rocking boat tutorial

 Hello my fabulous friends!

A couple weeks ago I shared this rocking boat card, and I got some requests for a tutorial...

So let's get ready to rock the boat!

What you will need:

Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Ink: LDRS Creative Raven Hybrid ink

Stamps: LDRS Creative Sink or Swim

Coloring: (My Copic list can be found HERE, but you can color with any medium you prefer)

Dies: Essentials by Ellen Swing n Slide; LDRS Creative Surfing Wave and Sandy Beach

Other: MFT Slider Elements; foam tape

Step 1: Stamp the Sink or Swim image onto some white cardstock and color using your favorite medium. LDRS Creative Hybrid ink can be used with watercolors, alcohol markers, and colored pencils, so use what you love!

Please forgive the fact that I'm not actually going to color mine today... I hurt my thumb, and coloring  is a bit hard right now....

Step 2: Cut your image out... Be generous with the water at the bottom.

Step 3: Next you are going to die cut some waves. I used both dies from the Surfing Wave and Sandy Beach die set. 

On my original card, I cut both pieces out of white cardstock and colored them with Copics... However, since I can't color today, and to try to make it as visually clear in the photos as possible, I'm using two  pieces of blue paper for the tutorial. 

Step 4: Cut a white panel the same size as your card base (for me it's 4.25" x 5.5").  Figure out how deep your water needs to be and trim both the front and the back waves as needed.

Step 5: Adhere your BACK calm wave piece to the bottom of white panel.

For the actual slider track, I used this Swing N Slide die set from Essentials by Ellen.  LDRS Creative did showcase a new die set that includes slider tracks as part of their new On the Go line at Creativation... I believe that set is scheduled to be released late February.

Step 6: Place your boat where you want it to sit in the water, and determine where you need to cut your track... You want it to be fairly centered on your boat when your boat is centered in the card. 

*Note: Please do not die cut your boat... this step is JUST FOR PLACEMENT

Step 7: Die cut the short slider track from the front panel where you determined it needed to go for your card. Your white panel should look something like this.

Step 8: Flip your panel over and cover with foam tape (I use craft foam for large areas like this). Leave a generous margin all the way around the track.

If you have never used MFT Slider Elements, let me introduce you... these little plastic discs look a bit like Tic Tacs, and make creating smooth moving sliders easy! And they aren't expensive!

*Note: MFT also makes round ones for spinners... because we don't actually want to boat to spin around in circles, be sure you are using the oval SLIDER elements.

The important thing to notice here, is when you put your slider disc in the track, there is extra room....That little gap you see is what will allow the boat to not only slide, but rock as well. If the track you are using fits the slider disc more snugly, it won't rock.

Step 9: Cut a small circle out of cardstock... You can die cut, or hand cut, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that it is slightly LARGER than the width of your track... This is what will keep your slider from falling out of the track. (It's also why we left a margin around our track when we added the foam... So make sure that it has plenty of wiggle room there as well..

Step 10: Use a strong adhesive (I use Glossy Accents) to adhere the plastic slider to the center of the circle. 

Step 11: Adhere your panel to the front of your card base... Before you have it complete glued down, insert your slider mechanism in the track...

You want the cardstock circle against the card base, and the plastic slider in the track.  Once the panel is in place, make sure your slider moves freely when you tip the card, and that it can't come out.

Step 12: On the back of the front wave, line the bottom and two sides with thin foam tape.  This will create a space for the boat to move in.

Step 13: Adhere to the front of your card.

Step 14: Move your slider  to the center of the track.

Step 15: Add a bit of your strong adhesive to the top of the slider disc, then carefully tuck the boat behind your front wave, and press it onto the slider.

Step 16: Embellish as desired. In my original card I stamped a sentiment onto a strip of vellum and attached it to the bottom of the waves... I also added some clear Stickles to the white caps of the waves... 

Hope this helps!

See you soon!
~Kassi

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