Author: LaserSister

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 25: Flower Border

papercut 540 flower border horizontal - LaserSister - KayVincent

Flower Border

This is from an ongoing papercutting project that I’ve been doing (trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book, by Dover Books.)

I’m quarter of the way through the 100-day challenge!! Today’s design is number #540 in the book. I couldn’t think of anything particularly imaginative to call it, so this one is “Flower Border”:

Closer up:

…and the middle…

…and the bottom:

It reminds me of an ornate piece of decorative ironwork, or a piece of a gate or something. I might be able to use this for a wedding invitation or similar.

And I think I’ve done an OK job of the cutting. Maybe the bottom section is the dodgiest part, but because the design has a lot of flowers and leaves in it, it just seems like the wobbly lines are part of the natural design.

It was a nice big piece to cut, and took well over an hour, and I didn’t accidentally stretch the paper or rip any of the design. So on the whole I’m pretty pleased with it. Yeah – I reckon it’s one of my favourites so far in this project.

Any comments? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 24: Broken Papercut

Broken Papercut #527

This “Broken Papercut” is from an ongoing papercutting project (where I’m trying to adapt and cut my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.)

This is design number #527 in the book. I’m not cutting them in any particular order, but I think I’m getting fairly close to having actually cut 527 of the designs over the last three or four years.

This one is a very sad-looking papercut. My cat jumped onto the cutting mat and the papercut stuck to her paw. Then when she jumped back down off the cutting mat she just left a crumpled, twisted piece of black paper on the carpet – with a crucial piece missing! Once I’d straightened out the papercut and neatened it up a bit where the piece had been torn off, I decided I’d spent enough time on it and didn’t want to start the whole thing again. So here it is:

Closer up:

Any comments? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 23: Olive Leaves

Olive Leaves Papercut #121

This “Olive Leaves” design is from an ongoing papercutting project that I’ve been doing, where I’m adapting and cutting designs from the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books. But because of the 2020 Covid19 lockdown, I’ve put my project into overdrive and am attempting 100 designs in 100 days.

Today’s design is number #121 in the book.

Closer up:

Oops, spot the obvious mistake. I accidentally chopped one of the olives off. But the rest of the design is so pleasing to me that I think I’ll forgive myself and just promise to do better next time. And what the heck – sometimes nature isn’t symmetrical anyway. Or maybe somebody just picked it off and ate it 🙂

I really do like this design – it’s one of my favourites so far. Very simple but very elegant. It was enjoyable to cut, too. Therapeutic.

I fancy using it in a ‘real’ project, one day. Maybe with some other plants that do well in hot climates. Oh dear – that’s reminded me that I was supposed to be on holiday in Italy, this week.

Any comments? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 22: Ivy Leaf Border

Ivy Leaf Border #512

This is from an ongoing papercutting project that I’ve been doing. (Basically I’m trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.) Today’s design is number #512 in the book, and for obvious reasons I’ve decided that its title should be “Ivy Leaf Border”.

Closer up:

I’m not really sure why, but these leaves look happy and cheerful to me, somehow. Maybe it’s because they (especially that one furthest left) look like they’ve got little mouths that are open and smiling. Or maybe it’s because they’re all lined up like dancers in a row doing the can-can or something.

They’re definitely not all identical, but that’s another reason why I like this papercutting – it just shows that they were cut by hand (or scalpel and scissors, to be exact) and not with my laser cutter.

I might even be able to use this design in another project one day. The line of leaves will make a very nice border.

While I cut them out I was listening to Caroline Criado Perez’s audiobook “Do it like a woman”. I was hoping that the book would be full of inspiring and uplifting tales, but actually it’s a bit grim. So it’s just as well the little leaves look like they’re smiling and dancing – that cheered me up a bit.

Do the leaves look happy to you, or is it really just me? Feel free to let me know via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 21: Fire Flower Frame

Fire Flower Frame #510

“Fire Flower Frame” design is from an ongoing papercutting project that I’ve been doing (where I’m trying to work my way through designs from the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books). I’ve accelerated the project during the 2020 Covid19 Lockdown though, and am now attempting 100 cuts in 100 days.

This design is number #510 in the book. The designs don’t have official names, but I’m better at remembering them by name than by number, so I keep coming up with my own titles for each project. Today’s design looks like it is meant to be a frame that goes round the outside of other images. I’ve adapted it so that it’s a much shorter version, but have obviously kept the embellishments at the ends, because they’re the most interesting part of the design. To me they look like a cross between a flower and a mini fire. (I suppose I could have called the design “flame flower frame”, but that’s a bit of a tongue-twister.):

Closer up:

I’m even pleased with this one when I look at it up close. It might look like a simple design, but the long straight thin lines are quite difficult to cut, and are very easy to stretch or rip while cutting.

I might even use the design as a frame for a future papercut, one day.

Any comments? Please feel free to comment via the comments section, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 20: Flower Arrangement

Flower Arrangement #515

“Flower Arrangement” continues with my ongoing papercutting project (trying to adapt and cut designs from the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.)

Today’s design is number #515 in the book.

Closer up:

On the whole I’m quite pleased with this one. I’m definitely getting better at cutting out those tiny grapes and berries (or whatever those round things are). Also improving the cutting of the tiny thin lines, and not ripping the paper or stretching it.

Having said that, for some reason I’m not a giant fan of this design overall, but I can’t really put my finger on why. After all, it’s a bit Art Nouveau-y, and so it should be right up my street.

So I probably wouldn’t use the entire design in a future project, but I might use elements from it in another papercutting. Especially that middle flower – I do like that bit.

I must be at least halfway through the 922 designs, now. I’ll have to have a count-up, soon. And it’s amazing how quickly these last 20 days have gone. I’m already a fifth of the way through my 100-day mission to adapt and cut one design per day.

Any comments about the cutting? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 19: Swirly Flower

Swirly Flower #539

This is from an ongoing papercutting project that I’ve been doing for the last couple of years, trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books. But for the 2020 Covid19 Lockdown, I’ve turned it into a ‘100 cuts in 100 days’ project…

Today’s design is number #539 in the book.

Closer up:

Any comments? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 13: Berries and Leaf

Berries and Leaf #523

This “Berries and Leaf” tiny papercut is from an ongoing project I’ve been doing (working my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.)

Closer up:

Hmmm. This is one of my least favourite designs. The leaf is OK, I guess, but I don’t like the branch, and I definitely don’t like the berries.

Oh well, at least it didn’t take long to cut. And I can always make changes to the design to make it more appealing to me.

Do you hate it as much as I do? Let me know via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 12: Crocodile Flower

Crocodile Flower #516

This “Crocodile Flower” is from an ongoing papercutting project that I’ve been doing. (Basically I’m trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.)

I couldn’t think of anything else to call it. (Hopefully I’m not the only person in the world who sees it like that?!)

Closer up:

It was quick and fun to cut this one, and I’m really pleased with how it came out.

I don’t know if I’ll have much use for a scary flower in any of my ‘real’ projects, but at least I enjoyed cutting it out at the time.

Do you agree that it looks like a cross between a flower and a crocodile? You can let me know via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 11: Lantern

Lantern Papercutting: #713

This “Lantern” papercut is from my Lockdown papercutting project. I’ve already been doing an ongoing papercutting project for a couple of years, but during the 2020 Covid19 Lockdown I’ve put the project into overdrive and am trying to adapt and cut 100 designs in 100 days.

The designs come from the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books, which is a collection of royalty-free images for artists and designers.

Today’s design is number #713 in the book.

Closer up:

This design looks quite straightforward, but because it’s got a lot of parallel lines – therefore they need to be as accurate and consistent as possible. And the bottom looks a bit skew-wiff, but I can ‘edit’ it with a tiny snip from my scissors or scalpel.

It’s a nice simple motif, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to find a use for it in many of my future projects. Maybe I could combine it with some of the other Chinese-style motifs from the book – e.g. the recent ‘window flower‘ papercuttings. All the same, I enjoyed cutting it at the time.

Any comments, or suggestions? You can contribute via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.