Hello and happy Leap Day! An extra day this year also means an extra day of inspiration, and today we are thrilled to have Ilina Crouse joining us on the blog with a super clever and fun pop-up project. Take it away, Ilina...!

It's a privilege and honor to be a guest on the Hero Arts blog today. When I first saw the little 3-D house die I knew I had to have it. Aren't those little houses just the cutest, both the original one and the new two story one? Being surrounded by architects and engineers growing up (and being an engineer myself) different ideas for 3-D projects started popping up in my head. One of those ideas is this pop-up house card.

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I used the new 3-D Two-Story House Fancy Die to create my card (the front and the pop-up) along with the coordinating set Home Sweet Home. Besides the die/set I used Soft Pool Shadow Ink, Intense Black Ink, Pool Mixed folded cards, Acetate cards and the Dotted Hello stamp. (Supplies are linked below this post.)

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Now I will share the instructions how to make the pop-up house.

1. To make the pop up house you will use three die cuts of the house -- one for the house, one for the roof (if you want your roof and the rest of the house be from same pattern then you will need only two die cuts) and one for the supporting parts for the pop up. On the house you can stamp and color the windows and different accessories you would like to use.

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2. You will cut the two die cuts for the house and roof (I cut those from yellow and black patterned paper) as shown on the pictures below.

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3. I cut the third die cut from white card stock and I am using it as anchor for my pop up. You will cut this piece as shown on the pictures below and use it as support/anchor for the roof and the foundation of the house.

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4. Now that you have all the needed parts you can start assembling your house. Adhere the roof together and then adhere the tabs on the bottom of the house (the front and one side), then trim off the part that is behind the door.

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5. Adhere the roof anchor inside the house as shown on the pictures, then adhere the roof on top of the house.

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6. Test fold the house to make sure that it can fold flat for the inside of your card.

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7. Now your house is ready to be incorporated in your card. For the inside of my card I cut piece of patterned paper measuring 8" x 5" and scored it at 4" on the longer side. Then marked on the scored line the front corner of the house where I would like it to be. Two  corners of the house will align with the score line so the house can fold. I turned my patterned paper upside down and drew lines under 45 degrees from the scored line. I marked the length of the "walls" and using an Exacto knife I cut the lines so I could slide though the tabs that we made on the bottom of the house.

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8. After I slid the tabs in the slots I just cut, I used adhesive to secure them in place. Fold your patterned paper to make sure again that the house folds down properly.

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9. Now you can adhere your pop-up house on the inside of your note card and decorate the front of your card.

I hope that I inspired you to create something outside of the box today.

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks to Ilina for sharing this fun project tutorial!

This is our second post of the day -- scroll down or click here for more information on our Leap Day sale. It's a sale so special it only happens once every four years!

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