Easy Pop Up Card Tutorial

This is one of the easiest ways I've seen to make a really quick but cute homemade pop-up card.

Cut out your images or photos. I used one of my own dinosaur digi-stamps. I printed him out on my home printer onto some sturdy paper.

Next colour him in. For the cute handmade touch I painted him in watercolours.

Then I added some glitter glue to give him a bit of sparkle.

Get some pretty card, fold it in half and mark out in pencil the boxes where you want your characters to go. They can be any width you like, but make sure the length is equal distance from the centre fold or your card won't close flat.  Cut (with a scalpel or craft knife) the lines perpendicular to the centre fold.

Then ease the flaps out. *Gasps!* It's 3D! Exciting huh? Keep those folds nice and crisp!

When your paint dries, stick your little dude on to the 3D tabs you've made.

It's tempting to open and close your card over and over again at this point because it looks darn fab!

Those ugly gaps need covering, so glue another piece of patterned paper that is the same size as your card over the back.

Alright! Now you can decorate the front if you want, and write your message on the inside. ROAR!  

'Papercutes'... What Do You think?

My viking digi stamps in colour

I've been looking at a lot of digital stamp websites as I've been wondering if my characters would be any good to sell as downloads to crafters who want to use characters in their papercrafts. I was thinking of opening an Etsy store. It was going to be called The Cute Arcade, but I've changed my mind and I think I prefer Papercutes now.

Just print them out at home and use them in your paper crafts

Digi stamps are like clipart (but loads better in quality!). You get a jpeg file to your desktop and you print the images on your home printer.

A digi stamp viking as a gift tag

You could use the characters in loads of creative ways... Not just in homemade cards and invitations, but in tags, sweet boxes, place names... I've tried a few things below. I even made a pop up card with one of my dinosaur illustrations, which I hand painted (tutorial to follow later this week!).

Some of my digi stamps that I've been playing with

You get a colour and a black and white version

I've even seen some sellers who sell line drawings because stampers like to colour the images in their own way with watercolour or pencil crayon. What do you think? Would people be prepared to pay a few pounds for a jpeg? It seems strange, you can't even hold it! Is an Etsy shop the best place to start? I don't want to sell for commercial use, just for home use and for small profit like to makers at craft fairs. I'd love some feedback!

The Cute Arcade

The Cute Arcade?! What on earth is that?! Well, it's a new project I'm tentatively working on... A mix of cute illustrations and paper crafts. I can't wait to tell you all about it soon. Now I really must go and make some jam tarts!

Magical Birthday Invitations

A6 size invite

This week I was contacted by Erica of The Bedford Clanger. Her twins, Harry & Katy are turning five and she wanted me to quickly whip up an invitation for their magic theme party. Hopefully K & H will like the little characters I've made for them!

Knitting update

I managed to knit the front and back panels of my jumper. It's coming along, but after doing the neckline I have discovered that although my gauge is perfect I should have followed the pattern for a medium sweater. I'm quite short and small chested and I usually buy 'small' in UK shops, but as it's an American pattern I'm following, it's shaping up to be like a UK size 6. Argh! I think I can tweak it into a tank top which will still look super cute. Next time I'll get it just right!

Remember my knitting illustration? Well I was wondering about other illustrations inspired by knitting. Here are a few that caught my eye...

Izziyana Suhaimi

How cute is this?! Izziyana's work combines colourful textured embroidery with soft grey pencil fashion illustration. Her work is very elegant and feminine.

Sarah Andreacchio

The rabbit is knitting a scarf like the raccoon's tail! Too cute! Sarah's an illustrator from France and all her work is bright and busy with lots of flat colour and pattern. She's smitten with the 1950's and her work has elements of folksy nordic florals too.

Finally, here are some genuine vintage knitting posters:

I like the painted texture on the balls of yarn

1968 travel poster

French knitting poster