Paper Fanatic: Penny Spinner Card

     I have always loved paper engineered books and cards. There is nothing that makes me feel more like a child than the surprise of opening a page and having things popup or spin. I love being able to lift flaps or pull levers and have magical things happen as a result.

     It seems natural, then, that I would love to make cards that "do something." This passion has led me to search high and low for ideas for interactive cards, and to adapt techniques used by paper engineers to card making.

     One of my favorite simple interactive cards is a penny spinner card.

Materials:
     • 5 1/2” x 4 1/4” Standard card
     • 5” x 3 3/4” rectangle of black card-stock
     • 3 1/2” x 4 3/4” rectangle of black and white, decorative paper
     • 2” x 2” square of white card-stock
     • 2 1/4” x 2 1/4” square of black card-stock
     • Scrap of heavy white card-stock for spinner.
     • Small saying stamp, about 1 3/4” square
     • Small Flower stamp, about 1” in diameter
     • Tiny word stamp
     • Black ink
     • Black marker
     • 10 round pop-dots, 1/4” diameter, 1/8” thick.
     • 2 pennies (Nickels will also work.)
     • Adhesive
     • Ruler
     • Craft knife:

Instructions:

     • Stamp the saying stamp in center of 2”x2” square. Affix to the black 2 1/4” square. Set aside.
     • Stamp the flower stamp on the heavy card stock scrap. Cut out and set aside.
     • Glue the striped decorative paper to the rectangular piece of black card-stock.
     • Turn the black rectangle of card-stock over and mark a rectangle, 1/2” up from the bottom, 1/2” from each side, and 3/8” high

• Cut a slot by cutting along each of the edges of the marked rectangle.
• Place this panel with the slot centered onto the front of the card.

• With a pencil, lightly trace the rectangular slot onto the card front. In the rectangle you’ve drawn.

• Stamp a word stamp repeatedly, then, using the black marker, scribble a pattern just barely extending past the pencil lines.

     •Carefully erase the pencil marks.

     •Attach a pop dot to the center of a penny.

•Place the penny under the card stock with the slot, so that the pop dot is within the slot.

• Remove the paper from the pop dot, and then carefully line up the second penny over the first penny, making a penny sandwich, with the pennies on either side of the card-stock.

• Add pop dots to the back of the card-stock in each of the corners, in the center of each of the long sides, and centered between these to support the middle of the card.