New Pop Up Instruction Book

Oh no!  Thanks to a reader from Germany for bringing to my attention that this may be an unauthorized abridgment of Duncan Birmingham's book.  (See her comment below). Please buy the real deal instead, Pop-Up Design and Paper Mechanics: How to Make Folding Paper Sculpture

Big news!  Duncan Birmingham, has written a new "quick start" manual to pop up design.  It's a 48 page crash course in the basics.  

Buy Pop-Up Design & Paper Mechanics now for only $6.02 (a 39% discount) with free shipping from Book Depository.


Or pre-order from Amazon
Pop-Up Design & Paper Mechanics: 18 Shapes to Make
(It's not available to ship from the USA until October.  Book Depository ships from the UK.)

Birmingham is the author of Pop-Up Design and Paper Mechanics: How to Make Folding Paper Sculpture which is #1 on my list of recommended books about how to make pop ups!

Library Thank You Card in a Box

I made several of these box greeting cards to thank my volunteers at my real-life library job.

The large window and boy reading on the window seat work perfectly for this type of pop up card.

When the card is closed, you see a bouquet of roses, shelves of books, and a glimpse of the arched window.

This is the back of the closed card.

The illustrations are by Margaret Bloy Graham, from The Plant Sitter.
The large yellow rose is a freebie from SVG cuts.


It took me about 4 hours of cutting, pasting, duplicating, stretching, and shrinking, to fill the card.

I make these box cards with an box-shaped interior strut.  See this post for details.

The boy reading a book is on the back cross piece.  The dog and piles of books are on the front cross piece.

Interweave Hurt Book Sale and Clearance

Interweave is a publisher of patterns, books, and kits for all sorts of handwork projects. Take advantage of these offers to stock up!


Free Shipping on Orders over $30 at Interweave

Save up to 75% on Books and eBooks at Interweave

Save up to 75% on Clearance Items at Interweave

Shop the Hurt Book Sale at Interweave


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

Mark Hiner Books Available!

Quick, right this second there are FIVE copies of Mark Hiner's Up Pops available between $14 and $25. Snap 'em up!


Tarquin Books has reprinted Mark Hiner's Paper Engineering. Good for U.K. customers, not so good for U.S.A. customers. Possibly it will be available at Book Depository, although it's not yet up on their site.
But that's okay, there are lots of used copies under $25 right now on Amazon.



Obviously, this information is time sensitive. Books may be sold by the time you are reading this post!
Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

The Pocket Paper Engineer Volume III (Book Review)

The long awaited third volume in Carol Barton's The Pocket Paper Engineer series arrived on my doorstep this week.
Having covered basic pop up forms in Volume I and platforms and props in Volume 2, Barton devotes Volume 3 to V-folds.
Oh, the magical V-fold! I can't tell you how many times I've received a "how does this work?" inquiry from a reader to which the answer is "V-folds."
V-folds can provide powerful lift and surprising rotation to your creations. They can be symmetrical or not, they can lean forward or backwards or sideways. They can even give power to pop ups positioned far from the center fold.
What I like about this book
There is a full sized model for every design, printed on heavy weight paper. The intent is that you will cut the models from the book, construct them, and store your completed samples in the bound-in folder pockets.
The Pocket Paper Engineer models are not too intimidating for beginners, yet are innovative enough for experienced paper crafters. I learned some new tricks, and I bet you will, too. (My personal epiphany was the chess game constructed with straddles. I can't wait to work with this idea on something like Ray Marshall's Paper Blossoms.)
What I don't love about this book
Because there are three volumes, buying the set is a bit pricey. However, each volume stand on its own merits, so you may wish to choose the specific volumes that match your interests and skill level.

Popular Kinetics Press, 71 pages, ISBN-10: 0962775231
Order The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume 3: V-Folds: How to Make Pop-Ups Step-by-Step from Amazon

Available worldwide from Book Depository
.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author.
Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Must-have Books for Pop Up Making

Are you interested in creating pop up cards of your own design? Not sure which pop up instruction book or books are the best of the best? These are my favorites--the ones I'd want if I were stranded on a desert island!

First up, if you're only going to buy ONE book about how to make pop ups, I suggest Duncan Birmingham's Pop-Up Design and Paper Mechanics. I waited for years for this revised edition to be published. I loved the first version, but it had been so long out-of-print that I whenever I wanted to read it I had to interlibrary loan the last remaining copy in the state--which is in a prison library. (Begging the question: are prisoners allowed to have craft knives??)

Pop-Up Design and Paper Mechanics: How to Make Folding Paper Sculpture, from Amazon,
or from Book Depository (free shipping worldwide).
Next on my list, especially helpful for those of us who like to see and touch something to see how it works: The Elements of Pop Up by David Carter and James Diaz. This book has working models of the most common pop up mechanisms. I use this as a reference when I want to refresh my memory on the best way to make a specific 3d shape.

Elements Of Pop Up: A Pop Up Book For Aspiring Paper Engineers, from Amazon,
or from Book Depository.
My third go-to book, Making Mechanical Cards by Sheila Sturrock, is not technically all about pop ups, but I believe most people do not really care about the distinction between "pop up cards" and "mechanical cards."
Sturrock's book includes designs I have not seen elsewhere, mostly mechanisms from the great card makers of the past. I am grateful to her for digging up these cards in museums and working out how they were made. She includes full size templates for each mechanism.

Making Mechanical Cards: 25 Paper-Engineered Designs, from Amazon,
or Book Depository.
If you already have these three, my next purchases would come from this list (some are out-of-print).
The Pop Up Book by Paul Jackson: from Amazon or Book Depository.
Origamic Architecture books by Masahiro Chatani and Keiko Nakazawa.
Paper Engineering & Pop Ups for Dummies by Rob Ives: from Amazon
or Book Depository.
The Pocket Paper Engineer (series) by Carol Barton: from Amazon or Book Depository.
How to Make Super Pop-Ups (or any of her pop up instruction books) by Joan Irvine: from Amazon or Book Depository.
Kirigami: The Art of 3 Dimensional Paper Cutting by Laura Badalucco: from Amazon.

The Art of Paper Folding for Pop Up by Miyuki Yoshida: from Amazon.
Paper Engineering for Pop Up Books and Cards or Up Pops by Mark Hiner: from Amazon.
Full Disclosure: I received no compensation from any of these authors or publishers, nor any complementary review titles.
Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Zakka Style (Book Review)

Author Rashida Coleman-Hale explains that the Japanese term zakka has been loosely translated to mean “miscellaneous goods,” “many things,” or “sundries.” Something with simple charm. Something handmade that is useful yet pleasing.
In Zakka Style, Coleman-Hale showcases 24 projects from as many designers. Despite the many hands that worked on the book, the overall look of the collection is coherent and visually pleasing. There is a consistency of fabric choice and design aesthetic that flows from one page to the next.
This book is built for browsing. There is no index and the table of contents is spartan--just each project title and the name of the designer.
The projects seem easy enough for anyone with basic sewing skills, although I may not be the best judge of this as I have been sewing since Nixon was in the Oval Office! My personal favorites are those that incorporated patchwork. I especially love the Itty Bitty Quilt Block Magnets, Sweet Memories Picture Frame and oh, those fabric Nesting Boxes!

Many could be completed in a short block of time. All are attractive enough to give as a little (or not so little) present. Instructions are clear and well organized with supply list, cutting directions and assembly directions. Photographs and illustrations are numerous and well chosen. Full size patterns are at the back of the book.
Zakka Style: 24 Projects Stitched with Ease to Give, Use & Enjoy by Rashida Coleman-Hale. C&T Publishing. 128 pages. ISBN:1607054167
Disclosure: I received a complimentary electronic copy of this book from the publisher.
Project image courtesy of i heart linen.
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.