Mandala Dinky Card + Envie

Happy World Stationery Day - today's the day (during World Stationery Week)! To celebrate, here's a sweet little card and coordinating envelope - so you can express a quick hand-written greeting as a welcome change from a text. Both fit onto one A4 sheet!

Here is your free printable card/envie pair:
MandalaCard.pdf

MandalaCard.svg

Enjoy sending your personal greeting.

Rosette-Topped Party Cups

These pretty party containers are ideal for favours or delicious treats. Their lids are topped with a pleated flower which is inspired by a traditional ribbon rosette used to decorate millinery. You'll enjoy folding the rosette - the coloured areas on the template simplify the pleating!

Here are your free print-and-cut designs:

PleatedRosette.pdf
PleatedRosette.svg

PartyCup.pdf
PartyCup.svg

PartyCup2.pdf
PartyCup2.svg

To make the rosette, cut out the five strips and crease where indicated. The triangles are creased down the centre. For consistent colour on both sides of the rosette, print the back of your paper pink to match the strips. Do a practice run to get the hang of the pleating process. Fold back and down to make each loop. Make zig-zag folds. Use a tapestry needle to thread the five pleated units - draw into a circle and knot. Glue on a flower centre. Use sticky pads to attach the rosette to the cup lid.

The cup is simple to make. Glue the join.Turn up the tabs on the base and glue them. Lower the base into the cup, pressing tabs in place. Base should be flush with your worksuface. Bend the handle tabs and glue them onto opposite corners fo the lid. Finally, fix on the rosette.

Optional gift tag included.

Enjoy making these pretty party favours!

How to Make Repeat Patterns, by Paul Jackson. Review.

How to Make Repeat Patterns

A Guide for Designers, Architects and Artists

By Paul Jackson

Laurence King Publishing Ltd, April 2018

Paperback, £17.99

ISBN 978-1-78627-129-7

Star rating: *****

Brand new from papercraft guru Paul Jackson – a genius new title about pattern design. Those who are familiar with the wonderful paper manipulation how-to books of this author may be surprised by the subject of this title – but the book’s existence is due to a eureka moment when Paul Jackson intuited that his paper-folding skills were based on an underlying understanding of how to create pattern repeats. Transferable skills! (I am personally very big on the design theory of everything – what you know in papercraft can be applied to, say, crochet, if you only just think about it. Yup, everything is mathematical.)

This highly-illustrated book is a detailed explainer of precisely how to create pattern repeats, building upon basic principles. Each chapter builds upon the previous one, starting with the four principles of pattern design (symmetry operations to the initiated) – you have to learn the lingo – rotation (think clock hands), translation (directional sliding), reflection (mirror flip), and glide reflection (slide + flip), and culminating in – yay! – M C Escher-style tessellations.

You do have to be committed to read this book.You must focus and progress chapter by chapter – no fast-forwarding or dipping in – quiet and coffee will help. Your patience will reap mega rewards – by the book’s conclusion you will have a deeper understanding of how to generate patterns. And you will be champing at the bits, eager to have a go at designing astonishing tessellating patterns and exquisite all-over designs.

Although the terminology is, well, geeky, the explanations about exactly how to go about building patterns are clear and straightforward. The section on designing Escher-type repeats is particularly praise-worthy. The creation of astonishing puzzle shapes is broken down into simple, do-able operations. The sections about triangular and hexagonal tessellating tiles were unexplored territory for me. Now what initially seemed daunting looks achievable.

Back of book is a delightful bit entitled “Learn the Rules...Break the Rules”, which comes with several fun suggestions of how to mix things up for lively pattern-creation results.

Check out Paul Jackson’s other indispensable design titles, all from Laurence King:

Note: I was given a review copy of How to Make Repeat Patterns.