Victorian Paper Weaving

Antique love token - traditional heart in hand motif, woven

together, with the addition of a bracelet and ring!

One of my latest obsessions is Victorian paper weaving.  Some time ago, I encountered some small paper love tokens - two paper hearts woven together by a love-sick swain.  They were charming and magical.  Then I ran across a photograph of a larger love token, again two hearts woven together, but with each heart surmounted by birds and foliage.  That did it.  I had to make some of my own.  The problem?  I couldn't quite figure out how they did it.

I came up with a cumbersome method, and made a few, even some that I liked.  It took me about two years to finally figure out an easier way to come up with these vintage-style throwbacks, and now I am weaving hearts, hearts and hands, and a variety of other things, including a house and a heart.  I have a long way to go in terms of precision of cutting and pasting, but I am enjoying it all so much.

I have made a special album for these paper cuts and weaving, and I love flipping through the pages, although there are only one or two pieces that are truly nifty.  My attention is shifting somewhat to papercut illustration; pictures made up entirely of pieces of colored paper cut to shape and glued in place.  I hope to have some examples to post soon.