This one is number #690 in the book. The difference with this one is that it was cut from white paper. So the black bits of the flower are just the notebook cover that’s showing through the holes in the white paper.
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.) This is number #676 in the book. None of the designs have titles so I have to come up with names for them myself, and I’ve decided that this one looks like a cross between a fan and a flower. Hence “Fan Flower”:
Closer up:
There were lots of long thin lines in this design, but I didn’t accidentally rip any of them, fortunately. I must admit that I rip fewer and fewer designs these days, but it’s still a possibility – all it takes is one slip.
I think I’ve cut at least five designs in a row now that are vaguely Art Nouveau-ish. Those are my favourite kinds of design (to adapt and cut and look at). I like almost everything about this design. The leaves, the vines, the flowers themselves.
This one will be especially useful for creating a fancy border around another image. I look forward to having another go at this picture, one day.
And today we have heard on the news that the 2020 Covid19 Lockdown is being relaxed a bit in the UK. Hooray! But I’ll still keep going with my 100-day goal, even if life does return to ‘normal’.
Closer up:
This is another one of those designs that looks fairly basic but was challenging to cut. In fact, sometimes the simpler a design is, the more precise you have to be with the cutting, because you’ve really got nowhere to hide. All mistakes are really obvious.
As always, the Art Nouveau-ish designs are my favourite, so I’m quite drawn to this one already. However, wreaths do have some creepy connotations, because as well as being used at funerals and as general symbols for death/remembrance, I’ve got a vague feeling that laurel wreath also appear in some fascist artworks as well.
But let’s assume this one is a lovely wreath of victory and triumph over the Covid19 Lockdown thing.
Today’s design is number #671 in the book. It only vaguely looks like a thistle (maybe it looks more like a pomegranate?) but I had to come up with a title and it’s got spiky leaves and a sort of crown-like flower, so that’s why I went with “Thistle” as the title:
Closer up:
Woof – I love this design! It’s one of my favourites so far. It was difficult-but-rewarding, and had lots of interesting shapes and curves in it. I also managed to cut it out without making a giant mess of it.
I will definitely find a use for this design somewhere in a ‘real’ project. I seem to really go for designs that are almost-but-not-quite symmetrical. And of course, it’s an Art Nouveau style design, which I’m already particularly drawn to.
If you’ve got any comments or you’ve tried to adapt and cut any of the images in this book you can contact me via the comments section or contact page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
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.
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:
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.
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.
“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.
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.
