I decided that the papercutting needed a border. Shouldn't take me too long to finish it off.

Leaves and Berries papercutting (40cm x 55cm)

Here are some colour options for backgrounds for this papercutting. I'm leaning towards the top one (sepia background), but the blue is nice too. I think the red is a bit Christmassy. Off to Paperchase tomorrow to hunt for more gorgeous paper possibilities - so no firm decisions made yet.

I finished cutting the leaves and berries part of my papercutting today. I'm quite pleased with the overall effect. Now I have to think of something suitable to put in the heart. Yikes - hope I don't ruin it! I've also begun to think about the backing colour. I definitely won't go for black as that'll be a bit too harsh for this particular design. I'm thinking of a more earthy tone, like an olive green or sepia.

Leaves and Berries papercutting (48cm x 33cm)

I'm making slow and steady progress with this papercutting. Hopefully I'll have the foliage cut by next week - then I'll tackle the heart.

I'm persevering with this one as I really wasn't sure whether I liked it at the beginning. But now that I've completed almost half, I think I like it a little better. I still haven't decided what's going to go in the central heart motif. I'm thinking two birds, but they'll have to be more natural and realistic than my usual style, which will be a challenge. So maybe that would be a good thing! Any suggestions anyone?

I've always been interested in botanical drawings, so I've decided to experiment and combine the botanical drawing with a papercutting. This is the result so far. It's the leaves and berries of the Juneberry shrub/tree which I thought lent themselves very well to my design idea.

For a change I'm cutting this piece from white paper, instead of black. I'll need to decide what colour backing to use as I think it'll make quite a big difference to the overall picture. I've got a hunch that black will be too harsh.

I can't really decide whether I like the way this is looking or not. My style is usually so smooth and stylised that these more naturalistic leaves and stems seem a little odd for me. But I'll hold judgment until the whole picture is completed.

Constructive criticism and opinions are more than welcome!

I finished my papercutting today - hooray! Those leaves took me ages - much longer than I expected.

50cm x 35cm