MORE fractal cards!

After I made the last fractal Christmas card, my daughter pointed out that it also looked a lot of like a pile of present. (Kids!) So I decided to play with that idea a bit.

I selected a set of coordinating scrapbook papers, and cut the inside of the card just as I did last time. For a quick review...

For this version, it's important to measure and cut accurately, so that the pieces we cut for "presents" fit well. That said, go ahead and cut a second insert from a piece of plain or scrap cardstock. We'll use this for templates. Just cut along the folds.

Then it's time to trace and cut. We'll need one large piece as the central present. Then cut three of the mid-sized present, one from each of three types of paper. Lastly, cut nine small pieces -- two each from the three different papers and three from the last.

Now, we get to play paper tetris. Ink the edges of all the the present pieces, so that they have some depth when attached. Use a bit of glue stick to attach the paper pieces onto the base. Then attached the base to the outside of the card. Ink the edges and you're nearly done.

I added some strips of paper for "ribbons" and attached the inside to the outside. Then I gave the front a bit of decoration.

Add the sentiment and I'm good to go! This got me thinking, what other fractal-based patterns can I cut and make into cards. As it turns out, I am not the only one who is obsessed with this technique. Yale offers a fun free pattern using blocks. They actually have a whole lab activity using Cantor sets to make fractal folds. There is also a book called "Fractal Cuts" by Diego Uribe, that you can buy new or used on Amazon. (Yea, I totally ordered it.) So I played with another boxy design.

Then using the same template method as above, I made another "present" card.