XOXO 2019 Origamic Architecture / Kirigami Pop Up Card

XOXO 2019 Origamic Architecture / Kirigami Pop Up Card
XOXO 2019 Origamic Architecture / Kirigami Pop Up Card

I designed this in honor of the 2019 XOXO Fest! Turning a simple sheet of paper into a pop up card is fun and, I encourage you to try it.

If you have a laser cutter or a CNC cutting machine (or “craft cutter”), you can load the SVG file below into your software and, use that to cut out the card.  If you can adjust the power or depth and pressure of your cuts to only cut halfway through, you can also cut the mountain fold lines with your machine.

You can also do it entirely by hand!  Download and print the pattern on a piece of card stock.  If you want to keep the front of your card pretty, reverse the pattern and, you’ll be cutting from the back side.  Just remember to score your fold lines on the correct side.

You can also tape a printed pattern to a piece of card stock and, use a straight pin to poke a small hole at each junction of lines.  You can then remove the pattern and, use a ruler to score and cut your piece.  You can also use this approach with the pin to help make your valley fold score lines on the reverse.

The paper will tend to fold away from a score line.  By scoring mountain folds on the front and valley folds on the back, you will make the card easier to fold.

Here is a video walkthrough of cutting a card by hand:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=JxqydKreiFA

Glowforge Settings

Score: speed 500 / power 9

Cut: speed 250 / power 36

Fast Cut (card outline): speed 500 / power 69

Pattern Files

These files are for personal, non-commercial use only. If you want to produce these to sell or for other business use, please contact me to arrange for licensing terms.

Attribution-Creative Commons NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Right-click and “Save Link As”:

XOXO 2019 Pop Up Card Pattern SVG

XOXO 2019 Pop Up Card PDF (original zine page with pattern)

Check out the whole XOXO 2019 zine

Got the bug? Make a Flower Pop Up Card

Related: 2015 XOXO Pop Up Card

Phoenix Pop Up Card

Phoenix Pop Up Card by Andrew Crawford
Phoenix Pop Up Card by Andrew Crawford

My latest OA-style pop up card project is this little phoenix. After several experiments, I decided that a black background really helped to make the bird pop. I came up with an interesting approach to make that happen. The color is printed on a polyester sticker that goes on the stock, is cut, then weeded. The result is pretty spectacular.

Another great discovery was that the pearlescent stock I used for the backing cards engraves to a metallic gold. It’s better in person than in the photos. My original plan had been to stamp and emboss but, the engraving is perfect and easy.

The finished cards are 3.5″ by 2.25″ and, fit perfectly in some metallic black mini envelopes I found.

I made a few dozen of them to share.

Phoenix Pop Up Card by Andrew Crawford
Phoenix Pop Up Card
Phoenix Pop Up Card with bottlecap for scale
Phoenix Pop Up Card with bottlecap for scale
Phoenix 2019 Card Front
Phoenix Card Front
Phoenix Card Back
Phoenix Card Back
More Phoenix Pop Up Cards
More Phoenix Pop Up Cards
Frozen Phoenix by Andrew Crawford
Frozen Phoenix

Westward Ho Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card

Westward Ho Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card by Andrew Crawford

There have been a lot of changes in downtown Phoenix in the last few years. A lot of history remains. I thought it would be fun to make a pop up design of a local building or two. So, I had a go at the Westward Ho.

The Westward Ho is a landmark of downtown Phoenix. The hotel with office space and restaurants was built in 1928 and, remained the tallest building in Arizona until 1960. The steel tower and antenna were added in 1949 to broadcast the first television station in Phoenix. The building was converted to housing for the elderly and mobility-impaired in 1980.

Westward Ho Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card by Andrew Crawford
Westward Ho Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card by Andrew Crawford

Keyboard.io Logo Twisted Crest Pop Up Card

Keyboard.io Logo Crest OA

Another one of the twisted-crest style origamic architecture pop up cards I did early last year. This is modeled on the logo for Keyboard.io, which makes a really great heirloom-grade ergonomic keyboard (the Model 01). This one was done on the new Glowforge, which made some of the finer details a lot easier.

Keyboard.io Logo Crest OA
Keyboard.io logo 180-degree open twisted crest origamic architecture pop up card.
Keyboard.io Logo Crest OA
Keyboard.io logo 180-degree open twisted crest origamic architecture pop up card.

Make a 180º Open Twisted Crest OA/Kirigami Pop UP Card

Flower 180º Open Twisted Crest Pop Up Card
Flower 108º Open Twisted Crest Pop Up Card
Flower 108º Open Twisted Crest Pop Up Card

I have been having fun making these 180º open twisted crest style origamic architecture pop up cards. This is a clever technique and, I wanted to invite you to join in the fun.  This post includes patterns for my new Flower Crest design, suitable for production on a laser cutter, a craft CNC cutter or, by hand.

Most people will have to actually make one of these cards or watch the folding video to get how it works.  I originally spotted this technique used for several patterns in Keiko Nakazawa’s 2006 book 3D Pop-Up Greeting Cards (link in the resources section below) and, abstracted it to make my own designs. Rather than gluing to backing cards, I prefer to develop other approaches like what I have done here.

Flower Crest OA Backing Card Pattern
Flower Crest OA Backing Card Pattern

Flower Crest OA Card Pattern
Flower Crest OA Card Pattern

https://youtube.com/watch?v=5fVe7R2dNks

Machine Settings

Settings for your cutting machine, whether CNC or laser, will vary depending on your machine, the specific paper stock you are using and other factors.

The paper I used for my cards was 0.014″ thick 105lb cover stock.

On the Glowforge, I used a speed of 500 and power of 72 for the cut lines and a power of 18 for the mountain fold lines.  I scored the valley fold lines on the back by hand with a craft knife.  If you are a Glowforge user, you likely have some experience dialing in settings for a particular material. I color-coded the file so that the GFUI will separate and order the operations on import.

27 July 2019 update: I’m seeing less smoke deposition with lower power and slower speed.  I have switched to using 250 speed and 36 power.

My settings for each operation for the Gazelle cutter are in the MTC file as layer descriptions (D is depth setting on my adjustable blade holder, V is velocity and F is force). Those will probably be mostly useless unless you are also using a Gazelle cutter with an adjustable blade holder.  If you are a craft cutter user, you are likely used to sorting out settings for a given stock.  The layers are in the order you should cut them.  The last two layers are the backing card (one score and the cuts).

Pattern Files

Important: These files are for personal, non-commercial use only.  If you want to produce these to sell or for other business use, please contact me to arrange for licensing terms.

Attribution-Creative Commons NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Flower Crest Pop Up Card PNG (for cutting by hand)

Flower Crest Backing Card PNG (for cutting by hand)

Flower Crest Pop Up Card SVG (optimized for Glowforge)

Flower Crest Backing Card SVG

Flower Crest Pop Up Card MTC (for craft cutters)

Resources

MT Washi Masking Tapes, Set of 20, Bright & Cool Colors

(Also available in bright and cool half sets.)

Lil Chizler scraping tool

3D Pop Up Greeting Cards by Keiko Nakazawa

Glowforge Laser Cutter

Amazon referral links support a local arts organization. Glowforge referral link helps defray my costs of running the studio.

Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Card

Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card

This Viking longship OA/kirigami pop up card was some time in the making. I’m quite happy with it, especially the dragon head.

I made four custom rubber stamps for imprinting the sails (two dragons and two spirals, one for each orientation). The metallic ink takes a long time to dry (like a month). So, I embossed them with clear embossing powder and a heat gun. The tongue is painted red. Lots of fragile bits on these. So, they required careful handling.

Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card (Bottle Cap for Scale)
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card (Bottle Cap for Scale)
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card
Viking Longship Origamic Architecture Pop Up Card

Abstract Origamic Architecture Experiment on the New Glowforge

Abstract Origamic Architecture Experiment

This week saw the arrival of the long-anticipated Glowforge laser cutting machine at the Stud.io. I had it up and running in a couple hours, dialed in some settings for cutting some standard stock last night and, produced this quickie abstract origamic architecture / kirigami this afternoon.  I am super excited to have an easy-to-use laser available!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MwtBlf1rvj4