Paper Craft Hints & Tips
It is worth noting that cross stitching and papercrafts/general card making can over lap somewhat. I personally love combining the two and I hope that you will too once you have learned the basic techniques. Visit our 'Gallery' pages (both cross stitch & papercrafts) for more ideas.

  Paper Craft tips and techniques

Here are some basic tips, information about equipment and general paper craft techniques, which you may find useful. Further information about papercraft techniques can be found in my new books '3D Rubber Stamping' and 'Cross Stitch 100 Cards' published by D&C.

You can find Free Papers to download and use on our 'Paper Craft Projects' page.  When mounting my cross stitch cards I love to include other paper craft techniques such as adding brads and three dimensional stickers as shown in the example below.

Paper 

Paper is divided in to three weights; lightweight, medium and heavy weight. The thickness is referred to in microns 'mic', and 'gsm' refers to the weight in grams per square metre. Paper and card contain a Grain, just the same way that fabric does. It is important to know which way the grain lies as the neatest folds and tears are made when they lie in the direction of the grain. To find the grain, gently bend the paper lengthways and then widthways, whichever bends the easiest shows the direction in which the grain lies.

Making a folded Card
To make a single fold base card cut a piece of card the same height required for the finished card, but twice the width, mark the centre and using a bone folder or embossing tool and a ruler score the card down the centre. Scoring the card prior to folding will give a neat professional fold. Specialist boards often have markings for making fancy folds such as gate fold cards, concertina cards and even boxes, while these are not essential they produce great results in seconds.

Layering
Probably the simplest way of adding depth to any project is by layering embellishments and card or paper on top of each other. Each layer should be progressively smaller than the layer below producing borders of alternating colour, layer dark colours on top of light and vice versa. For dramatic results use a limited palette and vary the depth of the border with each layer. It is usually desirable to ensure that the border on all four sides is equal, when placing different elements on to one larger bottom layer obtaining the right spacing between the pieces will create balance.

Tearing Paper
Tearing paper rather than cutting it with a sharp edge can produce a lovely soft textured finish. This effect can be exaggerated depending on the type of paper.
Torn paper can be crumpled and then coloured with diluted cold tea or distressing inks to produce an aged effect for use on heritage products. Chalk, ink and metallic waxes can be rubbed along the edges or the folds of the paper to enhance the effect.

The grain of the paper will determine how a paper will tear or fold. Some papers will have a more pronounced grain than others; some handmade papers do not have a definite grain.

When tearing paper towards you, the piece left behind has a white or chamfered edge. The white edge is simply the core of the paper and can then be left alone for a nice contrast or coloured. If a chamfered effect is not desired then tear the paper away from you, the result will be a torn natural edge with no white core showing.

To obtain a straight but natural edge lay a metal ruler on to the edge of the paper and tear the paper against it. This method will give the most controlled torn edge.

A different type of edge is a feathered edge. Use a small paint brush to paint water along the edge of the paper, gentle pull the edge away to give a soft feathered finish. This technique works particularly well on thin fibrous handmade papers such as mulberry paper.

 Basic Stamping Technique

 Applying ink to a stamp

1. Hold the stamp face up and with the other hand gently tap the stamp with the ink pad. Check that the whole surface has been covered evenly with ink.
2. Apply the stamp to the paper in one movement, without rocking or sliding the stamp using firm even pressure.
3. Carefully lift the stamp from the paper to reveal the image.

Tip Remove any ink from the edges of the stamp (caused by over inking) with a paper towel before applying the stamp to the paper.

 When using multicoloured inkpads it is essential that you take care not to move the stamp around on the pad as this will spread and muddy the colours.

Heat embossing -

This method uses heated powder to produce embossed patterns on to paper and card. The image is either drawn using an embossing pen or a rubber stamp is inked using a slow drying pigment ink or embossing ink before sprinkling with specialist embossing powder. The powder is heated with a heat gun, this melts the powder.  

1. Stamp the image on to card using a pigment or embossing ink.
2. Sprinkle embossing powder over the image and gently tap or shake off the excess on to a piece of paper. Return the unused powder to its container.
3. Place the stamped image on to a protected surface and holding the heat gun at a distance of a few inches away, carefully move the gun around the image until the powder melts.
4. Once the powder has melted the image can be coloured using the chosen medium

Tips - Before stamping use an anti-static cloth to wipe the card, this will reduce the risk of embossing powder sticking to other parts of the card.

Do not use a hair dryer as this will simply blow the powder away.

Do not over heat the powder or the image will appear dull and the paper may scorch.

If the powder is semi transparent or clear then the underlying ink will be seen.

When choosing any type of stamp ensure that the die is deeply etched which will achieve clean even images when stamped.

Cleaning Stamps

With proper care stamps should last a life time, they should be cleaned after each use and stored away from direct sunlight and heat. Not only will this prolong the life of the stamp it will ensure that ink from previous projects won't muddy the images. Never soak wooden stamps in water as this may loosen the die; a damp paper towel often suffices. Alcohol free wipes can also be used to clean ink from the stamp, I often use alcohol free baby wipes. Permanent inks can be removed using specialist stamp cleaners. Always ensure the stamp is dry before storing it away.

Ink

Stamping works on many different surfaces, the obvious ones are paper or matte card; however it all depends upon the type of ink that is used. Specialist inks are available that are designed to work with different surfaces such as; acetate, leather, Shrink Plastic, Vellum, Glossy card stock, glass, wood, metal and fabric, to name a few.
Ink is available in an almost endless range of colour. As well as single pads, rainbow pads are also available these contain four or five colours to produce a variegated stamped image, sometimes the individual colours in a rainbow pad can be removed to be used separately. There are also child safe ink pads that have been specifically designed for children to work with. Never discard dry ink pads as they can be either re-inked or used for applying ink directly to the edges of torn paper for an aged effect.

Stamping on other materials

Polymer clay and even sealing waxes can be stamped upon to produce three dimensional relief images

Shrink Plastic is a fun to use product that shrinks to about 1/3 of it's original size when heated.

Acetate is thin transparent plastic that usually comes in sheets that can be stamped on; some types are heat resistant so that embossing powder can be used on them. Permanent solvent type inks are needed when stamping on acetate. The reverse of the stamped image can be coloured with glitter and transparent glue to achieve a stained glass window effect. There are also pens that are available that will colour the acetate such as Peel-Off markers and Overhead Projector pens, Sakura Gel pens can also be used on most surfaces including acetate.

Basic Craft Equipment

 Craft knife
A scalpel sharp blade is good for making precision cuts, use to cut around the edges or for cutting small sections from the centre of images. When the blade does become blunt it can be replaced quite easily. Disposable Craft knives are also available, the blade and handle is usually one moulded piece, so that the blade cannot be changed.

Self Healing Craft Mat
To protect the work area or desk when using a craft knife, use a self healing cutting mat which has a marked grid together with a metal ruler. These essential tools will produce a straight edge for cutting. The grid makes it easy to obtain accurate paper sizes and borders when layering.

Craft scissors
Standard sized general purpose craft scissors will suit most purposes. When using scissors a cleaner cut is produced by making one cut using the full length of the blade whilst feeding the paper through the scissors. Sharp pointed scissors are ideal for Decoupage, the blades can be straight or curved.
Decorative edged scissors can add lots of visual interest to a paper. There are a wide number of decorative edge scissors available. Line the scissors up with the last cut to obtain a neat and continuous edge, making a complete cut along the blade before repositioning the scissors.

Guillotines and trimmers
It is much quicker and neater to achieve a straight edge with a guillotine or trimmer than with a pair of scissors or craft knife. Trimmers are available in a number of sizes; some have interchangeable decorative blades giving wavy or perforated edges. When using a guillotine or trimmer, hold the paper with one hand to stop it from moving, and place it against the straight side edge. Guillotines and trimmers usually have a grid or markings to indicate size.

Other types of cutting tools

Rotary Cutters, Oval and circle Cutters and Decorative Punches which cut paper shapes are available in many shapes and sizes. Punches can also be used to make negative spaces within a paper border. With a little care it is relatively easy to line up the punch with patterns on the paper. Turn the punch over so that the paper can be seen, and the punch is upside down on a flat surface before punching the shape. These punches are suitable for lightweight paper. If the punch becomes blunt, then sharpen it by cutting aluminium kitchen foil a few times.
Light weight die cutting machines are based on a similar principle as the Decorative Punch, however the dies tend to be more elaborate and cut through a wider range of materials of varying thicknesses within seconds. Some of these machines also take brass embossing stencils.

Tweezers
Tweezers are ideal for placing layered and decoupage images, lifting outline stickers, placing gems and beads and pulling wire or ribbon through punched holes.

Brushes
Brushes are useful not only for painting stamped images, they can be used to apply pearlescent powders, brushing away excess embossing powder and stippling colour to produce a background for stamping on to.

Embossing tools
Used in the technique of dry embossing, when used with a stencil. They are also useful for scoring card and for frosting vellum. Embossing tools can also be used for indenting foil.

Eyelet fixing tools
Eyelets are used for attaching layers of card together or they can be purely decorative.
The traditional eyelet setter consists of a setting tool, and is used in conjunction with a small hammer. One end of the tool has a small punch to make a hole and the other end sets the eyelet once it is placed in the hole. Spring loaded eyelet tools are also available; this eliminates the use of a hammer. Whichever method you prefer is personal choice. When setting eyelets a setting mat or a self healing cutting mat is needed to protect the work surface. Eyelets come in a range of sizes and so different sized tools are available.

Needles and piercing tools
Needles are used for making simple stitches through card or paper, and for applying tiny amounts of glue to small embellishments such as beads. Paper piercing tools are also available for pricking holes into paper that creates a pattern in itself. Always use a self healing mat to protect the work surface.

Pencil, Sharpener, Ruler and Eraser
For marking measurements, use a soft pencil that won't scratch the card or paper and is easily erased. Ensure that the pencil has a sharp point for greater accuracy. Keep the eraser as clean as possible to avoid dirty marks and smudges.

Adhesives

 Wet Adhesives
Paper glue in stick form is used for sticking lightweight paper together and usually dries clear, and quickly.

PVA Glue is water based glue that dries clear. It can be used to secure objects such as charms and pressed flowers to card and paper, decoupage images and collage projects. It can be diluted with water to make a clear varnish. It can however stretch paper so care is needed.

Glitter glue is glitter suspended in clear glue; it is mainly used for colouring items rather than as an adhesive, it tends to be slow drying.

Aerosol adhesives are good for sticking paper images and photographs down and should only be used in well ventilated spaces. Place the item upside down in an old shoe box before spraying to protect the work area, as it is difficult to control the application of this type of adhesive. Re-positional as well as permanent varieties are available.

Dry Adhesives

Sticker machines are available in different sizes and have either re-positional or permanent adhesive cartridges. Place many small items together in the tray to reduce adhesive waste. These machines are good for sticking small punched shapes onto card. They eliminate much of the mess associated with glue and also there is no drying time. Very thin paper can be strengthened by running it through a sticker machine and then placing it on to thicker backing card or paper.

Glue dots are available on a roll and come in different sizes, there are non permanent, and permanent varieties as well as acid free. These are used by pressing the item on to the glue dot and then peeling from the backing roll. The item is then placed on to the project.

Double-sided tape is often used to stick mats or mounts together when layering paper and card, as it is less messy than glue and doesn't require drying time. Sheets of double-sided tape are available, glitter or micro beads can be shaken on to the sheet to create a sparkly self sticking paper, metal leaf can also be applied to the sheet which produces a lovely effect.

Dimensional foam pads These give a raised three dimensional effect to a project and are often used in decoupage and layering. They are sticky on both sides and work in the same way as double-sided tape but are thicker. These types of pads are often difficult to remove if a mistake is made.