Thursday 3 July 2014

Wedding Papercut

New papercut for my sister's wedding.

New Home Papercut

So I did a new papercut for a housewarming present. Suspended above a raspberry pink background.

Wednesday 23 April 2014

Alphabet Papercut

Decided to design and cut an alphabet piece for my daughter Annabelle. I didn't want to do the obvious animals so went for a couple of unusual ones too. The piece 'floats' above the background which casts a lovely shadow behind the paper. Please do not copy my designs. Copyright Sabella Tsiopani 2014.




Ava Papercut

New papercut gift for baby Ava (a friend's new baby)





Sunday 16 March 2014

Paper Panda Competition

So I entered a papercutting competition that the fabulous Paper Panda (Louise Firchau) created for her Panda trainees. Somehow I won! There were some brilliant entries (which you can see at  Paper Panda 's blog) so I was very surprised to have won! The brief was to produce a papercut inspired by a favourite song.

This papercut was the third ever one that I have attempted! I chose the song 'Without You I'm Nothing' by Placebo. There is a particular line in the song 'You grow me like an evergreen' that really reminds me of a mother's love. My mother's love for me and the love I have for my own daughter. I wanted to produce a papercut that was from one piece of paper and told a story (I suppose my illustration and storytelling skills came into play here). I love animals so it was inevitable there was going to be an animal in this piece- I chose a bird. So we follow mother bird as she appears to be growing a tree-which we eventually discover has been grown for her baby birds. I designed my papercut by hand which I then tweaked on Photoshop. I then flipped the design and printed it, which I then cut. I have designed and cut freehand and as I went on my first and second attempts at papercutting, but I found this process much easier.

Have a look and see what you think. Please have a look at Paper Panda's blogspot (http://originalpaperpanda.blogspot.co.uk) -her work is truly amazing and inspired me into taking up papercutting as a hobby (while the baby sleeps!) I enjoy it so much-love the added challenge of creating a design that works and doesn't fall apart!


Saturday 15 March 2014

Annabelle's Name Art Canvas


So I have done a couple of name art canvases for friends now, but someone who was missing one was my own daughter Annabelle! So here it is below-it matches her birdy mobile and her toy box. It was done using Illustrator, Photoshop and lots of different patterns!





Annabelle's Toy Box

We wanted a colourful toy box for Annabelle but no matter where we looked, we couldn't find one the correct size and the right value. We decided to buy a plain white toy box and I would paint it so it was exactly what we wanted. We found the toy box (which also doubles as a little bench) from www.argos.co.uk 

I wanted to paint it to match Annie's mobile and her name art canvas.





Annabelle's Mobile

During my maternity leave (before Annabelle arrived) I made her a birdy mobile. I wanted it to be bright and colourful but didn't want it to be too girly! It is one of the best things I have done-she absolutely loves it! Made out of felt and fabrics-hand sewn.





I'm Back after a 3 Year Hiatus!

So here goes... Here is my first blog post since leaving university- about 3 years ago?! Why the long break and did I stop arts and crafting during this break?

Well, it seems life got in the way- hard to find time to put myself out there and promote myself when so many things were happening!

Firstly I got married after university after 6 years with Dan. Dan is an animator and we met at college where we started our journey together in art and design! It makes for an interesting team- for a start we are not afraid of critiquing eachother's work! Hopefully, we can collaborate in the future.

Secondly, I started a new job fresh from graduating, with an engineering company. Not very arty you might think-well I compile manuals and sales literature so my design background isn't wasted. I enjoy it there, everyone is so lovely and it gives me the stability I have always craved from a career.

Thirdly, last year Dan and I had our beautiful daughter Annabelle. Life hasn't been the same since.

So I am currently on maternity leave and rediscovering my love of all things arts and craft. Annabelle inspires me a lot. I currently make a lot of things for her!

I am mainly back because I recently found an interest in papercutting- Thanks to Paper Panda- www.originalpaperpanda.blogspot.com. Louise's work is so amazing and so awe-inspiring that it pushed me towards doing my own. I participated in a competition that Paper Panda held and somehow won! I will put on a blog entry in a minute showing my entry. Hopefully this can be a place where I can show the development in my papercutting as well as the other hundred hobbies I seem to have!

Friday 14 March 2014

Annabelle's Christmas Stocking

For Annie's 1st Christmas, I made her a stocking! Sorry about the poor photo of it overall, I should have taken a better picture of it before it went up in the loft! Will try and dig it out (or should I say, get Dan to) for a better photo soon.