First, you need to cut out the mechanism and attach that to whatever base you’ve decided to use. I stumbled a bit here, until I realised I needed a base to put the mechanism on. I’m sure you’re all familiar with folding and burnishing score lines, so I didn’t include pictures of that. If you do want more information on that, please leave me a comment and I am happy to address it. Once you have the mechanism folded, then you need to pick which one of the heart dies you want to attach to the score lines. I picked the largest one of the set, because of course I did. I like big cards, and I cannot lie…
You’ll need to die cut the heart five times, and your layering die five times as well. Some people, who are saints and have a ton more patience and attention to detail than I have, will layer the back and front of the hearts, in which case, you’ll need ten layering pieces. But since I’m not that person, here’s my example:
Once this is done, the fun bit begins: making the waterfall…er…waterfall. Like this:
Yay! It worked! I was excited, it is an exciting thing (for me) when something works just as it is supposed to the very first time! I was worried it was beginner’s luck, so I made two more just to be sure, those worked as well. This is not because of my talent. I wish it was, but because this die set is easy, and Tonic really does excel in making things simple. Now that it works, it’s time for the layering!
Oh, well, not quite yet. Don’t make my mistake of getting so excited you forget to stamp the layers first. I assure you, it is much easier to do so before you put the layers on. TOP TIP – I used my Xyron to put double side adhesive on my card stock prior to making the layers. They are intricate dies, so you’ll want to use your precision base plate to cut them. I was very glad I did (on both points). Also, for all the little bits you might want to use, I highly recommend double-sided adhesive for that, too. I did all my little bits at the same time, since I wasn’t sure what I was going to want. I didn’t end up using most of them, but I will on those other two waterfall dies I made. I included this last picture because I just love when I’m using adhesive sheets and the die comes out of mirror card perfectly! (Crafter’s Companion mirror card, I can’t recommend it highly enough! Seriously, it’s awesome.)
Okay, onto the stamping! I did put my first layer on, but quickly realised that was a mistake and ceased adding them until after they were nicely stamped and weeded. Yes, there was weeding, even with the precision base plate, darn it. But oh, they did turn out quite pretty, if I do say so myself, take a look:
I really like this stamp set, too. Not sure it’s big enough for you to see, but you get a lot of great sentiments and wonderful images as well. I circled the main stamp I used for the ending sentiment.
All that’s left is to finally put it together and then be done, right? Nope. Did I mention I did a slider detail on the cover? No? Well, I did now, but first the waterfall all put together, then I’ll show how I did the slider.
For those that are already familiar with sliders, feel free to skip this part since I don’t have my own twist or anything new, just a simple penny slider attached to a piece of rectangle foam, which I then attached to my balloons. But, if you’re interested, here’s a couple pictures of that process:
This is just a little piece of paper I cut to fit over the top to have something else to stick the balloons to. (Have I mentioned how much I love Cosmic Shimmer glue?!? I really, REALLY love this glue! If there’s better, I haven’t found it, and if you have please leave me a comment.)
Here, finally, is the finished project:
I hope you’ve enjoyed my take on the waterfall/slider Birthday card. Thank you for spending time here, and I look forward to posting my next blog post which will feature the brand new Crafter’s Companion Dimensional Fireplace dies and stamps! Until then, happy crafting.
