Cutting techniques varied. The Swiss also developed a method of layering cut paper, though collage was not their predominant technique. Most scherenschnitte was cut from black or white paper and depended on contour rather than color for its effect. The packages were sometimes sealed with paper shapes remaining from the original cutting. The Swiss also cut greeting cards on folded and on flat paper and were famed for their papercut bookmarks.
Marques is still the Swiss word for paper cut-outs.
One Germanic form of cut work, which was later brought to the united states by emigrating members of religious sects, was the hand-cut valentine. Not until the invention of the paper-embossing machine did the practice of making these paper messages begin to fade away. Paper cutting arrived in Holland during the early 1600s and many have been brought by Portuguese Jewish immigrants to that country. It was quickly and enthusiastically adopted as a folk art. Much early Dutch cut work, like cut art in other European countries, served to embellish religious, legal, and commemorative documents.