Oh Gnome Waterfall Card

This card all began with a special request from a fellow stamping friend. She saw a waterfall card, an interactive mechanism that reveals new images as you pull a tab, in a magazine. The problem was that the magazine was from Europe, she asked if I could create this kind of card so that she could recreate it as well. It has been many years since I have done a waterfall card and thought it would be fun to do again with the new Oh Gnome stamp set by Lawn Fawn.

I'll give you the directions in this post but you will most likely want to watch the video at the bottom of this post as well. This will help you with assembly of the card.

With the card closed you can see each of the flaps that are a part of the waterfall mechanism.

Notice the arrow tab on the outer right edge of the mechanism. This is where you pull.

As you pull this tab the square images on top begin to flip over, revealing the next scene.

On the top portion of the waterfall mechanism you have 4 scenes.

And with the bottom tab all the way extended you reveal a final 5th scene. A great place for the sentiment.

Now let me give you all the measurements for the essential parts of this card.

Waterfall Mechanism : 9" x 1-7/8", score this at 2", 2-3/4", 3-1/2", 4-1/4"

Waterfall Base Strip (looks like a tree trunk in my card): 1" x 4"

Scene Squares: Base Layer - 2" x 2", Top Layer - 1-7/8" x 1-7/8"

Note: you can just stamp onto the base layer, you do not need a top layer and you do not need to have all the stamped and die cut images, stamping right on the base layer would make this a very quick and easy card.

Notes on attaching the mechanisms.

First attach the Waterfall Base Strip: put double stick tape at each end and attach this strip only at the ends, leaving it open in the middle so the waterfall mechanism can slide underneath. This gets attached about 1/2" from the right edge of your card front panel.

Attaching the Scene Squares: First you will want to complete the final scene on the longest section of the Waterfall Mechanism, with the scored lines on the left. When that scene is done fold on all the score lines, folding them all down, not in a Z fold. All the folds go in the same direction. And the mechanism should be folded in half, the scored section closed over the top of the section you just designed. Once your small scenes are designed as you like and the top layers are adhered to the base layers you are ready to adhere them to the mechanism. Start with your final scene. Adhere this to the first section, the section of the mechanism that is on the right end. Put the scene square right up to the score line with out going over it. Adhere the next scene, taking care to go in order from the last scene and ending with the first scene. Each time you are adhering the square right up against the score line. Take note that the squares will overlap each other. Use the previous square to line up the one you are adhering down, so that all the squares are lined up top to bottom. Now the mechanism will look like a book, the cover has the scene squares and when you open it you see the final scene on the long section.

Attaching the Waterfall Mechanism to the Base Strip: Slide the long section of the mechanism under the base strip. Open the mechanism and put a strip of double stick tape on the under side of the left edge (the last scene square) top to bottom. Close this and adhere this to the very edge of the base strip.

I put my waterfall mechanism low on my card to leave room to make my base strip look like a tree, but you can put yours in the center of the card.

Notes on pulling the tab.

I added a little tab to the end of the mechanism indicating to the recipient to pull. On my card this can be hard to grab a hold of. Two things you can to to make it easier to get a hold of is; 1) use a piece of ribbon, a folded in half piece of ribbon that is stapled to the mechanism would extend past the edge of the card, making it easier to grab. 2) use a circle punch to punch a half circle in your card base, then the recipient can easily grab the tab to pull and does not have to put their finger in between the tab and the card to grab the tab.

Don't forget the inside of the card. With all the weight on the front of the card it is nice to add a layer to the inside, balancing out the weight.

I used the Mushroom Border die set by Lawn Fawn to make the hill on the inside of my card. I attached in only on the bottom and sides, creating a pocket for a gift card. And since all the sentiments are stamped on the outside of this card I would used the sky space to write my personal message.

You can watch the making of this card from Monday night's Facebook Live video here:

If you have any questions on the making of a waterfall card just let me know. It is a pretty easy interactive card to make, I hope you give it a try. I have listed all the supplies I used to make this card below.

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