As the seasons are changing and flowers are beginning to bloom, I decided to make a tutorial to create simple paper flowers to decorate for Easter and celebrate spring arriving. These can be made with any paper you have in the house, and all you need is a pencil, scissors and glue. You could also paint the paper, or decorate the template with your own design before cutting it out.
Continue reading “Spring flowers – Easy paper flower tutorial”
In 2008 I ran away from London to move to Ulverston, a small town south of the Lake District in Cumbria. There are lots of things I love about our little town, but one thing that everyone comments on when they visit is how many of the houses are painted bright colours. This makes it look like quite a happy place to live, even though it rains a lot of the time!
Inspired by these houses one day I made a tiny house out of paper, which I’d like to share today. They have no practical use whatsoever, but they make me really happy as I have a massive soft spot for miniature things. When I was going through my old tutorials something about making tiny homes seemed to connect to what many of us are going through at the moment, with home being a place that feels safe like never before. #stayhome
I love moving toys, especially those from the Victorian era, and one of my favourites has to be Jumping Jacks. Also known as ‘Dancing Puppets’ or ‘Pantins’, Jumping Jacks have been around for thousands of years.
The earliest versions of this style of toy are thought to be from Egyptian times. However they were very popular in many different parts of the world in the past including France, Poland and India. In Victorian England children would buy them from toy shops and street sellers, but some children would make them themselves.
Inspired by the example images I found, I decided to make a fox puppet wearing a suit, because why not! This tutorial takes you through the steps to make your own puppet of your choice, but you can also download the ‘Jumping Jack’ Fox Puppet template at the bottom of the post.
Throughout my different ‘phases’ as an artist (of which there have been a fair few!) I have always made little theatres and ‘rooms-in-a-box’. Something about making a tiny world to tell stories in makes me really happy. This small paper theatre isn’t too complicated in its construction, and it allows you to create changeable background layers so you can make as many different stories as you like. Its based on a theatre book design, and inspired by Victorian paper theatres or toy theatres.
Hello! Thank you for visiting this post about the history of papercutting!
This post has now moved to my new website www.eleanorchaney.com
