Folk Art Papercuts by Suzy Taylor

Another Introduction to Papercutting Workshop!

2012-02-07T14:16:00.000Z

Due to popular demand, I'll be running another...

INTRODUCTION TO PAPERCUTTING

Saturday 14th April 2012

11.00 am - 3.30 pm

The Studio

4 Kingsfield Road

Oxhey

Herts

WD19 4PS

£45 per person

(including vegetarian lunch and refreshments)

Come with a friend and receive a 20% discount on your booking.

Closest rail link, Bushey Station (3 minute walk)

or 5 minute drive from J5 of the M1

Spaces are limited so early booking is recommended.

To receive a booking form, please email:

craftysooz@gmail.com

Exhibition

2012-01-31T07:50:00.000Z

Today I'm off to Hampstead to set up my first solo exhibition which is running at the Oak Studio for the whole of February.

Wedding papercut (11cm x 11cm)

2012-01-23T17:34:00.003Z

Here's a little papercut of a bride and groom under a wedding canopy (also known as a chupah in a Jewish ceremony). It's only a small little papercut, measuring just 11cm x 11cm. I also wanted to see what it looked like in white, so I played around with it in photoshop and produced the blue and white version below, which is now available in my Etsy shop.

Peacock papercut

2012-01-21T22:44:00.004Z

Peacock papercut, originally uploaded by VegasLammy.

This is an updated version of a peacock that I've cut before. I've extended his feathers and given him more bows and hearts. I think he looks more impressive to the peahens now!

Tree of Life papercut

2012-01-20T18:50:00.001Z

I've been busy working on some pieces for my upcoming exhibition at the Oak Studio in Hampstead. The exhibition runs for the whole of February, so I thought I'd do a few Valentine's inspired pieces. But they're really for anyone special at any time of the year!

The print of this piece is available in my Etsy shop.

February Exhibition Press Release

2012-01-19T16:07:00.002Z

Valentine's Bird Heart

2012-01-15T21:49:00.000Z

I've actually cut this one before, but it wasn't in black and white and never quite scanned in properly for me to make a decent enough print from it. So here it is again and you can find it in my Etsy shop.

New workshop in my new studio!

2012-01-08T18:10:00.000Z

INTRODUCTION TO PAPERCUTTING

Saturday 24th March 2012

11.00 am - 3.30 pm

The Studio

4 Kingsfield Road

Oxhey

Herts

WD19 4PS

£45 per person

(including vegetarian lunch and refreshments)

Come with a friend and receive a 20% discount on your booking.

Closest rail link, Bushey Station (3 minute walk)

or 5 minute drive from J5 of the M1

Spaces are limited so early booking is recommended.

To receive a booking form, please email:

craftysooz@gmail.com

Acorn Squirrel papercut

2012-01-05T16:04:00.000Z

After all the Christmas eating, drinking and making merry, I've finally managed to sit down and get a new papercut finished.

I've been inspired by watching all the little furry critters running around my garden, burying lots of nutty goodness in my flower beds.

Here are a few work-in-progress pictures and the finished piece.

Horse in Woodland

2011-12-20T17:00:00.001Z

Sorry I haven't been able to blog for a while. The run up to Christmas is always crazy with orders to complete and fairs to attend. I've had some very tight deadlines to deal with as well, but it's all been good fun and I think I've produced some of my best work recently. The piece below is my last commission prior to the winter break. After Xmas I'll be back working on an album cover, illustrations for a Passover prayer book (also known as a Hagaddah) - as well as a large number of brand new pieces for a solo exhibition in Hampstead in February. So I'll take these few days to have a break and then it's back to the scalpel for me!

Have a great Christmas and New Year everyone!

Suzy x

Horse in Woodland

20cm x 29cm

Upcoming Events

2011-11-18T11:59:00.002Z

Upcoming Events

~~Saturday 26th November~~ and Tuesday 29th November

Papercutting Workshop at The Make Lounge, Islington (sold out)

Friday 2nd December

Mercy & Pearl indoor market at The Arts Depot, North Finchley

Thursday 8th December

Papercutting Workshop at The Make Lounge, Islington (places available)

Saturday 10th December

We Make London Christmas Fair at The Arts Centre, Battersea

~
Month of February 2012

Solo Exhibition at the Oak Studio, Hampstead

Windsor Contemporary Art Fair

2011-11-11T08:37:00.001Z

As you know I've been really working hard to show a good body of work at the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair. Well, I'm heading off there now to set up. Tonight is the private viewing and then it's all open to the public tomorrow. If you're in the neighbourhood, or fancy a little trip out over the weekend, please come and visit me at Royal Windsor Racecourse! Will blog again after the weekend. Wish me luck!!!

Family Tree papercut

2011-11-08T23:14:00.000Z

I've just got one more working day to go before I have to organise myself for the Windsor Fair on Friday. So today I managed to get this piece drawn and cut! I've had the idea for a family tree knocking around in my head for a while. It was just a matter of getting it onto (and out of) paper! The little character portraits are fictitious, but there's no reason why they couldn't have been real silhouettes of real people - I just didn't happen to have any. But I do want to do my own family now - maybe for my parents Golden Wedding in March - hmmmmm.

Family Tree

20cm x 27cm

Hot Air Balloon

2011-11-03T23:30:00.003Z

I'm on a mission to produce as many pieces as I can between now and the Windsor Fair which starts a week tomorrow. I think I've mentioned that I want my work to be "affordable" so I'm trying to complete pieces within the framework of a day - or 2 days at the most. Anyway, I drew and cut this piece today. I reckon I've spent about 8 hours on it in total. It's exhausting working this way, but for a short period of time it's do-able. Off to bed now!

PS: If you like my blog, please head over to my FB page and "like" that too! http://www.facebook.com/craftysooz

Hot Air Balloon
26.5cm x 18cm

A full day's work!

2011-11-02T21:53:00.002Z

Made both these little papercuts today.
Such a backache now!

Indian Elephant

11.5cm x 11.5cm

Long-Necked Cat with Birds

11cm x 11cm

Apple Tree completed

2011-10-31T13:53:00.001Z

Here's the finished piece. I'm very happy with the way the leaves look on the tree. Think I may have to do some more like this!

If you are interested in commissioning a papercut or would like to be added to a mailing list for details of exhibitions and papercutting courses, please email me at:

craftysooz@gmail.com

Apple Tree papercut commission

2011-10-28T16:01:00.000+01:00

I've been commissioned to design an apple tree papercut, incorporating a quote by W B Yeats. The request was that the design have a William Morris "feel" about it. So here are my work in progress pics. I hope I'm achieving the William Morris effect. The font is similar to the fonts that Morris himself used.

This time I've decided to hollow out the leaves. Not something that I've attempted before but I think it makes a huge difference to the whole look of the piece. The inner circle surrounding the tree measures 19cm diameter.

Schoolhouse Papercut - version III

2011-10-25T20:27:00.003+01:00

I've cut this schoolhouse papercut a couple of times before and as it's been quite popular, I thought I'd cut it again for the Windsor Fair. The first time I cut it, the trees were bare and, although it sold, I always thought it looked a bit sinister. So the next time I cut it, I put leaves on the trees. This time I've also added a couple of extra pictures hanging in the upstairs room of the schoolhouse. So effectively, each version has been very slightly different to the other ones. Here's the link to the original if you'd like to play "spot the difference"! http://suzy-taylor.blogspot.com/2010/08/folk-art-schoolhouse-papercut.html

The Schoolhouse

20cm x 20cm

Peacock

2011-10-23T00:02:00.000+01:00

Here's a little papercut I made this evening after dinner. Took me about 3.5 hrs. Sore hand now.

Peacock

11cm x 11cm

Cat with Birds papercut

2011-10-20T22:23:00.001+01:00

This is another piece for the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair. I managed to draw and cut it all today - a total of about 4.5 hrs work. It's my first attempt at drawing and cutting anything bigger than a bird (!) and is based on a drawing of mine that I found in an old sketch book. I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out - although my son says the cat "looks sinister ... but in a good way"! Ha - oh well. I'm going to mount it on cream pastel paper and frame it in a black IKEA frame to keep the costs down - both for me and for the buyers at the fair (hopefully!).

I'm thinking of subtitling it "Resignation" because clearly this feline is no longer a threat to his little feathery friends.

Cat with Birds

"Resignation"

19cm x 31cm

Pink Heart Papercut

2011-10-10T21:43:00.002+01:00

This year for the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair, I'm going to concentrate on making smaller papercuts which will be available at a more reasonable price tag. I've made a start with this little folk art heart papercut. It took me about 6 hours in total - including the drawing. I've mounted it on a deep blue.

If you are interested in commissioning a papercut or would like to be added to a mailing list for details of exhibitions and papercutting courses, please email me at:

craftysooz@gmail.com

Workshop 5

2011-09-22T16:03:00.002+01:00

Here are the pictures from my most recent workshop at The Make Lounge. Even though I provide templates, I always try to urge people to attempt their own design. This week every single one of them did exactly that and with amazing results too! (Alexandra - if you're reading this - please email me a photo of your VR piece so that I can include it in the montage!!!)

If you are interested in commissioning a papercut or would like to be added to a mailing list for details of exhibitions and papercutting courses, please email me at:

craftysooz@gmail.com

Life is Good Papercutting - work in progress

2011-09-20T16:42:00.005+01:00

Here are the most up-to-date pics of my most recent piece. I've nearly finished it and then I'll have the challenge of mounting it and sending it safely in the post!

The difficult part of cutting this piece is the fact that I have to keep turning it and also I sometimes have to lean on the cut part in order to cut a new bit. Usually I'll lay a piece of paper over the papercut (under my hand) to protect the part that's delicate.

If you are interested in commissioning a papercut or would like to be added to a mailing list for details of exhibitions and papercutting courses, please email me at:

craftysooz@gmail.com

Papercutting Workshop

2011-09-12T10:18:00.000+01:00

Here are the gorgeous papercuts that my workshoppers made at The Make Lounge on Saturday. Beautiful results for first-timers!

Workshop follow-up

2011-09-08T12:07:00.000+01:00

I held a papercutting workshop at The Make Lounge on 11th August and one of the lovely ladies who attended was so inspired that she went off and made a gorgeous papercutting for her boyfriend. I just wanted to share Jo's artwork with you. I think it's fantastic - after just one 3 hour lesson - WOW! Keep it up Jo. x

New Courses - mailing list

2011-09-06T20:53:00.000+01:00

My new studio at my new house will be ready in a few weeks and the plan is to run some papercutting courses (and possibly some other crafty courses such as sewing, quilting, silver clay, knitting etc) in there.

If you would like to be added to a mailing list so that I can keep you informed directly about what will be happening in the wilds of Oxhey (!), please email me your information (ie name and email address) by clicking on the link below.

I promise only to email course details!

craftysooz@gmail.com

How to make a papercutting template

2011-08-12T09:34:00.001+01:00

As some of you probably know already, I've recently started teaching papercutting workshops. I like to encourage people to design and cut their own papercuts, but sometimes people like to start by cutting one of my templates. The question that seems to pop up most often is how do I get my design on to a small piece of origami paper?

I thought I would share my method with you. It's not very sophisticated and a little laborious, but it works for me and as yet I haven't discovered a better way.

So here goes:

Step 1

Scan your black and white image and save it in photoshop. Then, using the image settings, change the colour of your scanned image to a very light grey and save it. Make sure the size of the image is the same size or smaller than the piece of origami paper that you want to use (eg 15cm x 15cm).

Step 2

Print the light grey template image on regular A4 printer paper. It doesn't need to be a high res image - although you'll get a crisper looking template if it is.

Step 3

Take your piece of origami paper and lay it colour side down exactly over your printed image. Oh yes - make sure the origami paper that you use is coloured on one side and white on the other! Tape it in place (top and bottom, or in the corners) with very small pieces of masking tape. Make the sure the masking tape barely touches the origami paper - you want it to just about hold it in place. Too much tape on the origami paper will mean that you print on the tape and not on the paper!

Step 4

Place your paper back into your printer and print the same grey template again. NB: Make sure you know whether your printer prints the front or back of your paper so you know which way to put in the paper with the origami piece taped to it. I have to put mine in face down in my paper tray with the top of my image towards the rear of the tray. When your paper emerges from your printer, the image should now be on the origami paper. You can remove the masking tape and there you go!

Hope it works for you!

The Make Lounge papercutting workshop (Tuesday 19th July)

2011-07-21T21:18:00.001+01:00

Here are some photos from Tuesday's workshop. Another really great group. Most people tried their own original papercuts - with some really good results too! Hope they're all proud of themselves.

Sophie and Sofia cut beautiful versions of my templates - not easy choices but they cut them really well.

Rebecca (bottom right), after much trial and tribulation with the drawing bit, created a beautiful picture of her new cottage. I think it's perfect.

Jenni (bottom left) is making a gorgeous picture of three owls on a branch. I hope she sends me a picture of the finished piece - it's going to be amazing.

Clare (top left) created a multi-layered piece using one of my templates and some of her own images.

Ashley (top right and bottom left) created two personalised pieces to give as wedding gifts. Really beautiful.

Michelle (top row) started by cutting one of my templates and then very swiftly moved on to creating a gorgeous piece as a present for her friends. A natural papercutter!

Lucy (middle left) was inspired to come to the class by the promotional image on The Make Lounge website. So she cut her own version. I love the colour scheme she's chosen.

Hannah (middle right) cut one of my templates in gorgeous shades of pink. It looks so different to my usual black version, but I love it.

Mims (bottom row) cut a delicate butterfly. She did a really great job and surprised herself with her result!

Owls Papercut - final piece

2011-07-20T10:25:00.001+01:00

I've just finished the specially commissioned owls papercut. Very pleased with the final result - hope my client likes it! She's secretly ordered it for her fiance - hope he doesn't read this blog! Oops.

The Make Lounge Workshop (Saturday 16th July)

2011-07-19T23:16:00.002+01:00

Just wanted to show you the wonderful work produced by the ladies and gents at the Saturday workshop.

The piece at the bottom left (above) was just a practice exercise - but it was so pretty I had to have a photo of it!

Zoe was illustrating a piece of writing that she'd written herself - I think this is as good (if not better) than anything I could have produced myself. A natural!

Papercut Owls - commissioned piece

2011-07-19T10:22:00.001+01:00

I've been commissioned to make a papercut of two owls on a branch with the name "Jonathan" incorporated into the design. It's quite a small piece - just 7" x 7" - but I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out.
Please click on the images for larger views.

My initial - and very rough - sketch that I'm working from!

Hello - I'm back!

2011-07-13T10:50:00.000+01:00

Hello. It's been nearly a month since my accident and I'm feeling much more human again. The whiplash is still bothering me quite a bit, but I've been told it's a lengthy recovery for that, so I'll just have to be patient.

Last week was the Summer Boutique pop-up for We Make London at The Oak Studio in Hampstead. A lady bought the original framed papercut of my "Life is Good" piece - so that was pretty exciting. I also ran a workshop there on Wednesday night which was really fun. I particularly want to thank Mary at We Make for being so super organised and generally very fab! The crafts journalist, Clare Kelly, also attended and she'll be writing a review of the workshop for the Course Notes feature for the online magazine, From Britain With Love. So I'm looking forward to reading that when she posts it up.

Also I was able to run another workshop at The Make Lounge in Islington last night. I'm really enjoying the teaching and the results that people come away with are really fantastic - especially as pretty much all of them have hardly ever used a craft knife before. Unfortunately I only had my mobile to take photos with as I forgot my camera, but you can still see their great results. Fab group of women - there was much laughing going on!

Looking forward to the next one this Saturday. If you're interested in participating, there are still a few places left on Tuesday 19th July (pm) and Saturday 23rd July(am).

Here are the pictures from The Make Lounge workshop

Reasons to be grateful

2011-06-19T15:03:00.005+01:00

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't blogged for a few days.

On Thursday morning I was driving home after dropping my 4 year old at nursery. Just a quiet local street and a car came out of nowhere and plowed straight into the side of my car from a side turning without stopping. It really was one of those moments where you can see it all happening in slow motion, but can do absolutely nothing about it. All I could think was "she's going to hit me, she's going to hit me". She hit me so hard that my car (actually my husband's car) spun 90 degrees, the rear window completely shattered and the drivers door completely caved in and got jammed shut. The other driver couldn't find her number plate afterwards. A passer by found it embedded in the side of my car! Amazingly neither of us were seriously hurt - especially amazing as the other lady had a baby in the back of her car. The worst part for me is the whiplash that I'm experiencing as a result and my nerves are definitely a bit shot - but a good dose of valium is sorting that out!

I also want to mention the kindness of all the local people who came out of their houses to help us. It was pouring with rain and at least 4 or 5 neighbours came out with umbrellas, drinks of water and most importantly kind and calm words. They took control of the situation as both myself and the other driver were in a state of shock, and having such kind people look after us until help arrived was very reassuring. One lady even took me into her house, wrapped me in warm towels and gave me a cup of tea until my parents arrived to take me home.

By the way, the police were contacted but didn't think it necessary to come. Apparently, if both parties can walk away and traffic isn't disrupted, then they won't bother turning up. The witness who phoned them was told that it would cost them too much money - nice. Makes you wonder what they're there for!

Anyway, the result is that I'm just not producing anything at the moment as my hands are just shaking too much when I'm not on the valium, and when I am on the valium I'm completely spaced out or asleep.

But - I am alive and let's face it, that's always a plus!!!

But I hope to be back producing again in a few weeks, but in the meantime I hope you all understand if things go a bit quiet here. And for those of you who already knew about this, thanks for all your lovely emails - very much appreciated. xxx

Hampstead Papercuting Workshop - 10% off!

2011-06-10T17:20:00.000+01:00

If anyone fancies booking onto my workshop at The Oak Studio in Hampstead on 6th July, you can get 10% off if you book via the We Make London Etsy Shop. Don't be put off that the price is in dollars!

Wine Shop commission - papercutting (wip)

2011-06-07T07:59:00.001+01:00

I've started cutting the design for the wine shop logo. I'm pretty pleased with how it's looking so far. I've had some lovely comments on my Flickr pages but I just want to say that I'm not finding it nearly as tricky as (a) I thought I would, and (b) as it must look! I'm not saying that to be boastful or anything like that, I think I've just continually challenged myself over the past few years so that now I just feel comfortable tackling more difficult and intricate projects. Anyway, here's the progress so far.

Papercutting Workshop for Beginners

2011-06-02T18:50:00.002+01:00

Last night I held my first ever Papercutting Workshop at The Make Lounge in Barnsbury Street, Islington. I have to admit I was pretty nervous about it - having never done anything like that before. But as soon as I started talking about papercutting, all the anxiety went away and everyone just got down to work. There were 10 ladies altogether - some came with a few ideas and some came with no idea what to expect and no idea where to start.

I had produced a few templates for them to work from as well. A blank piece of paper is a scary thing to be confronted with especially when you don't really know how to approach the drawing as a papercutting. It was interesting for me as a teacher to see what problems were thrown up to the beginners. Actually they were the very same problems that I had struggled with myself as a beginner, but had forgotten.

Anyway, after 3 hours or so, they all managed to produce at least one 15cm sq papercutting - and some of them produced more. The photos are below - I think you'll see that some of the results are really fantastic for beginners! I hope they all enjoyed themselves.

Wine Shop commission - sketches and drawing

2011-05-26T09:48:00.000+01:00

I've been commissioned to design a logo for chap who's opening a new wine shop. The photos show the process that I've gone through so far. Initially he thought he wanted something circular, but after seeing my first very rough sketches he decided that something less 'organised' would be better. So although not hugely different, we've gone for a square design instead with a much more organic and random feel to it.

I'm about a third of the way through the final drawing (on the reverse of the black paper) and already I'm itching to get started on the cutting! But I shall control my urges, be good and finish the entire drawing first - not something that I usually manage to do - but should!!!

...and the winner is ...!

2011-05-21T14:30:00.000+01:00

My beautiful assistant and random name generator (!), Poppy, has kindly helped me to draw my first ever winner on my first ever giveaway! The lucky winner is Anna Jane Searle of Annarack - and very lucky indeed because the first time she commented her comment disappeared altogether when Blogger went up the spout! (Bizarrely today her first comment has mysteriously reappeared, but be reassured that her name only went into the basket once!) Anyway, luckily Anna re-commented and now she'll receive a set of cards and can choose an A4 print of her choice from either my Etsy or Folksy shops. So well done Anna, please let me know which print you want!

Please check out the photos below to see my very high-tec draw method!

Katie's 21st Birthday Papercut

2011-05-19T15:47:00.000+01:00

My niece, Katie, is 21 tomorrow, so for her birthday I'm cutting her a folky tree with 21 little birdies hopping about happily it it. Here's a little taster of how it's going to look :) Hopefully it'll cheer her up during her university finals!

Logo Commission

2011-05-18T06:52:00.000+01:00

This papercut was commissioned for a new school in the prairies of Iowa. I know! Iowa! Anyway, the brief was to produce a piece portraying a central tree with a girl on a swing on one side and a boy reading a book on the other side. My client also specifically wanted the Iowa hills and prairie grass to be represented in the papercut.

After submitting a couple of different sketches, this is the one that was settled on and I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. When I get sent the final logo with all the wording added in, I'll post it up on here with a link to the school.

We Make London Summer Boutique Pop Up

2011-05-15T14:53:00.001+01:00

I've just received confirmation that I've been accepted as a seller at the We Make London pop-up shop in Hampstead in the summer. Competition was pretty tough, so I'm really chuffed to be offered a spot. I've also put in an application to run a workshop and am still waiting to hear whether that's going to happen.

The Summer Boutique is 2nd - 9th July 2011 at the Oak Studios, 8 Perrins Court, Hampstead, London, NW3 1QS

Should be fun!

My first ever GIVEAWAY! Wooo!

2011-05-10T13:05:00.001+01:00

I will be giving away a set of these New Home cards plus an A4 print of your choice from my Etsy or Folksy shops to the first name pulled out of the hat on Saturday 21st May. To enter the giveaway please leave a comment on this blog entry. All names will be written down on pieces of paper, placed in a bowl and one will be randomly selected by my blindfolded 4 year old! Thanks!

New Home Cards

2011-05-09T21:32:00.000+01:00

These are the colours that will be available in my shops in about 10 days - as soon as I get my delivery from moo.com! Can't wait! I'm really pleased with how they turned out. They can be used as "change of address" cards or to sent to someone who's just moved - dual purpose!

New Home for the Flower Birds

2011-05-09T15:41:00.001+01:00

I thought I'd have a go at a specific design for a card, rather than just putting my existing designs on cards. I might play around with the colour of it - but for now this is how it looks.

It's only small, measuring just under 7 x 5 inches.

And here it is after playing with it in photoshop

Wholesale Order

2011-05-05T12:25:00.001+01:00

I've started supplying my prints and cards to a beautiful shop in North Yorkshire. The owner found me on Twitter and placed and order there and then! It looks gorgeous! I'm very excited to be launching a wholesale side to my business.

ATELIER - Home & Garden

Making Magazine Issue 8

2011-04-28T16:42:00.000+01:00

The new issue of Making magazine went on sale today. I'm very chuffed to have one of my papercut cross-section houses included in a great article by Clare Kelly.

Exciting News!

2011-04-28T10:15:00.000+01:00

Very exciting news! Jennifer at The Make Lounge in Islington has asked me to teach some papercutting classes. Class dates will be announced in early May.

The classes will last about 3 hours or so and the aim is for people to leave with at least one small finished papercut - either of their own design or from one of my templates, if they're stuck for inspiration!

Please check out The Make Lounge website for details on all their courses.

Postcards

2011-04-27T16:59:00.002+01:00

I've had some of my papercuts made into postcards. They're available in my Etsy and Folksy shops as a set of three.

I've chosen three of my favourites: House Cross-Section, Life is Good and Folk Art Houses.

Folk Art Schoolhouse

2011-04-26T17:24:00.002+01:00

Here's the finished artwork for the revised Schoolhouse papercut.

The main difference from the original papercut is that I've made the trees leafy.
They looked a little on the sinister side in the first version.

Prints available in my Folksy and Etsy shops.
The original artwork is also available to purchase.

Schoolhouse (wip)

2011-04-16T20:01:00.004+01:00

I've actually cut this one before but never managed to get a print of it because my computer died! So this is version 2 and there'll be some slight changes to the original version.

Folk Art Travellers' Inn Papercut

2011-04-06T21:24:00.001+01:00

Here's the finished piece. In total it took me 4 days to complete, including the drawing. That's twice as long as the Windmill papercut - even thought it's half the size!

Click image for larger view.

Travellers Inn papercut (nearly done!)

2011-04-06T17:40:00.002+01:00

I've completed the interior part of the picture and am pretty pleased with it. Now I just have to cut the outside space and it's done! Please click on the image for an enlarged view.

My favourite part so far is the lady carrying the tray.

Travellers Inn papercut

2011-04-04T14:01:00.005+01:00

I've started cutting another cross-section papercut.

Here's the first room.

...and here's the upstairs room.

The chap is settling in for the evening.

TOP TIP: When cutting these pieces I always start by cutting the smallest spaces first such as the links in the chains, the gaps in the vase handles etc.

The reason is, the paper is much more stable whilst the outer paper is still in place.

If I cut round the outside of the chandelier first and then tried to cut the tiny links in the chain, the chances are I would slice right through the whole thing!

Passover papercut

2011-03-31T13:05:00.007+01:00

Although not my usual style, this was an interesting project. This is a papercut which has been specially commissioned as a template for a religious summer camp for kids in the USA. A range of age groups will be cutting various parts of the piece which is why I've tried to incorporate some easier as well as more tricky bits. The papercut involves some folded cutting as well as some flat cutting. I just hope the kids can do it!!!

The size is A4

These are the stages involved for cutting this piece.

Stage 1
Fold the paper and make the first relatively simple cut.
This is my first ever folded papercut!

When opened, the papercut will be symmetrical.
There are now 4 cups of wine and a Seder plate. The leafy bits are just decorative and are there to hold it all together!

Stage 2
The most complicated cutting is the symbolic parts of the Seder plate.
All writing had to be done in reverse as this is the wrong side.
You can click on the photos for larger images.

This is the right side.
The shank bone looks like a guitar, I know!

Cut the border writing - not too hard but time-consuming.

I have made a reverse image template for the kids to cut from.

Windmill Papercut - completed piece.

2011-03-30T10:53:00.001+01:00

Here's the finished piece. Sorry about the slightly blurry bottom image. I'll take that photo again with my camera on a tripod!

Windmill Papercut

2011-03-30T10:51:00.000+01:00

So here are the final few Work In Progress photos. I'll post the finished item up separately.

I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

A tip for anyone who's thinking of trying papercutting - don't draw out your picture with pen!

This was a bit of a mistake as it made my cut line virtually impossible to see and I ended up cutting slightly off the line in most places. When you're cutting over a pencil line, the cut line shows up very clearly and makes life much easier.

Windmill papercut - wip photos

2011-03-29T13:02:00.001+01:00

I'm making good progress with the cutting today.

I enjoy this stage where it's emerging from the paper.

Windmill papercut - initial drawing

2011-03-28T23:10:00.001+01:00

My good friend Tania reminded me today that my blog was woefully neglected!

She's absolutely right of course - life seems to have taken over recently - like getting all three of my children healthy and at school on the same days! That's an ongoing battle that I'm determined to win!

Anyway, despite having my oldest son at home ill today, I still managed to get cracking on a drawing for a new piece. As you can see, it's another of my cross-sections, but this time I thought I'd do something a little different - hence a windmill!

This is the reverse of the papercut - the right side is black as is usual for me.

Can't wait to get cutting this one - will keep you updated with lots of wip photos.

Windmill papercut drawing

Size A3

PS: If you're wondering what's happening with the unfinished piece from the previous post - well, I'm just really not sure about it. It just doesn't feel right to me. I never throw anything away and may come back to it at some point - but for now it's shelved :(
These things happen.

Folk Art Cockerel, House and Flowers - a new papercut

2011-02-22T17:46:00.000Z

I thought I'd show you the very beginnings of my newest papercut. As is usual for me, I can't really tell whether I'm going to like it yet, but I will persist and see how it turns out. I'm a little worried that the cockerel looks nicer as a drawing than it will as a papercut. I need to finish the bird to be sure.

Here are the images from the reverse and correct sides.

Natasha Newton (The Blackbird Sings) blog feature

2011-02-17T13:18:00.001Z

Over the past few months I've been answering some interview questions for the wonderfully talented Natasha Newton. She's written an entire feature about me on her blog, which is a very big deal for me and a huge honour.

Here's the link to Natasha's blog and the papercutting feature. Enjoy the read!

http://theblackbirdsings.typepad.com/the_blackbird_sings/

Two Birds © Natasha Newton

Alphabet Birds Papercut (Completed)

2011-01-12T18:20:00.001Z

Here's the finished piece. I decided that from a design point of view it was better to cut away the border and also the ground with the birds as well. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out - especially for a fairly quick papercut - about 8 hours of cutting in total. I've been playing around with it in photoshop - it looks nice in blue too.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Alphabet Birds Papercut

2011-01-11T12:59:00.003Z

We've been getting loads of huge magpies in a garden lately and they've been scaring off the little chaps. So I bought a bird feeder to encourage the tiddly ones back in and I've hung it from our apple tree. It's been a very popular addition and so far this week we've spotted blue tits, great tits, wrens, robins, sparrows, blackbirds, jays and even a woodpecker and a fantastic emerald green parakeet! (I know!!!). Anyway, I was feeling inspired by all the wildlife in my garden, so this newest piece is for the little guys in my apple tree.

So this is the drawing for the new papercut. You'll notice that all the letters are in reverse and drawn back to front. This is because the drawing is on the wrong side of the paper.

The size is A4.

... and here is the top section cut, as seen from the correct side. I'm not sure whether I'll keep the frame or not, so for now it stays. It also keeps the whole thing a bit more stable during the cutting stage.

Friendship Papercut

2011-01-10T13:23:00.003Z

This is my newest papercut and actually the first thing I've done in ages. The school holidays mean that everything goes on hold for about a month! Anyway, all my children are finally back at school which means that a good period of productivity should begin! This one is available as an A4 print in my Etsy and Folksy shops.

If you're in the mood for a little game, try and spot ....

7 birds

3 butterflies

1 ladybird

1 caterpillar

1 beetle

1 coily wiggly worm

1 dragonfly

1 grasshopper

1 bee

1 rhinobug

and 1 spider!

Windsor Contemporary Art Fair

2010-11-26T08:04:00.002Z

Now that I'm back online I can also tell you all about the WCAF which was held a couple of weeks ago on the 12th-14th November.

This was my first ever art fair and I have to admit that I was really nervous about it.

Although my work had been selling well on Etsy, I'd never put myself out there in the public before with all my artwork in one place.

When you exhibit at an art fair, in a way you are setting yourself up to be compared with 100 other artists. And by "compared" I don't mean in style, because everyone is so different, but rather a comparison of standard - well that's what I was doing anyway!

But thankfully I needn't have worried so much - I did pretty well for a first fair - I sold a few originals and lots of prints and cards.

Another big upside to doing fairs is the contacts you make and the lovely people you meet. All the other exhibitors are really supportive of each other and are very willing to give invaluable advice to newcomers. Please take a look at the images below and check out the other artists.

So all in all it was a really enjoyable weekend and I'll definitely be applying again to exhibit next year.

My stand at the WCAF

Please check out my favourite artist at the fair - the lovely, sweet Helen Rhodes

Her work is just stunning - I would've bought her whole display if I could!

http://www.helenrhodes.com/

Another favourite artist at the fair - the amazing Darren Dearden

His work is huge and completely brilliant.

http://www.darrendearden.co.uk/

And yet another family favourite at the fair - artist Jo Bunce

She also paints amazing flowers - just gorgeous!

http://www.jobunce.co.uk/

Computer Hell !!!

2010-11-26T07:32:00.000Z

Oh my gosh - I've been in computer purgatory for the last 3 weeks - what a nightmare! Yes my pc finally fried itself and it has taken 3 weeks to get a new one and be properly back online. As much as I love my Blackberry, there are certain things that just can't be done. Like updating my shops - and PRINTING!!! Of course this all happened just a week before I was due to exhibit at the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair. Luckily my fab friend, Tania, came to my rescue and printed out all my giclee prints for me on her computer.

The downside of course is that I've lost a whole load of images which are gone forever in the internet ether because my hard drive wasn't salvageable. Yes, I know I should've backed everything up ... but I didn't.

Lesson learned - enough said.

Papercut Birds in Oak and Ivy Heart

2010-10-12T15:45:00.000+01:00

I finally finished this piece today. I'd put it away a few months ago while I was working on a few other things. I'm struggling to get a really decent photo of it, but in the meantime here are a few nice shots.

Morris Dancing Papercut

2010-10-06T12:47:00.004+01:00

I finally finished this piece this morning - what a great feeling! Now I just have to decide how much I want to price it at for the Windsor Art Fair in November. I always find this such an impossible task and my family are always telling me that I undervalue all my work - so maybe I'll just get hubby to price it for me!

Christmas Tree papercut

2010-10-04T16:44:00.004+01:00

I decided that it was about time I designed something for a Christmas card.

This is what I came up with. Hope you like it.

2010-09-21T16:40:00.003+01:00

I just wanted to show you the work in progress so far. I reckon there's an average of about 60 flowers in each corner - and with 5 petals each, that's about 900 petals I've cut out. So you can imagine my hand really really aches right now! Anyway, I still haven't made a decision about what's going in the middle - it certainly won't be staying like this. Maybe a little folksy scene with a tree? We'll see. Watch this space ...

English Folk Art (for a change!)

2010-09-17T10:02:00.007+01:00

I've decided to take a little break from my usual traditional American folk art style and do something a bit more English for a change. I'm not entirely sure what an English folk art style is exactly (maybe there isn't such a thing - but I'm sure there is!), so I guess this is just my own style on the very English tradition of Morris Dancing.

When I did an internet search for English folk art, such a mishmash of things came up - half of which weren't even English - that it's difficult to see a generic style. American folk art is very distinctive, as is Scandinavian, German, Dutch etc - but seemingly not English. If anyone can enlighten/educate me otherwise, I'd be really interested. All I really came up with was barge painting and pub signage.

Anyway, this latest piece of mine is going to be a circular dance of Morris men and village girls, the corners will be blossom trees and the centre - well (as is usual for me) that's still to be decided!

2010-09-15T13:02:00.001+01:00

Here's another one to add to the set - and a photo of them in little IKEA frames. Cute.

Folk Art Rural Scene Papercut

2010-09-14T21:21:00.003+01:00

I've got to get cracking with producing a substantial amount of work for the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair in November. I've got quite a lot of larger pieces already, so I think I need to concentrate on finishing a few smaller pieces. I cut this one today - it took me about three hours and has left me with a very stiff hand! It's a baby version of the papercut I completed a while back. This one measures 11cm x 16cm.

Collage for a change

2010-09-07T08:40:00.003+01:00

I've been loving the work of Linda Solovic recently and I was inspired to create a few collages of my own. Here are the results. Some are better than others, but I really enjoyed making them.

If you want to see more of Linda Solovic, check her out here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lindasolovic

Folk Art Schoolhouse Papercut

2010-08-29T14:54:00.002+01:00

This is a smaller piece that took me about 4 hours to cut. It measures 17.5cm x 17.5cm.

I want to cut a series of vignettes all this size - all showing different traditional scenes. If you've got any suggestions I'd be very happy to hear them!

Papercut House

2010-08-26T17:31:00.002+01:00

Here's the finished piece. The finished size is A3.

I think my favourite bit is the back yard with the girl on the swing. And my favourite room is the bedroom with the dressing table and wash-stand.

House Papercut

2010-08-22T12:54:00.003+01:00

Here you can see that I've added the music room and the nursery upstairs. My client's request was that the papercut shows the dad's love of his old vinyl music collection and also that the house is full of flowers and plants. The family have 3 girls - one is still a little baby. I like to try and keep it oldy worldy, even though it's for a modern family. Just seems more appropriate for this project.

Kitchen Papercut

2010-08-21T18:21:00.003+01:00

Here's the kitchen bit of the papercut all finished. Now I'll get started on the next room! Quite pleased with my work-rate though.

Commissioned House Papercut

2010-08-21T12:04:00.004+01:00

This is a rough sketch for a house papercut that I've been commissioned to make as a house-moving gift. The finished piece will be A3 and the reverse of the picture you see here. I'm starting it today while my kids are out! Hopefully I'll get a good headstart on it as there's quite a tight deadline for this one.

New Folk Art Designs

2010-08-08T17:48:00.003+01:00

Hi and I'm back from my way too short holiday up in Northumberland. It's so gorgeous up there! It wasn't practical to take my papercutting stuff up there, so I just took my sketch pad and pen and did a few different sorts of designs for a change. They're all hand-drawn in pen (so please excuse any mistakes!) and then I've coloured a couple of them up in photoshop. I'm thinking of making them into greetings cards. Hope you like them. It's nice to be back. x

Repeat Pattern

2010-07-18T16:31:00.009+01:00

Ok - so this isn't a papercut, but this IS my first ever attempt at creating a repeat pattern. My aim is to recreate something similar with a papercut pattern. I used the technique that's described on a tutorial on Design Sponge (thank you Moonflygirl for the tip!) and here's the result. Please bear in mind that my sketch is literally just that - a sharpie sketch! I scanned it and then coloured it in photoshop. Please click on the images for larger views.

Here's the link to the tutorial: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/05/welcome-julia-and-how-to-make-a-repeat-pattern.html

Playing with Zazzle - Notelets

2010-07-18T14:27:00.003+01:00

Sorry about the small image size.

I've been playing around on Zazzle.

Letter "A" Papercut

2010-07-18T12:06:00.003+01:00

Here's the finished letter.

Etsy sale

2010-07-17T20:14:00.002+01:00

So thrilled to have sold this papercut this week. Winging its way to Brooklyn NYC! Somehow that seems like the perfect home for it.

Papercut Initials

2010-07-16T21:35:00.007+01:00

I thought I'd try cutting some flowery initials and this is my first attempt (in progress). The idea is that they could be made into notelets or just put in a simple frame.

Peacock Papercut

2010-07-14T20:59:00.007+01:00

I had a sudden urge to cut a folk art peacock today! This is the result. It's ridiculously delicate, but will be listed in my Etsy shop as soon as I can figure out how to mount it!

Folk Art Peacock

Silhouette Paper 19.5cm x 20cm

Peacock papercut (in progress)

I had to hold it upside down to stop the tail feathers getting tangled.

Website Relaunch

2010-07-14T10:31:00.005+01:00

Please take a minute to visit my newly overhauled website. It's still under construction but should be relatively up-to-date in a day or so.

Please follow this link: http://folkartpapercuts.blogspot.com/

Another new button

2010-07-13T18:47:00.002+01:00

And this is a new blog button for my newly overhauled website.

New button

2010-07-13T10:45:00.004+01:00

I'm doing a little bit of branding for my blog and website. I designed my new logo yesterday and today I've designed and cut a new button to link to my Etsy shop.

New papercut logo

2010-07-12T12:50:00.004+01:00

It's been long overdue, but I've finally got round to designing myself a logo. Hope you like it.

Update

2010-07-11T10:29:00.010+01:00

So I finally have my house back. My son's Bar Mitzvah is over and my house guests have gone home to California. The past few weeks have been exhausting, but really fantastic - despite my daughter's chickenpox and my bad back! Anyway, now that everything is back to normal and all my stuff is out of my neighbour's garage, I'll be able to get down to some proper papercutting again.

For the next few months I'll be concentrating on building up a good body of work to take to the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair in November (http://www.windsorcontemporaryartfair.co.uk/.) I think I've probably got enough large pieces to display, but I want to have a good stock of smaller pieces as well.

My Etsy and Folksy shops are also due for a major overhaul, so I'll be doing that too. Stay tuned!

Etsy Shop

2010-07-07T16:19:00.002+01:00

Just letting you all know that I've re-opened my Etsy shop as of today. I'll be working on getting my Folksy shop up and running soon too.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Vegaslammy

Summer Reading

2010-06-30T13:34:00.004+01:00

Look what just arrived on my doormat this morning. Will settle down to these later!

Strawberry Papercut (work in progress)

2010-06-29T12:46:00.004+01:00

About half done now. As you can see, I'm leaving the centre open so that I can overlay some type in there. Maybe "Thank you" or someone's name etc.

Strawberry Papercut (work in progress)

2010-06-27T15:31:00.006+01:00

As my back is pretty bad and my 3 year old has got chicken pox, I'm only getting a little done at a time. Normally I'd hope to finish a small piece like this in a day or so, but not at the moment.

Strawberry Papercut

2010-06-26T15:00:00.005+01:00

These are the first few cuts from yesterday's sketch. I thought it would be nice with a coloured background for a change and it suited the strawberry theme too! The cutting is quite hard-going as it's quite heavyweight sketchpad paper, but actually this gives it a crispness that I really like and it sits above the background too, making lots of lovely drop shadows behind.

Sketch for Notelets

2010-06-25T14:18:00.009+01:00

Having a bad back might have halted cutting temporarily, but it doesn't have to halt sketching. This preliminary drawing is an idea I've got for some new papercut design notelets. Sorry for the not great photo but the scanned version was almost invisible!

Featured Artist: Katie Daisy

2010-06-24T20:26:00.008+01:00

I just wanted to share the work of this fantastic artist with you. I came across her this week and find her work completely enchanting and gorgeous. You can find her here at http://www.katiedaisy.net/

No cutting today

2010-06-24T15:14:00.004+01:00

Today is not a good day. I've done my back in - emptying a sandpit (stupid I know). Plus Poppy's got chicken pox. So far only about 16 spots - but only day 1. Still just over a week till the Bar Mitzvah so hopefully she'll be over the worst by then. Terrible timing - so much to do next week!!!

2010-06-23T13:50:00.003+01:00

I've made good progress today, but I feel that this piece is going so slowly, especially compared to the round one I did a few weeks ago. Must be something to do with the awkward leaf shapes and twisty tendrils (what WAS I thinking when I incorporated those into the design?!) Anyway, at least I've completed about two thirds now. I need to start thinking about the outer and inner borders too. Hmmmm...

New Moo Cards

2010-06-22T12:54:00.002+01:00

I just received my new batch of business cards from Moo. These should keep me going for a while!