As expected, there has been little action on my hook this week as the virus that befell my little one was followed by a horrible stomach virus that worked its way through each one of us….oh, what a disaster of a week! It all kicked off right in the middle of a bank holiday project; decorating the hall way- typical! So my house is upside down and back to front and when we do finally finish painting it I’ll do a little show and tell, BUT for now I do want to share with you a little crafty goodness!
A little while ago I
promised to share a little of the baby shower I attended for my friend. Oh it
was such a lovely afternoon! The sun was shining and we all gathered around
some beautifully laid tables to nibble (er…scoff) some delicious homemade sandwiches,
fluffy scones, cakes and petit-fours. This is my idea of heaven (only in heaven
I know there will be SO MUCH MORE FOOD!).
My Friend made this super cute Baby Sweepstakes chart; so simple but effective.
I was in charge of
bringing some table decoration. It had been so long since I played with flowers
that I jumped at the chance and filled mismatching tea cups and the odd jam jar with pinky blooms.
To finish it off I cut some little butterflies from the beautiful pages of a
very old book. Yes, I do feel a little guilty but I promise I didn’t know that
it was 150 years old until after I had ripped out chunks of pages in
excitement. But I figure it’s being put to better use now as each page is
getting its own little bit of glory! Isnt it beautiful? I can boast because,
no, it wasn’t my idea!
It came from this
rather special book by Emily Hogarth, who for those of you who don’t know is an
AMAZING papercut artist. Just a glance at her website and it is clear she has
such a gift; you will be in awe at what one person can do to a single sheet of
plain paper.
So, I thought I might
do a mini review. The book begins, not with the usual list of tools and
supplies you will need (although that comes later), but with a charming
introduction to the history of papercutting the world over. It is no wonder
that such a simple and effective craft is not a new idea as the best ones have
usually been around the longest. It ranges from traditional celebratory cuts,
to 18th century silhouettes, to intricate contemporary takes on the
craft from artists such as Rob Ryan and Elsa Mora.
She then goes through
the equipment you will need which really is a humble list, the most extravagant
is probably spray adhesive which isn’t a must-have by any means. It would be
easy to get fancy with the cutting equipment but I see nothing specialist about
the ones featured in the book. The most important note on knives is that you
need plenty of blades (I learnt the value of this the hard way).
Paper, of course, gets
its own introduction. Emily helpfully de-codes the different terms used for
describing paper (like weight), which is super helpful for people like me who
don’t have a clue and are generally drawn in by colour and pattern. She then goes through
how to cut with scissors, a knife, using a template and layering designs. Very
helpfully she includes a page on finishing artwork for display which includes
some very helpful tips and visual examples of her own work.
I always find it
fascinating to learn how people go about making their art and, for me,
discovering about their creative process is just as exciting as enjoying their
finished pieces and so I was really giddy when I discovered that she had
included a section of papercut design! It comes just before the actual projects
in the book, so by this point you are itching to get going and having visions
of creating huge A2 intricate designs to have hung in your hallway (when you
finally finish decorating it) for everyone to admire when they visit and then
fall over when you say ‘oh, I did that..yes, me!’ But, being brought back to
reality, you turn the page to discover some very simple but effective card
designs and you realise that this is for a reason….it takes practice!
The projects in the
book are brilliantly designed and there is enough to keep you going for a long
time. There are basic designs as I mentioned but Emily definitely pushes you
and supplies projects of differing challenges including folded designs and cuts
that include several layered elements. I particularly like the idea of the
shadow puppets!
Here's what I tried:
I was surprised that I
managed to finish this in about ten minutes, for such a small amount of
work I felt I had achieved something really beautiful. I felt I was cheating to
be honest! It became a card topper.
I then tried this...
The mobile was a bit
difficult as it was cut from card which, now I think about it (I was clearly
blinded by excitement at the time) was too thick for the project. The hardest
part was getting the curved holes in the wings to go through two layers of card
without tearing it. (Sorry about the poor photo quality, I took it at night).
I really really want to hang it in my bedroom but…..how old is too old for
hanging mobiles? Plus, I’m a little afraid that I’ll wake up in the middle of
the night and in my sleepy stupor I will think there is a huge spider above the
bed and I’ll scare myself awake. It’s the kind of thing that happens to me.
Oh, and to occupy myself during the recent plague I started making these. Wouldn't a whole flock look amazing hung from the landing ceiling or somewhere similar?
Thanks for reading, I hope you had a good week, see you soon!
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