Iris Folding Papercraft for Special Occasions: Simple Square

Iris Folding Papercraft for Special Occasions

Iris folding papercraft is a passion of mine. I love the simplicity of it, yet in the simplicity a beautiful creation is formed. You work on the back of the design so you don’t get to see the finished results until right at the end – the big reveal – it’s magical. In this blog post I’m going to show you how you can turn the simple square pattern into a design for special occasions.

If you enjoy the free craft projects we create please consider using our affiliate links if you are making purchases as it supports us greatly to continue. As an affiliate we may earn money from qualifying purchases. As an Amazon Influencer/ Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you. For Amazon links it only works within 24 hours of clicking on a link and making a purchase. Please see affiliate link and disclaimer page for more information. Thanks so much for your support!

If you’d like to find out more about the origins of iris folding check out this post.

Simple Square Iris Folding Pattern

I’ve previously shared my recycled square iris folding pattern. You can find full details and free pattern here. It’s an ideal project for complete beginners to this wonderful craft. In the square design above I’ve used recycled materials – iris folding was traditionally done with envelopes!

You can find a step by step tutorial on how to make the square in the YouTube video below.

Next we’ll look at how to turn this simple square design into a card created for a special occasion.

Navigate the Special Occasion Iris Folding Post

Square Iris Folding for Special Occasions

Paper & Card Choice Matters

How do you elevate this humble square iris folding design to create something for a special occasion. Firstly, the materials you use are important. For the special occasion, wedding card, I chose a sparkly gold surround and some really lovely papers. Several of the paper sheets I used came from Pretty in Paper by B; Bethan curates such wonderful packs. The glitter paper in the middle of the design is from this origami pack. The paper and card choices give a more premium feel.

Die Cut an Embellishment

On the design above I used champagne glasses for a special occasion wedding card. This design was from the Tattered Lace collection on the Brother Scan N Cut machine. However, as you will see in the video further into this post you can easily design your own to be cut out on a cutting machine like the Brother Scan N Cut or a Cricut. Don’t worry if you don’t have a cutting machine. Alternatively, you can free hand cut out a design, use a die cutter or purchase a ‘topper’ embellishment to add on.

I like to match my embellished design to the same material that I did the aperture surround.

Mounting Your Card

Now in many of the posts I’ve written about iris folding I’ve always said you have the option to work directly on a card blank or use a mount that you then affix to a card blank. For a special occasion card I would always recommend the mounting method as in my opinion it give a more premium feel.

Additional Mounting

I also prefer to give an extra mount to help the design stand out. For the champagne glass card I used a dark blue card in 250gsm to give a crisp mounted finish. To mount your complete iris folding onto the blue card I use foam pads to help give an even raised effect. With iris folding you will get an uneven bulkiness to the back of the design. Strategically placing your foam pads in flatter areas you can give the design a professionally even finish. I like to buy foam pads of different sizes but don’t worry if you have bigger pads – you can easily cut these down. Equally, if you have smaller ones you can use more.

For mounting the blue onto the card blank I use double sided tape. I specifically use ‘finger lift’ tape as it is much easier to remove the backing. The video below will show you how I mount up my projects.

Sizeable Card Blank

Another area I like to improve on for a special occasion card is the card blank. I like to use a larger card blank that I usually do. Often I work on 6 inch squared blanks or a 5 x 7 inch blank. For a special occasion card such as a wedding I prefer to use an 8 x 8 inch card blank. These are the card blanks and envelopes I use. The card blanks are 300gsm and envelopes are 100gsm and they are a good quality finish.

Adding Your Embellishment

As mentioned earlier in the post you can create your own embellishment (the video below shows using a Brother Scan N Cut). However, you can easily purchase toppers or cut out your own with scissors. To add intricate designs I use mini glue dot rollers. Make sure you use a scrap piece of paper underneath.