Extreme Cards and Papercrafting

50th Birthday Pop Up Crown Cake

2012-01-27T17:03:00.000-05:00

I pulled numerous sources from my idea file for this 50th birthday pop up card.

On the front, the speech bubble says "We are not amused."

Inside I referenced England's wartime posters and Marie Antoinette--not that she actually said it.

This is a one tier tabletop type pop up cake as demonstrated in this post: Building a Better Pop Up Cake Part 4.

CONSTRUCTION DETAILS

Make the cake top

Cut out a 3" diameter circle of sturdy card stock for the cake top. Fold it in half. Measure out 3/4" on either side of the center fold and cut a slit on each side, parallel to the center fold. Each slit should be a tiny bit more than 1/2" long.

Attach crown to cake top

The crown is cut from a cupcake wrapper template designed by Monica Björk. I removed a great deal of the detailing on the pattern because I made it so much smaller (51% of original size).

The diameter of the base of the crown is 1.5". I added tabs on the right and left sides to attach it to the cake top. The tabs are 1/2" wide.

Glue the crown ends together.

Precrease the crown by folding it in half so the tabs are one on top of the other. Uncrease.

Slide the tabs of the crown through the slits on the cake top and tape them to the back side of the cake top.

Make the legs

Cut two long strips for the cake legs: 1/2" wide by 6" long. Divide each into 4 equal segments of 1.5" and crease.

Referring to the post mentioned above, glue legs to the cake top, and then glue the legs into the base card.

Wrap the sides

For the cake side, cut a strip of lightweight paper 1.5" wide by 11" long.

Scroll down in this post for detailed instructions for adhering the side piece.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Happy Birthday Paper Cut Lantern Tutorial

2012-01-21T12:33:00.005-05:00

I made this as a birthday card, but you could swap out the "Happy Birthday" section for another flowered section if you would like a lantern without a sentiment.

How to make a paper cut lantern

Download cutting file PDF or DXF or SVG. (Can you find the mistake on mine that I fixed for you? Hint: bird.)

Cut on black lines. Score along red lines (you'll have to eyeball them on the SVG). Save the tiny inside parts of the following letters: A, P, P, B, R, D, A.

Cut translucent (vellum) paper to fit inside lantern. I used three separate pieces. You can extend the vellum to the top of the windows or cut it shorter, as I did. Trim carefully so the edges don't overlap the vertical creases on the inside of the lantern. Glue vellum pieces to the inside of the lantern.

Glue the little letter pieces in place on the vellum on the outside of the lantern.

Crease the score lines, curling the lantern into a triangular tube.

Fold in the "ears" on the (left) side tabs and slide the tabs through the (right) slits. Unfold the tabs.

The bottom flaps fold up to make a flat base.

Gather the top circles and tie together with a ribbon.

Place over tealight. This view is from the top.

Credit for the window shape and birds goes to Cindy, from this file. I found the flower motif here.

If you like this design, you would enjoy this book, which I recently purchased. It comes complete with all the cutting files on a CD!

Pin It

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Happy Birthday Paper Cut Lantern

2012-01-14T00:01:00.005-05:00

I've been working on a paper cut lantern for my mother-in-law's 92nd (!!) birthday. I plan to light it with a battery operated tealight.

Cutting files and details in the next post.

Window shape and birds modified from Cindy's file, here. Flower motif modified from a portion of a design from here.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

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Zakka Style (Book Review)

2012-01-13T10:36:00.003-05:00

Author Rashida Coleman-Hale explains that the Japanese term zakka has been loosely translated to mean “miscellaneous goods,” “many things,” or “sundries.” Something with simple charm. Something handmade that is useful yet pleasing.

In Zakka Style, Coleman-Hale showcases 24 projects from as many designers. Despite the many hands that worked on the book, the overall look of the collection is coherent and visually pleasing. There is a consistency of fabric choice and design aesthetic that flows from one page to the next.

This book is built for browsing. There is no index and the table of contents is spartan--just each project title and the name of the designer.

The projects seem easy enough for anyone with basic sewing skills, although I may not be the best judge of this as I have been sewing since Nixon was in the Oval Office! My personal favorites are those that incorporated patchwork. I especially love the Itty Bitty Quilt Block Magnets, Sweet Memories Picture Frame and oh, those fabric Nesting Boxes!

Many could be completed in a short block of time. All are attractive enough to give as a little (or not so little) present. Instructions are clear and well organized with supply list, cutting directions and assembly directions. Photographs and illustrations are numerous and well chosen. Full size patterns are at the back of the book.

Zakka Style: 24 Projects Stitched with Ease to Give, Use & Enjoy by Rashida Coleman-Hale. C&T Publishing. 128 pages. ISBN:1607054167

Disclosure: I received a complimentary electronic copy of this book from the publisher.

Project image courtesy of i heart linen.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Easy Pop Up Snowflake Cards

2012-01-07T14:10:00.001-05:00

I made four of these window type snowflake pop up cards from Willem Boning's patterns. Unfortunately, he has taken the file off his site. (Although you can still get them from the Internet Archive if you know where to look hehehe.)

And fortunately, it's pretty easy to make similar cards!

I used letters from WWFlakes, a dingbat font, and added a few tweaks here and there.

You can download my template here: PDF or DXF.

Cut on the black lines. Extend the horizontal and vertical (center) cut lines to cut the four cards apart. Crease on the red lines.

More information about his kind of card here.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Cranberries Twister Pop Up Card

2011-12-31T05:00:00.010-05:00

This pop up card makes you say, "How does THAT work?"

I was inspired by the designs of the extraordinary Keiko Nakazawa, who often collaborated with Masahiro Chatani, a pioneer in the art of origamic architecture. Specifically, this book.

The cranberry motif is from MTCSCAL E-Files.

How to make a twister pop up card

Download file PDF or DXF or SVG and cut.

Crease along center score line. (Add score line at center fold to SVG file.)

Lay the card on a flat surface and pull the circular motif (the part that looks like a snowglobe) upright.

Lift the card slightly and flip the entire right half upside down, rotating it around the center score line. Re-align the slit parts at both ends of the card. Isn't that an amazing effect?

Trim the card to size.

Because this card needs to open completely flat, the base card is made in two pieces, leaving a small gap at the spine.

Cut a base card to the size you want, then slice it in two where you would normally crease the center fold.

Lay the base card on your flat surface with the cut edges together. You may want to tape it down with repositionable tape (like painter's tape).

Lay the cut card on the base card. Align center lines. Check that the cut edges at the center top and bottom line up. Again, you may want to tape these together temporarily.

Glue the cut card into the base card, one half at a time. Be sure you glue all around the edges of the card, and the flower parts in the middle.

The split in the center of the base card helps the card to fold up nicely without wrinkling the cut piece.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Something Shiny!

2011-12-25T05:00:00.000-05:00

Our 2011 family Christmas card

The envelope is embossed with Cuttlebug's diamond embossing folder. I drew a few iridescent stars with a Gelly Roll silver stardust pen.

The card front.

The border is drawn with the same Gelly Roll pen. I did a pretty major modification on the pen holder for my Craft Robo to make it accommodate that kind of pen.

The inside says "Ohhhh.....something shiny! The design inspiration for the spinner came from Ramin Razani.

The back of the card.

News of the year is printed on this paper, folded into a star.
Folding instructions here.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Space Invader Spider Woven Card

2011-12-21T05:00:00.003-05:00

This card uses Froebel weaving to create the Space Invader spider.

I borrowed the spider design from boredgamegirl and changed the hat a tiny bit.

Review the weaving instructions in this Valentine post if you don't know how to follow the weaving pattern. Note that in this pattern the weavers go side to side, not up and down.

How to weave the Space Invader spider

Download and print the PDF slit pattern onto a 8.5" x 11" piece of card stock. (Click the link, then click FILE, then DOWNLOAD ORIGINAL)

Cut the slits with a craft knife, cutting ever so slightly beyond the printed ends of each slit. Normally I would make a cutting machine file, but this is so small it seemed silly.

Cut 1/4" weavers of green and red paper.

Weave the red weavers first, then the green.

On the wrong side, trim and tape down the weavers every few rows.

In the two rows where the green strips go over the red ones at the back, trim the red strips and bend them back, under the green weavers.

Crease the card stock in half both ways. With the spider in the bottom right-hand quadrant, trim off the top left-hand quadrant.

Fold down the top right-hand quadrant behind the spider and glue it down to cover the back of the weaving.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

3d Christmas Tree Pop Up Card Tutorial

2011-12-16T05:00:00.002-05:00

How to make a card similar to this Christmas tree pop up

The original pattern is not mine to distribute, so I created a reasonable facsimile. You can alter the buildings and the tree design as you like, as long as you keep them approximately the same sizes. (I downloaded a free tree graphic from BeaOriginal and drew the houses myself.)

Download cutting file PDF or SVG (no score lines) or DXF. Add windows or other details to buildings if you like.

Cut on black lines. Score on red lines. SVG users: add center fold score lines, and score lines just above scallops.

Set aside the two loose trees for the moment.

Crease the score lines. Fold the card in half and leave it closed. Fold the scalloped "feet" up (toward the center fold) on one side, then flip the card over and fold up the other scallops. Crease the scallops firmly so they lie flat against the card.

Slot the two loose trees together.

Flatten them. The slots at the top and bottom of the trees should be aligned.

Holding the tree sandwich at a 90° angle to the card, slide it through the tree in the card.

Slot the tops together, then slot the bottoms together. You will have to bend the tree sandwich a little bit to work the bottom slots in.

Separate the tree layers and flip them back and forth to make sure they swing freely.

Cut a base card slightly larger than the cut card. I used a half sheet of 8.5" x 11" card stock. Fold the base card in half and then open it flat.

Align the scallop fold with the center fold of the base card. Slide the cut card slightly away from the center fold of the base card. This doesn't have to be exact--just eyeball 1/2 inch or so. (Be careful not to go too far or your tree and buildings will lean toward the center fold in a peculiar way.

Apply glue or glue tape to the (visible) scalloped foot. Close the card, flip it over, and glue the other scalloped foot. Close the card and allow to dry.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

3D Christmas Tree Pop Up Card

2011-12-13T20:50:00.002-05:00

I adapted this card from a design by Yuichi Miyoshi. It features a slotted tree that swings out from the cutout.

As far as I can tell, this book is only available from Japan. However, you can download some of Yuichi Miyoshi's designs at Handmade Papercraft Club.

I didn't care for two issues with the the original design. First, the cutout half of the card is not covered when the card is closed. Second, the card tends to tip over when open as there is no foot to support the one side.

So... I converted the interior design to a tent with the buildings on one side of the tent and the tree on the other side of the tent. I added a scalloped foot to the bottom of each tent half and glued these on either side of the center fold of the base card.

The card stands well and the delicate cutout design is protected when the card is closed.

Tutorial!

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Favorite Christmas Projects

2011-12-07T08:52:00.000-05:00

Here are a few seasonal projects you may have missed. I'm hard at work on my Christmas cards!

Sliceform Christmas Tree Pop Up

Sheet Music Origami Star

Photo Snowglobe

Kaleidoscope Snowflakes

Carolina Snowflake (Finnish Star)

Tunnel Book

Woven Heart Ornament

Heart in Hand Snowflake

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Woven Star

2011-12-02T15:19:00.000-05:00

My fellow paper enthusiast, Lene, at PaperMatrix has come up with yet another phenomenal twist on a classic paper star construction.

I changed it up even further by cutting the pieces from vintage sheet music and a graphic from an old song book cover.

How to make a star from five woven sections

Cut pieces from Lene's template. Assemble the five star points by weaving the pieces together in the same way you would make a valentine basket.

Follow Lene's instructions for creating creases in each section. Fold them so each piece should has a V shape at the top of the weaving, as shown in this picture from his post.

Crease and uncrease the glue tabs along the top of each V (in the picture it's grey).

I discovered along the way that all the gluing can be done FLAT. So much easier than sticking two sections together, clamping them, waiting for them to dry...attaching the next section and so forth.

Spread glue on the glue tabs (only the tabs that are face up) of one section. Stack another section right on top of it, aligning the two pieces on all edges.

Now spread glue on the tabs of that section, and stack a third section on top of it. Continue until you have glued and stacked the five section.

Clamp or weight and allow to dry thoroughly.

Pull the star open, meeting section one to section five and tie together as in Lene's instructions.

Or try what I did, which was to lace the weave on the edges together with clear fishing line. I ran the line up through the star so I could hang it with a point up.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Snowflake Braided Cube

2011-11-22T05:00:00.000-05:00

A braided (or plaited) cube with any three different seasonal papers makes an attractive ornament. For a silhouette effect use any punches you have or use my cutting file to make a snowflake design. I like how each face of the cube shows a different color combination.

Review the instructions here. I suggest making a plain paper version first to practice the plaiting sequence.

How to make a plaited or braided cube from three papers

Cut 3 strips of paper: 2 strips that are 6 squares long and 1 strip that is 5 squares long. If you are using 12" square scrapbook paper you would have 2" squares.

Or download cutting file PDF or DXF or SVG.

Score between the squares and crease.

Punch the strips as shown, if desired, on the 2nd and 4th square from one end.

Place one 6-square strip vertically on your work surface. Be sure the end with two unpunched squares is at the top. Spread glue on the two unpunched squares.

Place the 5-square strip horizontally at the top of the 6-square strip and glue them together. Glue the second 6-square strip below the 5-square strip.

Start plaiting the cube. As you braid, the punched squares will always be on top of the unpunched squares.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Acorn Box Tutorial

2011-11-17T05:00:00.001-05:00

I like a challenge. Like looking at a picture of something and figuring out how to make it. This acorn box is one of those. The original design was created by Jessica Wolf of Paper Acorn. Having made a few, I can't imagine making enough for a wedding! Do yourself a favor and buy them from Jessica if you want more than one or two. :)

How to construct a hexagonal, slant-sided box with a separate lid

Download cutting files PDF or DXF base and DXF lid. (Does someone want to do an SVG? All those score lines!)

MTC version available on the Make the Cut forum

If you are planning to print and hand cut the template, print the template mirror image on the wrong side of your cardstock.

Score and cut out.

Start setting in the creases, lightly. Mountain fold green lines, valley fold red lines.

The first (yellow) picture is the inside (wrong) side of the base, so all the folds are going the opposite direction.

This (brown) picture is the lid from the right side.

For both the base and the lid, start by creasing the hexagon in the center of the piece. Then crease the valley folds down the centers of the darts (triangular pleats around the outside edge).

To crease the mountain fold of the dart: pinch the valley fold shut and push the dart to one side, then the other.

Crease along all the score lines around the outside edges of both the lid and bottom.

Once you have pre-creased all the folds, you can start assembling the box.

Assemble the base

On the inside of the box, firmly crease each dart so it lies flat. Push all the darts in the same direction, either to the right or left of their center folds.

Fold down the top edge pieces, then fold each down again, rolling the cut edge inside the second fold. As you roll each piece to the inside, insert the side tab of the piece to its right between the folds. This is a little tricky. Work around and around the piece, curling the edges under, sticking the adjacent tab in a little, curling and inserting, until they are all linked together. Then you can push the entire edge down inside the rim of the base.

You probably won't need any glue to hold the rim in place.

Assemble the lid

You will need 6 small clamps or clothes pins.

Crease the darts as you did on the base.

Flip the lid so you are looking at the inside (wrong side).

Push all of the darts to the right and glue down the tab at the top of each dart.

Clamp the tabs and let them dry thoroughly. Drying time is critical while assembling the lid!

Next you will glue the rim tabs. You are going to glue the entire rim and then clamp them. Yes, you'll feel like you need six hands for this part.

Before you glue anything, look carefully at the order that the left and right tabs are stacked as each segment is glued together.

Work with the wrong side (inside) of the lid facing you. From any corner, push down the flap on the left-hand section and slide the tab of the right-hand section in front of it. Then make sure the triangular (left) tab is at the very back of the stack.

Spread glue on all of the tabs: the outside (right side) of the right-hand tabs and the inside (wrong side) of the triangular tabs.

Push each pair of sections together until they meet. Push the right-hand tab to the left and wrap the left-hand (triangular tab on the outside) firmly to make a nice corner. (Shown here from the outside.) Clamp each corner, just for a minute, as you turn the rim of the lid to the inside.

Now you are going to turn down the edge all around the rim. Spread glue on the insides of the rectangular-ish pieces around the outside edge of the lid.

Fold down each rectangular flap to the inside. Position a clamp at each corner, clamping the two triangular tabs. One triangular tab is on the outside (which you already glued) and one is on the inside of the lid.

Insert the stem through the lid and secure to the inside of the lid.

Here's the frustrating part: it's really hard to get the lid to fit perfectly. Thicker or thinner cardstock makes a tighter or looser lid. If you overlap the joins on the lid too much or too little it can throw the size off. Once you make a lid from a particular paper you may find that you need to re-scale the lid pattern and make another one for a better fit. I found that a 2-3% change, bigger or smaller, was usually enough.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Where's Waldo? Origami Star

2011-11-12T15:05:00.002-05:00

As I was working my way through a pile of discarded books the other day I started thinking that pages from a decrepit Where's Waldo book could be made into a fun origami star, if I could somehow work it so Waldo was visible on the front of the finished star.

I made up a plain paper star and scribbled across the front of it.

Unfolded, I could see which parts of the template would be visible when the star was folded.

The hardest part was finding Waldo on the pages! I'm really bad at this, it seems. Once I found a Waldo, I laid the template so the colored-in portion was on top of him.

Then all I had to do was trace, cut, fold, and challenge people to find Waldo on the stars!

Important! As you follow the directions, notice that the right side (the side with Waldo) should be face down as you start folding the star.

If Waldo doesn't float your boat, try cutting the star from a magazine page, placing the template so a meaningful piece of text is positioned on one of the star arms.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Acorn Box

2011-11-06T08:35:00.003-05:00

Here's what I'm working on right now: a slant-sided, hexagonal box with a lid. Someone on the Make-the-cut forum posted several acorn shaped boxes and wondered if anyone could draw up a template. So I took a stab at it!

I remembered a discussion on Splitcoast stampers awhile back and pulled up that box template to use as a starting point.

It's a pretty challenging box to put together. You can buy the one that provided the inspiration, by Jessica Wolf, at PaperAcorn. It has a much nicer lid than mine :0!

With a few changes to the top to make it more domed, and to the bottom to make it more squat, it can be a cupcake shaped box, too.

It's still in the prototype phase. Got to tweak the template here and there. Tutorial should be up this week.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

My Memories Suite Give Away Winner

2011-11-05T08:52:00.002-04:00

The winner is....Mary Price! I will send your download code by email as soon as I get it from the sponsor.

If you didn't win, don't despair. I have a discount code for you to use for $10 off the purchase of MyMemories Suite AND a $10 credit at the MyMemories store. Awesome! *

Click the link and use this code: STMMMS67548.

Thanks for entering and a big thank you to MyMemories for providing the prize.

By the way...because this was my first time using Rafflecopter, I didn't eliminate any entries for "not following the directions exactly." As long as your name was in there, even if you forgot to leave a comment on the blog comments, you were entered. Yay!

*Disclosure: I receive a commission for every sale.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

My Memories Software Give Away

2011-10-29T00:01:00.004-04:00

I recently received a complimentary copy of My Memories digital scrapbooking software for review.

What a fun program! It downloads directly from the site, so you don't have to wait for it to come in the mail. It's already pre-loaded with a boatload of papers and embellishments, so you can make something right away. The paper packs in the My Memories store are reasonably priced, too. Check out their Halloween designs.

Here's a Halloween card I made. The photo is from the Library of Congress.

The best part for you, my readers, is that I get another copy of MyMemories Suite to give away!

Here's how to enter! (Contest ends Nov. 5 at 12:01 am.)

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Pumpkin Cube Pop Up

2011-10-24T06:00:00.000-04:00

Just reminding you that Paper Box World has a bunch of cute Halloween designs.

Some of the designs can be transformed into a pop up card.

How to create a pop up card from the pumpkin cube

Download and print the pumpkin cube from Paper Box World.

Create a prop from the bottom square of the pumpkin as shown on the modification diagram (below). Score on dotted lines and cut out.

Score dotted lines on the pumpkin, both the ones on the original pattern and the ones added by me on the modification diagram.

Cut out pumpkin.

Cut off the top two squares, cutting on the black horizontal lines shown on the diagram.

Create two pumpkin leaves using the pattern on the diagram. Score on dotted lines and cut out.

Fold prop in half. Fold flaps at the top and bottom down and to the outside. Glue the center section of the prop together. Do NOT glue down the flaps.

Fold the loose square with the light orange center in half along the score line. Spread glue on flaps of one end of the prop. Fan the flaps out and glue the prop into the crease of the square. The fold lines of the flaps should be lined up with the crease in the square. Allow to dry.

Glue square with light orange center to the top of the left square, matching the pattern. (You will need to rotate the loose piece 90° anti-clockwise.)

Fold the pumpkin in half along its face.

Flip it so you are seeing the back of the square you just glued. Fold down this square (the one with the light orange center) along the fold line and glue it to the top of the square where they meet.

Fold the second loose square along the fold line.

Match pattern, then glue to the back of the pumpkin on each side.

Glue half-circle end of each leaf to the inside of the cube sides. The leaves need not be exactly centered on the cube sides; you can just eyeball it.

Grab the prop and collapse the pumpkin. It should fold in half down the face, with the top of the pumpkin folded to the inside.

Select a base card and fold it in half.

Lay pumpkin on base card with prop feet folded back and the prop fold pushed into the card fold. Fold back the leaf. Spread glue on the leaf and prop foot. Push prop firmly into crease. Close card and flip it over. Partially open the card and glue the other prop foot and the other leaf.

Close the card, making sure the prop feet are pressed firmly into the crease of the base card. Put a weight on it and let it dry.

Score and cut out stem. Fold up the ends on the scored lines. Glue the stem together, leaving folded up ends unglued.

Spread the bottom pieces out and glue the stem into crease on the top of the pumpkin. You will have to turn it 90° from the way it was intended to be attached, aligning the fold of the pumpkin with the folds of the stem.

I added additional leaves as decoration.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Origamic Architecture Skull

2011-10-19T06:00:00.002-04:00

This pop up design takes its inspiration from papel picado--traditional paper cutting for Día de los Muertos. Great for Halloween, too.

I modified the gridded skull pattern from a crochet design by Gurman Fravor.

How to make an origamic architecture skull

Download pattern: PDF or DXF or SVG (with score lines) or SVG (without score lines).

Score red and green lines, cut blue lines.

Green lines are mountain folds, red lines are valley folds.

Crease the jaw folds. Push the jaw up until it tucks under the head and crease firmly.

Crease the long pieces attaching the top of the head to the bottom of the jaw.

Crease the top of the head. Now pop up the folds along the right and left sides of the top of the head. I push the head toward the top with one hand (below the nose) and use the other hand to pinch the folds.

The lower jaw piece remains loose until you glue the cut piece to the base card.

Fold the entire piece flat by pushing it toward the top of the head.

Flip piece to the (mostly) uncut side.

Apply glue as shown, including the tab on the bottom of the jaw.

Push the center creases of the cut piece into the center crease of your base card. The cut edge of the jaw will also align with the center crease of the base card.

Close the card and flip it over.

Open the card and glue the other side as shown.

Close the card, weight it, and allow to dry.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Halloween Projects

2011-10-14T11:54:00.001-04:00

A collection of previously featured Halloween projects.

Halloween Kirigami Pop Up Card

Pumpkin Sliceform

Spider Treat Pocket

Rubber Band Pumpkin Pop Up

Halloween Treat Pocket

Halloween Spinner

Halloween Foldover Card

Pumpkin Changing Picture Card

Mummy Card

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Filigree Wedding Card

2011-10-08T19:25:00.000-04:00

I cut this card from a file by Elisabeth Eder.

Warning: I tried to cut the PDF with Corel and it froze trying to send the file to Craft Robo. I was able to cut the GSD from RoboMaster. I tried reducing the number of nodes, but each cut line is composed of hundreds of tiny line segments, each a separate object. I would have had to join up those segments end to end first. Two at a time. Hundreds of times. Not going to happen.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Sun Window Pop Up

2011-09-28T20:30:00.000-04:00

This window pop up card was inspired by Mexican paper cutting: papel picado.

I traced the sun from this banner from Mia's Craft Ideas.

Download and cut out the file. Follow the directions on this post to fold the card. Red lines are score/fold lines and black lines are cut lines.

Cut file: PDF or DXF

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Beach Diorama Tutorial

2011-09-21T21:51:00.000-04:00

How to make a French beach diorama

Download graphics. (Modified from vintage French graphics from Agence Eureka.)

Print pages, printing page 2 on the back of page 1.

Score legs of oval on first page. Cut slits in oval. Cut out oval and both scenery strips from the first page.

Glue together the two long scenery pieces (not the oval) on the water side. Line up the right hand edge of the shaped scenery piece with the faint white line on the extension piece.

On each object on the second page, score the top horizontal line of each white rectangular foot. Cut out objects. Some of the pairs can be cut out attached together to make pairing them up easier.

Fold up feet of center post. Fold the post in half and glue it together. Do NOT get glue on the white rectangular feet. Allow to dry.

Cut slits at the top and fold in the sides at the slits.

Fold up the feet on all the objects and glue the pairs back-to-back. Do not glue the feet together.

Crease feet of oval. Fold oval in half the long way. The center three slits will be along the fold.

Select a base card and fold it in half.

Lay oval on base card, aligning the center folds. Mark each slit on the base card by penciling through the cuts.

The mark for the center post is not as wide as the feet of the post. Lay the base of the post on the line, and eyeball it to center it. Apply glue to feet, and affix to base card, one foot on either side of the center fold of the base card. For the moment, set aside the footless three-girls pieces which will be glued to the post.

Glue the feet of the remaining object on top of their respective pencil lines, centering each object on the line. Let everything dry.

Starting with the center, slide object up through slits in oval.

Unfold the side wings of the center post, locking the oval into place.

Glue three-girls pieces to the front and back of the top of the center post.

Spread glue on the bottom of one leg of the oval.

Half close the card, starting to fold the oval in half, until you can tuck the leg down and under the oval. Make sure it is straight, then close the card the whole way.

Flip the card over, half open it, and tuck under and glue the other leg the same way.

Now attach background scenery strip to the oval.

If you are not familiar with the Sizzix type pop up cake construction, watching the video on this post, starting 4 minutes in, will help you visualize how the wrap-around strip is attached. Notice, however, that for this piece you will start gluing in the center of the background strip, not the end.

Double sided tape works much better than glue for this part.

Apply glue tape to the oval's two uprights (feet parts) that you can see when the card is open.

Line up the faint white line of the background scenery with the center of the back upright and adhere.

Wrap the background strip around to the front. Do not wrap too tightly. You should see a little space, all the way around, between the oval and the background strip. (The thicker your paper, the more space you should leave.)

Adhere the background strip to the front upright, and glue the ends of the background together where they overlap, trimming excess overlap.

Close card slowly to establish the left and right edge folds in the background strip.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

French Beach Pop Up Diorama

2011-09-13T16:10:00.002-04:00

I thought this card would be sooooo simple. I was sooooo wrong!

The mechanism is a center post pop up cake, with an oval rather than round cake top. The pop up figures, except the very center set, are slotted through the top like the toast in this card by H-Image Studio.

The beach graphics are from Agence Eureke.

The postcard print around the outside is from Gathering Dust.

It folds flat very neatly.

Tutorial, and printable, next post!

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.