To the Japanese, paper is far more than the material medium used by Westerners. For them, its purity symbolises the religious offering, and respect for gods and men. Cut out or folded, it extends the code of speech and gesture. Paper also plays a purely utilitarian role, in the form of lanterns, parasols, fans, wrapping paper, or playthings such kites, dolls and origami.

Make homemade Japanese paper and fold it into beautiful and decorative forms with this Japanese papercraft book. In Japanese Paper Crafting, world-renowned paper artist Michael G. LaFosse of the Origamido Studio teaches you all the essential techniques needed to make your own beautiful handmade washi paper at home. The book's clear and simple step-by-step instructions, diagrams and photographs show you not only how to create your own handmade paper using inexpensive and easy-to-find materials--but how to turn your handmade papers into exquisite paper craft objects. Readers will enjoy crafting 17 original LaFosse designs using their very own handmade washi papers! With Japanese Paper Crafting you can: Make your own traditional-style Japanese papers. Learn two traditional Japanese methods of papermaking, and try your hand at creating truly distinctive papers. Create 17 exquisite projects that feature your own handmade paper--or any other paper in your craft collection. This book is the perfect gift for anyone who loves scrapbooking, making handmade gift cards, origami and paper crafts in general. Making your own washi paper is the natural starting point for creating high-quality paper craft objects of any type. The fabulous projects in the book include: Notebooks Purses Wallets Gift Cards Desktop Accessories And many more…

Washi, or Japanese handmade paper, has long held a central role in Japanese culture. The rich history and striking diversity of washi are explored in this extensively-illustrated book through images and discussion of two washi collections.

Educational resource for teachers, parents and kids!

Brought to you by the instructors at the Center for Book Arts, Bookforms is a comprehensive guide for making books by hand with a focus on functionality in design. Written by the experts at the Center for Book Arts in New York, Bookforms presents all the instruction you need to craft by hand a comprehensive array of historic bookbinding styles from all over the world. Bookforms traces the functional roots of each structure, explains their appropriateness for various uses, and provides projects for making an essential structure for each style of binding. Topics covered include: Why books work: General bookbinding principles for functionality and what we can learn from the past What you need to know for planning a special book or embarking on an edition How materials affect function Bookforms tackles a wide range of projects for all levels of bookbinders. You'll see everything from sewn and ticketed blank books and traditional western codex book forms, to scrapbooks and albums, Asian stab-sewn bindings, unusual structures, and aesthetics/embellishments. What better time to dive into this venerable and unique hobby than now?