Scherenschnitte Angel - Christmas Cards 2015

Every year I snip my own Christmas cards.  They're 3D and labor intensive.

This year I chose to make angels.  My initial thought was that these would be quick to do.  Hahaha!  They were not quick to make.  I also made many that I threw out.  Hours wasted, yes, but lessons learned.

The main problem that I had with my angels was the face.  Snipping is problematic at best because it is tricky to know where to cut so that the whole thing does not fall apart.  Double the problem when you are cutting it on the fold for four halves of a face.  I snipped some of the ugliest angel faces you have ever seen!  I learned way too late, that I needed to cut the faces first.  It was painful to have spent hours on body and wings only to snip an ugly face at the end.

I know on that top photo, the angel looks as though it was cut from black paper, but that's not so.  It was cut from white.  The January blizzard of '16 in the background is putting her in shadow.

I was pleased with many of the angels and sent them out.  My family and friends always tell me that they have a collection of my cards and many people display them every year.

I am finding that every year, fewer and fewer people send out cards. It brings me great joy to send mine out, but I also enjoy receiving cards.  I guess this is a tradition that is ending.  That makes me sad. I'm not sure how long I will keep on creating my own.