Hanji Happenings

Jewelery Box Staple layers of paper to the template Template on the light box A good Knife My latest project has been to make a jewelry box. I'm not going to tell you at this stage how to make it but I thought you may be interested in the process of cutting out the stencils to achieve the desired affects. The most important thing is to have the right type of knife and a good sharp knife blade.                             Choose the pattern you want to put on your article. There are several books around that have the stencils in them that are suitable for hanji.  I have a few books I bought in Korea but you could improvise and use any design that you like. You can cut out up to 4 stencils at one time depending on the thickness of the paper.  If it's very thick only do 3 and if it's quite thin (I don't recommend this as the paper tends to tear) then you could cut up to 5. Cut out a no. of pieces of Hanji paper the same size

I'm currently working on a new project and as you can see I have my trusty helper. My trusty helper !! This is from a kit I bought from a shop in Insadong but there were no instructions with it and even if there was, they'd have been in Korean.  I had to cut out several new pieces to make it more stable. This is the skeleton of the lamp. The lack of English instructions have always been a challenge to me over the years since I first started doing Hanji and especially, since I left Korea over 8 years ago now. Luckily my experience and perseverance has enabled me to work through the basic techniques that I was taught and to end up with what I consider a reasonable result. This one had me stumped though, until, I revisited the shop a few months ago during my visit to Seoul and got a very easy explanation of what I needed to do to put it all together.  Bending the perspex and holding it together was the most difficult part. In the final stages of assembling the pe

Insadong Now that Christmas and the New Year have passed us by, plans are well underway for our upcoming trip to South Korea in March. The word has gone out to see who is free during the allocated week in late March so they can join at least Anna and myself exploring Insadong and Andong Si.  My small group of Hanji ladies are all keen but sometimes other commitments have to come first. We'll be heading there in early Spring so the weather will be cool but that's not likely to dampen our enthusiasm to explore the Hanji supply shops and to soak up some of the culture of this fascinating destination.

Take a look at this video 'The Beauty of Korean Paper' by Arirang TV in Korea. It's about 6 mins long but well worth checking out. It shows so many different ways in which you can use the Korean (Hanji) Paper and the experience of watching the video is enhanced by the traditional Korean music in the background.    Take a break.  Get a cup of tea. Sit back. Relax and watch the video .

Hi all, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !!! Pusan, South Korea at sunset My apologises for not writing over the holiday season but there was a slight hiccup with Blogger and I couldn't access my blog.  It seems to have cleared itself now and I'm looking forward to 2012 and the Hanji adventures it's going to bring. Hahoe masks and Buddhist trinkets on display at Jeongju This year I will be taking some pf my Hanji ladies to Seoul in South Korea in late March to see first hand what supplies are available  in Insadong and we'll also take a trip down to Andong to one of the last hand made paper factories in South Korea. More about this in the next few months.