Teapot and Cup Pop Up Card

Pop up greeting card of a teapot pouring tea into a cup.  Can be hand cut if you're dexterous.

How to make the teapot and cup pop up card

Download cutting file set: PDF, SVG Silhouette Studio.
(how to use my SVG files in Cricut Design Space),

Files download for free; pay what you wish for the tutorial and to support this site. Suggested contribution for this project is $1.99.

Cut on black lines.  Save the cutouts from the steam.

Score on red lines.

Optional: Add a sentiment to the separate rectangle before or after cutting (mine is blank).

Insert sentiment rectangle into (optional) curved cuts.

Crease on scored lines.  The center fold, cup handle and teapot handle-to-base are valley folds.  The tiny crease on the tea pouring from the spout is a mountain fold.

Glue cut piece into backing card, then glue steam cutouts in place on the backing card.

Quick Halloween Silhouette Cards

All of the shapes used on these silhouette cards are from the dingbat font ILL OCtoBer.

After arranging the Halloween motifs to my satisfaction, I added a frame and welded everything together with CorelDraw.

The effect is like scherenschnitte paper cutting, but far easier to design.

Flat front cards



Window pop up cards





Download files: PDF, DXF, Silhouette Studio, SVG

Files download for free; contribute what you wish to support this blog.  Suggested amount for this design: $1.00.

How to assemble flat front card

For all files black lines are cut lines, red lines are score lines. Cut the file, fold on the score line, and back the silhouette with contrasting paper. I used origami paper.

How to assemble window style pop up card

See this post for more information about folding window pop up cards.

For all files black lines are cut lines, red lines are score lines.

Cut the file. With the right side of the card facing you, crease the score lines.

The top horizontal line is a valley fold. The next score line down is a mountain fold. The two small creases forming the center fold line of the card are valley folds. The bottom horizontal line is a valley fold.




Back the window with contrasting paper if you wish.

Remember to fold the backing paper into an L shape to cover the opening on the bottom of the card as well as the opening on the upright portion of the card!

Glue the window pop up into a base card of coordinating or contrasting color. See an example here.

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

Globe Sliceform Tutorial

I had a little fun with this globe sliceform. Instead of arranging the slices to form a square grid like this one by yarik, I made the longitudinal slices meet at the poles.










 How to make sliceforms

Unlike most sliceforms, this globe is sliced along the lines of longitude rather than having straight vertical slices. It does not fold flat.

How to make the globe sliceform

Download template PDF or SVG1 and SVG2 and cut out pieces.



On the first page there are four pieces, three the same (mine are red, light green, dark green) and one different (pink). Start with the "different" (pink) one, and one of the other three pieces (red).



Notice, also, that the top and bottom of each piece is narrow, and the right and left of each piece is wider.

Slot red and pink together, at their centers, top and bottom.





Fold the green pieces in half, with the crease running from top to bottom.



Slot one green piece into pink on the one side of red and the other green piece into pink on the other side of red.



(Another way to assemble this part is to stack the pieces green-red-green, slot all three into the pink piece, top and bottom, and then crease the green pieces away from the center.)



Attach the center (equator) circle next. Slide it part way down over the north pole and tilt it enough to match the center slot on one of the longitude slices. Work around the globe, sliding in one slice at a time and pushing down the equator piece until all the slices are in the slots.



Add the other latitude slices in the same way, one at a time.

Halloween Projects

A collection of previously featured Halloween projects.

Halloween Kirigami Pop Up Card

Pumpkin Sliceform

Spider Treat Pocket

Rubber Band Pumpkin Pop Up

Halloween Treat Pocket

Halloween Spinner

Halloween Foldover Card

Pumpkin Changing Picture Card

Mummy Card

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

Hawaiian Quilt Block Cards

I wanted to make some kirigami cards inspired by Hawaiian quilt designs. I started looking at patterns and eventually stumbled upon a couple dingbat fonts at fontriver.
Dingbat fonts cut great on cutting machines--just type a "letter" on your page, resize and cut!
Many of the designs are simple enough to hand cut, too. Technically you could fold your paper into eighths to cut the designs, but I have to think that most paper would work better folded into fourths.
How to make a Hawaiian quilt design kirigami
Select a thinner paper, but one that will go through your printer. Size the font design as desired and print it on the back of your paper.
Lightly pencil fold lines: either corner to corner, both ways...

or from the center point of one side to the center point of the opposite side, both ways.

Fold the square into fourths.

Cut along the design, like cutting a snowflake.

Unfold. Don't worry if the cut lines don't follow the printed lines exactly on all the layers. That's why you printed on the BACK side!

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

Bitty Books

What crafty librarians do in their spare time....

The other day my co-worker was stuck in the middle of the wordless origami diagram for this mini-book. You know that place. You're cruising right along and then suddenly it seems like several steps are missing in the directions. Anyway, we finally worked it out, and over the last couple days I've been folding and unfolding little books, trying to simplify the process.

It's definitely easier to make with paper that's white on one side and patterned on the other.

Begin with a square piece of paper. Fold it in half, then in fourths. Do this both directions. When you are done the folds will divide the paper into 16 squares.

Folding on the creases you've made, flip the bottom quarter strip of the paper up and glue it, with glue stick, to the strip of squares above it.

Cut along the folds dividing these white squares. These will be your pages.

Turn the paper over. The pages should be closer to you and the uncut part away from you.

Fold down the top quarter strip of the paper along the crease line.

Crease the top corners diagonally and then unfold.

Grasp the left hand loose corner and pull it to the center of the paper. Do the same for the right hand loose corner.

Flatten the piece sticking up in the center, using the vertical creases already made.

Flip paper over.

Fold in the two sides.

Rub a bit of glue stick on the triangular fold on the left side.

Grasp the left hand pages and pull them up and toward the right, opening the triangle fold at the top left.

Flatten.

Turn the pages to the left.

Dab a little glue on the right hand triangle. Grasp the right hand pages and pull them up and to the left, opening the right hand triangle. Flatten.

Turn these pages to the right.

Close the book and crease the spine well.

Try making really tiny books from sticky notes. I used the sticky part to glue the pages. The tricky part is setting in the creases without sticking the wrong parts together! (Position the sticky note with the glue horizontally across the bottom, glue side down. Crease the Post It in half horizontally by pulling the top of the sticky note down to the bottom edge. Flip the sticky note over and fold up the bottom to the center, gluing the "pages". Fold the top in half again, horizontally. Next crease the vertical folds; then cut the pages and finish as above.)

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