Pop-Up Cards - Book Review and Giveaway

***The giveaway has ended - congratulations to Linda Patti and Chelsea!***

Mari Kumada's book Pop-Up Cards - Over 50 Designs for Cards That Fold, Flap, Spin and Slide arrived in my mailbox recently.

It's a new title in the Roost Books Make Good: Crafts + Life line... which means the pages are graced with beautiful images that capture the typically elegant Japanese aesthetic.

The beginning pages of the paperback feature large, full-color photographs of card interiors that showcase the included 'action' paper crafting techniques, such as sliding, spinning, and pop-ups. 

The clean and sweet designs are suitable for multiple occasions, such as holidays (Christmas, Halloween, and Easter), birthdays, weddings, and just because... each is colorful and fun. A playful element of surprise occurs when the cards are opened. For example, the springy spiral heart card that's shown on the book cover, a cute penquin sliding across an ice floe, a small girl blowing bubbles, and a hopping bunny.

Each technique is clearly detailed by text, step-by-step photos, and/or diagrams, some of which are located in the latter part of the book. While familiarizing oneself with the pages, there is a fair amount of flipping back and forth to look at instructions, but once immersed in a project, this is not a problem.

Also located in the back are full-size color templates that can be copied and cut out. If you prefer to use your own colored or patterned papers, trace the copied templates instead.

Note that examples for the card fronts are not shown... you'll need to put on your creative cap and add a text greeting and/or correlated image.

The book is geared toward adults and teens who have an interest in card making; very basic paper crafting knowledge will be helpful, such as cutting, measuring, and scoring. The card designs don't fall into the quick and easy category, but instead are satisfying little works of art that will be worth the time spent creating them for the extra special people in your life!

And now the giveaway....

Roost Books sent me a complimentary copy of Pop-Up Cards and is offering two All Things Paper readers in the U.S. or Canada the chance to win a copy. Simply leave a comment on this post to enter. The giveaway ends on Saturday, November 3rd. Winners will be selected by a random number generator and announced here and also on the All Things Paper Facebook page as soon as they have been contacted by email. Good luck!