Sliceform Snowflake Happy New Year Card

Time to get crafting with this time-sensitive Twixtmas project - a sliceform snowflake Happy New Year greeting. Make it today, post it a.s.a.p. - and surprise its recipient in the New Year. This flat-pack Snowflake card conveniently fits into a C6 envelope.

If you have never assembled a sliceform, then this card makes for a friendly intro to a nifty papercraft phenomenon - where craft meets mathematics. 

Here is your free Happy New Year greeting:

SliceformSnowflakeHappyNewYear1of2.pdf

SliceformSnowflakeHappyNewYear2of2.pdf

SliceformSnowflakeHappyNewYear1of2.svg

SliceformSnowflakeHappyNewYear2of2.svg

To assemble:

1 Print and cut sliceform components.

2 Glue like pieces back-to-back, aligning edges. You can use a glue stick or thinly-applied PVA glue.

3 Join the centre slots of the the two base pieces.

4 Insert pieces to either side (slots at bottom of piece). Turn the structure over.

5 Insert the remaining pieces to either side. (You will have to gently clear the way and coax the pieces into place - that's why it's called paper manipulation!) 

6 Flatten the hinges to fold the sliceform flat. Fits into a C6 envie. Gift tag included.  

Have a happy and creative 2019! Have fun learning new craft techniques - this is my first sliceform (been meaning the crack them for ages). :D

Mitten Milk Carton '18

Here's a cute gift packaging idea that can be used beyond Christmas and into the new year - a mini milk carton with a mitten motif. 

Here is your free gift box:

Mini-MilkCarton18.pdf

Mini-MilkCarton.svg

To assemble: print, cut, score the fold lines. Crease the fold lines. Seal the side tabs with d/s tape, tuck in the base closure. Fold the top of the milk carton, folding in the "eaves" and securing the top closure with d/s tape.

Season's Greetings - have a happy and creative '19!

Mitten Pillow Box

Need some last-minute gift packaging? Here's a super-cute pillow box with a pair of mittens motif, plus gift tag. There's a bit of playful dimensional interest - the mittens extend beyond the box edge. : ) It's snowing in the background!

Here's your freebie gift box:

MittenPillowBox.pdf

MittenPillowBox.svg

As you can see from the pic above, the colours are much more cheerful than my low-light photography would have you believe!

Have a great holiday season!

The Art of the Fold, by Hedi Kyle and Ulla Warchol. Review.

The Art of the Fold

How to Make Innovative Books and Paper Structures

By Hedi Kyle and Ulla Warchol

Laurence King Publishing

Hardback, £24.99

ISBN 9781786272935

Star rating: *****

This spellbinding papercraft book is a labour of love by renowned book artist Hedi Kyle. In The Art of the Fold, the magician reveals a careers-worth of secrets – all her very best innovative paper-folding moves.  Although this book deals with bookcraft – a very specialized field – the author’s folding tricks can be applied to general papercrafting – including cardmaking and box-making. The designs all possess wow-factor architectural beauty – and yet are achievable via clear step-by-step illustrations and accompanying instructional text. The co-author, incidentally, is the author's daughter - so this book is very much a family affair.

The book is divided into five sections: The Accordion (yay! Pleats), Blizzards (these are books that have pocket- or boxlike enclosures), One-Sheet Books (Booklet Fold Star Pop-up – a gift for cardmakers), Albums, and Enclosures.

Many of the designs incorporate the surprise factor – such as flag books, “which may be described as a portable, expandable file that can display an array of materials in an animated way.” Clock the Wheel of Fortune – a starlike marvel.  In the Enclosures section, you will find the Sling Fold – a book that’s a bendy card, and also the Telescoping Ziggurat, similar in effect to a quilled shape. All in all, it is origami meets pattern-making in an irresistible mix.

This book would make a delightful gift for a papercrafter. It would be great to dip into on a wintry evening or crafty weekend. Lots of ideas to mine for cards and keepsakes.

Note: I was supplied with a review copy of this book.

Cutting Machine Crafts, by Lia Griffith. Review.

Cutting Machine Crafts

Cricut®_,  Sizzix®, or Silhouette®

Projects to Make with 60 SVG Files

By Lia Griffith

Clarkson Potter 2018

Paperback £14.99 UK/$16.99 US/ $22.99

ISBN 978-1-9848-2235-2

Star rating: ****

Books on digital crafts are few and far between, so this new title by Lia Griffith is cause for celebration. It includes 50 projects for home-makes, party decorations, and giftables. Not all the projects are papercrafts – many are for vinyl  – but there’s plenty to keep papercrafters very happy. Lia Griffith is a prolific name designer with a team that helps to make the magic happen.

If you have an electronic cutting machine, you know that SVG design files (scalable vector graphics) provide the instructions for your machine to cut out the design outlines. SVG files can be accepted by many brands of cutting machine, which makes this book possible. The SVG files are accessed by going to a link on Lia Griffith’s design studio website, where the design downloads can be accessed by a code. The physical book is a “look book” which displays the designs (lovely photography) and also provides step-by-step how-tos for project assembly.

The projects are exquisite – they are stylish, modern, and totally professional-looking in appearance. My one big gripe about the book is that instructions for accessing the design files should appear prominently – and repeatedly – throughout the book. How-to access the templates is mentioned inconspicuously in the upfront matter of the book. Detective work should not be required!

Projects are divided into three categories: For the Home, For the Kids, and For Celebrations. Papercraft projects include Tropical Leaves (fabulous cheese plants and ferns), Southwest Cacti  (fun 3D plants), Mushroom Meadow layered picture, Boxwood Greenery (fun topiary plants on a Styrofoam base), Meadow Cloche (lovely bell  jar-enclosed scene),  Fall Leaves (a wreath project), and Paper Lanterns.  Lia Griffith is particularly strong on paper flowers – elegant shapes, 3D effects, but not too fussy. Papercrafts for the kids include paper boats, and bunny goodie boxes. A fun party idea is an “Ice Cream Stand”:  themed projects which include a bunting and ice-cream cone holders.

Cutting machines have revolutionized papercrafting. Let’s hope that there are more titles like this one in the pipeline.

Note: I was provided with a review copy of this book.