Gift guide for Papercutters

I’ve mentioned a few times now that I’m completely fallen under the spell of paper cutting as a brilliant craft. I was first introduced to it a few years ago when I attended a workshop run by Poppy Chancellor. I booked myself on another paper cutting class with Poppy Chancellor at The Handmade Fair in 2015 and was hooked. I snapped up her book Cut It Out! and quickly worked my way through it so have been looking for more templates and inspiration ever since.

I thought it would be fun to share some of my favourite paper cutting things with you. Perhaps you know someone who might like to give it a go or you are looking for a new hobby yourself!

Paper cutting is a brilliant hobby because you really don’t need many tools. At a most basic level you will need some kind of cutting blade and mat. I have always used a Swann-Morton handle and blade and have an A3 self-healing cutting mat from Rymans. I change my blade frequently, I bought a huge number of blades from eBay, and have used my cutting mat for years. I’ve seen a few Paper Cutting Kits but I think you could save money by investing in a blade and mat and finding a few free templates to get started.

I’ve already mentioned Cut it Out! by Poppy Chancellor. This is a great book (see my review here) and suitable for beginners and those looking for more advanced templates. The book is printed on good quality paper and you can copy or cut the templates in the book – yay for no photocopying required!

I finished the book quite quickly so started looking for other artists and templates.

Paper Cut Planet: Over 150 Simple Paper Cutting Designs

I found Paper Cut Planet on Amazon and bought myself a copy. It’s a good book but the patterns are quite simple and there are no templates, you have to copy everything.

The Crafter’s Guide to Papercutting by Emily Hogarth

This was another book I found on Amazon, along with her second book Papercutting for Special Occasions by Emily Hogarth. Both are lovely books containing lots of templates for all sorts of projects. There’s also an interesting introduction to papercutting and lots of tips.

I’ve recently come across Project Calm magazine which is a lovely magazine. It’s quite chunky but full of projects for crafty people, and there’s a lovely paper cut template in the latest issue.

I’m waiting for my first Embellish Box to arrive. Each box follows a theme, gives you printed templates (and the digital files), a self-assembly house to collect and other items exclusive to Embellish or sourced from independent suppliers. I loved the sound of it as soon as I came across it and am looking forward to mine arriving. Find out more here.

There are of course lots of free templates around. Some of my favourites include the free Star Wars snowflakes templates from Anthony Herrera. I cut out quite a few using a small pair of scissors and my Swann-Morton, you can find my post about them here.

I’ve been pinning a few of my favourite free and paid for templates on my Paper Cutting Pinterest board.

Are there are paper cutting books you love or artists I’ve not come across yet? Please let me know in the comments below.