leaves Archives - Page 3 of 4

Posted on 15 April 202017 July 2022 by LaserSister — Leave a comment

Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 2: Oranges and Ribbon

papercut 651 with scalpel square watermarked - LaserSister - KayVincent

Oranges and ribbon #651

Day 2 of the continuing papercutting project, where I’m adapting designs from the book “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” so they can be turned into papercuts via scissors and/or scalpel. (And so that my sanity will remain intact during the Covid-19 lockdown, because I find papercutting to be very relaxing and therapeutic.) This is design #651 from the book, and I’ve called it “Oranges and Ribbon” papercutting.

Closer up:

Maybe they’re not oranges? But I don’t think they’re tomatoes, because the leaves look more citrus-y than tomato-y. And I didn’t know how else to describe the swirly thing, so that’s why I just called it a ribbon. I like that the papercutting is sort-of-but-not-exactly symmetrical.

papercut 651 close up square watermarked - LaserSister - KayVincent

To me the design looks half Art Nouveau and half Art Deco (ribbon and oranges, respectively). Close up some of the lines do look a bit ‘lumpy’ because I didn’t go back and tidy them up, but that was because I was fairly satisfied with it to begin with. Unlike yesterday’s design at least the lines are nice and thick, so I wasn’t afraid of stretching the paper and accidentally ripping it as I went along. To be honest I don’t think I’d make any changes if I had to cut it again.

I’m not sure I will ever be able to find a real-life project where I’ll be able to incorporate this design (unless I end up sending someone a card one day that says something like “Orange you glad it’s your birthday?”) but in the meantime I enjoyed cutting this one.

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

Posted on 14 April 202017 July 2022 by keycraftscontact — Leave a comment

Lockdown Papercutting Project: Day 1 – Tangly Rose

papercut 534 horizontal with scalpel - watermarked - LaserSister - KayVincent

Tangly rose papercutting design: #534

A couple of years ago I set myself a papercutting project, where I adapted 100 papercutting designs (from the book “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments“), and then cut them out with a scalpel and scissors over 100 days. Since then I’ve carried on with the project, cutting about one design per week, but since we’re currently in the “2020 Covid-19 Lockdown”, I need a bit of occupational therapy to keep me calm, so I’m starting another 100-day project. Today’s design #534 from the book, and I’ve called it “tangly rose”.

Papercut 534 with scalpel square watermarked - LaserSister - KayVincent

Closer up:

This design seems like a bit of a strange mixture, to me. Those definitely aren’t rose leaves that the rose is sitting in. They remind me of seaweed or snakes…

Papercut 534 close up square watermarked - LaserSister - KayVincent

But it was definitely a good exercise in terms of adapting and cutting the design. The rose was fairly straightforward to cut, but the tangly leaf/snake things were really tricky. The lines are very very fine. But my accidentally-bent scissors did a good job of helping me with a lot of the difficult bits.

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

Posted on 28 March 202017 July 2022 by keycraftscontact — Leave a comment

Papercutting project (continued): leafy corner sprig

Leafy corner sprig #686

This ‘leafy corner sprig’ papercut is part of my ongoing papercutting project, where I’m adapting lots of designs for papercutting from the book “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments“, and am then cutting them with a scalpel. This one is design #686 from the book.

(Some of the links in this article might be ‘affiliate links’. If you’d like to know more, please check out the small print page…)

papercut leafy corner sprig 686 vertical with scalpel - LaserSister - KayVincent

Closer up:

Are they leaves, or are they flowers? I’m not sure. But I like the overall effect of the swirly vine-y pattern. I think it would look really nice as a repeated decoration in the four corners of a larger design:

papercut leafy corner sprig 686 watermarked vertical - LaserSister - KayVincent

Now that I’m a couple of years into this project, I can definitely see that my cutting skills have improved. The cuts seem to look a lot cleaner and more accurate than they used to.

However, I must admit that the reason is due to a bit of a cheat, really. I cut each piece out … but then leave it aside for a few days or weeks. Then when I come back to it again I ‘edit’ it by snipping at it a bit more and smoothing and neatening lines. Each piece usually only needs a few tweaks, but those little tweaks really do make a big difference, overall.

Before, I used to just keep cutting until I either ran out of leisure time, or my eyes got tired, or I got frustrated with all of the mistakes that I was making. But now I’ve realised that if I’m making mistakes and ripping the designs then it’s either because I’m tired, or because the scalpel blade is getting dull. Both of those causes are easy to fix – I either need to stop and have a rest, or to change the blade.

I can’t remember exactly where I bought my replacement scalpel blades the last time, but it must have been either Ebay or Amazon. I bought a pack of 100 and I’m still using them, over two years later. These are the sort of blades that I searched for when I was looking at buying the replacements.

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

Posted on 22 March 202017 July 2022 by LaserSister — Leave a comment

Papercutting project (continued): triangular flower and leaf sprig

Triangular flower and leaf sprig 722

My ongoing papercutting project continues, where I’m trying to adapt all 922 images from the book “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments“, to make them into papercutting designs, and then cut them out by hand. This one is design #722 in the book, and I’ve called it “triangular flower and leaf sprig”.

You might think that if I’ve got to #722 out of 922 designs that I might ‘only’ have 200 designs to go before I finish the project. But I’m not cutting them in any particular order. Maybe I should check how many I have cut, so far. I don’t even know if I’m halfway yet!

(Some of the links in this article might be ‘affiliate links’. If you’d like to know more, please check out the small print page…)

papercut triangular flower and leaf sprig 722 with scalpel - LaserSister - KayVincent

Closer up:

This design reminds me of 1960s Chinese papercuts. This Wikipedia page calls the style “chuāng huā (窗花), window flowers or window paper-cuts.”

papercut triangular flower and leaf sprig 722 close up watermarked - LaserSister - KayVincent

I like the way the elements of this triangular flower and leaf sprig join together. I’ve tried to make the joins between the pieces flow into each other and look fairly natural.

And the actual cutting of the piece is fairly ‘clean’ as well, with only a few lumps and bumps in it when you look at it up close.

While I was cutting it I was listening to “Blood’s Pride”, by Evie Manieri:

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

Posted on 15 March 202017 July 2022 by keycraftscontact — Leave a comment

Papercutting project (continued): convolvulus flower

Convolvulus flower #525

My ongoing papercutting project continues (where I’m trying to adapt 922 images from the book “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments“, to make them into papercutting designs, and then cut them out by hand). This one is design #525 in the book, and it looks like a convolvulus flower, so that’s what I’ve called it.

(Some of the links in this article might be ‘affiliate links’. If you’d like to know more, please check out the small print page…)

papercut convolvulus flower 525 vertical with scalpel - LaserSister - KayVincent

Closer up:

This design reminds me of 1960s Chinese papercuts. (Wikipedia calls the style “chuāng huā (窗花), window flowers or window paper-cuts“, because the finished papercuts were often displayed in windows.)

papercut convolvulus flower 525 close up - watermarked - LaserSister - KayVincent

It appeals to me because it’s sort-of-symmetrical-but-also-not-symmetrical.

The design was a fairly ‘forgiving’ piece to cut, because the cuts are mostly angular and jagged. And the lines that are curved tend to make nice sweeping lines rather than fiddly little shapes. So yes, overall it was very satisfying to cut, and even close-up I’m pretty happy with it.

While I was cutting it I was listening to “Blood’s Pride”, by Evie Manieri:

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

Posted on 23 February 202017 July 2022 by LaserSister — Leave a comment

Papercutting Project (Continued): K116 – Compass Leaves Papercut

Compass Leaves Papercut

My ongoing papercutting project continues. This design looks a bit like a compass, but with leaves instead of compass points. So I’ve called it “Compass Leaves” papercut. (It is design #116 in the book “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments“.)

(Some of the links in this article might be ‘affiliate links’. If you’d like to know more, please check out the small print page…)

Compass Leaves design – with scalpel for scale

Closer up:

Here it is much closer up:

papercut 116 closeup watermarked - LaserSister - KayVincent

Although the outer circle might look a bit lumpy up close, I’m still quite please with it because that line is actually less than a millimetre wide.

While I was cutting it I was listening to the audiobook of Arthur C. Clarke’s A Fall of Moondust. It goes a bit like this:

“Oh no! We’re trapped in a tourist bus on the moon, under metres of moondust. Hey, all you lady passengers – go and help the stewardess to hand out food and drinks. That will stop you from getting hysterical while we intelligent men help the captain figure out what to do.”

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

Posted on 1 January 202017 July 2022 by LaserSister — Leave a comment

Papercutting Project (Continued): K695 – New Leaf Papercut

New Leaf! Papercut (Design 695)

Happy New Year! My ongoing papercutting project is now stretching into another year. And because the new year is often associated with ‘turning over a new leaf’ (in other words, starting again), I chose a leaf design for today’s papercutting theme, and called it “New Leaf” papercut. (It is design #695 in the book “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments“.)

(Some of the links in this article might be ‘affiliate links’. If you’d like to know more, please check out the small print page…)

Leaf – with pen for scale

Closer up:

Here it is much closer up:

I really like this ‘new leaf’ papercut design because it’s Art Nouveau-style, so it’s right up my street. And I managed to cut all of those teeny weeny curly lines without accidentally breaking any of them.

While I was cutting it I was listening to an audiobook. This time it was Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I must admit that the book has a very slow start, as far as I’m concerned. There doesn’t seem to be any clue about who the main character will be, yet, let alone an “inciting incident”. I’m guessing that at some point a man called Quasimodo might appear, but so far the story seems to be about a crowd of people waiting for a play to start.

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

Posted on 24 November 201917 July 2022 by LaserSister — Leave a comment

Papercutting Project (Continued): Pomegranate and Leaves Papercut K708

papercut k708 - pomegranates and leaves with pen for scale - LaserSister - KayVincent wm

Pomegranate and Leaves Papercut – From Decorative Vector Ornaments Book

The ‘Pomegranate and Leaves’ papercut design is from an ongoing papercutting project that I’ve been doing, for the last couple of years(!) I’m trying to adapt and cut all of the designs in the book “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments“. I’ve forgotten why I even wanted to do it, now, but I’ve got so far into it that I might as well continue 🙂

(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 book doesn’t have titles for any of the designs, so I’ve called no# 708 “Pomegranate and Leaves”.

Closer up:

This design has got some extremely tiny shapes to cut out, and they were a real challenge. Some are only a little bit bigger than a pinprick:

papercut k708 - pomegranates and leaves closeup - LaserSister - KayVincent wm

I really do need to count up how many of these designs I’ve cut now, but I think it’s close to 400. And with each one I feel like I’m getting just a bit more confident and competent at cutting. I’m also getting better at adapting images so that I can make papercuttings from them.

I particularly enjoyed adapting and cutting this piece, because it’s got the traditional floral shapes of an Art Nouveau design. The curves of the leaves appeal to me, as well as the stylised pomegranates (at least, I think that’s what they are!) I can definitely see myself using some of the elements of this design in a future project.

While I was cutting it I was (half-)watching Cake Walk on Amazon Prime (Amazon Prime might still have a free 30-day trial if you haven’t tried it already).

Cake Walk really is a guilty pleasure for me – the finished cake designs don’t always look 100% professional, but I just enjoy watching the processes that the contestants go through. And I suppose I feel a bit of camaraderie with them as well, because when the Zombie Apocalypse inevitably comes, then it will turn out that cake designing and papercutting will both be among the least useful hobbies that people could have spent their time on…

Any comments about the design or the cutting (or my taste in TV shows)? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

Posted on 27 October 201917 July 2022 by LaserSister — Leave a comment

Papercutting Project (Continued): Grapes and Vine K726

papercut k726 - grapes and vine closeup - LaserSister - Kay Vincent

(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.)

cover of decorative-vector-ornaments book

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.

papercut k726 - grapes and vine with pen for scale - LaserSister - Kay Vincent

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…):

papercut k726 - grapes and vine with closeup of grapes - LaserSister - Kay Vincent

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.

Posted on 20 October 201917 July 2022 by LaserSister — Leave a comment

Papercutting Project (Continued): Art Nouveau Waterlily Flower K118

papercut 118 art nouveau flower - LaserSister

(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.