French Couple Slider

This style card was a little time consuming to develop, but I found it very rewarding when I got done - very fun to play with mechanical cards! The couple is pop-dotted onto a tab underneath that slides when you pull the ribbon from left to right ( and vice versa).

(click on photo for detailed view)

Card measures 5 1/2" x 4 1/4

*tip*

Gather the stamps you want to use as described below, and grab a sheet of white copy paper. Draw a rectangle the size of your card and stamp all the images within that to see about placement before you work on your actual cs.

The first step is to find a focal point for the card. I stamped this couple (Inkadinkado) in black ink, colored in with pencils, and then trimmed closely.

Next you want to find some scenery type item that would be normally be in the background. I wanted the couple to remain the focus, so I stamped the Eiffel Tower (Inkadinkado) and moon with clouds and extra clouds (Stampscapes) in Stampin' Up!'s Going Grey ink, then colored the moon in with white colored pencil.

I like something to be revealed behind the main image so the next thing you need to do is find that, and also some scenery to ground your main image, so that it's not left floating (unless you're doing a plane in the sky LOL). The dog (100 Proof Press) was stamped in black ink, colored in with pencils and cut out. The stepping stones (My Sentiments Exactly) were stamped in grey ink on the background piece and colored with pencils.

Now, this is the trickiest part: you need to lay out the elements on the scenery and manually move them so that it all works together and you find out where you want the two parallel cuts and slider to be located. (See a view of this on the other card format scrap below.) Also, pay attention to where the cut lines in your base cs need to end on either side, because the sliding tab will be placed in the center of your sliding image (on the reverse of it) and you don't want your element going over the edges of your cardfront. What I'm trying to say is, stop your line at least half the width of your focal element from the edge.

SO, using a pencil, mark a dot on either side of the scene where you want your main image to come to a stop (this dot should mark the center of your sliding image, as this will be resting on the tab seen above.) Next, using a glass mat, Exacto knife and metal ruler, cut two parallel lines up to the dots on either side. This line can be any size you'd like; you don't want it to stand out, but it has to be wide enough that it's sturdy. Mine are generally 1/4" - 1/3".

Now cut a scrap of cs that you can wrap around this bar you've created in the bkgd piece, and glue it to itself as shown above, so that the little piece slides on the bar. Now use a pop-dot to tack your image to the the sliding tab, centering it top to bottom, and left to right. Then flip the panel over and center the tab. Attach a long length of ribbon to the back of the tab, so that there is extra hanging out over each end of the background piece.

The last step is to attach this large panel of cs to your card front, by adhering all edges except where the ribbon runs thru. I run a piece of double-stick tape along each side of the cut bar, although not too close, to keep the ribbon from wandering on the inside.

If you've done everything right, the ribbon should pull smoothly from side to side, moving your focal point easily.

The card below was made last year and sent out (so it's not eligible for the drawing), but I wanted you to see that you can use any stamps, and do any layout, and you don't necessarily have to do a lot of trimming, or precise stamping.

Card measures 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"

Thanks for looking!