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.

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The Pocket Paper Engineer Volume III (Book Review)

Thank You Shutter Card

At my "real job" I have three lovely senior citizen volunteers who help me on the days I have grades K-1-2 in the library. I made them each a Thank You shutter card with class photos on the inside.

My inspiration was a flat front shutter card from Dreaming About Rubber Stamps. I liked the layout of the inside, which suited my need to put two equal sized photos side by side.

I added an outside wrapper to make the card open in a more conventional way.

The "Thank You" cut file is from Custom Creations by Tamara Bennett.

How to make a shutter card with two photos

You will need a 12" square piece of cardstock and a 9" square of decorative paper.

Begin with a 12" x 12" piece of cardstock.

Cut along black lines, score along green and red lines. I cut the scalloped edge with decorative edge scissors. You could use an edge punch or whatever you have.

Mountain fold green lines, valley fold red lines.

The piece with the multiple cuts and folds is the inside of the card. The 6" x 9" piece, folded in half, forms the card front and back.

From the decorative paper cut a front piece slightly smaller than 6" x 9" and two inside strips slightly smaller than 1.5" x 8".

Adhere the strips to the inside of the card on the top and bottom folded pieces. Add two 3" x 4" photos to the center. (I cut my photos slightly smaller and backed them with blue cardstock.)

Adhere decorative paper to the card front.

Assemble the card by folding the scalloped edges of the inside piece around the edges of the card front and back. Glue the scalloped edges to the front and back of the card.

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

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Thank You Shutter Card

Graduation Ideas

Mortar board and graduation pop up cards, and money or gift card holders

Graduation Cap Money Holder

Mortar Board Graduation Pop Up Card

Graduation Cap Pop Up Gift Card Holder

Interlocking Flower Money Holder

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

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Graduation Ideas

Daisy Mother's Day Card

The front of this meet-in-the-middle pop up card is from Wanda's Crafts. Unfortunately, it's no longer a free file. :(

Wanda sells some of her designs individually for $1.00 so you may be able to get just the one if you ask. The file is called WD_butterfly_flower.svg.

You could substitute another design like bird doily or loopy dahlia, from MTCSCAL e-files.

The inside pop up mechanism was inspired by several similar flower cards by Kiyoshi Kikuchi.

Wanda generously gave permission to publish the adaptation of her flower design.

How to make a daisy "meet in the middle" pop up card

Download and cut pieces PDF or DXF or SVG.

Be sure to save the tiny insides of the letters A, P, and O.

Crease the score lines on the bottom of the stems. If you are using the SVG, line up your straight edge with the four small horizontal cuts and manually score across the stems.

Cut a base card: 3.5" wide and 10.25" long. Crease at the center.

Glue the two inside pieces to the base card, on either side of the center fold.

Glue the insides of the letters to the card.

Close the card. Open the card a tiny bit and dab two glue spots where the flowers touch: one near the top and one about half way up on the stem. Re-close the card while the glue is still wet.

Finish the front of the card.

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

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Daisy Mother's Day Card

Daisy Pop Up Card

This meet-in-the-middle pop up card is perfect for Mother's Day. Tutorial is up!

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

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Daisy Pop Up Card

Mother's Day Cards

Here is a selection of cards, taken from previous posts, that would be suitable for Mother's Day cards.

Explosion Box with Floating Butterflies

Window Box Pop Up Card

Sliceform Flower Paperweight

Pleated Center Flower Garden Card

Rotating Butterfly Pop Up Card

Hawaiian Quilt Block Cards

Pop Up Photo Album Card

Bouquet Fan Card

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

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Mother's Day Cards

Uncommon Goods $50 Giveaway!

The uncommonly good people at Uncommon Goods gifted me with a Postcarden to try out, and another one to give away along with a $50 gift certificate! Yup, you read that right FIFTY DOLLARS in free shtuff to one lucky winner.

First, let me tell you about my Postcarden, one of the many paper gifts
you can choose. It came flat packed in a little box. The building required a tiny bit of assembly, and I do mean tiny. I used glue runner but you could use tape or regular glue. The building is printed on heavy, glossy, cardstock which proved resistant to my somewhat sloppy waterings.

Inside, there is a plastic tray with absorbent material. All you do is wet the absorbent pad, sprinkle the seeds inside the tray and set the whole thing in a sunny window.

Mine started sprouting the next day and one week later it looks exactly like the advertisement. See?

The sprouts are cress. If you've never tried cress, it tastes like a spicy radish.

What a fun little gift. You can put a stamp right on the box and mail it as is (Uncommon Goods estimates U.S. postage at $1.30).

Now, the part you've been waiting for! Enter to win a $50 gift certificate to Uncommon Goods. (U.S. residents only). Maybe you'll want to get one of the items featured below, which are some of my personal favorites, or a handmade paper gift, or a wedding or graduation present? Be sure to mention in your comment what you would choose if you won!

Seasonal Globes	Magnetic Putty	Heart Soap Dish
Postal Box Bank	Geometric Mobile	State Dish Towel
Seeing Spots Clock	Smencils	Color Coasters Tray

If you can't see the giveaway below you may need to disable any ad blocking software, or click the link that says "Read more." The only required entry is a blog comment telling me what you would get with your gift certificate. There are four other options for additional entries. (Be sure to leave the blog comment or your entire entry will be disqualified and who wants that?)

CONTEST IS CLOSED. I am in the process of verifying the eligibility of the winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: Uncommon Goods is an advertiser on this site. All opinions are my own, and I received no additional compensation for publishing this review or hosting the giveaway.

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

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Uncommon Goods $50 Giveaway!