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Feeling sweet, sexy, or playfully punny?  Then one of these quilled Valentine’s Day cards is right for you.

Archiver’s has been advertising a card workshop making Itty Bitty Valentines that are 3-in x 3-in.  They looked so cute I decided to challenge myself to design three Itty Bitty Valentines of my own.  I only had two rules:  (1) my cards needed to be the same 3-in x 3-in size and (2) I couldn’t purchase any new supplies – I had to use what was already in my stash.  

Pretty in Pink

Who says a Valentine has to be red?  For this sweet card I layered three strips of pink card stock (alternating light and dark) on the bottom and rounded the corners with a decorative punch.  I added a quilled long-stem pink rose with moss green leaves.  For the sentiment, I stamped “My heart is yours” in black ink and added a little pink bow.  The rose is a rolled spiral made from a circle punched from card stock.  To finish the card I edged it with pink chalk.

A Berry Delightful Valentine

This card was inspired by the red and tan checked paper which has been in my stash bin for quite some time.  It is from a sack I saved from a purchase made in Savannah.  It reminded me of a country picnic which lead me to the “I love you BERRY much!” theme.  I used my computer to print the sentiment onto the tan cardstock, trimmed it to 2.75-in square and attached it to the front of my red card.  I cut a piece of the sack with pinking shears and glued it near the top-left of the card.  I punched two small holes and added little red heart brads (bought awhile ago with no particular project in mind, but they were cute and on sale – lol!).  Next, I glued on a red heart-shaped strawberry and white strawberry blossom.  I tied a little piece of jute cord around the top of the card to finish it off.

Hot Lips

This card is my favorite.  I had the thought of quilling a pair of lips and as I pondered how I would use that embellishment on a card, I remembered the famous Bogie & Bacall movie quote, “You know how to whistle, don’t you?”  A quick internet search turned up the entire quote and I knew that this would be the card I would give to my husband — Steve.

I used my computer to print the text and a Spellbinder’s die set to cut out the layers for both the front and inside of the card.  I glued two little flat pearls to the front and added the lips.  He’s going to love it.

There’s only one downside to taking on a challenge like this — what do I do with all of the ideas still floating around in my head that I didn’t create?

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I’m not much of a winter person, so by January my thoughts are turning to spring.  When I happened upon some pretty floral scrapbook paper, I used it to create this decidedly feminine card and gift card holder perfect for any occasion.

Michaels had their scrapbook paper on sale a few weeks ago and since I was already there, I just had to take a look.  I was happy to find a floral with a small pattern that I thought would work well with quilling.  My idea was to make a card using the paper and decorate it with a quilled version of the floral pattern. 

At least that was the plan, but after a few false starts I was beginning to wonder if this project would ever come together.  Then, I had one of those sleepless nights and tried again at 4:00am.  This time everything just came together. 

The flowers on the paper are simple 5-petal posies.  I wanted to maintain the look and feel of this style, but couldn’t resist jazzing the petals up a bit.  Instead of keeping the flower petals flat, I gave them dimension by rolling them as tight coils and then letting them uncoil just a little instead of all the way before gluing down the end and pinching them into teardrops.  This allowed me to take the end of my quilling tool and gently push out the center.  I then smeared glue on the back of the petals so that when dried, they would keep their new shape.  For even more dimension, I angled the petals a bit when gluing them together to form the completed flower.

Since the card would be handled, I glued two strips of quilling paper together for the vine so that it would be a little sturdier.

With the card done, I turned my attention to the gift card holder.  It is made using an empty toilet tissue roll!  I have no idea how I missed this recycling trend, but it was new to me.  I first saw it used in a project created by the very talented quiller, Sue Custer (Hi, Sue!).  She is on the Custom Quilling design team and used a toilet tissue roll to create a gift card pocket holder tag (you can see it here).  When I asked Sue about it, she directed me to an earlier project where she used the toilet rolls to make a cute mini album (you’ll find it here along with some directions). 

I had a hard time keeping the roll flat so I cut the tube and made mine into a fold-out card holder.  I decorated the tube inside and out with the same paper as the card then cut a strip the width of the holder and glued down just the ends to form a pocket for the gift card.  It is still curved, but I know that the gift card is secure and won’t fall out.

I closed the gift card holder by wrapping it with a piece of the same ribbon I used on the card and tied a matching bow.  The ribbon just slips off to open the card holder and both can be used again and again.  How’s that for recycling? 

To finish off the gift, I created a matching gift tag using a left over pricing tag as the base.  I covered one side with the floral paper and the other with the dotted paper.  I quilled one more flower using the cupped petals and added a quilled leaf.  I stamped a sweet sentiment on the dotted paper side and tied the tag onto the bow. 

Whew!  That was a long post, but I hope I have inspired you to make your own matching card and gift card holder set. 

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For those of you interested, the floral paper is called “Itsy Bitsy Ditsy” from Recollections (which I think is Michaels’ store brand) and the color is called Pistachio.  The pink polka dot paper is called “Pink with Rose Trim” and is also by Recollections.  It has a green and white stripe of roses down one side of the paper.  I was tickled to find that Quilled Creation’s moss green and pale pink papers were an almost identical color match.

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When making cards, I think it is fun to replace letters with bits of quilling.  It adds such a touch of whimsy.  When I ran across the “Big On Christmas” stamps from Stampin’ Up! I knew they would be perfect for my 2011 Christmas cards.  As you can see, they had the same idea.  Of course, I didn’t want to stamp the tree, ornament, or snowman (which I replaced with a snowflake).  I wanted to quill those instead.

Unfortunately, having this idea and implementing it proved to be two very different things.  You see, I am not a talented stamper and I was having a hard time stamping just the letter part of these holiday stamps.  I tried adding ink to just the letters using a marking pen, but my hand would slip and I would invariably get ink on the picture portion of the stamp.  Next, I tried covering the picture parts with tape, but that didn’t work for me either.

Finally, I decided to cut out the part of the stamps I didn’t want printed.  It was a hard decision to make since there was a very good chance I could ruin the stamps, but I took my craft knife, held my breath, and carefully cut around the picture section of each stamp and peeled off the cut portions.  Since the stamps were mounted on wooden blocks, the spacing and alignment of the rest of the stamp sections was not disturbed.

I then inked them up (I like using StazOn solvent ink since it dries quickly and doesn’t smear) and stamped away.  As an added bonus, I was delighted to find that I hadn’t ruined my stamps at all.  The cut out portions fit right back into their original places so the stamps can still be used as they were originally intended.

I am sure that if you look around you’ll find many other stamps out there that would lend themselves to this creative “altered art” technique.

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We were blessed with our fourth grandchild, Daniel John Morgan, on July 21st, so to say that I have babies on the brain is an understatement.  When I ran across a free “cute as a button” graphic on the Papercraft Inspirations website, I was inspired to make a card featuring quilled buttons — for a baby boy of course!

If you haven’t visited the Papercraft Inspirations site, you are in for a real treat.  This is the online site for the printed magazine.  Besides all of the ideas provided by a team of extremely creative designers, you’ll find free templates, downloads, and papers you can print off to use with your own creations.

If you would like to make your own “Cute as a Button” card, you’ll find the free button card back graphic (designed by Jo Kill) in the free download section.

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Here is a delightful card that uses an empty ribbon spool as the card base.  A message strip is attached to the core, wound around the spool, and secured with a piece of ribbon tied into a bow.  The lucky recipient then unties the bow to unroll the greetings.  I guarantee that this card will be a keeper!  Since I wanted larger flowers, I used strips of scrapbook paper cut to various widths and hand fringed them.

Since I firmly believe in giving credit where it is due, I must mention that I ran across this clever idea by Alison Eads in the paper crafting book, Retro Mania, published by North Light Books.  The quilling design that decorates this card, however, is all mine.

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I enjoy making and giving quilled cards to friends and family, but sometimes I simply run out of time to make a card from scratch.  I end up giving a store-bought card, but feel a twinge of guilt because it seems so impersonal.  Sound familiar?

To help with this problem, I have begun looking at commercial cards in a different way.  I have found that by adding a little quilling, I can change a commercial card from ordinary to extraordinary.  And best of all, it only takes minutes to do.

For example, I found this colorful birthday card with candles printed across the bottom.  By adding quilled candles right over top of some of the printed ones, I added a layer of dimension and the crystals glued to the flames makes it pop even more.

The second card shows a cute little bear holding a bunch of balloons.  I glued some quilled balloons (tied with a black string, of course) over the existing ones.  It was so easy.

For those on a budget, this is a great way to dress up inexpensive boxed cards or thrift store finds.  And it’s a great way to use up bits and pieces of quilling paper left over from other projects.  Give it a try.  It just a few minutes, you can create a special card any recipient will love.

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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.

• fabric (I have found that thin cottons or cotton blends work best)
• fabric stiffener (I used Stiffy by Plaid Enterprises, but there are several on the market)
• foam brush
• throw-away plate or container to hold the fabric stiffener
• heavy plastic to protect your work surface (I used a transparency sheet and it worked like a charm.  If the plastic is too light weight, like plastic wrap, it will wrinkle under the fabric as you apply the stiffener)

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.

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I was browsing through the bargain bins of ribbon and found a funky retro paisley design in yellow, green, and orange that simply screamed mini skirt and go-go boots. 

I used the ribbon as my inspiration for a fun retro birthday card featuring a quilled go-go boot.  The boot was created using an “outline & fill-in” quilling technique.  You can use this technique to create any design you wish by following these simple steps:

1. Draw an outline of the desired design, or find inspiration on the web.  Resize the pattern as needed and print it out for your work board. 
2. Tear several strips of paper (I find 6″ to be a good length) and quill them into loose coils.  Starting at either the top or bottom of your design, pinch the coils into shapes that fit within the outline of your design.  Glue the quills together where they touch and pin into place. 
3. Continue filling in your pattern with pinched loose coils.  If you are creating an elaborate design, you may want to “draw” lines within the pattern using paper strips or “paint” with your quills by changing the color of the quilling paper used for the coils.
4. Glue a strip of paper along the outside of your quilled piece to finish off the edge and complete your design.

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