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Parchment Craft (Country Crafts) Review

Of all of my parchment craft books and kits, Janet Wilson has written the one I turn to most often. I’ve created three cards (two valentines and a sympathy card) following her directions and designs, and she is by far the easiest author to understand. (Incidentally the directions included with the Pergamano parchment craft kit were the most difficult to follow. Go figure.)

In the first chapter of “Parchment Craft,” the author describes and shows photographs of the materials and equipment you will need to get started in this fifteenth-century art form. She does not actually list suppliers, but they are easily discovered out on the internet. (One of my favorites is “willascommodities.com”.) You really don’t need much to start with, just the correct type of paper (which is not really parchment), scissors with short curved blades and fine points (very much like manicure scissors), a pen and white ink for tracing, a couple of pads to place underneath the paper while embossing and perforating, embossing tools (basically knob-ended sticks to use for drawing & rubbing), and needle tools for perforating the paper into fancy patterns.

The author suggests tracing all designs on to the parchment with a mapping pen and white ink. I tried that and found that I was more comfortable with a white Prismacolor pencil, although the resulting lines are not quite as fine. Embossing is done from the back of the paper, so don’t do what I did the first time and also trace onto the back of the paper. My niece Chelsea’s name came out as ‘aeslehC.’

Many of the directions are illustrated by step-by-step color photographs, especially when the author is demonstrating a new method such as applying color with oil pastels, or using the four-needle tool to make lace.

There are many patterns that can be used interchangeably–for instance I copied part of the design from an Easter card for my sympathy card. However, some of the patterns are not full-sized and you will have to enlarge them on a photocopier before using them. I wish this step could have been avoided by publishing only full-size patterns, since I no longer have easy access to a copier. However, this is a minor fault in a very nice book.

Parchment Craft (Country Crafts) Overview

Parchment craft, the art of piercing and embossing translucent parchment paper to create delicate, lace-like designs, originated in the cloisters of Spain in the 15th century. This book shows, in colour step-by-step sequences, how to trace, perforate, emboss, cut and tint the parchment paper to create greeting cards and bookmark designs. There are 22 projects shown in colour, together with full-size patterns and easy-to-follow instructions for each one. Readers can mix and match the motifs and borders, including butterflies, flowers, fans, a carnival mask and an exotic bird.

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• Quick Parchment Greetings Cards (Greetings Cards series)
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• South American Parchment Craft (A Passion for Paper)

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