{capture the moment}: 3

It has finally begun to cool off here in Tennessee, and it has me anxiously awaiting the coziness of winter. I thought it would be fitting to play with the snowflake stamp set that Papertrey will be releasing on Sunday night. It is inspired by THIS free digital kit that I designed for Paper Crafts magazine. (If you haven't downloaded it yet, do it now before you forget!)

Today's project is a fun interactive card (I just love that kind of stuff!) It used a technique that I had seen used to create treat packaging with candy bars or packets of popcorn. I thought I would adapt it to be used on a slide out card.

First, I wanted to create my own patterned paper to use as a backdrop for my project. I found that the smaller snowflake included in this set fits perfectly inside one of the images from Borders & Corners Circle. I like to make symmetrical patterned paper with circles. I find it easier than random designs. People always ask how I get the images lined up so well. Here are a few little tips. Allow your eye to use the edges of your paper as a guide for getting things straight. I always stamp a single vertical row first, right along the edge of the paper.

I then add a second row, stamping "in between" each of the images in the previous row. While you are hovering above your paper with the stamp, look at your spacing on all four sides. Be sure it is equal spacing before you stamp. The clear nature of the stamps helps as well. You just continue so on and so forth until you have filled the entire page.

Finally, I fill in the circles with the snowflake image. This step is quick and easy since the placement has already been decided for you. Using white pigment ink with these snowflakes provides such FANTASTIC results. I was really happy with how they turned out.

Now to turn this beautiful paper into a project! I cut the cardstock 4.25 x 9 inches. I then scored it @ 4.25 & 8.5 inch marks. I applied Terrifically Tacky tape to the remaining 1/2-inch flap.I was then able to assemble it into a "sleeve".

Next you want to add a notch to make it easy to pull out your slide. I used a 3/4-inch circle punch, inserted halfway onto one of the open edges of the sleeve.

I needed to create a slot for the ribbon to feed through, so I used my Making Memories punch & hammer. I like using this tool rather than a hand-held punch because it easily goes through more than one layer of cardstock.

Next up is the slider. I cut a piece of cardstock measuring 4x4 inches ( I knew I would be matting this; if you choose not to mat, your finished slider should measure 4-1/8 inch square). I inserted it partway into my sleeve so that I could mark where the ribbon lay. The reason I wanted to make this designation was so that I would make sure not stamp a portion of my sentiment there, or else it would be hidden by the ribbon. I just used a pencil and ruler to create these lines, using the ends of the slot as a reference.

I rounded the two right-hand corners of the slider with my punch. If your corner rounder punch is anything like mine, sometimes it will leave little ragged pieces behind, depending on what kind of mood it is in! I have found that by keeping a nail file nearby, I can quickly run it along any edges to smooth them and even them out.

So after all of these steps are completed I am left with these supplies to construct my card. The notched sleeve, the card insert & ribbon.

To assemble the card, I first threaded the ribbon through the slot. You want to be sure to go through both layers of the sleeve, with one end of the ribbon coming out on the underside and the other from the top.

Pull both ends of the ribbon to the right.

Partially insert the slider card into the sleeve and in between the layers of ribbon.

Push the slider into the sleeve, therefore pulling the ribbon with it. In this photo I pushed the slide farther than necessary to show you how the ribbon is looped around the side of the slider. When you are creating your own, you just want to stop pushing one the slider gets to the edge of the sleeve.

Tie a knot on the notched side of the sleeve, tightly holding the slider in place. The knot will rest on the edge of the slider.

You now can pull on the knot and the slider come comes out with it. These would be easy to mass-produce as Christmas cards. You could even add a photo to the slider which would be so unique!