As mentioned in a previous post, when we visited the lovely English town of Nantwich, we couldn’t find any fridge magnets there. And as I also said last week, I think fridge magnets are a superior form of souvenir. (They take up less space than commemorative mugs, for a start). So I had a look back through the photos from our visit, and invented…a Nantwich fridge magnet design:
Below is one of my photos from our visit. Nantwich has such picturesque houses that I hardly needed to make any changes to the image. For the magnet’s design I added a heart for extra cuteness, but that was more or less it!
I was so pleased with the end result that I tried the design as a souvenir keyring as well…
So if you’re visiting Nantwich and also happen to be a fridge magnet fan (and depending on whether they still have any in stock), you should hopefully now be able to find one at Nantwich Museum. In fact I like the design so much I’m going to put one on my own fridge 🙂
The museum itself had some really unusual local history features – e.g. how Cheshire cheese was (and is) made. Plus, of course, the story behind those iconic black-and-white buildings around the town.
This ‘Fleurs de Lys Border’ papercut is from the continuing papercutting project that I’ve been doing. (I’m trying to adapt and cut my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books, and so have got 922 little papercutting projects to work on.)
(Some of the links in this article are ‘affiliate links’. If you’d like to know more, please check out the small print page…)
The design is number 126 in the book.
It was relatively straightforward to cut, and would make a nice border for a project, or even a suitable crown for a king in a fantasy image.
Closer up:
Close up it’s a bit more obvious that the little shapes aren’t symmetrical, but as I go along with these projects they really are teaching me things. (Like how not to hate that I’ve cut imperfect shapes and then let other people see them.) Instead I’m getting much more relaxed about enjoying them for the cutting process in itself, and then the very fact that they are slightly wonky.
What I especially like about this design is that I could cut the pointy tops of the fleur-de-lys shapes in just a single snip, thanks to my fantastic accidentally-damaged scissors.
A few years ago I bought a pair of scissors, with the intention of using them especially for papercutting. I got them from Ernest Wright & Son Ltd, because I wanted really good quality, and the city of Sheffield has been associated with producing cutlery and scissors for centuries. The scissors came with a protective case and a little certificate:
They were brilliant. So sharp, so precise, so capable of cutting tiny detailed shapes.
…and then in the first week of owning them, I managed to drop them. Onto a concrete floor. Point-downward.
I said a very rude swearword.
My poor, expensive scissors (if that’s not an oxymoron) were irretrievably bent:
But then I tried to use them. And discovered that I had invented The Best Pair of Papercutting Scissors Ever. They cut tiny little curved shapes!
I have now had them for several years and they’re still really sharp. But I’ve got no idea if I’ll ever be able to get them sharpened. I might ask the makers, actually, to see if they’re up for a challenge. In the meantime, I can cut the little curved tops of the fleur de lys shapes above in just one snip.
Have you had any serendipitous disasters-that-turned-out-to-be-triumphs? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
This design 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.) It’s a fairly simple flower-and-fleur-de-lys papercut design, and this one is number 703 in the book.
(Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. If you’d like to know more, please check out the small print page…)
I still need to cut the square edges more so it’s symmetrical, but on the whole I think I did an OK job:
Closer up:
Even close up I’m quite satisfied with the cutting of this one, for a change. The lines aren’t too jagged, the straight bits are straight, and the curved sections are curved.
It’s a nice simple design, and I like the heraldic-looking elements. I can see myself using parts of this design in future projects.
While I did the cutting I was listening to Sarah Pascoe’s Sex, Power, Money (as an audiobook). Very interesting book. It’s not actually the sort of book I would usually read or listen to, but I’ve been binge-listening to so many audiobooks recently that I’ve run out of my normal reading matter. It’s definitely opened my eyes (or ears, I suppose!) to a lot of issues…
So what started out as a therapeutic papercutting project, ended up including some interesting lessons in human nature as well.
(Continuing my papercutting project – trying to adapt and hand-cut projects based on all of the designs in “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” by Dover Books.) None of the designs in the book have names, they just have numbers. So because this design looks like a couple of bunches of grapes and a dangly vine-y thing, I’ve naturally called it “Grapes and Vine”.
(Note: some of the links below are affiliate links. If you’d like to find out more then please check out my policies page.)
Grapes and Vine Papercutting K726
Design number 726 in the book was a challenge. (Sorry about the out-of-focus image, by the way. I’ll try to take a better version one day, but at least the closeup version is OK.) It’s got very very thin lines to cut for the vine-y bits, and then lots of very small, very curved sections (i.e. the grape-looking bits). I tackled these with a new scalpel blade, because by now I have got enough experience in papercutting to know that small round objects and thin lines should automatically make me reach for a fresh blade.
Closer up:
Even Closer up
I did tidy the design up a bit after I’d cut it, and overall I’m quite pleased with it. However, when you look at it really close up, you can see the places on most of the grapes where I’ve changed position of the blade or paper mid-cut. (See below, circled in red…):
The perfectionist in me obviously doesn’t like this. And yet the positive, celebratory, skill-learning, “evolving” person in me is very pleased that there are a couple of grapes where this effect isn’t as noticeable. (Plus this is VERY close up, and probably not even noticeable in ‘real life’!)
But the skill-learning, “evolving” person in me is also wondering if it is possible to improve my technique even more. If I keep practising and learning about papercutting techniques, might I eventually get to a stage where I can cut pieces without these little blips showing?
I think it would feel very satisfying to know that I had the skills to cut a ‘perfect’ design.
On the other hand, a laser cutting machine can already cut everything perfectly – and also much more quickly – and so is there any point in me trying to be perfect? And what if it looked perfect this close up, but then at a further level of magnification there were still some flaws that showed up? Where should I draw the line?!
OK – I think I’ve come to a conclusion. I am going to aim for “excellent” rather than “perfect”. Because perfection, as I’ve just realised above, is impossible anyway. There will always be one further magnification that can show more errors.
Mind you, what does “excellent” mean? Oh dear. Here we go again…
Do you have any advice about improving my cutting (e.g. to avoid making those little marks when I change the position of the paper or the blade)? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
(Still working on the papercutting project where I’m adapting and hand-cutting my way through the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book.) I’ve called this one “Art Nouveau Waterlily Flower” but as I explain below, I’m not 100% convinced that it actually is a waterlily…
(Note: some of the links below are affiliate links. If you’d like to find out more then please check out my policies page.)
Art Nouveau Waterlily Flower Papercutting K118
Design number 118 in the book is a nice little waterlily. Or maybe a lotus flower. Or some other flower. Now that I look at it again, I’m not convinced it’s a waterlily because waterlily leaves are the classic ‘lily pads’ that frogs sit on, aren’t they? Whereas these leaves are small and pointy (or long and sinuous). Oh well, maybe I could convince myself that it’s a waterlily if I think that the little pointy bits are its roots, and the long sinuous bits are representations of the water that the flower is sitting in.
I did tidy the design up a bit after I’d cut it, but it’s a bit ‘lumpy’ in places. Overall though, I really like this one. I can definitely see myself using it in a future project as part of a design.
Closer up:
I cut this one while listening to Mark Dawson’s Self Publishing Show podcast (previously the Self Publishing Formula show). Very useful information!
Any comments about the design (like what the heck kind of flower it is), or advice about improving my cutting? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
(Still working on the papercutting project where I’m adapting and hand-cutting my way through the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book.) This week is a really tiny and fiddly design, of a vine and leaves.
(Note: some of the links below are affiliate links. If you’d like to find out more then please check out my policies page.)
Leaves and Vine Papercutting K112
Design number 112 from the book is a simple-looking image, but because it’s so small it was really tricky to cut.
Unlike the previous (owl) design, I didn’t tidy up the piece after I’d cut it, and so it’s got loads of ‘threads’ hanging off it, and has gone a bit thin in one section of the vine. But that is only when you see the piece really close up. When I just look at it without any magnification, it seems fine.
Closer up:
So yeah – I could definitely tidy it up a lot more, but I think I’ll just leave it as it is for now, because I still like the design.
Any comments about the design, or advice about the cutting? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
It’s a PDF file, which should work with most lasercutting systems. However if you need an EPS or SVG file, I’ve also put free versions on Vectorstock.com.
(Please click on the image or the button below to download it.)
If you prefer SVG files or other formats, I’ve uploaded the free sample files to Vectorstock.com for convenient downloads. (Try searching for “free lasercutting files bonus shapes”
This cute little owl papercutting is part of my ongoing papercutting project that I started a couple of years ago. (Adapting and hand-cutting my way through the designs in “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” by Dover Books.)
(Note: some of the links below are affiliate links. If you’d like to find out more then please check out my policies page.)
Owl Papercutting K107
Design number 107 in the book was easy to name, for once! It’s an owl. This one took quite a few tweaks to turn it into a papercutting, mainly because the central dots of its eyes were just ‘floating’ and not connected to any other parts of the design. I needed to extend the feathery outer bits of the eyes so that the pupils could ‘hang’ from them.
This ended up as one of the neatest cuts I’ve made so far. In many of the previous cuts I’ve said “what a shame I didn’t tidy up the cut before I photographed it”…
… but I seem to have suddenly realised that there is nothing stopping me doing the tidying! So instead of leaving any ragged bits and bobs I snipped them off before I took the photo. Duh.
Closer up:
There were lots of little curved lines in this cut, but the scalpel did a pretty good job.
Even up close I like it.
While I was cutting it I was still listening to the audiobook version of Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris. I am coming round to the idea of audiobooks as a ‘productivity tool’. Sanderson’s books are normally huuuuuuge big chunky tomes, and take days to read. Being able to listen to a book while doing gardening and household chores has been a real bonus, this week.
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’m still working on the papercutting project that I started a couple of years ago. (Trying to adapt and (hand-) cut my way through all designs in “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” by Dover Books.) None of designs in the book have names – they just have numbers. I’ve called number 106 “Sunrise Flower” because it looks a tiny bit like a cross between a flower with leaves, and a sun with rays spreading out from it.
(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.)
Sunrise Flower Papercut K106
As mentioned above this week’s design is number 106 in the book (in case you want to hunt it down and cut it yourself).
It might not look like much, but it was very enjoyable to cut.
Closer up:
I think I was using a fairly new blade, so it was very easy to cut the flowing curved lines. Even the tricky delicate bits cut from the central parts of the design felt fairly easy.
Yes, up close it’s a bit asymmetrical and that thin curved line of the ‘sun’ goes a bit too thin…but that’s the difference between hand-cutting and laser-cutting these designs. The hand-cut pieces aren’t meant to be perfect – that’s what gives them their individuality and charm 🙂
I’m still using the pack of 100 scalpel blades that I bought a couple of years ago, but at some point I’ll need to get some refills. Here is a link I found to some new ones:
While I was cutting it I was listening to an audiobook version of Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris. I’m still not sure what I think of audiobooks. I definitely prefer to read physical books (or even ebooks). Partly because I like so see how names are spelled, I guess. But if I’m using my hands for something else (like crafts or chores or driving) then I love listening to podcasts because I’m still learning new stuff all the time. So audiobooks are a bit of an experiment that I’m dabbling with at the moment, instead of podcasts.
Any comments about the design, or advice about the cutting? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
(Free downloadable laser-cutting resource file of a Christmas tree bauble shape that can be personalised by etching it with a name, date, image, etc.)
Quick! Christmas is coming! (*or not, if you’re reading this in February.) The whole world is trying to cash in on it join in with the festivities. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just relax for a moment and create a quick and easy laser-cut Christmas tree decoration (or room/door/window decoration, if you make it bigger) without having to put any time or effort into designing one for yourself? Well, that’s what this free downloadable SVG file is for. Download it, open it in your graphics package, insert a name, then cut it from your preferred wood or acrylic. Hey presto – you’ve got a quick Christmas tree decoration. You’re welcome 🙂
It’s very quick and easy to cut from sheet of wood (e.g. 3mm laser-grade plywood), and makes a great (fast!) gift.
The downloadable file is a PDF file, but if you prefer a different format then I have also posted the design on Vectorstock.com as a free-for-personal-use file in various different formats.
I hope you found this resource useful. If you can think of any more tutorials or designs that you’d like to see in future then please let me know. You can use the comments section or the ‘Contact Us’ page, or interact via the social media buttons.
And if you’d like to receive more laser cutting information information, tutorials and files, then please go ahead and sign up for the newsletter.
