Cura Te Pop-up Cards...Animated!

Trying to capture the spirit of a pop-up card in a still photo, is tricky. One has to catch the shadows just right to show off the depth. The flash seems to wash out and flatten the picture. (Have you figured out yet that I am not a professional photographer?) Even a good picture doesn't give you the sense of motion, so I thought I'd try my hand at some animated gif files to show off my cards. First, there's the Portal card on the right as you see it at the Cura Te Ipsum Store. Neal Bailey did a nice job with the shadows on this photograph and others at the store. Try out the animated Portal to see it in motion.





My newest card, not yet on the market ("I know exactly how you feel" ) features an early panel from the comic in which the main character meets an incarnation of himself for the first time. My picture looks flat, but the animated version shows you the card in action.

I will continue my quest to bring art from the comic Cura Te Ipsum, by Neal Bailey into the 3 dimensional realm. Hats off to the artist, Dexter Wee, for providing me with so much inspiring material! I can't wait to cut up his drawings; pyramids, mushroom clouds, Great Wall of China, and other surprises...

Pop-up Card Workshop

Join me for my Pop-up Card Workshop!

Sat, June 18th, 10am – 12pm

Isobel's Clubhouse: 1542 NW 14th, Portland, OR

Description: Artist and art instructor Linda Candello will be at Isobel's Clubhouse Saturday, June 18th to teach her Pop up Card techniques. Learn basic paper engineering techniques to make cards that jump out of the page! This class is best for 9 year olds through adults; kids 9 and up can attend with or without caregiver. Class fee includes all supplies and is $13. Class is limited to 12 participants. To register please send an email to laura@zcommunitycenter.org or phone 503-224-4636.

Cura Te Ipsum Comic Art in Pop-up

I've recently taken interest in following web comics. Not ever having been a fan, this a totally new experience. I got hooked on Neal Bailey's Cura Te Ipsum, the story of Charlie Everett and his multiple counterparts in an undetermined number of realities. I'm taken by the defined lines in comic art and see the possibilities of translating the work into 3 dimensions. This picture is a combination of two posters you'll find on the website. The portal in Cura Te Ipsum, or rather the gateway to the other Charlies and other universes, provides an opportunity to express the pictures in multiple layers. Of course the drama of a gun pointed at the reader hints at the "coming at you" feeling anyway. I'm looking at comic art in a whole new light.

Update: Neal Bailey has made a video of my pop-ups so that you can see them in action!

Note: This is unauthorized fan art.

Barbie's Dreamhouse

I wanted to do a collage pop-up for my last day of the Paper Arts Series. So I surprised myself by making this card. My older sisters had Barbies, but I had Skipper, her plain Jane little sister. With no boyfriend, I might add. My friend Lisa had the Barbie Townhouse, and the Barbie Jet Plane. My Skipper doll hung out with the groovy, granola Sunshine Family. Life in the slow lane, for sure. My friend Ann had, treasure of all treasures, the Barbie Styling head. A giant Barbie head that came with hairbrushes and make-up so that you could make her all pretty. I never got one.

So when I found this giant Barbie in a big print sample book, I decided to decorate her my own way. I'm fond of the hummingbird earring and the wise old owl suggesting....what? There are brains behind the blonde? Note as well the bird of paradise perched just behind the woodpecker tapping on her head.

Blue Plate Special

For some reason, I got it in my head that the Easter bunny should deliver a hearty breakfast instead of chocolate, peeps and jelly beans, so I decided to create some crocheted delights small enough to stuff into plastic eggs.



For the egg, I simply crocheted a round and increased my stitches until it was egg size. I did the yolk the same way, but added a little stuffing before sewing onto the white. I made the bacon crinkly by slipping a stitch instead of single crochet every 5 stitches or so, every other row. To make the coffee cup, I started with a round of 6 stitches and then steadily increased until it was the width that I wanted. I did one row in the front loop only to make the cup go up. I kept going until I got the height. The coffee itself is made the same way as the egg. I use stuffing to make it look like a full cup. The toast is a square with brown stitched around the outside. The butter pat is a square also. Maybe I'll make some orange marmalade next time.

Bon apetit!

Vintage Pop-Up Valentines

Valentine Greetings:
Down love's highway let us stray,
We two forever, side by side,
The honey-moon will light our way,
And Cupid will be our only guide.




















A friend of mine found these old pop-up cards in a box of family memorabilia. They appear to be from the 1930's. I love how ornate and lacy they are. The detailed cutting around the bower makes for nice shadows.

Pop-up Valentine Workshop

How to mend a broken heart? Cut it up and glue it to some cardstock! Join me on Saturday, February 6th from 2 to 4 for my Pop-up Valentine workshop at the Modern Spool studio. Nothing says "Don't you think I'm cool?" like a pop-up work of art. I hope you can join me!