The art of paper cutting

My very first attempt at paper cutting with no stencil! It took me a good 4 hours to complete the cutting. To start, I drew the rough shape of the bird looking at a tapestry hanging on the wall nearby and went to town with a x-acto knife. After I cut out the shape of the bird, I started to draw designs inside and cut as I went. Later, I learned that you're not suppose to cut out the shape until the end. If you look closely, there is a crease on the top left of the second wing that was folded when I was cutting the details. That could've been avoided had I cut out the shape last!