Stair-Step Cards Tutorial Series featuring Graphic 45 “Cottage Life”

“Lovely” card made same as “Mother” card

Trending in the craft world!

Stair-step cards are hot-hot-hot in the paper crafting world right now! You see them everywhere- Pinterest, You Tube, Twitter, and Instagram! Hi Crafty friends! ReNae Allen here, with the FotoBella Design Team. So sorry it’s been a while since my last post...I got sidelined with a foot injury. However, while on the mend, I spent a lot of time on my favorite crafting websites and social platforms. There was a trend emerging that I could not ignore... Stair-Step cards!

Stair-Step Card Tutorial Series in 3 parts

I designed four cards using the gorgeous “Cottage Life” paper collection by Graphic 45. (This collection is now available in our online store) I will teach you how to make each of these cards in a Step-by Step pictorial tutorial.

See the little dots under the photos below? You will be able to first, click on each photo, next you can enlarge it, and lastly follow the step by step directions to create four of your own stair-step cards. Easy-Peasy!

Living is Joy Enough Card

Supplies Needed for Stair-Step Cards

• 8x8 paper collection by Graphic 45*
• Journaling Cards by Graphic 45*
• Life Stickers by Graphic 45*
• Die Cuts by Graphic 45*
• Chipboard by Graphic 45*
• Cardstock in pink, blue and green
• Paper Timmer
• Adhesive (Wet glue or Tape Runner)
• White Glitter
• Bone Folder
• Pencil
• T-Ruler
• Trimming Scissors
• *The above 5 items are all from the G45 “Cottage Life” Collection

Cutting the Stair-Step Card Base

The two stair-step cards we are making today are made with the same card base, however by decorating them differently they will appear to be two completely different cards! You can first navigate through the photos by clicking on the tiny arrow on each side of the photos.. Next, follow the step-by-step directions at the bottom of each photo. You may also refer to the tutorial on the Graphic 45 YouTube page here. (Note: You may recognize the Mother’s Day card...it was featured in a previous post!)

place 2 sheets measuring 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" card stock on score board. Score each at 4 1/4 (halfway down so the card can fold in half.)

Take a ruler and mark 1 1/2" from bottom and 1 1/2 from top. Then out ruler approximately in the center and mark 1 1/4" from left and 6 1/4" from right. See demo on You Tube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAEtW4dwCEE&t=586s

Score at 1 1/4", 6 1/4", 2" and 3". erase lines.

cut with trimmer

Your card bases are ready to decorate!

I have set the card bases in the proper orientation for our 2 cards.

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Decorating the Stair-Step Cards

Landscape style card decorated with die cuts, tags and glitter

Inside landscape card, decorated with stickers and tags

inside decorated with stickers

inside decorated card

Glitter adds sparkle and fun to a card!

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Mother's Day card decorated with stickers, die cuts and tags!

This was the portrait style of the stair-step card...the openings are covered with patterned paper.

Inside card decorated with stickers, die cuts and

Inside of Mother's Day card

Finished card

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Show us your Stair-step cards!

I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of the Stair-Step Tutorial Series. Please post your cards to the comments below. We love to see what you create! Also, next time we will be making a really cute “side-stepping” card with lots of fun embellishments to make with it!

So see you soon and until next time, Happy Crafting!

ReNae