Pop-up Books: Sneak Peek

September Sneak Peek:
Holiday Cards 2003

These greeting cards from the Museum of Modern Art will make your holidays pop with good will and cheer. Get an exclusive preview here!


Most angels flap their wings and this one is no exception. The challenge with this card was to get the wings to flap yet still have other parts of the angel move.		Of course an angel needs a face! So while the paper engineering is being worked out, different expressions are sketched onto the rough pop-ups to see which one fits best.		Details on the angel’s body are refined, the wings take their final shape and a halo is added.

A color version of the card is made to try and decide what will look best on the background. A decision is also made to have the halo stamped with a bright,gold foil.

The finished card is ready to bring “joy to the world!”

All pop-ups are made from several pieces, folded and glued together to create a 3 dimensional form. The pencil drawings on tissue paper, shown above, will be used for the Poinsettia card. They look messy but will slowly be refined.

The tissue paper with the pencil drawings on it is photocopied onto card stock. The pieces are cut out and assembled into the pop-up. Note the center of the flower (the pieces with the holes in it) because this area will not make the final cut for the design of this card.

Color is quickly sketched onto the white pop-up to give the artist’s an idea of how the Poinsettia will look in color. Note that the design for the center of the flower has changed.

A pop-up is made with solid colors for the petals and leaves. A pink background is added but this will not make the final cut either. (And look at all of those notes at the lower left! Decisions, decisions!)

The finished card brings “season’s greetings!”

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