Graduated Step Fancy Fold for Elegant Winter Cards

Welcome back to another crafty day at Stamp with Leigh. I’m excited to share a new winter-themed creative fold card with you today. This card is perfect for the upcoming season, and it has a unique design that leaves plenty of room on the back for a stamped greeting or a heartfelt, handwritten sentiment.

For this project, I leaned into a cool, tranquil color palette using the stunning Whispering Woods Designer Series Paper. This paper features a gentle, watercolor style in cool tones that adds a delicate touch to cards for winter and beyond. It includes full patterns for backgrounds for cards and scrapbook pages.

Here’s a view of the card open and displayed-

One of my favorite features of this specific design is the practical layout—it leaves plenty of room on the back for you to stamp a personal holiday greeting or write a heartfelt handwritten sentiment without cluttering your beautiful front design panels.

Take a look at how this crisp, wintery card comes together-

The base and layers are a combination of Smoky Slate cardstock and Misty Moonlight Two Tone cardstock. The pine trees were die cut using Peaceful Pine and Misty Moonlight cardstocks. The sentiment is from the Soiree Salutations stamp set and was stamped in Misty Moonlight ink and popped out with the Three Banners Punch.

I used the Stylish Shapes dies alongside a 2″ circle punch to create the layered circles. The adorable winter trees were cut using the Christmas Crew dies. To give the tree a true snowy winter vibe, I added highlights using a white gel pen and topped them off with a touch of Wink of Stella for a perfect frosty shimmer. The Christmas Crew dies coordinate with the Christmas Crew stamp set and are offered as a Bundle, saving you 10%. I added a Adhesive Backed Snowflake for some winter magic.

All of the products use to make this card are available in my online store- just click on an image to shop Stampin’ Up! Anyone who places an order in my online store will receive a copy of the current September-December 2026 catalog for FREE! It’s packed with gorgeous seasonal inspiration to kickstart your holiday crafting.

I would love to hear from you. What’s your favorite color combination for winter cards? Do you prefer traditional reds and greens or cool tones like blues and grays? Leave a comment below and let me know.

If you are local to the Mentor, Ohio area and want to learn how to make creative fold cards like this in person, check out my upcoming class schedule in the events tab at the top of the page. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog so you never miss a project!

Happy crafting!