So my brain kept at it and here's what I've come up with so far. When it's closed, it's akin to a pack of cards – contained and compact. I made the lid 1/4" shorter so it gives me something to grip when separating the two pieces.
Then I simply slide the top upwards (cue Transformers theme music), bend the top backwards, then slide it back down.
Ta-dah! It stands by itself!
It still needs a bit of work because all I did was reduce the bottom overall. However, that doesn't truly allow for proper paper tolerances, as seen by the bowing along the length and over-snug fit in the depth. I'd like to improve my understanding of proper calculations one day.
Here's another concept, but it works better in theory. I based it on Allison Patrick's Phone Book Letter Holder, found in Ann Martin's All Things Paper book. I've played with this before and keep thinking there are more applications for it.
Again, my main goal was a 2 for 1 usage – carrying and displaying. From left to right:
1) I started off making accordion folds with tabbed slits in the top folds.
2) The tabs allow me to slide in the cards very easily.
3) Large panels are on the ends, which I adhered to the "book cover" with a glue stick. I zig zagged back and forth along the spine with white glue, then adhered the remaining panel to the cover.
4-5) Opening up the book allows the "pages" to fan out, making it easy to pick up a card while giving an usual display.
6) The spine's width is 3/8" and is quite full when loaded with just 10 cards, which is why I'm not enthusiastic about this idea. Also, the front of the cards are not visible at a glance. Ah well, it was fun to test it out anyway.
Has anyone else wanted to carry and display cards at an event before? What did you use?
