5 3/8″.
  • All paper pieces for the card are pictured below.

  • The back piece is finished by scoring the card stock at 2 3/4″, in the center of the 5 1/2″ side.  Gently fold the piece in half.  The DSP is also gently folded in half and then glued to the card stock, as pictured below.  Make sure that you can still lay the back piece flat after the DSP has been glued to the card stock and gently folded.

  • The middle piece is finished by scoring the card stock at 1/2″, 2 1/4″, and 4″ on the 4 1/2″ side.  Gently fold the tabs back and gently fold the middle up.  The DSP piece is glued to the card stock and then gently folded up, as pictured below.  Make sure that you can still lay the back piece flat after the DSP has been glued to the card stock and gently folded.

  • The front bendi piece is finished by scoring the card stock at 1/2″ and 6″ on the 6 1/2″ side.  If you want to stamp your sentiment onto the DSP piece, stamp before you attach the DSP to the card stock.  I used a stamp from the Dove of Hope stamp set and Real Red ink to stamp my sentiment.  Note that you may need to stamp a few times to ensure the sentiment is easily able to be read on DSP.  The 1/2″ sides are folded back, as pictured below.

  • There are two steps to put the card together.  First is to attach the middle piece to the back piece.  Second is to attach the bendi piece to the front of the card.
  • Attach the middle piece by gluing one tab at a time.  You may want to consider how far from the bottom you’ll put this piece.  Take a look at the example card.  The bottom of the middle piece is hidden by the bendi piece that is put on in the next step.  Try to align the score lines on the back piece and the middle piece as best as you can.  Make sure that you can still lay the combined back and middle pieces flat after they have been glued together.
  • Attach the front bendi piece by gluing the tabs to the back of the card.  The bendi piece is added so it is flush with the bottom of the card.  See the pictures below.
  • If you want to add two panels to the back of the card, cut each piece to 2 1/2″ x 4″.  These panels can be used to finish the card or used to add a message to your card.  Adhere these pieces directly to the back of the card, as pictured below.

  • Now you have your card base all set.
  • To finish your card, embellish as you would like.  I am sort of addicted to the Poinsettia Dies right now!  The Wonderful Gems collection is a great way to add a pretty center to the flower.  The card stock colors for the poinsettias that I made for my two Mini Bendi cards include Real Red, Garden Green, Shaded Spruce, and the beautiful Brushed MetalicAs you’re adding your embellishments, be aware of not putting the embellishments outside the edges of the card.  In other words, be mindful that you’ll be flattening the card for mailing and that you need to keep your embellishments “inside” the A2 size card base.

I hope you enjoy making Mini Bendi cards as much as I do!  They really are a lot of fun and have infinite possibilities.

Be sure to continue the blog hop by heading over to Tracie’s post I know she has an amazing project to share!  Shown below are the folks who are participating in this month’s blog hop.  Be sure to visit everyone’s post and leave a comment!

If you are curious about the supplies that I used to make my Mini Bendi cards, take a look at the supply pictures below.  Click on any picture and you’ll go directly to my online store.

Happy stamping!
Laurie

November Blog Hoppers
Joanne Hewins
Tina Lessons
Laurie Meier <— YOU ARE HERE
Tracie Evans Langley

Supplies List

Stamparatus

$49.00