Creative Cut-Ups

Don’t be afraid to cut up your photos for some very creative effects. Nature photos just seem to lend themselves to creative possibilities as you can see by these photos. Of course you will be using duplicates of the original print, which is still sacred.

White Berries
Find an element or two that are on the edge of the photo and “bump” them out by cutting around the actual subject. TIP: Leave a very small border around the subject, which will appear as a slight shadow, and you won’t ruin the photo by accidentally cutting some of the subject outline. Once the stem and leaf were cut out from this photo, it was glued to a white paper. Then the scant 1/8″ border was trimmed around the photo and the “bumped” subject in one continuous cut. Additional mats and button brads were added to make a very personal card.

White Daises
Make two copies of the photo being used. Choose an item that is closest to the camera. In the photo shown it is the most predominant and in-focus daisy. Cut around the item in one photo. Apply dimensional foam dots to the back of the silhouette and attach it directly above the like image in the other photo. Additional mats and button brads were added to make a very dramatic card with dimension.

Columbine
Mat a photo on white paper and make a scant ¼″ border using deckle decorative-edge scissors. Make four diagonal vertical cuts along the photo/mat. Try to place the main subject in the center of one of the pieces. Arrange on black paper, leaving a 1/8″ space between each piece. Trim around photo/mat, leaving a scant ¼″ border. A metallic charm was also matted and glued over the bottom edge of the photo and brads were attached to the corners of the photo.

Dimensional Mats

Add dimensional elements to your photo mats. There are many different kinds of fibers such as yarn, braid, ribbon, and jute from which to choose. Dimensional beads, eyelets, buttons, brads, and charms are also nice additions.

Friendly Squirrel
Look at what you can do with just a circle punch and a short piece of jute. When matting a photo in the same way you usually do, cut one border wider and use a circle punch to make holes evenly spaced along the border. Then thread jute through the holes and knot it at one end.

Inquisitive Rabbit
An almost monochromatic photo becomes livelier when matted with bright papers that match the plastic dimensional brads and flower charms. After you’ve matted the photo, attach the flowers to two corners. The lime green turns in the corners look like leaves when attached with flower brads.