Mom Project Day 1

I woke up the other night with an idea for a card holder. It holds 17 different cards and envelopes (really 34 because I always give my mom 2 of the same design since she is often reluctant to send on my cards - "too nice" she says). Then the card holder folds up to be just the size of one of the holders (about a 5 1/2 x 6 rectangle), although it is high - about another 6 inches.

Basically it is a grid of 9 rectangles, connected creatively through the use of ribbon. The 9 spaces fold up to 5, then up to one. And, it is double sided. It could hold 18 cards/envelopes but I kept the center space of one side empty so I could decorate it as a gift.

Here is a photo of it all laid out:

It looks like this when it is all folded up:

The individual card holders are made using 2 pieces of chipboard, eventually glued back to back, but they sandwich a section of ribbon. Then I cut 1/4" square balsa wood and put it on 3 sides of each holder. I then placed a piece of a transparency (window sheet) to the top with a notch in it to make removing the cards easier. The balsa wood means it is not heavy, but I had to use 1/4" to make each holder able to hold two cards with their envelopes. This card holder is designed to hold the smaller (A2) 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 cards - and they must be flat.

Both of these conditions were hard for me - I like "lumpy" cards with ribbons and pop-dots - and I usually design in the 5 x 7 size.

Anyway, I will be posting each card over the next 17 days --- and then she asked for some thank you cards as I was putting this project together - so there are "extra" cards that I put on top and then I tied it all up with another length of ribbon.