Cassie is a local Vancouverite and a Paper-Ya regular who used our paper for her home project! We took this opportunity to interview her on her process and results!
1. What was your inspiration for using paper for your lampshade? Did it turn out as you expected?
I decided to use paper for this project because I love the way it diffuses light. I think at some point everyone has owned that one tall IKEA paper lamp, so I wanted to copy the basic design of that, but use a more interesting type of paper that had a bit more texture to it. I really like the way it turned out. Because I used the washi, it's more of a nice ambient light, and the fibers in the paper give off a really interesting effect when the light shines through it.
2. Have you done projects like this before? What did you find most challenging about it?
I've never really made a "functional" piece out of paper before - I'm usually drawing or painting, so this was a first for me. The hardest thing about it was dealing with how delicate the paper was. It was tricky to get it to do what I wanted without it tearing, so if anything, I just had to take my time with it to make sure I wasn't going to waste a really nice piece of handmade paper.
Here are some of our other papers that filter light beautifully:
3. What did you enjoy most about this project?
What I enjoyed the most about it was how satisfying it was when it came together at the end. I had a string of firefly lights that I wasn't using for anything, so I ended up wrapping them around the lamp just to see what it would look like. I ended up keeping them there as an accent and I think it was a really nice finishing touch.
4. What materials did you need for this project?
The materials that I used were: One old IKEA lamp base, some armature wire from Opus to make the frame, Paper-Ya washi paper, a glue stick (this is the easiest way to get the paper to stick) and firefly lights. All in all I only spent about $20-$30, not including the lamp base.
Different colours of paper would create unique moods for your home:
5. Have you bought paper from us before, or was this your first time?
5. I'd say I'm a pretty regular Paper Ya customer! I always stop by if I'm in the area to have a look at what new stuff you have. I'm into calligraphy too, so I buy fountain pen ink quite frequently!
6. Would you do more projects like this in the future?
I think I'd definitely be into doing more projects like this in the future. I'm thinking about incorporating origami into a lamp design at some point, so we'll see how that goes.
7. Bonus Project!
When I was buying the washi for the lamp, I came across a cute paper design with some birds on it and decided to frame them. I went to Opus and looked for some interesting looking pre-made frames and put them together in the store.
Thank you, Cassie! We love to see what people do with our papers.
Blog by Christine Wiebe
