Mirrored Paper Cut Name Tag

Alright so this is totally random and really very simple.

I'm used to using a computer to make design templates, but my printer needed a new print head, and it's somewhere in the mail on it's way here. Alas I ended up making this the old school way and I loved how it looked so I thought I'd share the process.

Because I intended this to be made of cut paper I focused on making the letters in my name connect to each other. So in the first photo you can see that the K is connected to the a and the a is connected to the y, and the tails cross each other.

Then because I wanted this to be mirrored, and kind of look like a monogram, I simply folded my scrap of paper in half, and rubbed the loose graphite onto the second half, getting it to transfer. I had to darken some lines up where it hadn't full transferred.

Then I folded the paper so that the name and the mirrored name would almost join up and I drew lines to connect them. If you look at where the pencil is pointing in the last photo you can see where these lines are at, I connected the tails of my K's and the tops of the y's.

I realize that the photo's are rather grainy, I didn't fill like working up a tissue paper light diffuser for my desk lamp and graphite reflects in bright light, I couldn't seem to find a balance for getting enough light for my photos while not having the graphite reflect. This is a quick project though and one that I didn't actually intend to share from the onset. I actually document everything that I make by taking photos while I'm making it, which helps me repeat the process over and over again, so I can remake something again if I need to.

So once I had a design that I liked, I placed it upside down on my colored paper, because my design is mirrored I don't have to worry about which way it transfers onto the cut paper. Where I put the graphite will be the back of the cut piece, so the graphite won't show at all on the front. I then rubbed the back of the white paper to get the graphite to transfer onto the blue paper.

When cutting this out I started with the smallest interior areas first, these were between the y's and the center of the a's. Then I cut out the remaining interior parts. All of this cutting was done with a craft knife.

Once I had the interior areas cut out I went ahead and did the outside lines, keeping the shape as thin as possible. I used a pair of small scissors for this. I had some issues at the top of the a's so I did use a craft knife to cut those out.

That's all there was too this. I attached it to a book mark that I had lying around, so I could show you how it looks when glued in place.

I can think of hundreds of uses for something like this, and using any name that I want, anything from cards to labels on storage and organization boxes (because seriously simple labels aren't all that fun). I may also use this as a template that I can trace onto surfaces to paint.

I've been working with monograms specifically so I could find a design I liked that I could add to a dresser that I will be remaking this spring. (I'm not a fan of cold weather, or I'd take it out to the shed and do it now.)

So over-all this took me less than 30 minutes to make, from design to cutting it out. Like I said at the beginning it's really simple and easy. Even easier than using a computer, surprisingly, which makes me think that I might have to use my computer less often.