How To Make A Block Step Card

Hey There!

Today I am going to show you how to make the super cute, yet super easy, block step card!

This is such a great card to display and it even folds flat to fit in an envelope.

I’ve made mine using up the last of my ‘Mint Wishes’ Christmas collection, but I will surely be making more in other papers and I will post them as I do.

Now, “That’s awesome, but how do I make one?” I hear you ask..

Well, here’s how..

For this card you will need:

Half a piece of 30x30cm cardstock 240gsm+
Scoring board
Cutter and/or scissors
Strong glue (I recommend roller tape glue)
Decorative papers and embellishments of your choosing!

Step One:

Cut your cardstock to 11.25 x 30cm
Cut another smaller piece to 11.25 x 2.5cm

Step Two:

Score longways down the centre (1.25cm) of the smaller piece of cardstock
Fold and burnish the score upwards (mountain)
Put this piece aside for now as we will come back to it later

Step Three:

We are now going to score your 11.25 x 30cm piece of cardstock in a landscape position
You are going to score across 7 times (each 3.75cm) to form 8 equal sections
Score at 3.75cm, 7.5cm, 11.25cm, 15cm, 18.75cm, 22.5cm and 26.25cm

Step Four:

Rotate your card to a portrait (longways) position
Now score all the way down the card at 3.75 and 7.5cm
Your card should now have 24 even ‘squares’ (3 rows and 8 columns)

Step Five:

With your card stock in horizontal position, find column 4 (working from the right side of the page)
Cut out the lower two squares of column 4, so there is just 1 square left at the top
Also cut out the bottom square only of column 3 and column 5

Step Six:

In column 3 and 5 where you have cut away a single square, on the remaining horizontal score slice up to the opposing vertical score line
This will allow the middle square to become a ‘flap’ attached only by one side
Do the same in column 2 and 6 to make the top square into a ‘flap’ also
You should now have 4 ‘flaps’

Step Seven:

See that single lone square at the top? – That will be the top of your tallest step
Fold the vertical scores on either side of the single square upwards (mountain)
In row two, the two flaps will overlap each other to form the top of the middle step
Fold the vertical score lines either side of the flap in an upwards (mountain) fold
In the bottom row, the two flaps will overlap each other to form the top of the bottom step
Fold the vertical score lines either side of the flaps in an upwards (mountain) fold
You should now be able to see your card somewhat taking shape!

Step Eight:

Apply glue to the underneath of the flaps that will be the front side of your card and stick these squarely on top of the matching flap from the back side (Tip: ensure your ‘fold’ sides are to the front of the card and your ‘join’ sides are at the back for a neater finish)
One side of your card will now be longer than the other
Fold the longer row in an upwards (mountain) fold – This piece will now form the base of your card (don’t worry that there’s no piece to attach it with – That’s what that small piece we cut earlier is for!)

Step Nine:

Take the 11.25 x 2.5cm piece which has been scored and folded and apply glue to the upwards/mountain folded side
Apply this piece to the inside of your card, joining the base and back side together (Tip: ensure the base and side meet on the outside of the join so your card sits flat/square)
Re-burnish all of your folds to ensure your card sits and folds evenly
Your card should now also fold down flat when you gently push on the base fold.

Step Ten:

All that’s left now is the fun part – Decorating!
You have a few choices here – You can decorate it in ‘squares’ as I have done, or, you could simply decorate over the whole thing
If cutting squares, you will need 15 squares of 3.5×3.5cm paper to cover the front side, rear side and top of the steps
To cover the outer base of the card, cut 1 piece of decorative paper to 3.5 x 11cm
Adhere the decorative paper squares and base to the card
If you wanted to layer additional layers of decorative papers, you could also cut another layer of smaller squares 3x3cm to give even more dimension and colour
Now add your embellishments as you wish (Tip: Ensure you place your embellishments thoughtfully on the top of the steps so as not to affect the cards ability to fold flat and re-open)
If you also wish to decorate the interior of your card as I have done (purely optional), you will need another 9 squares to decorate the base and rear side (Tip: Don’t worry about decorating the front side interior as it isn’t seen at all when the card is presented)