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It was a stormy afternoon and with work suspended for the rest of the day, definitely the perfect time to do a simple but eye-catching greeting.
Pop-ups have always fascinated me as a girl, and as an adult. Had I known there was such a course as paper engineering, I might have taken it up! But now, thanks to Youtube, Silhouette and Craftsy, pop-ups have never been easier to do! I have to admit this project was done using a template from Silhouette Online Store but as I keep doing more of this kind of paper crafting, I'm sure originals are on their way in no time.
For this pop-up project you'll need:
Pop-up Floral Card template from Silhouette Online Store
A computer installed with Silhouette Design Studio software
Any Silhouette die-cut machine (mine's a Portrait) and sticky mat
various cardstock in complementing colors (plain and printed)
adhesive foam stickers or 3D tape
glue (I used a solvent-based adhesive from Germany called UHU)
embellishments like rhinestones and ribbon
Step 1: Download the design/template to your library and open it.
You'll see several elements all merged together. You may resize them at this point (as I did because of the size limitation of my Portrait which affects the size of paper I can use), but be sure to resize AS ONE or else the pieces may not fit together once you've cut and assembled the project. Ungroup them; for purposes of these instructions, let's call them:
Base - the heart of your pop-up, which is like a cross that folds into itself at the side
Petals - the different sizes of scalloped flowers
Cover - the outer shell of your card
Frames - the 2 banner pieces that serve as inner lining for your card
Step 2: Prepare your pieces for cutting.
For your first piece, the Base, ensure that only this design is on the clipboard of Design Studio. All the rest you can park on the sides of the visible mat/area so they don't interrupt or clutter your e-workspace.
No need to do anything on the Design menu so we can proceed with the actual cutting. Go to the Send menu where you will do a 3-step process: select material > select action > send to silhouette. I used ordinary medium weight cardstock (cardstock plain setting) so my blade depth is set to 3. Ensure action is set to cut and ratchet blade then BEFORE SENDING to your machine, be sure to put the actual cardstock on the mat and load it correctly on the machine. Then hit send. Once the machine has cut the Base, eject the mat and gently lift the cut piece using a thin metal tool or tweezers- whatever works. But do not fold over the paper or mat or else your cut pieces may not lay down flat.
Repeat this step for the rest of the grouped designs. For the Petals, I loaded different strips of plain and printed cardstock using the gridlines on the mat to match where the designs were laid out on the gridlines of the mat on the screen. This way you save time and can use those little bits of scrap paper you've saved from previous projects.
Once you have all the cut pieces, you should have something similar to this:
Step 3: Prepare the pieces for assembly
As any good paper engineer will tell you, pop-ups are only as good as their folds. So be sure to folder over those pieces that are perforated and fold well using a bone knife or scraper or even just your nail to ensure a definition in your folds. The Base is supposed to look like this after folding well:
Step 4: Assemble your pop-up
For the Petals, I alternated between the UHU glue and 3D foam tape to give the flower more dimension.
Stick the edge of the biggest Petal cut-out (those that are together like an accordion) and align to the edges where they line up together on the Base. Glue ONLY THE edges and not to the entire piece to the Base. Once dry, the 1 middle petals should fold upward into an A-frame so that the card can close.
Finish laying down the Frames inside the card and the Cover on the outside with some glue. Once all the embellishments and accessories have been added, you're done! Secure the card so it doesn't open on its own with some twine or ribbon.
Hope you enjoyed this DIY post! It was certainly a pleasure to make. Til next time, happy crafting ❤️