A striking stand-up fun fold card with a collapsible column and floating front piece—dramatic when displayed, flat when mailed, and easier to make than it looks.
The Collapsible Column Fun Fold is my newest original card design, created to deliver that satisfying wow factor—no special dies required—for anyone who loves fun fold cards with a strong visual impact. The dimensional column at the center of the card creates a beautiful stand-up display, while the front sentiment appears to float, supported by hidden brackets that keep the design clean and uncluttered. And here’s the best part: despite its architectural look and depth, the entire card collapses completely flat to fit inside a standard envelope. If you enjoy interactive cards, this month’s Crafternoon fun fold is sure to become a favorite.
In this post, I’m sharing a step-by-step video tutorial showing how to create the Collapsible Column Fun Fold card base and multiple versions of the card to give you ideas for different styles and occasions. If you’d like a printable document with all of the measurements, detailed step-by-step photos and instructions for every version shown, you can purchase the full fun fold card tutorial. It’s a complete, well-organized guide that walks you through the construction of the card base and each design from start to finish.
As always, thank you for making and sending handmade cards — you truly are making the world a kinder place, one card at a time.
Five unique versions of the Collapsible Column Fun Fold Cards!
The Collapsible Column Fun Fold takes on a whole new look with each version —let’s look at all of them up close!
Lovely & Beautiful Collapsible Column Fun Fold Card
This beautiful card made with the Lovely & Beautiful suite of products is the featured project for the January Crafternoon video. I chose the Lovely & Beautiful Designer Series Paper because it really suits this style of fold. The soft colors and florals keep the design calm and pretty, and the gold accents add a nice finishing touch.
Customers who placed a $50 order in my online store in December received a packet in the mail in January to make this Collapsible Column Fun Fold Card.
Packets contained either the patterns shown on the first card or the patterns shown here. Both are lovely! On the front of this card, I used one of the nested label dies from the Beautifully Celebrated Bundle. The bottom label is cut from gold to tie in with the gold accents in the designer paper, which pulls everything together nicely. This die set includes six nested label shapes, making it a very versatile addition to your craft room—easy to reach for again and again for sentiments, focal points, and layered greetings.
For this design, I chose to make the Collapsible Column fun fold card a standard card that fully opens. Having a full card gives you more space to write a message and add additional decoration inside. The sentiment stamped on the inside comes from the Simply Beautiful stamp set, which is part of the Lovely & Beautiful Suite. The decorative corner details are die cut using the Beautifully Celebrated Dies—also from this suite—and add a nice finishing touch to the card.
This side view photo gives a closer look at the column on this unique fun fold card. The focal point on the front is attached to the column with brackets, allowing it to float and swivel as the card moves. The structure comes together step by step and folds completely flat for mailing.
This simple “hello” greeting is stamped using the Fabulous Sayings stamp set, our current Stampin’ Up! Product of the Month. The versatile sentiments in the set pair beautifully with almost any style of card. Right now, you can add it to a $75 order for just $5, while supplies last—a great value for a greeting set you’ll reach for again and again. The pretty sparkle comes from the Pearlized Faceted Circles which are also part of the suite.
The card easily flattens to slide into a standard envelope. Finished size for all the Collapsible Column fun fold cards is 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ and they all fit in a standard A2 Envelope.
Easter Basket Collapsible Column Fun Fold Card
This Easter Basket Collapsible Column Fun Fold is a fun, springy card using the Easter Joy suite of products. The wiggly basket on the front and pop-out column make this card especially fun to open and explore for anyone who loves a little Easter surprise. I walk you through how to make it in the Collapsible Column Fun Fold Card Tutorial, with detailed instructions, step-by-step photos, measurements, and all the different card designs shown in this blog post.
The basket is die cut from the Easter Joy Designer Series Paper, which gives it a woven, textured look without needing extra layers or coloring. The All In A Row Embossing Folder adds soft texture to the card panels, keeping the background interesting while letting the basket take center stage.
And then there’s this little guy on the inside—because every Easter card needs a stinkin’ cute bunny to make you smile when you open it!
The sweet chocolate bunny tucked into the basket is sure to bring a smile. It’s paired with Pastels Shimmer paper eggs and a bow die cut using the coordinating dies for added detail.
Are you ready to see more Collapsible Column Fun Fold Cards? This Version features the Lovely Blossoms Suite!
This card was made using products from the Lovely Blossoms Suite of products. Because the stamps, dies, designer paper, and embossing folder are all designed to go together, it’s easy to mix and match pieces and get a great looking result.
The unique die-cut shapes from the Lovely Arrangements bundle add beautiful detail and layering, while the Lovely Stripes 3D Embossing Folder creates deep, noticeable texture in the background. In this top-down view, you can also see how the column is constructed and how the layers come together.
Decorating the inside is part of the fun – I used images from the Lovely Arrangements stamp set and added some more Lovely Blooms DSP to coordinate with the colors on the front of the card.
I love the “magical” look of the collapsible column, especially when the card is laying flat.
This version of the Collapsible Column card is the project I sent to my direct team members for our quarterly stamp party last week. It’s a great example of how we create, learn, and share ideas together—always with the goal of sending smiles! If joining a creative, encouraging group of stampers sounds fun—there’s a fantastic demonstrator joining special coming next month that includes a brand-new tool I know you’ll love.
Team packets all ready to go out in the mail!
One for the Guys! Peaceful Dock Collapsible Column Fun Fold Card
This masculine Collapsible Column card is a great option when you need something special for the men in your life. The rich blues and warm browns keep it classic and calm and the column design adds strong lines and structure to the card.
Nature Walk Designer Series Paper is a fantastic option for masculine cards — textured, subtle, and easy to pair with bold images like this boat.
Inside the card, the clean layout leaves plenty of room for a handwritten message. The fabulous big “Happy Birthday” greeting comes from the Fabulous Sayings stamp set — this month’s Product of the Month — making it an easy, versatile sentiment you’ll reach for again and again.
The boat is stamped in VersaMark ink and heat-embossed with clear embossing powder, giving it a subtle varnished look, just like a real wooden boat! The “To a great guy” sentiment is from the Nature’s Symphony stamp set.
Nature Walk Collapsible Column Fun Fold Card
This card showcases the calm, organic feel of the Nature Walk suite. The leafy stem is die cut from the Nature Walk Designer Series Paper, and the die adds texture directly into each individual leaf, a beautiful detail that creates depth while keeping the design clean and natural.
This view really shows off the heart of the design — the collapsible column that pops forward when opened and folds flat for mailing.
Some gentle leaves decorate the inside of the card. Even the back sides of the column are fully decorated, so the card looks finished and intentional from every angle. The Nature Walk version was inspired by RJ Burnett at Wild West Paper Arts.
The Stone & Vine 3D Embossing Folder adds rich, touchable texture across every panel, giving this all white base so much depth without adding bulk. A few Faux Bronze Pentagons finish it off with just the right hint of warmth.
One of the things I love most about the Collapsible Column Fun Fold card is how well it works with a wide variety of papers and styles—from soft spring themes to masculine designs. Each alternate highlights the same interactive column while still looking completely different. In the free video tutorial below, I walk you through how to create the Collapsible Column card base step by step. If you’d like all of the measurements along with detailed, photo step-by-step instructions for the card base and all of the alternates, the complete Collapsible Column PDF tutorial is available as a purchasable digital download.
Would you like to create along with me in the next Crafternoon?
It’s easy to join the virtual monthly Crafternoon event – I hope you join us next month!
How to join the fun? When you place a $50 Stampin’ Up! product order with me (after rewards credits and before tax and shipping) you will receive a packet in the mail the following month for the next Crafternoon AND you will get the PDF tutorial for that month’s Crafternoon fun fold cards for free! The tutorial has all the card designs with dimensions, step-by-step instructions, photos, and the supplies for the projects. A whole lot of love always goes into each and every packet! ❤️
I am only able to accept Stampin’ Up! product orders from those who live in the United States. However anyone around the globe can purchase any of the Crafternoon tutorials – you can find them all HERE.
Video tutorial for the Collapsible Column Fun Fold Card
In this video, I walk you through assembling the Collapsible Column Fun Fold card. Details for all the designs are in the Collapsible Column Fun Fold card digital PDF tutorial including all of the dimensions, supplies, instructions, and step-by-step photos. The digital tutorial can be downloaded and printed to refer to while you craft. Or you can save the tutorial to your device and look at it that way.
Details about the Collapsible Column Fun Fold Card Digital PDF Tutorial for purchase are below!
Ready to make the Collapsible Column Fun Fold cards? It is easy with this fun fold card tutorial. You can purchase the Collapsible Column Fun Fold Card Tutorial for $15 US. Print the tutorial or review it on your device after you download it. The tutorial will walk you through how to recreate this fun fold style, step-by-step with instructions for all of the versions.
I started Crafternoon in January of 2022 with a different unique fun fold every month. You can check out ALL 49 Crafternoon Fun Folds HERE.
NOTE: If you are a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator you are welcome to purchase these tutorials! If you would like to use these ideas to teach a class, instructing verbally is fine. However, please do NOT hand out, forward, replicate, or copy my written tutorials. If your customers wish to purchase the written tutorials please direct them to this blog post. Thank you for understanding!
Join the Crafternoon fun!
Thank you for letting me share this creative fun fold with you! I would love to send you a packet for next month’s Suestampfield Crafternoon Creative Escape. If you live in the United States, to qualify for a packet and tutorial, simply place a $50 order of Stampin’ Up! product (after rewards credits and before tax and shipping) in my online Stampin’ Up! store HERE. Happy creating!
did you have a video for this card
Hi Diana! The video link is in the blog post on the home page at suestampfield.com (I added it at the top yesterday). Here’s a direct link to save you time: https://www.youtube.com/live/qAzHMAb1LMU