Kissing couple card

Such a sweet pair!

This card, featuring a smooching twosome, is my own original design, albeit heavily inspired by the card below from Creative Pop-Up Cards:

Mine is more simple of course, with the whole design hinging around a simple V-fold.

Designing the happy couple wasn’t too bad, while it was cutting out the figures that took the crown as the trickiest part of the operation, and I’d advise gradually deepening cuts rather than guns-a-blazing stabs through to the mat, which I engaged in a couple of times. The result was a few craggy edges that are hard to explain away.

Get a room already

While assembly itself should have been easy, I did still screw it up on the first attempt, glueing the second tab where I thought it should go rather than folding the card flat onto the tacky tab like the pros do it. Nonetheless, a second attempt got results!

Ooh-er – things are getting horizontal

Overall I was really pleased with this card and so chose to keep it clean and simple. While I think the thin folds of paper on the hand and lips mean it won’t last too long, maybe that evanescence is part of it’s charm…

Pop stars:
Simplicity:  (long-winded cutting has taken points off)
Appeal:
Time taken: 2 hours (although creating while also watching Futurama)

Valentine’s cards round-up

Valentine’s cards round-up

Pop-up cards go together with Valentine’s Day like pegs to washing lines. Far more special than your average card, pop-ups provide a whole other dimension of affection, yet they also retain an irreverence that quells the candor of the declaration. Whatever the reason for their appeal, there’s surely no better way to get your loved one’s heart beating than from the shock of an unexpected centrepiece bouncing out at them. Below are some of the finest free Valentine’s Day card templates with which to fan the flames of your romance.

I Heart U pop-up card

Difficulty rating: very easy
If you care, but very little, or if to you making your own card is less for romantic ideals and more to save on a couple of quid, this might be the perfect card to give your unfortunate partner. Even the ‘you’ is abbreviated to save you precious minutes. In fact, the toughest thing is finding it on the Russian site it originates from.

Pile of hearts pop-up card

Difficulty rating: medium 
This delightful little number uses the same amount of card as the preceding Russian model, but takes three times the man-hours. A sharp knife is essential for navigating those tricksy smooth curves, but one advantage of the design is that there’s little room left for text – ideal for those who find spouting sentiment a tough task. Ad lib a couple more hearts and you’ll barely have room for their name!

Kissing couple pop-up card

Difficulty rating: unpleasantly challenging
In fairness, this design might be more complex than the others, but the tutorial is about as comprehensive as it gets, with detailed instructions, abbreviated instructions within a jpeg, and video instructions all aiding and abetting the industrious romantic. The pop-up mechanism requires a degree of accuracy to ensure the couple, who should lean toward each other finishing in a kiss, are not instead left wanting or, worse, broken-nosed. But it’s not the mechanism but the cutting that really takes the cake – the delicate hearts will be a real time drain.

If you’ve made a pop-up card for your sweetheart, I’d love to see it in the comments!

Pixel heart card

Pixel heart card printables available from Mini Eco

I thought my first project should be an easy one, so that no matter what followed it would still be seen as progression. The one I chose was the pixel pop-up heart card from the fabulous blog that is Mini Eco. I’ve seen the card ‘popping up’ (sorry) around the interwebs several times now, but while it’s old news to the Pinterest addicts it’s fresh for anyone living outside the internet. First off, make sure you get the ‘New and improved’ template rather than the standard one  – the template has been flipped so that the card faces upright when the card is stood up. I nearly broke my printer trying to print onto card, so eventually I just went for plain old coloured paper, with a mind to backing it with cardboard at the end. The printables include a separate ‘cutting guide’ which shows you where to crease and where to cut. It was pretty straightforward, although despite this I did end up cutting through the bottom of the heart…

I’ve broken my heart

Luckily a bit o’Sellotape fixed that fail and it was all systems go for the final product. I backed the blue paper onto a contrasting colour of card, which I think turned out really well. The masterpiece! It’s a nifty little card, pretty simple to do (one of the hardest things was probably folding out all the tabs along the score lines without any other creasing), and the results speak for themselves! Handily, there’s also an envelope template on the site.

Just like Amy Rose would have given Sonic

Ready to knock an unsuspecting Valentine off their feet…

Pop stars:
Simplicity: 
Appeal:
Time taken: 30 minutes

I loved this card from the moment I saw it and it only gets better in the flesh/cardstock. A really simple design, the quick creation time means it could even be used for something like gift tags.

Top of the pop ups

My first post!

I’ve always been interested in paper craft ever since I based my third year project at university around a customisable ‘paper village’. Paper craft is awesome, and it’s great to have something to do to ease my guilt when I’m slobbing out in front of junk TV 🙂

After years of picking up pop up cards and then folding them back up again, I’ve taken up this blog as a motivational tool for myself, while also serving as an inspiration to you, dear reader, and as a record of my fine works. Ink may fade, paper may tear, but as any sex tape celebrity can tell you, internet is eternal.

In fact, if you’re reading this eons from now, maybe trawling through the Wayback Machine from your spaceship and wondering what paper is, consider sticking together sheets of toilet tissue to make cardboard (or flatten out the inner tube), revive this lost art and impress your friends. God speed!