Guest Author - Vivienne Oestergaard
Ever hear of CROSS CRAFTING? It’s a little like cross training in athletics where you do a little of different types of sports. Cross crafting (yes, I made it up!) is doing a little bit of different types of crafts and you can utilize it in your main type of crafting. For instance, you are a card maker. If you do a bit of beading, you can definitely add in some bits of beads to the card. Of if you embroider, try paper embroidery for your cards. There’s lots of opportunities to add in some other creative aspect to your art.
Altered art especially affords this type of crafting as it is mainly a multi media type of work. You can incorporate so much into your art journals or collages. Painting and paper bits and paper construction can all be a part of it. Even journaling and sketching! Since there is no hard and fast rule to altered art, it’s an easy way to add to it.
Let’s take a look at some variations of papercrafting that you might not know about.
Paper sculpture-Here is where a sheet of flat paper gets cut, folded, twisted and bent to form a 3 dimensional object. It can turn into paper toys, paper dolls, cubes, boxes, and ornaments.
Origamic architecture-This is a form of papercutting with the subject being architecture and usually is in the form of a card so that the papercutting becomes a pop up. Originally devised by ? and ? in the early 1980’s in Japan. Simple and elegant in turns.
Paper embroidery-Utilizing embroidery threads and using paper like fabric, you can make beautiful patterns. Take care not to pull too tightly as it will tear the paper.
Stamping-There are many designs of stamps you can purchase. The nice thing is that you can reuse the designs over and over. Disadvantage is the amount of space this takes up. Hence, they manufacturers now make stamps that stick on acrylic blocks which also serves the purpose of being see thru so placement is never a problem.
3D cardmaking-For 3D cards, there are printed materials available usually printed multiple times. Cut all the pieces and glue the layered pieces together using foam mounting squares or dots. This creates a 3D look.
Pergamano-A branded name for the old art of parchment craft. Intricate pricking, cutting, and embossing on parchment.
Embossing-Using stencils and an embossing tool to create beautiful designs on your paper.
Digital Designs-More and more crafters are turning to the internet for designs and ideas. With simple programs, you can obtain good results in designs for cards or other crafts.
So using any number of these techniques and other ideas, you have unlimited options in creating your art. Take a look around, inspiration is all around you. The trick is in thinking out of the box and using something new. Try a new technique and incorporate it into your repertoire of crafting. You might find a new idea that just makes your artwork pop!
