Diamond fold card template 1.

I have used template 1 with the PinBroidery MM-4 Mini Tulips Pattern for the card above. It is stitched on white card and mounted on the diamond fold card with sticky fixers.

The card is made from a sheet of card 200mm x 200mm (8 inches x 8 inches). Mark the edges at 100mm (4 inch) intervals. Cut away the bottom-right square. Score the dotted lines. The blue dotted lines are valley folds and the red dotted lines are mountain folds when viewed from the front. The finished card will measure 100mm (4 inches) square when folded flat.

Diamond fold card template 2.

I was inspired to write this post about diamond fold templates when I saw Patsy’s beautiful Easter Diamond card in the Form-A-Lines forum gallery. It is shown above. Patsy used the free Easter egg pattern from this website. She reduced the pattern size to 65% to fit the diamond shape. Template 2 is similar to the one used by Patsy.

The card is made from a sheet of card 300mm x 100mm (12 inches x 4 inches). Mark the long edges at 50mm (2 inch) intervals. Score the dotted lines. The blue dotted lines are valley folds and the red dotted lines are mountain folds when viewed from the front. The finished card will measure 100mm (4 inches) square when folded flat.

Download the diamond fold card templates

The templates are in a PDF file and you will need Adobe Reader to view and print them. Adobe Reader software can be downloaded free of charge from the Adobe website.

Please let me know how you get on with these templates by adding a comment to this post.

The insert is designed cards with a finished size of 144 mm x 144 mm (approximately 5¾ inches x 5¾ inches). This is the size that the patterns on the Pinbroidery web site are designed to fit. There is one insert on a single A4 sheet.

Instructions for the Microsoft Word template:

1. Download and save the template to a folder on your computer.

2. Navigate to the folder and double click on the file. It will open in Microsoft Word.

3. The message reads “Happy Birthday”. You can customise the wording to your own choice by highlighting the text and typing over it.

4. The text is in Times Roman because it is found on most computers. You can change the font size and style by highlighting/selecting the text and choosing another font.

5. Print the template on standard A4 printer paper. Even if you are going to use decorative paper it is best to do a test on standard paper first.

6. Measure 284 mm (11 ¼ inches) from the left-hand edge and trim.

7. Measure 142 mm (5 ½ inches) from the top edge and trim.

8. Fold the insert in half with the greeting inside and test it in your card. Make sure that the design is central on the right-hand side of the insert. If necessary you can trim the insert to fit.

9. When you are ready to mount your insert in your card put a thin strip of self-adhesive double-sided tape along the inside left-hand side of the fold in your greetings card. Or run a line of stick adhesive alongside the right-hand side of the fold.

Instructions for the PDF template:

The message reads “Happy Birthday”. You can not customise the words on the PDF version.

Download and save the template to a folder on your computer and follow steps 5 to 9 above.

The download links:

Download the template in Microsoft Word format.

Download template in PDF format.

To save the PDF pattern for later, put your mouse pointer over the download link, click the right mouse button and select “Save Target/Link As…” from the menu that appears.

For the inserts that are in PDF format you will need Adobe Reader to view and print it. Adobe Reader software can be downloaded free of charge from the Adobe website.

Alternative size template
If your stitching card is 104 mm x 152 mm (approximately 4 inches x 6 inches) you will find a Microsoft Word template of that size at Free Christmas greetings card insert template to download and print. The wording is for a Christmas card but it can be customised to your own choice of words.

You can add the greetings picture to your insert or make a layout with several on a sheet of paper to cut out and stick inside your card. The images measure 7 cm (2 ¾ inches) wide when printed. Each picture is in a zip folder. Recent versions of Windows have facilities for extracting zip files. Downloads are for your personal, non-commercial use only.

Please let me know if you find this clip art useful. It will help me decide if I should create some more in due course.

To save the clipart to your computer choose “Save…” from the file download box that appears. Make a note of where the clipart is being saved to so that you can find it.

Download

Download

Download

Download

Download

The insert is designed cards with a finished size of 104 mm x 152 mm (approximately 4 inches x 6 inches). This is the size that my Stitching Cards patterns are designed to fit. There are two inserts on a single A4 sheet.

Instructions for the Microsoft Word template:

1. Download and save the template to a folder on your computer.

2. Navigate to the folder and double click on the file. It will open in Microsoft Word.

3. The message reads “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the xxx family”. You can replace “xxx” with your family name or customise the wording to your own choice by highlighting the text and typing over it.

4. The text is in Times Roman because it is found on most computers. You can change the font size and style by highlighting/selecting the text and choosing another font.

5. Print the template on standard A4 printer paper. Even if you are going to use decorative paper it is best to do a test on standard paper first.

6. Trim 10 mm (3/8 inch) off the right-hand edge.

7. There are two inserts on the template so cut the sheet in half.

8. Fold the insert in half with the greeting inside and test it in your card. Make sure that the design is central on the right-hand side of the insert. If necessary you can trim the insert to fit.

9. When you are ready to mount your insert in your card put a thin strip of self-adhesive double-sided tape along the inside right-hand side of the fold in your greetings card. Or run a line of stick adhesive alongside the right-hand side of the fold.

Instructions for the PDF template:

The message reads “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”. There are versions with and without a box surround. You can not customise the words on the PDF version.

Download and save the template to a folder on your computer and follow steps 5 to 9 above.

To save the template to your computer choose “Save…” from the file download box that appears. Make a note of where the template is being saved to so that you can find it.

The download links:

Download the template in Microsoft Word format.

Download in PDF format. Greeting with a border.

Download in PDF format. Greeting without a border.

For the inserts that are in PDF format you will need Adobe Reader to view and print it. Adobe Reader software can be downloaded free of charge from the Adobe website.

Feedback wanted

Please give me some feedback on these insert templates by using the comment facility. Which template did you use; Microsoft Word or PDF? How did you get on with it? Would you be interested in some more templates with a different size or wording?

You can create inserts on any word processing program that you have on your computer. Print them out on normal printer paper and mount them inside your greetings card. Inserts can also be printed on coloured paper or patterned paper for extra effect. Parchment style paper or marbled paper can add a touch of class to wedding invitations. Paper with Christmas motifs can brighten up your Christmas cards.

The first step in producing your insert is to measure up your greetings card when it is opened flat. Deduct 5mm or ¼ inch from each edge to get the size of your insert. The insert needs to be smaller than your card because when it is folded and mounted inside, the fold at the spine will push the insert forward towards the outer edge. It also disguises any small margin of error in mounting the insert in the card.

The next step is to plan how plan the layout of your insert on the paper that you are going to print it on. If you are working on the cards with a finished size of 104 mm x 152 mm (approximately 4 inches x 6 inches) then you should get two inserts out of an A4 sheet of standard typing paper.

Open any computer program that types words. Create two text boxes exactly half the size of your insert. Put them side by side on your layout. Type your greeting or message in the right-hand text box. The left hand text box can remain blank since it is just there to give the correct position for the right-hand text box.

I usually type in the default font to start with. Then I highlight the text with my cursor and adjust the formatting. Centred text usually works well in a greetings card. Various fonts and sizes and be tried until the desired result is achieved.

If you can fit two inserts on your sheet of paper then the first layout can be copied and pasted below when you have a design that you are satisfied with.

Print your insert and trim it to the finished size. Fold it in half and put it in your greetings card to test the layout. You may find at this stage that you want to make some slight adjustments to the size of the paper or the position of the text. It is always worth doing a test like this before you print out a lot of inserts.

I mount my inserts inside the card with a thin strip of double-sided self-adhesive tape. This is applied to the right-hand edge of the cards spine. This allows the left hand flap to open freely.

The slider mechanism can be used with a stitching pattern of your choice. I have used the train pattern that can be purchased as part of the Form-A-Lines steam set. It is stitched in green, grey and silver thread on cream linen card. The card base is a grey linen card.

The card was a joint effort between my wife and I. Linda made the sliding base and I stitched the train.

The base

The base is formed by a sandwich of three layers with the slider in the middle (like the sandwich filling). The first illustration shows the top layer of the sandwich. The next illustration shows the slider on top of the lower layer of card. The third illustration is a cross section side view showing the layers assembled.

The size of the base can be varied to suit the subject. Cut two rectangles of card the same size.

In one of the rectangles cut an internal shape going from A to B, from B to C and from C to D.

Score along lines A to D and E to F to make folds.

Cut a section from the back edge to make a grip for the slider.

The slider is cut the depth of the base card and the width of the internal cut lines. Fold it along line A to B.

This is assembled like a sandwich. The diagram below shows a cross section of the card. We used self-adhesive double-sided tape around the edges of the base card to fix it to the top card.

The slider is fixed to the folding section with self-adhesive double-sided tape.

This is a photograph of card with the slider in.

This is the slider pulled out.

The train

I stitched the train on a sheet of cream linen finish card. I kept in mind that the train would eventually be cut out so made sure that the taped ends of the threads were within the boundaries of the train shape. Using a pencil I marked up the shape that I was going to cut. This allowed me to get the shape right before committing it to the knife. Then I cut out the shape with a craft knife using a cutting mat.

I mounted the cut-out on another sheet of card to hide the stitch work. It was fixed with self-adhesive double-sided tape. This was cut out following the edges of the top sheet. I could have fixed the two sheets together and cut both at the same time but doing it separately gave me a couple of advantages. Firstly if I had cut through a thread by mistake I could have repaired it. Secondly it allowed me to place the adhesive tape where it would be most effective.

The train cut-out was then mounted on the front folding part of the base card using and fixed with self-adhesive double-sided tape.

This is a side view of the card with the stitched train picture in position.

A Happy Birthday sticker is added near the front.

The Form-A-Lines steam patterns can be purchased from the Form-A-Lines Classics store as a download.

I started by stitching the Christmas tree on a sheet of hammered white card. I kept in mind that the tree would eventually be cut out so made sure that the taped ends of the threads were within the boundaries of the tree shape. Particular care is needed when stitching the star as I found to my cost when I cut out the shape. Some of the threads on the back of the star were cut as well, so had to be re-stitched. The stitches on the back of the star should follow the path of those on the front.

Using a ruler and pencil I marked up the shape of the tree. Then I cut out the shape with a craft knife using a metal ruler on a cutting mat.

I took a red greetings card and drew a vertical pencil line at the mid way point of the front panel. This is shown on the diagram marked A – B. I then used a scoring tool with a metal ruler to score this line.
 

I mounted the tree on the front panel of the card with its centre on the vertical centre line.

I fixed the right hand side of the tree in place with double-sided self-adhesive tape. This is shown on the diagram as area 1.

With the tree in place I cut away the surplus card, marked as area 2 on the diagram, with a craft knife on a cutting mat.

The card is folded along the vertical score line on the front panel to make the tree stand out.

Related links

Prick and stitch for beginners – a guide to making stitching cards

The tree pattern is a free download from the Form-A-Lines web site.