I have a lovely paper cutting tutorial from Clare Willcocks, so if you have ever been tempted to try out paper cutting but weren't sure where to start, why not start here?
While everyone can trace through a pre-designed paper and cut it as required, handling the initial design is not a task that can be entrusted to anyone. Worry not! Clare from ArtArtArt.co.uk created an incredible tutorial for us.
Pssst, If you visit her site below don't forget to tell her that I sent you.
Start paper crafting with this paper cutting tutorial
Download the template via our template library:

Super Easy Paper Cutting Tutorial, Perfect For Beginners
Do you want to learn about paper crafts but don’t know where to start? Have a look at this easy paper cutting tutorial complete with downloadable, printable template! Paper cutting is a beautiful, versatile art form which has been enjoyed since the invention of paper thousands of years ago.
It’s one of the easiest and cheapest crafts to begin; all you need is a sharp craft knife, cutting board and paper and you’re away!
The best way to hone your paper cutting skills is with practice, so download my free beginners’ template today and let’s get started.
THERE’S A JPEG VERSION INCLUDED WITH THE TEMPLATE SO THAT YOU CAN UPLOAD IT TO USE WITH YOUR CIRCUT MACHINE!
Materials
Instructions
- Choose Your Paper
- Print Your Free Template
- Cut Out The Middle
- Cut Out Everything Else
- Infills
- Add a Background
- Admire your handywork
Notes
STEP 1 – CHOOSING YOUR PAPER
The quality of the paper you use will affect your cutting. I have found that very cheap printing paper tends to tear, so it’s better to start off with good quality printing paper, or a craft paper of your choice.
You can use any weight of paper, from 90gsm to 200gsm, depending on which you prefer cutting. I like using thinner paper as it doesn’t take as much effort to cut, so saves your fingers from aching!
STEP 2 – PRINT YOUR FREE TEMPLATE
Once you’ve downloaded the template, set it to print at high quality on your chosen paper.
The side of the paper which is printed on will become the ‘wrong’ side.
If you’d like it bigger or smaller, you can change your printing settings.
STEP 3 – CUT OUT THE MIDDLE
Hold the knife like a pen and always cut away from internal points and corners, working slowly and trying to keep an even pressure.
There’s no set way to approach a paper cut, but I find cutting out the small ‘middle’ areas helps to stop tears.
In this case, cut out all the middles of the leaves before moving on to the centres of the flowers.
STEP 4 – CUT OUT EVERYTHING ELSE
Once all the middle sections are cut out, you can move on to the in-between bits.
Work from one side of the circle to the other, and use the index finger of your other hand to hold the paper behind the blade to prevent tears (careful not to cut your finger!).
STEP 5 – INFILLS
If you want a plain coloured background, skip to step 6, but if you want to take things further, you can add ‘infills’, which is essentially like colouring in your paper cut.
Choose the colours you want to use for each section, and with the ‘good’ side of the paper cut facing down, draw around the internal shapes on the coloured paper.
for example, if you want yellow petals, draw around the inside petal shape.
Cut them out about a millimetre or so from the lines and stick them to the back of your paper cut with the pencil lines facing towards you.
I lightly glue the paper cut and then position the coloured section over it.
STEP 6 – ADD A BACKGROUND
Choose a background colour card or paper. Add a few dabs of glue to the back of your cut and stick it down.
You can use the tip of your knife to pop a bit of glue under any bits which are raised slightly.
STEP 7 – PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK!
Well done, you’ve completed your first paper cut!
Don’t worry if it looks a bit ragged around the edges, or if you’ve slipped a few times and cut off a leaf or two!
It’s a skill which takes time to perfect, so keep at it and you’ll make quick progress.
Recommended Products
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What did you think of this awesome paper cutting tutorial?
To sum up, this is simply the art of designing paper. This art form involves cutting paper with a knife or sharp scissors. It can be as basic or as composite as the paper the artist chooses.

About the author
Clare lives in North Devon and enjoys art, crafts and illustration in her spare time. She blogs about all of her wonderful arty endeavours over at artartart.co.uk. Why not pop over for more tutorials and inspiration!

allthingspaper
What a nice tutorial; thanks Clare and Claire! I'll be sure to share the link in my newsletter.
Claire - Heart Handmade UK
That would be awesome, thank you so much! Have you tried this one out yet? x
Julia Nyanyo
I've been a fan of Clare's lovely art for a while now. This is a great tutorial, I've never tried to do the infill technique so I'll enjoy giving it a go. Thanks.
Claire - Heart Handmade UK
Hiya Julia, I love this tutorial too. I got a great pic from another crafter who used the printable and overnight made a fab pic and framed it, I must see if it's ok for me to share it and post it x
Claire - Heart Handmade UK
Hi Claire, get to it! Although with the amount of fab projects you do I'm surprised you have time to do anything else!!! My list of things to try seems to be getting longer and longer and longer x
Bekky
Thanks! That's really helpful