On Tuesday we published a template for a meander book and we got a request in the comments to see one of our books. We aim to please when we can, so this is a little meander birthday book we would like to share.
The book was made with a single sheet of 12"x12" card stock cut down to 11 1/4" x 11 1/4". That card stock was scored at 3 3/4" and 7 1/2" in both directions, and then cut in a spiral as shown in the template, and accordion folded on the score lines.
There were more pages available in the book than needed, so in two places two pages were glued together. (There are two places where the book would naturally open to what would seem like the back of the pages rather than the front; these two places were chosen for being glued closed.) Pages were then stamped and sponged and adorned with "Happy" and "b-i-r-t-h-d-a-y" and butterflies. The butterflies were cut from Elizabeth Park papers, the flowers are from Studio G, and the letters were die cut and decorated with Copic markers.
Finally, two covers were made from 4" square coasters covered with a piece of Elizabeth Park paper. That paper was sponged with the same colors as the inside of the book (the butterflies were perfect four the project, but we wanted more "autumn" colors.) The front was then simply decorated with piece of ribbon and a butterfly from a Martha Stewart stamp, colored with Copics. (This is going to be mailed across the country so mailability was a prime consideration in its embellishment.)
The concept and finished product are great - but how do you do the folds - this is worse than a Chinese puzzle - my fingers are in knots and I know I will not go to bed tonight until I get this right - please put me out of my misery.
ReplyDeleteHugs Desire
Desire,
ReplyDeleteStart with a valley fold on the top left score line of the spiral. Then follow the spiral downward, then to the right, then up, then to the left, and finally down, alternating valley and mountain folds. The "pages" should fold onto the previous pages, but the folds won't all be on the same side of the book (sometimes the fold will be on the right, left, or bottom instead of the top like the first fold)
The "book" isn't a standard book in that its pages all open the same way, but rather the pages "meander" in the direction they open.