Thankful Hearts & Harvest Blessings – An Interlocking Panel Card

Hello crafty friends!

It’s time for another fun challenge over at the Christmas (or Not) Bingo Challenge Blog! I always enjoy seeing the new Choice Board because it gives us so many different directions we can take our projects. We’re encouraged to choose at least three of the five prompts from a row or column, but this time I decided to challenge myself and use all five!

For my card, I chose Column B, which included:

• Thanksgiving or Appreciation
• Raspberry Pink or Magenta
• Free Choice
• Mesh or Weaving
• Aperture or Frame

Since I wanted to create something especially dimensional for this challenge, I used Sam Calcott’s Interlocking Panel Card as the inspiration for my card base. You can find her wonderful tutorial here: Sam Calcott’s Interlocking Panel Card Tutorial.

This is such a fun card style! The card folds in a concertina style, with the two outer side panels folding around to become the front of the card when it is closed. Once opened, though, it creates this wonderful dimensional display with lots of room for decorating. This is definitely one of those cards that is meant to be displayed open so you can enjoy the entire scene.

For my Thanksgiving or Appreciation element, I created a colorful fall harvest scene filled with pumpkins, apples, sunflowers, a little birdhouse, and other autumn details. I also added the small “Thankful for You” sentiment to carry the appreciation theme through the design.

The center of the card features a large circle-shaped aperture, which was perfect for the Aperture or Frame square on the Bingo board. I layered the opening with metallic cardstock to give the heart a little extra definition and help frame the focal point in the center.

Inside the heart, I added a layered scalloped medallion featuring 2 Corinthians 9:10:

“Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.”

I thought this verse was such a lovely choice for a Thanksgiving card. It ties together the harvest imagery with a reminder of God’s provision and the spiritual fruit He produces in our lives.

One of my favorite things about this challenge was incorporating the raspberry pink/magenta requirement. Pink isn’t necessarily the first color that comes to mind when you think of Thanksgiving, but I love how the bright plaid paper looks alongside all of the traditional oranges, greens, browns, and warm metallic tones. It gives the card a cheerful and unexpected pop of color!

For the Mesh or Weaving prompt, I added the pretty gold mesh bow near the bottom of the heart frame. It adds just a little bit of texture and sparkle without taking attention away from all of the details in the scene.

And, of course, Free Choice gave me the opportunity to add whatever else I thought the card needed—which, as any cardmaker knows, is always a dangerous amount of creative freedom! 😊 I added embossed white panels, metallic matting, dimensional layers, and plenty of fall details to finish everything off.

I especially love how different this card looks depending on the angle from which you view it. From the front, the heart aperture and Bible verse immediately draw your eye, but when you look from above or at an angle, you can really see all of those concertina folds and the additional fall patterns tucked into the different sections. There is so much more to discover when the card is displayed open!

I had such a wonderful time creating this one and finding ways to incorporate all five elements from Column B. That is one of my favorite things about the Christmas (or Not) Bingo Challenges—you can keep things simple and choose three prompts, or challenge yourself to see how many you can work into one project.

I hope my Thanksgiving card gives you a little inspiration for this month’s challenge. Be sure to stop by the Christmas (or Not) Bingo Challenge Blog to see what the rest of the Design Team created, and then choose your own row or column from the Choice Board and come play along with us!

Happy crafting, and may you have much to be thankful for! 🍂🧡