Ice Skater Card Tutorial

 CLICK HERE TO ENTER MY 500 FOLLOWER CRICUT CART GIVEAWAY!

Happy Wednesday, everyone and thanks for stopping by! I finally have the tutorial ready for the ice skater card I made for Day 1 of the Christmas in July Blog Hop this past weekend. Thank you so much for the response to the card! It is actually a lot easier to make than it looks :)

SUPPLIES:

1. One sheet of cardstock (the thicker the better)
2. Decorative paper
3. Scoreboard
4. Bone folder
5. Paper cutter
6. Wire – around 12 gauge
7. Winter Woodland cart (or whatever you want to use to decorate card)
8. X-acto knife
9. Circle punch
10. Button
11. Twine
12. Terrifically tacky tape
13. Glue/tape
14. Foam dots 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut the cardstock in half, so you will have a sheet measuring 6" x 12"

2. Score the cardstock at:

        a. 1.5"

        b. 3"

        c. 5"

        d. 7"

        e. 9.5"

3. Fold the cardstock mountain fold at 1.5", valley at 3", mountain at 5", valley
    at 7" and mountain at 9.5". This will form the base of the step card.

4. Cut decorative paper (I used My Mind's Eye O Christmas Tree stack) into
    strips of:
        a. 1.5" x 6"
        b. 2" x 6"
        c. 2.5" x 6"

5. Adhere the strips to the front of the step card. You could also cover the
    inside or just use one decorative piece of paper for the step card, but I
    found this to be a bit sturdier, especially with all the cuts I added to it.

6. Flip the card over, and on the bottom of the first 1 1/2" fold, draw a
    box that measures 1/4" wide, starting 1/2" from the bottom of the
    card and 1/2" from either side.

 7. Use your paper cutter or x-acto knife to cut out the box. I used the
    paper cutter because it cuts straight lines, just in case mine were a
    bit off. The width of this box is important. You want a small foam
    dot to move easily across the entire length of the box. It it doesn't
    flow smoothly, cut a slightly bigger box.

 8. With your cutter or x-acto, cut a slit directly into the fold above the

    box you just cut. You want it to be the same length as the box:
    1/2" from either side.

9. When you flip the card back over, it should look like this:

10. Cut the ice skater from Winter Woodlands at 4".
11. Cut a piece of 12 gauge wire at 5 1/2 " and another piece about 2".
12. Fold the 5 1/2" piece of wire in half and adhere to the back of the
      skater's straight leg. You can hide the wire behind the edge of her
      skate. I used Terrifically Tacky tape to adhere the wire because it
      has a strong bond. You could use another strong glue or even hot
      glue. Hot glue and I don't get along too well. I use when I have to,
      but no matter how careful I am, I always burn my fingers :P

13. Attach the 2" piece of wire to her outstretched leg, to make it sturdy.

14. Punch or cut a circle about the same size as the button you selected
      for the moving mechanism, and adhere it to the bottom wire. Again,
      I used Terrifically Tacky tape. You may need to slide the skater into
      the slit to see exactly where to attach the circle. You want the circle
      to line up with the 1/4" box we cut a bit earlier.

 

15. Thread twine through the button.
16. Punch or cut another circle and adhere it to the back of the button.
17. Attach a small foam dot to the back of the button. I used Recollections
      Foam Adhesive Circles in assorted sizes and used the smallest one.

18. Thread the skater through the slit in the paper.
19. Remove backing of foam dot, and making sure the skater is level with
      the edge of the paper, bond the two circles together with the foam dot.

20. Give it a test - slide the button and make sure she skates along the edge.
      If not, you can adjust the bond of the two circles pretty easily.
21. I used a piece of sparkly blue paper and freehand cut the edge to make
      it look like she is skating across frozen water.
22. Decorate the card as desired.

I would love to show you how to animate the photo but that is a whole lesson in Photoshop and I really don't have time to open that can of worms! I used Photoshop Elements 9. If you've never used it, don't be intimidated. I have used it for a number of years, but I've never taken a class. I taught myself.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial! If you make a card from either this tutorial, or my interactive Owl card, please link it to Mr. Linky below. I'd love to come see it!