The last few weeks have been a bit crazy at school. We finished our first semester on Friday. I finally have some time to craft more, but Hazel is also home for break, so a lot of my evening time at least is spent with her. I have four amazing products to share with you that are perfect for paper lovers and paper crafters. They make amazing gifts as themselves or for you to make gifts for others! We will begin with a book that literally is called Book for Paper Lovers: Color Your World by the Editors of Flow Magazine. There is no suggested age on these products today due to them being for adults however this one definitely works for kids who can write and create!
About the Book:
From the creators of wildly popular Flow magazine, the Book for Paper Lovers is a stationery enthusiast’s dream, brimming from cover to cover with beautiful paper and Flow‘s signature goodies.Paper gives us that same good feeling that our birthday did when we were children. It’s the perfect craft medium that doesn’t involve stress or screens—something we need more and more in this digital age. You can feel it, hold it, fold it. Write or draw on it, cut it up, or keep it. From the creators of Flow, the Book for Paper Lovers: Color Your World is a true celebration of everything paper, filled with patterns, illustrations, and images by illustrators from all over the world. It’s both a gorgeous object and a book—leaf through it, savor it, tear out the pages to share with friends, or simply enjoy them yourself.
What’s included:
- Patterned paper
- Stickers
- Notebook
- Coupon booklet
- Wrapping paper
- Envelopes
- And much more!
From Me:
This book is full of various paper products--stationary, cards, envelopes, stickers, activity coupons, post cards, colorful paper and so much more. It is the perfect book for the person who loves writing notes and sending actual mail. It also is perfect for the person who loves to leave little notes for loved ones or who likes to do paper crafts! Some of the pages pull out an unfold to be bigger papers (think small posters) with interesting pictures or designs. It is truly a book for paper lovers!
The book is also divided by color. There are different sections most with themes by each color. Many of the themes include animals and flowers but others are abstract. Each is beautiful and a starting off point for someone to create something beautiful or even send a note to someone.
The other book I want to share today is Paper Quilling for Beginners by Motoko Maggie Nakatani. Again, it does not have an age as it is written for adults, but paper quilling is a wonderful craft that I would say about 9+ can do. I began paper quilling a few years ago and am amazed at the different projects that can be made.
About the Book:
Create beautiful paper flowers, vegetables and decorative items with this comprehensive quilling guide for beginners!Under the expert guidance of Japanese quilling artist Motoko Maggie Nakatani, one of the world's top paper quilling experts, you will learn how to make many wonderful paper objects with just a few inexpensive tools and paper strips. Maggie's simple roll-shape-and-paste paper quilling method is ideal for beginners—allowing you to form dozens of shapes and objects easily.
Paper Quilling for Beginners features easy-to-follow, step-by-step photographic instructions for 30 projects comprised of 75 adorable paper quilled objects, including:
- Frilly flowers with ornate petals and leaves which make sweet and romantic decorations!
- Colorful vegetables, herbs and fruits that look lovely on your kitchen wall or containers!
- Decorative tiles with fancy whorls and flourishes that can be framed to add a splash of kaleidoscopic color to any room
- Japanese dolls, lions and masks which add a touch of Asian flair to miniature hoop frames and shadow box arrangements
- Delicate butterfly and heart brooches and other one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces that add the perfect finishing touch to any ensemble
- And dozens of other delightful projects!
From Me:
One of the things I really like about this book is the unique projects it has. It has fruits and vegetables, hats, as well as the typical flowers. The pages are full of fun ideas, and it makes it really interesting. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow as well. For each season they have a framed picture to make as well as a card using similar objects. I decided to try the winter frame. I have not gotten very far but was amazed at how easy I was finding these holiday things like mistletoe, poinsettias, and pinecones! I haven't tried the cinnamon sticks yet.
I decided to try to make a red poinsettia. I struggled to find the write shades of brown for the pinecones but love that I can make them with punches I bought years ago and some quilling. As you can tell I have not glued or finished my project, but I am loving how each element is coming out! The instructions are very clear and easy to follow. There are many photographs as well for each step. Plus, the measurements of the strips are key for these projects!
If you are looking for a fun paper craft to try, paper quilling is an interesting one. You can buy supplies fairly cheap to begin and slowly add to what you need. This book shows you step by step how to create masterpieces and the projects are so unique and different from other quilling books I have seen!
Our final two products are actually packages or books of wrapping paper. Over the years I have created some fun projects with various wrapping papers. My favorite project to make with it however are paper beads.
I have been experimenting with paper beads again and making them in different methods. I made several from two sets of wrapping paper. The first is Amanda Jane Jones Wrapping Paper: Shapes and Patterns by Amanda Jane Jones.
About the Product:
A collection of gorgeous wrapping papers featuring bold and bright patterns by designer Amanda Jane Jones.Perfect for wrapping presents for birthdays, holidays, and special occasions, this curated collection features Amanda Jane Jones’s signature style of combining vibrant colors with bold patterns and designs. The book includes 12 perforated sheets that detach and unfold to 19 5/8″ by 25 3/4″, along with 12 matching gift tag stickers.
From Me:
This wrapping paper is a high quality. It is bold and has large designs out of mostly three to five colors. You can see all the patterns on the picture above. For my paper beads I used the two papers pictured on the right side of the top row above.
It has been a while since I made paper beads, so I experimented with sizes and cuts. Most of the beads are made from triangular cuts going from about half an inch to a quarter of an inch or down to a point. Sometimes I glued two strips together to make a longer strip as well. I have not mastered making perfectly round beads yet and need to play with the measurements more. I even began trying the other method of making round beads by making two separate domes but need to work on that skill.
This wrapping paper is fun and bold. It makes beads that have a lot of red, white, and blue for the most part. It also is a great paper to wrap gifts or make other crafts. The big shapes and patterns made for interesting beads! The book itself comes with twelve sheets of gift wrapping papers (one of each pattern) and stickers and gift tags!
I also made on bead from Japanese Flower Gift Wrapping Papers by Tuttle Studio. These wrapping papers are beautiful and have some color combinations I really love.
About the Product:
These premium wrapping sheets feature 6 prints inspired by traditional Japanese Origami paper designs.These papers are suitable for craft projects as well as for gift wrapping. The variety of designs means they are useful for any occasion—whether a holiday, birthday, anniversary or "just because."
Each book includes perforated sheets that can be easily removed, and:
- 12 sheets of 18 x 24-inch (45 x 61cm) paper
- 6 unique patterns
From Me:
The designs on this paper are beautiful. In fact, I am going to use one of the sheets to wrap my mother's birthday gift because I know she will love it. These papers feature many of her favorite colors as well as mine. I decided to make beads from the purple background with pink flower sheet. I have many pink paper bead necklaces but not many purple ones and I find the shades of pink differ in this paper than the normal quilling papers or my painted beads.
For this bead I used the double dome method. I have not glued them together but lined them up to give you the full effect. You can see much of the pink is overcome with the purple. However, it makes a beautiful bead with some pink showing through. It may get more pink the more into the page I cut as well. Overall both of these wrapping paper packets make beautiful and fun beads! I can't wait to make some more and also to seal the ones I have made so I can string them!
The pages easily rip out of the book in this one. They have perforated edges. Then they unfold to 18-by-24-inch pages. There are two pages of each of the six designs in the book. Each design is colorful and inspired by origami paper. Each will be beautiful on a gift as well as make fun projects! Happy crafting and gifting!
