Burst of Color

Vy Tran
4 hours ago
2 min read

Want a fun colorful background? Add a starburst design to your card! This technique lets you arrange 12 triangles to form a striking pattern behind your focal image. I was inspired by a card made by Amanda Mertz a few years ago using a retired die that is no longer available, and I wanted to recreate the look. I dusted off my trigonometry and did the math so you don't have to!

To get the correct angles, start with a rectangle that is 3-1/2" x 2" and cut it in half diagonally.

The smallest angle in this triangle is 30 degrees, and when you lay out 12 of them, that completes a 360-degree circle! To make arranging the triangles easier, start with a piece of cardstock that is 3-3/4" (W) x 5" (H) and draw a cross pattern on it as a guide. If you'd like the center of the starburst to be in the center of the background, then draw the cross accordingly. Fit 3 triangles into the first section and adhere them down. Keep going around until all 4 sections are filled.

Because it's hard to cut things perfectly accurately, you might find your measurements are a little off and that the center of the starburst looks messy. Don't stress about it, because once you add your focal image to the card, that all gets covered up, and no one will ever know!

Once all the triangles are adhered, turn the piece over to the back and use the white layer as a guide for trimming off all the excess bits of cardstock.

You can use this technique with your favorite Designer Series Paper, or you can use cardstock. To make it more interesting, I stamped a design all over my cardstock. I share the measurements for an individual card below, but to make several of these at once, I started out with a full sheet of cardstock, stamped it, and then cut it as shown, giving me 12 rectangles.

The rectangles were then each cut diagonally in half to make 24 triangles. I repeated this process with 2 other sheets of cardstock in different colors, and when I was done, that gave me enough triangles to create 6 cards! My focal image and the stamped designs come from the Bee My Valentine bundle. As always, you can find a shoppable supply list at the end of this post.