Sabine Tack - Victorian Puzzle Purses - Nov 22 & 29, 2025
Puzzle Purses, also known as Victorian folded letters, are a lovely, yet mainly forgotten way of presenting texts and calligraphy in an unusual and playful setting, often combined with illustrative el…
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Puzzle Purses, also known as Victorian folded letters, are a lovely, yet mainly forgotten way of presenting texts and calligraphy in an unusual and playful setting, often combined with illustrative elements.
By folding a sheet of paper of paper in a specific way, a purse is created, offering nearly endless possibilities both of designs as well as of applications.
In the first week, we will briefly explore the history of the folded letters and their areas of use, both historically and today, before learning the folding technique itself. Then, we will discuss various design options offered by this unique form of presenting text and will subsequently dive into different ideas of layout. With everything we went over so far, we will work out a first design, focusing on text.
In the second week, we will take the design options a step further by exploring how to add simple, yet effective illustrative elements to the Puzzle Purses.
Students will learn different approaches of adding illustrations, using both brushes and nibs. After having a broad look at different design ideas and possible illustrative additions, we will work on and finish a Holiday themed Puzzle Purse, just in time for the festive season.
Whether you are looking for a unique way of sharing your calligraphy or of combining illustrations and text, whether you are interested in designing very special cards of offering individual gift cards, this a fun and hands-on class you will leave with a lovely new technique to elevate your calligraphy.
Students are encouraged to work along during class and if possible to take time to do some exercises as homework.
Victorian Puzzle Purses
Sabine Tack, Hosted By The Gentle Penman
Live (Also recorded for later viewing)
Nov 22 & 29, 2025
21:00 pm – 23:00 pm (Hong Kong Time)
Class Cost : HKD 780.00 or USD 100.00
Registration Link : https://www.thegentlepenman.com/victorian-puzzle-purses
Supply List:
- Cheap paper to test design ideas, about 80-90g/sheet (printer paper, sketch paper etc. will work fine)
- Good quality paper 90-120g/sheet in colors(s) and size of your choice (teacher will use 120g paper)
- Scissors or crafting knife
- Cutting mat, if on hand
- Ruler
- Pencil for sketching and measuring (teacher uses mechanical pencil)
- Eraser
- Kneadable eraser
- Bone folder
- Ink of choice (whatever you have and like that works with your paper)
- Watercolours of choice (use what brand you have on hand, and which colours you like)
- Metallic watercolours of choice (if you like working with them)
- Penholder and nib of choice (depending on the hand you plan to use if you want to add calligraphy to your design)
- Ceramic painting palette for your watercolours (a white ceramic plate will work, too)
- 2 water containers
- Pipette/dropper to mix up colours
- Brushes for mixing and applying colours (cheap ones are perfectly fine for this use)
- Good quality brushes for illustrations (size will be determined by what you want to paint and by the size of paper you are working with; have a small selection on hand for working along in class)
- Paper towel or old cloth
When working with darker coloured paper:
- White ink to write with such as Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleedproof White or Schmincke Calligraphy Gouache
(use what you have) - Fine white gouache of choice for illustrations
- White (mechanical) chalk pencil
Optionally:
- Compass or Circular template
- Small cookie cutters (simple shapes such as stars, hearts etc.)
- Coloured pencils
- Watercolour pencils
- Pencil sharpener
- Crafting glue