A Wedding Card

I think you've probably figured out by now that I have discovered a new found love of papercutting. Yes, I've been cutting paper for years and I still love working the way that I do, but when I say papercutting, I mean the traditional art of cutting paper designs from one sheet of paper.

Papercutting has in fact been a common Jewish art form since the Middle Ages, connected with various customs and ceremonies, and associated with holidays and family life. Paper cuts often decorated ketubot (marriage contracts), Mizrahs, and adorned ornaments used on festive occasions such as Shabbat and Passover. These types of papercuts often used symmetrical designs featuring traditional Jewish words and symbols.

As those of you who read my blog regularly already know, my good friend Nomi recently got married to the love of her life, Adam. I created all the stationery for their wedding and knew that a really special handmade card had to complete the package. Given that I had already done a paper portrait of the couple, which I believe they intend to frame and hang on a wall in their home, I needed to come up with something different. A traditional papercut it was!

This papercut is based on a design by Angie Pickman, also known as Rural Pearl. On the Rural Pearl blog Angie encourages you to add in your own details, so I decided to include the names of the bride and groom inside the heart, and also to add another heart with a lovely bright red infill. The blue backing paper matches the colour of the wedding stationery, which was in turn based on the groom's tie!

I know that Nomi loved the card. She told me that she intends to get it framed too, along with the artwork I created for the invitation. Their home will soon be filled with Handmade in Israel pieces. I hope they consider that a good thing!