Are You Tired of Neules Yet?

You may be tired of seeing neules, so I decided to post the rest of the neules that I have cut in the past month. This is a scene of Bethlehem. This is the one I used for my trade.


This is one that was fun to design and cut. I used the red paper as background to liven in up when I scanned it. I was tired of the gloomy black.


Here is the last one. I cut this just a few days ago for a gift for a friend. I hope that she likes it. My husband thinks that the sheep look like maggots.


These are a couple of pictures of the neules hanging in my front room. I strung a string from the curtain to the opposite side of the room. Then, I hung the neules from the string. I like the way they look like they are floating. I think I should have hung them just a little bit higher though because my seven year old already manged to take a swing at one and ripped it down. Fortunately, I was able to rehang it without too much damage. She promised not to do that again.


Here they are again at another angle. Merry Christmas!

More Neules

Here are 2 more neules that I have cut in the last couple of weeks. Angels make good holiday decor.

Here are the three wisemen. After trying to figure out how to make a good looking camel, I just left the cantankerous beasts out.

Neules

This year I was introduced to neules. Neules are delicately cut paper doilies that are hung in Mallorcan churches around Christmas. (Mallorca is an island off the coast of Spain.) They often depict biblical scenes or geometric designs. I found a few pictures of neules hanging in churches on the Internet, and they look beautiful hanging above the church altars. I was invited to be part of a nuele trade with my ATC group this month and thought it would be a challenge to try cutting one. I, of course, cut more than one because I couldn't decide what to send. So far I have cut five different designs, and I have more in my head that I would like to cut. Unfortunately, I have to fit them in between other Christmas projects that I HAVE to finish before Christmas. I plan to hang them all from a suspended string in my front room soon. This is a picture of the first neule I cut. I have been finding that the borders are the biggest challenge. I'll have more pictures in later posts.

December ATCs: Red is Beautiful

December's ATC theme is "beautiful red". What could be redder than Rudolf's shiny nose? I adapted a woodcut that my grandfather did for his 1932 Christmas cards for this cut. He, however, used blue ink which made the piece feel colder, and the deer wasn't Rudolf. My dad had framed and hung that card for years in our house, and it was always one of my favorites.