Commissioned Piece - Team OHSU Race

A friend of mine works up in Portland for OHSU and recently asked me to design the t-shirt logo for the race they were going to be participating in (Race for the Cure). The design originally had the name of the race but they liked it enough to want to use it for other races they might be involved in, so they scrubbed that part. It was fun to work on and research. All those little running people to cut out really maxed out my skills.

The Saint

I have always loved deer. Growing up in Las Vegas, I heard that Wayne Newton had a deer in his backyard (he also had penguins and raised beautiful Arabians). In my head, that made Wayne Newton the coolest person in the world. It still kind of does.

The Gardener

I have a fondness for all of the pieces I came up with for this show, but I really enjoy that she is growing birds in her garden.

Template Tuesday - Halloween Spider Attack!

Don't you just hate getting attacked by a giant spider?

Okay, guys, I don't have time to make the template for this because I have an art show on Saturday, but I will post it shortly thereafter.

BUT...if you want to learn how to make this papercut, I will be doing a demo at this art show if you're in the general vicinity.


Website: http://www.utlfa.org/
Tickets: $4/Adults Advanced, $5/Adults at the Door, $3/Students Advanced, $4/Students at the Door, $2/Seniors Advanced, $3/Seniors at the Door
Dates: Saturday, October 10,
Times: 5-11pm
Location: Salt Lake Masonic Temple
650 East South Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84102

It's at this place, which, to tell you the truth, I'm pretty excited about.

I don't know how chaotic everything will be, but I'll try to do a demo around 7pm and 9pm. I'll just show you how I make it and then you can take the template home and try it for yourself. It needs to be done on something at least as thick as regular scrapbooking paper.

Template Tuesday - End of Summer Bike Ride

My co-worker, Audre, has always been a fan of papercuts. When I gave the previous scherenschnitte to my other co-worker who just had a baby, she was a little miffed. I told her I'd do the next one for her and asked her what she wanted. She said a mountain scene and then I completely went and disregarded what she said. She has this little demon dog, Looey, who only loves her. She also loves to ride her bike and has a basket to go with it. So I thought I'd combine the two. The nights are getting a little chilly again and the scent of Fall is in the air. There probably won't be too many more bike rides left in the year for us working girls. Here's a little papercut to remember the days.

Here's what the pattern will look like. Remember to cut out the inside parts first. Also, remember that whatever way you cut something out on the back, the image will be reversed on the front.
Here's your free papercutting template: End of Summer Bike Ride

Also, a big THANK YOU to One Pretty Thing, Craft: and How About Orange for featuring Scherenschnitte on their blogs! I'm gonna have to send you guys some papercuts too!

It's A Lovely Cage

This one is one of my favorite pieces from the show. It's a small one, but one of the more intricate ones. How often do we find ourselves stuck in the same place, time after time, doing the same thing we always do without trying something different? We have the option of getting out and expanding, but we like the false sense of security developed in the everyday patterns of our lives. Go on, get out there! Try something new!

Available at the Terra Nova Gallery.

Template Tuesday - Pioneer Day - Sarah's Handcart

So I was sitting in church on Sunday and I turned to my friend Sarah and said, "I've got to do a template for my papercutting blog on Tuesday, do you have any ideas?" Then, for the next hour, she proceeded to whisper a variety of ideas to me from pioneers standing around burning woodchips to the invasion of the Mormon crickets (which are both excellent ideas that I will be using in the future). I went with the idea of a pioneer crossing the plains with a handcart. It's called Sarah's handcart. I don't know where Sarah got those two kids since she's not married. Maybe they're from a sibling who passed away while crossing the plains? Maybe Sarah had a rough life before she joined the church? Maybe that dog warns them when wolves are around? I don't know. So much happened while crossing the plains.

Here's what the template will look like when you download it. The parts you cut out are the gray areas. Be sure that however you cut it out, the finished piece has the pioneers facing to your left (like in the color image above). We don't want them going back to Missouri.

Download your free template here: Pioneer Day - Sarah's Handcart

He Was Demanding More and More Sacrifices

The poor mini people of the village were always getting terrorized by this bird until they started offering up sacrifices to him. It's a good thing that there are always plenty of bugs around!

Size: 5" x 7"

This one is still up and showing at the Terra Nova Gallery!

He Wasn't Very Coordinated But She Liked His Eyes

Here's my final large piece from the show. This was one of the first ones I did and I hadn't struck upon the cloud idea yet. Originally, for my theme, I wanted to have it about "The Things We Do For Love" and show all sorts of people in weird situations, good or bad, that they only got into because they were infatuated with someone. The theme is pretty much carried throughout all the pieces, but I think this one carries it's essence. Here is a guy who doesn't know how to dance. He's surrounded by a world of people enveloped in a new culture of dance, fashion and lifestyle. There's this girl he really likes who he wants to impress and he'd try anything to get her to be his.

Note: These new pieces are all on display at the Terra Nova Gallery.

P.S. If you're on Facebook, click on that little link on the right and be a fan!

Because They Have Taken Away My Lord

This is one that I've been thinking about for quite some time and I'm sure I'll revisit the theme again. The scene depicts the moment directly after Mary has seen two angels within the sepulcher and they asked her, "Woman, why weepest thou?" She replies, "Because they have taken away my Lord." She turns from them and looks into the garden and sees a man standing there who she identifies as the gardener. From that moment, to me, happens one of the most beautiful interactions in the scriptures. John 20:11-16

Note: These new pieces are all on display at the Terra Nova Gallery.

She Wasn't Nagging, She Was Telling Him How To Get There

My parents came to the show on Saturday. Even though they had no clue this papercut would be in the show, my mom spotted right off that it was about them. If there's one thing I dread, it's driving in the car with my parents. My mom tells my dad how to get to a place and he gets all mad at her for telling him what to do, but when she doesn't tell him what to do, he misses the turn or gets lost or whatever.

When I was a kid, my dad went away to go get a car. He towed it back to our house in Las Vegas. It was a 1959 Chevy Impala, the last year it had it's wings. It was a beautiful car.

They Said She Wouldn’t Like It But They Were Wrong

Happy 4th of July!

To all of you who came to the show last night, thank you! It was a great success and a whole lot of fun.

Here's one of the pieces. This was inspired by my mom's friend, Garnet. Garnet and her husband were sheep ranchers and would travel many miles transporting their sheep from place to place.

When I have more time I'll post more photos from the show.

C'est Fini!

This weekend I took all my pieces down to the gallery in Provo. It is such a relief to have them all completed and in someone else's hands. I'm excited for Friday, if anything to see some old friends who I haven't seen in forever. I'm also excited to start back up Template Tuesday! Woot! Just in time for the 4th. You guys have no idea how guilty I felt not doing them.

This one is called, "He had No Idea what He Doing Out Here but He Sure Did Love to See Her Smile," or something like that. I can't remember what I wrote.

Mother Said This Would Come To No Good

Ooo, you guys, I finally got one of my pieces finished for the art show on July 3rd. Wanted to put up a sneak peek. Of course, this is my most favorite piece of any of them that I have done so hopefully if you come to Provo to see you won't be too disappointed.

July 3, 2009
6-9pm

Terra Nova Gallery
41 West 300 North
Provo, Utah 84601

Template Tuesday - Indian Princess

For a little while now, I've liked to draw people riding elephants. Maybe it's because I'm jealous of this guy, maybe it's because elephants are really cool to draw, I don't know, but that's what I drew whilst being bored in church this weekend.

Here's what the template will look like. Remember, you can either print this out directly onto the back of the paper you're going to cut or you can print it out onto another sheet and tape it directly to your paper. Either way works. Cut out the center (gray) areas first and then cut the outlines.

Here's the actual template: India Princess Papercut. Enjoy!

In other news, I got my first bad review on Etsy. Some lady accused me of not even drawing one of my cards. Should I send her her money back or just send her a new batch? Maybe I should just ask her. It would have been nice if she would have told me her problems before she muddied up my excellent feedback record.

Liz Davis Maxfield

You guys remember the post I did a little while ago about the piece I did for my friend Liz? It was for the cover of her album, Big Fiddle:



Well, she finished the album and made a great website animating the papercut I did! It looks so cool!
Visit Liz Davis Maxfield to see it (and to buy the cd if you want)!

Template Tuesday: Who Doesn't Love a Cowboy?

This weekend I went to visit my parents up in Lava Hot Springs which is near Pocatello which is about 3 hours north of Salt Lake in Idaho. We went to a Chinese buffet on Saturday where very few Chinese people were located. While I was at the food bar, I was ladling up some sweet and sour chicken and I think I might have cut in front of this cowboy. I looked up at him and he said, "Hello, how are you doin?"
I replied "Just great, how are you?"
"Never been better," he said.

It's enough to make you want to change your name to Venna and move to Malad.

Here's what this scherenschnitte template will look like. Like always, remember to cut out the inner pieces (the shaded gray areas) first.

Cowboy Love Template

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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.

Sometimes Love Is Mythical...

...like the unicorn. I keep seeing all these design blogs with all their happiness about Valentine's Day and I wonder where all the bitter girls like me are. Here's a nice papercut with some of my favorite mythical creatures, the unicorns.

Elephant on Eggshells

My first papercut of the year! My friend Kim brought over a book called Easter Eggs for Everyone. I'm not allowed to keep it, even though I really want to. Maybe I'll hide it! Anyway, they had a little article on egg dioramas and I thought that that would be the perfect frame for a papercut. What to put in it was the next question. I thought I'd put the biggest thing in the littlest container. A tiny papercut of a woman riding an elephant with a monkey on it's head. I'm not the best photographer, but I did what I could. It looks a whole lot better in real life, I promise!