I made this Hanukkah card for a friend of ours who is blind. I always try to make her cards not only visually appealing, but also tactile so she can enjoy them. I also "wrote" the greeting (Happy Hanukkah) in braille on the greeting strip.
I found a diagram for an iris folded Star of David online, but it wasn't printable, & couldn't find any other one to print. I did find a Star of David image on Pixabay.com that I downloaded and opened in Photoshop, to use as an outline to make my own pattern. I sized it for a 4x5.25" panel, with about 1/2" margin on the top & sides, and started working on my pattern. I opened the diagram I'd found in my browser, and switched between it & Photoshop to make the lines for the pattern. While I worked, I found that the iris folding diagram was basically a series of triangles, each one turned & sized smaller relative to the next one up. So, rather than just drawing lines, I switched to the custom shape tool in Photoshop, chose the solid triangle, & just drew them in different colors to keep everything straight what went where. I did have to use the distort command to adjust the angles, and rotated the triangles into position. Then I switched to the line tool, and traced each triangle, so I wouldn't use as much ink when I printed the pattern. (I did delete the triangle layers after I'd drawn all the lines around them.) I numbered each section, following the diagram, and printed the pattern onto a piece of copy paper. I also printed just the outline (minus all the inner lines) of the star on the back of a white cardstock panel.
I used a craft knife & metal ruler to cut the star window from my panel. I taped it with painter's tape over the pattern, with the panel face down. I cut a few strips of patterned & handmade papers to 3/4" wide, and scored parallel to the long edge at 1/4", then folded that. After that, it was just a case of lining the folded edge of each strip along a line of the pattern, and taping it in place. I did trim the lengths of the strips as I went. I worked my way from the outside of the pattern in. Finally, I taped a piece of silver glitter paper to cover the center portion. Considering I had to make my own pattern, I am really pleased with how this came out!
To finish the card, I added the panel to a navy mat with foam tape. The strips behind the star created quite a bit of bulk, so I went with foam tape to avoid a "bulge" in the middle of the panel. I created the greeting on heavyweight white cardstock, trimmed it into a banner, and popped it up on the card as well. I will hand deliver this card, so no worries about dimension!
Date: Sunday, December 29, 2019 GMT Views: 2157
Favorited:5
Registered: August 10, 2006 Location: Sunny Florida Posts: 25290
Sun, Dec 29, 2019 @ 9:17 AM
Wow, Andrea! I love IRIS folding, and you did a great job creating this IRIS folded card from your own pattern! The addition of Braille is so perfect for your friend. You are a wonderful friend to the recipient of your beautiful card to expend much effort to create it! Love it!
Registered: February 23, 2016 Location: El Paso, TX Posts: 23018
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