Super Swinging

I love a fancy fold and I’ve not made a swing-fold card for years.  This week’s Visible Image DT post is a square version although you can make other shapes too, here I made rectangular versions.  I made a 6” square card but you can go smaller or larger as you wish.

The first step is to make the card base, which is also the mechanism.  I started with a 12” square of card and cut two 6” x 12” pieces.  One was scored at 6” (the centre) to make the outer card blank.  The second piece was scored at 3”, 6” and 9” (the quarter, half and three-quarter points) and folded valley-mountain-mountain.

For the window, I cut a square from the centre of the card blank.  I used nesting square dies to cut this and my mat layers but you could use a paper trimmer.  I also cut 2 pieces 5¾” x 2¾” for the inside of the card.

To assemble the card base, I glued the section of the mechanism from the valley fold to the edge to the inside back of the card blank.  The quarter of the mechanism at the opposite end was adhered to the frame of the front of the card, tucking the edge into the centre crease.

Finally, I glued the square from the window onto the mechanism, adhering only to the right of the fold line.

I blended Salty Ocean Distress Ink through the Windows stencil onto the mat layers, except the front piece.

Using Daisy Days, I stamped and heat-embossed the centre panel, then stamped the petals, finishing with metallic gold paint for the centre and splatter.  I used the small stamps to decorate the other panels and added some gold splatter.  The sentiment from Best Birthday Ever was the perfect size for the frame.

The final step was to glue the layers in place.

This is the inside when the card is opened out.