| Maybe you never thought of it.. maybe you
just haven’t tried it yet. Well hurry up, everyone else is doing it! It’s called
"Paper Piecing" and you’ll be seeing it on more and more scrapbooking web
sites, in more magazines, and at more scrapbooking conventions. What
is Paper Piecing?
Paper piecing, as referenced in regards to scrapbooking, entails using different color
solid and patterned scrapbooking papers to form eye-catching pictures, borders, or designs
within your scrapbook-page layouts.
Where do I find patterns to
follow?
You can find a pattern to follow in places you might never think to look. The first
time paper piecing even occurred to me, I was looking through a friend’s book called
"Two-Hour Mini Quilt Projects" by McKenzie Kate. Of course, I hadn’t yet
read anything online about using this technique with scrapbooking. The very next day I was
reading through a mailing list that I subscribe to. What do you think the big topic of the
day was? You got it! Paper piecing!
Other places to find patterns or designs to
follow:
-Coloring Books
-Kids’ Picture Books
-Quilt Magazines
-Desktop Publishing Programs – the clip art graphics (i.e. Print Master Gold, Print
Shop Deluxe, etc.)
-Clip Art Books (i.e. D.J. Inkers)
-Country Woodworking Magazines
-Go the library and check out some books on paper crafts
-Be Creative – Try making your own!
Now What?
One way to use a pattern is to first scan and print out or photocopy the pattern you
like. Keep in mind that whichever method you choose, you can always adjust the size to
your liking. Photocopiers almost always have an enlarging or shrinking feature, and
scanned images can be scanned at whatever percentage of the original that you chose.
Scanned images can also be resized before or after the original scan. You can use that
printed out image as a guide in cutting out your different paper pieces. You may even want
to print a few copies out. This makes it easier when you have to cut out a whole punch of
pieces. When one is too mutilated to hold in any convenient position while cutting, just
start with a fresh copy.
Here is an example of my first attempt at paper piecing. This was
adapted from a patter in a book called "Two-Hour Mini Quilt Projects" by
McKenzie Kate:
So try your hand at paper piecing! It can be a great way to put the
items in your page that you can’t find in a diecut, sticker, or from pre-printed
paper. Get creative!
Another example of paper piecing can be seen in my son’s 2nd birthday
layout, which had a Blue’s Clues theme. The Blue character, Mailbox, and a few other things are
products of paper piecing: Check it Out. |