A Little Background
At the start of each year, I set my word of intention. This year’s was ‘challenge’. Maybe it was by design, because I think this word has certainly described 2019 on many levels for me, artistically and personally. You can read more about setting my word of intention and some other activities that I engaged in here.
After a recent extreme challenge in my personal life, I looked online to find some sort of new project to engage myself in as a creative outlet for my frustrations. I wanted something new, and something that would take a lot of focus while I was processing the other things I was dealing with. I think having activities or a practice that requires all of your attention is important for our minds. It’s very meditative. I stumbled across this Quilled Creations Snowflakes Quilling Kit from a company called Quilled Creations. From what I’ve been able to ascertain, they’re a leader in the ‘quilling community’!
Go big or go home right? I quickly found that in addition to needing instructions and the right paper, there were tools for properly making the paper quills. I discovered on Amazon there are a wide variety of all in one kits that include everything you need… ‘supposedly’.
Since I was investing so much into this project, I decided to also pick up a book of Crhistmas Quilling projects called Quilled Christmas: 30 Festive Paper Projects. It’s a collection of ideas for ornaments, cards, labels and general decorations. Fun fun! The nutcracker on the front cover is no joke!
While a lot of the tools for quilling basics may not be necessary… some very helpful items include:
- A quilling needle
- Slotted tool
- Tweezers
- Straight pins
- Craft glue
- A circle template board
I thought I was all set with the kit I bought, but quickly discovered that the template board did not have any circle templates that matched up with any standard circle sizes from the books and I therefore had to order a separate template board. The one with the kit honestly only works well as a place to hold your completed shapes. Lesson learned: buy on brand.
Paper Choices
The paper you use for quilling varies in length, width, color, and thickness. The paper used for making card is generally 3 mm or 1/8th of an inch. For other projects, especially 3 dimensional ones, a combination of different widths are often used.
You can also order paper in multi or single color packs. There are also themed packs for seasons, holidays… really anything you can think of. I think finding paper for quilling is much easier (and less expensive) in America, as I have yet to find a physical store that carries it near me in Canada. Walmart Canada does carry some online, but I couldn’t find any paper in the actual store. Amazon Canada has a better selection at a variety of prices. There is also paperquilling.ca but for what I wanted to order I was going to pay a lot in shipping so I’ve found Amazon to be the best option, for now anyways!
What does it involve to make a shape?
The basis of many shapes formed in paper quilling is a circle. Using a slotted quilling tool and a length of paper, one wraps the paper around the tool to the designated length and shape to make a ‘scroll”.
Many shapes start as the entire paper being wrapped around the tool into a circle, carefully removed and placed in the circle template for the appropriate size of circle you want to create. The circle unfurls until it hits the edge of the template. You then glue the edge in place and once dried it is ready to manipulate!
Pinching the paper in a variety of ways forms different shapes, such as teardrops, squares, rectangles, holly etc.
After the paper shapes are made, they are then pinned in place on the centre of the template board and glued together!
Once dried, the completed piece(s) can be glued onto paper or a card, OR hung up as an ornament with some string. For some of the snowflakes, I also added sparkly glue onto the edges to give it something extra.
Some Lessons
Completing my first snowflake, I said to myself ‘what the heck did I just commit to, this is a nightmare’… Quilling definitely has a learning curve, but as you learn with each shape the process becomes easier and quicker. I’m sure I’ll encounter more of such challenges as I try other projects with this art form… I also learned a few things from making my first set of cards which I’m sharing below:
- Less is more. Use as little glue as possible, especially when working on the template board so it doesn’t get stuck to it
- Too much glue used on the base of a quilled piece may also make it lose its tight shape when gluing it to paper
- School Glue that dries quick is your best bet. Tacky glue that stays wet for ages is no good
- Save your unused paper ends, you may be able to use them for other parts of the project
- Rough ends of paper hold better together than smooth
- Use good lighting!
- Buy the good quality tools
- You can reinforce your pieces on the paper you are mounting them on by adding more glue to the sides of the quilled paper after it is initially dried. This can be particularly helpful if you’re planning to mail the card and you are using thin strips
- If you are mailing your cards, address the envelopes before putting the cards in them. The raised parts make it very hard to write on the envelopes neatly!
Overall, paper quilling is a fun, and creative art form! It is also a great practice in mindfulness, as it takes a lot of patience and focus. Definitely not something you can multitask with!
Check out a few of the other cards I made this year…
-Cozy Out
