Parchment Craft - Cutting a Picot Edge

This is a tricky skill to get right, but once you have practised - a lot!! You will find yourself getting quicker and neater.

You will need Perga cutters or Parchment Scissors, parchment paper and a twin needle tool (this one is Bold).  All instructions are for the right handed.

Instructions:
Perforate with the twin needle tool, neat evenly spaced holes. Place the very tips of the points of the cutters/ scissors into the first two holes.

Lower the cutters / scissors so that they are almost parallel to the parchment and keeping the cutters pointing straight (at a right angle to the perforations) twist slightly to the left (anti-clockwise) and snip.

Always move the parchment around to make the snipping easier. You should end up with neat little V shaped teeth along the edge. Hope this is helpful - just keep practising.

Embossing an Oval Shape on to Parchment

Embossing an oval or circle shape on to parchment is really difficult to get right. First of all you have to trace it from the pattern in white pencil, then turn the parchment over and emboss the line. The long curved line needs a steady hand and it is always best to turn the parchment frequently and steady the side of your hand on a surface while you arc the embossing tool or pencil. Find a position that is comfortable for your hand and try to do the arc quickly and smoothly.  On the new free pattern above I tried the tracing method and got a fair result. I also tried one of the PCA embossing templates for oval shapes and the result was much better and easier (this is the result above). The embossing templates are plastic and once they are fixed in position with tiny balls of blu-tac under the parchment, you can use the ball tool to follow the template and create a perfect oval or circle etc. they come in many different shapes and sizes. If you have a tip to help drawing shapes on parchment please comment below.

Free pattern now available here.

Finishing a Parchment Craft Card

 

If you have made a parchment craft card and want to fix the parchment to the card - one of the ways you can do this is by using needle and thread and sewing the two together along the spine.

   

First of all, lay the card open and mark the centre with a pencil then mark two points equally spaced from the centre where you wish to sew the card. Then using a sharp thickish needle make a hole through both the card and the parchment on each of the three marks. I use a tapestry needle and thick cotton thread - starting on the inside of the card push the needle and thread through the centre hole (leaving a longish piece of thread) and then down through the upper hole, next up again through the centre hole and down through the lower hole. On the inside of the card pass the needle through the loop, pull it tight and tie a knot with the thread you left at the beginning. The knot can be completely covered by fixing an insert to the inside of the card with double sided tape.

Parchment Craft Scissors and Cutting Tools

Scissors or Snips
There are several different parchment craft scissors available. They vary greatly in price from about £4.00 to about £40.00 but it is important to have snips or scissors with fine points; decoupage scissors are not fine enough to cut the accurate, neat points required. Parchment craft scissors and snips usually have slightly curved points, the curve should be held downwards when you cut.

Snips or cutters are fairly easy to use, you just squeeze them, there are some cutters that have an adjustable wheel that can be set to the width you are cutting. Some people prefer snips if they have arthritis or strain in the hand / arm muscles.

Scissors are held with the right index finger and the right middle finger (if you are right-handed) and braced with the thumb. The aim is to snip between the perforations you have prepared to leave a neat V shape. It is a good idea to practise this technique, there are several 'YOU TUBE' demonstrations to help. Some people have told me that they get a better finish with scissors but in the end use whatever suits you best.

Edges can be made quickly with the stamp edge tools (PCA), and the equivalent Pergamano 2 Split and 4 Split. These tools will punch holes really closely so that the parchment falls away as you perforate. The edging however, is not as neat as that produced by the longer method of perforating and cutting.

Crosses can be cut with the Cross Knife /Easy Cross and a cutting mat, I have not tried this method, you still have to perforate the holes with a four needle tool and then position the cutter and press down. If anyone has tried the cross knife let me know if they cut crosses neatly.

Stippling - A Parchment Craft Technique

(this design is from the book: Pergamano Parchment Craft by Martha Ospina)

Stippling is an embossed, textured finish, in the above project, a parchment photo frame, I have stippled between the embossed edge of the frame and the embossed large scallop, also the curls / flourishes are stippled.

On the project above I think the stippled areas could be a little whiter, so I will do some more work on them and take a picture of the result. Stippling is a really interesting effect and takes a bit of time to achieve, the idea is to tap the single needle tool on to parchment to create an embossed effect, a tiny white dot - not piercing the parchment. The single needle tool is usually used for perforating, but for stippling it is used with a hard card mat underneath the parchment.

Stippling instructions:

Some instructions tell you to prepare the parchment by lightly embossing the area to be stippled first, I didn't do this so this could be why my stippling did not turn out as white as I wanted.

1. Outline area to be stippled with a stylus or micro ball

2. Lightly emboss area if you wish

3. Change the embossing mat to a piece of dark card and on the back of the parchment start tapping the single needle tool in the area you want stippled. You should be holding the tool vertically to get a good result.

4. The stippling should be very close together to produce a texture.

Other variations to try:

Using fine sandpaper between the card and the parchment, I did try this method but it didn't suit me as I kept piercing the parchment.

Using white pencil to colour the back of the parchment to get a whiter result, I have not tried this yet.

Has anyone tried stippling with a scriber or fine stylus?

What are Dip Dots?

If you come across a pattern that asks for 'dip dots' these are round, rather neat embossed, dots of paint or ink. Using a ball tool, dip into the paint or ink and in an upright position dot the ball tool onto the parchment. The dots can be embossed from the back, when the paint is dry.

This is a card I made using a dip dots circle around the pansies, it is designed by Christine Coleman.

Cutting Techniques

Once you have practised cutting crosses from the perforations made by the four needle tool and become quite good at it, the next challenge is cutting out the perforations of the other multi-needle tools like the Oct, eight needle tool. The difficulty is that with many multi-needle tools some of the needles are further apart than others, so that when you are cutting out you get a raggedy result. To get a neat result with the Oct tool -cut between the larger distance needles first.

A Quick Guide to all the Techniques

A really quick guide to all the basic techniques for a beginner, with very clear pictures and text. Tracing, perforating, painting, cutting, stencilling and more.
Click on the heading for the link to Pergamano.

Why Perforate Twice?

This is information I have gathered from books and talking to others, please comment.

Beautiful lace borders are produced by perforating tools. The four needle tool, for example is used to create the delicate cut-out crosses. There are also many multi needle tools that can create unlimited patterns. However if they are used with too much pressure the parchment can be weakened and sometimes break. The answer is to perforate twice; first perforation is just to pierce the parchment and should be done on a thin cutting mat to stop the needles from going too far, the second perforation should be on a thicker mat to make deeper holes, which, in turn will be easier to cut neatly. Also embossing can be done after the first perforation when the parchment is not weakened by the cut-work.

Make your own envelopes

Envelopes should be the right size for the card, I have found that pearlescent paper is strong enough for an envelope.

My method for making nice looking envelopes to fit any size card.

You will need:
12" x 12" paper
Power pritt stick glue
Double sided tape

Equipment required:
Paper cutter
Envelope score board
Ruler

1. Measure the diagonal of the card (I'm using metric)
2. Add 2.5cm to the diagonal measurement
3. Use this total to measure and cut a square of envelope paper using the paper cutter.
4. Centre the card on the square of paper like a rectangle over a diamond (the corners of the paper should be above the sides of the card), and score the sides of the envelope 1cm larger than the card, making sure that the score lines cross over at the corners
5. Cut out the upper triangles where the score lines cross
6. Round the envelope flap with a punch and emboss if you want. Glue the envelope together and use double sided tape on the flap

I have tried different methods but this one has worked out the best, I have adapted it from the instructions in the enveloper made by Crafters Companion, a brilliant product!

Sent from my iPad

Embossing

Embossing parchment is definitely a skill that needs a lot of practise, I have found a tutorial on Robyn Cockburns site that gives a helpful step by step guide to start with. Click on the heading to link to it.
The flower pattern she uses is at Mettemusen,

http://www.mettemusen.dk/Pergamano%202009/Homemade%20patterns/Homemade_patterns_blomster.htm

Coloured Pencils

There are quite a few different makes of pencil crayons or coloured pencils available. The blendable pencils are preferable and ideally the pencil lead should be soft enough to be easily blended and yet hard enough to be able to sharpen without breaking. You will need to invest in a really good pencil sharpener as the pencils need a sharp point!

After a quick Internet search I have found that the main brands available in the UK pages are Derwent, Faber Castell and Caran D'Ache. Artists seem to prefer Faber Castell as the poll on the following web page shows.
http://www.makingamark.co.uk/coloured-pencils-brands.html

Faber Castell polychromos have a large range of colours and they last quite well however they are expensive. FC also make a pencil called art grip which is cheaper blends really well and the leads do not break so easily.

Please comment if you have found another pencil superior as these are only the opinions and short experience of a beginner.

Dorsing

This is a technique for colouring the back of the parchment using Dorso oil pastels (or other makes such as Faber Castell) to create soft backgrounds for your designs. The crayons are applied and then rubbed out with a folded piece of kitchen paper to give a really muted background.

Click here to link to a video from ceparching showing how to use dorsing to colour backgrounds.

Back to basics- Tracing

17:51

Starting a parchment project involves transferring an image from a line drawing or picture on to parchment. This can be done with white pencil, or an ordinary pencil, a mapping pen and white or coloured inks, or a micron pen.

White pencil - this seems to be the most used method. The benefits are that you can emboss the picture on the back and then turn over and rub out the pencil easily.

Ordinary pencil can be used if there is, for example, perforations to be made within a certain area and white pencil would be difficult to see. It is of course rubbed out afterwards.

White Tinta ink- this gives a different look to the parchment. It is quite an important skill to learn how to use the mapping pen correctly.

Coloured Tinta ink- black for example can give a picture , impact.

So, to get started tracing you need parchment paper of 150 / 160 gsm and a white pencil or mapping pen and ink and a pattern or picture.

Click on the Heading above to link to a Pergamano video on tracing.

Parchment techniques: Sunday, August 01

00:48

SUNFLOWER CARD
I have just finished a rather a rather large area of grid work. A few weeks ago I was cutting quite tatty x cuts even though I had tried changing from snips to gold scissors and back again, after a lot of advice I think I have improved dramatically. I think the trick is confidence, and you only get that with practise, so if anyone is struggling with a technique, just keep trying.

Sent from my iPad