Cut It Out

Thank you for your votes for the North Elevation- I have decided to go with Option 5.  As I said before, I will be putting up some wedding photos and some art.  Surprise, surprise, I have made the art myself!

I thought about floral, botanical, geometric shapes, but in the end I chose two animals.  (BTW, this is shocking for people who don't know me- haha).  I chose to create two paper cut designs with a squirrel and a bird.

The squirrel is an unlikely choice, but it does make sense for my apartment.  It's easy to spot a squirrel climbing up the trees in our neighborhood.  I was a little timid at first, but now I'm pretty confident that it won't jump on my head from a tree branch!  And, of course we have beautiful birds.  It makes for a personal, and fun, touch to our Chicago apartment.

This project is very low cost- in fact for me it was no cost.  I already had all my materials.  The great part is that they look bold, detailed, and expensive.  Your friends will be surprised, so try it out!

Here are the supplies you need to make a two-tone paper cut design:

Two colored sheets of card stock, design template, scissors, 

(glue stick) and exacto knife

Cut out your template and attach it to your card stock in 

several places to hold in it place.  Start with small voids, like the breast of the bird, 

while the card stock is stable.  This will help to keep from losing your grip and keep 

the paper from tearing.  Then continue with the outline of the shape.

When you are finished cutting, only your template remains.  Usually, I choose to flip the design over- it's usually a cleaner cut.  Touch up any cuts or 

edges that are not to your liking.

Cut your background colored card stock to the desired size for the frame and matte.  

Lay out your design.  I used the void pieces for accents.  

Doing this also creates repetition in shapes.

I used a glue stick to attach my cut outs to the background.

Place your design in your frame, and wahlah!   

I prefer a thick matte- it just looks nice and crisp.

Here is my Interior Idea:

I had two frames, No. 18a and b, so I made a collection.  

I used my colors as the opposite pieces in the design.  

This is a great trick to make two unrelated designs a "collection."  

Not to brag, but I am quite impressed with how my paper cut designs turned out!!