Nov 28, 2015

Quilling Letters 101 - Part 1 Kissing Glue


How did I get such a fine line of glue on the end of my quilling strip? In the next series of posts, I'm going to delve into how I do things on a microscopic level and show you step-by-step photos and thoughts.


You may have seen me use this fine-tip glue bottle before. It allows me to put down a thin line of glue on a piece of plastic. After the glue dries, I can easily flake it off and re-use the plastic again. I got mine at Michael's years ago, but haven't seen it around in a while. I've seen a similar bottle sold by Quilled Creations. I typically use Aleene's Acid-free Tacky Glue because it's thick and dries clear, quickly.


Then I simply "skinny dip" my end into the glue line and voila! It's very easy to control this way because the depth of my glue is extremely shallow. Just let the end kiss the glue. There is no need to jam it into the glue until you touch plastic.


This glue dries quickly, so here is a shot of the end when the glue is starting to thicken. The bead is wider. At this point, I am debating whether to use it or not. The glue seam will be more visible. So I would pinch off the glue with a tissue and re-dip with fresh glue.


By the way, the paper shown here is Canson Mi-Tientes, #507 Violet, 160 gsm, 1/4" wide.

I am a listener of Monica Lee's podcast show "Smart Creative Women". Her guest, Jennifer Lewis, explains how she decided to paint for half an hour every day, and how it became a practice for her.

I am often asked "How long did that take?" Unfortunately, I have a difficult time answering that because I lose track of time so easily. Any quiller can tell you a large project is meticulously constructed over many days or weeks. I'm often tempted to buy an old fashioned sandglass! Does anyone have a good way of monitoring themselves? 

So I thought I'd try to quill for half an hour every day and see how far I got. 10 minutes into it, I thought "I wonder if anyone wants to know about how I do this part?" 2 days later...prepping, photographing, color corrections, oops – not the right focus, re-photograph... I'm finally starting to post the first few steps of this typography project.


Here's a sneak peak of the next tutorial. 

Some of the wonderful feedback I've gotten for my book, Pretty Quilled Cards, and for my Craftsy class, Quilled and Sculpted Cards (ALL classes are $19.99 and under until Nov 30 – best deal of the year!), shed light on the fact that I take my often detailed brain for granted. I know not everyone is as into the minutiae as I am, but those who are, these next few project posts are for you.

As always, I'm grateful for the time you take to leave you kind comments – I re-read them to keep inspired!

Cecelia


Nov 26, 2015

Paper Anemone Flowers

paper anemone flower

Don't you just love how nature supplies the perfect color palette? Anemone flowers have so many variations that I never get tired of looking at my finished blossoms.


My favorite part is how the center dome is covered in what looks at first to be pollen.


They are great as table setting decor or as a 3D greeting card. Can you imagine using this on top of gift boxes instead of a bow? I'd have a hard time opening my gift.




I teach how to make these anemone flowers in my Craftsy class, Quilled and Sculpted Cards, as well as 6 other lessons. To celebrate Black Friday, ALL their classes $19.99 or less! It's the best deal of the year and you can watch whenever you like because it'll never expire.


Nov 12, 2015

Quilling Snowflake Pattern: Arctic


Let it snow! After seeing how popular my snowflake grid has been in my Craftsy class, I've designed a simple quilled snowflake pattern, called “Arctic” so you can keep making more unique cards for your family and friends this holiday.


Just like the patterns I designed in my book, Pretty Quilled Cards, you won't need to reach for a ruler to measure the length. Simply place your strip on top of my guides and trim to the right length. Dotted lines indicate where you'll need to fold.


A table lists what size of circle template should be used, whether you are using the one from Quilled Creations or the dollar store variety with incremental sizes in millimeter units.


After releasing within the circle template, pick up the coil and glue the end closed. I like using a fine tip glue bottle so I can apply very little glue (I like using Aleene's Tacky Glue because it's thick, not watery).


The first shape in the Arctic snowflake is a marquise, which is made by pinching either side of the coil.


I try to hide the end of the strip by pinching exactly along that line. This way, the viewer rarely sees the seams. When I glue the snowflake together, I will face all these "seams" toward the center, with it's inner coil all facing the same direction.


The next shape to make is called a V-scroll. After firmly folding the strip in half, coil both ends outwards. Place it on top of my template to ensure they are about the right size.


The 3rd and last shape is a teardrop. After making your coil and gluing the end closed, pinch along the seam and release.


Cut out my snowflake grid and place it on a cork board or styrofoam sheet. Cover it with plastic cling wrap so your work does not stick to the template.

Assemble all your elements on top of my grid and glue each set of 6 shapes together, one set at a time. Use pins to keep the shapes aligned and behaving.



The step-by-step photos above were made of Stardream Vista, in an 81blb  Text weight (120 gsm) so that you can see each stage more easily, but I love how classic white on white looks.

Ever been tempted to buy pre-made silver edged quilling strips? There's really no need if you have a metallic silver ink pad – simply dab it on top when you're finished. When it's been gilded with silver, it just looks so chic!



The ink pad I've been using is called Platinum Planet by Brilliance.




I love hearing what people are inspired to make, so please let me know how it goes for you!

Cecelia

Nov 8, 2015

Tips for Quilling Flowers


My book, Pretty Quilled Cards, was recently given a review by Honey of Honey’s Quilling. Honey has so many great quilling tutorials on her blog, so I was eager to hear her response. Although she and her daughter anticipated doing the projects and were having fun being able to mix and match different components, there were some challenges. Specifically, Honey had some trouble in gluing the flower petals. I'm so grateful she pointed this out, so I can explain it better, in case any one else is also struggling with this too.


Honey was most inspired to quill the cherry blossoms on the front cover of my book. The petals were coming apart on her, and not sticking well – let's see if I can add some pointers here.


Once the petals have been cut and folded where indicated by my pattern, dip the fold into a small glue puddle. This way the paper is simply "kissing" the puddle and it's easy to minimize the amount of glue used. Adhere the fold to the flower center.


Use a needle tool or toothpick and gently score along that fold. Running something along that fold is mainly pressing the papers together firmly, reinforcing the bond. Set the flower on your table surface and allow to dry. If you are impatient like me (and apparently Honey too :), then work on 3 flowers at one time. By the time you are gluing the third blossom, the first has enough time to set — otherwise they can and will come apart.

The glue I enjoy using most Aleene's Original  Tacky Glue because it's super thick and dries clear quickly. I avoid using any children's school glue because it's simply too liquid. I hope that helps you with quilling my open, airy flowers!


Nov 3, 2015

My Book, Pretty Quilled Cards, is Translated in Chinese!


Guess what came in the mail the other day? A Chinese version of my book, Pretty Quilled Cards! I'm of Chinese descent, but I can barely write my name and recognize the numbers 1-10. So although I can't read this book, at least it'll mean more to my parents.


Then the other day, I received this photo from a dear reader. She was at Barnes & Noble and snapped a photo of my book on the shelf alongside other books. I was so thrilled because I've hunted in book stores in both Canada and US, and have yet to even see quilling books on the shelf. It's an image I've had in my mind to hope to see ever since my book was released. Pretty cool!