SCULPTURAL SCROLLS
Using just a few strips of plain white paper, you can create beautifully elegant and ornate letters.
Skill: Beginner/intermediate Time: 20 mins
MATERIALS
Letter template Plain or graph paper Ruler
Pencil
Tracing paper Masking tape Thick cartridge paper Craft knife Cutting mat Craft glue 1 Choose your letter and enlarge it to the right size by scaling the letter up on graph paper, or by using a photocopier. Choose a simple typeface. The letter in the photo measures approximately 25cm (10in) in height.
2. Follow the instructions in the How To panel (above left) for scaling up the letter.
3 Transfer the letter onto some tracing paper. Then follow the instructions in the panel for tracing your letters.
4 On a cutting mat, use a craft knife to cut some strips of thick cartridge paper. Use the width of your ruler, so you can cut the strips without having to measure and mark each time. The ruler used here was 3cm (1¼in) across.
5 Make the letter's basic structure. Place your traced letter on a flat surface and use this as a guide. Align one of the cartridge paper strips with the outline of the letter, but at right angles to it. Follow the shape of the letter and, when you get to a change of direction, fold the strip and carry on.
6 When you come to the end of one strip, overlap a new strip by 2cm (¾in) and glue the strips together. When you reach the end of the outline, overlap the final strip by 2cm (¾in) and glue to join.
7. Cut more strips from the cartridge paper. Vary the lengths, from 15 to 50cm (6-20in). Take one of the strips and curl one end around a pencil. Wind the paper around the pencil tightly, leaving a short length uncurled at the end. Repeat with the other strips.
8 Arrange several different-sized scrolls within the main structure of the letter. Starting at the bottom of the letter, use the scrolls to secure areas of the letter that could pull out of place. Glue at points where the scrolls touch the sides of the letter and butt up against each other.
9 Glue some larger, looser scrolls to the outside of the letter, so they extend over the top of the shape and out to the side. It is a good idea to experiment with different sizes before you stick anything down. 10 If your letter has a ‘floating’ inner part, like the bowl of a letter ‘P’, make the bowl outline in the same way as you made the outer shape. The outer section of the letter won’t take its proper form until you insert the inner section and use the scrolls to pull it into shape.