Pierced Lampshades By Bonnie Remsberg
EVA MARTIN
Maryland Correspondent
MIDDLETOWN, MD A
craft class was the spark that
ignited into a fascinating hobby
for Bonnie Remsburg.
Rachel Remsburg, Bonnie’s
mother-in-law, invited Bonnie to
attend a sue hour class on the art of
hand-cut and pierced lampshades
at the Side Door Gift Shop in
Walkersville, Md. During the
hands-on class, Bonnie completed
her first lampshade in a beautiful
floral design. Each class member
was given enough materials to
make another one on their own.
As the oporlunities came for
wedding, birthday and Christmas
gifts, Bonnie began using the
skills she had learned to create her
own unqiue designed for family
and friends. She also gave several
beautiful country farm scene
lampshades pierced with bam and
cow designs to farm organizations
for door prizes. After 20 to 25 cre
ations as gifts, she decided to
make them available for sale.
Creating designs by making
cuts and piercing holes in paper is
actually an old art form handed
down over the years. The famous
lacy paper valentine came from
this early art form. Interest was
revived in the art in New England
during the 19305, but has never
reached a high level of popularity
Many of Bonnie’s lamps have beautiful country farm scenes
pierced with barn and cow designs.
h Kk Craft class was the *P® l * that lo n| ted Into a fascinating
nobby of making hand-cut and pierced lampshades.
in the United States.
The beauty of pierced and cut
paper work is best appreciated
when light passes through the cut
and pierced sections, making the
most popular present-day applica
tion of the craft lampshades and
light ornaments.
To make the lampshades, por
tions of the design to be cut are
traced as fine lines, and portions to
be pierced are traced as tiny dots.
The design is then cut with a craft
knife and piercing tool. After the
entire design has been pierced and
cut, the cut sections can be raised
or roiled to add a three
dimensional quality to leaves,
flower petals, and other designs.
A lining is then glued onto the
lampshade paper. She then applies
the rings of the frame with glue as
well as the back seam of the
shade. Bonnie adds velvet ribbon
glued around the top and bottom
of the lampshade in a contrasting
color to add to the beauty. She has
created shades in country, floral,
and custom designs.
Bonnie and her husband Tom
live on a dairy farm just outside
Middletown, Md. They have two
children, T J, who is five and Jar
rett 2. The farm house was built by
Tom’s great-grandfather and has
beautiful woodwork and fire
places with mantels. Bonnie
delights in putting her decorating
talents to use in the old farm
house.
For Christmas, they cut down
three trees for their home. The
“old fashioned” Christmas Tree
was done with red beads and
hearts, real red candles, cloth and
crocheted ornaments made by
parents and grandparents along
with several made by their boys.
The Victorian one, which stood
in the formal living room was
complete with dried baby’s
breath, pink glass balls, burgundy
and mauve satin ribbons with
white lights and pearls.
Cow ornaments collected over
the years was the focus of the tree
in the family room. Bonnie hand
strung popcorn and cranberries for
this one, adding white lights for
sparkle.
You will also find Bonnie at
many dairy functions and shows.
As a young girl beginning in 4-H,
she became interested in animals.
Her first projects were with beef,
then with dairy heifers. Bonnie
and her sister, Cynthia, soon had
four cows on their acre of land.
Their mother helped them milk
the cows. At 38, Bonnie’s father
left his job as a cement mason to
purchase a farm in Litchfield
County, Connecticut, where they
began a herd of registered cows.
Their prefix was a combination
of her sister Cynthia and Bonnie’s
names, Cy-Bon Farm. By the time
Bonnie was married in 1982, she
owned 23 animals. She says her
father received most of his know
ledge of dairying from reading the
Hoard’s Dairyman magazine.
Bonnie also became quite suc
cessful in 4-H dairy judging. She
won the Connecticut stale contest
before she was 16. While a student
at the University of Connecticut,
her dairy judging team won the
contest at Harrisburg. She
received her B.S. degree from the
University of Connecticut in ani
mal science and came to the Uni
versity of Maryland to get her
Master’s degree. While in Mary
land, she met her husband, Tom,
at a Stale Holstein Convention.
She taught at the Alfred Agricul
ture and Technical College in
Alfred, New York, one year
before becoming Mrs. Remsburg.
While at Alfred, she set up a
hands-on computer program for
students for a cull cow program.
Since her marriage, she has also
taught agriculture courses at the
Frederick Community College. At
present she is a full-time mother,
occasionally helping with the farm
chores when needed. She has had
the opportunity to judge dairy
shows in several eastern stales
which is a real thrill for her.
Tom and Bonnie were honored
by the Maryland Holstein Associ
ation in 1989 as Outstanding
Young Breeders and were recog
nized nationally in 1991.
VUmesfead
yfQ i.
brass lamp with black shade.
The beauty of pierced and
cut paper work is best
appreciated when light pas
ses through the cut and
pierced sections.
Each summer, Bonnie and her
two boys enjoy spending several
weeks on her family farm in Con
necticut. It has now been con
verted to a vegetable, produce,
and floral business with
greenhouses.
c H/Sies
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 25, 1992-B3
Creating designs by mak
ing cuts and piercing holes
in paper is actually an old art
form handed down over the
years.
Bonnie’s hobbies include need
lepoint, cross stitch, stenciling,
cooking, decorating and entertain
ing, She welcomes your inquiries
about her lamps at (301) 371-5498
or 7229 Holler Road, Middletown,
MD 21769.