Iris Folding

Written and Created by PaperCraftCentral Susan

"Iris Folding is a paper craft technique that involves folding strips of colored paper in such a way to form a design. The center of the design forms... -- a shape reminiscent of the iris of an eye of of a camera lens". Wikipedia

Making a card with the Iris Folding Technique can give you a spectacular result.

If you have never made a card using this paper folding technique, it looks a lot more complicated than it actually is. It's pretty easy to learn how to do this.

See below for my step-by-step tutorial.

How to Do Iris Folding

In this example, I have used a square shaped aperture, but there are many other patterns. I will provide a link to some for you at the bottom of the page.

You will need:

• A card blank with a window aperture. Create the aperture with your paper trimmer or with a craft knife and steel ruler, or use a Big Shot die to cut one.
  
• A craft knife and cutting board or a large square punch or a paper trimmer.
  
  
• A plain piece of cardstock to punch or cut a slightly smaller square aperture from to use as a frame inside the main aperture.
  
  
• A square pattern for your folds.
  
  
• Repositionable adhesive for the pattern.
  
  
• Adhesive for the paper strips.
  
  
• Some clear packing tape for the completed design.
  
  
• Some backing paper or cardstock for the completed aperture.
  
  
• Four different types of thin paper to make your folds (or you can use unfolded cardstock, ribbons, origami paper, etc - as long as it is thin) in contrasting or coordinating colours and/or patterns.
  
  
• A bone folder can be handy if you are going to be folding your strips of paper.

What to do:

• Cut or punch your main aperture, and make a smaller aperture from the second piece of cardstock. Adhere the two layers together.
  
  
• Position the pattern over the right side of the aperture so you can see it from the wrong side.
  
• Use the non permanent adhesive to fix the pattern in place.

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Now For The Next Card Making Steps:

Other ideas

• Use foils or glittery papers in your desig.
• Try using Washi Tape to make a design. The pattern will probably show through the translucent tape though, so try overlapping the strips carefully.
  
• Try using origami papers or rice papers to make your paper folds.
• Use vellum strips to make a translucent design.
  
• Incorporate this technique into your scrapbook pages.
  
• Use embossing powder on the edges of the paper folds to add interest, or stamp and emboss the stamped images as I have done in the series of Iris Fold Fan Cards in the slide show at the top of the page.

If you have tried this technique and have a project to share, please do. I would love to see your projects.

If you would like to have more iris folding templates, you may like to purchase this book.

It also has a lot of tips and techniques available for you to really perfect this crafty art:

Search Press Search Press Books-460 Iris Folded Cards To Make

And if you like fancy folded card ideas, you might like to see the gatefold card technique, or the origami fox project.