Christmas Card Snips - 2013

Every year I try to set time aside to snip Christmas cards.  Since I am off work right now, nursing my foot, I had time to get my cards done.  This was a design I originally came up with years ago. I decided to use it this year because I thought I could replicate it easily and send them all out in early December.

Some of these are symmetrical with the snowman and child on every side.  Some I alternated the snowman/child side with an animal side.  The later took too long to cut, so now I am just cutting the symmetrical one.

scherenschnitte sculpture 6" x 8"

Farmhouse Scherenschnitte Sculpture

I just got home from two weeks in the mountains.  It sure was a great break for my brain.  Lately I've been stressed out the ying yang and this trip really calmed me down.

Every year I rent a farmhouse on Allegheny Mountain in eastern West Virginia.  The lady who owns the home is such a wonderful hostess, so I always make a gift for her while I am there.  Here's a paper cutting of the home she rents out.

And here's the house.

 It took me hours and hours to do this.  Not until I made the very last cut and all the pieces came apart, did I realize that I had made two houses and not one.  I had cut through four sheets of paper instead of two.  No wonder it took so long to cut this thing.  So I left one paper sculpture for the hostess and kept one for myself.

Les Trois Inventeurs (1980) by Michel Ocelot

This is an amazingly beautiful video in which the artist created everything from doilies.  Just, wow.  It was created in 1980, but I had never seen it until today.  It's causing my brain to do a happy little shift.

Thanks for the link, Julie.  Check out her blog at:  A Succulent Life

Es Glantz und Glitzert

This is a vintage book that I bought on eBay.  I had entered a search for "scherenschnitte" and "book."  This was the only book that showed up that looked interesting to me. The amount I bid on it was so small that I felt I could overlook the fact that all the directions were written in German.  (I do not speak German.)

The book  contains tissue paper patterns for Christmas tree ornaments and a nativity scene.  It also came with gold foil covered cardstock in the shape of stars.  I have a suspicion that it originally came with plain gold cardstock from which you were supposed to cut the ornaments and nativity.  

I am curious to see what these things look like as finished pieces so I am trying to figure out how to cut and form a few of them.  The illustrations are relatively clear.  Thank goodness.  I've tried using an online translator with the directions.  Here's the level of clarity I got from that:  "The Aufhangen of the angel figure happens on a Drahtchen, which is pushed under the Flugelbindung (Fig. c)."  Holy Moses.

The only foil paper that I have is very thin, but I used it anyway.  Then, I tried to put it together as shown in the illustrations.  

I'd like to find something more along the lines of the cardstock that was intended to be used.  As the angel is right now, she's floppy and delicate.  It would be nice to see the author's real intent for these pieces.

Goals

Hey!  Happy new year!  I've been thinking a lot about my blog, but I haven't gotten much beyond the thought. 

I made goals for myself in the new year.  One was that I was going to do something creative every day.  That's not too hard when your job is in the arts!  But I do mean for that to be a creative act outside of my everyday job.  I've done a little snipping so far and a lot of crocheting.

This snip actually has two separate designs.  In one direction it shows one design and when it turns, you see the other.  Unfortunately, in all the shots I took in my window, I only have this view.  The other view can only be seen in the pictures I took with a heinous sparkly red background.  After I took a bunch of those shots, I thought I was done.  Then I looked at them and hated them.  Then I got stuck and couldn't manage to do anything else with those shots.  Here they are.  You can see the sides of the snip in these. 

 My goals for the year haven't been too specific, but then, it will be easier to be successful that way.

Finished Cards

These are the cards I have been working on.  I like them all, but I am not really sold on any one of them.  I still think they need to be a little more personal but I'm not sure where to go with that.

scherenschnitte

Ornament Template

I'm having so much fun making templates for scherenschnitte. What i need to do is to start cutting these out!

Kirigami Bees

 I love snipping flowers and insects.

 Kirigami greeting cards are the new things that I am playing around with these days.

 This is today's snip.

scherenschnitte
kirigami

Fairy Twins Take Flight

Did I mention that my iPod got stolen at school?  During a fire drill the last week of school, my iPod Touch disappeared off my desk.  Whether it was lifted by a child or an adult is unknown.  It made me ill either way.  Electronics are things that I buy with the pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters that I toss in a jar every night, and I have accumulated nowhere near the coinage to splurge on a new iPod.

That evening, I posted a note about the theft on my Facebook wall.  The next day, a colleague appeared and gave me her iPod Touch.  This fourth grade teacher said that she and her hubby had just bought new iPhones and that it left her with this extra gizmo.  She handed it over to me.  I was so floored!  I had assumed that I would be podcast-less for months and months!  (Mind you, if I am alone in a room, I am plugged in to my iPod.)

So. this snip is the front of a thank you note for her.  This fairy momma/teacher  just delivered baby girls a couple of months ago, so these twin fairies are in honor of her little sweeties.


scherenschnitte 4" x 6"

Fairies 'Neath the Blooms

Today I took off from work to get some appointments out of the way.  Since one was in the a.m. and one was in p.m., I got to spend the middle of the day downstairs in "Snippyville."  Yippee!!!

It had occurred to me that I wanted to snip some traditional scherenschnitte but in 3D.  As I snipped, it turned back into my old favorite; fairies.  So here is my fairy snip of the day.

I fear that she resembles the "nekkit" lady silhouette that you see on mudflaps.  To differentiate, I went back and snipped a little line near her bottom so it looked like she was wearing a skirt.  That helps, I think.

The Fat Fairy Tries on Bathing Suits

........my miserable evening.  Uuuuuugh.



scherenschnitte 4" x 5"

100th Follower!

When my "followers" list hit 100, I wanted to celebrate.  So I cut this snip for "Miss 100", Amy Jackson.

She has a beloved puppy named Sadie, so I cut this in her honor.  "Lovin' That Sadie" is the title of this snip.

Here's Amy's art blog:  Art Is the Best Part of the Day. 

We're both art teachers in Virginia, though we are at opposite ends of the state.  Here's to seeing you at VAEA sometime, Amy!

Earrings as Teaching Resources

My coworker heard two students discussing my earrings the other day.  "Ms. Johnson wears cool earrings."  I got a kick out of that.  They were probably referring to the ones of Mona Lisa, The Scream, Warhol's Campbell Soup Can, or similar ones in my earring collection.

It occurred to me today that it might be fun to have some related to architecture, since I am in the middle of teaching that topic right now.  Then I thought about the wee houses I used to make.  So, I went through the recycle bin at home and pulled out a bunch of cardboard.  The Folger's coffee box looked interesting so I played with that.  This is a little bigger than I would like to wear as an earring, but that is the starting point from which I'll  be departing.

More Bad Weather = Vacation in Snippyville

The weather continues to be crumby here.  Tonight they're calling for more of an icy mess.  That means more time down in Snippyville though.

I snipped a few pieces in the last few days.

Then I had fun trying to photograph them in a number of places around the house.

Oh...and did I mention that my beloved DSLR camera took a dive, lens first, off my desk?  Not good.  It killed the motor in the lens.  = (  Luckily, the lady at the camera store had a used one for sale.  That was an expensive lesson to learn.  (That being the lesson of being careful, which I am not prone to do.)  But I was very happy and relieved to find out that I only killed a lens and not the whole camera.

Anyway, I am anxious to see what the weather holds for us tonight.



scherenschnitte pieces
top:  valentine 4" x 6"
bottom:  swinging fairies 4" x 4"

Awake Too Early

My Magical Little Part of the House

The last couple of months I have driven myself to distraction trying to figure out how to rearrange my studio space.  Though I wanted it organized, I just couldn't quite figure out how to get it there.  I didn't mind sitting in the space, but it didn't bring me joy or inspiration.  It definitely needed a little jan shui.

Things finally came together last weekend.  Some new shelving; a little rearranging; and I was in suddenly in heaven.  I sat at my desk earlier today thinking how much I loved sitting down there on a weekend afternoon.

My little space is no razzle dazzle kind of space, but it is comfy and organized.  It makes me happy.

I feel as though I haven't snipped in a while, though I think it has only been a couple of weeks.  A fairy snip seemed appropriate as my new little space feels rather magical to me.

3D Scherenschnitte 4" x 6"

Elegant 3D Snips....inside toilet paper tubes

I got this link from a tweet by Craig Roland.  This piece is by French artist Anastassia Elias. 
She makes these 3D snips inside toilet paper tubes!

Scherenschnitte

Looky!  Scherenschnitte on my scherenschnitte blog!

My brother suggested that a good Christmas present for my niece might be a bookmark with fairies on it.  Unfortunately, at the time I was too busy snipping Christmas cards to make one.  Her birthday is coming up in a week so ....ta da!  

Here's what it looked like before it was pressed into the bookmark sleeve.  I like it with the depth and shadows.

Here it is flattened out in the bookmark sleeve.  Hope she likes it.  

Last Snip of the Year

Last Day of the Year

I've been surprisingly productive the last couple of days.  Shopping, car washing, organizing my studio; my days have been busy.  It's made me rather proud of myself.

I've even been staying up late.  Usually I am in the sack by 9:30.  Last night I was up snipping til midnight.  Woohoo!  Just like a grown up!


Yesterday morning I was excited to find that my Valentine snip had sold on Etsy, so I got to work snipping another one.  Here's how it turned out: 

 

I may do a couple more Valentines before I start something else.

Happy new year, friends.  I have enjoyed spending time with you folks here and on your blogs this year.  Here's to another year of friendship and inspiration between us.