Silhouette Tutorial! How to make Bendy (Bendi) cards!

Say whooza what's it? Yeah...Bendy cards! If you haven't heard of them yet, well you are in for a twisted treat! Bendy cards or Bendi cards are all the rage in card-making and stamping communities right now. They are a vehicle for layering fun themes, embellishments, and making wildly creative 3D scenes.

So this week, I've uploaded several basic versions of bendi cards, from scallops, to straight edges, to wavy, to themed, that you can use as a base for making your own fantastic card creations. When you send them, send them flat. They will fit in an envelope made for 4.25x5.5 cards; or...you can use the included envelopes that come with each file. These envelopes are special because they contain a little extra space to accommodate for the layers you may add. When your recipient opens the card, that's where the magic begins, as they will be able to insert the tabs into the slots to see the full 3D bendy effect.

Here are the different versions of the card and their matching envelopes loaded to the store this week:

Here are the direct Links to these files: 

angled bendy card, fence bendy card, sloped bendy card, castle bendy card, pinked bendy card, basic bendy card

You may also like the coordinating Bendy card boxes, which allow you to insert the card when it is extended. You can also use these as stationary boxes if you don't want to use them for bendy cards.

Click here for the tutorial for the bendy card boxes.

You will find them here in the Silhouette store: bendy cards and boxes.

Here's how to make the bendy cards:

Take your three pieces and fold the dotted lines.

Take the larger piece and glue the tab to the back of the card. I like to line it up with the edge of my table so that I know it's straight. Do the same with the smaller piece on the opposite side.

 This is what the back of the card should look like. (some people prefer to glue the tabs to the inside of the card, it really is a matter of preference.)

 Now insert the large side into the slot on the back.

 Now insert the small side into the slot on the large side.

Ta Da! Easy peasy lemon squeazy! Now just add your little magical touches!

Here's a castle version of the Bendy cards that comes as a set in the Silhouette store:

Glue the castle gate to the large piece with the tab.

Glue the tab of that large side to the back of the center piece of the card.

Glue the castle to the center piece of the card. Layer on the peaked roofs and other embellishments.

Glue the fence and grass onto the smaller tabbed piece.

Glue the tab of the smaller piece (with the fence on it) to the back of the center piece.

Your finished castle bendy card should look like this! 

Now that you have an idea of what bendy cards are all about, here's an idea of how you can add magic to these little creations:

This fancy version was made by my creative team member Allie Gower using the basic bendy card and my Gardenia file. You have got to go to her blog to see a few variations of the card. So very very cool! (I know...my English teacher told me that one "very" is always enough...but not in this case...)

Tell us what you want to do with your bendy cards! We love hearing your ideas!

To find more tutorials on my Silhouette files click on this link: "Inlinkz for Samantha Walker Silhouette file Tutorials".

If you create a card using one of my bendy card files from the Silhouette store (or any of my files), we want to see how you did it! Please upload a link to your blog tutorial to the link above. Look for the little blue box at the bottom of the link-up grid, and submit your link. Your creations will help inspire others the endless possibilities of these cards, and also help them find your cool blog!

Here are some supplies you can use to make today's projects!

Happy Crafting!