How to Make a Swing Greeting Card

Handmade greetings are always a pleasure to give and take. You don't have to spend extra time searching the stores for perfect ready made card you want. It'll take effort but believe me it's fun, you just buy the material and then assemble it as you want. The pleasure of your loved ones will be much greater than a store bought card.

I always search for new folding techniques that are attractive and easy to make at same time. While in hurry, I always prefer this super easy swing fold technique.

I made a 15 x 21 (w x h) size card. When expanded, size becomes 25 x 21 cm.

Before starting, make a color theme in your mind and think of how you're going to decorate your card. I always prefer simple card so my list is not much big. Here are all the materials I'll be using:

• Card stock sheet (21cm x 25cm)
• Design card stock sheets (I used dotted essentials 12 x 12 sheet)
• Embellishments (I used diecuts, flowers, stamps etc)
• Glues and adhesives.
• Marker colors
• Pencil, eraser, ruler, scissors etc.

Once you gather all the materials, move to step 2.

Let's make basic card structure by following simple steps. I'll explain everything as generic as I could.

• Take card stock by following the dimension guide in the picture.
  • width is multiple of 5 (I took 5 x 5 = 25 cm wide piece and mark it in 5 equal parts).
  • length is 3 times the width of each piece plus 6 cm. (I took 5 x 3 + 6 = 21 cm)

If you're a newbie to card making, better is to get a printout of above template and trace it instead of making measurements by yourself.

Once you're done with marks and measurements , grab a sharp knife and scoring tool.

Cut carefully at the red lines of template with a sharp exact-O knife and fold at the blue ones (make mountain fold at left side and valley fold at right side).

Fix the folds by gently pressing them with your scoring tool. Once you fix all scores, The square in the center will swing when you open or close the cards.

Once you're done with structure, It's time to embellish your card how you want. I always prefer simple cards so here is what I did (Of course you may vary the design)

First of all, Cover the whole card with design / patterned papers (Tip: To give it a nice look, always measure design papers 1 cm less than card size).

Next use a paper doily for nice background. (Tip: Use spray adhesives for doilies).

Paste your favorite quote or sentiment, you can either stamp it or print it. (Tip: Use thick double tape for 3D look) My favorite way of writing sentiments is to fake calligraphy. (Tip: To fake calligraphy, hand write your sentiment in a messy writing and widen every down stroke).

Use some die cuts, artificial flowers pearls to decorate more. (Tip: Use layers of design paper's leftovers to give your card a heavy look.

At the end, write down your wishes at back side , pack it nice and post it. Wait for their super excited, love filled response.

Happy Crafting!