Tuesday, June 1, 2010

A bit of crafty goodness

A few weeks ago, I purchased a Print Gocco. A dying breed, yes, but I found it just too tempting when I started thinking of engagement invitations and wedding stationery.

So, I pulled out my Ebay hat and took the plunge. Jon and I designed a little invite to print based on the Mexican tradition of papel picado, or cut paper flags. Very sweet and quite detailed, these flags are used for many celebrations in Mexico, hung as bunting across the space.

However, it soon dawned on me that my precious Gocco parcel wasn't going to make it in time to learn the basics, test, print and send engagement invites. After some pacing up and down the living room and considering several mad alternatives (potato stamps, anyone?) I decided, last weekend, to pull out all the paper-crafty stops I could think of and make the papel picado the traditional way - but in miniature. Madness, but I am soooo pleased with the result.

Tools ready to go - notice the awesome paper punch to do the scalloped edging!

Testing out the detail with a pattern and scalpel

Piles and piles of papel picado!

Stuck on the cards and ready to trim

...and here's the finished product. Lovely! What do you think?