Craft Clinic 16th March 2012 - Handmade Paper

That time has come...and yes, this is my first craft clinic on my new blog! 

A question was asked by Tricia one of our lovely craft clubbers:

Question:
"I struggle to cut handmade paper such as mulberry paper on a paper trimmer or guillotine even if it is a good thickness.  How can I get a good straight cut without it ripping and bending on the timmer.  Also what is the best glue to use with this type of paper?"

Answer:
Handmade papers are under used just for this reason and it is such a shame as there are some beautiful handmade papers on the market and I recently found some stunning large sheets on the wrapping paper racks in a fab local gift shop.  Its all down to the fibres which, by its nature, are are not of a uniform size and when the paper is pressed the depth varies which gives it the lovely rustic quality. This allows the paper to bend easily without creasing and makes ia good product for wrapping gifts.  Card and paper have more densly packed layers of fibres of the same size which is pressed at high pressure giving it a support as the blade cuts.  All you need to do is to add support by placing a piece of scrap paper (eg copy paper) underneath the handmade paper...when the paper flexes it is supported and allows the trimmer to cut cleanly.

This same principle applies to paper Punches.  I have had many punches over the years brought to me to unclog and release when papers flex and get caught in the mechanism.  Just pop a piece of copier under the handmade paper and voila....a pefect punched accent. (with the butterflies I put a piece of copier paper folded in two.)

(Click once to enlarge)

Never use double sided tape on this type of paper as it is hard to remove the backing from the tape without it coming off the paper completely. I found that a glue stick (eg pritt Stick) does the job nicely.  Just be careul when applying that you support the corners and don't crease the paper with the action of putting on the Glue.  If you have a pattern on the paper like mine you can dot a tiny amount of PVA where the pattern is so that it doesn't show from the front.

I always appreciate your feedback if found this helpful and your comments are always welcome.  Don't forget, drop me an email if you want to get ideas or having any crafting dilemas, or advice rgearding equipment and materials and it may be in in the Craft Cinic in the future.