Simple Square Card: Happy New Year and Welcome to 2022!

Welcome Back: Simple Square Card

So, our streams restarted 4th Jan 2022 on a new schedule. You will be able to see us live every Tuesday and Friday at 11am on Facebook, YouTube and Twitch. There are also going to be some fun new things coming up; such as the launch of the new book later this month. Next month sees the first of our pre-recorded workshops going live towards the end of the month. You are also going to notice a change in pace here on the blog, with new content most days of the week.

Today’s post is highlighting yesterday’s class (4th Jan 2022); a card project focusing on basic ScanNCut techniques as well as materials. The inspiration for which is winter, which will be a theme for this month. This includes here on the blog as well as our member’s kit. It is built on squares so nice and simple for everyone to join in with.

Creating the file: Squares, squares and more squares

You can download the files from our Facebook group to join in. However, for this first blog I thought I would talk you through the process of assembling the design from scratch. The following tutorial is suitable for more confident Canvas Workspace users.

The Canvas Workspace file I created actually has several parts to make the design; (from top left and clockwise) the card front, the mask, and two layers to build the landscape. The entire design is based on squares with node work making the difference.

1. Begin by adding a square representing the outside of your card front. I used a 150x300mm piece of card scored and folded to form a square card. So, the square I added was 6″/150mm, but you will want to adapt this for your card.
2. Next, add a smaller square for the central aperture measuring 78mm to your mat. Duplicate this shape once so you have two copies on the mat. Next, move one copy over to the right hand side of your page along with a duplicate of the original card front. Select both duplicates and use align to form your mask and group these two new shapes.
3. Add another square which is 1cm larger to all sides, and duplicate this once. Move these shapes down to the bottom of the page into left and right corner respectively.
4. Edit the nodes of these bottom two squares as follows; move top two nodes down so the left square is ⅓ of its original height; and then, ⅔ of the original height for the right hand square. Select the top right node, and then add a new point which should appear in the middle of the top edge. Convert both the new point and the top right corner point to a curve. Move the centre point upwards on the left shape and downwards on the right to create a flowing curve.
5. Duplicate the bottom right shape and then move this duplicate over the centre square in your card front. Use Divide to punch the curve shape through your aperture and consequently remove the extra pieces around the outside.
6. Use your text tool and a single-line font to create the sentiment. The text aligns to the left edge of the aperture and is set it to draw. I find it useful to apply a blue stroke on any shapes set to draw to make drawn elements easily visible.
7. Add another square and set it to draw. This will be a border so align it to the centre aperture. Mine measures 100mm/3.05″ which is the default size for imported shapes.
8. To stop it drawing through our word, we have to be a little clever. Start by adding a rectangle that covers your phrase. Subtract this from your border.
9. Great, your line goes around your word now, but how to stop the line. Yep, time for nodes again. Click on the node bottom left of the rectangular notch, and then click the open path button in the top bar in Canvas. This will remove the small vertical on the left of our notch. Then, remove the remaining extraneous nodes using the remove node button in the top bar.
10. Group the central elements of the card front together, exclude the outside edge to prevent this cutting. You can then name each group for easy identification in future use.