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Thursday, May 26, 2016

Darth Vader Pop Up Card - Matthew Reinheart Design

Stephen is a die hard fan of Star Wars, so, for his birthday, I had to make him a card accordingly.
My gift to him this year was, among other knick-knacks, two of Matthew Reinheart's Star Wars pop up books.
 In search of these, I came across his website and found this amazing DIY Darth Vader pop up card and I immediately decided it was perfect for giving his books as a present.

The design is entirely Metthew Reinhart's and I do not take credit for it, I just turned it into an SVG to make it Cricut friendly. I encourage you to go to his web page and check out the other amazing DIY projects he has there for free or even more, buy his books, they are amazing!!!
Now to the project itself.
The front of the card is Neenah Metallic Finish Cardstock in Excalibur Steel color with scattered stars cutouts. The backing is a Mirrored Sheet by Tim Holtz, a very reflective thin kind of cardstock. As you all know, I like to work the back panels to make them protrude through the cutouts, using my Cuttlebug.
To achieve this, use the following sandwich (from bottom to top):
A plate
B plate
Neenah Cardstock facing down
Tim Holtz Cardstock facing down
Embossing Mat
B plate.
This will push the back cardstock through the cutouts to the same level as the front panel. You can completely ignore this step, I just think it looks a lot cleaner.

The wording and the number are Star Jedi Font in case you want different numbers. I used two offset paths in yellow and orange to make them look like the letters were lit (I guess I'm the only one that sees that, LOL). I popped them up with some mounting foam tape.

This whole panel was raised using fun foam. This is a trick from Jenniffer McGuire and it keeps the panel flat.
I used a blue color fun foam cut a bit smaller than the front panel
and adhered it with double sided tape (ATG gun)
The inside of the card, and yes I said it already, but I will say it again, is Matthew Reinhart's pop up design.
I printed the sentiment of the base layer on my laser printer and foiled it using Gold Deco Foil on my very inexpensive laminator. I tried all kinds of paper but Neenah Exact Index 110 lb cardstock was the one that held the toner the best, giving me crisp sharp letters and stars.

For Vader, I used my white Signo gel pen on my Adjustable pen holder From Chomas Creations to draw the outlines. Pilot Choose and Sakura Gelly Rool are also good choices. I then added accents by hand to make it appear shiny. I also used a Sakura Black Glaze pen to add even more shine.
I put some Mod Podge on the eyes of the mask to make them more dimensional. Using a gel pen I drew some accents and painted the chest control panel buttons and then added Mod Podge for shine and dimension also.

The card folds beautifully and it takes only a few minutes to make. Visit Matthew Reinhart's web site for instructions on how to put it together.
Don't forget to comment and subscribe!

Instructions:
You will get 2 separate SVGs and one PDF file

  1. Front Panel (with stars and opening credits) cut and assemble
  2. Vader Character:
    • Change the first layer to score (blue lines)
    • Change the second layer to write and use a color other than white (these are the glueing guides and you won't see them)(red lines)
    • Change the third layer to write and do this in white
    • Attach all layer to the black base layer
    • Cut and assemble
  3. Inside panel: a PDF file to print and then cut using a paper trimmer or scissors. (too big for print then cut, also you get a better resolution printing from a PDF file) Print, cut , foil and assemble
  4. Enjoy!

Supplies List


     
     
     
     
     
 

If links don´t seem to open, please right click and select "open link in a new tab", it should take you to a save file dialog. Let me know in the comments if links don´t work, thanks.

5 comments:

  1. Very cool! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  2. My grandson would love this card. I tried to download the svgs, but when I try to open it, I get a notepage with just code. any idea what I'm doing wrong?

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  3. Thank you very much, Omar. My son turns 37 this year and is a Star Wars fan, so I guess that's a sign that I should give the file a go!

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  4. Will these files open in Design Space at the right size? I want new numbers, which I know how to do in SCAL, but when I open I don't know the correct dimensions.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is amazing. I have a lot of young men to make cards for and they all love Star Wars. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete

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