{crafts} Keepsake Papercut Tutorial from Etsy

Are you in need of a last minute Valentine's craft? Etsy.com posted this papercut tutorial. It would create a wonderful Valentine's card for a loved one. Enjoy. Original tutorial found at etsy.com.

Keepsake Papercut

Story by WoodlandPapercuts

Published on Feb 07, 2012 in Make

In my own personal book of made-up lore, I like to think of St. Valentine as the patron saint of paper craft. Fictions aside, Valentine’s Day really has evolved into the perfect occasion to pick up some paper and sharp tools and start snip-snip-snipping away in the name of love. For this week’sHow-Tuesday post, Naomi Shiek of Woodland Papercuts has created a beautiful valentine for each of you. Print out her special design and make your own elegant card or photo frame for your sweetheart, grandma, teacher, or anyone else you’d like to send a little handmade love. Happy Valentine’s Day!

With Valentine’s Day nearing, cards are being bought, colored, and glued by countless sweethearts, from pre-school kids to grandmas. There are countless ways to make your love note, but there’s one I’m sure we’ve all attempted at one point or another: the papercut card. The tutorial below is a take on the old-school papercut card, though it can also double as a keepsake photo frame, which requires a higher skill level and a lot more patience than the average third grader can spare. This card will make for a sweet message to mail to your loved ones.

Supplies You’ll Need:

A self-healing cutting mat
Steel ruler
A sharp cutting knife and spare 30 degrees angle blades
A4 cover weight paper of your choice; something thick and stiff that can still run through a printer.
Printer (optional)
Gold pen and glitter or a wallet-size photo of your choice (optional)

Directions:

1. Download the template.

2. Print out the template on your paper. If the paper is too thick for your home printer, print it at a local print shop.

3. Time to get down to business! Cut out the design on your self-healing cutting mat with your cutting knife, using a steel ruler when needed. Begin with the smaller shapes and work yourself to the bigger cuts that surround them. That way the paper won’t tear.

Tip: For an easier job, don’t use the standard blades that come with the scalpel knife. Instead buy a pack of the sharper 30 degree blades.

4. When you’re done with all that cutting, you can either write in your message at the center (I used a gold pen and glitter) or glue in a wallet size valentine photo instead.

That’s it, you’re done. Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you make your own papercut, share a photo with us in the Etsy Labs Flickr group.

{a thought for Thursday} Chef's salads

People aren't either wicked or noble. They're like chef's salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict. ― Lemony Snicket, The Grim Grotto

{wordless wednesday} Firetrucks

Fire trucks...for my two year old who loves them.

{read: fictional portrayal of Flannery O'Connor} A Good Hard Look by Ann Napolitano

While I haven't read any of Flannery O'Connor's work, Ann Napolitano paints a three-dimensional portrait of this famous Southern author. She's not the focus of A Good Hard Look, but she's one of the critical characters. Cookie Himmel, who dislikes O'Connor, returns to her hometown of Milledgeville, Ga., to wed her rich fiancee, Melvin Whiteson, and settle down. Flannery has also returned to Milledgeville due to her worsening lupus. Out of spite, Flannery tells the happy couple that she'll give them one of her peacocks. Melvin goes out to the farm, allegedly to pick it up, but really just to see firsthand what this flock of peacocks is like. They kept the whole town awake with their screams the night before the wedding, and he's curious. An odd secret friendship develops between Melvin and Flannery, and that, coupled with decisions made by some other townspeople, result in two catastrophes that leave some of the characters wondering how they've ended up where they are and trying to deal with the consequences. This book started out a little bit light for me, but I liked it more and more as it went along. It's also another example of a book that I find myself thinking about well after I've read it.

A Good Hard Look by Ann Napolitano (Penguin Press, 2011)
My rating: 4 stars

{crafts} : Modern Colorful Mobiles

These are beautiful and look fairly easy to do, posted at Project Wedding. 

DIY: Modern Colorful Mobiles

This bright mobile project is perfect for a daytime wedding reception or shower! (expert advice)

This bright and modern mobile project is perfect for a daytime wedding reception or shower and can be done in any color scheme. It will transform the room and make a big impact!

 

The best part is this whole project can be made on the cheap--for under $25! Let's get started:

Materials:Vellum paper (we used 14 shades) 56 sheets of paper total $17
A sewing machine
Fishing weights (not pictured) $5
An exacto knife and straight edge (or a stack cutter)
Artist tape (for hanging)

 

Step one. Cut the sheets of vellum into one inch strips. You can do this with an exacto knife or have it cut all at one time with a stack cutter. (If you decide to go the stack color route organizing the paper in the order you want it to hang in will save you some time.)

Step two. Measure the height of the space where the mobiles will hang to figure out how long you want them. Keep in mind you'll want to keep the eyesight of the guests clear of any obstruction.

Step three. Once you know the length of the mobiles, layout the different colors in the order you want. Repeat until it is close to the length of mobile you want. Then put it into a stack and it is ready to sew.

Step four. Leave a 12" tail of thread at the beginning and start to sew down the middle of the first strip. (I found it is easiest to put a piece of tape on the sewing machine at the end of the strip as a guide to mark where the vellum should be sewn.) Continue feeding each addition strip into the sewing machine. At the end leave another long tail of string. As you are sewing try to be consistent on the amount of space between each strip but if its not perfect its ok, this design is very forgiving. Our mobiles were about four feet and the actual sewing took about 10 minutes for each mobile.

Step five. If left by itself, the bottom paper will curl up, add a simple fishing weight at the bottom to prevent this from happening and to add a nice polish to the project.

Step six. Hang the mobiles at varying heights over the center of the table with artist tape.

{a thought for Thursday} Burn, baby, burn!

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. -- William Butler Yeats

{wordless wednesday}