Do you remember your early days of cardmaking? No matter how long you’ve been crafting, most of us would have started out with a very basic kit. One of the first techniques that caught my attention was iris folding. I had just bought my first die-cutting machine and some basic dies and there were lots of beautiful patterned papers in my stash.

Iris folding is a timeless classic. It doesn’t require you to buy the latest craft products. Simply trim paper scraps into strips, combine with basic dies and create truly beautiful patterns. Transform your designs into cards or home décor, or frame an iris-folded heart as a thoughtful handmade gift. Create a birthday or baby shower garland easily by using larger die-cut frames than shown on the “Thinking of You” card. There are many possibilities to use the iris folding pattern.

Whether you are using papers pads, découpage papers, giftwrap, ribbons or book pages, the idea is always the same. The paper strips are secured around the aperture in numerical order to create an iris in the centre. If you have seen iris folding before, you might have noticed that the designs tend to be rather bulky with an uneven surface. This can be avoided by not folding your paper strips in half and creating enough depth with an extra layer of card. If you follow the step-by-step guide, your cards will turn out lightweight which might save you on postage. Of course, you can always spend those savings on new craft items!

CLICK HERE to download the iris folding templates used to make these cards!

1

Cut several 1.8cm wide strips of patterned paper for the square template and 1.5cm strips for the triangle template

2

Place the aperture facing down onto the template. Secure using clear tape on one side, then affix the paper strips in numerical order using tape

3

Trim the excess around the edges, then turn around and check if any clear tape shows in between the paper strips

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