Here's a happy leprechaun who's found his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! We used a pop-up piece that's cut separately from cardstock so you can make any card a pop-up! It can be re-sized and trimmed so any graphic can be used on a bi-fold card, a quarter-fold card, or a print to the edge card! As long as the card opens from the side, this piece can be used. Go to the link at the bottom to get the template and make pop-ups to your heart's content! When the template page opens, simply right click and choose "Save Picture As...". Make sure you choose .GIF (or .BMP) as the file type and save it to the directory of your choice. MATERIALS Cardstock Glue or glue stick Double stick tape (optional, but works better than a glue stick for adhering the pop-up piece to the inside of the card - especially if you need to reposition it.) Craft knife Cutting mat or heavy piece of cardboard Clipart NOTE: If you use a dark background you should protect this project by applying a coat of PYMII. INSTRUCTIONS 1) Open a blank greeting card in your graphics program so that the opening is on the side. Design the outside of your card. Save the file. 2) Import the template (see link below) for the pop-up piece and place it on the inside of your card. You're only placing it here temporarily to figure out the sizing for your pop-up. 3) Position the pop-up piece so that the center lines up with the fold on the inside of your card. Now resize length and width as desired. You can trim the piece later if need be. Make sure you make note of the measurements of the pop-up piece once you have it the size you want. 4) Copy and paste the pop-up piece into a blank page in portrait orientation and double check your measurements. Save this file. Now add the clipart that will be attached to the pop-up piece and make certain that the dimensions from left to right are about the same as the pop-up. The height can be higher. Place this clipart on the top half of the page. Leave the pop-up piece on the bottom half of the page. 5) Print the page on cardstock. 6) Go back to your greeting card and design the inside. Leave the pop-up template in place on that document until your have finished designing the inside of the card. This will allow you to make certain that your design does not interfere with the pop-up piece. Once you have the inside of the card designed, you can delete the pop-up piece from that document and print out your card. 7) Cut out the pop-up piece and the clipart that will be attached to it. 8) Fold the pop-up piece back on the centerline and fold the two bottom tabs toward the back on their fold lines. Now fold your clipart in half so that the art is on the outside. Glue the clipart to the pop-up piece so that the bottom of the center folds match. Don't worry that parts of your clipart extend past the bottom of the pop-up piece. You'll be trimming this in a minute. 9) Once the clipart is attached to the pop-up template, fold the bottom flaps back on the template and trim any edges off your clipart so that it matches the angle on the bottom of the template. Trim the sides if necessary. If your design requires cutting elements out of the inside of the design, use your craft knife to do this now. 10) Open the greeting card flat on the table or desk and attach two small pieces of double-stick tape (you may have to trim it to make the pieces a little narrower) to the underside of the folded flaps on the bottom of the pop-up. Position the pop-up on the inside of your greeting card so that the center folds match up. Remember that while the fold on the card is a "valley" fold (folds inward) the fold on the pop-up piece will fold in the opposite direction. 11) Close the card and press it flat. If you're not satisfied with the placement of the pop-up, the double-stick tape should allow you to remove and reposition it a couple of times. Glue, on the other hand, will not allow you to reposition as easily and doesn't stick as well as the tape. NOTE: We particularly like to use Scotch Double-stick "Photo and Document Mounting Tape". This tape has a peel-off strip on the outside of the tape that makes it much easier to work with. That's all there is to it! Now that you've got the template for the pop-up piece you can use it for pop-up birthday cakes, holiday treats, planes, trains and automobiles, or anything your imagination can conjure! Pop-Up Template St. Patrick's Day Pop-up Card Instructions For a print friendly version, click on this link. The Crafty PC - Matching Your Creativity with Today's Technology Copyright © 2000-2010 The Crafty PC, LLC. All Rights Reserved.