Pop Up Card Tutorial Lesson 1

Level of Difficulty: Easy

THE BOX (Also know as the Parallel Fold or the Step)
While simple to construct, the box is extremely versatile. It lends itself beautifully to cards with strong graphical elements. The pop up mechanism enhances the graphics without being distracting.

Today's Lesson: A Box symmetrically cut from the fold.

Fold your paper in half. I like to use a whole sheet of 8.5" x 11" when I'm learning a new technique. On the outside of the folded card, draw one or more rectangles of any size, where one side of the rectangle is the fold. Here I have drawn three of various size.

Cut along the rectangle sides that are perpendicular to the fold. (Shown as solid lines on the sample.) DO NOT CUT across the top. Score across the top of the rectangle. (Shown as dotted line on the sample.) You now have a flap of paper with a fold across the bottom.

Set creases into the rectangle by folding the flap up, then unfolding. Flip the card over and fold the flap up on the other side, then unfold. Open the card. From the back, push the square to pop it forward. It should look like this.

Side View

Your graphics can be affixed to the front or top of the pop up steps. Before gluing everything together be sure nothing will stick out from the edges of the card when it is folded.

You can create vastly different designs just by varying the size and placement of the pop up rectangles. Turning the card to open from the side instead of the front presents additional possibilities.

Let's look at some examples.

Mayan Ruins

Here is an ultra simple way to add a person to a scenery shot, using one small box mechanism, from Digital Cameras in Education. Check out their site for detailed instructions on this particular project and other fun digital photo projects.

Flower Box

Robert Sabuda is one of the best known pop up designers out there. Here is a card from his site. The mechanism is a long, low rectangle.

Pop Up Photograph

Here the pop ups are two rectangles, one taller than the other. Illustrated instructions.

Castle

Designed by Lee Kaster.

From what I can see, I'm guessing the rectangle mechanism would look something like this.

The front piece is supported on either side by the two longest rectangles, while leaving room in the center for the other layers. Such an effective use of this pop up mechanism!

Valentine

You can download and print this design from ScrapbookScrapbook.

Another simple box mechanism that's enhanced by the graphics.

Snowman

Cute design, simple pop up mechanism! Another downloadable design, this one from The Learning Bug.

The pdf download is here.

Christmas Packages

Here's one turned sideways, by Roz Veevers.

And another one by Vajira.

Flowers and Butterflies

I love this card by Diane of 1CardCreator. It looks so much more complicated than it is. When I went to look at the tutorial I was amazed that it was just a simple box underneath!

Now it's your turn! Send me photos of your creations and I'll add them to this lesson. Happy crafting!

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

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