This is an overview of a few of the different gatefold card options along with free gatefold card templates for you to craft along.
I love the basic gatefold card template. There are so many places you can go with a gatefold card base.
In this tutorial, I will highlight a few of my favorite gatefold card types. Download my free gatefold templates and craft along!
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Materials for Gatefold Cards
Cardstock – I like medium weight cardstock for gatefold cards. The heavier stuff doesn’t fold as easily. Here are some of my favorites:
- Assorted Starter Pack – Basic assorted colors, great starter pack, perfect weight for most papercraft projects
- Cricut Joy Insert Card Packs – You don’t have to use these with the Cricut Joy, they are nice material kids for cardmaking.
- Cardstock Warehouse Brand on Amazon – I love the quality of all the matte-colored cardstock with Cardstock Warehouse. It is my go-to brand for individual matte colors that I might need
- Poptone Assorted Variety Pack – This is the perfect peppy assortment of colors of heavy cardstock. It’s a heavy cardstock assortment with colors I actually use frequently for cardmaking.
- Seasonal Assorted Variety Pack – This is a slight variation on the Poptone assortment and has a quite few neutrals that complement almost any accent color.
- Stardream Metallics Line – For paper crafts, the Stardream line is the go-to for a metallic shimmer finish. It is the perfect sheen to make any project pop. The core is also colored is which hard to find for metallic paper.
Glue- I use a variety of different glues for cardmaking. The important thing is not warping the paper with wet glues.
Cutting Machine – I use a Cricut. Check out my recommendations for Cricut machines and accessories for beginners for more info.
Templates – All the gate fold card templates you see in this tutorial are free and available in both SVG and Printable PDF formats in my free resource library.
gate fold cards instructions
There are lots of different types of gate folds. You can also have any base shape with the gate fold.
Basic Gate Fold
A basic gate fold just opens in the front. You can start with any rectangular basic. Fold the outer most flaps in a quarter of the total length of the rectangle. Do the same with the other side. The Gate doors should be equal in width.
You can add all sorts of gate door “handles” or flaps. Here, I’d added a simple scalloped circle with a Thank You sentiment.
double gate fold card tutorial
A double gate fold add another 2 folds to the base shape.
The main base will folded into 5 areas.
I would measure the total length of the base shape and divide by 6. I then create a scoring line at each of these sixth increments except for the center most one.
Then fold the flaps in place.
At this point, you can add additional panels and attachments to this base double gatefold card.
Interlocking Gatefold Card
This last variation is similar to the basic gatefold in that you have 2 attachments to the gates. There will be one one each side and they interlock.
First position your inner panel and the outer ring on the gates.
Take the outer ring off and glue the base panel onto one side of the gate.
Then position the outer ring back and glue in place on the other gate panel.
Lock and Pop Gatefold
Another variation on the gatefold card is the Lock and Pop gatefold card. This involves a similar base but requires an additional panel stripe and a few extra folds.
Start with a basic gatefold template case. The doors or gates of this template are going to tuck into a center panel. In order for the base gates to fit underneath the panel, you will need to either trim this a bit or fold them back.
In this example, I trim off about a centimeter from both side of the gate. I then folded the gate doors in and scored the cards where the doors end. Fold the back of the card where you have just scored the paper.
I highly recommend foam tape for the lock and pop card. It creates a little spacer to make easier to tuck the side gates. Place you adhesive on the center panel and then glue the top panel on to the center of the base. This center strip needs to overlap the gate doors ever so slight so it catches and therefore ensures that the card stays closed.
You can then add whatever decorative elements to this lock and pop base.
There are many variations on the gate fold card. Give this starting set a try!
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