It Is the Time of the Year for Neules

One of the funnest things that I have done this time of the year lately is cutting more neules to hang up in my living room.

I now have 18 dangling above my Christmas tree. These are this year's additions.

This last one is based on a papercut that I designed several years ago and used as a pattern for a Christmas card that I block printed. I think it makes a grand neule.

I hope that you are enjoying your December so far!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are a couple of Pilgrims that I made for my ATC trading group. I hope that you enjoy them.

Have a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Bowling Beauties

I joined a bowling league a couple of months ago just because I needed something fun to do once a week. (I am a terrible bowler.) Our bowling team is named Bowling Beauties. The name inspired this little papercut. She must have a very strong arm to be able to hold that bowling ball in that classic beauty pose!

Loaves and Fishes

I finally had enough free time to work on a cut that has been in my head for months. This is based on the story of the loaves and fishes in the New Testament. The basket is 15 in. x 15 in. This is probably the biggest piece I have done so far. I was really tired of cutting out fish scales by the time I was done.

It's in the Mail

This month's ATC theme was mailboxes. Again, I waited until the last minute to put these together and then did not feel inspired by just cutting out mailboxes. I took a little different twist. The first design is of a woman waiting for the mail to come. Is she waiting for a letter or the mailman? I used watercolor to add some color to this piece.

My second design is of a mailman. Hmmm... looking at that strong chin, it could be the mailman that she is waiting for.

Pets

This month's ATC trade was all about pets. This shouldn't have given as hard a time as it did, but I didn't think up an idea until the last minute. I decided to do unusual pets that belonged to U. S. presidents. The first pet was a squirrel named Pete that President Warren Harding claimed.

This one-legged rooster belonged to President Teddy Roosevelt's family. I couldn't find a name to go with this proud specimen of poultry.

President Calvin Coolidge's wife had a raccoon for a pet named Rebecca. That is Mrs. Coolidge's silhouette holding the raccoon.

The last image is of Whiskers the goat that belonged to President Benjamin Harrison.

With the kids finally off to school, I hope to be able to do some more papercutting in the next few months. It was a good thing that I had these trades this summer or I might not have taken my knife out at all these past few months.

Transcontinentalists

This summer has been way too busy. It continues to be hard to find time to think. This month's ATC theme was Route 66, but I wasn't feeling very inspired. I decided to go a different route, but still keep to an automobile theme. I find the stories of the first automobilists interesting, so I based this month's ATCs on some of the first people to cross the U. S. in automobiles. Thus "transcontinentalists". I am not even sure that is a word. My husband came up with the term.

The first is a picture of A. L. Westgard. He was a pathfinder for the AAA for more than 15 years. He crossed the continent many times searching for the best routes for cars to travel. He was called the "Daniel Boone of the Gasoline Age". Just before he died in 1920, Westgard published a book called "Tales of a Pathfinder" that details some of his adventures during his path finding. His adventures make a very fun read.

My second transcontinentalist is George Schuster. He was the mechanic and one of the drivers of the Thomas Flyer which was the American entry in the New York to Paris Auto Race of 1908. Not only did he travel from New York to San Francisco, but also drove across Asia and Europe to Paris.

In 1909, Alice Ramsey became the first woman to drive across the continent form New York City to San Francisco. She was 22 years old and chaperoned by 2 older sisters-in-law and a friend. It took them 41 days. She wrote about her trip in a book called "Veil, Duster, and Tire Iron".

My last transcontinentalist should probably have been my first. Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson was the first to drive a car coast to coast. On a fifty dollar bet, Jackson bought a car in San Francisco in 1903 and drove it all the way New York City. He was accompanied by a mechanic, Sewall Crocker and his dog, Bud. He had never driven a car before this. It took them 63 days.

Looking at Polliwogs

It has been hard for me to find time to create any paper cuts lately. Maybe, it is because my kids are out of school. I did manage to squeeze in this cut last week. It has been awhile since I have tried anything this detailed. This is based on a photo I took of 2 of my kids looking at polliwogs in a puddle in Zion National Park last year. It was hard to glue down, and a few of the thinner lines broke, which was very frustrating.

Camping ATCs

I am sorry that I haven't posted for a month. May's ATC theme was camping.

I made the moon extra big in this one for effect. Those trees were harder to cut than I thought they would be.

Anyone who knows me very well will understand this one. Bears and camping go together.


You can't go camping without roasting marshmallows. It is the only time I like to eat those big squishy cubes of sugar.

Domestic Goddess

Here is another cut made from the decaying book pages. I wish I felt more like a goddess when I am in a domestic cleaning mode.

Bad Dog

This week, I decided to play around with paper. I have an old Zane Grey book that is falling apart, so I thought I would put its decaying pages to good use. The paper was brittle which wasn't a big problem until I tried to glue it down. The glue pulled the tail right off the dog. I like the texture the words and the browning page gives to the papercut, but I think I'll have to keep the glue to a minimum.

Bunnies and Eggs

For this month's ATCs, I had fun with white bunnies and Easter eggs. It just seemed the right season for it.

Just sit back and enjoy.

I hope Spring has finally come your way. I am not sure it really is here yet, but we keep getting hints of good weather.

Following in Grandma's Footsteps

I have always admired my Grandma Fletcher and her endless creativity. I think that she was a great artist and would love to get up to her standards. This is one of my favorite pen and ink drawings that she did. I love all the character that she added to the trees, water and the boy's hair. Well, I thought that it would make a nice papercut, so this past weekend, I tried to do just that.

I tried to keep to her main design, but I did change a few things here and there to accommodate cutting it from one piece of paper. For instance, I had to make the boy's hair longer so that I could attach his left eye. I also added shoes. It was a challenge to translate the picture. It felt good to stretch some. Overall I was happy with the results.

Going Fishin'

Okay, I am not the one going fishing. I don't think I have ever gone fishing, but when the weather turned nice for a day or two, I thought it might be a good day for someone to go fishing.
This boy looks like that is all he has on his mind. I had fun cutting this one. I was glad that I had sometime this weekend to work on it. I hope that there are more warm days coming soon.

More Hans Christian Andersen

My ATC trade this month is based on the papercuts of Hans Christian Andersen.


These are not exact copies of his work, but they are bits and pieces that I put together in different ways.


I like how he kept his cuts so simple. It is hard for me to do that.

He often gave his cuts away. You can tell that he really liked dancers. I placed a cut rocking chair in each of these cards/envelopes for an extra bonus.

Small Paper Rocking Chair

The last couple of weeks, I have been looking at the papercuts done by Hans Christian Andersen.
Amongst all the whimsical cuts I found this little chair. I knew I just had to try one of my own. I folded a paper in half and cut the above.


Once cut, it only took a few folds, and here is my own chair. It is only a few inches tall. It is always fun to find new ways of using paper.

February ATCs

The theme for this month's ATCs is "everyday things that surround us". It took me awhile to come up with an idea, but in the end, I thought that I would challenge myself to cut something that would require lots of thin lines. Thus the wire whisk. Thin lines are not easy. I cut two of these, and I accidentally cut through one of the lines on the second one. Ooops!

Okay, maybe an antique phonograph is not a typical everyday item, but it is something that I see everyday and thought it could make a nice cut. I love the sound of these acoustic machines.

Something Funny Is Going On

Here is the latest papercut. I just finished it, yesterday. It is based on another old photo that I dug up somewhere awhile back. It caught my eye because it just looked like something funny was going on between these two. Maybe, the guy just told a really bad joke, and now he is waiting for the girl to laugh. He maybe waiting for awhile. I loved the girl's dress with the tie. The color is just colored paper that I glued to the back of the main cut. I kept the colors simple and few in order to help retain the idea of an old photo.

A Lady with a Bag

I found a copy of an interesting old photo in one of my file folders the other day that I thought would be a challenge to make into a papercut. I was drawn to this lady's great handbag. I was pleased with how it turned out. Sometimes when I try to use a photo for reference, I can't seem to make it work.

The papercut felt like it needed some color and a backdrop to finish it off, so I broke out my watercolors. After painting behind the cut, I must have been feeling really brave because I attempted to paint the rest of the photo for the background. I like how the lady with the bag stands out against the grays like she has a new hope for her future.

Roosters

This is what I have been working on the last couple of weeks. I think it is the most complicated papercut that I have tried up to date. I like how it turned out. I don't like to cut through too many layers so I only folded the paper twice. I used tracing paper to create the design. My husband told me that it would have been easier to do in Photoshop, but I don't know Photoshop that well. I didn't want to wait for him to find some time to do the pattern for me, so I did it the hard way. It has a 12 inch diameter. Now I only have the scary part left (gluing it down). I will have to try something like this again.