Making Cards Interactive - Using the Boat Step Card from simply Crafty SVGs

I love transforming regular card files into interactive cards. This week I've taken the Boat Step Card from Simply Crafty SVGs and added a swing feature, so that the boat rocks on the card. I've also 'winter-ised' it, adding a wintry sky, snowflakes and tiny polar bear. With other small changes this card could be customised for many occasions, and any season. How dramatic would it looks with a star-lit night sky, or a dramatic sunset? Of course, it could also be used as a Christmas or New Year's Card.

Materials Used:
Grey Heavyweight Smooth Cardstock
Duck Egg, Aqua, Teal, Grey, White & Red Medium weight Textured Cardstock
Silver Pearl Cardstock (optional)
Scrap of White Pearl Paper
Beacon 3-in-1 Adhesive
Foam Adhesive Tape and/or Pads
Flat-topped Brad
Small Coin
Silver & White Acrylic Paints & Brush
Silver Sketch Pen
Star and Snowflake Embellishments (Lawn Fawn Mini Snowflakes die set)
Silhouette Cameo

Files Used:
Simply Crafty SVGs Boat Step Card
Simply Crafty SVGs FREE Box Envelope for A2 Card

Other Digital Files: 
Polar Bear by Silhouette (Studio or SVG)

Adapting the File Pieces
Piece 1. The boat will have more room to rock mounted on a flat background, rather than a step, so a new card base was made by welding two shapes the same size as the card back.
Piece 2. Without the step a full length background panel is needed. This was made as an internal offset of the one half of the card back (prior to welding).
Piece 3. An additional back wave layer is needed for mounting the mechanism. It is an elongated version of the biggest wave, made by point editing the two bottom corners and moving them away from the wave edges as a group (holding down shift when the four edit points are selected).
The other pieces were cut as per the file.

Making the Boat
Follow the designer's instructions on the video for assembling the boat, but not the lifesaver/lifebuoy. The video is available from the file's page in the store, or on the designer's YouTube channel. Once the boat is complete, cut away most of the base part, leaving a long tab in the centre.

Make the swing/rock mechanism
Decide where you want the boat to pivot from and punch a hole. This should be placed somewhere close to the vertical centre line. This boat has a convenient lifesaver/lifebuoy. If it did not, the pivot point would have been lower, as it otherwise needs to be covered by the front wave layer.

Attach the coin/weight high enough that it doesn't swing below the front wave layer. Make a mark on the new back (biggest) wave layer where the boat will be attached, then punch a hole.

Attach the boat to the large wave with a flat-topped brad, leaving it loose enough to still swing. (Not shown) To help the boat rock smoothly, place two sticky pads either side of the brad on the reverse of the boat, leaving the liner on top surface (without exposing the sticky top).  To limit the amount of swing/rock, place similar pads either side of the coin. Check that all tape will be hidden by the front wave.

Place adhesive foam tape on the rear of the large wave, leaving the protective layer on for the time being.

Place more adhesive tape to sit behind the front wave. Here I added an extension to the tab, so that I could rock the boat on a video clip without having to tip the card. If you decided to do this, I'd recommend that a semi circle is cut from the base of the front wave so that the tab can be shorter (otherwise it won't stand well).

Attach the front wave, and then attach the complete boat/wave set to the prepared card background. Mine is splattered with silver and white acrylic paint, dry embosssing would be an alternative.

To disguise the brad, the waste circle from the lifesaver was stuck to the top and then the assembled lifesaver/lifebuoy stuck on top of that.

Other finishing touches included some tiny die-cut silver stars, a die-cut snowflake, a greeting in silver sketch pen, and a tiny, tiny, polar bear. The bear is cut from glimmer paper, and the edges coloured with a blue marker.

I hope you'll have a go at making your cards interactive. It takes a little trial and error, but so worth it for such a fun result.

These are the files I used (including the free envelope file). Just click on the photo to visit the page in Simply Crafty SVGs online store.



Janet, DT Member Simply Crafty SVGs

Blog: Crafting Quine 
Instagram: @CraftingQuine