A few months ago, I came home to an envelope of pictures of Alice and me that a friend had left on our doorstep.
The best kind of surprise! Too often, too many of our pictures live only on a computer screen. Having actual prints feels really special.
So, I'm trying to do more with our snapshots, and I thought these little pop-up cards could be a fun way to preserve some summer vacation memories. (They'd also make fantastic Father's Day cards if you don't have one picked out yet).
Best of all, they're super easy.
You'll need: A photo of a landscape that can serve as your background (Speaking of background, do you read Record photographer Clifford Oto's photography blog? You should. It's terrific); one or more photos of someone or something you'd like to "pop out" of the card; card stock or some other type of sturdy paper; a pencil; scissors; and glue, paste or tape.
Step 1: Print your photos onto card stock (If your printer doesn't like dealing with heavier paper, just print onto a regular sheet and glue that to the card stock, or even construction paper).
Step 2: Trim the edges of your background photo as necessary and carefully cut out the image you want to pop up.
Step 3: Create a card by folding your background photo in half so that the top and bottom are touching, printed side in. Line up the bottom edge of your cutout with the folded edge of the card. Using a pencil, lightly mark the height and width of the cutout.
Step 4: Keeping well within your pencil lines, make two parallel cuts of equal length through the folded edge. You're creating a strip that will support your cutout, so you don't want the lines to be taller than the image, or the space between them to be wider. Also keep in mind that the longer your lines are, the further your cutout will pop-up from the background. Make one strip for each of your cutouts.
Step 5: Pull the strip up and crease it at the top. Unfold your card, and push the strip forward so that its two "legs" stick out from the background at right angles.
Step 6: Attach your cutout to the vertical leg of the pop-up strip. Enjoy!
P.S. If you find yourself becoming more seriously into pop-ups, check out the ideas and tutorials on artist Robert Sabuda's site. Wow, so cool!
