Stack Cut and Shuffle Cards Made Easy

Posted on by Leen
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Welcome back to the craft room and today’s Stack Cut and Shuffle Cards Made Easy post. Every once in a while, I come across a cardmaking technique that gives you a lot of bang for your buck, and this is definitely one of them. With the Stack Cut & Shuffle technique, a few simple cuts and a little rearranging can transform your materials into four beautiful cards that coordinate perfectly together. It’s a fun way to create multiple cards at once, and the finished cards look far more complicated than they really are.

Free Stack Cut and Shuffle Cutting Guide

I’ve created a free cutting guide for the measurements I’m using today, but don’t feel like these are the only measurements that work. That’s one of the things I love most about the Stack Cut & Shuffle technique. You can change the paper size, the cutting pattern, or even the number of sheets and end up with completely different results.

Today, I’ll walk you through the version I used for these cards. If you’d like to craft along with me, you can download the cutting guide here: Stack Cut and Shuffle Cutting Guide.

Choosing the Pattern Papers

Today I’m using one of my all-time favorite Recollections paper pads, Sage Park. It is filled with soft colors, beautiful florals, and gold accents. The four pages I chose are a leafy pattern, a pink gradient page, a watercolor floral design, and a neutral gray sheet.

Photo of the Recollections Sage Park pattern paper pad that was used in today’s Stack Cut and Shuffle Cards Made Easy post.
Photo of the four pieces of pattern paper used to create today’s cards pulled from the Sage Park paper pad from Recollections.

How to Cut the Paper Stack

Before cutting the patterned paper down to its finished size, I started by rough-cutting the sheets with my Fiskars 12″ paper trimmer. Since this trimmer sometimes leaves a fuzzy edge, I decided to do the final cuts with my Tim Holtz 8.5″ Guillotine Trimmer.

Following the cutting guide, trim the four sheets of patterned paper down to the finished size of 3¾” x 5″.

Screen shot showing the stack of pattern paper being cut to a finished size of 3 ¾” wide for today’s Stack Cut and Shuffle Cards Made Easy post.
Screen shot showing the stack of pattern paper being cut to the finished size of 5” tell for today’s project.

Now that we have the finished size, let’s start by cutting the top of the stack down to 3″ tall.

Screen shot showing the first cut at 3” tall.

Next, turn the 3″ tall stack and cut it at 2½”.

Screen shot showing cutting the 3” tall stack down to 2 ½” wide to leave a 1 ¾” wide stack.

With the remaining 2″ tall stack of patterned paper, line it up and cut it down to 1¾”. This will leave you with a 2″ x 2″ square.

Screen shot showing how to cut the final 2” tall stack of pattern paper at 1 ¾” leaving a 2” x 2” stack of paper for today’s Stack Cut and Shuffle Cards Made Easy project.

Once all of the cuts have been made, you’ll be left with the following pieces:

  • 2 1/2″ x 3″
  • 1 1/4″ x 3″
  • 1 3/4″ x 2″
  • 2″ x 2″
Screen shot showing how the 3 ¾” x 5” stack of pattern paper has been cut for the finished card size.

How the Stack Cut & Shuffle Technique Works

Now that we have stacked and cut our patterned paper, it’s time to do the shuffle. To get one of each pattern on all four cards, we’ll move pieces from the top of each stack to the bottom. This part can be a little confusing at first, so I hope the photos below help make it clearer. If you have any questions at all, let me know in the comments.

Starting with the 2½” x 3″ stack, leave it exactly as it is.

Screen shot showing the first step in shuffling the pattern paper by leaving the first stack alone.

For the 1¼” x 3″ stack, take the top piece of patterned paper and move it to the bottom.

Screen shot showing the second step in shuffling the pattern paper by moving the top piece of paper to the bottom of that stack.

Next, for the 2″ x 2″ stack, take the top two pieces of patterned paper and move them to the bottom.

Screen shot showing the third step in shuffling the pattern paper by moving two pieces of paper to the bottom of that stack for the Stack Cut and Shuffle Cards Made Easy technique.

Finally for the 1¾” x 2″ stack, take the top three pieces of patterned paper and move them to the bottom.

Screen shot showing the final set in shuffling the pattern paper by moving three pieces of paper to the bottom of the last stack.

To create each card front, take the top sheet from each stack and set them aside while we prepare the mats.

Matting Your Card Fronts

To mat my patterned paper, I’m using the beautiful Rose Gold Cardstock Paper from Recollections. It’s such a pretty color, but unfortunately it doesn’t photograph very accurately. While the cardstock in the photo below looks more gold, the color shown on the package label is much closer to the true shade.

For the mats, cut four pieces to 4″ x 5¼”.

Photo showing the Rose Gold Foil Cardstock Paper used as mats for today’s Stack Cut and Shuffle Cards Made Easy project.

Take the top piece of patterned paper from each stack and glue it to the mat using your favorite adhesive. Today I’m using Bearly Art Precision Glue.

Screen shot showing the first of four finished card fronts.

Adding Sentiments and Card Bases

For my sentiments today, I’m using one of my favorite sets from Crafter’s Square called The Little Things. Each sentiment is stamped with Gina K Designs Amalgam Ink in Obsidian Black.

To add a little extra interest, I die-cut both the rose gold mat and sentiment using the Nestabilities Large Classic Circle and Large Classic Scalloped Circle sets.

Photo of the Crafter’s Square stamp set The Little Things and Gina K Designs amalgam ink used to create the sentiment for all four cards of today’s post.
Screen shot showing the Nestabilities dies used to cut out the sentiments and mats for today’s Stack Cut and Shuffle Cards Made Easy project.
Screen shot showing the finished sentiments glued to the rose gold mats.

You can place the sentiment wherever you like on the card. I prefer to place mine at the intersection of the patterned paper pieces, which also helps disguise any tiny placement errors.

Finally, attach the completed card front to the card base. Today I’m using Recollections 110lb white cardstock. The card base measures 8½” x 5½” and is scored at 4¼” to create an A2 card.

Finished Stack Cut and Shuffle Cards

I absolutely love how quickly these cards came together. The Stack Cut & Shuffle technique is such a fun way to create multiple cards at once, and I think the finished cards look far more intricate than the process itself.

What I especially like about this set is how beautifully the cards coordinate together. You could package all four as a thoughtful handmade gift, or send them individually to friends and loved ones throughout the year.

Photo of the finished Stack Cut and Shuffle Cards Made Easy created with the Recollections Sage Park paper pad and rose gold foil metallic cardstock paper.

I also wanted to share another example. This set was created using paper from the Bella Bohemia paper pad, which gives the technique a completely different look.

Photo of the second set of cards made with the stack cut and shuffle technique with papers from the Bella Bohima paper pad from The Paper Studio.

Using small scraps left over from the Winter Berry Christmas paper pad from Hobby Lobby, I also created an additional card by rounding the corners of the patterned paper, mat layer, and card base. It’s a simple change, but it gives the design a slightly different feel and shows just how versatile this technique can be.

Photo of a single card made with scraps from the Hobby Lobby Winterberry paper pad.

When I created my cutting guide, I also made a set of card fronts using a neutral palette of cardstock. These will go into my card front idea notebook as future inspiration, but I wanted to share them here as well. They show that even plain cardstock can create interesting results with this technique.

Photo of the card front templates I made with neutral cardstocks to show even a simple card front can make beautiful Stack Cut and Shuffle Cards.

Final Thoughts

Thank you so much for joining me for today’s Stack Cut and Shuffle Cards Made Easy post. If you’d like to recreate these cards, don’t forget to download the free PDF cutting guide linked above.

If you enjoy techniques that help you create several coordinating projects at once, you might also like my Gift Card Holders 2022 project. It uses the same Stack Cut & Shuffle concept in a completely different way and is another fun way to get more from your patterned paper.

I also encourage you to experiment with your own measurements, paper combinations, and cutting layouts. One of the best things about the Stack Cut & Shuffle technique is how easy it is to make it your own.

Now I’d love to hear from you. Have you tried this technique before, or is it something you’d like to add to your cardmaking lineup? Let me know in the comments below. Until then, I hope you have a wonderful week ahead, and I’ll see you back in the craft room again soon!

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