The Art of Jewelry – Paper Jewelry

The Art of Jewelry: Paper Jewelry by Marthe Le Van is a beautiful book loaded with pictures of jewelry made using paper. Some of the projects use paper as the primary material, while others combine it with more traditional jewelry materials such as precious metals and beads. Many reinforce the paper by coating it with lacquer or making paper mache, or decoupaging the paper to a sturdier material. Some projects look like they would wear well, while others designs may not stand up to repeated wear. Some projects transform paper so you'd never know what it was, and others are more literal and obviously paper jewels. One designer even spins paper into yarn, then knits with it. I really enjoyed this book. As someone who enjoys experimenting with non-traditional materials, I found the variety of projects and gallery images inspiring. I got some new ideas on how to possibly use paper in my own work. Thus far, my only use of paper has been to embed it under resin, such as when I make photo pendants or pendants with prints of my husband's paintings in them, and my recent experiments with decoupage and making resin collages. Reading this book made me want to play with other methods of incorporating paper into my work, particularly the projects that mixed paper with wire structures - a very cool effect with lots of potential uses in jewelry making.