Valentine's day, all purpose, lotus flower pop-up card

It has a Japanese sensibility on account of recycled material. 

Recycled material on account of running out of matboard. 

I went through a whole pile of that stuff too. Cut specifically to fit cards. Enough to make fifty cards front and back and when I cut a beveled window that would be three matboard cards for each pop-up card sometimes four matboard cards if a double window but that is going a little too far. It needs to plop flat. This is the cardboard back of a tablet of heavier Bristol paper that I failed to throw away. I was going to trim it to fit but I kind of like it oversized. 

Conclusion: Better without lights. 

There are two flat arms that pull across the central fold in opposite directions when the card is opened that drag a battery with them contained in a sleeve that pass by holes in the sleeve allowing contact with anode and cathode wires to two tiny diode lights. Two such arms so two batteries and four diodes. Unnecessary fiddle. The lights contribute nothing. 

All that for nothing. 

Except learning that lights contribute nothing.

I thought it would be like mysterious water, but it's not.

The card really is all purpose. Better yet it serves very well no purpose at all. Just sending such a card to someone randomly with no specific purpose attached is best of all card-uses. 

It is the sort of thing that tends to cause confusion. 

"Why'd you send me that card?" 

"Uh. For your birthday." 

"It's not my birthday. My birthday is May 26th." 

"I'm going to forget that. So you might as well take what you're having." 

I made a similar one with a butterfly on it too. Nothing odd about it, both flower and insect placed directly on the central fold. The central fold of the new platform, the table made by the lotus leaves. It is a strange table that has its legs positioned first and leaned over completely to one side or the other so that its top can be placed in pieces reaching to each other. 

That did have a purpose, though, for a condolence to a friend whose mother died. He took a care of her at the house, his house and at length she died there. No message on the card. Just sent it. So he can reuse it if he wants. Or if pinched in the mail, too bad. That happened once. He said he left the card on the kitchen counter because he liked it so well. Weeks passed. He entertained and still the card stayed out. Guests handled the card. They asked about it. He explained it. He reported back to me that one guest said, "Man, you really have good friends." 

Better without lights.