Growing up we made intricate paper ornaments for the holidays.  Sort of a tradition in my Danish family, we all learned to use very small, very sharp scissors at a very young age.  We’d spend hours creating a pattern, tracing it on to acetate to create a template and then cutting and sewing the paper ornaments for our tree and to give to friends and family.  From the classic Danish woven heart to lacy trees to angels.

BC (before children) I carried on this tradition and made dozens of lacy pieces that I still pull out each year at the holidays.  I even attempted it a few times with my kids, but after a few incidents involving cut fingers, fights with scissors and too much blood, I put the tradition on hold.  Now that my kids are mostly past the battle to the death phase as siblings, I want to create additional pieces to add to the collection.

Last weekend I was feeling crafty and started to search out some pattern ideas and in my search came across some of the most beautiful paper art pieces I’ve seen in a long time when I stumbled across a piece in Fast Company about a new show at the Museum of Art and Design, titled “Slash: Paper Under the Knife”.  Some absolutely amazing work!  The kind of work that really intrigues and inspires me.

Like this beautiful work by Ferry Staverman, A Space Odesey:

And this one, Mia Pearlman’s Eddy:

Gorgeous stuff.  It’s amazing what artists can do with paper.  And now, I absolutely have to go see this show.

What started as a search for creative ideas for a craft project resulted in a planned trip.  Just goes to show, you just never know where a search may lead.   I like these kind of journeys.  A lot.

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