Why should I re-perforate before snipping parchment?

Before I get to the focus of the title of this post, there is something that I want and need to say.  For a start, most things I say here are the result of things I have done myself and found out.

I started playing with another PTC on Thursday afternoon while I was with the lovely Bromsgrove Parchers and decided to use it to try to explain something that my briain has finally sorted out. 

No 1

This is as far as I got during our session, having perforated all round, even over the bit where I made a mistake (not important as that bit will be perforated and snipped out).  After I got home, had tea, and did a few other things I looked at my good big holes to find they had closed up. Y

No 2

In photos 2 and 3, I have re-perforated a small section to give me the good holes I need to ensure good snipping.

You will hear parchers talking about letting the parchment rest between each session of embossing.  That is very important if you want good white work without the parchment buckling.

No 3

 When you perforate, you are effectively stretching tiny areas of the paper and when you leave it for a while, it relaxes, and the holes shrink again.  The secret of good snipping is having good holes.  This means that you will need to perforate again to open them up.  I have developed the habit now of re-perforating a small section and then snipping before going on to the next small section.  That ensures really good holes

No 4

In Photo 4, I have done two tiny pieces of snipping, one through the original holes I perforated during the afternoon, and one in a section I had re-perforated with the bold single needle tool.  I hope you can see the difference.  the one that is vertical is through the original holes and the horizontal snipping is through holes that I have re-perforated.  To me, the difference is very visible.  The vertical section looks a bit as if I had chewed it rather badly.  The horizontal section is not as good as I would like, but, in my defence, I started originally parching using the fine needle tools, and I struggle a little to get the neatness I would like with the bold tools.  More practice needed for me to improve.
 

Many people, who start parchment craft, love it so much that they cannot wait to finish their creations.  So they rush their work and get disappointed.  That is a shame, but often folks do not understand why it should be taken slowly.  Apart from the fact that parchment projects should be taken slowly to get the best results, it is good to focus on the process and not the end result.  

I  have seen people pick up a parchment tool and start tracing the lovely art on a Groovi plate and just relax and let the outside world go away.  You can see the tensions and stress of life just flow away from them.  Give yourselves a chance to experience that release on daily stress by enjoying the process of learning how to get the best from this beautiful craft.  

Remember that people like Linda Williams, Tina Cox, Josie Davidson and others of the Clarity design team have been doing parchment craft for years and have learned more and more over those years.  There are others on the Design Team who are much newer to the craft, but they have still taken the time to learn the techniques steadily and carefully.

Be patient and take things more slowly.  Don't try to rush a piece of work for a deadline.  Instead, take it slowly and enjoy what you are doing and you will be so happy at the end.