Paper Panda's Guide to Papercutting - Two Free Templates

Perhaps you are one of the more than 260,000 followers of Paper Panda Papercuts on Facebook. If so, you're already well-acquainted with the friendly, personable posts written by paper cut artist Louise Denham - aka one half of the Paper Panda Etsy shop duo. She and her husband Ryan have built a strong art business by combining his talent for design and photography, and hers for cutting paper and teaching with a folksy charm - they're a dynamic force in the paper cutting world.

Louise recently released her second papercutting book for Search Press, Paper Panda's Guide to Papercutting - Paper Panda & Friends. Her conversational, yet informative voice will lead you through the ins and outs of creating paper cut art pieces that can proudly be given as gifts... if you can bear to part with them!

Louise Denham

Geared to beginners and to those who are looking to improve their paper cutting skills, chapters include Tools and Materials, Getting Started, Techniques, Design and Inspiration, Creating a Design, and Projects, along with helpful sections on adding dimension by layering, making infills, cutting curves, lettering, working with positive and negative images, finishing, and framing. Even copyright is addressed.

In addition to five of her own paper cuttings, there are template designs - five each - by equally talented paper cutters, Sarah Trumbauer, Louise Dyer, and Suzy Taylor. Full templates printed on high-quality art paper can be cut from the book and reproduced as many times as you wish.

 

You'll read about what inspired the designs and learn from tips and step-by-step photographs provided by all of the designers. For information and advice on beginning paper cutting, click on each of the three informative page spreads you see here, as shared from the book by Search Press, to more easily read the text.

Search Press has also shared two tattoo-inspired templates from the book for use by All Things Paper readers. Sky Pirates and Refuse to Sink were designed by Louise Dyer.

Sky Pirates

This design was inspired by my mum; we call her the magpie, as she is attracted to anything that shines. This design is a tricky one and I would suggest that you attempt it when you have had some practice at cutting paper. Don’t be afraid, though. Approach it with confidence; it is, after all, only paper. 

 

I cut this piece as shown in black poster paper (see Paper Panda’s tips for cutting with poster paper on page 14). It’s only 100gsm, which makes it a very thin and delicate paper to work with. It is white on one side for printing or drawing your design, and black on the finished side. You can get it in a matt finish (my favourite) or in pearl, which gives a nice shimmer. Black paper can be tricky to begin with, but with practice can yield wonderful results. 

 

 I like to tape my design onto my self-healing cutting mat using low-tack masking tape; this prevents any accidental tears or catching. This is my personal preference, but find a way that works for you. If you tape it down to your mat like this, turn your mat to cut rather than the papercut itself. -- Louise Dyer

Refuse to Sink

This design is heavily influenced by my love of tattoos. Swallows are historically used in tattoos for sailors, each swallow representing 5,000 nautical miles of sailing experience; the most experienced sailors would have two swallows. Swallows are also home birds; they return to the same location year after year to mate, nest and rest, and for this reason were used to ensure a sailor would return to his home safely. 

I have cut this design in black poster paper as with my previous designs, but it would also look fantastic cut in white, perhaps backed in sea blues. The positive message given by this design makes it a great gift. -- Louise Dyer

To obtain the templates, click on the black and white images above. You will be taken to Flickr where you can click the download arrow located in the lower right corner of the page's black section. Save to your computer and print after referring to Louise's tips on paper choices above.

And now the U.S. and Canada giveaway! (ENDED) Three winners will each receive a copy of Paper Panda's Guide to Papercutting directly from Search Press USA.

To enter on this blog post, simply leave a comment. Note that Blogger does not allow me to see the email address you type into the form with your name, so you must include an email address within your comment in order to be contacted if you win. If spam is a concern, type your address like this: janedoe at gmail dot com

You may also enter on Instagram as long as your account is not set to private. Enter at one or both places by the end of Saturday, August 5, 2017. Three winners will be chosen at random and announced on this post and on the Instagram giveaway photo as soon as they have been notified. Good luck!

Congratulations to Jonnie, shockingsilk and omiyage_ca. Stay tuned for another giveaway (international) that's coming up soon!

 

 

 

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