Squirrel Scherenschnitte

So last April, I went with my friend Dan out to Port Townsend for a visit. Surprisingly, there's a lot to see out there. We went to this park and I looked up and saw this squirrel climbing across small delicate branches and it silhouetted so well that I took a picture and tried to recreate it. Drawing and cutting branches like these gives me a newer and greater appreciation for nature. Even though I did a lot of little cuts, this papercut is nowhere near as intricate as the glory that is around us everywhere. It took me so long to cut out that I nearly went blind.

Tree Scherenschnitte

My friend Sarah won the free give-away of a scherenschnitte on my other blog for the 50,000th visitor. She also allowed me to stay in her house for two weeks while I looked for an apartment. I figure she really deserves one of these. When I asked her what she wanted, she said a tree and then sited this poem:

Another Sarah for Christopher Smart
by anne porter

When winter was half over
God sent three angels to the apple-tree
Who said to her
"Be glad, you little rack
Of empty sticks,
Because you have been chosen.

In May you will become
A wave of living sweetness
A nation of white petals
A dynasty of apples."

I'd like to think this is the apple tree right before it shoots out it's blossoms and is just done with being a rack of empty sticks.

Silhouette of the Artist on a Friday Night

The length is right, the height is wrong. my head should be a little bigger and my legs a little thicker to be accurately proportioned in this scherenschnitte silhouette of me last Friday night when my plans fell through and I tried using Redbox for the first time and couldn't get Transformers, but could get Evan Almighty and it was a nice movie.

How To Scherenschnitte

So my friend works at the Gallery of Contemporary Art, UCCS, and asked me to make a How-to video of papercutting. Here I talk about different types of paper, tools and techniques I use in the art of papercutting.



Here's the template used in the above video. Enjoy*! Download Free Squirrel Scherenschnitte.


*But don't enjoy it too much, please feel free to make this cutout for personal use and gifts for friends, but selling it is just bad karma. I used my brain to make this, use yours to make your own. Copywrite 2007: Cindy Ferguson

Reversibles!

I made this one from a template and didn't mess up the white, so now I have two scherenschnittes of birds!



This one is modeled after some taxidermied birds I saw last summer when I went to the Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.

Worship the Nut

It's been a while, sorry! I finally moved into my apartment and got everything put away and now I can make squirrel scherenschnitte to my heart's content. This was made in anticipation of an exciting video that I will be posting within the next week. Check back soon!

Learning How To Papercut

This post is nice because it also updates my Goose Girl blog. I haven't been able to do any papercuts because of various reasons—reading Harry Potter, getting ready for the garage sale, recovering from the garage sale—I think this will help me get back into the swing of things.

A little while ago, I got a disc of patterns for Scherenschnitte from a member of my scherenschnitte yahoo group that I haven't been very active in. I used these templates to help teach my Family Home Evening group how to papercut. They all did very well.

Here's Andy's. He did the 3 Blind Mice.


Terry did a good one of a kitten getting into a fish bowl.


Kristina made some pelicans.


Joseph won the award for skinniest cut with his Tom Sawyer papercut.


Meredith took to scherenschnitte like a fish takes to water.


Oh my gosh, I did some unicorns.


Stacy made some cute kitties.


I made the beginnings of a squirrel garland.


And Sharon, the newest member of our group, took on one of the toughest patterns and did an excellent job. She's going to take the rest of the templates to her second grade class for an activity.


After all that hard work, we needed some sustenance. Andy and I went to Burgermaster and ate some tasty burgers.


Burgers are so tasty!

Flowers for Claire

A long time ago Claire commissioned me to make some flowers for her and because I'm so on top of things, I've finally gotten around to it a year later. I don't know if this is what she had in mind, but they are scherenschnitte of flowers from her sister's garden. If you don't like them, Claire, no purchase necessary. I really like how the Columbines turned out.

32

I took a picture of some birds sitting on a wire outside of the Hilltop Service Station on Capitol Hill right across from Sonic Boom. It was my 32nd birthday (way back in March) and I thought what a great scherenschnitte this would make.

Harlequin Beetle

Acrocinus longimanus

Threadwing Ant Lion

Nemoptera sinuata

Corn Thrips

Frankliniella occidentalis

All I can say about this scherenschnitte is that Kristina Westbrook is a genius and don't try to cut those little wings in bad light. I would be interested in seeing one of these in real life someday.

Mayfly

Ephemera danica

Because You're One of My Favorites

Brigham turned 30 today and he has a nice friend, Sariah, who sent out little postcards to all his friends and asked them to create some art on them and send them to him. Without letting him know what it was for, I text messaged him asking what kind of papercut he would like. He replied that he would like a giant squid fighting the grim reaper and a shark, or just a giant squid. I opted to have the giant squid fight the shark. Happy Golden Birthday Brigham!

Crane Fly Scherenschnitte

I went to stake conference today and chose to sit in the back of the room on the stage so that I could hunker up and cut out some insects rather than stare at all the people as I am wont to do. It helps me listen, really, it does.

Tipula longicornis

Timberman Scherenschnitte

Acanthocinus aedilis

I'm Ready For the Drop, Joe

It's taken me forever to get around to it, but I've finally finished the Cherry tree scherenschnitte I had promised to create for Joe to trade for some of his art. I hope you guys like it!


Claire, yours is up next!

Kids Silhouette

I wanted to try my hand at the silhouette. This weekend I went to visit my old friend from home, Melanee, and her family. I did one of her 5- and 3-year olds. I think they turned out pretty good. I haven't done profiles of little kids and they are harder to draw because their proportions aren't the same as ours. This gave me a lot of respect for the guy who did my silhouette in Salzburg who just did it with scissors in five minutes.

Wild Swans

Hans Christian Andersen wrote one of my favorite stories called The Wild Swans. It's about a princess who has a wicked stepmother, as most princesses do. She also has 11 brothers who the wicked stepmother turns into swans. After doing that she banishes the princess to live with peasants in the forest. Somehow she finds out she's a princess and that the way to undo the curse on her brothers is to make them shirts of stinging nettle. If anyone has ever felt the sting of nettle, it's not fun. The catch is that she has to do this without speaking a word until she's done. Of course while she's making the shirts, a king falls in love with her and marries her. The townspeople think she's a witch and just as they're about to burn her, she finishes the shirts and frees her brothers and her tongue and proclaims herself innocent of witchery and everyone lives happily ever after. I love that story.

I cheated with the shirts and made a net and there are only 6 swans instead of 11, it's okay. Don't cry about it.

P.S. I fell on the bus and sprained my hand/wrist and it just now healed. I'm still worried I might have carpal tunnel syndrome, but not as much.

Birds on a Wire

I got this little vertical frame from the thrift store (6"x3.5") that I had no idea what to do with. I've been wanting to do some birds on wires for a while and thought this would be the perfect frame for them. I'm trying something new and using aged paper in the background. I know this isn't archival, but neither is the frame. I think, with my sophomoric knowledge of blade use, that doing the birds on a wire bigger would be better in the future.

40th & Corliss

7 a.m.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea

I did this seahorse scherenschnitte a while ago but forgot to post it. I think the horse turned out really pretty. I love the fins.

Crows Scherenschnitte

I love to look at the shapes of trees in the winter, they are so intricate. They remind me of when my friend Kellie tried to teach me about the chaos theory.

Music & Lyrics

I'm going to go see a movie tonight with one of my top 5 friends. We're going to see Music and Lyrics. I made her a ballerina scherenschnitte. I hope she loves it!



I didn't concept this one myself though, I stole the idea from Threadless. It works so perfectly for Erin though.

Bear Murdering Puma Scherenschnitte

Here's one for my unrequited love ex-boyfriend Damian. The bear is not actually murdering the puma, but he's about to.

Bird Scherenschnitte

The school of law at SU is having an auction. I think it's to help out law students. I can't remember. My co-worker's partner is in charge of getting pieces to auction off. Natalie asked if anyone in the office would be able to pitch in some sort of talent. I thought birds would be something that people would like to bid on, so I made one!

Squirrel Scherenschnitte

My friend Suzanne came to visit and me, Nathaniel and Suzanne took a ferry ride over to Bremerton to visit Nathaniel's parent's. On the way there, I asked for some suggestions on things that I could cut and Suzanne said a squirrel and a city. So I made a squirrel village! Squirrels running around everywhere.

Biblical Scherenschnittes

I wanted to make something for the two families that inspire me most in my ward. This one I made for the Halls. It's of the Tree of Life.


The other one is of a shepherd. This one is for the Londons.


I modeled it after a statue I saw in the Vatican of Christ that I thought was just gorgeous.

Hummingbird Scherenschnitte

I asked my mom if she wanted me to make her a scherenschnitte for Christmas and she said yes. I asked her what of and she said she didn't know. I said, how about a hummingbird? She said that would be great! Here it is. I think it turned out a little bit Tord Boontje but that's okay because he's really awesome.

Octopus Scherenschnitte

My friend Jane wanted a scherenschnitte for her birthday of an octopus. I love how this turned out with all the bubbles and everything.

Swallow Papercut

I thought I'd try making a folded papercut. I love the feeling you get when you unfold the paper to see your creation. I also love how the swallows meet at the center.

Owl Scherenschnitte

So I had a competition on my regular blog wherein the 20,000th visitor would win a free papercutting. She wanted an owl, so I gave her two!

Chinese Paper Cuts

So I went into work today and found a little gift on my desk. One of my co-workers (and friends) Nani had been to a going out of business sale and found at the back of the store a little packet of Chinese papercuts. She was nice enough to give them to me. Here are two of my favorites: