Archive for the 'Quilling Gifts' Category

Jun 06 2010

Quilled Puzzle Piece Magnet

Published by Charlotte under Quilling Gifts, Quilling How-To, Quilling Inspiration

quilled-cherries-puzzle-magnetI 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!
 
Several weeks ago, I stopped by a local thrift store and found a handmade cookbook from 1971.  You know the kind — the recipes were all typed with a real typewriter then the pages were mimeographed and bound with a metal prong file clip into a book for the club members.  It was awesome and all for only $0.50.  What a bargain.
 
Along with the retro cookbook, I have had an old children’s puzzle in my supply stash for quite awhile (ever since the all important “last piece” went missing).   When I looked in my inspiration bin and saw the cookbook and puzzle pieces, I knew I had the ingredients to cook up this week’s project — a quilled kitchen magnet.
 
Since your materials will differ (we are trying to use what we have, remember), I offer these general instructions as a guide for making your own Quilled Puzzle Piece Magnet.
 
You will need
Chipboard puzzle piece
Background paper (scrapbook paper, old wallpaper, etc.)
Recipe (from old book, newspaper, magazine, etc.)
Quilling paper, 1/8″ wide
Basic quilling tools (discussed earlier)
Spray adhesive
Sandpaper or emery board
Permanent fine-line marker, black
Distress ink (I used Tim Holtz’s Tea Dye)
Cotton swab
Magnet
Spray acrylic sealer (optional)
 
General instructions
  1. Turn your puzzle piece so that the plain chipboard side is facing up (this will be the front of your magnet) and place it onto your background paper (right side of paper facing up), trace around the puzzle piece and cut out.  Spray the front of the puzzle piece and the back side of the cut-out background paper with spray adhesive and adhere the two together. 
  2. Tear the recipe to fit the puzzle piece and glue in place.  Clean up the edges of the puzzle piece by sanding them with the sand paper or emery board.
  3. Dab the cotton swab on the ink pad and highlight the edges of the puzzle piece and torn edges of the recipe.  Using the permanent marker, make stitch marks around the edges of the puzzle piece. 
  4. You are now ready to add the quilling.  Here is where you can get creative matching the quilling to your chosen recipe.  Since the one I selected was “Cherries in the Snow,” I added ripe red cherries with green leaves.  This design would also work well with a cherry pie or tart recipe. 
  5. Spray the puzzle piece with an acrylic sealer (optional), glue a magnet to the back, and you’re done.
 
 
Quilling Tip
If you want THE gift for a special holiday that is sure to touch the recipient’s heart, make a copy of a handwritten recipe from a cherished family member and use it on the magnet, matching your quilling to the recipe.  If your family is anything like mine, be ready for a big hug and have an extra tissue handy.
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8 responses so far

Mar 15 2010

Spring Quilling — Easter Egg

Published by Charlotte under Easter Quilling, Quilling Gifts, Quilling Home Decor, Quilling Inspiration

It has been a very cold, wet winter, which is unusual for Georgia.  We have had more snow than I can remember in years and I am so looking forward to spring.  I was surfing the web looking for a poem or saying to go with this post that waxed poetically about trees beginning to bud as the earth starts its cycle of rebirth, or something to that effect, when I ran across this delightful quote and had to chuckle.  I think Mr. Borland has summed up the month of March quite well.
 
“March is a tomboy with tousled hair, a mischievous smile, mud on her shoes, and a laugh in her voice.”
-  Hal Borland
 
quilling-blossom-on-painted-eggIn honor of spring, I thought I would show you an egg ornament that I made.  It is a paper maché egg embellished with a quilled peach blossom.  This egg is the size of a hen’s egg, but you could use one larger if you like and adjust your quilling accordingly.  I used the narrow, 1/16″ wide quilling paper since I find it does better for me when I am gluing it to a curved surface. 
 
To get the egg ready for the quilling, I applied a coat of gesso to seal the paper maché.  Once the egg was dry, I sketched an oval on the egg and painted the inside white and the rest of the egg a soft peachy-pink.  I applied a coat of satin varnish and let it dry.  For the final touch, I outlined the oval with a gold metallic permanent marker.  Since I wanted to hang my egg on a display stand, I glued on a bell cap with a built in ring, however, this egg would look just as cute displayed in a basket.
 
For this sample, I quilled a peach blossom on a tree branch with other buds and leaves — at least I call it a peach blossom since I live in the peach state, but it could just as easily be an apple or cherry blossom.  I have also embellished these painted eggs with violets, iris, daffodils, and even a cute bunny that I sold before getting a photo (hate it when that happens).  I did give the quilling a thin coat of the varnish for protection.
 
Eggs make a wonderful spring canvas for quilling, and since the area is small, the quilling goes fairly quickly.  You’ll have a masterpiece to show others in no time.
 
Tip:  If you are interested in the bell caps, I found them online at www.CostumeJewelrySupplies.com under the “findings” section.  They have a really nice selection of jewelry findings at very reasonable prices.  NOTE:  I have no connection with this company and derive no benefit from this recommendation, except for that little thrill you get when you tell a friend about something cool.  :-) 
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4 responses so far

Feb 06 2010

Upcycled Valentine’s Day Quilling

Published by Charlotte under Quilling Gifts, Valentine Quilling

quilled-valentine-bottleLike most crafters these days, I am saving bottles, wrappers, and other packaging pieces for use in future craft projects.   I was looking through my stash for Valentine’s Day inspiration and found a wonderful glass bottle that used to contain a marinade.  I decided to dress it up and fill it with M&M’s (my husband’s favorite candy) for a great Valentine’s gift.
 
I didn’t want the gift to look too frilly or girly, and was pleased when I found heart scrapbook paper in shades of beige, pink, and brown (American Craft’s Romance collection, In Love, #34582).  I cut a band of the scrapbook paper to fit the bottle like a wrapper and grunged it up with brown blending chalk.  I kept the quilling embellishment to a minimum, using simple light pink, red, and brown, quilled hearts, inspired by the scrapbook paper, glued down the center.
 
To make a quilled heart, roll two teardrop coils the same size.  Glue the sides together, starting at the tip and ending just before the curve of the teardrop.  If you are new to quilling, learn how to make a teardrop coil here. 

Quilled Heart

Quilled Heart

Additional quilling instructions, hints, and information can be found in the Beginner’s Corner.  The quilled hearts used on the scrapbook paper bottle wrapper were made using 8″ strips of 1/8″ paper for the teardrop coils. 

 
The tag is a collage made from a dictionary page, a February calendar, and more quilled hearts. 
Abbie at The Vintage Moth has been kind enough to post free antique and vintage images for mixed media artists.  I found her post containing several pages scanned from a vintage dictionary.  quilled-valentine-tagThe word “love” was on one of the pages, so I copied the graphic into a photo editing software program, cropped the section I wanted, enlarged it a bit to fit a standard small white tag (3-1/4″ x 1-5/8″) and printed it out on white paper.  I glued it to the tag, trimmed the edges and punched out the tag hole.  The graphic already had a nice aged patina, so I just grunged the edges with brown blending chalk.  Next, I found a free calendar page for February courtesy of homemadecalendars.blogspot.com.  Again I copied the graphic, resized it, and printed it on white paper.  I cut it out and glued it on an angle to the tag, trimming the edges, and highlighted the calendar with light pink blending chalk.  I glued a 3mm flat-backed red crystal on top of the “14″ of the calendar to mark the date.  I then quilled three small hearts, one each light pink, red, and brown (teardrop coils made from 3″ strips of 1/8″ paper), and glued them randomly on the tag.  Red fiber string was used to tie the tag onto the bottle.
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Quilling Tip:  Use the same graphics and quilled hearts to create a fun ATC for your sweetheart, or use the tag as an embellishment for a Valentine’s Day card.
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4 responses so far