Pop-Ups are Hard.
After creating the landscapes and Goddess images I need to make them Pop! The whole impetus for this art in the first place. However, I've never made a pop-up book, barely even making pop-up cards. I occasionally made pop-up landscapes for my toys as a child, but that is a distant memory. Thankfully YouTube and the library exist. And my mother-in-law gifted me this vintage instruction book.
Not wanting to destroy the progress I had already made I spent a few weeks practicing different pop-up techniques. I watched a ton of youtube videos and read through a pile of craft books from the Library. Thinking in motion, folds, and cuts was a new frontier for my mind. The time and space objects travel through as the book opens matters a lot. It was exceptionally complex. In the end I attempted different techniques on different pages of the Altar.
Maiden
I worked in order, starting with the Maiden Pop-Up. I made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot. If I was going to make another Pop-Up Altar I would start differently. I created the two pop-up panels in front of the Goddess first. This made it later, very difficult to place the Goddess into the scene. I also attached the panels without thinking through how the top page would need to pull them for them to pop. It was tricky fitting in the mechanical pieces of paper necessary for the effect to work. In the end I'm happy with the blooming flower and tiered images. The Goddess is still a little wonky, requiring a little extra love to stand away from the page and delicate maneuvering to put her away. Live and Learn.
Mother
Lessons learned, I simplified and executed the Mother Pop-up much better. I placed the Goddess on a platform, which makes her float above the landscape. I measured the brackets before glueing anything down, so she lies down and pops up smoothly. I then added the flowers on the right to add depth to her landscape. The effect is very pleasing, and kept the integrity of my favorite landscape image.
Crone
For the final altar I took a different approach, creating this cascading, accordion mechanism that the Goddess pops out with. I saw the idea in one of the library books, and I really liked how it added a unique quality to the altar. I worked slowly, following the guide in the book. The original idea was for a ocean-themed birthday card, but the idea worked well for me. The Crone is nestled in this mountain-starscape, which pulls out to rest on the base. I got lucky and found a card stock cover to a magazine that was beautiful on both side; sturdy and on theme for the altar.
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