This is a wonderful, easy – and fun! – fold to do, but it LOOKS like it was hard. Your friends will be so impressed! Here’s how to do it!
1. Cut two pieces of card stock at 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″. That’s a single 8 1/2″ x 11″ piece, cut in half across the short length. One piece is the “tunnel” and the other can be the card base or you can use another piece/color for that!
2. If you’re planning to emboss or do any background stamping on the inside piece of your “tunnel” piece of your tunnel card, do it now.
2a. If you’re embossing, try to put the right-side edge of the TIEF on the center of the card stock (4 1/4″) for the first run thru the Big Shot.
2b. For the second run, put the left-side edge on the center. You’ll hide the inevitable TIEF “edge” that way! As thusly:
3. With your Stampin’ Trimmer score the “tunnel” piece at 2 1/8″, 4 1/4″ and 6 3/8″.
4. Using the 5th-from-the-center framelit in the Ovals Collection, cut out the window of the tunnel. Align the center of the die with the 4 1/4″ score line. Tip: you can see that I’ve marked the center of my oval, to make it easier to line up. This wasn’t done with a lot of geometry or trigonometry or differential equations, folks. Just eyeball it and make your mark on the non-cutting side of the die!
5. Even if you have the Magnetic Platform, it probably helps on this to use some sticky notes, just to be sure that the die doesn’t wiggle around.
6. Once you cut the oval out – be sure to save it (yours won’t have all the writing all over it!) You can use it for the front decorations on this card or on any other! This picture shows how you’re going to fold each score line. A “Valley” means that you’ll fold IN (in this case towards the written-on side of the card) and a “hill” means you’ll fold OUT.
7. Like this. It’s starting to look like a “tunnel”, now!! Be sure to gently burnish each fold with your bone folder.
8. Prepare your card base. Score and fold it (in this case at 4 1/4″) and add your inside sentiment. Focus the sentiment around the center fold (you can lay your tunnel piece over the top of the base to visualize where to stamp…. These pictures show a card I made – I first sponged the background that I wanted (remember – this is on the INSIDE of the CARD BASE – not on the “tunnel” piece!) and then I added my sentiment and other decorations close to the center score/fold:
9. When your card base/inside sentiment is ready to go, turn the tunnel card stock over (important!) and glue just the outer panels. Use Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue – it gives you a little extra time to squiggle things around and ensure everything is lined up:
9. Stick the tunnel insert onto your prepared card base and quickly but calmly make sure all the edges line up. Here’s what it looks like when you’re done:
10. After a few minutes, the glue will be all stuck down and you can stand your masterpiece up. This doesn’t look like a masterpiece, I know. But, squint your eyes and go see a few tunnel cards in other posts on my site!
Here are a few examples. Click the pictures to go to the post and see how I made it!
