Crafting Tutorial: Papercuts / Card Stock Cutouts

Papercuts, felt cut outs, and linocuts are my passion - I just really love to carve things! This tutorial will show you my favorite crafting technique - papercuts, also known as card stock cutouts.

My favorite Leaf Collection Papercut Note Cards

First thing's first: you need to choose a theme. My favorite theme is anything nature-related. I'm going to show you how to do a leaf cutout.

Materials:

• An X-acto blade, or any paper cutting blade - mine is Martha Stewart brand
• A cutting board, or anything you can cut smoothly on without the worry of ruining it
• Pretty paper or card stock
• Card stock or paper base
• A pencil
• An vinyl eraser in case you mess up or lines show through
• adhesive of your choice. I use Mod Podge or double-sided tape rollers, because they've been the smoothest under paper, in my experience
• A paint brush, if you choose to use glue

First, you need to create your design on the BACK of your pretty paper of choice. You can do it free hand, or trace the outline of your chosen object. I chose to draw a ginkgo leaf free-hand.

On your cutting board, trace the outline of your drawing with your X-acto blade. (why does my cutting board have a rooster on it? It's this horrible card board book that belonged to my toddler - I believe in being resourceful! ;-))

partially-done cutout, from the front:

Done cutting!

Apply your adhesive to the finished cutout. Double-sided tape rollers make it a clean, un-messy process.

Mod Podge works well when brushed on - dries nice and flat, but also dries quickly.

Apply your cutout to your card stock or paper base, pre-measured to your chosen size. Smooth down with your fingers.

You're done! These look so great when framed, or are lovely when mailing to a friend. Such a simple craft with lovely results!

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