Swivel Surprise

These cards were a journey for me. This was my first time ever using the Swivel Surprise die and there were some struggles. At first I used the same cardstock I use to stamp on and it was too thick and made the mechanism not work correctly. Then I cut out the mechanism pieces again from lighter cardstock and that worked, but one of the pieces just would not stay attached. I used liquid glue but it still kept coming apart, and the paper was getting very thin in that spot. I was not in a good mood at that point because I had spent so much time working on things and it felt like it was all going to be for nothing. I figured I would have to chalk these up to practice and not send them to anyone.

The next day I worked on them again and they slowly came together. I got that piece to stay attached and I got the mechanism to work consistently. It took me another few days to get around to creating the card fronts but once I finished them I actually really liked the cards. I went from thinking I wouldn’t send them out at all to wanting to keep them longer so I could keep looking at them myself.

In the end I don’t think the Swivel Surprise is actually hard to use; it just took some getting used to, and I also started out with a more advanced design and I made 2 at once. The next time I use it I think I’ll try something more straightforward.

Making these cards actually made me want to create just these card fronts again. I love that Sunny Sunflower and I think it’s a great fall card all on its own, without the interactive inside part. The front of my card is different than Grace’s original design, who this is inspired by, but I like the simplicity of it. I like that neutral plaid as the backdrop and I was honestly excited to use the Simple Grassy Hillside Border with the most “extreme” curve, since those border dies come with 3 different curve “levels” and I usually only use the ones that are less starkly curved. These are the silly things that bring excitement now. 😄

Materials used:

• Large Stitched Rectangles
• Favorite Flannel petite paper pack
• Simple Grassy Hillside Borders
• Spiffy Speckles petite paper pack
• Sunny Sunflower
• Lawn Fawn cardstock: Sunflower, Chocolate Bar, Cilantro, Metallic Silver, Narwhal, Apricot
• Watering Can
• Everyday Sentiment Banners
• Doe ink
• Reveal Wheel Circle Sentiments
• Pint Sized Patterns Summertime petite paper pack
• Swivel Surprise
• Say What Gift Tags (for the hearts on the sentiment banner)
• Sunflower Border