Look What Came in the Mail Yesterday!

   Yesterday, I received a big package in the mail containing 24 of these catalogues. The Zion Canyon Field Institute decided to use my papercut from the Zion centennial art show on the cover of next year's catalogue of classes. I feel so honored especially since it is Zion's 100th birthday next year. I personally think they look pretty good, but I'm prejudice.  It is so cool that my papercut will be out there for so many people to see all year long. I couldn't ask for more than that. Whoopee!

Some Sundays Are Like That

     Today was one of those days where it is hard to stay awake. It comes from staying up late the last two nights. If I hadn't been kept busy at church today, this would have been what I would have been doing. So I guess I should be grateful that I had to do Sharing Time in Primary today. I can't snooze while I'm on my feet and have twelve 9 to 11 year olds staring at me. Some days it is only by staying on the move that I keep awake. How do guys sleep slumped in a chair like that? I have seen them do it before.

Christmas Is Coming!

    This is what I have been busy doing the last week. I have been placed in charge of table decorations for our Relief Society's Enrichment night the first week in December. I wanted to do some papercuts, but they need to be three-dimensional in order to be used for center pieces. These are what I came up with. Fortunately, our Relief Society isn't real big so I only have to cut seven or  so. I have decided if I will have anything else with them or not. Is the nativity enough? I'm still working on that. I wanted to get these done early so that I could have time to work on all the other Christmas projects I have been putting on my list to complete before December 25th. 

King Thrushbeard

  Here is another cutting based on a fairy tale. King Thrushbeard was one of my favorite stories when I was a kid. It is a "taming of the shrew" type story where the arrogant beautiful princess is given a lesson in kindness and humility. Here the princess is mocking the beak-like beard of the visiting king that has come to court her.

Another Tree

     I just knew that everyone wanted to see another great tree from Bryce Canyon. This great snag was in the fork of two trails along the canyon rim.

Interesting Tree

     A couple of weeks ago, my family took a mini vacation to Bryce Canyon National Park. The hoodoos down there are fascinating, and I would recommend seeing it to everyone once in their lives. I was also drawn to the unique sight of the twisty craggy trees that grow around the eroding sandstone pillars. I took a lot of pictures of trees while we were there. I thought it would be fun to translate those shapes into papercuts. So, here is my first attempt. This tree was growing in the middle of the trail. Was it one tree with four trunks or four trees wrapping around each other? It was hard to tell.