Technique Thursday: Make a swing card without a template

by Joanne Wardle

How to make a swing card without a template.

I have seen many designs for swing cards that just don’t work properly. To me when a swing card is closed you should be able to see all of the front of the swing piece and none of it should be hidden under the left hand “bar”




To achieve this you need to follow very specific, but simple, measurements. There are a few basic rules.

• The swing shape needs to be vertically symmetrical.
• You need to be able to measure its widest point, and divide this measurement by 4.
• The key to this is find this measurement, make a note of it, and from this point just consider it a “chunk” or “measure” as all further measurements will just be a multiple of this.
• In the sample I have made I have used a 4 inch square, as this is the simplest shape to explain it, but you could just as easily use a heart or circle, and any size can be divided by four.
• The height of the shape and the final card are unimportant.
• The width of the final open card will be twice the width of the shape.

Okay, so here’s what you do.

• Take a template of your central shape and find the quarter measurement (call this 1 measure) and then mark up as shown.
  
  


• Take your card, which is twice the width of your central shape, and split into 8 measures. Draw in the swing post between measures 3 and 4 as shown.
  
  


• Line up your template so that the lines you have drawn match. And draw around the template
  
  


• Now cut and score as shown (red lines are cut, blue lines are score)
  
  


• Fold the blue lines as showm
  
  

Basically that’s it! But here’s a few more pictures to explain it, if it’s not yet clear.



All of the products used to make the final card, are available from the frantic stamper.

I’d love to see any cards you make using this method. Hope you enjoy it!
Joanne