A Personalized Birthday Commission

Here's another birthday commission I just did with some heavy personalization. I was asked not to emphasize anything about how old she is turning (I hear ya), so I chose a more neutral design of a flower pot with a fern plant. Given a ton of things to describe the birthday girl, I was able to fit in the following: a love of cooking and drinking, a job as a journalist, time lived in Maine, a love of travel and time spent in France (hence the Air France ticket and plane!). This person has accomplished so much by this birthday that I had to pick and choose just a few things so that the cut didn't look too busy!

A Baby's First Paper Cut

Here's a commission I just sent off to celebrate the birth of a new baby girl. I was asked to create something for the new baby and also for her sister, with the idea that there could be more kids to come in the future who might need their own paper cut. I chose a simple concept so that if they ever get a little baby brother or sister, it would be easy to make a new one to go with them.

And good news - these are now up on Etsy! The designs are 4"x7" and completely customizable. They can come in a 6x8" floating frame, or you can order them unframed. To request a commission, simply email papercutsbykatie@gmail.com, or head to Etsy using the link at the top of the page.

A 50th Birthday

Apologies for the long gap in posts. I have an excuse! I'm excited to say I recently moved from New Orleans to a teeny tiny town in Oregon. The move, while very exciting, left little time for posting. But I'm settled now, and expect to be able to post with a little more frequency.

To get started, here's a commission I finished recently for a 50th birthday. I was asked to create something unique and personal for the birthday of a man who "needed nothing". This thoughtful friend sent me a long list of his favorite things, and asked them to be put into the number 50. Here's the result!





In its floating frame, all ready to ship. I really need to learn how to take pictures of frames without glare!


I can't wait to hear how the birthday boy likes it!

To request a personalized commission, please send an email to papercutsbykatie@gmail.com.

A Wedding Commission

Here's a commission I did recently for someone who needed a gift for an upcoming wedding. The only personalization is the names of the bride and groom and the wedding date. For the rest, I was told to just come up with something. A summer wedding? Why not flowers in a heart shape!






The finished product, in its floating frame:


If you would like to order a commission, please email papercutsbykatie@gmail.com or send me a message using the link to the right.

A California Anniversary Paper Cut

Here's a commission I just recently sent off.
I was asked to make a paper cut as a gift for a couple that was married last year. In addition to their names and anniversary date, I was given a short list of things about the couple that I was asked to incorporate into the piece. Specifically, I was told they were married in Hawaii, currently live in San Francisco, love wine and have a golden retriever named Wrigley. As a fellow dog lover, Wrigley was of course going to be a big part of this one!
I decided to do the entire cut inside a map of their current home state - California. Here's how it turned out:


The client requested that I mount the paper cut and not frame it, but after finishing it I decided that it really would look best not mounted but just put into a floating frame. Fortunately she was easy to convince! Here it is in the floating frame, ready to hang on a wall of any color!


Sorry for the less-than-professional pictures. I really should learn how to take better product pictures!

If you would like to request a commission, click on the tab above or send an email to papercutsbykatie@gmail.com.

Thank You Cards

Thanks to another one of my awesome cousins, I got another commission! He commissioned me to make two thank you cards. Here's how they turned out!



This commission was extra special because I got paid with a copy of my cousin's book of short stories based on his year in Israel! Order your copy here.

The vine thank you card is now available on Etsy and you can buy them in a pack of 5 (remember, they're handmade so each one will be a little different than the rest!). The tree is not yet on Etsy but will be soon. And either of these, or any other type of card can be commissioned offline, just use the contact form on the right!

A finished commission

Remember that post I wrote about my first commission? The second part of that commission was a big ole paper cut. My friend's parents are going to be celebrating their 50th anniversary soon, and she wanted me to make them something special. She wanted a card, but not one that you'd put in an envelope. She wanted something bigger, than she could both write a message on, but then frame for them to keep on a mantle.

My friend gave me some background on her parents to help me create a great and personalized paper cut. I decided to focus on locations - they met in France, and now live in Buffalo near Niagara Falls. I wanted to incorporate both those locations in the cut, and cue the most intricate paper cut I have done to date!

That Eiffel Tower was a lot more work than anticipated! Here's a shot from when I had finally finished it, and you can see some of the teeny tiny trimmings it produced.

And the final product, mounted on a color of my friend's choosing (gold, to represent their gold anniversary). Not bad!

Special thanks to my mom for helping me out with the drawings!

I'm on Etsy!

This just in....I'm on Etsy! Click the link on the right to check out my new Etsy shop and purchase one of my original handmade paper cuts! As of right now I just have the tiger up there, but I hope to get more up soon! And of course I'm available to do commissioned work as well.

You may also have noticed that I changed the name of this blog from "Cards by Katie" to "Paper cuts by Katie", as I'm trying to steer more towards just paper cuts. The URL for this blog has stayed the same.