Leaf Lights

Hello all! I think it's high time for another crafty escapade, don't you?

I did a lot of yarn-craft for Christmas, and so when the time came to start another project (never mind the five half-finished ones in the corner) I reached for my craft blade. Papercutting was one of the first crafts I taught myself, and so it's an old standby when I want something to do. I have plenty of cardstock in a whole rainbow of colors left over from an old project, so I already had the supplies on hand as well. The only question was what to make.

I rummaged through my desk drawers hoping for some inspiration, and came up with the jackpot: a handful of little electric tea lights! I had originally bought them in order to illuminate a paper luminary I made: why not use them for the same purpose again? My windowsills are sadly bare at the moment, and a set of small luminaries will do wonders for them.

After ruminating on the idea for a few days, I settled on a leaf-centric papercut design. One of my absolute favorite things is the look of light as it filters down through leaves on a summer day. I love the dappled shade. I love looking up and seeing the delicate outline of veins through the leaf. I love the colors, both in the height of summer and as the leaves begin to turn in fall. Right now, there aren't any leaves on the trees to admire: why not make some that I can keep year-round?

I took to the internet to search for reference photos, in order to keep my leaf cutouts true-to-life. I wanted a variety of leaf types: everything from maple to oak to gingko! Using the photos, I traced the outline and vein structure of each leaf onto a net of a cube, printed on cardstock. Simply put, a net is a 2D representation of a 3D shape that can be folded up to recreate the shape. Cubes have very simple nets, but you can also make weird, wonderful, complex polyhedra in the same way. Make a dodecahedron luminary! Hang platonic solids from your ceiling as a crazy mathematical mobile!

...Ahem. Back to the luminaries. After the shapes were traced, it was a simple matter of cutting out the shapes. As always, I work from the fiddly inner details outwards while papercutting. The added stability while cutting out tiny vein patterns makes things so much easier!

Once everything was cut out, it was time for my secret weapon of luminary-making. You could certainly leave the sides open, and it would be pretty. However, the open papercutting is very fragile and prone to bending, and the light from the candle doesn't diffuse nicely around it. It's great for shadow puppets, and less great for home decor. So, I went to the store and bought myself a package of plain white tissue paper: the kind used for stuffing in gift bags. I cut out little squares of tissue paper and glued them carefully to the back of each luminary. The tissue paper provides just enough of a solid foundation to make the papercuts sturdy and resistant to tearing. It also diffuses light coming from the candle inside, resulting in a very pleasing, soft image. But don't take my word for it: look for yourself!

(And what kind of person would I be if I didn't include a video of the lovely flickering of the electric candles?)

For those curious what these look like in the daylight: I tried to match the cardstock colors to the actual colors of the leaves (either in full summer, or fall foliage)

These are very calming to look at, and they're going straight onto my windowsills! I highly recommend making yourself a selection of paper luminaries (using electric lights only please! Let's not start any fires!). I could even make a proper tutorial, if that's something people want. Regardless, I'll see you all next time with something new. Until then, stay crafty!

Papercutting Tutorial

I love papercutting. The materials are so simple: a piece of paper and a blade are really all you need. But the results are delicate, beautiful, and complex.

I learned papercutting by trial and error, and mostly on my own. There aren't many resources online or in books for learning advanced papercutting techniques. Most are geared towards kids cutting paper snowflakes, and while technically that's also papercutting, I was looking for more refined instructions for an audience that didn't need permission to use the scissors! I never found those instructions, so if you're looking for some yourself, allow me to help with a tutorial!

First, gather your supplies. Paper and a blade (I use a craft knife) are a must. Some people also use small, sharp scissors: it's up to you to decide what you're more comfortable with. Any paper will work for papercutting, though higher quality stuff will last longer. I personally prefer to use origami paper, as it can readily be found in a wide range of colors. Right now, though, I'm just using a piece of white sketchbook paper. You can use anything from tissue paper to cardstock. Be aware, though: thinner papers will rip more easily, and thicker papers will be harder to cut through.

Apart from the absolute essentials, you'll also benefit from a cutting mat and a pencil. The cutting mat protects your work surface from the blade if you're using a craft knife: cardboard works in a pinch but may dull your blade faster. And a pencil will allow you to sketch the design on the back of the piece before you start.

All right, now let's get started! Planning is essential for papercutting: there's no undoing a cut once you've made it, so you need to be sure of where it's going! Flip your paper to the wrong side (if there is one) and begin lightly sketching the shape of your design. I'll be drawing a dragon. Why? Because I can!

Some poses are better than others for papercutting. You can't shade anything or use different colors, so it's hard to differentiate between objects put in front of one another. The more distinctive you can make the silhouette, the better. So the sleeping dragon on the left might be cute, but it would be much harder to design a papercut of it than the one on the right.

Once you're chosen the design, lightly sketch it out full size on the paper, paying the most attention to the outline of the shape. Be aware: since you're sketching on the backside of the paper, the actual result will be a mirror image. If the direction of asymmetry is important (like for words), carefully sketch them in reverse. I don't particularly care about the direction for this one, so I'm not worrying about it. Mark out any features inside the shape that need to be visible as well. You'll need to find a way to differentiate these areas. For me, the major areas of concern are the wings: I want to make a distinction between the wing bones and the membrane.

Fortunately, we aren't limited to only silhouettes! I could cut out the membrane entirely, leaving only the edge line intact. But that would make the wings very fragile, and it wouldn't be visually interesting. So instead, I'm adding a bunch of spiderweb-lines to make a lacy pattern. It will be open enough to be distinct from the wing bones, and stronger than pure open space. I'm also adding some scale patterns to the body - because it looks cool - and cutting out the eyes and the horns. When you're adding details, be careful that you don't split the piece in half. All of the positive space (the paper) has to be connected, or else it'll fall apart! Ideally, every major area should be connected by multiple points to those around it. This lends strength to your finished product, making it less likely to tear when handled.

Now (finally) we begin cutting! You can cut out the rough outline of the piece in order to make it easier to handle, but don't cut close to the outline yet! In fact, start with the inner detailing. The laciest, most delicate parts should be cut out first, while there's still lots of surrounding paper. That way, you're less likely to rip it. So following these rules, I started with the wing membranes.

Once that's done, you can cut the outline. Be careful here: you'll likely have spots without much room for error. For me, those spots are around the outer edge of the wing membrane. Cut away small sections at a time so that excess paper doesn't get in your way.

There's no big wisdom to success here: a sharp knife and a steady hand are needed. If you cut or rip a section, you can try to put a dab of glue on the backside to repair it, but this isn't always successful. Alternatively, you can improvise and cut a new pattern that fits your mistake! No matter what you do, you'll end up with something simple but beautiful! Here's mine right after cutting:

Here you can see the wisdom of sketching lightly on the wrong side. The paper around the wings is so skinny that it would be extremely difficult to erase marks without ripping the paper. Better, then, to make light marks which won't show up on the right side! Turn the piece over and admire your work.

The principles of papercutting aren't complicated. Cut shapes from a piece of paper: that's the gist of it. But the simplicity belies a beautiful art form that requires little more than patience and a steady hand to create. Hopefully this tutorial has given you inspiration to try some papercutting of your own. Brandish your craft knives (carefully!) and get to it! Happy papercutting!