Tis the season for fun! Make this delightful swing card to amuse both the old and young on this year’s Christmas Card List. The measurements are listed in both metric and imperial and only use a half a sheet of card stock.
Supplies
A half sheet of card stock Cherry Cobbler
Joy of Christmas Designer Series Paper
Joy of Noel Photopolymer Stamp Set
A sheet of Fluid 100 Water Color paper (optional)
Shaded Spruce Stampin Write or Stampin Pad or Watercolor Pencil
Real Red Stampin Write or Stampin Pad or Watercolor Pencil
Old Olive Stampin Write or Stampin Pad or Watercolor Pencil
Water Painters
Loose Holly Gems & Sequins
Real Red & Garden Green 3/8″ Ribbon
Glue Dots
multipurpose liquid glue
Directions
Trim down your half sheet of card stock to 18.5cm x 14.8cm (7-1/2″ x 5-1/2″)
Place card stock with the long side at the top of your trimmer (or score board). Lightly score at 3.7cm (1-1/2″). Score more firmly at 7.4cm (3″) going over the line several times. Repeate this firm scoring again at 11.1cm (4-1/2″). The last score will be using a light stroke at 14.8cm (6″)
Turn your paper so the short side is to the top. Lightly score at 3.5cm (1-1/4″). Flip your paper and repeat the light score at 3.5cm (1-1/4″) on the other edge.
With the scoring finished we will make the cuts to create the swing portion of the card. Please refer to the cutting guide below. I used my paper trimmer to make the cuts but a metal ruler and X-acto knife also work well.
See photos below the cutting guide see how the card is folded.
Time to decorate!
Option No.1
Take advantage of the small squares left behind from the scoring. In the photo. I have used some of the red gingham from the Joy of Christmas Designer Series Papers. Ten squares are cut to 3.2cm-wide x 3cm-tall (1-1/4″-wide x 1″-tall) and placed across the top of the card and across the bottom of the card. Since there is a difference between the width & length of these be sure to place them on your card to check orientation before gluing down. The two side pieces are cut to 3.2cm-wide x 7cm-tall (1-1/4″-wide x 3″-tall).
Option No. 2
For this option I used one of the smaller patterned papers from the Joy of Christmas Designer Series Papers. The six squares are cut to the same size as above, the two side pieces are cut to 3.2cm-wide x 14.3cm-tall (1-1/4″-wide x 5-1/4″-tall).
The Center Images
Cut two pieces of Fluid 100 water color paper to 10.7cm-wide x 7cm wide (4-1/2″-wide x 3″-tall).
Side No. 1
Stamp the holly & leaf bundle onto one of the pieces of card with Shaded Spurce. Give it a moment to dry (see photo above).
Smear some of the red ink (from the markers or ink pad) onto an acrylic block or palate. Pick up some of the ink with a damp brush, if using the water color brushes be sure the brush is damp but not soaking wet.
Swirl small spots of the red on the berries. Clean your brush. Allow a moment for the ink to dry, it will take slightly longer than regular stamping because the ink is wetter when applied this way.
Next repeat with the Old Olive ink. You will now paint the leaves that are not holly shaped. Again allow a moment to dry.
Without cleaning your brush, be sure it is damp again and go over the lines of the stamped image. This will blur the lines and cause the ink to spread. I wanted a little more of the olive color so I kept picking up small amounts of the olive as I was “spreading” out the shaded spruce with the damp brush.
This was a lot of fun to do. I suggest stamping both sides of your water color paper and doing it twice; picking the best of the two to be on the card. I finished with a bow, attached with a glue dot (shown in finished gif).
Side No. 2
Hold your water color paper in place on your card and mark a line on the left to mark how much of the card will show from the front.
Next apply some of Old Olive and Shaded Spruce ink to a palate or acrylic block. Using the water painter pick up one of the greens and make splotches of color onto the water color paper. Clean your brush and pick up the other green and repeat.
I allowed it to dry a little bit and went back with a bit more color in some of the areas to try to create more depth. Allow to dry.
Then stamp the Noel stamp using the shaded spruce ink. Even though my paper felt dry I noticed the lines of the Noel stamp still “fuzzed” a bit. This did not bother me but if you want a cleaner image, perhaps use a heat tool to get the paper a little dryer.
Lastly I used the glue dots to attach the sequins.
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you give this card a go. The card itself is easy to make and can be decorated any way you choose. Please leave a comment or even better post a photo of your creation! You can post below or tag me on social media @loriothen.
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