Can You Say: Wycinanki?

     "Vee-chee-nan-kee"

Some of you know of my terrible weakness for paper art.  I really should have a whole separate label for it here at the blog.  Isabelle, of lou et tom had taken note, and recently, she suggested that she would send me some examples of Polish paper cuts.  So lovely and thoughtful of her!  

Last week they arrived!

As I told Isabelle, I grew up in Michigan where there were many Polish immigrants who came to work in the auto factories.  Sadly, they were convenient and frequent subjects of derision.  We Americans seem to know very little about Poland, a country of hard working people who are still only just reasserting their collective potential after years of Soviet control.  I'm so grateful to Isabelle for sharing with us, via her blog, the many many lovely aspects of the country which she now calls home.

These papercuts, as with so much of Polish folk art, are so lively and colorful.  I love that not only are they cut, (some say, that back in the days they used sheep shears to make them - can ya believe it?) but they are also layered, pieces and colors one on top of the other, to create quite sophisticated and delightful color arrangements.

Thank you so much Isabelle!  They are wonderful!

If you would like to get hold of some Wycinanki of your own, find them here.