Pop-Up tutorial

Hi everyone! I am having so much fun playing with Karen Burniston's Sizzix pop 'n cuts dies. Today I am sharing a step-by-step tutorial for a pop-up card, also using a bunch of other dies and inking and stamping techniques. I added two cut out photos to the card (both kiddies and grandparents would love this card).

Here's the front of the card, a fun autumn scene.

And when you open it, there is a pop-up surprise waiting. I like repeating elements on the outside and inside of pop-ups, here: hearts, clouds, leaves, text and the colours.

Here's how I made this:

Starting with the outside of the card, die cut the Heart, Stem & Leaves and the Heart & Wing set from white mat board. Cut the Heart & Wing twice, but only the heart, not the wings.

White or clear emboss a sentiment on the large heart and a text stamp on the two small hearts. Ink them with fall colours of Distress Ink. I used Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Fired Brick, Peeled Paint and a bit of Vintage Photo. Mat board inks very well. Wipe the ink off the embossed parts.

 Coat the two 'frame' hearts with Glossy Accents.

Here are all the pieces for the kite, from the Kites Framelits set, which includes both the dies and coordinating stamps. The piece to the far right is green kraft core cardstock, it looks black on the photo. I used Specialty Stamping paper for the rest of the kite (love this paper). The pieces of the kite were stamped with the same colours I used to ink the hearts (Mustard Seed, Fired Brick, Peeled Paint and Rusty Hinge) and I also used them to ink the little flags. The 'frame' was stamped with Archival Ink Jet Black.

I wanted to try something with this cloud stamp and inked it with three colours Distress Stain, starting with the lightest (Tumbled Glass), and going gradually darker, letting the colours overlap a little bit. Then it was stamped on Specialty Stamping paper. Love the result!

I tore a little piece of green kraft core cardstock for the hill and embossed it in a heart folder. Then it was sanded and inked.

Don't all these leaves just look so great together? It looks like it took forever to make them, when in fact it was real quick. Die cut leaves and branches from different colours kraft core cardstock using the Autumn Gatherings die. You get a lot of leaves and branches from one strip of paper. Sand them before removing the pieces from the surrounding cardstock. Much easier than to sand each individual leaf. Ink and add some Rock Candy Distress Stickles to each one. Just a quick swipe with your finger is enough, Distress Stickles looks better if it is a thin layer. Leave to dry.

Now to the inside. Die cut the Winged Hearts pop-up from Specialty Stamping paper. If you don't have the pop 'n cuts base die, you can use the ordinary base tray. Don't fold the pop up yet, it will make the inking harder.

We need to make a mask for the inking. Die cut the pop-up again, but this time from Eclipse tape. Place the non-sticky part of the tape on the die. If you don't have Eclipse tape, you can use a sticky-back note, but the tape does make it easier. Carefully peal the mask from the cutting pad and cut the two parts apart. Keep both, we need both the positive and the negative mask.

My mask picked up some tiny bits and pieces from my cutting pad. It might have been a good idea to place a scrap piece of paper in between, or a thin piece of acetate.

Place the mask over the hearts and wings. Clear emboss background stamps on the background. I stamped them with my hand and not mounted on an acrylic block, for a less perfect impression. I white embossed the sentiment, but later decided not to use it.

Keep the mask on, and ink the background with the same shades of Distress Inks as used for the cloud stamp. Be careful around the mask so that the edges don't lift. Remove the mask.

Place the negative mask around the hearts and wings. I wished I had made my mask a little bit longer, because the little heart was a bit too close to the edge.

Ink the large heart and the wings with Mustard Seed and Rusty Hinge, adding a bit of Fired Brick. Ink the small heart with Fired Brick. When the ink is dry, stamp with the same text stamp used for the little hearts on the front of the card.

Remove the mask and you get this.

Die cut two of each of the clouds from the Kites Framelits set from Specialty Stamping paper. Emboss the two smaller clouds in the Bubble folder.

Ink the embossed bubbles lightly and then layer the smaller clouds on the larger clouds with foam tape. The larger clouds form a perfect mat for the smaller ones.

For the base cardstock, I used a piece of green kraft core cardstock, folding it with the kraft part on the outside. It was inked with Vintage Photo and stamped with a grid stamp using Archival Ink Coffee.

 I sanded the inside to reveal the kraft core and inked it.

I wanted to mat the pop-up part on another shade of green kraft core and die cut both edges with the Scallops On the Edge die. Sand the cardstock.

Time to assemble everything. Adhere the clouds and the green hill on a black mat and then glue to the base cardstock. Find a photo that fits and cut it out. My son holds a balloon in the original version of this photo, so it worked nicely with him holding the kite. I also glued an acorn to his other hand.

Assemble the kite and add a piece of twine to it. Adhere with foam dots.

Adhere the hearts with foam dots for dimension, add stems and leaves. Then glue a lot of leaves and branches at the bottom of the card.

I used another photo of my son on the inside, making it look like he is flying on the hearts (needless to say, he loves this card). He holds an acorn here too, as on the outside.

The Heart & Wing set Movers & Shapers die coordinate perfectly with the Winged Hearts pop-up die and I added one of the Glossy Accent hearts to the big heart and die cut a small heart from a piece of Specialty Paper which had been stamped with a grid stamp, using Mustard Seed. This was glued to the red heart.

The pop-up die both cuts and scores the cardstock so it is very easy to assemble. First fold it, then apply adhesive to one side. Place it in the fold of the base cardstock and stick it down. Then apply adhesive to the other side and fold the base cardstock over it. You can find a video explaining this here.

 Place the clouds so that they don't bump into each other when you close the card (since that would make it very bulky). The original sentiment disappeared, so instead I cut a banner from Specialty Stamping paper, clear embossed the sentiment on top and inked it with Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany.

 Glue leaves and branches along the bottom. 

So many fun possibilities with the pop 'n cuts dies! I will share another two photo pop-ups in a few days time and a pop-up layout next week.

Thank you for looking at this long post!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Dies: Sizzix Winged Hearts 3D pop-up, Heart & Wing set, Heart, Stem & Leaves Bigz, Autumn Gatherings Sizzlits, Kites Framelits, Scallops On the Edge, Tattered Banners Sizzlits
Embossing folder:Sizzix Curlique & Hearts set, Bubble & Honeycomb set
Stamps: Hero Arts:Clouds S5215, Screen Shadow K5107, Sending Smiles Messages CL490, Dictionary Greeting CL479, Grid Pattern ST503, Flourish Background CG119, Cling Dots CG139
Inks: Distress Ink: Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Vintage Photo, Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Peeled Paint; Distress Stain: Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans; Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black and Coffee
Embossing powder: Ranger clear and Seafoam white
Stickles: Rock Candy Distress Stickles
Surfaces: Sizzix Little Sizzles Mat Board; Ranger Specialty Stamping paper: Core'dinations Tim Holtz kraft core cardstock
Adhesive: Ranger Glossy Accents; foam dots
Other: baker's twine, Eclipse masking tape