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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.

“Thanks for sharing your ideas. The rose pattern came just in time as I’m working on a wedding invitation and was looking for a fill in. I used a strip of variation paper (shaded from red to white and back to red) and it came out beautifully.” 

 

 

Rick took the pattern I provided and changed it by using the variegated paper (Fig 1).  I think that it softened the rose and made it a better fit for her overall design.  She used the rose pattern again in her floral spray at the bottom of her piece (Fig 2), but changed the center teardrop of the rose to a marquise and omitted the rose leaves.  

 

You don’t need to copy a pattern exactly – use it as a jumping off point to quill the piece that you see in your own mind.  Change the colors, change the shapes, change the background … there are so many ways to change a pattern to make it your “own.”  You may think that you are not creative enough to come up with original patterns, but I’m willing to bet you can.  Creating an original pattern is as much a skill as anything and skills can be learned.  Start by making changes to an existing pattern.  Then make a few changes to the changes.  Pretty soon, you will see your own quilling style, your own creative voice, emerge. 

 

Creative ideas — we all have them, but do you capture them for future use?  If not, you are losing a very valuable crafting resource.  

 

Flashes of inspiration can occur anytime, anywhere. You may be browsing through a home decorating magazine and spot a color combination you wouldn’t normally choose. It catches your eye and you begin thinking that the colors would look striking on a handmade card. Or you see a floral arrangement that is quite out of the ordinary. You begin imagining it recreated in quilled flowers. It is such a good idea that you are sure you will remember it later. But, sadly, you probably won’t.

 

Last year, when I decided to get serious about my quilling, I realized just how many ideas I was losing track of. Sometimes the idea would return at a later time when I happened upon the same set of circumstances that sparked it in the first place, but I know that many are gone for good. To save as many ideas as possible, I created an idea box.

 

At a local office supply store I purchased a sturdy 3″x5″ card box, along with a set of tabbed dividers and cards printed in fancy colors (just because they made me smile). An unused recipe box you have tucked away or found at a yard sale together with scrap card stock cut to size could certainly be used and would be a great way to recycle. The tabbed dividers had the names of the months printed on them, so I turned them around and used the back. I wrote the names of the categories I wanted on some blank peel-and-stick labels I had, cut them to size, and stuck them on the tabs. Some of the categories I use are 3-D Quilling, Ornaments, Floral Ideas, Greeting Cards, Christmas, and Bits & Pieces, for ideas that don’t seem to fit elsewhere. You should customize your tabs to fit your own ideas.

 

The beauty of this system is that it not only allows me to capture a brief description of my idea, but to include a sketch, crude as it may be, or attach the actual picture that provided the original inspiration. I scanned one of my cards to show you what I mean. It’s not “pretty” and I certainly had no idea at the time I made it that anyone else would ever see it, but I think it accurately demonstrates my point.

 

Remember, with this system you aren’t designing your project, just jotting down enough information to jog your memory at a later time. This is meant to be a quick and easy tool used to capture the spirit of the idea before it is lost, not necessarily the details. If the process turns into a chore, you won’t use it. 

 

I encourage you to make your own Quilling Idea Box and keep it near your work space. When you have an idea, jot it down. When you need inspiration at a later date, simply open your box and look through your cards. I have no doubt that you will see a note that will start your creative juices flowing.  

July 4th is right around the corner and I wanted to create a special quilling project to celebrate America’s birthday.  I was looking around the Internet for patriotic images when I happened upon an American flag made with safety pins and pony beads.  Now, this is not a new craft; children have been making safety pin jewelry for years.  But this time when I saw the photo something clicked and I began to wonder if I could substitute quilled beads for the plastic pony beads.   I pulled out a safety pin from my sewing basket and made a few tight coils as test beads.  I slipped them on the safety pin and realized that the idea would work.  After a trip to my local craft store for the safety pins, I was ready to make my own version of this childhood crafting classic. 

 

Quill (9) blue 3″ tight coils, (26) red 3″ tight coils, and (21) white 3″ tight coils.  If you think that your pin will be handled a lot, spray the quills with several coats of sealer to protect them.  Next, take a 1-1/4″ long coiless pin slip on three blue tight coils, then four more tight coils in this order: white, red, white, red. When it is fully loaded, shut the pin and crimp the clasp with your pliers so it cannot come open.  Repeat for two more pins.  Load the five remaining coiless pins with seven tight coils in this order: red, white, red, white, red, white, red.  Crimp the clasps to secure the beads. 

 

Using the photo as a guide, assemble your American Flag pin by placing the eight 1-1/4″ pins on the shaft of the 2″ pin, making sure they are in the right order.  With the front of the pin facing you, wrap one end of the wire around left-hand side of the shaft of the 2″ pin several times then run it through the pin loop to secure it.  Wrap the wire several times around the handle of your quilling tool to form little coils.  Secure the remaining end of the wire to the clasp end of the 2″ safety pin.  In honor of our brave troops, tie the yellow ribbon onto the wire loop and clip the ends.

 

Wear your American Flag pin on July 4th or any day you want to show your national pride!

 

I encourage you to take this idea and adapt it to your own country’s flag. 

 

*Coiless safety pins have the same basic shape as regular safety pins, but instead of having a circle loop of wire at the end, the wire simply bends. I used The Jewelry Shoppe brand coiless pins that I found at Hobby Lobby.  If you can’t find coiless pins, you can certainly use regular safety pins, but you will have to purchase them a bit longer because you will lose a bit of available space due to the coil.  Also, if you use regular safety pins to hold your tight coil beads, you will need to pull apart the double looped end of the two inch long safety pin wide enough to slide the other safety pin loops through to the other side of the pin. 

 

 

Quilling Tip:  A Google image search will bring up a multitude of wonderful pictures when you need creative inspiration.  Don’t limit your search to quilling, but look at all types of images from clip art to photographs.  You never know what you might find … or where it might lead you in your creative journey.