This was a really delicate design, but was surprisingly quick to cut. I would love to use it in a future project, like a very special birthday card or thank-you card or wedding invitation etc.
While cutting it I was listening to an audiobook from the library, Servant of the Crown by Paul J. Bennett. I’m at Chapter 14 so far, and am hoping for an ‘inciting incident’ to happen soon. It reminds me that I’ve got my own half-finished fantasy novel languishing somewhere. Mind you, I should really use my writing time to do my PhD, rather than writing my fantasy novel.
At least all of the above took my mind off bloody Covid19 bloody lockdown bloody measures for a while. I would never have imagined that I would live in a country where the Government banned going to work, going to school, smiling at people, singing, or people hugging their grandchildren or going to their family’s weddings or funerals. This is like some kind of sick nightmare.
Wow. A lot has happened since I last updated this blog thing. 2020 just keeps on giving. I managed to carry on the papercutting project through Lockdown and beyond – it was the only thing keeping me sane(ish)! But unfortunately a lot of life stuff then started happening at the same time. So updating the blog dropped a looooong way down my to-do list.
Some of the exciting events included:
Husband put on furlough from (travel-related) job
Husband losing his (travel-related) job of 18 years
Husband’s 87-year-old mother having major health problems but not being able to get help for her because the problems weren’t Covid-related. (Apparently it’s OK for people in the UK to die of cancer or infections or neglect or anything else, just as long as they don’t get Covid.)
Husband getting a new job
Having to move and sell our house
Having to find and buy a new house
Needing to find somewhere safer for mother-in-law to live
Needing to sell mother-in-law’s flat
Death of my lovely PhD supervisor
Replacement lovely PhD supervisor going on maternity leave
Me failing a crucial module of the PhD, so having to switch to part-time and start the whole module again
Five months later…
… and the world is still looking completely insane. But at least my own little corner of it is starting to calm down a tiny bit, this week. So in between filling in the paperwork for buying and selling houses and doing 500-mile round trips to visit the M-I-L, I’m going to try to carry on recording the results of the ongoing papercutting project. (I’m trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books. I love papercutting and it has provided me with much-needed occupational therapy this year, and has helped my mental health.)
But now because of the 5-month break since my last post I’m not sure if I should be on “Day 35” or if I should start again or even dump the whole numbering system. Maybe I’ll just carry on with the day-numbering system (because I was still cutting the pieces during those days, even though I wasn’t putting them on social media). And I’ll definitely carry on with the actual design numbers as they are mentioned in the book…
For the majority of these designs I think, “I enjoyed cutting this design, but I’m not sure I’d ever use it in another artwork”. But this one is different. I like the simple leafy design, and because it uses repeating elements it can be made as long or as short as necessary, just by adding or removing leaves from the design.
And again for most of the designs, I think “Aargh – the mistakes are jumping right out at me and taking my attention.” But I’m actually quite pleased with this one.
