I know Valentine's Day is all about telling your loved ones how much you care for them, but I decided to take a little time for myself and my art this heart-filled season. I love to make books for different holidays because I like to decorate for the seasons with art.
The best part of making books, though, is that I can close them up and save them for next year.
So, I made this pop-up Valentine's Day book that would make the perfect wreath on a door!
Now, the toughest part of this book was making the covers. Anyone who has cut book board knows that is is hard enough to cut a straight line, let along a curved shape, like a heart. It was as trying as it sounds. But, slow and steady wins the race! To clean up the edges I used regular sandpaper.
I then traced the book board onto my book cloth and added some decorative stitching, piercing the sewing holes with any awl, and then sewing with embroidery floss. Next I needed to cover the book board with the book cloth. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, the rounded corners are a bit tricky. There are many ways to cover rounded corners but most have a pleated appearance. I trimmed the pleats of mine to reduce bulk.
The inside pages are made up of four individual squares that were folded in half both ways, and then folded along one diagonal (done in the opposite direction of your previous folds). The diagonal fold should fold inward. I then cut each folded sheet into a heart shape and pasted them back-to-back.
Et voilà! -Paige
