Popping Up!

I've been going thru some older projects and scrapbook pages for fun ideas to share. Rather than re-inventing the wheel with new techniques, concepts, etc. I decided that just because we're always on the lookout for something new, it doesn't necessarily mean that what we did in the past isn't a great technique for today's paper crafter. In fact, if you've just started to craft, all the techniques will be new. Granted, these projects will need updating with newer, more trendy papers, but let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater - let's focus on the techniques. Many of the paper crafting techniques we see are being touted as "new", whereas, in fact, many of them have been around, in some cases, for over 100 years. Paper piercing, is a great example. "Pin Pricked" paper samples have been found dating back to the 1800's......!

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. One of the "fun" techniques we explored in the late 90's was "Pop Up" pages. Pop-Up cards have been in a favorite in the UK for a long time. When you opened the card, out popped a bunch of flowers. I remember looking for these cards for my mum, when I was a little girl. They were always so pretty. They're really easy to make - you just need to know the technique then you can make all your projects "pop".

Here's an example of a pop-up page - I thought this would be appropriate for Halloween. This is an 8 1/2" x 11" pop up.

Open it up and voilà - look what pops up!


The little ghost at the top of the grave stone on the left is also a tab, so when you pull it down, even more photos are revealed.

Making pop ups is easy. You just have to remember that the part that pops up has to go across either a fold, or, as in this sample, across two adjoining pages. Here's the basic technique:

1. Cut a rectangle from cardstock, about 8" x 4". It doesn't really matter what size, or color. Fold in half, then fold about 1" up from the bottom. (Fold on the black lines.)

2. Make a small cut from the bottom, up the center fold to where the folded paper intersects.

3. This is your basic platform to which you can glue anything you want to "pop up". It can be much shorter, or you can cut it into a half circle, or a half circle on either side.

4. Fold the bottom flap upwards, then fold the paper in half with the backs facing.

5. Glue across either a fold (for a card), or two pages. The pop up base on the sample below is outlined in green. As you can see, this was just an 8" by 2" rectangle, folded in half lengthways, then again in half.

The only thing you have be careful about is the height of the pieces you glue to the base. They cannot be taller than the distance between the point where the center fold of the base is glued and the bottom of the pages. If the pieces are taller than this, they will stick out at the bottom when it is folded flat.

Enjoy......... y'all come back now!

Yours truly,
Julie :)