Category: Projects

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 67: Alien Plant

alien plant papercut with horizontal scalpel for scale - KayVincent - LaserSister

Alien Plant #536

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.) And as of today’s design I’m two thirds of the way through my Lockdown papercutting challenge, where I was cutting one design a day, for 100 days.

Today’s design is number 536 in the book. I have absolutely no idea what that plant is meant to be. I don’t even know if I’ve got it the right way round! It looks like it could be from another planet. So that’ s why I’ve called it Alien Plant.

Closer up:

The cutting itself was a challenge. Those long thin lines were difficult to cut without ripping. In fact I think I did accidentally tear it in a couple of places as I was cutting it.

In the background I’ve been listening to a bit more of Duskfall. I’m still pretty close to the beginning so still haven’t made my mind up yet. But I have noticed that because it’s an audiobook then the name “Knot” (who I guess will become one of the main characters) sounds exactly like the word “not”, and so some of the sentences sound confusing.

I think this is in my top ten least favourite from the 922 designs, which suprised me, because it’s generally a bit like an Art Nouveau design. It just seems a bit too abstract to me. But I don’t know much about plants, so for all I know it’s a very accurately rendered design. Any ideas what it is? Or do you agree that it is hideous? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 66: Leaf Wings

Leaf Wings #625

“Leaf Wings” 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.)

Today’s design is number 625 in the book. For once I found it easy to give this design a name. It looks like leaves, and it also looks like wings.

Closer up:

I like this Arts & Crafts style design. And the thin lines and curves in it were a good challenge for my developing papercutting skills. I can imagine using this motif as the bottom border for a larger papercut. I think this design is in my top 10 favourites so far, of all of the 400+ cuts that I’ve adapted and cut from that book of designs.

In the background I’ve been listening to yet another audiobook from the library. This one is Duskfall by Christopher Husberg. I’m only at the beginning so I haven’t decided yet whether I like the book or not. At least I’ve finished The Blacksmith Queen, now. I think the worst thing about that one was that the narrator sounded like she was gulping air between every sentence. Very offputting.

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

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 65: Ornate Leaf Border

Ornate Leaf Border #626

“Ornate Leaf Border” is from my ongoing papercutting project (where I’m trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.)

This week’s design is number 626 in the book.

Closer up:

As usual it was difficult to come up with a new name for yet another leafy design, but what the heck – the design looks pretty fancy and could be a border.

This one was very challenging to cut, what with all of the teeny tiny ‘shaded’ lines in it. It was also extremely difficult not to rip, because it’s so big and has such thin lines, and they all start from the same central point. At first glance it looks like I’ve done a pretty good job of the cutting, but if you look at it for long enough then you’ll see that some little bits have accidentally fallen off while I’ve been cutting it. Oops. It’s also not completely symmetrical, but I can’t remember if that was due to my inaccurate cutting or if the design was meant to be that way. I do still like it, though. It’s one of the longest and most difficult cuts that I’ve made.

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

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 64: Orange Tree

Orange Tree #627

“Orange Tree” is from the ongoing papercutting challenge 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 627 in the book. I have no idea whether those round things are oranges or not, to be honest, but I had to call it something.

Closer up:

Maybe it’s an olive tree? But in that case, those are big olives. It also looks a bit like a laurel wreath, but in that case, what are those fruits?

Even if it’s not a specific tree/fruit, I still like this motif. Basically I’m just a sucker for plant-based, Art Nouveau-type designs.

I enjoyed cutting this one, and I’m pretty happy with the result. There are a couple of bits that I’m tempted to neaten up a bit more, but overall I like it.

In the background today I’ve been listening to The Self Publishing Podcast. This show is so useful…all I have to do now is finish my book!

Do you know what the plant could be? Do you dis/agree that it’s an orange tree? Feel free to chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 63: Lily of the Valley2

Lily of the Valley2 #630

This “Lily of the Valley2” design is from the ongoing papercutting challenge 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 630 in the book.

Closer up:

The strange thing about this one is that my eyes don’t find it anywhere near as offensive as Day 62’s Lily of the Valley design. And yet they share so many features. Theoretically this one should give me the same feeling, if it was the combination of the thick and thin elements that bothered me. But to my eye this version has more ‘balance’ to it, somehow.

In terms of cutting skills, this one was also more challenging. It was harder to adapt as a papercutting design, and had even more thin lines, and those little round buds were surprisingly difficult to cut.

Meanwhile…

In the background I’ve been listening to another audiobook; The Blacksmith Queen, by G.A. Aiken. I love a good fantasy book, me. But I’m having multiple problems with this one. It turns out that I have an issue with centaurs. One of my main problems is: What do they eat? If they eat grass, then why are their teeth configured like humans’ teeth and not horses’ teeth? And how the hecky peck do they reach the grass? But if they’re omnivores, then what do their digestive tracts look like, and what kind of poos do they do? And in either case, how much would they have to eat in order to keep those great big bodies fed?

Worse still…

But even worse for me in this case is that the ones in the book are shapeshifting centaurs. How can that possibly work? If they’re in human form and suddenly shift into centaur form, then where does all of that extra bulk of their bodies come from? Where do all of the bones and flesh and horsehair go while the centaurs are in their human form? OR, if their natural form is a centaur and they are just magically projecting some kind of glamour that makes people see them as human, then (1) how many of them could fit into a normal-sized room (because their invisible rest-of-body is presumably still there, but just can’t be seen because of the glamour), and (2) wouldn’t their heads still be 5-ish feet above normal human height, and so the glamour would have to not only take their shape into account but also their position? Oh yes, and (3) if they go through a door then they must have to duck their heads right down…so surely that means they have to maintain two completely different bodies at the same time – one is their real (centaur) body, and the other is their human-image body.

I’ve thought of another one as well. (4) If their real form is centaur and the human-form is a glamour image, what happens if someone expects the human to ride a horse?

(Etc…)

Can you give a plausible explanation of how shapeshifting centaurs work? If so, please chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 62: Lily of the Valley

Lily of the Valley #631

This “Lily of the Valley” papercut design is from an ongoing 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 631 in the book.

Closer up:

I’m not very keen on this design, and I’m not even sure why. Theoretically it should tick all of my boxes. I like all of the individual elements. It’s got nice curvy lines, enjoyable curly leaves, and some very thin lines in it. I think it’s the combination of the thick and thin elements that bothers me. They seem to fight with each other a bit.

On the other hand, I’m very pleased with the development of my papercutting skills in this piece. It’s quite an ambitious project, with all of the tiny thin lines and large sweeping curves. And the fact that it (literally) stems from a single point at the bottom means that the whole design is structurally very fragile. So I’m glad it’s all in one piece.

Any comments? (e.g. do your eyes also find the mixture of thick and thin elements in this design offensive?) You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 61: Delicate Leaves

Delicate Leaves #632

This “Delicate Leaves” papercut is from an ongoing project that I’ve been doing. (Where 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 632 in the book.

Closer up:

So – it’s yet another leaf design. Good job I like leaves and flowers and Art Nouveau-y motifs, since there are so many of them in the designs in this book.

For a change I can’t immediately see any disturbing faces in the piece (like I did in this cutting) – although I can see what looks suspiciously like a curly waxed moustache at the very bottom of the design. (Or again – it could just be me!)

I’m really chuffed with the way this one turned out. It’s got very delicate thin leaves and vines and berries in it, and they presented a good challenge for cutting.

Today’s audiobook has still been The Princess and the Orrery by F.D. Lee. It was definitely worth persevering with, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first two in the series.

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

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 60: Triangle Swag

Triangle Swag #634

“Triangle Swag” is from my continuing papercutting challenge (where 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 634 in the book. And because it was cut on Day 60 of my 100-day papercutting challenge, that means I’m six tenths of the way through the challenge. On the other hand, I don’t think I’m even halfway through cutting all 922 of the total number of designs, yet. So I’ll still be cutting for another couple of years. Still – I should be pretty good at papercutting by then!

Closer up:

Technically speaking, I think the definition of a “swag” is that it’s a (decorative) piece of draped or folded fabric, like curtains. But I didn’t know what else to call this particular type of motif. It might not exactly be a swag, but it’s not really a “sprig” either. Maybe it’s a swig or a sprag?

Anway, not only do I love this design, but I particularly enjoyed cutting it and am very pleased with the way the shapes and thin lines turned out. It’s a bit fancy, but it’s also fairly small and simple. It didn’t take long to cut, either. I look forward to using it again in a ‘proper’ project. Maybe I could mirror the design and then use the two pieces as a kind of frame for something.

In the background today I’ve been listening a bit more to The Princess and the Orrery by F.D. Lee. It feels a lot slower than the previous two books. And the plight of one of the characters makes me feel a bit queasy. I’m still hoping it will start to perk up soon, though…

Any comments? (e.g. What would you call this type of design, if not a ‘swag’) You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 59: Mini Nouveau Leaf

Mini Nouveau Leaf #635

This “Mini Nouveau Leaf” is from the ongoing papercutting project that I’ve been undertaking for aaaaages. (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 635 in the book. It’s yet another mini leaf design, and yet another Art Nouveau style motif, so that’s why I’ve given it that title. I really am going to run out of names for the mini leaf designs, soon.

Closer up:

Because the leaf is so small, the imperfections look worse when the image is enlarged, but all the same I like this one. It was quick to cut and I’m partial to Art Nouveau type designs anyway.

I can definitely see myself using this motif in another project one day. Maybe it would work well as a border, with multiple copies of the leaf being used.

Today in the background I’ve been listening to another audiobook from the library. It’s the third book in the Pathways Tree series, “The Princess and the Orrery” by F.D. Lee. I’m not enjoying it as much as the previous two yet, but hopefully it will start to move all of the subplots forward soon.

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

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 58: Vine Pot

Vine Pot #636

This “Vine Pot” papercut is from an ongoing project that I’ve been doing (where 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 636 in the book.

Closer up:

I think this is a lovely set of leaves and vines … but it feels like something is missing. It just seems a bit unusual to have a pot with a set of leaves and vines growing in it. So if I ever use this in a real project then I imagine I will add a flower or pumpkin to the scene. Maybe I’ll create a Halloween scene. Although that will still probably look a bit odd, to have a great big pumpkin coming out of a small pot. Maybe I can just leave it as a mystery: The Case of the Missing Pumpkin. Or maybe a fairy godmother has borrowed the pumpkin to use as a coach for Cinderella, and it will return back to its pot after midnight.

I did enjoy adapting and cutting this piece, though. I really like the shape of the leaves and the curling tendrils of the vines.

Oh – except that I’ve only just noticed that there is a line missing on the left side! Oops.

In the background today I’ve been continuing to listen to The Academy by F.D. Lee. It’s the sequel to The Fairy’s Tale, and I am really enjoying it. It’s clever and funny, with some very satisfying elements to the plot. (I wonder if that has been feeding my subconscious mind with the ideas about missing pumpkins and fairy godmothers? I hadn’t realised that until just now. )

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