Hello stampers and happy Monday to you. Today I will be showing you a fantastic Dutch Door card made by Ina Eisen for the happy mail for Gerard contest. How appropriate is this fold for this contest? I love it so much!

Ina Eisen’s Card

Ina told me that the name of the fancy fold that she used for this card is called a Dutch Door. Can you believe that I have never seen this fold before? The Demo Design Dream team tutorial this month is going to be all about fancy folds, so Ina’s card is going to be my inspiration. Ina is a retired nurse who comes from the same town as my parents. What a small world! I will tell a little bit more about Fergus later, first let’s take a look at this terrific card.

In this picture you can see how the bottom parts fold out.

It’s All in the Details

This card has so many details that I love besides this very fun Dutch Door fold. Ina used the Come Sail Away suite for her card, especially the Memories & More pack for the focal point. The paper that goes with this suite is so fantastic. I hope to create a class to go with these two products. Stay tuned for more details!

I love Ina’s envelope too. Even the postage stamp is iconically Canadian, and her address label has a lighthouse!! The finishing touch is her impeccable cursive writing. I must say, I am a little jealous of your beautiful handwriting Ina.

How Did She Do It?

What I love so much about this fold is that it looks far more complicated than it is. Impressive, but not difficult, that is my kind of card. You start with an old olive base of 4 1/4″ by 9″, scored at 5 1/2″.  Cut another piece of old olive 2 1/4″ by 8 1/2″ scored at 2 1/8″ from either end. Adhere this to the back of the card at the bottom, so that the smaller parts fold towards the front.

Ina even wrote a nice note for Gerard in Dutch, wow!! So happy that you joined in on the Happy Mail for Gerard contest. The front panels are decorated with mats in whisper white that go right to the middle edge- they measure 2″ by 2 1/8″. The patterned paper mats are 1 7/8″ by 2″. I am so looking forward to creating a card like this one. Will you give it a try too? If you do, please send me a picture of your finished work and I will share it on my page or perhaps even here on my blog.

Fergus, Ontario

I would love to share with you just a few details about Fergus, which is sort of my home town as well. Why the confusion? Let me tell you. Our farm was situated in the country about five kilometres from Fergus, but also five kilometres from Elora. Our mailing address was Elora, but our church and school were Fergus, so I honestly never know which town to claim as my home town!

Fergus has deep Scottish roots and hosts Canada’s largest Highland Games and it was founded in 1833. It now has a population of just over 20,000 people.

Fergus and Elora are both lovely towns with lots of quaint shops. They are also very cultural with theatres, music festivals and local artists. Below is Templeton Gardens, a popular wedding photo location along the Grand River. This same river runs through my parents’ backyard, which is the reason mom fell in love with their house.

Many of the buildings in Fergus and Elora are built from yellow brick which is locally sourced and so, so beautiful. You also see a lot of limestone architecture.

The building here below used to be an amazing indoor Farmer’s Market. Our grade 7 Home Economics class once made these huge stuffed monkeys, and we had a booth here to sell them. That was my first experience as a huckster.

Coffee and a Card Subscriptions

I hope you enjoyed this little walk down memory lane. Thanks again Ina for the very inspirational card. I think I should encourage you to join my team!! Have a super day everyone and don’t forget about my coffee and a card subscription. The first official Zoom video starts tomorrow at 10am. It is exclusive for subscribers. You can choose two different subscriptions:  video only for $20 a month or all the cards, videos and a $20 voucher for $60 a month.

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