apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I love cut paper even though that person with the name with lots of O-s tried to ruin the fun by putting cutout designs on everything from light fixtures to Christmas garland. I am a big SWOON and Kako Ueda fan. This stuff is cool too.

I love Heather Moore's work and really appreciated her tutorial [although her tips don't mean this is an easy project!].

From experience I can say that paper cutting really isn't that hard, its just time consuming, especially if you have the level of detail in the piece shown above. The hardest part I would say is small round shapes which often want to make themselves into small angular shapes if you're not careful. The other part is the original design which if you don't consider yourself artistic might come as a problem, but you can always get someone else to draw something for you and then cut it out or crib a design from a collection of classics - like say deco tiles or something.

Can anyone recommend a good tool for this type of cutting? I tried to do this recently with a regular x-acto knife, and could not get a single proper curved line. Small circles in particular turned into small squares and pentagons. :(

mh330, make sure your blade is super sharp. Also, you might try scoring the paper rather than cutting all of the way through in one shot. With heavier boards and paper, that is definitely the way to go.

Does anyone know what sort of adhesive to use to apply intricate papercuts to a window or wall surface so that they remain removable and reusable?

a project like that definitely needs a bit of practice before you try it, or it will be really frustrating.

i agree with the super sharp xacto

or there is also a tool called a swivel cutter. I have one of these, and although it does take a lot of practice to get used to it, it works great. You just don't want to be cutting anything too thick since the blade is super small (with the sharp edge only 1/8" long). But the entire little blade can spin 360 degrees. If you wanted you could cut an entire circle just by moving the blade around in a circle without twisting your hand, and it just moves with you. Think shopping cart wheels.

http://www.dickblick.com/zz574/22/

mh330--aside from the super sharp blades, try curved blades. X-acto makes them, too. They do take some getting used to, but work reasonably well.

cutting curves well requires lots and lots of practice.

Yeah, I work for a graphic design firm and spend most of my days doing intricate paper cutting. Honestly super sharp blades are best but sometimes it is really hard. Don't be ashamed to use scissors when possible. It is much easier for a beginner.