I love Valentine’s day. I know many people scoff and I certainly would be the first to argue that you should be telling your loved ones a lot more often that they are special to you… That being said, I can’t resist sentiment, red hearts or glitter!
Last year my Valentine’s gift to you was the instructions for a book with a Polymer Clay Mosaic cover. This year I thought I’d make you a Flutter Book (also called an X Book, Maze Book, or a Cut and Fold Book).
To create the graphics for this book, I took a basic red heart and used Adobe Illustrator filters on it. This simple technique creates both the variation and the similarity that hold the book together. In a nod to the Valentines of our youth, the text is an assortment of “Roses are Red” sayings that were collected from around the web. The heart on the last page is white in the middle so that you can write in a message of your choice. (Feel free to add glitter…)
Here is the file, print as many as you’d like. Click the link to get the PDF.
Ginger Burrell Flutter Book Roses Are Red 2014
To assemble your book, first print on the highest print quality that your printer will produce. If you’d like a paper that feels velvety and more special than plain copy paper, try Hammermill Color Copy. (Trust me, you’ll fall in love with this silky paper.) Be careful when you print – my print dialogue kept defaulting to “fit to page” which changes the dimensions and will make your book turn out catty-wampus. It is designed to have the hearts and poems centered on each page.
After printing your page, fold the paper in half (with the images on the outside). Use a bone folder to make the crease sharp.
With your paper still folded, fold each end into the middle fold. Remember to crease every fold. Unfold.
Now fold your paper in half lengthwise and unfold. Again, crease carefully.
Re-fold your paper in half, with the images on the outside, and cut with scissors, very carefully, from the top of the fold, down to the horizontal fold.
Keeping your book folded, use the outer two folded halves and push inward. The cut halves will fold the other way, so you have an X. Lay flat and press, starting with the back page. Voila!
Happy Valentine’s Day to you and your loved ones!
~Ginger
Midnight Musings 