Everything Papercraft - Pergamano

Pergamano, also known as parchment craft, is the art of decorating vellum or parchment paper with tools and paper craft techniques. Some of the most common methods include perforating, colouring and embossing to create intricate patterns, borders and images. Historians believe the craft originated in Europe during the 15^th or 16^th century and was predominantly used to decorate religious items such as communion cards and devotional pictures.

Pergamano artists use a variety of tools including white pencils to trace designs onto the parchment, embossing tools to add shape and colour, specially designed snips and scissors, and needle tools that perforate the paper resulting in lace-like patterns. Some needle tools have multiple points for creating specific types of patterns.

Once the patterns have been embossed, perforated and clipped, many artists further enhance the design by adding colour with mediums including pencils, ink, acrylic paint, and markers. It’s very common for finished designs to then be mounted onto greeting cards, but there are also artists who frame their work or create beautiful 3D projects.

Carla created these two beautiful projects using Pergamano techniques.

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