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!

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!

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.