Dec 18

Dec 18 Cartonnage - The French Art of Box Making

When I told my Mom that I was going to spend 2 months in France learning to make boxes, she asked the obvious question: “Why?”

Well, the short answer is why not? The long answer involves a bit of a story. In 2019, Mark and I spent 10 weeks in France (see previous blog posts!) and while we were in Vitré in Brittany, I stopped into a little boutique. Inside, I found the magical world of cartonnage and the artist herself, Marie Piétin. We struck up a conversation about owning small businesses and working with paper. She was so nice; she even emailed me a list of books that I could use to get started making boxes myself.

Fast forward to this past summer. Looking for an excuse to spend some time in France, I thought “Hey, I’ll email Marie and see if she will teach me for a few weeks.” I emailed and received an email back almost immediately. “Yes, she would be delighted to have me!”

Once in Vitré, I went straight to work! I think these little tiny 2-piece boxes were the first thing I learned to make. They are for holding baby teeth in a safe place for a little mouse to find and exchange for a few coins. I guess they never heard of the Tooth Fairy!

Cartonnage, it turns out, is not for the weak. It involves to-the-millimeter precision, sharp tools and a lot of concentration. The goal is to cover the box completely so that no “carton” or paper board is showing.

Boxes can be made to any dimension. I sized this one to hold some tools. Note the fancy marbled paper - I brought a few sheets from home so I could practice with my own paper.

I created these boxes to hold caramels from our trip to Normandy. Hello handmade Christmas this year!

These are little photo books. They are easy to make once you know how. It’s just a sheet of origami folded paper sandwiched between two decorative boards.

Et voila! Just add photos and other scrapbooky kind of stuff. Here’s a couple of other projects I made while working with Marie in her atelier.

Chocolate box with fancy Japanese paper.

Gift boxes for small items using a selection of Napalese paper.

I even learned a little bit of simple bookbinding while I was there. I’m really looking forward to getting back to the states so that I can start using some of these techniques to make products with my hand-marbled paper. Now we just need to find a house so I can build a studio!

Marie was the best teacher and the nicest person. We had a great time talking about paper, business, the life of a craftsperson, French culture and many other topics. I’m so thankful that I had the opportunity to learn from her in her atelier. I was a real dream come true and hopefully the start of a new adventure in paper!