Victorian Folded Valentines

There was a time when people gave folded valentines, with hidden messages inside.

I recently made some of my own to give as gifts to friends.  The folding is like similar to Origami, but with a twist.  Because I was including drawings and text, I needed to figure out where to put them on the paper before it is folded.  I started by learning the steps of folding.  Once I could fold it successfully, I determined what parts of the paper would be visible at each stage of the unfolding.  Then with the paper totally unfolded I worked out the drawings and text for each side.  After a few false starts I had a mockup to use to make the final valentines.  

Folded valentine           

Opening first fold          

Opening second fold.   

Opening third fold          

Opening fourth fold        

Untwisting the corners    

Inside of unfolded paper  

Outside of unfolded paper

I put them in little envelopes

REpurposed books

Our local library has a book sale twice a year.  I Usually help either setting up for the sale, or boxing up the the unsold books after the sale.  I always find a few books to bring home and repurpose as journals.  I choose books with interesting covers.  Some of the books also have pages with poetry, illustrations or photos that can be use as signature covers, or to line the inside of the journal covers. 

I start by breaking down the books.  Carefully removing the text block from the book.  If the spine of the book is not in good condition, it will not be reused.  

For most of the books, both the covers and spine are reused.  Book cloth and sometimes book board are used to reinforce the spine.  Signatures are created to fit the repurposed covers.  Templates are made and the spine and signatures are punched.  Then its time to reassemble the parts into a journal.  There are many different binding patterns that can be used, and I've enjoyed trying several new ones while making these repurposed books.  

If the spine is so damaged it can not be reused, it is cut in half then folded and glued to the inside of the covers.  These covered boards are used to make coptic bound journals.  I typically use 5 signatures of the appropriate size for each journal.  There are a few ways to sew a coptic binding.  There are methods that use two needles, and others that use only one needle.  Some patterns bind the text block together first using long or french stitch, and then attach the covers using a coptic stitch. thers bind the covers and text block at the same time using a coptic stitch.  In the event the covers are damaged, I recover the book boards with decorative paper and the edges of the spine with book cloth for reinforcement.