Finally! The promised "Twisted Christmas card" tutorial!

Yes, I posted the picture of my twisted Christmas Card on October 21st and here it is, November 12th and I'm finally posting the tutorial.  All I can do is offer my deepest apologies for waiting so long.  Now, let's get on with this tutorial.

The twisted card has become quite a popular card.  There are many ways of doing them but I prefer using the front pocket instead of covering it up and making it a "normal" card.  After all, it's twisted already.  Why not make it totally different?

You can see in the picture, there is a diagonal pocket running across the front.  I emphasized this by using two different Designer Series Papers that compliment each other.  Tucked safely into the pocket is a sweet little ornament made using the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set along with the matching shape from the Holiday Ornament framelits.  The receiver of this card not only gets a Christmas card, but also gets to keep a handmade ornament for their tree.

The ornament is simple enough.  You choose one of the ornaments in the stamp set, stamp 4 images, use the matching framelit to cut all 4 out, fold each on lengthwise and then adhere each half to a matching half until they are all joined.  Voila!  A perfectly good ornament.

Now, on to the twisted card.  This takes a bit more work.

We begin with a piece of cardstock cut to 4 1/4" x 11".  This has to be folded diagonally and I find it works best to score the diagonal line on my Simply Scored before folding because my fold is much more crisp, not to mention more accurate.  The easiest way to use the Simply Scored for this is to "run" your scoring tool down to near the bottom  from, say, 8".  Put the one corner tip at the 8" mark and then line up the diagonal corner with the scoring tool.  You can see what I mean from this photo:

Actually, since I had to prepare a number of these for a workshop, I cheated and used my white pigment uni-ball pen to mark down the entire 8" line to make it easier.

Now put the cardstock lengthwise along the top of the Simply Scored  and, using the tip of the scoring tool, put a little dent into the edge at 4 3/4".  Flip the cardstock over and put another dent into the other edge at
 6 1/4".

Then line these two dents up along the 8" line again and score from one dent to the other.

Now that you have your two score lines, first fold along the long diagonal score line.

And then bring the two 4" ends together by folding along the second score line.

And there is the beginning of your twisted card.

 It may not look like much yet, but with some Designer Paper and other embellishments, this will be a really eye-catching card.

For the top portion of the front, I cut a 4" x 4 1/4" piece of Gumball Green from the 2012-14 In-Color Designer Series Paper.  I cut this in half diagonally.  For the bottom portion, I cut a 2" x 5 1/2" piece of the ornament design from the Snow Festival Designer Series Paper.  I cut this in half diagonally as well.

After this, assembly is actually quite easy.  The diagonally cut pieces of Designer Paper fit perfectly in the diagonal areas of the folded card and allow a nice border of cardstock to show as well.

 Besides tucking the ornament into the front pocket, there has to be a sentiment on the front of this card.  What better way to add the sentiment than to use that wonderful "tidings of comfort & Joy" from the Word Play stamp set?  It's the right size to be cut out with the Ornament Punch and, to top it off, the "O" in Joy is an ornament.  How perfect is that?  I chose to stamp it in Cherry Cobbler since there is some of that colour in the Designer Paper and it is also the colour of my base cardstock.  I also chose to use my Stampin' Write Markers to colour in the ornament, using Baja Breeze and Gumball Green since those colours are also in the Designer Paper.  Before using dimensionals to adhere the ornament onto the top portion of my card, I sponged the edges with Baja Breeze and silvered the top with my silver Stampin' Dazzle marker.

The inside of the card is a mirror copy of the front of the card.  For this pocket there is no end to the little extras that could be tucked in as a surprise:  a gift card, a special little sentiment card, theatre tickets...the list is endless.  That's what makes this such a special card.  You can leave the inside plain cardstock or choose  to use DSP on the pocket (same dimensions and instructions as for the front of the card) and leave the top cardstock plain.  It's your choice.  To finish I added another ornament stamped with a sentiment from the More Merry Messages stamp set and the inside is complete.

This is a fun card to make.  The folds and diagonals can be a bit tricky to begin with, but taking it one step at a time, you should be able to make these twisted style cards on your own and begin making changes to add your own signature to them.  Whether you decide to use the front pocket or decorate up the front like a regular card, it's a very eye-catching card.

Let me know how yours turn out. :)