Mini Pop-up Album

Hi!

I found this nifty, interactive album and thought it would be fun to add pop-ups to each page with our not-so-fussy-to-cut Picnic stamp images. I developed some time-saving tricks while making the book, and I'm happy to pass them along to you.

Let's begin with the cutting and scoring preparations.

1. Score a 12x12" paper horizontally and vertically at 3 and 9". Trim the 12x12 at 6"; cut each 6x12 horizontally at 6" to create four 6x6" squares. Fold on all score lines. (Scoring prior to trimming saves time.)

2. Use a scissors or ruler and craft knife to cut along the bottom fold to the center of each 6x6 paper. Add one additional angled mountain fold to the upper left quadrant.

3. Score a 2x4" paper vertically at 1". Cut horizontally at 3, 2, and 1" to create four 1x2" rectangles. Fold along score lines to form squares. Cut two 1/2" slits into the folded edge of each square, about 1/4" from the left and right edges. (Shocker: It's totally fine to eyeball those cuts.)

4. Reverse the fold of the center tab formed by the two slits to form a pop-up mechanism. They look like cute little chairs, don't they?

5. To prepare an outside cover, score a 3-1/8x6-3/4" paper horizontally at 3-1/8 and 3-5/8".

It's album assembly time.

1. Place adhesive onto the lower left quadrant of each 6x6" paper and adhere the lower right quadrant on top to form a three-sided box shape. The angled fold will tuck inward to allow the page to lie flat when closed. Repeat for the remaining three 6x6 papers.

2. Adhere the pop-up mechanism to the crease in the lower right corner of each pop-up page. Do not place adhesive onto the pop-up in the middle, or it won't pop!

3. Stamp and trim images from the Picnic unmounted collection and attach to the pop-up mechanisms with your favorite adhesive. Be sure the size of the stamped image does not extend beyond the outside edge of the page. Add mattes and sentiments to each flat panel.

4. Adhere the pages back to back to form a book. Spread a ribbon across the prepared outside cover and attach the book pages aligned with the top, bottom and outside edges.

5. Hand the little book to Kay Williamson for a photo shoot.

The cover was finished with a Club Scrap printed cutapart.

Oh, my. That photo is perfect!

There's still time to make one of these and hand it off to Dad with a mason jar full of M&M's.

Have fun making it pop!

Tricia

Peacock Pinspiration

So. I went to Pinterest to check an image on one of my boards. . .

An hour later.

Grrrr!

I can't say my visit was entirely unproductive. I found a cute and simple card by Beate Johns that uses a scoring tool to make a pretty border. . .

And then this nifty pop-up card posted by an innovative gal from Norway. . .

Idea #1 + Idea #2 = this fun card made with Club Scrap's colorful Peacock collection.

For the font of the card, I stamped a 4x5.25" white panel and then scored the perimeter at 1/4" and 3/8".

The cutting diagram for the inner pop-up was shared on Bente Arstad's blog, but it was in centimeters. (If only we used centimeters in America---so much easier to do things in multiples of ten, but I digress.) I used a metric to inches conversion chart to figure out how to do the cutting and scoring and spent a few wasted moments trying to decide if I really should put 1-37/64" on my new diagram. Uh, no.

Here's my Americanized convoluted version:

After cutting and scoring, I figured out the folds. Go ahead and do that.

You'll need a 5-1/2x8-1/2" piece for the base of your card. If you nest the pop-up mechanism into the folded card base, you'll find that the mechanism is just a little too big. So, here's what I did to solve that. I put that puppy into the trimmer and shaved off 1/8" from all four sides. I would have started out that way and changed the diagram, but I didn't want to take away from the experience.

Finally, I measured all of the flat surfaces of the pop-up and cut panels to fit. These were the measurements of those panels, in case you were wondering.

(2) 1-1/8x5" Green Panels
(4) 1-1/4x5/8" Purple Panels
(4) 1-1/4x5/8" Blue Panels
(2) 2x3-1/4" White Panels

Stamp and decorate those panels before you install them on the pop-up mechanism. Then, attach only the outer edges of the mechanism to the edges of the card.

Open. Close. Open. Close. Go show someone the awesome card you just made!

For the Love of Leaves

The fall equinox is on Saturday. And if you're from 'round these Midwestern parts, that means fresh apple cider, fresh cheese curds (they go with any season), crisp mornings, droppin' leaves and fall colors.

In honor of fall, I wanted to remind you of this nifty Jumpin' Leaves card. You may have missed it last year, and that would be a bad thing. Grab your Comfort Zone Unmounted Stamps and a few other simple tools. (Scoring tool or bone folder, CS® Grid Ruler, Comfort Zone paper, craft knife, CS® Earth ink and cutting mat.)

Here are the steps in written form:

1. Score a 4-1/4x11" sheet horizontally every 1-3/8". Cut the scored sheet vertically at 2-1/8". Stamp the unmounted leaf image onto each scored section with CS® Earth ink.

2. Place a grid ruler 1" from the bottom edge of a stamped strip and cut a slit between each stamped leaf. Repeat for the second strip.

3. Cut out the tip of each leaf with a craft knife, starting at the horizontal cut line. Stamp the leaf image on the back of each trimmed leaf. Use a craft knife to cut a 1/2" slit from the bottom edge of the first, third and fifth score lines of one strip. Cut a 1/2" slit from the top of the first third and fifth score lines of the second strip.

4. Interlock the corresponding slits to weave the two paper strips together. Pull apart the pairs of leaves on the score lines to create the pop-up. Adhere to each side of a folded card.

You and I both know that a video is worth a billion words. And it's SO much easier for me to show you than it is to explain! I know, right?



I'll bet you're just jumpin' outta your seat right now and on your way to go make this. Now, don't forget the cheese curds.

Tricia