PaperFrost
The Journal
Understanding Paper Weights: GSM vs LB
Why the same sheet is labelled 80 lb in one shop and 216 gsm in another, what grammage really measures, and how to read a paper weight so you buy the right stock.
Beginner Origami: The Folds and Bases to Learn First
The handful of folds and starting bases that unlock most traditional origami — valley and mountain folds, the squash and petal fold, and the preliminary and bird bases.
Cardmaking Basics: Sizing, Scoring, and Your First Card
A practical start in cardmaking — the standard card sizes, how to cut and score a clean base from a single sheet, matching an envelope, and a simple layout that always looks good.
Quilling for Beginners: Rolling Your First Coils
Everything to start paper quilling — the strips and tools, how to roll a tight and a loose coil, the basic shapes you pinch from them, and how to plan strip lengths.
Choosing the Right Paper for Each Craft
Origami, cardmaking, quilling, and bookbinding each want a different paper. A practical guide to weight, grain, and surface so your project behaves the way you expect.
Scoring and Folding: How to Get Clean, Crack-Free Creases
Why cardstock cracks when you fold it and how scoring fixes it — the tools, the technique, which way to fold a scored line, and how to rescue a fold gone wrong.
Storing and Flattening Paper: Keep Your Stash Flat and Usable
How to store paper and cardstock so it stays flat, clean, and colour-fast, plus three reliable ways to flatten sheets that have already curled or creased.
Choosing a Paper Weight for Your Project
A practical way to pick a paper weight before you buy anything — matching gsm ranges to the job a project actually needs, and a worked example showing why the same sheet can be labelled four different pound numbers.
Working Backward From a Finished Origami Size to a Starting Square
Most diagrams just say 'start with a square' and leave the size to you. Here is how to plan the starting square from the finished model size you actually want, with worked examples for a crane, a box, a boat, and a waterbomb.
Sizing a Card and Envelope That Actually Fit Each Other
A handmade card is only finished once it has an envelope that fits it properly — not too snug, not swimming in space. How clearance, standard A-line sizes, and the flat blank you cut all fit together, worked through with real numbers.
Quilling Strip Length for a Target Coil Size
Why a coil's finished diameter grows so much faster than the strip you feed into it, and how to work out the exact strip length a target coil needs — for a plain coil, a thicker paper, and a coil wound around a core.
Booklet Imposition and Page Order for Saddle-Stitch Zines
Why the pages of a saddle-stitched booklet print in an order nothing like 1, 2, 3, 4 — worked through page-by-page for a 20-page zine, an odd page count, and a thicker booklet split into signatures.