Chimney Sweep

This little gem is based off of Andersen's fairy tale, The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep. They are both two little porcelain figures that are in love with each other. She is not allowed to marry him because her father, the Chinese porcelain figure, forbids it. This scene is the part where they run off together and climb up to the rooftop.

I made this a little while ago. I was going to make it as a Template Tuesday, but it was too complicated to explain. I would like to do more three dimensional pieces. Hope you like it!

Template Tuesday - Rapunzel

The other day, my roommate Kim and I went to see Disney's newest princess movie, Tangled. I enjoyed it. It was really pretty and very full of zippy adventure, romance and animal friends. Although I couldn't help but sneer my lip a little. I love the original. I love the poor man stealing vegetables from the witch's garden. I love that Rapunzel lets it slip to the witch that she's being visited by the prince by remarking how much lighter he was. I love how she gets knocked up and bears twins in the wilderness. I didn't realize that they were fooling around up in that tower until I was much older. It was like watching Grease when I get the innuendo. So, I thought I'd do a little Rapunzel cut in honor of the new and the old.

Here's what the template will look like:

Please feel free to download this papercut template for your own personal use: Rapunzel

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