Archive
New Laser Cut Design – “Family Tree”
Last week my sister Jackie rang to ask if I could make a laser-cut “Family Tree” for her friend’s anniversary.
Her friend Victoria really really liked the hand-cut trees that are available from Eticut on NotOnTheHighStreet.com, but apparently they couldn’t make the piece in time for the anniversary. So I and my trusty laser cutter (I really must come up with a name for it) were asked if we could step in and create a tree with names on it.
This is the version that we came up with…
family tree artwork
… and I think it’s one of the nicest things I’ve made. I even managed to find a font called ‘Jasmine UPC’, which seemed appropriate.
(Naturally I have now offered this service in my Etsy shop if anyone else would like a similar tree…)
Paperwork – the fun kind
My papercutting adventures continue. The last couple of days I have been adapting more art nouveau flowers from Polly Pinder’s book and have been cutting the designs from white paper with a craft knife (the pictures below are scans of the actual pieces):
bell-flower thing
daffodil on white paper
daisy on white paper
lily of the valley on white paper
tulips on white paper
rose on white paper
In search of inspiration
Now that I’ve finished the 7MSN laserschnitt piece I am wondering what my next big project should be. But <…sigh…> nothing really leaps out and grabs me like that one did.
So in the meantime while I continue my quest for a new major subject I am just going to keep playing with paper and polymer clay and see what I can discover.
The other day I bought a copy of “Art Nouveau Flower Designs” by Polly Pinder.
Polly Pinder book as seen on Amazon
I’ve made some papercuts adapted from some of her line drawings:
rose on black paper
rose2 on black paper
rose3 on black paper
It is very relaxing and therapeutic, cutting paper with a craft knife.
Valentine
Bleeeuuuurgh – it’s Valentine’s day.
Valentine’s Day is really not my thing, but because I love my laser cutter I have created a new design for it to cut out:
Valentine scherenschnitt design
Hahaha – I’ve just noticed that if you screw your eyes up and look at this design from a distance, it looks a bit like a devil sticking its tongue out. Not very romantic after all!
Thank you!
A huge THANK YOU to everyone for their kind comments about the 7MSN scherenschnitt that Linda Carson featured on her blog on Tuesday. I am so glad she liked it, and am sending her the original.
I actually wanted to send it to her for Christmas, but I couldn’t think of a way of saying “Hi – I am a big fan of your blog and want to send you something” without sounding like a stalker, so I chickened out.
My husband thought (thinks) I was nuts for spending so many hours on making a picture about someone else’s blog, but it really did seem to almost create itself. And I loved the idea of creating traditional homestead art by using new technology. In fact, some of the design is so delicate that it would have been impossible to cut with scissors or a knife, e.g. the vine that is trailing out of the cow’s skull:
Over the last few days people have been asking if they can buy copies of the artwork, so I’ve been thinking about what to do. I don’t want to churn out lots of identical copies, because they wouldn’t feel special. I also don’t want to profit from them without giving Linda Carson something in return. So here is my suggestion:
Remember the giant egg story? Well, I think there is room (just about!) for that egg to appear in the artwork. So what I’m proposing to do is to make a limited number of copies of the “7MSN Laserschnitt”, and for the three eggs (medium, large, and mutant) to appear in a different place in each version. That way if anyone does decide to buy a copy, they will know that they are receiving their own unique piece, and nobody else will have one exactly the same.
egg-sample of how it will look
And of course I will arrange to donate half of any profits to Linda and the herd, because without them I would have just had a blank piece of paper.
18 Feb 2013 update: I have now put some copies on Etsy here
Details of 7MSN Scherenschnitte
(Following on from yesterday’s post, here is more info about my “7MSN Scherenschnitte” project)
To create the images, first of all I had to select a picture that I liked, and then hand-trace the outlines. (I wish I had software that automatically created silhouettes! On the other hand, that would feel like cheating.)
(Here is the original: http://www.the7msnranch.com/2011/08/one-piece-at-time.html)
Then I filled the outlines with black just to see what they would look like when they were finished:
(This is of Steve the Turtle)
Then I juggled the pieces around until they started to look OK:
First draft of 7MSN
Things from the blog to look out for in the papercutting:
Willie, Honey Bunny, Rooster ornament
Chickens eating birds and mice
Coyote fence, skulls, mouse
(I sneaked the alien skull in, because on the 7MSN front page it looks like Alan’s nose has got an evil skull painted on it):
Alan’s alien nose
Hank, Wynonna, chicken eating tarantula
Alan, heron, swallow
Lucy
Smooch, Linda/Carson, George, Deets
Lyle, Steve the turtle
7MSN gate
and the suspicious-looking ‘Art Nouveau branches’…
“Art Nouveau branch”
Laser-Cut Scherenschnitte
What have I been doing lately? Well, firstly I have been doing a lot of laser-etching/cutting work for Maria Allen. As well as through her own site, she also sells through NotOnTheHighStreet.com, and has been one of the featured artists this Christmas, so we have both been very busy.
However, in between that (and when I should have been doing other more important things), I’ve been working on my first-ever major ‘scherenschnitte’ project (which is basically just another term for paper cutting).
I’ve always loved papercrafts and have been making pop-up cards for years, but now that I’ve got my laser cutter I really really want to use it to create some complex scherenschnitte designs. I’ve done quite a lot of research into different artists and styles (including Cindy Ferguson, Rob Ryan), but wanted to find my own inspiration and style.
Then this October, I came across the 7MSN Ranch blog. Linda/Carson takes such great photos, and really makes me laugh. I am now officially hooked on reading about the ‘herd’. And so suddenly I knew exactly what my scherenschnitte project would involve – all of the animals at the 7MSN.
