Quilling Inspiration | theartofquilling.com

Jun 06 2010

Quilled Puzzle Piece Magnet

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

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!

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

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

….

Bookmark It

8 responses so far

May 15 2010

Fabric “Paper” Makes Fun Background for Quilling

Published by Charlotte under Quilled Card, Quilling Inspiration

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.

To create stiffened fabric you will need:

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.

If your new fabric paper is a bit wrinkled, I found that it can be ironed flat. Use an iron setting appropriate for the fabric used (cotton or cotton blend) and do not use steam. Be sure to protect your ironing board surface and iron by using a dry pressing cloth over and under the dry stiffened fabric (a piece of the cloth you haven’t applied stiffener to works well).

One word of warning — do not get the stiffened fabric wet. It will turn limp like, well, fabric.

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.

Quilling Tip: The fun swirly doodle designed fabric was some that I had in my stash, but this would be a great way to recycle fabric from old clothing too worn to give to charity.

…

Bookmark It

4 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

In 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. :-)

…

Bookmark It

4 responses so far

Jan 30 2010

Enhance Your Quilling with Blending Chalks

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

Fig 1

Blending chalks are an excellent choice when you want to add a bit of color to your quilling. Made by several manufacturers, they come in a wide array of colors from soft pastels to bright jewel tones. Some even have a bit of shimmer mixed in (Fig. 1).

Chalks are easy to use and, unlike inks, are quite forgiving. Small sponge applicators (similar to those used for eye shadow) usually come with the chalks. Replacements can be a bit pricey in the craft stores, so you might want to look into the make-up applicators available at discount or beauty supply stores. You can also use cotton swabs, cotton balls, and tissues to apply the chalk.

Fig 2

You can apply chalks directly to your finished quills. This allows you to add color without splicing strips together. For the leaf (Fig. 2), I applied a darker green to the lower portion of the shaped marquise and yellow to the top with just a touch of red on the tip. In the photo, a plain leaf is on the left for comparison.

Quilled flowers can be enhanced with chalks as well. Dark colors of chalk look striking on flowers made with light colored papers while light chalk colors can really make darker flowers pop.

Fig 3

Yellow was added to the center of this star flower (on the right) giving it a warm glow. A plain star flower is on the left for comparison (Fig. 3).

My favorite use of chalks is to highlight the background papers used with my quilling. I love the look of torn paper edges and think they add a nice texture to a finished piece. Sepia and brown colors will give your background papers a worn, aged look.

Fig 4

Adding a color that blends or contrasts with your quilling is a great way to add interest and draw your eye into the quilling, just like when you add a mat to a piece of framed art (Fig. 4).

Don’t limit yourself to just chalking the edges of the quilling background. When I created this Valentine’s Day card for my husband, I brought the red chalk in from the edges and made it a part of overall design.

Fig 5

The chalk highlights the subtle texture of the background paper without taking anything away from the true focus of the card — the quilled floral heart wreath (Fig 5).

Give blending chalks a try — I think you’ll find that they can give your quilling an added depth and beauty.

Tip: Blending chalks are actually quite inexpensive and last a very long time. They are softer, however, than the sidewalk or blackboard chalks you might have played with as a child and they crumble easily. Also, I found out the hard way that the individual pieces of chalk are not glued inside their trays and will fall out if dropped, making a mess on your carpet if you are not careful.

Bookmark It

5 responses so far

Jan 15 2010

Quilled Stencil Rose

Published by Charlotte under Quilling Home Decor, Quilling How-To, Quilling Inspiration, Quilling Technique, Quilling Tips

In my last post (Groovy Birthday Wishes) I talked about the very popular technique of filling in an outline with quilling to form a design.

Normally, your piece of quilled art would be glued on top of your background surface like I did with the boot.

But, what happens if you place the quilling under the background, cutting out pieces to reveal the quilling?

You get a very striking piece of art that almost resembles needlework. It will look absolutely stunning and will add value to your home which is perhaps insured with Aviva (aviva.co.uk) or another company. Not just monetary value, but emotional value as the picture will soon become a family heirloom.

The method is quite simple:

Find a stencil that you like and lightly trace it onto the card stock you will be gluing the quilling shapes to. Remember, this paper will show through the coiled pieces, so you’ll want to choose a nice neutral or coordinating color that will go with your design.
Trace the stencil onto the paper you want as the cover for your quilling and cut it out with a craft knife. (Note: the piece is easier to frame if the bottom card stock and the top cover sheet are the same size.)
Roll your quilled shapes to fit slightly over the outline and glue to the card stock. Once finished, glue the top paper over the guilling, lining up the cut out stencil with your quilling and covering up any rough rough edges of the quilled design.
Frame your masterpiece and wait for friends to Oooooh and Ahhhh over your latest artistic endeavor.

Quilling Tip: This would make an awesome home decor DIY project. Add coordinating art work to a room that has a stenciled border. Use the same stencil for wall art and a coordinating pillow. Or create a stencil from a fabric pattern already in the room and bring it up to the wall with your own quilled piece.

Bookmark It

3 responses so far

Dec 29 2009

Groovy Birthday Wishes

Published by Charlotte under Quilled Card, Quilling How-To, Quilling Inspiration, Quilling Technique, Quilling Tips

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 wasn’t a teen during the Mod 60’s, but I do remember having a pair of white go-go boots when I was in kindergarten (thinking I was quite the femme fatale) and watching Hullabaloo and Shindig on TV.

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:

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.
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.
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.
Glue a strip of paper along the outside of your quilled piece to finish off the edge and complete your design.

Quilling Tip: Try coloring books and needlework patterns for designs with simple outlines.

…

Bookmark It

3 responses so far

Nov 16 2009

Snowflake Ornament Quilling Card

Published by Charlotte under Christmas Quilling, Quilled Card, Quilling Inspiration

christmas-quilling-class-snowflake-cards

I want to thank all of the ladies who attended the Christmas quilling class at the Marietta Community School. I hope you had a great time because I know I sure did!

Our class project was a Christmas card with a detachable snowflake ornament. I am very proud of the snowflakes the students quilled. This group photo of the students’ cards shows their talent and creativity. The snowflakes are not glued to the front (which is why they may appear to be crooked), but swing loose which makes for a fun surprise when the recipient opens the card.

When creating the card, I punched a 1/16″ hole in the card at the top of the circle background. This allowed me to thread the snowflake’s hanging loop through to the inside where I secured it with a piece of tape.

Many of us are on a tight budget, but you don’t have to trim your gift giving list this year. These cards are perfect when you need a little something this holiday season for co-workers, as a hostess gift, or for members of your book club. You can whip up a batch quite inexpensively, but I guarantee they’ll be appreciated and make a lasting impression.

Quilling Tip: I used a printed paper that reminded me of a starry night as the background for my snowflake, but many combinations are possible. A quilled wreath would be great attached to a card featuring a home’s front door. A quilled snowman could grace a card showing children playing in the snow. Or quill a stocking and attach it to a card that shows a fireplace with a roaring fire.

…

Bookmark It

4 responses so far

Oct 18 2009

Quilling with Kids — Ms. Pumpkin Head

Published by Charlotte under Quilling Inspiration, Quilling with Kids

My youngest daughter would tell you she is craft-challenged when it comes to the actual execution of a project, but she is as crafty as they come and has great ideas. The other day we were discussing Halloween and she suggested that I quill a face for a pumpkin. I’m thinking, “OK, I can quill some yellow triangles for eyes ….,” which didn’t seem too exciting so I put that idea away.

When Jen asked me if I had made the pumpkin yet, I knew I needed to take another look at the possibilities. And then it hit me — I could quill real features for the pumpkin, just like a Mr. Potato Head!

I used a tiny gourd-type pumpkin found at the grocery store. There is no pattern since you would have to adjust the quilling shapes to fit whatever size pumpkin you had, but here is a list of the coils I used:

Eyes: Tight coils starting with black for the pupil, then blue for the iris, and finishing with white. The eyelashes are fringed from a 3/8″ wide strip.
Nose: Teardrop
Mouth: Two half-circles on top with one large half circle on the bottom. Glue them together and pinch the sides.
Ears: Two curved teardrops; larger on top, smaller on the bottom.

I accessorized this stylish Miss with jump rings for earrings and a blue bow tied to her stem to match her eyes. I glued the features directly to the pumpkin using Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue, but any strong, thick glue should do fine.

This would be a great project to do with children. If you need further inspiration, simply surf the Internet for additional photos of decorated pumpkins. Turn your pumpkin into a scary monster with jagged teeth or a beautiful princess with a crown. You could color your pumpkin first with markers before gluing on the features if you’d like. The possibilities are endless. Just pull out your quilling papers and let your imagination go wild!

Quilling Tip: The idea isn’t just for pumpkins. You can quill faces for all sorts of fruits and vegetables. How about a yellow squash bird or an eggplant clown with a big red nose? This is one time when it is fine if children play with their food.

,,,

Bookmark It

8 responses so far

Oct 09 2009

Quilled “Boo!” Halloween Card

Published by Charlotte under Quilled Card, Quilling Inspiration, Quilling Tips

Next week I am teaching my first basic quilling class with a Halloween theme. It will also be my first Mommy & Me class (mother & daughter pairs), so I am really looking forward to it. For each class, I provide my students with three original quilling patterns along with all of the materials necessary to complete three projects. After making the basic shapes for their take-home chart, we complete one of the projects in class. They can then keep quilling at home with the other two projects… and get hooked on quilling (I hope)!

I was looking around the web for inspiration and ran across a card that spelled “boo!” using a chipboard letter “b” and exclamation point “!”. For the letter “o” they used jack-o-lantern stickers. It was so cute and I knew it would be just perfect as one of the class projects since each pair could make the card together, with the Mommy quilling one of the pumpkins and the child quilling the other. I wanted to put a photo of the inspiration card on this blog, but it is on a major site and I honestly couldn’t figure out who to ask, so I am including the link here so you can click over and take a look.

I am very happy with how my quilled Halloween card turned out.

Being creative doesn’t have to be expensive. All of the supplies for this card came from my own stash, except for the ribbon that was on sale this week at Michaels. Use what you have to make quilled cards for each season. The lucky recipient will thank you for it.

Quilling Tip: The idea of using objects for letters is not new. An arching black cat would make a perfect “h” in Halloween. And a quilled witches broom could be the “l”, or used as an exclamation point. You could even quill the spider from the last post and use it for the “o” in “Boo!” instead of the pumpkins. Just make its body out of a larger loose coil and shorten the legs, making him more of an “o” shape.

If you have been inspired my card, please take a moment and leave a comment. I would enjoy hearing from you!

…

Bookmark It

One response so far

Sep 08 2009

Steampunk Quilling ATC

Published by Charlotte under Quilling Inspiration

I have decided that this is the year I am going to quit saying, “someday,” and start doing the things I have wanted to do. When I had the opportunity to go to Dragon*Con this past weekend with my daughter, I went. In the organization’s own words, “Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US.” I have no idea how many attendees there were, but the event took over four hotels in downtown Atlanta. It was unbelievable — the costumes were amazing, the panel discussions enlightening, and the celebrity guests were quite charming. I personally spoke to Patrick Stewart (that’s right, Jean-Luc Picard himself), Bonita Friedericy (General Diane Beckman from Chuck), and John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox, Enterprise – but my daughter recognized him as the coroner on True Blood).

But, what really caught my attention were those dressed in “steampunk” costumes — women in beautiful Edwardian dresses with bustles and men in fun leather riding coats complete with goggles. And they carried the coolest brass-looking gadgets. Steampunk denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used (1800s), but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. Other examples of steampunk contain alternative history-style presentations of “the path not taken” technology, such as dirigibles, analog computers, or digital mechanical devices, presented as if they were in common use today.

I had run across a little bit of steampunk art on the internet several years ago, but had no idea how far this art had come. If you have the time, Google steampunk on the internet, or look at steampunk art on etsy.com or artfire.com. For the artist, it is a wonderful mix of found art — brass parts, watch gears, and cool keys.

I was exhausted when I got home, but had to make my own version of steampunk art the next day. I created an ATC (artist trading card) with paper punched gears rimmed with crimped quilling paper — I used both 1/8″ and 1/16″ wide paper and used my gold leafing pen to color both sides so it looked like crimped metal. The keys were clipped from some scrap collage paper I had in my stash. I found the old typewriter key font online which really went with the theme. I added a small piece of torn handmade paper for texture and glued all of the pieces to parchment card stock mounted onto chipboard for stability.

I have spoken about creative inspiration in several of my previous posts. The next time you are inspired by the events in your life, create your own ATC. They are the perfect size for creating miniature works of art that allow you to capture the moment without spending a lot of time. I will definitely be making more ATCs in the future.

…

Bookmark It