Decouper - To Cut

Decoupage comes from the French word, decouper, and means 'to cut'.

I was just looking through some drawers today and found some old prints I had left over from a crafting journey I took into 3D decoupage.  They reminded me of a visit to an antiques fair where I  bought some decoupage prints that I thought you might like to see.  I saw some beautiful victorian photo albums that I would love to own - sadly my pocket money wouldn't stretch that far!

It did, however, stretch to these little pieces of history.

These scraps were from c1900.  The one on the top left is part of a bigger cutting sheet as you can see.  I found out from the dealer that the other pieces, also from other sheets of images, were originally layered but that he had soaked and separated them.  I told him, on behalf of all crafters out there who have spent many hours cutting out and shaping and layering their mini works of art, what a crime he had committed! Mind you I probably could not have afforded my little bit of crafting history if he were selling them intact....I would have liked to see them though.  I read that decoupeurs from centuries past actually cut up famous artists work to create their decoupage master pieces - I wonder what treasures where lost then too....

This sheet is almost intact and is dated c1950.  It is not so far removed from what we can buy today.  You can see the prints are embossed where the light from my window is hitting the strawberries.

I spent many a happy hour nibbling away with my scissors at some beautiful fairy images from a collection by Sharon Healey.  My pictures are about 10 years old now and I recently up-cycled their frames to match my bedrooms decor.  Sorry the photos are a bit rubbish but I was trying to avoid the reflections on the glass.

I have a fondness for fairies as you can see.  Tinkerbell is my all time favourite - a fairy with attitude!  These images are beautiful.  I can't believe I cut out all those sweet pea stems and tendrils!

If you, like me, have dabbled in this craft and want to know a bit more about the history of decoupage here is a link to the National Guild of Decoupeurs website.  I particularly love the decoupaged furniture pieces and really fancy trying my hand at it.

This is the piece I would like to play on - I wonder how many cutting hours it would take to decoupage this set of drawers????  I might reserve the right to paint the design on instead......one day!