Category: Papercutting

Papercutting, scherenschnitte, kirigami, wycinanki, cardmaking with laser cutter or by hand.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 23: Olive Leaves

papercut 121 olive leaves - horizontal - LaserSister - KayVincent

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 18: Egyptian with Snake

Egyptian with Snake #538

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.) For want of a better name I’ve called it “Egyptian with Snake”.

Closer up:

This is a bit of a strange design, to my eyes. Why is the person coming out of a bowl? Is the snake meant to look like it’s a sock puppet?

Er, I’m not sure what I might use the design for in future, but at least it was a very quick one to cut.

Does the snake look like a sock puppet on a third hand to you as well? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 17: Tall Fruit Basket

Tall Fruit Basket #517

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.) The book only has numbers next to the designs and doesn’t have names or titles for them, so I usually call them whatever they look like. Hence “Tall Fruit Basket”…

Closer up:

Although I think a tall fruit basket would actually be rather impractical in real life (What are those fruits? How the heck do you reach the fruit at the bottom? How do you clean it if a kiwi fruit goes all mushy? If it’s not hollow all the way down to the bottom, then why does it need to be such a tall plinth to just hold fruit? If you did stretch your hand down to the bottom and grab a big grapefruit, is the middle section too narrow to let you pull the grapefruit back up? etc…), I like the overall lines of the design.

But I’m guessing I won’t be using the design again in a hurry.

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

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 16: Woman Reading

Woman Reading #531

Woman Reading…is me, at the moment! She looks very scholarly, and that reflects my current PhD-student status.

This is the latest design in the 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 #531 in the book. (They don’t have names – just numbers – so I have to come up with titles for the designs.)

Closer up:

I originally thought that she was a bit of a funny shape, but now that I look at the design again, I realise that she is sitting down and the giant book is resting on her knees.

Her face was the trickiest thing to adapt for papercutting, because I needed a way to attach the eyes and mouth to the side of the face without the links looking too obvious. I think if I cut this design again then I’d tweak the design of the hands. They look a bit claw-like and grabby.

That reminds me – I’ve just rejoined GAP (the Guild of American Papercutters (not that I’m American, but I don’t think there’s a UK version (?GUKP?!))) and there’s still time to enter their “Ex Libris” call for artwork. I’ve got at least another four months to go until the deadline, so I might come up with my own design for a bookplate.

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

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 15: Branch Silhouette

Branch Silhouette

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 #505 in the book. As I’ve mentioned before in this project, the designs in the book don’t have names, so I’ve had to come up with my own descriptions. No prizes for guessing why this one is called “Branch Silhouette”.

Closer up:

I quite like this one, and I’m not even sure why, because the flowers and leaves aren’t that pretty. Maybe it’s just the branch itself that I actually like.

And I also managed to cut it out fairly accurately. There were lots of very thin lines that needed to be cut out, and they turned out OK.

If I ever do come up with a series of fairytale-based papercuts, I think this design will be a candidate for including within the design.

I was still listening to The Grand Sophy audiobook when I did this papercutting. I must read more (or listen to more) of Georgette Heyer’s books.

Any comments? Why not contribute via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 14: Mini Flower

Mini Flower #517

Day 14 of my accelerated papercutting project, where I’m trying to adapt and cut 100 designs in 100 days. Today’s cute ‘mini flower’ papercut design is number 517 in the 922 Decorative Vector Ornaments book.

Closer up:

As opposed to yesterday’s design, I like this one. It’s a tiny little flower and I really like the design, and I also managed to cut it out fairly well.

I should definitely be able to use this design in some other project. In fact I look forward to it!

While I cut it I was listening to the Audible book version of Georgette Heyer’s The Grand Sophy. I LOVED it.

Do you like the mini flower papercut? Are you a Georgette Heyer fan too? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.