Ballerinas on Stage - Mechanical Card

Mechanical Cards are so cool, I had to try it at least once. After this card, I know I'll be making a lot more.

This is along instructional post.

I'm not going to lie to you, this card is a bit hard to make. There are so many pieces, you might need an afternoon or to to put it together without going crazy and wrinkle the whole thing a time or two like I did 😒.

The girls are from OAK Tree Stamp's Moody Ballerina Stamp Set, colored using watercolor pencils on Neenah Solar White 110 lb Cardstock. Caran Daceh pencils are so good, you can achieve rich, brilliant colors without ripping your paper.

---

First thing is first, let's name the parts. 

Card Base: These are the parts you have to assemble and hold the characters and the mechanism of the card.

Mechanism: This is the actual stage, when you put these together, they will activate the movement of the card.

Building Front: This is a PNG file that has to be printed and then cut as a separate piece and then glued to the front base. I added the width measurement to which the image has to be resized in the file name (Ballerinas on Stage - Building Front - 5.43 in.png), so you have to look nowhere else for the info. The bricks map comes from here https://www.flickr.com/photos/seier/4340689010, a free texture Seier+seier gives for free on Flicker. (check out his other free textures and start getting ideas).

Please always give credit if you are using someone else's work

Courtain Texture: This map has to be uploaded as a pattern to Design Space, and then has to be applied to the stage pieces (side stage, stage back and back frame). Finally, print the pieces in red cardstock and then cut them. I made the texture in black and white so I could save ink, this way I used my laser printer toner, which is faster and cheaper.

---

Assembly:

• Glue the 4 insert reinforcements to the insert bases using some kind of liquid glue. I prefer to use liquid, fast drying glue like Aleene's Tacky Glue Pen, because it actually strengthens the cardstock and allows for proper movement and action on the card.

• Glue your characters and stars to the inserts, keep in mind the inserts in the front have less room for character placing, as the closing sides shorten the distance from slit to slit. Considering this, I decided to glue one end of the character insert to the Stage side on the left and the other to the right, keeping the other end loose. Also the front insert is loose on both ends. This allows for proper mechanics and gives the illusion that the ballerinas are moving on the stage.
  

  

  Middle insert glued on the left side.

  

  Back insert glued on the right side

  
  

• Score the folds on the Stage Sides. Even though the design has dashed lines that are cut to make the folding easier, I like to score them using a bone folder to make them crisp.

• Fold the Stage Sides creases. Put some glue to hold the pull tab together. Then, glue the Stage Back to the Stage Sides. Finally, put the Stage Back frame and Inserts through the slits on the sides. 

The inserts have non colored characters attached and have a different color just for instructional purposes.

• For the card base now, Glue the Building front to the white Front Base.
• Score, fold and glue the top and bottom flaps of the white Front Base. Again, use liquid glue, this prevents the bending of the card, so make sure to let it dry completely before continuing.
• Finally, place your stage and glue the Mechanism Holders to Front Base, make sure to align them to the marks on the base. Avoid glueing the mechanism to the base. And finish it off glueing the Base Back to the back of the stage.

  

  Click to enlarge and see the details

Here are a couple more pictures for you to understand how this is put together, good luck! and please let me know how your projects turn out, by posting them on the Facebook page.

The link to this file will be available to mail subscribers and will be sent via email only. Whenever a new post goes live

Subscribe

* indicates required

Email Address *

First Name

Last Name

Supplies List