Beth's Paper Cuts: Paper Kintsugi

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Paper Kintsugi

Hi everyone! Today I am the guest tutorial writer over at SplitCoastStampers! Yay. I love SplitCoastStampers because of their HUGE gallery of cards alphabetized by stamp name. If you have a Stampin' Up! stamp set and are not sure how to use it or just want some other ideas, go to the Stampin' Up! gallery at SplitCoastStampers and search for your stamp set. The gallery goes back for years and I bet you will find your stamp set and many card samples made with it. In addition to the card gallery, there is also a vast tutorial library. You will find techniques and fun folds, treat holders and more.

For my tutorial I made a Kintsugi Inspired card. I learned about Kintsugi in an Art Journaling class and I love both the look and sentiment behind this art form. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of Golden Joinery or Golden Repair. When a piece of pottery is broken, rather than throw it away, this philosophy is to fix the pottery. The areas where the pieces are put back together are not hidden but instead made to stand out, Shinny metals are added to the joints, such as gold, silver or platinum. The thought is that the cracks add to the story of the pot, just as our scars are part of our story and made us who we are. We survived our breaks, as the pot can survive it's breaks. We can come out of our trials with new strength and beauty. I love that. I have a song on my 'working at home' playlist from Switchfoot called 'Where the light shines through" that mentions an idea like this, your wounds are where the light shines through.

You can see my Tutorial here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/paperkintsugi

I also recorded a Video for their channel which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/@Splitcoaststampers

Here is an example of the Japanese Kintsugi art. Photo from Unsplash taken by motoki-tonn.

And here are some cards I made inspired by this style.

This card uses the Timeless Arrangement bundle and Countryside Designer Series Paper.

This card uses the Layering Leaves stamp set and coordinating Bough Paper Punch.

I tore the paper for these first two examples at the same time and then mixed them up to combine the patterns.

Here is a close up of the torn and repaired areas.

I made this one in Pretty Peacock using paper from the Earthen Elements Designer Series paper.

Sentiment is from Charming Sentiments. I added some gold foil leaves from a stash I have left over from various past kits.

I thought I would give it a try in browns, also from the Earthen Elegance Designer Series Paper, but I think the deeper colors work better.

And finally I added just a tiny bit of brokenness to the tallest piece of pottery on this card, which uses the Earthen Textures bundle and Earthen Elegance Designer Series paper.

If you make a card with this technique, I hope that you will add it to the gallery at SplitCoastStampers! I would love to see what you make!

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