Polygon Pop Card
If you enjoy watching the Carol Duvall show on HGTV or the DIY Network, then you have probably seen Michael Strong who has been a guest there quite frequently. He is a very talented artist known not only for turning trash into beautiful treasure, but also for his unique card designs. One that really intrigued me was his Polygon Pop Card. I love to send cards that "do something", and this one literally "pops" out of the envelope when your recipient opens it! It is constructed with a rubber band inside that creates tension that pops it into a three dimensional shape when it is taken from the envelope. I can't tell you how many of these I have made. They have been enjoyed by children as well as an 80 year old church member as he recuperated from surgery.
I emailed Mike to ask his permission to post his card and instructions on my site and he emailed back in minutes with such a friendly answer. I could just feel his smiles coming through my computer screen. Here are his original instructions and printable templates: http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_paper_crafts_origami/article/0,1789,HGTV_3293_1394914,00.html
The pattern itself is in a PDF format which printed out very small for me so I enlarged it by 90% on my copier and this worked nicely with a 2" rubber band. Here are some cards I made.
|
|
Michael has a pattern for an envelope on the HGTV website. I designed a second envelope made of cardstock that I will give you instructions for here. It is shown with the card on the right above. Since some tension is involved on this card due to the rubber band, you will find that an envelope made of lighter weight text paper just won't do. Also, I wanted to mention that I took the envelope that I made to the post office and it only requires a 60 cent stamp. I was expecting more postage, so that was a nice surprise.
I used two pieces of matching cardstock. One piece is 8" x 11" and the other is 8" x 8". Meshing the two pieces against each other, with the shorter piece on the bottom, I sewed with a straight stitch on my sewing machine 1/2" in from all four edges, meeting where I started. Next, turn your envelope over, using a stylus or anything else to score with, score 1/16" away from the opening edge of the envelope so you can fold your flap cleanly for mailing. To seal, I use clear shipping tape that is 2" in width and only put it across the back edge for the first piece. I take a second and third piece and put those along each folded flap edge, making sure not to cover the area where the stamp is going to go. I keep the widest part of the tape on the back side and only have about 1/2" showing on the front sides where the flaps are.
For the lavender card (my Mom's Mother's Day card) in the photo on the left, I used two stamps that can be purchased on this site. They both match and come in two sizes. The top of the polygon was stamped with the larger image (E4174 Two Flowers) and the sides were stamped with the matching smaller image (C4186 Sm. Two Flowers). Purchase details are HERE. I stamped all the images on the cards while they were flat before assembly. They were stamped with gold pigment ink and embossed in gold. I used brush markers to color and 3-D Crystal Lacquer to make the images look raised.