The beginning
It all started with the Christmas gift idea. I wanted something special for a music instructor who teaches guitar. I thought about guitar ornament or guitar decoration or guitar pillow but none of them inspired me. Until one day when I was looking for some Chinese New Year decorations, I thought about paper cutting.
Paper cutting has long history through different cultures and around the world. In China, the paper cutting is more like paper scissoring. They use scissors instead of scalpel to cut very thin paper, often folded and in red color. The final image is revealed the moment they unfolded the paper.
I love how the paper cutting looks and believe it would made a great Christmas gift. So I searched online and found one guitar template from this shop PaperInkAndKnife. I actually tried it three times. The first time, I used a regular white cardstock because I wasn’t sure if I could do this. The second time I did this on a red cardstock and broke the line. The third time I took my time and finally delivered it.
And then I want to do more despite my fingers are hurting constantly. 🤣
Reference books and projects
Adventures in Paper Cutting Series 4.
I purchased this one from Amazon and like most of its designs. It has very good quality paper. Even better than the cardstock I bought from local craft’s store.
I’ve done two projects from this book so far. The swan and buffalo.
There are some really tiny parts that I don’t enjoy. Other than that, I have no complains.
The Crafter’s Guide to Papercutting.
I borrowed this one from local library and enjoy the general information it provides. It has some interesting templates at the end of book that you can use directly. Well, I am not going to do this for a library book obviously.
My inspiration and designs
At this point, I’ve started thinking to do my own designs. Most templates I find online are floral, landscape, abstract patterns, words and animals. So I would like to try something different. It is a fun process. The very first one I made is “Groundcherry”. Because this fruit is perfect for line work.
The second successful one is a folding fan. There were failed designs in between of course.
Next one is more challenging, the Minnesota state map.
The lines broke several times during the test trial. And I finally figured out a sequence of cutting to reduce the possibility of broken lines. I like how it turns out.
This process is really playable. I have already made a list of subjects that I can make into designs. You can find the digital downloads of these paper cutting templates in my store.
Summary
My finger hurts all the time, especially the index finger joints. I have one advice for paper cutting beyond tools and materials. Massage your fingers until they get used to this type of pressure.
But I still love the process from design to cutting. There are also multi layered designs and three dimensional designs. Right now I just want to focus on single layer designs. Will I do all fifty states into paper cutting templates? I don’t know.😂 At least one down, forty nine to go.