Showing posts with label Paper Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paper Art. Show all posts

Letterfu designs, updated!

>> Thursday, June 24


So I don't know if you remember my previous post on the letterfu products, but here are some of my initial designs and printings. I'm very excited to be working with Alex--who created the concept--and for being introduced to Open Office through this project.


It has literally taken me weeks of tweaking with margins and printer settings and paper types but I think I have finalized a template that prints perfectly on Crystal's gorgeous handmade paper. Stay tuned! I'll let you know when the finished product is available in the shop.


These designs are based on the following paintings:

  • Bongo the Octopus
  • Forsythia
  • Cacophony of Colors
  • Tiny Pond Series: Froggie's Lettuce



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    Spanish tile papercut for a custom wedding card

    >> Monday, May 31


    A customer needed a Spanish-style wedding card for her friend's wedding. I looked up some Spanish tiling work and though, ooh, these would make perfect papercuttings! My client loved the idea and I set to work, picking out colors that evoked the drama and beauty of Spanish art--blue, black, yellow, red.



    I sewed the names of the bride and groom onto the cover as well as their wedding date. My client also wanted a saying in both Spanish and English with the words amor and love emphasized somehow. I was going to sew all the words but soon realized that would weaken the paper too much, so I settled for gold and silver paint pens in what I hope is nice cursive! So I decided to just sew the love words, stitching four little paper hearts into the letters.


    I originally tried to sew the black outer card to the white inner card with a red and gold ribbon, but Caleb and I agreed it just didn't go. So I just sewed them together with embroidery yarn for strength and a sheer black ribbon for beauty. MUCH better. The card was complete.


    At this point I realized that though the card was completed, I had a lot of unused papercuttings lying around on my desk. I cut a few more and experimented with arranging them and ended up creating this seal for the envelope.


    Before this project I had never "woven" my papercuttings, but if you notice on the "tile" the yellow curls are both over and under the blue leaves, and in the seal the yellow spikes are woven into the red swirls. I like that look and am definitely gonna repeat it in the future.


    Last but not least I had to "sign" the card. I adore circles and since buying a 2" circular papercutter have taken every opportunity to incorporate them into my work. :)


    And here's the finished set.

    Congratulations, Eric and Jessi! May God bless your love with perseverance and joy.

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    Guitar Papercutting, in Honor of Michael

    >> Thursday, May 13


    So here is my second papercutting--it took me about a week. Michael's love of music inspired me, so thanks, bro! Here's how I did it:

    I drew a guitar shape onto a piece of paper, cut it out and then scanned it. Then I scanned sheet music from the themes to Jurassic Park, Chariots of Fire and Jaws. I cut and pasted music and musical symbols onto the guitar image in OpenOffice Draw, then enlarged and varied the angles to give the image a random and eclectic look.


    I chose a funky font for Michael's name and the words "guitar" and "music" and added those in. I made all images 50% transparent so that I could see everything, and printed it out.


    Then I sketched in random designs like stars and swirls with a pencil, and began the long process of carving out the image.


    I was planning to spray paint the image white over a nice sheet of black paper and produce a negative image and two works of art, but I'm not as happy with the quality as I wanted to be so I'm going to retry the idea and be more careful to have even lines and a more balanced composition this time. Stay tuned!

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    Fish Papercutting Completed

    >> Monday, May 10


    I finished it! I like the idea of images within images, but I prefer more even lines ... not sure how to explain it any better than I like the width of my cuts and the paper left behind to be even and not have chunks missing or uncut. OK, that probably made no sense. I'll have to rexplain it later!

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    The Papercutter Without A Name

    >> Monday, May 3

    This papercutting needs no introduction. The awesomeness is self-evident.


    I have been able to find almost nothing on the artist. I know that she is based in Toronto, Canada and learned the art as a young child from her grandparents.


    Created using only rice paper, scissors and a knife, this definitely gives me something to aspire to.


    Click on any picture to purchase and see more photos. Or, just visit the shop.

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    Desert Snowflake from an old calendar page

    >> Thursday, April 22


    So I got the papercutting urge again and took apart a promotional calendar I got from who-knows-where and turned this



    to this



    I love the pattern but feel like the photo was about eh worst choice I could have made. C'mon, I mean a desert rock as a snowflake?!

    Oops.

    Oh well, I had fun making it. Maybe I'll spray paint it black or something. Now that would be cool.

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    Complicated Papercut Fish--My First Attempt

    >> Tuesday, April 20


    This is my first truly complicated ONE-PIECE papercutting attempt. I going for a fish shape with lots of ocean designs inside like bubbles, seaweed, shells, little fish, starfish, a sea urchin, etc. You can see that I am about halfway done.


    I'm pencil drawing on one side to map out my designs and also make sure I don't cut too close to the edge and compromise the strength of the piece.



    Then I'm drawing in the little patterns and pictures to make sure that the designs overlaps enough to keep the papercutting strong and correctly shaped overall.



    Even though I'm only about half done it's getting a bit overwhelming, so I have "cheated" and folded parts of the paper over itself to double-up the design and half the cutting time. I actually like this effect, though--visual symmetry relaxes and pleases the mind.



    I'll take more pictures once I've completed the project. One thing is for sure, though--if I want to get any more details I'm going to have to upgrade from scissors to an Xacto knife.

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    Paper Braiding

    >> Thursday, April 15


    I cannot BEAR to throw away scrap paper. It seems such a waste to ever toss paper since my artwork often requires tiny shapes and there's no point ruining a perfectly good 9"x12" when a scrap paper will suffice. Often my favorite work will be inspired by an oddly or beautifully shaped scrap.


    The other night I noticed several perfect strips of red, blue and yellow sitting atop the paper pile, and I thought, hmm, three colors, what does one do with three of anything?


    Braid it. Duh.


    I only glued the ends together. The rest is just folded into and under itself.


    No idea what I'll do with it yet.

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    Paper Hearts and Photography Critique

    >> Monday, April 12


    I ran across a pile of hearts I'd created during my Christmas-time papercutting frenzy and just had to make them into something. So I cut up come card stock and construction paper and made them into notecards.


    I'm really pleased with the results. I've listed them for sale here in my shop.

    And then, seeing the new listings next to some of my old ones, I paused.


    "Hey, that photo has a cool backlight," I thought. I hadn't noticed that before. So I kept looking.


    "Oh lookit this one, the washout portion of the corner really highlights the intricacy of the corner heart."

    And then I smiled.


    In other words, I think my photography is improving. What do you think? I realize that these photos are a little fuzzy but that's because of the low, indoor lighting, so I am really just asking for composition and lighting contrast critiques. I'd really, really like to know what you think. I want to continue to improve!

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    >> Wednesday, January 27

    Ever heard of lutterfu? Me neither til I came across this website earlier today, filled with templates and instructions for a snail-mail letter, envelope and seal all in one--write your letter on one side, fold inside-out along the pre-marked lines, seal with a stamp placed in the upper right corner, address and you are good to go!


    I'm printing one out right now to test it. This is so cool!

    UPDATE: I'm actually working with the original designer right now to make these available in my shop. So excited!

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    Christmas For A Song: Paper Snowflakes Tutorial

    >> Friday, November 20


    snowflakes adorning my desk at work

    If you're like me, a slim wallet is seriously cramping your holiday cheer this year. I LOVE giving gifts, more than receiving them, actually (though of course, receiving is still nice). I've already made a list of everyone to whom I plan to send something, and for the next few weeks I will brainstorm furiously for that meaningful gift.

    Problem is, my joy in giving tends to far outpace my earning capacity. For example, for one friend I wanted to get a custom cross-stitch pattern. They only cost $5 on Etsy. Catch is, to buy the cotton to stitch on is about another $5, and the thread is $1 per bundle. You need anywhere from 10-30 threads per pattern. In other words, not happening.

    So even though I have yet to think of a gift for her, my mind has been chewing over other, more pocket-friendly ideas, things I could for "for a song." I have jotted a few down already, and in the coming weeks will post them as part of my "Christmas For A Song" series. First up? Paper snowflakes!



    TUTORIAL:
    HOW TO MAKE BEAUTIFUL, ONE OF A KIND PAPER SNOWFLAKES
    Materials / Instructions / Style tips / Cautionary tips / Examples


    Cost: 
     potentially $0

    Materials:
    White scrap 8.5"x11" paper, blank on one side
    scissors
    tape
    thread

    Skill level:
    Intermediate


     

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