"Pop Up" Card Projects

Hi--Yes, I'm back again. Thank you for your patience--although I must say, mine is running a little thin! Computer issues make me want to scream!! And I thought I was all backed up (learned my lesson a couple years ago), but I've come to find out that not everything transfers or some silly thing. No contacts, no bookmarks, no passwords. . . I'm about ready to fire my resident techno-geeks! (deep breaths, deep breaths. . . ) One of them also swapped out the memory card in my camera, giving me one that doesn't work in my computer, even when it is operational!!! Don't they know blogs without pictures are pretty boring???

Okay, enough venting. On to something I SHOULD have been able to show you WEEKS ago! (Okay, maybe I wasn't quite finished venting.) One of the projects the stamp clubs did at the beginning of the month was a variation of a pop-up card that is really quite easy and pretty impressive.

We made a birthday card using the soon-to-be retired "Big Bold Birthday" stamp set. Pretty standard on the outside. . .


. . .a whole "party" on the inside!

The "pop ups" are anchored to the inside of the card using thin strips of "window plastic" (AKA transparency sheets, acetate sheets). (I especially like this method for balloons--because balloon strings can be drawn on the plastic strips with a Sharpie marker!) The strips can be as long or as short as you want them to be, depending on the doo-dads you include on the inside. Just make sure that they fit inside the card when it's closed.

The strips are adhered with Sticky Strip or another double-stick tape, to a piece of accordian-folded paper that is placed in the fold of the card. The accordian piece, made from paper rather than cardstock to cut down on bulk, measures 3" X 5". The piece of paper is scored every 1/2" and folded "back and forth and back and forth." Once folded, it sort of looks like a V with training wheels!

I've made a few of these cards in the last several weeks. This next one was my first attempt, again using a retiring set, "Great Grads."


For this one, instead of a rectangular piece of paper folded to hold the pop-ups, I used a Big Shot die cut "Top Note" that I scored and folded every half inch and anchored into the center of the card with a strip of Sticky strip. I liked the "fancy" edge on the inside, but wasn't as pleased with the "durability" of this one. I'm not sure if the center piece will stay in there reliably with just the Sticky Strip. But the recipient of this card probably doesn't care much--he was more interested in what was tucked in the pocket that I made on the inside.





Most recently I made a card for my dad for Father's Day, using the "Totally Tool" set and letter die cuts from my Big Shot. This card was sized to fit in a business-size envelope.




Same accordian-folded piece, made from Designer Paper, measuring 6" X 3", is holding my inside pieces. . .


This is a side view to show you more of the detail of the accordian-fold piece. The ends of the "V" (the parts I called "training wheels" earlier) are "hidden" under 2 pieces of stamped cardstock. I also included pockets for "goodies" in this card.

Here is how I did that:


Before gluing the inside pieces down, I cut a slit as wide as I needed the pocket to be, and then added a "thumb tab" thingy with a circle punch. I used Sticky Strip to adhere these to the card just to make sure that they would stay in place.

Lots of different ways you could use this method of "pop-up," and I like that lots can be going on inside the card without turning it into a major engineering project.

Whew! I made to the end of a blog post without anything on my desk blowing up! How 'bout that! Before I go, a couple of reminders. . .

*the "Last Chance for Summer Fun" party (formerly known as the retirement party) is next Friday, June 26th, at 6:30 PM. It's a Mystery Hostess Party, meaning that we'll be raffling off the hostess benefits that night, and also, for each $50 purchase, you can take home one of my retiring stamp sets. I have a collection of over 75 sets looking for new homes. Email or call me to let me know if you'll be joining the fun!

*I'm currently taking "Pre-orders" for the new catalog that will be coming out July 1st. You can reserve a copy for yourself for $5 until June 30th, or get a copy for FREE by joining a stamp club or booking a workshop date. After June 30th the catalog returns to the regular price of $9.95.

*Mark Friday, July 24th on your calendar. The New Catalog Open House will be held that day from 11 AM -7 PM. New stuff on display and stamping too!

Have a great weekend!