Papercutting Tutorial

I went on a paper cutting course last September, we did some freehand paper cutting and then designed a card to cut, it was great and on the day I decided to plan in advance and make a Valentine's Card.

 I hadn't tried it again until last week, I made a birthday card for my Mother in Law.

The technique is fairly simple.

Decide on the size of the card then cut a piece of paper the same size.

Tape the card to a cutting mat, then tape the paper over the card. On the course we cut coloured paper that would be cut and stuck to the blank card and a piece of white paper over the top to draw the design on. This was actually a lot easier and you could get sharper detail as you were not trying to cut through heavy card by hand.

Draw whatever design you want (you must have a border though), we were told on the course to make letters sit on or hang from 'washing lines' which were attached to the sides. For this card the letters are attached to the sides with the climbing flowers.

I forgot to take a photo before, this is what it looked like after I had cut.

Then you take the paper off and paint/decorate however you want.

I used some handmade paper as an insert.

My cutting could do with a little work, the card was really tough to cut through neatly (and your hand really aches after a while!). If you fancy seeing some totally amazing paper cuttings then take a took at Rob Ryan's site, here.

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