Welcome

[Former_Member]

Hi there,

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Morgan and the Etsy Community

[Former_Member]

Hey! Thanks for the welcome. I spy papercuttings on the front page today! Looking forward to meeting new faces and saying hello to contacts from other networks.

I am a freehand silhouette artist-- meaning I cut portraits from paper as I am looking at people (in real life or on screen). Most of the work that I produce is scissored rather than flat-cut with an exacto, but I do both. I cut paper, bark, leaves, plastic, etc. I love talking about tools, techniques, history, materials and have a strong interest in folk paper cutting traditions as well as contemporary work/artists.

Warmly,
Jenny

[Former_Member]

Nice to meet you Jenny! Your silhouettes are incredible and it is very impressive that you are able to cut as you are looking at someone in real life, such talent! I am new to both etsy and papercutting although I have been creating art all of my 24 years. I have been bursting with creative energy lately and have been searching for an outlet... I think I have found it! So very theraputic! I have a background in apparel design with a strong interest in fashion so this is the direction I am heading in with my papercut designs.

I started this group just so we could pop in, say hi, share new pieces, get critiques if wanted, ask for advice... talk about tools, anything! No pressure, just wanted to gather some like-minds!

[Former_Member]

Hello! I was just investigating teams on Etsy this morning so was quite excited to see an invite in my email to this team. Hi Jenny. (I've been a fan of Jenny's for a while now.) I'm excited to be in your company as well as the rest of the team.
I got hooked on papercutting when I cut out Angry Chicken's mailorder papercut pattern of a bunny on a swing. From there I started checking out books at the library and investigating papercut art. I soon came to admire the work of Rob Ryan, Nikki McClure, Beatrice Coron, Lotte Reiniger as well as others. I feel like I'm still trying to figure out my "style" so this will be a welcome group to float ideas, get feedback, etc.
Speaking of that I've been cutting lately using traditional scherenschnitte paper that is white on one side, black on the other. It's easy to cut but I don't like the way the black kind of "shatters" in the corners of cuts. Any advice or does anyone have similar issues?
Happy to be here and meet all of you!
Jackie

[Former_Member]

Jackie, great to see you here, too! Are you using scissor or exacto and which paper (if you don't mind revealing) is it? It might have to do with under-cutting.

Jeannie, I'm excited to see what you're up to with apparel. Rob Ryan designed some great skirts through clothkits. Paper cutting has its roots in textile arts. Cutting can be very therapeutic and highly addictive... Thanks for gathering us up.

[Former_Member]

queenbaby - thanks for starting this group & inviting me! I'm a Seattle-based paper and jewelry artist. I use outdated maps, vintage dictionaries and sheet music as the canvas for my papercuts. I also work with card stock but not as frequently. Just recently I created a new line of wearable papercuts combining my interest in jewelry design & papercutting. By now I do all my cutting freehand with an x-acto knife though some of my solid papercuts I cut out in one whole piece (see http://www.etsy.com/listing/45179442/two-hearts-beat-as-one-original-papercut) which requires penciling the design first. I have so many ideas for new papercut projects & so little time! Anyone else has this problem?
One technique issue I've had is that for some of my pieces I use up 2-3 blades to create - the tip breaks off & stays inside the self healing mat. It may have to do with the thickness of the paper I use - some glossy atlas sheets for example are pretty thick and I am adamant about all the edges being perfectly clean.
I have another subject I'd like to discuss. How did you get started in this craft form? I’ve always been very creative and wanted to make something special for a friend that would link to my heritage. I researched Eastern European multi-color folk papercutting and created my first piece over eight years ago. Over the next several years almost all of my closest friends received this intricate one-of-a-kind gift. Then I got tired of sticking to that specific style and ventured into my own designs working just with one sheet of paper at a time and later transitioned into cartography and lexicography cutouts.

Looking forward to peeking in here & meeting more papercutters!

[Former_Member]

Hi Jackie! I am so glad you joined. I was excited when you mentioned Nikki McClure because she is such a major inspiration to me! Like I said I am new to this, but a gallery across from the boutique I work at just had all of her original papercuts from her upcoming 2011 calendar on display, so amazing! What really turned me on to papercutting was the work of Tahiti Pehrson.
http://www.111minnagallery.com/wp-content/gallery/tahiti_pehrson/tahiti_pehrson_entombment.jpg
I'm not sure if he is well-known but I had never seen anything like it and had to write down his name. I was just totally blown away! One part because it was just breath-taking and one part because it seemed like something i would absolutely love doing myself! It is such an addictive art for sure! And I think something that we must all have in common is extreme patience, and maybe a touch of OCD, in a good way :)

[Former_Member]

Hi again,
Jenny I've been using an exacto knife on the silhouette paper (P-100) from Papercuttings by Alison. I was going to make the link but my computer is soooo slow tonight.
I am really amazed by Tahiti Pehrson's work. I hadn't seen his work before. It is exciting to see the myriad expressions that papercutting can take. Makes me want to try all kinds of experimentations!

[Former_Member]

Wow! That image is incredible. I love the way he almost uses it like crosshatching to create such depth, especially because most people use paper to simplify lines. Always exciting to come across someone who is really using the medium differently.

Jackie, I know the paper you mean. You might need to change blades more often (a dull blade will drag the edge & more noticably at the end of a line). And sometimes if the corner doesn't meet up just so, if it's cut just a bit shy of meeting, it will flake like that. Can be infuriating. Is that what it's doing? I use Proedge blades that you can buy in the bulk safety packs (with the little slot to place the spent ones). So handy. Sometimes it feels like a waste to go through so many blades, but it's better than the damage I do with a weird blade.

Wish I could see the McClure show. I've been a fan of hers for years. Inspiring work, too.

[papercutsbyjoe]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for taking...forever...to accept. My name is Joe and I'm a papercutter based out of Boston. I've been selling on etsy since 2007. I do lots of "Just For Funs" in my shop, which are 8x10 silhouette-esque designs that I cut multiples of, but my true passion is huge complicated designs of architecture and nature. I'm currently preparing for CraftBoston 2011, and making 9 of the most complicated pieces yet (~10,000 holes in each design). I'm saving them until March, so my shop will not be updated with new pieces very often until then while I concentrate on cutting the new designs and shipping out sold pieces, and relisting the just for funs when they sell as fast as possible.

I really love all your work and it's great to see some of my favorite paper artists on etsy here!

~Joe

[tinymishaps]

Hello, I see this thread seems to have died last month but I figured I'd say hi. I was excited to see a team as simple as 'we cut paper'. I'm not a traditional paper cutter by any means and hopefully you haven't seen much that looks like my work. I've been having fun looking at the beautiful stuff other people are able to do with paper.

I'm based in the western suburbs of Chicago and I have worked primarily with the same pair of mini fiskar scissors for my hanging abstract paper sculptures. I've done large installation pieces and smaller miinatures. I've got tons of ideas and hope to keep working on all of them.
My cut paper sculptures are here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/tinymishaps?section_id=6344228
and my info website is here:
http://boxchicken.com/Boxchicken.com/Welcome.html

[Former_Member]

Hi tinymishaps, I had noticed your broken wing piece earlier this year. Love the work you are doing.

[Former_Member]

And Joe, noticed that you are in a show in my neck of the woods. I'm not sure yet whether I'll be able to make it down to Newburgh in time to see it, but congrats!

[Former_Member]

Hi Joe,
I have admired your work for a while now! I love the way you photo style them - holding them upright! I also love your subject matter too. Glad your on the team.
Hello Tinymishaps,
I could see where you could take your sculptural papercuts to exciting levels. Very cool.
Jackie

[Former_Member]

Hello all. I'm pretty new to papercutting, but have been an artist for... well, as long as I can remember. In college I was really big in to mixed media and collage so my work tends to lean that way even with papercuts. Nothing in my shop now. Trying to really prep myself before I just dive in head first! You can check out some of the tidbits I've been working on my blog (excuse the desperate need for an update) http://breakbeautydown.blogspot.com/

Happy to be here and to see everyone!

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone~
I'm excited about finding this team, as I'm trying to learn to do old fashioned free-hand paper cut silhouettes. Currently, I work in ink, and I do some x-acto silhouettes, too.
Does anyone have any suggestions for someone interested in learning traditional free-hand cutting? I can't find anyone local that could teach me. Any good online resources or books?
Thanks!

[Former_Member]

Hi craftybandita, I'm a traditional freehand silhouette portrait artist. It looks like you already have a sense of the style you're after. My advice is practice, practice, practice. I cut portraits of at least 100 friends and strangers before I started marketing them. It's really a pleasure to cut live portraits. My favorite book on the subject is Shades of Our Ancestors, though it's more of a catalogue of early American portraitists and less of a how-to manual. There are at least two books on the market that offer instruction, one of them by a fellow Etsy seller Kathryn Flocken. Where are you located? You might also be able to get in touch with someone via the Guild of American Papercutters.

[Former_Member]

jennyleefowler, thank you SO MUCH for all the information...i'm anxious to start reasearching everything you mentioned!
and i'm located in st. petersburg, florida. it'd be nice to connect locally to someone with a few pointers.
thanks again :)

[Former_Member]

Welcome :). Kathryn is in Orlando, I think.

[Former_Member]

Hello everyone!

I've just joined the team today after searching to see if there was a team for silhouette and papercutting artists and lo behold - here you all are!

I'm Laura and I live in London, UK. I've been selling on Etsy since mid-last year in my store, www.etsy.com/shop/KitzieG.
My work is primarily botanical and nature-inspired, and I cut my designs in a single piece with scissors, based on my drawings.

I'm currently selling art prints, greetings cards, gifts and homeware based on my papercut designs whilst building up my body of originals.

Looking forward to learning more about everyone and being a part of the team.

[Former_Member]

tinymishaps - i love your paper sculptures! Also, your line drawings on your web site - they remind me in overall style some drawings i obsessively did in high school. the heart is just stunning!

[tinymishaps]

Thanks papercutworks:) Your wearable cut paper is brilliant. I keep trying to combine my cut paper and jewelry and so far its primarily been a tangeled mess :p.

[Former_Member]

I'm so excited about finding this team! I'm a new Etsy seller, but I've been making my cut paper portraits for a while. I love working with paper, and I find paper cutting to be so relaxing and rewarding! I make 3D paper portraits, usually based on photographs or classic children's book illustrations. I would LOVE any advice anyone has to give on becoming a sucessful Etsy seller!
Please check out my store, I know the photo's aren't great but I'm working on it. Anyone have tips on the best way to photograph 3D paper pieces?
www.asklaver.etsy.com

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone!

I'm really sorry that it has taken me forever to introduce myself to the team.

It's really lovely to have a group like this to come to for inspiration and to share ideas. I love papercuts and only wish I had more time to make them! My shop is looking ever so sad at the moment...but I am working on some new stock now.

As well as creating papercut greetings cards I also love making cushions and using recycled materials.

That's me for now, I'm off to have a little snoop at all of your work!

[jerise]

Hi, everybody!

I'm new to this team, but I've probably hearted practically every person on it! :) Thanks for keeping the team open so I could just join. I'm looking forward to meeting folks and exchanging ideas about papercutting artwork!

I started doing papercutting when I began to design ketubahs, and it was an amazing revelation to me; I began doing cards and other designs, too. I'm a member of Guild of American Papercutters (GAP), which is a friendly group that many of you might already know about or be members of.

I'm in NYC.

Thanks!