Origamic Architecture- Kirigami Pop Up card Castle

Origamic Architecture Kirigami pop up card

I love Kirigami pop up cards .Once you get the knack of it they are not too hard to make but you gotta love your knife in this craft!! For those unfamiliar with the term, Origamic Architecture means a 3 Dimensional reconstruction of buildings or objects by cutting and folding paper.Masaharo Chatani a Japanese architect is considered the father of this craft which came into vogue only in the 1980s.

Origamic Architecture Kirigami pop up card

This Origamic architecture pattern is from the net-I had it saved for quite some time and now cant seem to find the link  to the pattern! It originates from Ms Jackie Huang who has kindly permitted me to post this creation made using her pattern.Thank You so much Ms Huang

This Kirigami pop up castle card is  scored, folded and handcut from a single sheet of 180g photo paper. The cutting takes around 15 mins if you are at it at a stretch.I usually do my Kirigami pop up cards in bits and pieces as they need a bit of concentration! The scoring and folding was more time consuming as my pattern didn't have guidelines as to which was mountain or valley fold and I had to experiment a bit.

Somehow I find men are more fascinated with Origamic Architecture-My husband seems to love them!

If you have never tried this craft do try it you just need a craft knife , your kitchen cutting board and sturdy paper!
Just to get your interest piqued,here are some of my older Origamic architecture Kirigami Pop up cards some imperfect ,some ok ,and some like the puppy which I just love! These are different from the usual pop up cards as these involve cutting and folding of a single sheet of paper!
Pop up card Penguins

Pop up card Penguins

Kirigami Flower basket

Kirigami Flower basket Card

Puppy pop up card

Puppy pop up card

Kirigami Pop up Swan

Kirigami Pop up Card Swan

Kirigami Pop up Car

Kirigami Pop up Card Car

Kirigami Pop up rabbit

Kirigami Pop up Card rabbit

I hope I got your interested in this fantastic craft.Here is a link to Marivi who shares some gorgeous free patterns to try.
Tips when making an Origamic architecture card

• If you are a beginner start with a simple pattern with not too many folds and levels
• Score always before folding- this gives a crisp neat effect.
• Use sturdy paper such as photo paper 180 g -220 g works well for me.
• For practice use watercolor drawing papers- they are fairly thick and crease and hold well
• Use a sharp craft knife [ xacto knife] - even a little blunting can jag your edges!
• For fast cutting first cut all the lines that run in one direction[vertically or horizontally]- that way you work fairly fast.
• I you are not sure about the accuracy of your folding in a mutlifold origamic architecture pattern- dont score the central crease- score and fold the other creases and fold over the card and let the central crease occur naturally- this is a little trick I picked up after some frustrated" not folding well" pop up cards!

I hope I have inspired you to try this craft if you have never done it before. I find its almost magical what you can do with a single sheet of paper! Do leave me your comments