Iris Folding Technique

     Iris fold is a technique that I came upon awhile ago.  I took a class at a local stamp store and became intrigued.  Next I went online and eventually found  Circle of Crafters,   There are many FREE patterns on this site as well as directions on how to create an iris fold .
     I have a friend who loves anything to do with water.  She even named her first son after a TV show character from the show, "Flipper".  (If you remember that show, you are showing your age!!!)  Sooo, I figure a dolphin card!  Here is the first try with the free dolphin pattern downloaded from Circle of Crafters.  Trace it onto paper and cut out by hand.   I liked this crinkle turquoise paper for the cut out layer and then chose 2 different blues for the iris folding.  Next it is layered on a corrugated paper that somewhat reminded me of waves.  

Blue paper dolphin

     Next I used the same crinkle paper to cut out the dolphin, but placed it at a different angle on the paper.  Then I chose a thin (text weight) silver paper for the iris folding.  I do like how this dolphin looks although it does not showcase the iris folding as much as the first one above.

Silver dolphin

     Well, I liked the dolphin in silver, but wanting the iris fold to show up more, I used 3 different silver papers.  If you click on the picture, you will see the different papers.  One paper is a tissue paper (very thin and a little difficult to work with), one is textured and much thicker (also hard to work with), and then a metallic cardstock.  What do you think?

Three silvers dolphin

     So now I want to experiment with a different paper to cut out the dolphin shape, and I chose a water printed paper which I think is from Michael's or JoAnn's.  I came up with another paper in my stash.....a white on white striped text weight paper (it shows up looking silver here, but click on the picture and it should look more white).  Sorry, but I do not remember where this paper is from.  This dolphin may be my favorite!  And this is the one I eventually sent to my friend.

White striped dolphin on water-print paper

     One more try, keeping the same water paper base, but now changing up the iris fold papers.  Most of the iris fold patterns I've seen usually use 3 or 4 different colors/patterns of papers, so here is my dolphin done that way. 

Multi-color dolphin

     Lastly, the center of your iris fold will usually have a small space.  Many times I've seen a small piece of holographic paper placed there.  I love hearts and thought it was neat to place a heart brad there for some of my dolphins.

     Well I also needed to send a baby card to my son's childhood friend and kept going with iris folds.  Looking at the Circle of Crafts site, I found the baby carriage.  She was having a girl, hence the pink carriage.  She thought it was a really unique card. 

Pink iris fold baby carriage

     Did you notice that I used ribbon instead of folded papers for the iris parts?  I really like using the ribbons......it is faster for sure.  Hope you give iris folding a try.

See you again soon!
Cheesy Sandy