Monthly Archives: February 2013

DIY Pop-Up: Easter Basket

For this DIY Pop-Up you will need:

  • Cardstock or heavy construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Paper clip, or ballpoint pen that has run out of ink, or a knitting needle
  • Crayons, colored pencils, markers

Instructions

1 Download the PDF templates and print out at 100% size (no scaling) on a heavy paper, such as cardstock.
2 Color all of your pieces with crayons or markers before scoring and cutting.

3 Use a ruler or a straight edge and a paper clip to score all the black dotted lines.
4 Next use scissors to cut out all the pieces along the black solid lines.
5 Take the handle piece (Tab A and B) and fold in half away from you along the center dotted line. Unfold.

6 Now fold Tab A towards you along the dotted line. Unfold.
7 Next fold Tab B towards you along the dotted line. Unfold.
8 Next take the bunny’s head piece and fold it along the center dotted line towards you. Unfold.

9 Fold the ‘Glue C Here’ Tab away from you. Unfold.
10 Fold the ‘Glue D Here’ Tab away from you. Unfold.
11 Next take the basket piece and fold along the center dotted line away from you. Unfold.

12 Fold the ‘Glue F’ Tab towards you. Unfold.
13 Fold the ‘Glue E’ Tab towards you. Unfold.
14 Next fold Tab G towards you along the dotted line. Unfold.

15 Next fold Tab H towards you along the dotted line. Unfold.
16 Now take the card piece and fold it towards you along the dotted line. Unfold.
17 Put a small amount of glue on the grey ‘Glue A Here’ shape.

18 Now take the handle piece and match Tab A with ‘Glue A Here’ shape.  Press firmly and let dry.
19 Next put a small amount of glue on the grey ‘Glue B Here’ shape.
20 Next match up Tab B with the ‘Glue B Here’ shape. Press firmly and let dry.

21 Now take the bunny’s head piece and put a small amount of glue on the ‘Glue C Here’ grey shape.
22 Now line up the ‘Glue C Here’ tab with the BACK side of the basket piece.  Make sure the middle dotted lines line up together.  Press firmly and let dry.
23 Lift up the ‘Glue D Here’ tab and put a small amount of glue on the ‘Glue D Here’ tab.

24 Next line up the ‘Glue D Here’ tab with the BACK side of the basket piece. Press firmly and let dry.
25 Turn the basket piece over to the FRONT side. Put a small amount of glue on the ‘Glue E’ grey tab.
26 Next fold ‘Glue E’ tab down towards you. Press firmly and let dry.

27 Put a small amount of glue on the ‘Glue F’ tab.
28 Fold ‘Glue F’ Tab towards you. Press firmly and let dry.
29 Now take the card piece and put a small amount of glue on the ‘Glue G Here’ grey shape.

30 Take the basket piece and line up Tab G with the ‘Glue G Here’ grey shape. Make sure the middle dotted lines line up together. Press firmly and let dry.
31 Now put a small amount of glue on the ‘Glue H Here’ grey shape.
32 Next line up Tab H with the ‘Glue H Here’ grey shape. Press firmly and let dry.

33 Now close the card.
34 And open the card. You now have your very own Easter Bunny card!

Pop-Up Showcase: Dinosaurs: A Pop-Up Book

As a kid, I only ever owned one pop-up book. It made a huge impression on me – one that would not resurface until much later in my life. All kids love dinosaurs, and that’s what my only pop-up book was all about. I was one of those kids who knew WAY too much about those prehistoric beasties – annoyingly correcting every adult who dared mispronounce their names.

Pretty cool book – right? It inspired me to create my own series of prehistoric pop-ups, the Encyclopedia Prehistorica series (Dinosaurs, Sharks & Sea Monsters, and Megabeasts).

My memories of this book are much different than what you all see in these pictures. My little sister Erin (who was 2 years old at the time) also enjoyed this book a great deal. Let’s just say that all of the pop-up dinosaurs inside also went extinct – she tore the book to pieces! Now I have a new copy of Dinosaurs: A Pop-Up Book – and my little sister or Lilly (my brand-new niece) will never get their mitts on it!

Artist Watch: Joe Kievitt

Meticulously hand drawn and colored, one would believe that these pieces were digitally made and printed.  But if you look close enough there might be one blotch or something slightly not symmetrical that will be the sign that these were hand made.

Joe Kievitt is behind these beautiful drawings. The mosaics are probably my favorite, but the crispness of the lines and the the even tones of color are astonishing. Check out more of his work at his website.

Pop-Up Showcase: Vintage Pop-Up Stripe Books

Today we are looking at some very rare Italian pop-up activity books. Ever since I was given “Cappuccetto Russo” and “I Tre Porcellini” I have been curious about this series of handmade DIY pop-up books. So I went to the source, the Bologna-based paper engineer, Massimo Missiroli. He was kind enough to provide some background on these books which he started in 1997.

The titles include:

Red Riding Hood (1997) illustrated by Zampiga Milena
Three Little Pigs (1998) illustrated by Silvia Bartoletti
Pinocchio
Nursery Rhymes
Snow White
Hansel & Gretel

Each title has different dimensions and comprise of a number of black and white printed sheets that are sealed in a plastic bag. A rough translation of the promotional material is as follows:

“POP-UP stripe is a new series of cards in which we intend to show operational techniques for the construction of mini-books that will have classic fairy tales as their subject. Build each pop-up book which consists of five pages on a single folded strip of paper.”

Massimo came up with the idea while leading pop-up workshops with children. He decided to start his own small publishing company. Then he created and assembled the packets and sold the Pop-up Stripes via mail orders. Around 2002, the Italian publisher Quercetti bought the concept and released new versions of Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs and Pinocchio. At that time, Massimo published a wonderful pop-up version of Pinocchio for Emme Edizioni.

Artist Watch: Ultra Creative

Ultra CreativeThis is an amazing package design from Ultra Creative that I just can’t get over! I first found it on the Dieline where I immediately needed to know more about this project. Ultra Creative each year creates a promotional piece that has “original artwork that is both cultural snapshot and talent showcase”. The project usually has to be relevant, interactive and above all hold one pound of chocolate! Excellent choice, if I do say so myself.

Here are some images from this past year’s promotional project, The Fox with the Golden Fur. Enjoy!