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Paper craft

arts Maturity 11-13 Next article →

Paper craft is a wonderful way to make art. You use paper or card as your main tool. This can create flat shapes or 3D objects.

Quilled flowers sample quilling picture
Quilled flowers sample quilling picture

People love it because paper is easy to find. It is also quite cheap to buy. Working with paper is often neater than using paints or dyes. It is less messy for many artists. Paper can also help children express their feelings. It provides a safe way to be creative.

2012-12.3417.snowflakes
2012-12.3417.snowflakes

There are many ways to work with paper. You can bend, curve, or fold it. You can also cut, glue, or layer it. Some artists even use stitches to join pieces. You can make a 3D model from a printable pattern. This uses lines for folding and tabs for glue.

You can also make paper pulp paintings. This uses colored paper pulp to build images. In rural India, people use paper pulp to make kitchen baskets. This shows how useful paper can be.

Paper folding has a very long history. The word paper comes from papyrus. This was an ancient material from Egypt. It was made from beaten reeds. People used it as far back as the third millennium B.C. The earliest known paper folding was an Egyptian map. It was folded into rectangles like a modern road map. Intricate folding became easier with wood-pulp papers.

Quilled flowers sample quilling picture
Quilled flowers sample quilling picture

Different cultures have their own special names for folding. In Japan, this art is called origami. The first Japanese origami dates to the 6th century A.D. China has a style called zhezhi. Korea has a style called jong'i jeopgi. Many people in the West also fold paper. They might make simple paper boats or planes. Paper cutting is another big tradition. In Mexico, people make papel picado. They use chisels to cut 50 to 100 sheets at once.

2012-12.3417.snowflakes
2012-12.3417.snowflakes

Paper craft links to many different hobbies. You might know about scrapbooking or cardmaking. Some people enjoy making paper flowers. There is also decoupage and papier-mâché. You can try quilling or book binding. Even paper marbling is a type of paper art. These crafts let people show their skill. They allow us to turn simple sheets into something beautiful.

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File:Quilled flowers sample quilling picture.jpg
Quilled flowers sample quilling picture.jpg
File:2012-12.3417.snowflakes.jpg
2012-12.3417.snowflakes.jpg
File:Military child woes DVIDS336740.jpg
Military child woes DVIDS336740.jpg
File:Papercraftplaza makerfair robot.jpg
Papercraftplaza makerfair robot.jpg
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