Pop-Up Cards

Pros: explains how to make several types of interactive cards, easy to follow step by step instructions

Cons: instructions and templates are separate, so you'll be doing a lot of page turning when making your cards

This book teaches how to make 6 types of pop-up cards in addition to sliders, flappers, spinners and cards that spring (the pop-up piece moves into view as the card opens). The instructions are fairly clear, but you'll want to keep them handy - at least the first time you try a new type of pop-up. Of the four cards I recreated, three turned out wonderfully. The fourth didn't, as I glued where I shouldn't have. So caution is necessary, as glue in the wrong place will ruin most of these designs.

The designs themselves are attractive. Printable colour templates for all the cards are available at the back of the book. There's a good range of occasions covered (Birthday, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Thank You and Wedding/Baby) and a decent number of examples for each technique taught.

My only complaints are that you have to flip through the book a lot as the basic lessons, card instructions and templates are all in different areas and that there are no ideas for the fronts of the cards, only the insides. Also, given the difficulty of some of the techniques, some of them are easier than others to modify. For example, using a car and garage slider card instead of the Penguin on an Ice Floe would be easy. You're not taught enough about the mechanics behind pop-ups to create your own free hand designs though.

Final verdict: the book teaches some great techniques and has enough variety and templates to keep you busy for a while.