Creating Neat Paper Cutouts

Hi,

I’ve been making paper cutouts with scissors and a craft knife for a while now. I created a nativity scene featuring the Three Wise Men and the Holy Family. I then backed this paper cutout with gold-colored transparent paper.

Two problems arose:

You could see the white paper from the back showing through on the front along the edges.

Some of the clear-drying white glue got on the black paper I used for the cutout, so now the cutout can only be used digitally.

Do you have any tips on how I can avoid both of these issues? Thank you so much!

Best regards

Martina 

Hi Martina,

what did you cut your silhouette out of? Was it black-printed silhouette paper? For the silhouette, I would use either construction paper or photo cardstock (depending on the paper thickness you need). Both types of paper are dyed all the way through and are black on both sides as well as on the inside.

For all my gluing projects, I use solvent-based all-purpose glue: It’s truly transparent and can be applied very thinly.

Does that help?

Best regards
Inna

You can easily color in those light edges with a black pen.

Dear Inna,

thank you very much. I used silhouette paper with a black front and a gummed white back. Because of my disability, I have trouble cutting out shapes from photo cardstock with a craft knife. I can only do that with my silhouette scissors, and I only use them to cut out outlines. Otherwise, I also have double-sided black paper for paper cutouts from China with a panda on it. That’s easy to cut. I have very little strength in my upper arms and osteoarthritis in my right shoulder. I’m right-handed. Thank you all!
Have a wonderful Sunday!

Best regards

Martina 

In that case, Claudia’s suggestion is probably the best idea.

Thanks, and have a nice rest of your Sunday, too.