Pop-Up Card Lesson: Bloomin' Flower

This lesson teaches you how to make a Bloomin' Flower pop out of your greeting card creations. The pop-up was designed by me, Mary Beth Cryan. You can download the cutting lines in step number 1.

Inside



Directions:

1. Download the cutting lines by clicking here.

2. Print them out on plain typing paper. Tape the cutting lines to your choice of patterned paper. This pop-up works well with the heavier type of scrapbook paper.

3. Cut out another piece of paper 4" x 8" for the card. Fold in half.


4. Make an indent in the paper on the dotted, fold lines. This will insure you fold in the exact spot. I prefer to use a bone folder and a ruler. A ballpoint pen works well too.


5. Cut out the shapes.


6. Fold on the indents you made earlier. See the picture to determine which direction the folds should go (mountain or valley).


7. Fold up the flower and put glue on the indicated area. I prefer to use a white glue. My favorite glue is Jade 711 but Elmers works well too. A glue stick will work but I find it doesn't hold over time as well as white glue.


8. Press the glued area to the card. Make sure to line up the point of the card in the center. The point should touch the middle of the crease. If you have problems opening or closing your card you probably didn't glue the point RIGHT in the middle of the crease.


9. Apply glue to the other side of the flower.


10. Open the flower and press down on the glued areas. DO NOT close the card before you have opened the flower and pressed down. This will cause the flower to glue in the wrong area and you may have problems getting the flower to lie flat when you reopen the card.


11. The flower should fold into the card when you close it. If it doesn't, peel off the flower and try to glue it down closer to the center.


12. The flower should be totally hidden by the card.


Congratulations, you're done with the pop-up! Now decorate the front and add a greeting. I would love to see what you've done with the pop-up so don't hesitate to email me pictures of your pop-up creations.

Click here to email me.


Download the cutting lines by clicking here.

Download the Terms of Use by clicking here.

Merry Christmas Pop-Up Card

Here's a pop-up card I designed for Xmas. The client is Up With Paper. I think we can all relate to the unexpected stress of the holidays that this card depicts! Wheeeeee.

Pop-Up Card Lesson: Dragonfly Pop-Up Card

I hope you enjoy this lesson for my Dragonfly Pop-Up Card. This pop-up was designed by me, Mary Beth Cryan. You can download the cutting lines in step number 1.




Directions:

1. Download the cutting lines by clicking here.

2.Print them out on plain typing paper.

3. Tape the cutting lines to your choice of patterned paper. This pop-up works well with the heavier type of scrapbook paper.




4. Make an indent in the paper on the dotted, fold lines. This will insure you fold in the exact spot. I prefer to use a "bone folder and a ruler. A ballpoint pen works well too.



5. Cut out the shapes. If you are having trouble with this step get your cat to help.


6. Fold on the indents you made earlier. See the picture to determine which direction the folds should go (mountain or valley).


7. Turn over the pieces. Slip the wings into the body and line up the middle creases exactly.


8. Cut a small rectangle of typing paper. Typing paper works best because it is thin. And glue it over the area where the two pieces meet. Tape does NOT work. I recommend NOT using a glue stick. Your card will eventually fall apart. I recommend "Jade 711" if you do not have that then use a white glue such as Elmers. Jade 711 is related to Elmers but dries faster. I love it. You can buy it here www.talas-nyc.com .


9. Cut a piece of paper that is 9" x 4.25". Fold in half and cut a decorative edge if you so desire.

10. Put glue on the indicated areas.



11. Line up the crease in the card with the crease in the middle of the butterfly. Hold the butterfly so the body is slightly raised in the middle and glue down. Before you glue you may want to experiment with how raised you want the middle of the butterfly to be. The more it's raised (folded up) the more straight up the wings will be. Try to find a happy medium between a raised body and a nice angle to the wings.




Congratulations, you're done with the pop up! Now decorate the front and add a greeting. I would love to see what you've done with the pop-up so don't hesitate to email me pictures of your pop-up creations.

Click here to email me.

Download the cutting lines by clicking here.

Click here to download the Dragonfly Pop-Up Terms of Use

Cards for sale in New Hartford, CT

If you live in New Hartford, CT and you are interested in purchasing my Christmas pop-up cards then you are in luck! They are now for sale at the Beekley library in New Hartford, CT.

Below is an excerpt from the Beekley Library's email newsletter:

Artist’s Holiday Cards for Sale at The Beekley

Mary Beth Cryan -- illustrator, designer, and pop-up paper engineer -- has donated a selection of her holiday greeting cards, featured in the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) Holiday Collection, to the Library. She has also signed the back of each individual card. The Library is selling the cards at the same price that you would pay if you bought them at MoMA’s gift shop or online through the museum’s catalog, and all proceeds will go to the Library.

Mary Beth Cryan grew up in New Hartford and attended Bakerville and Antolini Schools. She graduated from Regional #7 and then from Syracuse University. She currently lives in Rhode Island, where she works as a freelance artist. She has designed toys, surface pattern designs, greeting cards, gift bags, and a children’s pop-up book that will be published in 2008. To learn more about her work, visit her website at http://marybethcryan.com/

It all started with Matthew Reinhart

This whole "Princess of Pop-ups" thing started about a year ago. Matthew Reinhart was kindly signing his book Cinderella that I had just purchased. I have done work for Matthew and Robert so they are familiar with my paper engineering. As you can see, Matthew referred to me as the pop-up princess. Well, a friend saw the book and that friend told another friend. Word spread. There was laughing and then after very little resistance I resigned myself to the fact that yes indeed, I am "The Princess of Pop-ups." I do love pop-ups and I've been looking for an excuse to buy a tiara. My new book coming out in Fall 2008 has a page dedicated to princesses and it is, of course, a pop-up book. So, since no one else is claiming the title, or at least the web domain, I am now "The Princess of Pop-ups." So don't be surprised if the next time you see me I'm wearing pink taffeta and a tiara!

MoMA Cards

Just in case you haven't bought your cards yet for this holiday season, here's a reminder that my pop-up cards are now on sale at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art in New York City). This is the first year that I've designed for the MoMA but not the last! I will have two more pop-up cards in the Holiday 2008 line.

Click here to buy the cards!

Pop-up University

People are always asking me how I learned paper engineering. Well, the good news is you don't have to spend a million dollars at a pop-up university (wouldn't it be fun if there was such a thing) all you have to do is buy a couple of really good books on the subject. I own, and highly recommend, "Paper Engineering for pop up books and cards" by Mark Hiner and " Elements of Pop-ups" by David Carter and James Diaz. I also learned by taking apart pop-up books. I own many pop-up books. Unfortunately, most of them are in pieces!

Pop-Up cards designed for Up With Paper

Here are four cards I illustrated and engineered for the Up With Paper Treasures line.

How Mary Beth Cryan became a Paper Engineer and Renaissance Woman

This article appeared in the May 2007 Movable Book Society Newsletter.

By Gina Lapp-Rincker, submitted by Carolyn Hughes, Cincinnati, OH.

What makes a good paper engineer? Creativity, drawing skills, good spatial reasoning, an understanding of geometry, and perhaps even good math skills. These are all qualities possessed by the latest up and coming pop-up artist, Mary Beth Cryan.

But how did Cryan obtain all the above-mentioned skills, many of which come from different personality types? It was not a lifelong determination to be a pop-up artist, but rather a series of happenstance's. Cryan's love of art started at an early age and she says that she became an artist "as soon as she was old enough to hold a crayon without eating it." Further, she has the benefit of being the daughter of a father who is a professional photographer and an art teacher turned stay-at-home-mom. Consequently, she had an early introduction to art and attributes the reason she loves art to her mother's influence and the many art projects they did together. Cryan continued her study of art in college earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from Syracuse University.

While Cryan reported that she's always been good at math, it was a recent exposure to geometry that helps her in the engineering portion of her pop-up work. Oddly enough, she had this review of geometry as part of prep course for getting into a Master's of Business Administration (MBA) program, which at one time she thought was necessary for starting her own business. She has since discovered the MBA unnecessary as evidenced by her success in just two short years of having her own business. Further, her previous position as a toy designer gave her vital experience that she still draws on. It was at this job at Club Earth that she not only designed toys with an earth theme, but also did packaging design that allowed her to learn how to communicate with printers, another skill that she uses as a paper engineer.

The final twist of fate that led Cryan to paper engineering occurred just three years ago when she was looking for a book on origami, a lifelong interest, and instead stumbled upon one for paper engineering. It was then that she applied all of the above-mentioned skills and taught herself the art of paper engineering. She received encouragement to continue when she attended a Movable Book Society conference; she took some sample pieces and showed them to the leaders in the field who confirmed that she was indeed talented. This gave her the confidence to cold-call companies who use paper engineers and ask them if they could use her services.

All you need to do is peruse her website (marybethcryan.com) to see that Mary Beth Cryan is a modern day renaissance woman with her fingers in many different forms of creative expression: illustrations, product and toy design, T-shirt designs, and pop-up art. While she wears many hats (paper engineer, product designer, surface pattern designer), her favorite role is that of illustrator and she believes that paper engineering makes her "a unique illustrator." What's different about Cryan though is that she breathes a breath of fresh air in to the market with a focus on more feminine illustrations and subject matter. She has wisely applied this approach to pop-up greeting cards, which are more often purchased by women. Looking through her creations you will find whimsical illustrations of modern women doing distinctly womanly things: window shopping, trying on shoes, getting a makeover, and pushing a jogging stroller.

If you've been shopping for pop-up greeting cards you've probably seen her work. She has 8 cards on the market through Up with Paper, and many more in the production stages that should be out this year. Among her greeting card creations include a woman on a piano, a fishbowl, a gumball machine, a slot machine, and a tea party. If you haven't yet seen her work, you can check out the pop-up cards she designed for Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for the 2007 Christmas season. But her future as a pop-up artist surely will not stop there. She has aspirations to have her own line of greeting cards and a book. Further, she plans to continue to infuse feminine themes and paper engineering. And as an artist who is true to her own voice, she will only do work in which she does the illustrations as well as the engineering. With such goals she will surely have a great impact on the field, perhaps giving the world of paper engineering a much-needed woman's touch.

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