Latest 'Cuts'

I've added paper cuts to my fabric art blog, but want to keep doing Paper Perks, so some work may appear on both blogs.

This is the new banner for my other blog. I don't remember whether I've introduced my cats, Angus and Rosie (named after characters from the original Upstairs Downstairs) on this blog, but they are a great source of inspiration for me!

Here's another picture of them

which goes along with this "newspaper article"!

You can create your own article here just for fun!

I'm still learning this craft of paper cutting, usually work on a very small scale, but want to do as many as possible to improve my skills. Why - because I love it!!

Have a great weekend!!

A Card for a Friend

I recently spent a few days at the summer home

 of a very gracious friend, and made this Thank You note for her.

Her last name is Reynolds and this is her nickname for her home on Cape Cod.

I wanted the card to reflect the beautiful hydrangeas

 and roses around her house.

Hope she liked it!!

Lily

Last week I finished this mixed media portrait

of my friend Lorna's granddaughter Lily.

The hair is fabric, the bow is made from ribbon

and the face, dress and collar are paper.

I used the edge of a paper doily to trim 

the collar, and pigma pens and colored pencils for the face.
Oh, and the buttons are real, of course!

These are photos and they don't really show the shiny fabrics

of the hair, also the fact that the matting is white,

but it was too big for my scanner.

This was a very time consuming project,

but well worth it in the end!

Paper Portraits

"The Love Letter"

Going back over my photo files, I've rediscovered a favorite subject of mine - portraits. These are mostly fictional characters which I created a few years ago, using layered papers and Pigma pens.

"Suspicious"

In both of the above portraits I used different papers to play with the strands of hair, and commercial scrapbooking papers for the backgrounds.

I think the hand is too big in this one, or the mouth too small - haven't figured it out yet!

Last of all, a self portrait, called "Nature Filled", done as a result of an absolutely beautiful day, visions of which just stayed in my head for days.

Time to play with some new paper portraits -

coming soon!

Happy Spring!

Although snow is predicted for the morning, I'm 

still feeling like spring is in the air!

Here is an impromptu cutting I did tonight while watching tv.

Very simple, but it felt good to work with paper again.

Must do more of this!

Spring is Near

"Sunny days
sweeping the clouds away
on my way to where the air is sweet...
Can you tell me how to get,
how to get to Sesame Street?"

Funny how, nearly thirty years after my daughter was a little one, the songs from Sesame Street still reverberate within me - this one on a sunny day, and the Rainy Day song in wet weather! I used to find myself humming them on my way to my part-time job!

We have been having some very lovely sunny days here in New England, and everyone is enjoying the milder weather! I pulled out this older paper cutting to celebrate the hope of Spring which is working its way into my bones! Great things are on the horizon!!!