JM Inspired Gatefold Cards

My friend and I are always inspired by the talent of Jennifer McGuire. The post and Video on her blog recently was one of those projects we just had to try. The Window Gatefold cards are really fun.
They take a bit of fine tuning and careful alignment of the dies used for the window but the end results are really nice.
This card was our foray into this new format (to us). Not my most inspired, but okay for a sample.
It uses tons of different supplies, but doesn't need to. The paper is from a Craftsmart pad called Mermaid Lagoon (Michael's); the marbleized in the back is regular text weight from Staples. Chair is Kraft stamped in a woodgrain, die cut with SU Seasonal Layers; sand and shell are from my scrap bin of beige and ivory papers. They were shaded with Brilliance Dew Drop Pearlescent Beige and an SU Blender Pen. Sentiment is From SU Wild About Flowers. I used Impression Obsession dies for the shells and star; MFT Stitched Snow Drift Die-namics for the sand.

The second card was more enjoyable, I must say. I recently purchased the Simply Cards and Papercraft Magazine: Issue 197. Along with it came a sweet bird and greenery die set and some stamps. I played with the bird dies and decided to use ink to shade them instead of separate paper pieces. I was much happier with the results.

 I started out with some SU Sahara Sand Paper and stamped the Itty Bitty Background stamp all over the side panels. Then I sponged in the rays in the center both with Going Grey ink. I gently sponged Pumice Stone Distress ink on the birds. They are cut from an ivory colored parchment paper.
We punched a few boughs, a branch with leaves and a small heart and built the image in the center of the die-cut opening.  The word on the band was die-cut from a light creamy/gold shimmer paper and Happy was stamped over it. This one was much more my style. Complicated!!😏  Oh, by the way, in Issue 198 of the magazine mentioned above, KLM Digital Designs has provided some free digital gnome images ( I'm on the design team for KLM) Scoot on over an download them now!
Recipe:
Paper: SU Sarah Sand, Always Artichoke, Kiwi Kiss, Garden Green; Parchment, Shimmer Paper (Ms. Sparkle & Co., Jo-ann)
Stamps: SU Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Holiday Wishes (Happy); PTI Heartfelt Basics (inside sentiment
Ink: SU Going Grey, Memento Tuxedo Black; Pumice Stone Distress Ink
Dies: Spellbinder Nestabilities (window); Bird and branch die from Issue 197(link above); Martha Stewart bough punch; Heart, Studio G; Anniversary word, Cherry Lynn Designs
Stencil: MFT, ST98 Radiating Rays

These are kind of cool cards with a raft of possibilities. Watch Jennifers video she has some great tips for cutting the window accurately which is the secret to it all! Try one ...

Enjoy the day,
Susan