PlanetJune Blog: Latest News, Patterns and Tutorials

You may have noticed the black papercut trees I made for the background of my Halloween design photos. I was wondering if I could reuse them somehow to create a new tutorial for Folding Trees, and I came up with the idea of using a candle to create a large shadow silhouette of the tree on a wall. The trees I had cut before weren’t suitable as I had cut them as background pieces at the edge of the scene (so there was only half a tree in each case!), so I drew and cut a new complete tree from black cardstock for this project:

And here it is by the flickering light of a candle:

What a transformation! I’m so happy with how it turned out! My papercutting attempts are getting better each time I try it, and I’m finding it easier to do simple freehand drawing without a reference photo too.

Oh, and if you’d like to see the finished tutorial, you can now find it below!

This tutorial was originally published on my old papercraft site, Folding Trees.

Use the magical effect of candlelight to turn a papercut template:

…into a striking shadow decoration:

In the following tutorial I’ll show you how to make a stylish decoration like the one I made above, using only cardstock and a simple tealight candle…

I drew my tree freehand onto black cardstock. To draw a tree, you need to remember two basic things:

1. Tree branches are thicker at their bases
2. Side branches are usually offset from each other

Firstly, draw the trunk and a few main branches, then add thinner branches coming off the main branches. Keep adding branches and twigs until you like the overall shape and effect.

Easy option: If you’re not comfortable with drawing, you could use a stencil to trace a shape onto the cardstock, or print a shape directly onto your cardstock (the card doesn’t have to be black; it just has to be thick enough to cast a good shadow). I think the branches of my tree make for a very effective shadow shape, but you could keep it really simple: cut out the silhouette of a cat or a pumpkin and just cut holes for the eyes (and mouth for the pumpkin) to give you some easy Halloween decorations.

Remember to give your shape a wide base (grass/bushes in this example, but it could be a plain horizontal band) to help it to stand up securely. Carefully cut out your shape with a sharp knife, being careful not to chop off any of the details!

Papercutting tip: In the close up photo below, you can see how I cut out the overall shape (the rounded shape of the bush) before cutting the fine detail (the leaves). From this stage, it’s easy to cut out each small triangular shape. I find this method much easier and faster than trying to cut the whole outline in one step.

Make a stand for your template by cutting a modified L-shape or a right-angled triangle from some card. Make sure it is tall and wide enough to support your shape. I used a leftover corner of my piece of card to make this simple stand shape:

Position the stand so the bottom is level with the base of your design, and the vertical edge is in the middle of the design. If you still have visible pencil marks on your design, make sure that side is face up for this stage, so the pencil marks will be on the back of the finished decoration! Tape one side to the back of the template:

Flip the stand over, and tape the other side to the template.

Now when you stand the shape up, the stand should stick out behind it and keep it upright.

Here is the finished papercut tree:

Now stand your template up on a table close to a wall, but not touching it. Place a tealight in front of it, dim the lights, and watch out for the shadow on the wall! You can alter the size and definition of the shadow by moving the candle and/or the template towards or away from the wall.

CAUTION: Candle flames and paper are not safe playmates! Never leave a burning candle unattended, and make sure your paper template is secure and will not fall or bend forwards towards the candle flame. For maximum safety, use an LED tealight (although you may find that it is not bright enough to cast a strong shadow).

I’ve decided to convert my free patterns to an easy-to-print PDF format. I hope you’ll find this a convenient option – I know it can be a pain to print directly from a blog. I’m going to send the PDF version to anyone who sends me a donation (of any size) for the pattern, as a thank you.

     

(Don’t worry if you already donated for a pattern – I have kept records, so I’ll also be sending out the PDF version to everyone who has ever donated for each pattern.)

So far, I have only prepared the Pumpkin and Poinsettia patterns. If you’ve sent me a donation for either of these, look out for the PDF in your inbox shortly! It’ll take me a while to convert all the other patterns – I’ll be sending the rest out as soon as they are ready.

If you’d like a copy of any of my free patterns, just click through to that pattern and send me a donation for as much as you feel is appropriate, and I’ll e-mail the PDF to you!

Can you believe it’s the end of September already? And you know what that means… time to get crafting for Halloween. So I thought I’d help you out with a bumper crop of brand new Halloween-themed crochet patterns.

First up, we have a new set of PocketAmi, especially for the spookiest time of year. PocketAmi Set 3: Halloween includes patterns to make a ghost, black cat, and witch. They are all under 3″ tall and work up in no time. An excellent choice if you don’t have much time!

The ghost and cat, like all the other PocketAmi patterns, are really simple to make. The witch is slightly more complicated, because of her curly witchy hair, but I’ve included step by step photos in the pattern, so even if you’ve never made doll hair before, it’ll still be easy-peasy with my directions.

PocketAmi Set 3: Halloween is now available in the PlanetJune shop for the bargain price of $5, and includes the patterns for all 3 spooky cute ami.

And that’s not all! I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported PlanetJune in the past, so I’m giving back to you all with a new FREE pattern: the multiple-personality amigurumi Pumpkin! The pattern is pretty simple, and makes a nice squishy hand-sized pumpkin. And with a few embellishments, you can create a realistic pumpkin for your Fall table:

…a cute amigurumi-style pumpkin for the kids:

…or a spooooooooooooooky pumpkin for Halloween:

Click through for the FREE pumpkin pattern! As usual with my free patterns, I’ve included a donation button on the pattern page. If you like the pattern, please feel free to send me a token of your appreciation – all donations are very gratefully received, and help me to create more free patterns for you all…

Happy crocheting, and happy halloween!

The Fall Creativ Festival is rapidly approaching… For anyone who may be in or around Toronto for the weekend of Oct 17-19, I recommend that you attend! It’s a vast show, with 200,000 square feet of shopping (fabrics, yarns, patterns, papers, jewellery supplies – you name it, you can find it there), learning about new tools and techniques, and the chance to meet creative and crafty industry experts.

And as if this wasn’t enough of a draw, there are still some spaces left at my amigurumi class, starting at 11am on Saturday 18th. You can learn how to make the PocketAmi Mouse or Bunny shown above – even if you have never held a crochet hook before. This is a fun project for new crocheters or amigurumi beginners, and I will be there to help you through every step. If you are planning to attend the show, I recommend you sign up for your classes soon – the spaces are filling up fast!

On Saturday 18th, I will be at the A Needle Pulling Thread magazine booth (that’s booth #1005) all day, except when I’m teaching, so please remember to come and introduce yourself…

Chihuahua lovers, take note. This cute little chi puppy has just joined the AmiDogs range. He’s a bit smaller than the other AmiDogs, at just under 5″ long, and he has biiig chihuahua eyes.

To get your copy of the AmiDogs Chihuahua pattern, head on over the PlanetJune shop. And while you’re there, why not see if there’s anything else that takes your liking – I have 32 patterns in the shop now, and more to come soon! As always, your patterns will be available for you to download as soon as your payment has been received; if you pay by PayPal (except for Paypal eChecks) you can receive your pattern within seconds!

Yap yap! This chi is guaranteed to be the best-behaved chihuahua you will ever see!

The Ami Paint Set crochet pattern is now available to purchase from the PlanetJune shop. Crochet a paintbrush, paint tube, and palette. It’s an easy pattern and a great way to use up scraps of worsted weight yarn in any colours you have handy. Teachers and budding artists will love it!

And it’s approved by Fuzzy Bear – what more could you ask for?! Fuzzy Bear has very discerning taste – he wouldn’t put his seal of approval on just any pattern 😉

Everyone’s favourite pint-sized pup, the chihuahua, now comes in crochet form:

Chihuahua facts:

• The Chihuahua is the smallest breed of dog in the world.
• The breed originated in Mexico.
• A typical chihuahua only weighs between 2 and 6lb!
• Chihuahuas come in long-haired and short-haired varieties, and all sorts of colours.
• Famous chihuahuas include Bruiser from the movie Legally Blonde, Paris Hilton’s dog Tinkerbell, and the canine stars of the upcoming movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua

The AmiDogs Chihuahua measures just under 5″ long. If you’d like to make your own, the crochet pattern will be available shortly in the store. (For those who are still waiting for the Paint Set, it should be up in the next day or two!) If you’re on the mailing list, you’ll be e-mailed as soon as each new pattern is released.

I still have a list of other dog designs to work on in future, but please feel free to comment and add your requests for more breeds!

UPDATE: Looking for the pattern? You can find the AmiDogs Chihuahua crochet pattern in my shop.

Thank you so much for the Discworld love; I’m so happy you get what I was trying to do here. I also have some news: I contacted Terry Pratchett’s agent, to ask if there was any possibility that Terry could see my Discworld, and Colin kindly agreed to show the pics to Terry. And I have a reply from Colin about Terry Pratchett’s reaction:

He gave a quiet laugh and said, ‘Well, if you’re going to crochet Discworld then that’s the way to do it!’

Thank you, Terry! (And Colin.) This has made my day!

I thought I would share my happiness by revealing some more details of my Discworld project. I’ve had several requests from people wondering how I managed to accurately crochet in the landmasses of the Disc. I’m not intending this as a tutorial or method for you to follow – I just thought you might like to see the crazy method my mind came up with to crochetify the Discworld 🙂

First, I started by crocheting a plain blue circle for the underside of the Disc. I scanned this into the computer. Then I used the Discworld Mapp to sketch (with pencil and paper) a map of the landmasses and a rough guide for my colour changes. I scanned this into the computer too:

I edited my sketch to remove the white background and darken the lines to black to make them easier to see. I resized the two images so they were the same size, and then layered the map over the crocheted Disc:

Now for the slow part… but I figured it was better to make the mistakes digitally than to have to rip back when it came to the crocheting part. In my graphics software, I picked a paintbrush that was about the same size as one crocheted stitch, then began to colour in my map onscreen. I kept the coloured layer translucent, so I could still see the stitches beneath. Here’s a close-up, and the complete digitally-coloured map:

Lastly I turned off the black sketch layer, and printed my ‘pattern’:

With all that work done, I just had to reproduce my digital crochet in reality! No secret method here – just careful counting and colour changes.

When I had finished, I crocheted both discs together around the edges, to keep it together and give a subtle Rimfall effect. I also stitched the two discs together at various points across the surface (with blue yarn in the blue areas only, so it doesn’t show), to avoid any problems with it trying to puff up in the middle – it’s called the Disc, not the Lens 😉

Oh, and you may also be able to see from this pic that I used a variegated green yarn, so I chose the lighter green parts of the yarn to be closer to the Hub, fading to darker green towards the Rim. I just thought it added a little more depth:

That’s it! As I said before, it really was a labour of love, and it took much longer to design than to actually crochet! And now I can say it’s officially Pratchett-approved 🙂

You can, of course, buy the patterns for my Turtle and Elephants, if you are so inclined.

I hope you enjoyed this insight into the unusual way my mind works. Please leave me a comment if you did…