Template Tuesday - I Vant To Suck Your Blahd!

Hey everyone! I'll bet you thought I forgot about you. I totally did. I went and fell in love with this really awesome guy and completely threw all blogging responsibilities to the wind. I will try to be a little more proactive. Or at least lay down strict rules that I need to make a Template Tuesday at least twice a month.

That said, I have an important thing to discuss. It's come to my attention that some of my templates are being used for commercial gain without my consent. I realize that I haven't put up any kind of messages saying not to do that, but I figured if someone wanted to sell some artwork, they'd want to sell some of their own. Obviously that's not the case and I would just like to make it clear that these templates are for personal use only. They are not to be used on your etsy site, they are not to be used in the cards you sell at a farmer's market, they are not to be used as your own templates to sell - stuff like that. They are to be used to give to your mom, to put up in your kid's room, to practice for yourself - stuff like that. If there's a gray area, like you want to put them on your cd or use them in a publication with credits, send me an email, I will be very accommodating.

So, now that that's over, here's a Halloween Template Tuesday to mess around with. Last Saturday we went to see Off Broadway Theatre's Dracula vs. Jekyll and Hyde. It was an excellent production, very kid friendly, so if you're in the Salt Lake area, try to give it a look-see. My favorite character in the production was Count Dracula. So charming. I thought I'd do a simple Dracula template for the holiday and in honor of the Count. Happy Cutting!

Here he is, about to suck some blood. He loves the ladies. Here's what the template will look like:

Download your free template here: Dracula

Template Tuesday - Queen of Hearts

A lot of people come to this site looking for templates. While a lot of the papercuts on here are easily made into templates, most of them are too small to actually use properly (I don't mind if you try to recreate them for yourself or as gifts). I'm going to try to - every Tuesday (I realize I'm posting this late on a Wednesday night, but Template Wednesday doesn't quite have the same ring that Template Tuesday does), create a scherenschnitt that will have an accompanying template that you can download. Here's the first one! It's the Queen of Hearts!

The following is not actually the template, it's just what the template looks like. To actually download the template click here: Queen of Hearts Template.

Oops! I just realized while looking at this that I didn't create this properly. If you print it out, you need to print out the reverse, so that the Q looks backwards to you but right in the mirror.


In order to make this papercut, first you'll cut out the gray areas. This one is pretty much all gray area. Once those are all cut out, cut out the edge of the card.

Anyway, enjoy! I haven't been able to stop singing the Juice Newton song, Queen of Hearts, since I started creating this. Good thing I really like that song.

Template Tuesday - Mayflower

So, maybe this Template Tuesday is on a Thursday. Semantics. The gauntlet was thrown at me on Tuesday and I had to pick it up (thanks Johnny for making me jealous that you were going elsewhere). I've mostly been lazy AND I've been needing to do a commissioned cut for my friend Marie and I've got papercutters block and I don't want to do anything else until I get hers done. But, I guess it's better to do something than nothing at all. Which brings me to this:


The Mayflower! I was trying to think of something Thanksgivingy to do that wasn't too corny and I thought of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria and how they would be PERFECT to do and then I remembered that those were from when Columbus sailed the ocean blue. I had to think for a bit what famous ship the pilgrims sailed over on. And that is how this Mayflower papercut came about. As I was cutting this, I had no clue what year the ship sailed in and so I did a little research and found out it was 1620. This got me all excited because I came to realize that I would probably (hopefully) be alive in 2020 (which will just be an awesome year anyway) and I hope to have an amazing 400th year Thanksgiving birthday party. I wonder if the country will do anything special or if anyone will care? I think it's care-worthy.

Anyways, if you want to do the Scherenschnitte of the Mayflower, click here: Mayflower
Here's what the template will look like. I hope I've got another thankful one in me for next Tuesday.

Template Tuesday - Explore

Here's a fun Template Tuesday that's a little more outdoorsy themed. I've been going on a few hikes with my kids and friends lately and felt like this template really captured the mood. Get out there! Go where there's no reception and breathe in the air. Reset your mind, body and soul!

Then come home and try making this template! Here's what the template looks like, it's pretty simple. I cut it out while the baby napped. Download Explore!

©2015 Cindy Bean (www.bean-cutter.com) 

These templates are for personal use only. You can make them for your mom, you can make them for your aunt, you can make them for your family reunion, etc. Please don't sell these free templates for your own personal gain. I put them out there as a service, don't make me get frustrated and stop doing them. Don't ruin it for everyone else! Also, if you're going to sell art, maybe you should make it your own. You can do it, I promise! It's not good karma to pass off someone else's art as your own. 

Template Tuesday - Mistletoe Santa

Look at this! Two Template Tuesdays in a row! I was actually going to make this one as a wallpaper, but December 1st happened and then December 2nd happened and then it was the second Template Tuesday of the month and I thought I would just use it for today. Maybe my goal for next year will be to actually do calendar wallpapers a month ahead of time. What I wanted to do was make a bunch of people smooching under different mistletoe, but I only got around to making Santa and Mrs. Claus (in their lean years).


Here's hoping that some of you get some mistletoe action because heaven knows I'm not getting any as of yet. Christmas is still a little bit away, so there's still time! Here's what the template looks like. It's moderately simple. Just take it easy on the faces. Try to cut from the inside crooks of the face out towards the negative space. It works better for me that way.
Download your free template here: Mistletoe Santa

Template Tuesday - Girl & Chick

Okay, guys, I put time limit restrictions on my phone, so expect to see great things here! Today's Template Tuesday is a simple one. It's of a girl and a little chick. I see that I've been labeling her as Girl and Bunny though and that must be because it's been a long day. If I keep up with the templates, expect to see some Easter, one or two St. Patrick and a few Mother's Day templates over the next little while.

Here's what the template looks like. The trickiest part are the little legs of the chick. Keep your blades sharp and cut from the corner areas outward! That's all the advice I have to give.

Here's the link for the free (but not for commercial use) template: Girl & Chick

Template Tuesday - Delivery Stork

I was going to use this image in the last show I did, but I wound up not using the theme I was going to use and then I thought it would be a perfect Template Tuesday image. I hope the baby doesn't look too alien-like - although that's more true to life. :)

Here's what the template for the stork delivering a baby will look like.

Please enjoy this free template (but enjoy it for private use only - if you're going to sell something, try your own hand at it - you can do it, I promise!)

Download here: Stork Delivering Baby

Template Tuesday - Circus Bear

I'm super excited about this little guy. He's a dancing bear. Sometimes the squirrel likes to join him. I think, once a month, for template tuesday I'll try to do a circus themed one this year. I love the circus.

Here's what the template will look like. If you don't want the squirrel on his nose, you can just not cut out the squirrel. It's that simple!
Download your free Circus Bear template here: Circus Bear

Template Tuesday - Love Lasso

It's been a little while since I've done a Template Tuesday. I'm out of practice! Here's one that has some tricky parts. Mostly, you'll have to be careful at the areas where the thin lines intersect. Always remember to drag your knife away from the intersection. Don't drag towards the intersection.

I've had this in my sketchbook for a while. I modified it last night a bit so it didn't look like all the other Template Tuesdays where there's a person leading something in their hands.

Do you think she's capturing love or keeping it captive?

Here's what the template will look like:

You can download your very own pdf here: Love Lasso

Template Tuesday - Cinderella

I drew this in my sketchbook a little while ago and wanted to make it a Template Tuesday, but never got around to it. Now I have. It originally had a bazillion little dots all over the dress to ornament it, but I thought that might be too tricky.

Anyway, here's Cinderella. This one comes from the Grimm Brother's version in that she gets her gown from a wishing tree. The Perrault version is the one that the Disney fairytale is most like. I like them both, especially the Grimm's one where the stepsisters cut off portions of their feet to fit them into the glass slipper.


Here's what the template will look like. I forgot to flip it in my illustrator file. It's a pretty straightforward cutting. The trickiest parts are her apron strings and the parts where the birds connect to the gown. Keep practicing if these are a little too tricky for you.

Here is what the pattern looks like:

Download your free papercut template: Cinderella

Template Tuesday - Rumpelstiltskin

So one of my more favorite fairy tales as a child was the story of Rumpelstiltskin. The fact that she could spin straw into gold AND got to marry the king was so wonderful to me. Now I have a different view of the story and wonder these things:
What kind of father tells a king that his daughter can spin straw into gold?
What kind of king believes that someone can spin straw into gold?
What kind of little craggy guy gives up his secrets just so he can have a baby?
Was the baby really the king's? Is that why Rumpelstiltskin wanted it so much? Was he teaching her more than how to spin straw?
These things I wonder and more. I also just enjoy the story.

This is what the template will look like. I tried to do a bit of a cooler one since I've kind of been neglecting Template Tuesday. I don't think there's really anything fancy to this in the creation.

Download your free Rumpelstiltskin papercut template here: Rumpelstiltskin

Template Tuesday - Simple Animal Valentines

Today's Template Tuesday is a twofer. I tried to make these a little more simple for kids to do, but I think I always wind up doing things a little too adult. I'm going to see if my boyfriend's son can help me with figuring out what little kids might want. Check back next Tuesday to see if I'm successful. For now, here are two things I enjoy -- love-birds and squirrels. Go ahead and take a whack at these and see what you think.




I separated the templates into two different files. One has just the animals on it and the other just the hearts. When I created the final piece, I pop-dotted them to each other so that there was more depth. You can do whatever you want.



Hope you enjoy these simple valentines! Here's the templates: Animals & Hearts.

Template Tuesday - Hanukkah

At sundown on December 1st, Hanukkah begins. I thought I'd make a little menorah of my own for Template Tuesday. I tried to pattern it after traditional Jewish papercutting. I hope I didn't do their craft a disservice.


According to wikipedia, here is the origin of the holiday:

From the Hebrew word for "dedication" or "consecration", Hanukkah marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem (Second Temple) after its desecration by the forces of the King of Syria Antiochus IV Epiphanes and commemorates the "miracle of the container of oil". According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate fresh olive oil.

This one is a folded cut, so it's half as much work, but this still took me about an hour to cut, so expect to be spending at least that much time with your penknife.
Download your free scherenschnitte hanukkah template: Hanukkah

Template Tuesday - The Hunger Games

In honor of my birthday coming up on Wednesday and in tribute to a delightful little novel about children killing each other, I've decided to do this Template Tuesday with a quote from The Hunger Games. I guess it's also in honor of Spring. "May the odds be ever in your favor" has a nice hopeful Springy ring to it. Here's to starting anew!


Here is what the template will look like. It looks like it's difficult, but it just takes a little bit of time. It's a lot of straight lines.

Download your free Hunger Games scherenschitte here: May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

Template Tuesday - Easter Lilies

I was working on a different piece for Easter that had Easter lilies in it and I thought that something with lilies would make a great Template Tuesday. So I did one!

This is definitely a more difficult piece if you're not comfortable with cutting thin lines. Just look at the whole thing as a bunch of lines. Try not to go over the borders. These are forgiving lines though, if you accidentally cut through one, the rest will still support it.

Here's the Easter Lilies Papercutting Template: Easter Lilies

©2016 Cindy Bean (www.bean-cutter.com) 

These templates are for personal use only. You can make them for your mom, you can make them for your aunt, you can make them for your family reunion, etc. Please don't sell these templates for your own personal gain. Don't ruin it for everyone else! Also, if you're going to sell art, maybe you should make it your own. You can do it, I promise! It's not good karma to pass off someone else's art as your own.

Template Tuesday - Daffodilly and Chick

Oooo...so I'm way late on doing this Template Tuesday, but the appeal of a blog is that you can alter the date and no one will know! Unless I say something like this.

So the other day, we were throwing out names for stuff at work and I happened to like the name Daffodilly and no one else saw my vision. I asked my co-workers what I should do for another Easter papercut and Hillary said I should do a Daffodilly one. Brilliant! So I did. This one started out as a mirror image cut, but didn't look quite right, so I just made it a single image.

Here's the template and the below image is what it should look like: Daffodilly.

Template Tuesday - Lotus Frog

Sometimes the templates on Template Tuesday will be a little easier than others. This one's pretty easy. I had no idea what to draw for today's papercut, so I asked my friend Kim what she would like to see. She said she would like to see a frog. Here's a little froggy for you, Kim!


Click here to download the template.

Template Tuesday - Harry Potter Owls!

You know what happens at midnight tonight, don't you? The next Harry Potter is available for the American masses! I think everyone in Europe has already seen it. I thought and thought about what papercut to do for template Tuesday and when my friend Joe asked me to go with him to the first showing of Harry Potter, I decided that would be the perfect theme for today! I researched quotes from the movie and this one I thought was pretty nice and not too terribly dark. Most of the other quotes I found had to do with messed up spells and You Know Who. This one isn't accurate though, technically it's supposed to be, "Don't count your owls before they are delivered," but the design works well this way.

Here's what the template will look like. It's different than other ones in that I made the positive parts gray. Please remember to cut out the inside bits (negative space) first and then cut around the outside. This image is reversed so that if you print it directly onto the back of your paper it will read right on the reverse side. If you want to print this out and then tape it to your paper to cut it out, you will want to flip the image so that the words read right to you.



This has a lot of thin lines. When you cut these, it's easier to cut from the place where they start towards the middle of the line, then pick up your blade and do the same at the other end of the line, drawing it into the middle. I don't know why this works, but it seems to make it so that I don't cut through too many things. Does that make sense? Also, if you're right handed, be sure to work from left to right so that you can see the thinness of the lines you're cutting.

This papercut takes a bit of time to do. If you complete it, be sure to let me know!

To download your free scherenschnitte, click here: Harry Potter Owl

Template Tuesday - Go West

Friday is a day we here in Utah love, it's Pioneer Day. If you happen to be lucky enough to work at a company that gives you this day off, it's the best thing in the world. If you work for a stingy company in Utah that doesn't give you Pioneer Day off, you might want to think about changing jobs because you're going to feel nothing but resentment towards all the floats and historic outfits passing by your window.

In coordination with this week's Pioneer Day celebration, I thought I'd make a little papercut that anyone can enjoy. I was going to do a "West is Best" cut, but felt like that might ostracize some of you. This one probably ostracizes a lot of you, but oh well, you can't win them all!

To those who came before us, and to those with a pioneering spirit, here is this week's Template Tuesday:

This is a pretty simple one to cut out. I cut mine out of vinyl. I might put it on my car. Maybe. I don't have any bumper stickers on my car but this might make me bumper stick.

Here is the template to download: Go West

©2015 Cindy Bean (www.bean-cutter.com) 

These templates are for personal use only. You can make them for your mom, you can make them for your aunt, you can make them for your family reunion, etc. Please don't sell these free templates for your own personal gain. I put them out there as a service, don't make me get frustrated and stop doing them. Don't ruin it for everyone else! Also, if you're going to sell art, maybe you should make it your own. You can do it, I promise! It's not good karma to pass off someone else's art as your own. 

Template Tuesday - Mermaid Anchor

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a mermaid and I believed that mermaids really did exist (part of me still does). Often, while swimming, I would pretend I was a mermaid and that my name was Brook. It's really difficult to swim with your legs together when you don't have fins. Anyway, here's a template Tuesday for all y'all who wished you were mermaids.

This is what the paper cut will look like. Fold along the dotted line. Do NOT cut out the dotted line parts that are white. DO cut out the dotted line parts that are gray. Also, remember to cut out the gray, inside areas first.
Download your free papercutting template here: Mermaid Anchor