Pop Up Valentine: Pop Up Heart Shaped Candy Box

Yet another little valentine for you.

When I first started using an x-acto knife, I hated it. But, after creating dozens of cards and little pop ups, I have realized that this crafting tool is invaluable. It allows for so many nice little intricate details that you just can’t achieve with using scissors. Maybe for some of you, using an x-acto knife for the first time is a piece of cake, but for me it took lots of practice to get really comfortable with it.

So, I saw a card in the store by Papyrus. You know, one of those super expensive ones that makes your jaw drop and makes you “ooh and ahh” over it for a few minutes. Yes? No? ….Maybe I’m the only weirdo who stalks out the card section of Target taking peeks at how some of the professionals, like Papyrus, put together a pop up card or make a lovely looking valentine.

Well, I saw a little scene cut out of a man and woman surrounded by a heart shape, with all little flowers surrounding it. I took a pic with the good old camera phone and used it as inspiration for my own little valentine scene that I used on the cover of this card.

The Papyrus card:

My Own, Not-as-Fancy or Cool-Looking Version: 

So this definitely is not Papyrus-quality, whatsoever!!! But, while my x-acto knifing could be a little cleaner in some spots, I was happy that this came out decent enough to give to someone. I am hoping that my next x-acto knife project comes out a little crisper and that I’ll be able to handle a more complex one.

Ok and now for the POP-UP! I’m excited about this one.

Lift up the lid of the box and….surprise! There’s some candy!

Haha and yes, in case you were wondering, for the candy inside of the pop up box, I used real Hershey Kisses wrappers, rolled them into a little ball and glued them in the bottom of the box.  What fun would all this Valentine-making be without some candy?

More to come soon, while I still have some red and pink cardstock, and while there are still a few days left until Valentine’s Day to make some more stuff!

DIY: January 2012 Calendar

A new year calls for a new calendar. They are easy to make and cute to give as a Happy New Year gift. So far, I’ve only created one for January 2012, but I intend to make one for each month. I made a mini one using two 6 x 6″ card stock squares, but if you need one to write-in all those appointments and events to hang in your kitchen, you can do the same thing using 12 x 12″ card stock. To make the calendar extra sturdy, I used the cardboard from a recycled Fiber One bar box (this saved me from having to go and buy new 12 x 12 sheets of poster board).

The “January 2012″ words were free-hand drawn with pencil then cut out using an x-acto knife and the snowflakes were created using a paper punch (size x-small). The calendar grid was created simply using a ruler and dividing the space into a grid of 5 squares by 7 squares. I left about 1 cm on all sides to create a border and hand-wrote the numbers and days of the week.

You can create this simply by using 3 pieces of card stock 6″ x 6” each using any combination of a pattern and complementing solid color, as well as one neutral color. Then you just need a good x-acto knife (highly recommended) or scissors, adhesive, and a paper punch or other little decorative doodads if desired. And that’s it! It’s great to try and use up your left over scraps from other projects, if you can. Even though we’re all addicted to fun paper crafts, we have to try and be as green as possible whenever we can.

Happy January 2012! And Happy New Year!

Pop Up Card: Happy New Year 2012!!!

Hope you enjoy your New Year’s Eve! Here’s a Happy New Year card that follows the same template as the tutorial I posted earlier today. You can create one too using the same stack of card stock and pop-up box mechanism.

Have a safe and happy celebration and welcome 2012!!!

Pop Up Card Tutorial: Make Your Own Card in 30 Minutes

After receiving a couple requests, I have  finally gotten around to creating my first tutorial. Now, please bear with me. It’s my first one and I hope that I can make them better over time. I was promising tutorials for some Christmas cards, but I always forget to photograph mid-card and end up snapping photos at the end to show the finished product.

A lot of the cards in previous posts definitely took a substantial amount of time. Maybe 2-3 hours? The Twas the Night Before Christmas pop-up book took about a week.

Well how about some instructions for how you can make a pop-up card in 30 minutes? Ok so maybe my title is a little misleading, because this one took me about 41 minutes, but still…it’s under an hour! Plus, I had to pause and take photos in the middle of it. I deliberately set a timer so I could figure out just how long it would take. Once you get the hang of making one, you develop a knack for it and can crank them out pretty quickly and efficiently (assuming you have all the right tools!).

Here is what you will need:

1. 12″ x 12″ card stock (3-4 different sheets) – it’s good to choose complementing colors and have a mix of solids and patterns. Try some of the card stock that I purchased below (on sale at JoAnn for $9.99 per pack of 48 sheets!)

2. You will need some paper punchers (Corner Punch and Desired Shapes) – I couldn’t find my corner punch so I rounded some corners by hand and eyeing it, but the corner punch is quick, easy, and precise. I also chose to use the star paper punch for some decor on the card.

3. Scrapbook Glue or Double Sided Tape

4. Trimmer / Scoreboard

5. Paper Scissors

6. 12″ x 12″ poster board (optional) – I love using this stuff because it makes the cards hardcover and a little more polished looking.

How to Do It:

1. Cut the paper for the outside cover into 6 x 12″ and then in half so you have two 6″ x 6″ squares. (If you are using the 12″ x 12″ poster board, glue each separate 6″x6″ squares onto a separate piece of 6″ x 6″ poster board)

2. For the front cover, select another piece of card stock paper and cut into 6″ x 6″ squares. Cut one of the squares into 5.25″ x 5.25″ and then corner punch.

3. You can add another strip of paper however you want for an accent. Simply cut it using your trimmer. In this case, I used a blue stripe 2″ x 6″.

4. Punch out your stars using your paper punch for however many you want and simply glue all the pieces onto the front as desired.

5. Use a fine tip sharpie to write the message that you want on the front.

6. For the inside, use another piece of card stock and cut into 6″ x 12″ but DO NOT cut into 6″ x 6″

7. Score in the middle at the 6″ mark and fold

8. Glue the spread to the inside of the cover.

9. Select another color card stock for the inside. This will be the base of the pop up and you will use it for the pop up mechanism.

10. Fold the card stock in half, and cut into 6″ x 12″ then cut again so it is 5″ x 8″. Honestly, I usually just eye it, especially if I’m going quick, but if you don’t feel comfortable doing that, you can use your trimmer to measure and cut accordingly.

11. Now for the pop up. Draw the outline of your pop up boxes. This will create the same type of pop up that I used in the Christmas Pop Up Card showing the illusion of a pile of presents.

12. Fold the 5″ x 8″ paper in half and use pencil to sketch the lines above, leaving about 1/2 cm in between each box and 1/4 cm from the edges.

13. Cut along the horizontal lines as shown above, being sure NOT to cut the vertical lines.

14. Fold your boxes in so that they are bent along the vertical lines and it looks like the image below.

15. Open your pop-up and see the boxes / steps that are now created. You can now adhere this piece of paper to the card by using glue or tape.

16. Next, cut out (or use a paper punch to cut out), your desired inside shapes. I folded paper in half and cut out hearts, but a paper punch is even quicker and more precise.

17. Adhere the shapes to your boxes wherever you want them.  I chose to cut out strips of paper to cover the front sides of my boxes (below).

I chose to cut slits in the front wall of my center box so I could insert and extra scrap piece of paper to make another image popping out further.

18. I then cut out a cloud / bubble shape and used it for a pop up “Thank you!” by folding it in half, handwriting the words on the front with sharpie and gluing it to the scrap piece of paper I had inserted as a support beam on the front center box.

19. I added a few extra hearts and some paper punched stars for a little extra something, and…voila! That was it.

This might sound like a lot when you read all of this at first, but once you practice your first one, you’ll be able to crank out the same one over and over again pretty quickly. The hardest part for me when creating a new card is figuring out the design. What colors? How is it going to look? What is going to pop up? HOW is it going to pop up?

Sometimes it requires more than one instance of trial and error using practice models of computer paper. But once the design is mastered, you have your template to work off of and can re-use the same template for any other types of cards in the future. It makes card making a lot easier once you already have a basic recipe under your belt. You can use this same pop-up box mechanism for just about anything – a thank you note, a pile of Christmas presents, or maybe even a city skyline for a wedding invitation? 🙂 haha yes, I’m hinting at my own wedding that is now in the works. You might be seeing a pop up wedding invitation from me soon!! (Once we secure a date of course!)

Good luck scrappers!! Have a Happy New Year!!!

Pop-Up Girly Birthday Card

For one of my best friend’s 25th birthday, I decided to put together a very pink, girly, and cute looking pop up card.  Most of the embellishments I made myself, but some were purchased and made by Jolee. The paper was actually a Target brand (very cheap) and not from my typical Stampin Up collection. They sell packs of metallic and pink colored-palette paper for less than $10. I’d definitely recommend checking out their scrapbook section for paper the next time you are there. But my usual go-to location is JoAnn Fabric or ordering from Stampin Up.

This card uses a V shaped pop up as the mechanism. Again, I will show you a how to for both the V shape and L shape in a tutorial that I am still putting together. Hope you enjoy this!

Have a beautiful day!

Pop Up Card: Gift Box

As mentioned, I planned on creating 4 pop up spreads in my grandma’s Christmas card. Yesterday, I featured the poinsettia and today, I have finally completely the pop up gift box. In previous posts, I have showed cards with pop-up gifts stacked on top of each other along the crease of the card, but the illusion only shows 2 sides of the gift boxes.

My goal for this card was to have a full 3D gift box pop out right in the middle of the card. The wrapping paper for the gift box is shiny silver metallic cardstock, but it doesn’t appear as shiny in the photos. The rest of the paper is yet again from Stampin’ Up. No Jolee’s stickers for decorative accents this time though. The stars are made from a paper punch and the tag that says “To Gram” is my own hand cut-out using an x-acto knife and careful handwriting.

Take a peek if you would like at the photos below!

Pop-Up Card: Poinsettia

Here is a pop-up card that I created for my grandmother. It is a 4 page spread of little pop-up surprises! I have some similar looking scenes from other cards that I have already displayed in other posts, so I won’t repeat those here, but I would like to showcase the pop-up poinsettia!

The card background is simple, as I wanted to keep the focus on the flower. I created the petals by cutting out narrow heart shapes and then layering small ones on top of 2 large ones. I added the green petals at the end to add some contrast (and make it look more like a flower) and just slipped them under the large petal base and secured with glue. The cardstock is by Stampin’ Up, and the little snowflake was created using a paper punch. I thought it would add an extra wintry touch.

Have a lovely afternoon!

Pop Up Card: Pop Up Christmas Tree and Presents

This is a card I recently made for my parents! I wrote the rhyming verse. The stickers are made by Jolee and the paper is from Stampin’ Up. The design and craftwork though is made by me, Emily! I will post a short tutorial soon on how to create a basic Christmas pop up card.

Have a beautiful day!

Pop Up: Christmas Card

I had a request from one of my co-workers to make a Christmas pop-up card for her son, Tanner. It was a last minute request and I didn’t have time to do a quick video of it, but I did manage to snap a few photos.  She requested to have the card left blank so she could write her own messages on it. There are 3 special pop-up scenes for Tanner. I have more Christmas cards coming soon! I have received a few more requests that I need to hurry up and finish before I leave for my holiday vacation.

Have a great day everyone!

Pop-Up Card: Nativity Scene and Angel

Pop-Up Card: Nativity Scene and Angel 

Ok here is yet another card…Last one for today! I had a request to make a religious Christmas card and include the Nativity scene. I decided to add the angel as an extra pop up. Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating the birth of Christ next week!