Birthday Slider Card SVG

A card with a moving part

Push the star and it travels along a rainbow arch over the greeting. The front panel has a curved slot cut as a track, with a small star cut out just below each end of the arch to mark where the ride starts and stops. Happy Birthday sits under the arch in two lines of tall, slanting script, and a row of round dots runs along the bottom edge.

Beside the front are the moving parts: a five-point star with softly rounded tips and a round window in its middle, a disc, and a short tab. The disc is too wide to pass through the slot, so it stays behind the front and holds the star on.

Pieces and weeding

The solid file has 4 pieces: the front, the star, the disc and the tab, with 22 cut-outs in total. Stencil bridges hold the closed centers of the script letters. It passes our cut checks from about 7 inches wide, measured across the whole file with the loose parts beside the front, which gives a front of about 4.5 by 6.4 inches. The way the parts fit was calculated rather than tried in paper, so cut a test set from scrap card and check that the star slides freely before you make the real one.

Color layer

A single Sage layer, a soft gray-green, holds all four pieces.

Putting it together

1. Keep the pieces grouped and size them together. An overall width of about 7.75 inches gives a front near 5 by 7. Measure the front after sizing.
2. Cut everything from 80 to 100 lb cardstock; the disc and tab take wear, so stiffer card helps.
3. From behind the front, push the tab up through the slot.
4. Glue the star to the front end of the tab and the disc to the back end, so the slot is sandwiched between them.
5. Mount the front on a card base with foam strips or a few layers of card around the edges, keeping them clear of the arch so the disc can move behind it.
6. Slide the star a few times before the glue sets, to be sure it runs smoothly.

If it sticks, a light rub of a dry wax candle on the back of the disc helps it glide.

Size guide

Below 7 inches overall the slot and lettering get too narrow, so an A2 version is not possible as a cut file. Always measure the slot and the tab together after resizing.

Writing inside

The front sits on a spacer, so the card base underneath is a normal folded card and the inside stays free for your message. A child will spend more time sliding the star than reading, so keep the note short.

Ideas

• A gold star on a sage front for a twinkling look
• Write a name on the star in pen
• Cut the front in white and the star in a bright color, so the moving part stands out

Changing the color of each piece is covered in changing SVG colors.

Pairs well with

The Confetti Shaker Card Frame is another card with movement, and the Cake Window Card comes in the same sage.