Scherenschnitte

Scherenschnitte is a German word which means "scissor cuts." It's the art of papercutting, and I think it's very cool. A few weeks ago, I found this book at the library. Last week, when Tommy and I went to see my parents, I took the book with me. It was the perfect place to begin a new project. I had tea on the porch with my dad, and while he read, I started cutting. It worked! When my eyes got tired, I rested them on the river. When my fingers got tired, I held a warm tea cup. I copied some of the patterns in the book, and the first design I cut was this folded paper cut ("Two Sisters," as my mom titled it).


I also found a great blog, www.papercutting.blogspot.com, which features many free templates (including a pattern for the first picture I posted, with tall mushrooms and a small rabbit). This is Cindy Ferguson's blog, and, as it happens, Cindy Ferguson contributed several of the patterns featured in my library book, including "Two Sisters" (which she calls "The Twins").

Here is another of Ferguson's designs, which I cut yesterday: