i've said before that it's not enough for me to know that something can be made - i have to make it. browsing origamists' streams on flickr i came across a pop-up card in the shape of a house, all cut and folded from a single sheet. so that was my evening taken care of :D

having made a couple of sample models from free patterns on the internet i decided to try my hand at pop-up card designer pro and this is my first completed model.

a card for my dad, of his house. a real labour of love, this took many hours designing and prototyping. the right angled roofing sections were an utter pain to fold in the thick paper/cardstock i'd used for my samples. in the end i resorted to the elephant hide paper i used for my pleated tessellations. fairly heavyweight by origami standards this paper has the benefit of withstanding repeated creasing without tearing. in the case of this model sharp creasing is more important than paper weight to keep everything straight and aligned.

for anyone interested in the technique popupology has plenty in the way of inspiration, free patterns to download and fold yourself, along with detailed videos of the delicate folding process.