I've always thought it unfortunate when a birthday coincides with an important religious holiday because something small and personal is then overshadowed by something national or international so that person misses out on a celebration that should be entirely theirs.
Having said that, I am now going to do what I've always found unfortunate.
This year a friend's birthday coincides with Easter and so of the available themes that presented themselves, Easter was foremost so that is what happened. He is not particularly religious, but who doesn't like bunnies? Nobody, that's who.
This card tells two stories of Easter simultaneously in two different scales and different color tones, one commercial and profane, the other sacred. Similar to the way that the meaning of the passion of Easter is subsumed to the ridiculousness of chocolate rabbits, dyed eggs and jelly beans, and marshmallow peeps.
On the first page, three rabbits pop up out of logs. They are large and unseriously colorful and cartoonish. The mechanisms are based on upright hexagons that are attached to the card with two tabs on two opposite sides That leaves four sides unattached and allows the card to be folded flat. I've used this mechanism many times. It makes a good cake. This type of upright hexagon needs to be centered on the central fold. In order to stagger the logs, that is to avoid lining them along the central fold, a strap mechanism is provided to produce two alternate central folds on each side of the real central fold. This comes with certain limitations built in. Because the new folds are now closer to the edges of the card then the content must then be shorter. That means the logs must be short and the rabbits' ears cannot stick up. I learned the logs need not be perfectly vertical. Any degree of lopsidedness is possible as long as the hexagon shape is symmetrical or else that too will be lopsided in mysterious and unpredictable ways. So these little logs tilt toward the viewer with no ill effect.
In the background, in a much smaller scale, and in black and white, is another mechanism, a long flattened "V" upon which Calgary is depicted where Christ is crucified with two thieves. This is not obvious at first. The viewers attention is directed to the bunnies, to the color and to the size and apparent movement of the rabbits. They must study the page a little to notice the drama occurring in the back. It conflicts distressingly.
The second page is a bunch of bunnies flying through a field.
In the background, in black and white and in a much smaller scale to the bunnies, a circular stone rolls to left revealing an open tomb and an empty shelf. The stone actually moves from tomb-closed position to tomb-opened position, but because this content, the bunnies and the cliff with its rolling stone is constructed on a series of concentric "V" mechanisms that do not pop-up into full position until the card is nearly 100% opened, the viewer must peer into the card as it's opening with attention on the stone to see the stone roll. The tomb opening, its doorless doorway, is 1/2 inch wide, the stone moves to the left a full inch. This device was invented for this card. Originally another device was intended, but in that case, the stone arched and that was unacceptable.
The photo below shows the cave in the background, almost entirely hidden by the rows of bunnies. The circular stone is behind the bunnies paw.
The photo below shows the stone beginning to roll away from the opening just as the page is opened.
This is a closeup of the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea as the stone begins to move the left. The action is easy to miss. The rest of the bunnies flip up but that is all.
The third page throws colored eggs in all directions. The palette changes from colored pencils to bright permanent ink. The content twists to an axis perpendicular to the central fold from an axis parallel with the central fold, in fact directly above the central fold of the card except in the opposite direction, like a tent or as a small card placed within a larger card but in the opposite direction. The inner card is mounted on two separate "V" mechanisms, tight in their 45° construction and facing each other so that the two bisected "Vs" touch tips. The smaller card, a square also bisected, is attached to upper and lower edges of opposite halves of the touching "Vs". When the page is fully opened, then both "Vs" are forced completely flat, and the connecting tabs are also flat, and the secondary card which is a square attached to those tabs is also flat, then the central fold of the flattened secondary card is perfectly perpendicular to the central fold of the main card. When the page is closed then the "Vs" are forced closed too in conformity to the cards central fold, transferring energy via the connecting tabs and forcing the secondary inner square card to twist in order for it to also close and then all creases are parallel. The edges of the smaller square card are in the way of effective closing so they are trimmed. That trimming required for closing changes the shape the inner card from a square to a circle. Content is added to both sides of the folding twisting circle, basically a tent which opens completely flat to a circle and closes by twisting and folding in half to a tidy semi-circle. Content can go right off the circle in nearly any direction with few restrictions. It is a very impressive mechanism and it creates utter confusion as the card is opened. The device is used best for things like a car wreck. Marvelously, it all folds back neatly when closed.
As the viewer is struck with eggs spilling out in all directions twisting like an egg tornado and wondering how all that was packed into a flat card, and further how in the world will all that mess ever close back, depicted in black and white and in a smaller scale behind all of that, Jesus of Nazareth ascends in triumphant pose presiding over all, but his astonishing Earth-shattering demonstration of survival of the death experience goes unnoticed because attention is misdirected to the movement of colorful eggs.
Edit: 2015
This site here does not get all that many visitors day to day but among them this card receives the most page views of all and especially around Easter. I noticed it sticks well out among the others in Google stats and whereas the other cards are viewed mostly by Americans this card is not, it has more appeal in countries other than the U.S., at least it is looked at more. Surprisingly more.
I do not often get to see the reaction of people when they open these cards because they are most often mailed but not this one. This card was opened along with several other birthday cards at a party for Paul at my home. Somebody, not me, designated a clear table in a spare bedroom as the place where all the cards were collected.
Somebody, not me, had everyone gather in that room for a rather ritualistic mannered "opening of the cards." Frankly, I'd be happy if Paul would just take them all and open them at home later during a quiet moment. The place was packed Paul invited his friends who I had not met. The room could not hold any more people. There were some twenty to thirty people on and off.
Paul, ever the frustrated actor, put on the character of event presenter, hamming it up. Knowing that the puffy card that is a bit heavier than usual most likely would be a pop-up from me, Paul reserved this card for last. I was standing next to Paul, people packed standing and seated on every available chair, 50/50 male/female. When Paul finished going through the pages there were audible gasps through the room. The women present were especially taken, the men a little bit less effusive.
A woman who I do not know took Paul's arm and tugged for him to come in closer and said directly into his ear, "Paul, do you realize how much somebody loves you?" Paul shrugged like, yeah, so. As intended, Paul completely missed the second story of the passion in black and white. None of the other people in the room caught it. Not one. I did not mention it. For all the ooh and aahs and expressions of amazement not one single person there saw Jesus on all three pages and I am not even sure to this day if Paul ever noticed.
Sometimes people here and there, a lot during Easter, study the card over sessions of several visits. Thailand, Singapore, all over Europe and England. If you would like to try your hand, there is another site available that supports these pages, "construction' for pop-up transition tank. The same mechanism are used repeatedly. The construction examples are for other cards, not this one.
hexagon, The bunny passion card has three different lids, different ways for the bunnies to pop out. One of the logs has a flat center spine with a lid, a V mechanism placed on the lid. The second bunny is directly on the spine so never actually pops up, it fails to fall. The third bunny is glued directly to the inside of the log. Jesus is a V mechanism
chevron is a page of parallel low wall V mechanisms upon which content is glued.
chaos is two V mechanism facing that can be cut out as one piece connected with a folding card for eggs strewn.
The Jesus mechanisms are all V mechanisms. The tomb door is a piston as with a non-flipping door that slides through a guide except this one must twist to follow the V shape. I forget now how I managed that bit for the circular cave stone. It was terribly clever and simple and foolproof whatever it was.
