Happy New Year! Whether you’re just discovering this blog or you’ve followed it from the beginning (we reached the 500th post in 2024) thank you for following along on this paper journey.

This is the fourth annual end of the year list of 100 of my favorite papery things – from tools to tutorials, inspiration to online exploration – I hope you enjoy reading through it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

I would love to know your favorites too – please leave your comments below. You’ll notice that several of the recommended items came from other paper lovers this year. Thank you!

Feel free to share this list with your paper-loving friends. Enjoy!

Special thanks to Lisa Merkin for designing the graphic. 

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Paper: Figuring out which paper will work best for a particular project is tricky, but it can be a delightful journey. There are so many qualities – thickness, opacity, foldability – to name a few. My advice: try it and see if it works. If it does, it becomes a favorite paper. If it doesn’t, you learned something!

1. I discovered Cambridge Imprint this year, a company in the UK that makes patterned papers, stationery and homeware with a sophisticated palette and a distinctively English sensibility. I have convinced myself, that if I order enough sheets (paper is lightweight), the international shipping charge is reasonable.
2. Also in the UK: Vintage Paper Co. Their patterns and designs are copies of, or influenced by patterned, decorative papers from the 1600s and onwards. (This link takes you to their papers, but they have many other products. Helen’s TIP: their sheets seem to be organized from most to least expensive, so be sure to scroll down if you are frugal, like me).
3. Zó project is a social business, which preserves, supports, and expands traditional Vietnamese paper and the papermaking process in a sustainable and creative way. Check out their papers for fine art, packaging and printmaking.
4. Porridge Papers in Lincoln, NE, has been creating handmade papers for design studios, calligraphers, printers and paper lovers for more than 30 years. They have a fun website, featuring paper lines, like Blue Collar, which includes papers called Warehouse, Time Card, Quarter Sawn and Overalls.
5. Tony Carlone creates unique handmade sheets featuring unique blends of quality materials. For example, his London Hue Blend is one-of-a-kind blend of pigmented kozo, cattail, flax, sisal, yucca, cordyline, dracaena, daylily, natural cotton fabric scraps, gingko leaves, abaca, common reed, cotton, pineapple, corn, hosta, bush lily, iris, common reed seed heads and recycled pH neutral paper.
6. You have to check out The Paper Foundation’s online shop (worth a visit, even if you don’t make a purchase). In addition to creating their own handmade papers with a nod to the past, they have a stash of old papers made by Barcham Green (rabbit hole alert).
7. I had the good fortune of visiting The Japanese Paper Place in person for the first time this year. This website is a treasure trove with tons of information about Japanese paper. Helen’s TIP: The JPP has a retail shop in Toronto but the site is mostly for wholesale. If you are interested in any of their papers, fill out the Where to Buy form and they will respond via email with either a fitting reseller or the option to buy from them directly. Their retail order minimum is $150 within the US and $100 within Canada.
8. These linocut printed papers by Crowing Hens bindery are available on the Colophon Book Arts website. Helen’s TIP: Colophon carries several other small lines of paper.
9. I’d love to pop into Rochester Art Supply! It looks like they have everything under the sun, including a huge selection of decorative papers, some that I’ve never seen before.  I am going to order some of these Chinese woven papers right after I finish putting this list together. Recommended by Helen Spielman.
10. Hiromi Paper is a fabulous paper shop in Culver City, CA. They carry an incredible variety of international papers, with an emphasis on fine Japanese paper. Their staff is very knowledgeable and helpful. Recommended by Gouri Krishna.

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Techniques: There are so many ways to transform paper, and I am fascinated with all of them! Take a walk on the wild side with paper by following the links below – you might just end up in a paper vortex.

1. Rain Scott makes baskets from folded paper, origami style. While his technique is new and innovative, he pays tribute to the traditions of his people both in form (olla) and in color/pattern. Recommended by Helen Spielman.
2. Marbled paper has captivated attention for centuries due to its fantastical patterns and impressive craftsmanship, and it is experiencing a resurgence in the craft world today. Check out this round-up of marbled paper products.
3. Duncan Birmingham introduces you to pop-up structures in YouTube videos from the basics to advanced, showing his process and fixes along the way. Recommended by Jade Quek.
4. Have you seen Claire Van Vliet’s Woven and Interlocking Book Structures (now available as a free PDF)?
5. Francesco Guarnieri generously shares his Origami Paper Poems (folded designs) on his blog, and allows others to teach his models, as long as they are for educational purposes. Recommended by Jade Quek.
6. I googled papercraft techniques, and this was one of the top hits, LOL. Helen’s TIP: you can get a copy of The Art of Papercraft e-book for $2.99 USD now through 12/31/24 (that’s a $10 savings).
7. I created a series of papermaking videos in 2023, and several of them feature creative techniques that you can do during the papermaking process.
8. Cathryn Miller’s blog, over at Byopia Press offers all kinds of tutorials for books and paper toys, and she’s done an advent countdown series for several years in a row.
9. Goran Konjevod pleats paper in the most innovative ways!
10. Paper folding was a popular exercise that Josef Albers taught at the Bauhaus. Check out these two folding exercises.

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Online Resources: I’m still a fan of actual books, paper, and libraries, but there’s no arguing that the internet allows us to share and learn about things we might never discover in the analog world. Many of these are repeats, and they’re worth repeating! Here are ten blogs and organizations that spread the love of paper.

1. The International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA) is a membership organization for paper artists. Helen’s TIP: the 2025 meeting will be held in China, which seems like a wonderful way to visit the country where papermaking began (I’m seriously considering this).
2. Ann Martin enjoys blogging about artists and crafters who are creating beautiful things with paper at allthingspaper.net, and has been doing so since 2009. Artist Spotlights are a favorite with her readers, as are features about new art/craft books, tutorials, kit round ups, paper jewelry and ornaments of all sorts, and more. Occasionally she shows her own projects, usually paper quilling. Subscribe to Ann’s newsletter to read the latest posts, as well as worldwide paper news.
3. Hand Papermaking’s print and online publications chronicle the finest work in the field of hand papermaking, while advancing the scholarship and production of handmade paper and paper art. The biannual print journal includes tipped-in paper samples; how cool is that?!
4. North American Hand Papermakers is an organization that brings together people interested in hand papermaking, to encourage sharing of practical, historical, and artistic knowledge about the craft.
5. Jade Quek keeps tabs for us on everything book and paper-related with her Book & Paper Arts Calendar. You can sign up for her monthly e-newsletter at the link.
6. The Movable Book Society is a nonprofit organization that provides a forum for artists, book sellers, book producers, collectors, curators, and others to share enthusiasm and exchange information about pop-up and movable books.
7. Do you listen to my podcast, Paper Talk? This past year, I conducted 17 interviews with papermakers, paper engineers, origami artists, surface designers, book artists and authors.
8. Asosiasi Origami Indonesia (Origami Association of Indonesia) is an organization that spreads the love of origami through video instructions, conventions and public outreach through schools and events in shopping malls, community halls, etc. Recommended by Jade Quek.
9. I spent a couple of weeks down under this year, where I had the chance to interact with several members of Papermakers of Victoria. This impressive group is committed to sharing and teaching the skills of making paper by hand, along with book binding, printmaking, collage, sculpture and many other paper arts. Members have access to a fully equipped studio as well as workshops, a library, online lectures and artist talks, an exhibition program and a quarterly newsletter called The Deckle Edge.
10. This isn’t specific to paper, but I’m sure there are paper goods in many of these shops on this custom map and international list of creative reuse centers – stores that sell upcycled materials, craft supplies, and more. Recommended by Helen Spielman.

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Books/Magazines/Articles: My collection of books about paper continues to grow, and I have catalogued them on Library Thing. Here are ten new faves, some in my collection, some on my wish list.

1. I just picked up one of these books, a set of Mt 100 Writing and Crafting Papers, at my local bookstore. The selection of colorful and striking designs are printed on a variety of papers.
2. Just look at this adorable (and clever) Book Light: Good Night Baby Dinasaurs, by paper engineer David Hawcock. Get ready for bed with some baby dinosaurs. Read the story then twist and the book becomes your very own nightlight. Sweet dreams!
3. With a combination of inventive wrapping designs, inspiring personal essays, and step-by-step techniques, Megumi Inouye invites readers to transform the act of wrapping into a gratitude practice in her new book, The Soul of Gift Wrapping. (Helen’s TIP: listen to my interview with Megumi on Paper Talk).
4. A landmark book that profiles an artistic movement that has operated largely outside the mainstream art world, Radical Paper: Art and Invention with Colored Pulp, by authors/artists Lynn Sures and Michelle Samour, serves as both an overdue history and up-close look at the range, versatility, and brilliance of art created with colored paper pulp.
5. I’m excited to open the pages of Peter Dahmen’s new book, Pop Up Sculptures, published by Poposition Press and due out this year.
6. A couple of months ago, Kelli Anderson launched a remarkable, five-years-in-the-making project called Alphabet in Motion: How Letters Get Their Shape, an ABC pop-up book about typography, on Kickstarter. Helen’s TIP: This book is due out in Summer 2025, and it looks like you can still pre-order a copy.
7. Congratulations to Radha Pandey, winner of the MCBA Prize (an international artist’s book award, given by the Minnesota Center for Book Arts) for her book, Flora of Mughal India. Helen’s TIP: Radha runs Halden Bookworks in Norway with her husband, Johan Solberg.
8. Woman’s World, a 437-page novel by Graham Rawle, is collaged entirely from fragments of text clipped from the pages of vintage women’s magazines and reassembled to tell the 1962 story of Roy, and his sister Norma’s struggle to live up to the prescribed ideals of feminine perfection. Recommended by Helen Spielman. 
9. Japanese Paper Yarn, by Andra Stanton, shows you how to add new dimensions to your favorite fiber crafts like knitting, crocheting, macrame, weaving, or mixed media – with paper!
10. I just opened an oldie but goodie on my bookshelf, Keith Smith’s Non-Adhesive Bindings. These poignant words were what I saw first: Binding is not an afterthought. It is one of the inter-related elements: the page, the picture/text, turning pages, and displaying. Structure must facilitate action.

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One-Sheet Wonders. Something that has captivated me throughout my career is how many ways a single sheet of paper can be transformed! Here are 10 one-sheet wonders that caught my eye.

1. Check this out: Notpla Ocean Paper is a printable paper, created with seaweed. Click through to see the one-sheet packaging products that the company is customizing for clients.
2. I adore this! While away on assignment, the cartoonist and illustrator Alfred Joseph Frueh sent letters home to his wife Giuliette Fancuilli. Through collage, cuts and structural folds, Frueh demonstrates quite literally how space can be constructed through letter-writing, as the page forms the walls of a gallery.
3. Artist Aron Wiesenfeld renders introspective scenes on a 3 x 3-inch canvas, the Post-It Note!
4. Reina Takahashi transposes the expressive, refined flourishes common in calligraphy into this exquisite series of paper type.
5. In Paul Cocksedge’s Shade edition, the intrusive fittings and flexes of conventional lamps vanish.
6. Check out these cut and folded paper artifacts that were discovered on a lintel, where they are assumed to have settled after falling between floorboards about 350 years ago.
7. Paper Space, by Chinese practice IM Design, was exhibited at the Origin Earth Art Festival 2024 for X’ian Contemporary Design Week. The design uses paper as a medium, which transforms from a two-dimensional plane into a three-dimensional space through cutting and folding.
8. Issey Miyake’s On Washi paid homage to Japanese handmade paper, with pleated and draped forms with single sheets (supplied by papermakers Awagami Factory).
9. Pop, fold and secure the tabs to create a set of house plants. This Green Plants Papercraft Calendar features six plants, with two different months on each of them.
10. Wowza! Maho Motoyama has created a forest of Christmas tree-shaped boxes, each from a single sheet of green paper. (Helen’s TIP: click through to find links for tutorials on how to make these, plus many more boxes).

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Artists / Designers /Tinkerers: I once thought I might run out of people to feature on the blog, but I’m convinced that this is a never-ending list. Enjoy these 10 and I’ll introduce you to 10 more next year. 

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Tutorials + Classes: There are endless possibilities for what you can make from/with/of/on paper. Here are just a few ideas.

1. Darryl Bedford creates loads of tutorials for his unique knitted origami structures.
2. Madonna Yoder at Gathering Folds creates amazing tessellations and teaches origami folders the principles behind folding, reverse engineering, and designing tessellations so they can fold whatever patterns they like.
3. I have a growing list of free mini-workshops on my YouTube Channel.
4. San Diego Book Arts hosts all kinds of online workshops about book and paper arts throughout the year.
5. The Ultimate Papermaking School for Artists is an online class by May Babcock of Paper Slurry. Sign up for her inspirational weekly newsletter to get notified when she opens doors for registration.
6. I run an online membership program called The Paper Year. We explore a different paper technique every month in a warm, creative, supportive community.
7. Check out the beautiful and elegant origami mandalas (stars/flowers) that Falk Brito creates. Recommended by Jade Quek, who sought him out and studied with him, even though there was a language divide (which the language of origami overcame). He provides step-by-step diagrams and videos for his workshops.
8. Shawn Sheehy creates moveable books and cards and offers online, on site and pre-recorded tutorials.
9. I host the annual Red Cliff Paper Retreat and Papermaking Master Classes in my Colorado studio.
10. Hive Center for the Book Arts, in Evanston, IL, is a collective of artists, teachers, writers, makers, experimenters, and curious humans who celebrate the book and literary arts – a place for people to gather, share ideas, and create. Join Hive for free community papermaking workshops through their Big Read programming.

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Inspiring Projects: It is truly amazing to witness the ideas that people come up with to contemplate what is happening in our world and to make it a better place via paper.

1. A recent exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the catalog – Drawing on Blue: European Drawings on Blue Paper, 1400s–1700s – traces the introduction and adoption of blue paper as a drawing medium.
2. Tuan Ngyuen created Washed Child with paper he’d previously used for drawings. He washed the paper and repurposed it into this new sculpture, connecting to the notion of transformation that is familiar to so many refugees and immigrants.
3. This article is from 2020, but how fascinating! Daphne Mohajer va Pesaran provides an overview of some of her work for the Paper people – making clothing from paper in Japan project. There are very few communities continuing to make paper clothing or textiles throughout Japan – in Shiroishi, there are only four people who make the specially treated paper or the clothing itself, as there is no consumer demand. It is used in one annual Buddhist ceremony near Kyoto.
4. This is a lovely story about William Huffman, who is frequently on the move around the globe bringing Inuit art to new cultures, setting up exhibits, networking and making connections that promote Inuit art and way of life to the world. Click through to see a Korean paper igloo.
5. How fun! A giant paper boat that really floats and holds a person. 1070 square feet (100 sq metres) of paper were used to create the 12-foot long vessel. The boat weighs approximately 220lbs (100kg). 500ft (150m) of sticky tape and ten litres of glue were used to finish it.
6. Wegroweco is a Santa Fe based educational nonprofit that is building a robust circular economy around textile waste in Northern New Mexico – via hand papermaking!
7. About 6,000 origami houses were displayed on the steps of State Parliament on 31 July in Melbourne, Australia, as part of a campaign for State and Federal governments to build at least 60,000 social housing properties. I love this form of activism through paper, and a community element emerged too. Folders said “the activity opened the channel to have important conversations about homelessness and housing insecurity which, across a lifetime, impacts more people than many realize.”
8. This is soooo exciting, and I can’t wait to visit, although the museum, with a ‘single sheet of paper roof’, still has to be constructed. Danish architecture studio BIG is expanding a former Aldi supermarket in North Jutland, Denmark, to create The Museum for Paper Art, which is being developed to celebrate the history of paper art in Denmark.
9. This story, about a 2nd generation business owner in Singapore, is inspiring! Print N Matters is upcycling waste paper while building community around sustainability and craftsmanship.
10. Check out this array of paper lanterns that were featured in the community lantern festival at Farnham Craft Town.

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Videos: If a picture is worth a thousand words, what does that make a video worth? Here are 10 videos in a variety of formats that I think are valuable to watch.

1. It was a treat to attend Paper on Skin in Tasmania last September. Set aside some time to watch the two halves of this fantastic runway show: Film one and Film Two.
2. Eric and Martin Demaine are featured in a recent Craft in America episode, 
3. Also on Craft in America: Roberto Benavidez, who makes sculptural piñatas, (not your normal piñatas).
4. Check out this video about Sophia Bogle, who restores old books. It is a fascinating snapshot into book restoration, and you get to see her unique tools and process. I love that she signs each spine’s interior, leaving her mark within each project in an invisible way.
   
5. Gruff: A new short film called “Gruff” features extraordinary artwork by filmmaker Julian Curi, who drew all of his characters and backgrounds by hand on paper, manipulated the drawings like puppets before the camera, and used computers to erase the wires, giving his film a uniquely intimate feel. The film centers on the relationship between its heroine, Hazel, and her emotionally distant father, Abuelo, a character loosely based on Curi’s own father. Here’s a brief segment on CBS Sunday Morning.
6. This video shows how a town in India is keeping their papermaking tradition alive.
7. I enjoyed Episode 102, in the Confluence Documentary Series: Material World (look for it on your local PBS station). It features many artists and how they interact with their materials. Matt Shlian (who I featured in this episode of Paper Talk) talks about his relationship with paper.
8. Set some time aside to watch this brilliant video about washi made in Echizen(that’s the paper village we visited on the recent Japan Paper Tour, although we did not visit the mills that are featured in this video). Helen’s TIP: you will find a companion video at the link, along with other things to explore. These videos are soooo good, in so many ways, right down to the voice of the narrator.
9. In about 1995, I had the opportunity to work with a producer who made films for Sesame Street. He created this fun film at Dieu Donné, where I was working at the time. I still remember meeting him somewhere on the streets of NYC on my bicycle – he wanted to share the catchy jingle he wrote – probably on a walkman. I was grinning ear to ear as I listened. Enjoy!
10. This is a fascinating video that gives a nice introduction to French wallpaper. Watch as the narrator points out various intricacies about the paper and printing. The Art of French Wallpaper: the Huard Collection at the RISD Museum, is on view at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum through May 11, 2025.

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Tools & Supplies: Here’s an eclectic list of tools and supplies for papermaking and paper crafts.

1. Studio Carta in the Boston area carries exquisite tools & accessories for paper and book arts, among other things. Helen’s TIP: Owner Angela Liguori recently released her first book, The Ribbon Studio.
2. Brien Beidler makes a small line of finishing tools, which are decorative leather stamps used to compose designs on book covers. Ooh la la!
3. If you love stationery, you are going to be drooling over the work of Sora Ahsan.
4. This Singer measuring gauge is handy for marking intervals, and it can also be used as a compass to draw arcs and circles by anchoring the slider with a pin and placing the tip of a marking pencil in the hole located at the end of the scale. The Singer (or Dritz) brands have a small piece of metal inside the plastic marker that acts as a spring so the marker stays put when you move it. Recommended by Marguerite Katchen.
5. The Fons & Porter mechanical pencil comes with white lead. This is great for marking on black paper and marks come off with a kneaded eraser. Recommended by Marguerite Katchen.
6. John Neal Bookseller carries the ColorWay Arts 2-in-1 Trim & Miter Tool, which is great for cartonnage, bookbinding, and paper crafts. Recommended by Marguerite Katchen.
7. Get a couple of fun Koh-i-Noor MAGIC FX Colored Pencils – with multi-colored points. Recommended by Sarah Morgan.
8. Someone turned me onto this magnetic tape dispenser, which I’ve fallen in love with. Helen’s TIP: I used the tape for the closure on this Photo Cube.
9. I love paper and light and use these fairy lights all the time to illuminate small paper objects.
10. Cutting circles can be tricky. Mr. Pen is my current favorite for that.

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Helen Hiebert Studio in Red Cliff, Colorado. Photo by Red Cliff Paper Retreat participant Dell Combs.

About Helen Hiebert Studio: My interest in how things are made (from paper) keep me up to date on current paper trends, which I write about weekly on this blog. I also host the podcast Paper Talk, featuring artists and professionals who are working in the field of hand papermaking and paper art (some of them are listed above).

Discover my most popular papermaking and papercraft resources – including information about tools and supplies, how-to videos, and paper tips – all in one place by joining The Paper Advisor (it’s FREE)! You are also welcome to join my free facebook group, The Paper Studio, where we share what we’re making with paper on Flaunt it Fridays!

I run The Paper Year, an online membership program, where we explore creative paper techniques each month in a supportive community. My other popular online class is called Weave Through Winter –  this course takes place each February as we explore the art and craft of paper weaving. I’m also the author of six books about paper crafts and papermaking, and I offer an annual paper retreat and host two papermaking master classes in my Red Cliff, Colorado studio each summer and fall. In 2025, I am hosting my first Taos Paper Retreat, which I hope to make an annual event.

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