It's a Brand New Day - Gina's Happy Mail Folder

Hello Crafty Friends!
We LOVE Happy Mail here in Aunty Vera Land and today Gina has the perfect project for senders and receivers of Happy Mail...... a beautiful little folder with pockets to fill with loveliness!

Hey everyone, I hope that everyone is having a good year so far and unlike me is still trying to keep their resolutions ;)

For this week's project I decided to make a happy mail folder. I love to send and receive happy mail and have pen pals from all over so I designed this folder so I can send the goodies in a nice package. I spend a lot of time looking at different projects on pinterest and designed a folder from the ideas that I liked.

I started with the light blue/ dark pink cardstock cut at 7" x 12''. Place the 12" side against the top and score at 5 3/4" and 6 1/4".

Fold the cardstock on the scored lines. Cut a piece of patterned paper to line the inside at 6 7/8"x11 7/8". I've chosen the cappuccino cups paper and stuck it on the blue side of the cardstock which I have chosen as the inside.

I've cut the same 4 pieces of the light blue/dark pink cardstock at 5"x7", 4"x7", 3"x7" and 2"x7".

I've placed the 5"x7" cardsock with the 7 inch side facing the top on my WRMK envelope maker and punched it at 1 3/4". Turn it over and do the same on the other side and cut out the tab created between the two grooves. Do the same for the other 3 with the 7" side facing the top and punch at 1 3/4" on both sides and cut so we have our 4 pockets.

Next I've cut out some strips from the cardstock. 2 strips at 5"x1", 2 strips at 4"x1", 2 strips at 3"x1" and 2 strips at 2"x1". Place each of these on the scoreboard with the 1" side facing the top and score at 1/2" and fold them.

Stick them to the sides of the cardstock we cut previously at 7x5,4,3,and 2 inches like so.

I've then cut my patterned paper at 4 7/8"x6 7/8", 3 7/8"x 6 7/8", 2 7/8"x 6 7/8" and 1 7/8"x6 7/8". I've used 2 different patterned papers, "I like big cups" and the checked paper at the back of the "Vertical Journaling cards". I've placed them on the envelope punch board with the 6 7/8" side facing the top and scored at 1 5/8" at the 2 sides and cut between the grooves again. You can skip this step completely and use patterned paper if you wish instead of cardstock when cutting out the pockets.

Next we stick our patterend paper on the cardstock. I've also alternated the cardstock colours with the patterned paper so the checked paper is on the pink and the "I like big cups" is on the blue.

Put double sided tape on the 2 sides and the bottom of the 5"x7" pocket and stick it on the lower part of the folder. Stick the 4"x7" pocket on top of the first one from the bottom up and the next 2 so that you have 4 pockets like this

For the top part of the folder I've cut a magnetic sheet at 4"x6" and I've stuck one of the 4x6 horizontal journaling cards on top of it. I've stuck them in the middle of the top half of the folder.

Now to cover the outside of the folder, I've cut 2 strips of the "Coffee blend" paper at 6 7/8"x5 5/8" and one at 3/8" x 6 7/8". Stick them on the front, back and the 1/2" spine. For the spine I've used the other side of the paper.

To decorate the front I've chosen another 4x6 journaling card and the banner die cut from the ephemera pack. Over that I've stuck some cappuccino cups that I fussy cut from the "Cappuccino Cups" paper. On the bottom left corner of the journaling card I've stuck a flower sticker from the sticker sheet. On the other 2 corners of the cover, I've stuck 2 corner die cuts and at the top and bottom of the cover I've stuck some lace to finish it off.

I also added a half inch strip of the coffee beans side of the "Cappuccino cups" paper on the inside of the spine. Here's a picture of the folder opened up showing the outside and the inside.

I hope you will try this out and show me pictures of what you come up with. If you don't have the envelope punch you can also use a circle punch or tabs or even leave them as is.

I've made a video showing the process but in the video I've used a 6"x11" piece of cardstock to start with so I could use my 6x6 paper pad but the process is the same so please do have a look

If you've made it this far thanks for reading :) For my next project I will make a few things that can go in the folder

xx Gina - stay awesome