double lotus pop-up completed

This card is for a person who is grieving. A public person. Owns a shop downtown, does a lot of business for other businesses, large events, gives speeches in his field. Does everything large, everything loud. Does like attention. Funeral reception at the Art Museum next door but I did not attend.

I feel a bit bad about that.

I wanted this card to be slightly more complicated than necessary, two flowers where one will do, offset and complicating things somewhat where along the central fold will do, and then all that elevated to float where flat on the card surface will do.

Additionally, the card is provided a rigid backing that is not necessary, and book repair binding that is not needed and a separate art cover that could have been applied directly. Each step invites trouble and after all that, simplicity is actually very nice. I do not recommend making a card this way, still, looking this over might give ideas how you'd approach such a thing and do this or similar better. It needn't be this involved. If you bother, I hope you will see things you can subtract or do differently.



I left off with my description at a page of lotus leaves

Two pages of lotus leaves were used plus additional leaves left over from a previous card. This whole separate leaves thing could have been drawn on one page as a puddle of leaves. They needn't be separate leaves and glued. It's how I construct things in pieces, it can be done all at once.

Card stock scored in 1/2 " increments for I-bars. 

The flower is a hexagon, so is the inner flower bits. Dots made to card stock to determine the size of the inside hexagon. 

Only two sides of the hexagon for flower inside parts and for flower petals are attached to the card, the four other sides are unattached. 

I went with the lotus style.

This is a photo of the type lotus I am modeling my lotus on.

Checking to make sure the flowers fit when flattened, that the whole arrangement fits when elevated, away from the central fold and toward the opposite edges. If lifted too high it will have to be trimmed, catastrophic for the flowers. 

This shows the displaced central fold. There are two of these.

This is the first time that the inside flower bits and the petal arrangement share the same slots. These are tabs to hold the petal arrangements on. It all became a bit tight. Tabs for the yellow parts folded and glued facing inward, and tabs for petal arrangements sharing the same slots folded outward. 

I-bars trimmed to size and corners clipped for more curved aquatic-like lines. 

Each new I-bar segment placed parallel with central fold.

Test scribbles for flowers, I'm trying the brilliant brush pen. I love this. It's perfect, These are excellent kanji type markings, but I realized altogether too black too Goth for this card, this occasion. All three rejected for color instead. 

Usually a mechanism with its content is placed along the central fold of the card to avail its workhorse abilities, the energy inherent in strain placed across recto and verso pages, the energy harnessed by opening the card.

Circular content, a flower, is considered hexagonal instead and two of its sides fixed fast to both sides of the card, directly above the workhorse central fold, a tab on each side.

When the card is folded flat, the content inside folds flat too. The circle collapses, the hexagon collapses. like two V shapes facing each other, unattached to the card, they fold flat freely and so does everything attached to it. By folding flat they also stretch in one dimension. This must be accounted for fitting content inside. Content is moved toward the center to compensate for the smashing happening inside. A top view a card being smashed with a hexagon arrangement inside it: 

We're stuck placing content along the central fold. 

To advance to something more complicated, to double the content, to move content off the center and off to the side and still harness the power of the central fold, it can be displaced with a paper band.

The central fold is moved to the side with the use of a paper band.

The new paper band that displaces the central fold can be considered a new smaller card inserted into the original, and working in opposition to the original. 

The lines where the new card is attached become the new central fold(s). The area of central fold displaced to the side by the card doubles the powerhouse working area available for mechanisms and for content. 

The new insert, the inverted card that produces new displaced central folds, for more interesting content, needn't be in the shape of a rectangle. It needn't be square. The only requirement is the new central folds are parallel with the original. 

* hexagons, 2 yellow lotus flower insides, and 2 petal arrangements. 

* band mechanism displacing central fold allowing two offset flowers

* I-bar mechanisms to create platform elevating arrangement off backing. 

* rigid backing

* book repair binding

* cover art

Cost: $250.00

Thank you for your biz wax, invoice to follow.  What? This wasn't commission? Shit.