(Some of the links below are affiliate links to Amazon. If you’d like to find out what that means then please check out my policies page.)
Fish Papercut K103
This week’s design is number 103 in the book.
This one was really tricky to cut. It’s got really thin lines and details. It looks like a cross between a fish and a plant, in some places. The fins and gills and tail look like leaves. The combination of flowing Art Nouveau-type lines and flexible fish forms is right up my street!
Closer up:
I was using a fairly blunt blade and felt like I was carving this piece rather than cutting it, but fortunately I didn’t accidentally cut through any of the lines.
Actually, I like this one so much that I might have to use it in a project.
Any comments about the design, or advice about the cutting? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
I don’t really know how to describe the design that this papercut is based on, so I’ve just gone with “Bubble Design” because it sort of looks like bubbles at either side of the image.
(Some of the links below are affiliate links to Amazon. If you’d like to find out what that means then please check out my policies page.)
Bubble Design Papercut K128
This week’s design is number 128 in the book. It looks a bit like bubbles (or maybe grapes and a leaf?), that for some reason are placed on a Mobius strip.
Without my reading glasses on I’m fairly happy with the way I cut it out…
Closer up:
…but when you get close up it does seem a bit lumpy in places. Still, I like the flowing lines in it overall, and the natural/’organic’ feel to it.
As with many of these ‘decorative ornaments’, I’m not sure about when I might wish to use this particular design. But it was a nice quick cut to make, so was fun to knock another one off the list even if I don’t end up using it for anything in particular.
I cut this one while (half-)watching Stand up to Cancer: Sink or Swim on Channel 4. Wow. Part of me thinks, “What an amazing thing they’re doing! Trying to overcome their fears and self-imposed obstacles, and to go from being non-swimmers to swimming the English Channel.”
The other part of me thinks “I hope I don’t do what many of them seem to be doing; letting their subconscious fears convince their conscious minds that they physically can’t do something.” (Which is a nice way of saying, “What whiney little princesses! I’m surprised they’ve ever achieved anything at all.”) But then I realise that that’s a bit rich, coming from someone who spends a couple of hours a week practising cutting things out of paper instead of doing useful stuff…)
Anyhoo, I’m looking forward to the final episode next week, when we find out whether they managed to swim the channel. (My guess is yes. Otherwise there’s not much point to them showing it on the telly, is there?)
Going back to me wondering what the point is of continuing with this papercutting project, I think the answer is that it’s just really relaxing. Some people play computer games to relax, some people watch TV, some like to use adult colouring books. At least with my relaxing hobby I’m:
learning how to adapt all sorts of different designs so that they can be cut from paper.
looking at the designs and wondering if/how they can be incorporated into other projects and designs.
improving my papercutting skills, so that one day I’ll be able to make some lovely artworks of my own.
building up a sketchbook full of the papercuts, so I’ve got a record of what I’ve done.
Any comments about the design, or thoughts about whether it’s a complete wast of time or not? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
This Japanese bird papercut is from an ongoing papercutting project that I’ve been doing. Basically I’m trying to hand-cut my way through all of the designs in Dover Books’ “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book. (The designs are all available as vector files, so I could theoretically just cut them all out with my laser cutter…but where is the challenge in that?)
(Some of the links below are affiliate links to Amazon. If you’d like to find out what that means then please check out my policies page.)
Japanese Bird Papercut K716
This week’s design is number 716 in the book.
I really like this design, and for once I’m happy with the way I cut it, too. (Well, except for the fact that the edges of the white paper have been cut on a bit of a wonk, but I can fix that later.)
Closer up:
Yep, even close up I’m happy with it! I was using a new blade and for some reason I was feeling particularly patient.
This design looks Japanese – is it a crane bird? I really like the little hearts and peacock-y teardrop shapes that form the feathers.
I’m not sure about the circumstances under which I might wish to use a crane bird design, but it was really satisfying to cut, even if I never incorporate this design into any other projects.
I cut it while (half-)watching Cake Walk on Amazon Prime. I do like cake shows but I haven’t made my mind up about this one, yet.
Here is another link to the book itself, just in case you wanted to buy it and do your own papercutting:
Any comments about the design, or advice about the cutting? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
Rob and I are on holiday in the UK at the moment, and I’m recharging my ‘creative batteries’ by going to lots of museums and lovely English towns and castles.
The other day we went to the town of Nantwich, and none of the shops or museums that we visited seemed to sell fridge magnets. There is surely a gap in the market for them, because I actually know quite a few people who collect fridge magnets.
Here are a couple of examples below of buildings that I think would look nice as fridge magnets:
Heck, you could even make your own mix-and-match village of cute little black and white buildings on your fridge or freezer if only you had a few of these buildings cut out as fridge magnets.
I am now on a mission to create some magnets for myself, to see if they come out as well as I imagine they will…
Art Nouveau Rose Papercut K113 from Decorative Vector Ornaments Book
Technically I guess this is papercut 102 of the (now-extended) papercutting project, but I’m starting a new numbering convention because I’d cut other pieces from this book in the past and so actually there are already lots more than 102 in total. So now I’m starting to refer to them by their numbers in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book. (It’s not enough to just call the designs things like “Art Nouveau Rose Papercut”, because there are a lot of Art Nouveau-style designs in the book!)
This one is really cute:
Closer up:
I was really concentrating hard on this one, and also using a new blade, and I think it really shows. Most of the lines are really really crisp and clean, and there are some quite fine lines in there as well.
The design is one of my favourites, actually. I might incorporate it into the next card that I develop.
There are still hundreds of designs left in the book that I haven’t adapted or cut, yet! And even if I do one papercut per week then that means that if I’ve got 500 designs left to adapt/cut, then I’ll be doing this for another 10 years. Wow. I hope my eyesight stays good enough to manage it! For the first time this year I have had to start wearing reading glasses for close-up work.
Oh well, I’m still enjoying myself. And I really do like today’s design.
I’ve been learning how to make automata and mechanical toys so far this year, and so this week I downloaded a seagull automaton kit from Rob Ives’ website.
This is papercut 085 (only 15 more to go!) of my papercutting project (using the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book. I am adapting the designs for papercutting, and then practising by cutting out 100 designs in 100 days. Eventually I may may incorporate them in future papercuts that are made by laser and also by hand.)
Because of the many repetitive elements in this design I think it might be one of the designs that would look better if cut by laser.
However, I’m not too disappointed by the hand-cut version. The ‘sun ray’ bits are quite crisp, actually.
As well as the central sun/flower design, I can also see things in this design that remind me of fish. (Or sharks. Or maybe birds.) When I move onto my next epic papercutting project (of creating all of my own designs from scratch) then I might remember this one, and try to hide some fish or animals in an abstract-looking design.
This is papercut 084 of my papercutting quest (using the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book, in preparation for incorporating them in future papercuts that are made by laser and also by hand.)
I really like this design, and it didn’t seem to take very long to cut. That reminds me – I must start timing how long the cuts actually take, because I really have no idea how long each design takes to cut. I enjoy the process so much and find it so ‘therapeutic’ that sometimes I can be cutting a really big project and it feels like the time is just flying by. And then other times, of course, I could be fighting with a fiddly design, in fading daylight, and using a blunt blade that I can’t be bothered to change – and in those cases the cuts seem to take forever.
I’m also getting better at tidying up the cuts before I take close-up photos of them!
Day 75 – I’m three quarters of the way through my papercutting adventure! (using the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book, in preparation for incorporating them in future papercuts that are made by laser and also by hand.)
Not many mistakes on this one, and I like the swirly Art Nouveau-type design:
