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Look how pretty she is! I have another paper-cut inspired thank you card up for sale on my etsy site. This one comes in Robin's egg blue with white envelopes. Set of 5 per package. $7.50.

Buy it there or e-mail me!

Why is it that stepmothers always have the worst reputations in fairy tales? In this Grimm's tale, a brother and sister flee from their wicked witch of a stepmother. While wandering through the forest, the brother tries to drink from a stream, but the witch has placed a curse on the stream that will make whoever drinks from it into a tiger. The sister hears the stream babbling this and tells him not to drink or he'd attack her. They go to another stream and this one changes you into a wolf. They pass on that one and move on and before she can warn her brother, he drinks from the last enchanted stream and is changed into a deer. I'll let you read the rest on your own. This papercut is depicting a time when the brother and sister are hanging out in their cottage in the woods. Enjoy!

So Marsha and I have applied to do an art show together that has a circus theme. This is my first one, it's of a lion tamer. This one will go in the show, but it won't be for sale because it's a special papercut just for Marsha!

Many moons ago, I did a papercut, inspired by my friend Suzanne, of a squirrel village. I had so much fun making it and to this day it's one of my most favorite papercuts. There is so much going on with all these squirrels—playing cards, visiting, watching tv, cooking, sleeping—so much going on.

I have made my first successful screenprint of this papercut, in a limited edition set of 50. Look how cute it turned out! For sale on etsy!

I made prints of some of my papercuts that I've been working on. Go ahead and check out my etsy site to see more!

One of my favorite passages in the scriptures is the story of the woman with an issue of blood. She'd been coupled with the disease for some twelve years and upon touching the hem of the Savior, was made whole. He acknowledged this and told her that it was her faith that had cured her. This papercut depicts the moment when she touches his garment and he is not yet aware of what has happened. The woman's desire to be rid of the affliction and all the hope inside of her resides in this one brief moment.

"For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole."
Matthew 9:21

I've been wanting to do a papercut of a quail for sooooo long. This is a California Quail, Callipepla californica, which I learned today is the state bird of California. So I put him with the state flower of California, the California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica.

Okay, okay, I know there's only one Tree of Life, but I thought that I'd try this version where the branches prong out more instead of going straight up. I like trees.

I sat for two hours on some hard wooden pews and churned out a couple of Sunday items. This one comes from Matthew 7:6, "...neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

I'm sort of in love with the pig at the top who gots himself a pearl.

Deerfield High School had it's 20th Reunion last July and needed something to grace the cover of their directory. It had to capture the spirit of the year and incorporate their school mascot, the Trojan warrior. I think it looks excellent!

And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and life for ever:
Genesis 3:22

I think I'm going to start doing some more biblical images. I think it would be awesome to do a tree of life in the garden of Eden with Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turns every way. How do you portray a flaming sword that turns every way?

My Etsy shop is open again if you want to come see!

Oooo...drama!

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

--Tolkein

Okay, so the quote is off a little bit, but I sketched it out in church and was so proud of the fact that I did it correctly that I couldn't bear to rework the wording. So, here you go, a golden papercut.

For the month of February, I was locked up in the Tower of London! Fortunately I made it out with my head intact and a wonderful project to show for it. I was commissioned by the Education Center to do eight large papercuts for their teaching room. Here they are:



This one is, by far, the most elaborate of the set. I researched out what animals were in the Menagerie, what years they were there and the stories about them. Then I had to figure out how they all looked and did a lot of research on the internet to find out what a hyena's hindquarters looked like. It was great fun.



There is a legend that the head of King Bran is buried under the White Tower and that is the reason why so many ravens are present (Bran means raven). Apparently if the ravens never leave the confines of the Tower, the kingdom will never fall.



The only time the Crown Jewels have successfully been stolen was back in 1671 when Blood thieved the jewels from Martin Tower where they were being kept. He was caught and pardoned and given some money and a place to live. Sort of posh treatment for someone who made off with the riches of England, eh?






Flambard was one of the lucky ones to escape from the Tower. One night, he got all the guards around him drunk and used the ropes surrounding the flagons of wine to form a rope from which to escape from his high cell in the White Tower. Unfortunately the rope was too short, fortunately he landed in a giant cesspool beneath him.



In an instance where patience is a virtue, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn is the perfect example. His wife had petitioned for him to get out of the Tower and he was about to be set free. He wanted to get out sooner and fashioned a rope out of sheets to help him escape. The sheets weren't tied together tight enough and so they snapped and he fell to his death. No one could recognize who he was at first because he landed on his head and it impacted it down into his body.



Gerard was another escapist from within the confines of the Tower. He was able to shimmy his way out with the help of some friends via a rope from the Cradle Tower. His hands were so swollen from being shackled whilst therein that he fell on his way out, but managed to escape anyway.



The peasants are revolting! 1381 was a tough time for Londoners. Their taxes had been raised three years in a row and the Black Death had reduced the population significantly. One day, as the young boy Richard II rode out to negotiate with the people in town, the gates were left open to the tower and the peasants stormed in. The guards did nothing to stop them and so treason was suspected.

These are the people I worked with in completing this project. They were oh so very helpful. From left to right: Dan, Alex, me, Dorothy and Canev. In order for me—who had just barely figured out that Tudor style houses are in reference to the Tudor age—to finish this job, I had to have a lot of help. They were wonderful. Also very informative was Brigit from the library and Sutherland who offered moral support 100% of the time. A big thanks to Alex who offered me the opportunity to do these papercuts and had the patience to help me see it through.