Happy Halloween!

    I am trying to get into the spirit of Halloween this week. I was thinking, "What is a witch's life like when she is not zooming around on full moon nights on her broomstick?" This is what I came up with. The domestic witch uses her broom for more practical purposes. My son liked this one because he could spend time trying to find different things in it. My oldest daughter was just concerned that poor old lady had no where to sleep.  The witch's face was inspired by the trees in the field behind my house. One morning I looked out my window, and there created by branches and leaves was the craggy face of an old woman with a kerchief on her head. I knew I had to use that in a papercut.

Homer

   One of my earliest exposure to ancient Greek literature was Homer's epic poem, "The Iliad". I loved it. I loosely based this papercut on a bust of Homer.  He looks like a cranky old man.

Cats Have It Good

     Do you ever wish your life was as good and simple as a pampered cat?

October's ATCs

    This month's theme was "harvest".

Eulogy For Madison

    My niece Madison Rae Fletcher died last week of an sudden  illness. She was only six years old. She was a very loving and friendly girl so full of life. She loved to give everyone hugs. Madison was a true friend to my daughter Eliza. She will be greatly missed.

Amy Loader's Dance

    This papercut I have been working on for months as sketches. Finally, this weekend I "girded up my loins" and cut it. It is the biggest cut that I have done so far (10 in. x 13 in.). Perhaps that was one of the reasons that I felt intimidated by it. It took me longer to cut than most of my others also.

     Last spring I borrowed a book about the ill-fated Willie and Martin handcart companies who were caught in a series of snow storms on the plains in Wyoming while on their way to  Salt Lake City in 1857. Through a bunch of mishaps, miscommunications and misplaced zeal, the companies started out across Nebraska and Wyoming too late in the year and promised extra supplies and help did not appear. As a result, the pioneers were almost out of food when the early snow hit. Many people died from exposure before they could be rescued and brought to Salt Lake. I was interested in reading it, well, because I like to read disaster stories, and between my husband I, we have 3 ancestors and their families who were in the Martin handcart company. One of my favorite stories about the handcart companies is about Amy Loader, who was an older woman traveling with her family including several married daughters. Her health was not good when they had started the trip, but she had already outlived her husband when the snow hit. After a cold night, she had a hard time getting her grown daughters up to continue on. She finally said, "Come girls, this will not do. I believe I will have to dance to you and try to make you feel better." So she got to her feet and danced, twirled and sang until her daughters were laughing and forgetting about their frozen toes. Amy then slipped and fell. Her daughters then immediately got up to see if she was alright. Amy then confessed that she had fallen on purposed because she knew that would get her daughters up. She had been afraid that they would give up. Amy Loader kept her family going through their trials. I loved that story. It was hard not to smile at this matron's antics and courage. Amy Loader was not one of our ancestors, but I felt that she was a good example of the type of people these handcart pioneers were. I wanted to honor them and their spirit with a papercut.

Princess and the Pea

   Silhouttes  and fairy tales have gone together in my head since my days in Primary. Sometimes before Primary started on Tuesday afternoons (Yes, I know that dates me.), the leaders would show short movies in the church's breezeway to keep all the kids occupied. One of those that I remember best was a  version of Sleeping Beauty by Lotte Reiniger. The movie was animated all in silhouette. I thought it was the coolest thing. As I have started papercutting, I have naturally been drawn to doing some designs based on some of my favorite fairy tales. Here the queen is showing the tired  unsuspecting princess her very tall bed. I have done a few other fairy tale cuts which I may at sometime post.