Waterfall Cards

Waterfall cards were all the rage in the early 2000s, and I haven't made one since 2007. (I might have worn myself out making 30 of them for party invitations!)  Now that so many paper-crafting companies are developing interactive elements I thought it would be fun to make an interactive card that just requires cutting and scoring - no fancy dies needed!  (If you would like more information about interactive elements, check out the amazing dies that Lawnfawn,  MFT, and Motion Crafts make.)

To make a Waterfall card you will need some basic cardmaking supplies:

• Cardstock (how many colors is up to you)
• Patterned paper (or cardstock)
  
  
• Stamps or printed images
• Inking/coloring supplies
• Paper trimmer with both cutting and scoring blades
• Eyelets and setting tool
• Adhesives

To make a standard 4.25" x 5.5" card you will need to cut paper in the following measurements...

• A - card base 4.25" x 11" (fold in half)
• B - patterned paper 4" x 5.25"
• C - horizontal strip 4" x 1"
• D - moving element strip 2" x 9"
• E - spotlight bases (4) 2" x 2"
• F - image bases (4) 1.875" x 1.875"
• G - pull tab (optional)

To assemble the card, follow these steps... 

1. Stamp, draw, or color your images on the image bases (4)
2. Adhere each image base to a spotlight base
3. Using a hole punching tool or eyelet kit (I use my Crop-o-dile to punch the holes and set the eyelets with one tool), attach the horizontal strip to the patterned paper with eyelets.  If you don't have an eyelet tool you can use adhesive.  However, do NOT use adhesive in the middle section of the horizontal strip. It has to stay open for the moving element to work.
4. Adhere the patterned paper to the front side of the card base
5. Using a scoring tool or your paper trimmer with scoring blade, score the moving element along the following measurements starting at the end of the strip: 2", 2.75", 3.5", and 4.25"
6. Attach the moving element strip to the horizontal strip as seen below. You will slide the long (unscored) end of the moving element under the horizontal tab - be sure to center it.  Adhere the scored end of the moving element to the horizontal tab.  I use a strong adhesive for this part rather than my usual tape runner because it needs to be thoroughly adhered since it will be a moving element. 
   
7. Attach your first spotlight image to the bottom 2" x 2" square at the end of the moving element strip.
8. Push the moving element up and you then attach the next spotlight image to the .5" scored area.  Be sure to put adhesive on the moving element strip and not on your spotlight image so that you don't risk accidentally gluing the spotlight images together!
9. Adhere the remaining spotlight images on the scored areas of the moving element strip. 
10. I used a pull tab punch at the end of my moving element strip, but you could use ribbon, a coordinating color cardstock, or just leave it plain. 
11. Once all the images are attached, pull gently on the long end of the moving element strip and you will see the images flip behind each other.

That's it!  A super cute, adorably interactive card that can be adapted for any occasion.  Have fun!