For my cards, I decided to make Heart in Hand valentines. The heart-in-hand motif, symbolic of charity given from the heart, was a common image in art and crafts made by the Shakers in the late 1700s and throughout the 1800s. It appeared in illustrations, carvings, pottery, needlework, etc. If you're interested in reading more about the history of the motif, check out this article on the Streets Of Salem website. The Shakers also did a lot of weaving using textiles as well as some interesting paper weaving.
The "Heart in Hand" valentine combines the motif and the paper weaving. Here are some of the experiments I did with a variety of hands. I tried printed papers, plain papers, single hands, two hands, even a mitten!
In the end I decided to make the hands as if they were a lady's fancy glove with extra cut details. For the CBBAG exchange, I needed to make about 30 of these! For the hearts, I used some of my own original marbled papers and finished them with some gold lettering.
They are all very similar, but the details were cut individually so each glove is unique and the weaving varied a bit.
If you want to try the weaving technique, it is best to make the cuts evenly spaced and all at the same angle from the centre fold. Though, varying the spacing is also possible if you plan it carefully. I marked the back of the hearts to show where I needed to cut. The easiest way to make the cuts is to fold the heart and the hand together and then make the cuts in both pieces simultaneously to get a perfect match.
Once the cuts are made, flip the heart over and insert the points on the hand into the slots on the heart. Depending on how long the cuts are, you can then repeat the weaving again by pulling the layers out and over each other. Difficult to explain, but if you try it, it should make sense! Making the cuts longer and/or closer together will allow you to repeat the weaving pattern more times.
A little late for this year (or very early for next year), but Happy Valentine's Day anyway!
