Jul 17 2010
Quilling Paper Surprise

Jul 17 2010

Jul 12 2010



Jun 28 2010
There is very little correspondence written on them, but it appears that from 1912 to 1915, Miss Harriett E. Prizer of Brighton, Iowa, was being courted by a gentleman named Arthur residing in Becket, Massachusetts. We are not sure where Miss Prizer fits into our family tree, but we are now very curious.
WILT THOU LOVE, HONOUR, CHERISH, AND VOTE AS THY WIFE DICTATES?
The sentiment inside the card …
The rocket cone is a triangle made from a 12 inch strip of 1/8 inch wide navy paper. The body of the rocket are C-coils made from 3 inch strips of red, white, and blue 1/8″ wide paper that are turned on end and glued coil side down. The rocket “stick” is simply two strips of white paper glued together for added firmness. To finish off the rocket, I glued a small piece of the the same white string used with the buttons to form the fuse.Jun 06 2010
I really appreciate all of the feedback I receive from my newsletter subscribers and blog readers. One request that I hear quite often is for more quilling projects made from recycled materials, which is great because I enjoy creating them!May 15 2010
Back in the 1980s, it was all the rage to stiffen strips of large-print floral fabrics (usually mauve) into bows to dress up wicker baskets. While that decorating look has come and gone, it’s still fun to stiffen fabric, especially if you are a crafter who likes to get her hands a little messy once in a while. Stiffened fabric has a wonderful paper-like quality making it an interesting textured background for your quilling projects. The key is to keep it flat as it dries. The stiffened fabric can be easily trimmed to size using your paper cutter and simple folds are possible.
Now that you have assembled your supplies, let’s get started. 1. Cut a piece of fabric (smaller than the plastic) and place it right-side up on your work surface. 2. Pour some of the stiffener into your container. 3. Using the foam brush, apply the stiffener to the fabric starting in the center and working your way to the edges, being sure to keep the fabric flat. You want to make sure that the fabric is totally saturated with the stiffener, but not gloppy. 4. Pour the excess stiffener back into the bottle, discard the brush and container (or wash them for the next time).
That’s it. Now just kick back while the stiffener dries. Depending on how much stiffener you used and how large your piece of fabric is, it might take 30 minutes or longer. This process can be hurried along with a hairdryer.
The fabric “paper” I made accents this colorful birthday card. I used a dry adhesive to attach the stiffened fabric to the paper surface of the card. The small amount of regular glue I used to attach the quilled coils directly onto the stiffened fabric caused no problems at all. I repeated the circle theme with a silver paper clip bought in a set from the Dollar store. Small silver half-pearls embellish the upper left-hand corner of the card.May 06 2010

My friend Joann quilling the stencil sailboat.
Speaking of sharing, the class I taught on the Stencil Sailboat ATC was well received and I was asked by Caroline Mach, Editor of the Quill America newsletter, to send the pattern and instructions for publication in the summer issue. And I thought, since I was going to be sharing it with my fellow NAQG members, why not share it with my own newsletter subscribers, too?
Apr 23 2010
The 2010 North American Quilling Guild convention is one week away. I was so honored to be asked to teach a class and have been busy pulling my project kits together. We will be quilling an ATC (Artist Trading Card) using the stencil quilling technique where the quilling is glued underneath a cut out stencil instead of on top of a background. Check out this previous post for more information on this technique. Apr 08 2010
I have been sitting on this news for several months now, but the May issue of CardMaker Magazine finally arrived in my mailbox yesterday and my quilled Father’s Day card, Sail Away, is featured on page 18 in their Quill It Easy section. Needless to say I am thrilled to see my card in print, and yes, I do plan on purchasing an extra copy of the magazine so I can frame the article for my workroom. :-)
Mar 26 2010
A wonderful reader of mine, Lisa Malachinski, wrote me about a project she has done where she embellishes spoons with quilling. Yes, you read that correctly, spoons! You know how much I love it when someone thinks “outside the box” with their quilling, and I just had to share her story and photos with you.
Lisa’s Aunt Marion was a wonderful lady who was full of life and loved the outdoors. She would sit and watch the hummingbirds outside her front window and show the little birds to her children and nieces. When her aunt passed away, Lisa asked her cousins for one of her spoons to embellish with quilling. As a loving tribute to her, Lisa quilled flowers and a hummingbird for the spoon. It is not surprising that she has been asked to make six more for her family and siblings.
Mar 22 2010
I finally took the plunge and have opened a store at ArtFire.com! Now you can purchase my finished quill art online.