Touching a Legacy and a Tiny Mystery

A fantastic book - a favorite
I've already reviewed here
on the blog.

I was very saddened to learn today that quiller Malinda Johnston passed away just a few days ago, on Thanksgiving, November 24, 2016.  I was one of a huge number of quillers that found her work to be inspiring.  Her books simply made me want to quill, and then they did a great job of showing you just how to do it.  She has left behind an incredible legacy that will positively impact paper quilling and quillers for many years to come.

I've already reviewed her book "The Book of Paper Quilling: Techniques and Projects for Paper Filigree" here on this blog.  It will always be a favorite.  I remember opening up the book and flipping through the designs for the first time.  I was particularly impressed by the Halloween design (after seeing me post my own Halloween Sampler here on the blog, I'm sure you are not surprised by this.)  The little pumpkin on that page is so perfectly made, and the swirls in the ghost show impeccable technique.  I decided that no pumpkin could possibly be better than that one, and have rather consciously tried to meet that standard on every pumpkin I've quilled since.

And then years later ...

Pages 78 and 79 of the book, showing the little pumpkin
that I became somewhat obsessed over.

I blogged about attending the North American Quilling Guild Conference that happened in May of this year.  One of the things I didn't mention was that at that meeting, everyone had the chance to walk away with a piece of quilling history.  A number of older pieces of quilling had been contributed to the guild, and we were all given the chance to pick one out for our very own.  I didn't know this until late in the meeting, and so by the time I got to the display there weren't many left.  I walked down the table ... and couldn't believe my eyes.  There was the pumpkin!  The ghost!  And I was able to take them home for my very own!  They are a bit worse for wear over the years, but I am thrilled to have them in my collection.

Actual in-my-hard art is
above, and the book's
image is below.

So that is me with a small touch of a great legacy.  So what is the tiny mystery, here?  It is this - the question of who quilled this piece is not easily answered.  You'd think it would be easy, because on the back of the piece there is a post-it note saying "Designed by Eleanor Baxter for LCC Book of Paper Quilling pg. 79."  But.  When you read the acknowledgements in the back of the book, Eleanor Baxter is credited with the Valentine Heart, also shown on page 79.  (see picture of two page spread, above.)  In fact, no one in the acknowledgements is credited with the Halloween design.  So I'm wondering, did Malinda do this herself, and did the post it note get moved to the back of the wrong project?  Or was there a mistake in the acknowledgements for the book? 

Another picture of book with
quilled art.  Love it.

I suppose I might never know the answer to those questions.  It does not matter to me from one perspective - that I now own this awesome piece of quilling that has always meant something to me.  But it does matter to me because I'd love to give credit where it is due.  In any case, Malinda Johnston created a great book that included this and many other wonderful designs.  And she did a great deal more for quillers everywhere.  I still look forward to quilling designs from Lake City Crafts.

Image Credits:  My pictures of books and quilling that I own.  The Halloween design?  Well, it appears in the book, and could be from either Malinda Johnston or Eleanor Baxter.

Halloween Sampler - Projects #8 and #9

This is the last post for the Halloween Sampler!  Finally ... I hope these instructions are of some use, and that you have fun making a few of these little projects, or the whole sampler!

I particularly hope you have fun with the projects that are a little more unusual - there are lots of patterns for pumpkins, but vampire fangs and skeleton keys are a little more hard to find.

This post covers projects #8 and #9 (out of nine).  I've already posted the general instructions, the mat board cutting instructions, as well as projects #1 - #7 and a bonus project!

First post -  Halloween Sampler
Second post - General Instructions and Mat board
Third post - Bonus Project and Project #1
Fourth post - Projects #2 and #3
Fifth post - Projects #4 and #5 
Sixth post - Projects #6 and #7 
Seventh (and last) post is this one! - Projects #8 and #9

And remember, if you want to download all the instructions right now in one go, then head over to Craftsy where I have them posted for $3.99.

Project #8:  Vampire Fangs

Materials:
Mouth
- bright red, 2 strips at 8” (upper lip)
- bright red, 1 strip at 12” (lower lip)
- bright white, 2 strips at 3” (fangs)
- dark red, 1 strip at 6” (blood drop)
Thorny Rose Vines
- bright red, 1 strip at 12” (rose) 1/4” wide strip
- olive green, 2 strips at 5” (vines)
- olive green, 4 strips at 2.5” (thorns)
- dark red, 1 strip at 3” (blood drop)

Start by using 2 of the 8" bright red strips.  Make two long teardrops.  Make a long, flat semi-circle with the 12" strip.  Glue these three pieces together as shown to form lips.  Form fangs by taking the 2, 3” strips of white and making long triangles.  Glue these on top of the lower lip.  Make a teardrop out of the 6” dark red strip, and glue it to the lower lip so it appears to be dripping off of one of the fangs.

Make a rose from the 12” strip of 1/4" wide paper.  Make two long “S” coil shapes from the 5” olive green strips.  On each of these “S” shapes, glue two thorns.  The thorns are long triangle shapes made from the 2.5” long strips of olive green.  For a final touch, create a small teardrop shape from the 3” dark red strip and position it so it drips from one of the thorns.

The fangs and thorny vines are found in the upper right square of the sampler.  Glue the pieces into place there, the square in the top, right column.

Project #9:  Witch’s Lair

Materials:
Hat
- bright purple, 2 strips at 10” (hat)
- orange, 1 strip at 1.5” (sash)
- yellow, 1 strip at 1” (buckle) ¼ wide paper
- black, 1 strip at 1/8” (buckle)
Cat
- black, 1 strip at 9” (body)
- black, 1 strip at 5” (head)
- black, 1 strip at 4” (tail)
- black, 1 strip at 2” (whiskers)
- black, 1 strip at 2” (nose) 1/8” narrow paper
- black, 2 strips at 2” (ears)
- neon green, 2 strips at 1.5” (eyes)
Caldron
- black, 1 strip at 25” (pot)
- black, 1 strip at 12” (lip of pot)
- black, 2 strips at 3” (feet of pot)
- green/yellow, 4 strips; 5”, 4”, 3”, 2” (poison fumes)

To make the witch’s hat, start with a 10” strip of bright purple and form it into a long triangle, with the tip slightly bent.  Make a circle out of the other 10” strip and squash it flat to form the brim of the hat.  Glue together.

Use the strip of orange and wrap it around the bottom of the hat just above the brim.  It should go across the front and down both sides of the hat (but not around the back).  Trim the strip to fit if necessary. 

To make the buckle use the bit of 1” yellow wide width paper, cut a small rectangle.  Use the black paper to cut an even smaller rectangle, as shown.  Glue the black rectangle onto the yellow one.  Now glue this onto the hat, on top of the strip of orange.  (You can also make a nice hat from other colors, such as black and dark green, and use strips of different colors as well for the sash.)

The cat’s body is made from a wide teardrop formed from the 9” long strip of black paper.  The 5” strip should be formed into an eye shape and glued on top of the teardrop.  Use the 4” length of black to form a tail, curving and trimming into whatever shape pleases you.  Make two ears by making long triangles from the 2” strips of black paper.  An image of the back of the finished cat is shown.

The face is more detailed, and getting a good picture was hard.  First, make two eye shapes from the neon green, and glue them to the upper part of the head, just under the ears.  Now take the 2” strip of black and use the scissors to cut it lengthwise into 4 very narrow strips.  Center these under the cat’s eyes, and fan them out a bit to look like whiskers.  Glue into place one at a time, right on top of one another.  Just use one tiny dab of glue at a time, and then put another whisker down, and glue that.  On top of the center of the whiskers, you will put the nose.  The nose is a triangle made from the 2” strip of narrow black (although regular width would work fine, using narrow width paper here helps to keep the nose from poking out, and hides the middle of the pile of whiskers where you glued them in place.)  Glue the nose.  Trim the whiskers to be the right length for your project.  (mine stick out about ½ to ¼ of an inch from the nose on either side).

The boiling caldron starts with the 25” strip of black, rolled into an offset-circle.  Put the center of the offset at the bottom, and flatten the top of the circle to be the top of the pot.  Use the 12” strip to form a circle, and squash it flat to make up the brim of the pot.  Glue in place.  The feet of the pot are made from the 2, 3” strips made into circles.  Glue to the pot.

The poisonous fumes are made from four pieces of yellow/green paper of various lengths.  Each is made into an “S” Shape and glued to the top of the pot, and to each other wherever they touch.  I used 5”, 4”, 3”, and 2” length strips.

Arrange the hat, cat, and caldron in the lower, middle square.  Glue into place in the middle column, bottom, as shown.

Image Credit:  All my own pictures of my own quilling, all my own original designs.

     
   
 

Halloween Sampler - Projects #6 and #7

Right, I had said in August that I'd get all these sampler instructions up by Halloween.  Well, that's today, and I still have instructions to put up.  So I'm just going to get these two posts up right now, and get this done once and for all :) Still my excuse was all the work I was doing on my "Spiral Moon" project, which as the Moon is also vaguely Halloween-y.

This post covers projects #6 and #7 (out of nine).  I've already posted the general instructions, the mat board cutting instructions, as well as projects #1 - #5 and a bonus project!

First post -  Halloween Sampler
Second post - General Instructions and Mat board
Third post - Bonus Project and Project #1
Fourth post - Projects #2 and #3
Fifth post - Projects #4 and #5 

And remember, if you want to download all the instructions right now in one go, then head over to Craftsy where I have them posted for $3.99.

Project #6: Black Widow Spider

Materials:

Web
- grey, 4 strips at 5” (web top and bottom)
- grey, 1 strip at 3” (web strands)
- grey, 3 strips at ¾” (web)
- grey, 3 strips at 1” (web)
- grey, 1 strip at 2” (strand from spider)
Spider
- black, 1 strip at 4” (head)
- black, 1 strip at 7” (body)
- black, 4 strips at 2” (legs)
- bright red, 2 strips at 2.5” (hourglass)

Web:  The web is made of grey strips.  First, take two 5" strips and make long 'S' shapes.  Glue together to form the ‘side’ of the web.  Make two more long “S” shapes and glue these together for the ‘top’ of the web.  Glue these two sets together where they touch.  Take the 3" long strip and fold it into a 'V' shape.  Place it inside the long “S” shapes and glue into place.  This forms the long, straight structure of the interior of the web. 

The cross webs are each a separate bit of paper, slightly curved.  Inside are three .75" strips, and outside are three 1" strips.  Slide them in-between the “V” and “S” shapes, and carefully glue the ends in place.  I found tweezers to be very helpful when doing this.
 
Then the spider.  The head is a 4" strip of black, and the body is a 7" strip of black, both formed into circles.  Before gluing them together, take 4, 2" strips of black and glue them flat between the head and body, one at a time.  When dry, curve these to form legs, and trim the length as necessary to fit your project. (I wanted my spider legs to be really long, but I had to trim them up to get the spider to fit in the box.)

Take 2, 1.5 inch strips of bright red and form them into triangles.  Glue together at the tip to form an hourglass shape.  When dry, glue this onto the body of the spider. 

Last, take a strip about 2" long of the grey, and attach it to the spider's body.  Attach the other end to the top of the web, trimming as necessary to fit your project.

The black widow can be found in the first box of the project.  Glue the pieces together in the first column, left, top box.

Project #7:  Skeleton Keys

Materials:
Silver Skeleton Key
- silver metallic, 1 strip 20” (skull)
- silver metallic, 10 strips at 1.5” (barrel)
- silver metallic, 2 strips at 2” (long tines)
- silver metallic, 1 strip 1.5” (short tine)
- black, 2 strips at 2” (eyes) 1/16” narrow width
- black, 1 strip at 2.5” (nose) 1/16” narrow width
- black 1 strip at 3” (mouth) 1/16” narrow width
Bronze Skeleton Key
Same as above, except using bronze metallic paper.
Keyholes
- black, 2 strips 4” long
- black, 2 strips 6” long

Start with a 20" strip of metallic silver.  Shape it into a 'pear'.  This is the skull of the skeleton (the top of the key). The barrel of the key is made with 10, 1.5" strips of silver metallic paper.  Form each strip into a tight circle.  (You might need 2" pieces of you don't wind around a needle tool like I do.)  Stack the tight circles and glue them in place in a long line, with all the ends of the strips lining up together (that way you can hide them under the key).  The final three pieces making up the tines of the key are 2 rectangles of 2" paper and one circle of 1.5" paper.  Glue pieces together as shown.

The picture shows the backs of the keys, where I tried to show how the paper ends of all the tight circles all line up along the back of the barrel (but I could have done a better job with my own keys :).  Repeat the whole process with bronze metallic paper for a second key.

The face is made from 2, 2" strips of black in closed circles for eyes, a 2.5" strip in black in a triangle for a nose, and a 3" strip in a long oval or rectangle for a mouth.  These were 1/16" narrow width paper, but you can use 1/8" for the face and it will work fine.  Make two sets of these.  Make sure you are now working with the TOP of your key (lines on the barrel are now down against the work surface) and glue your faces in place.  This picture is a bit over-exposed, but it shows the faces well.

To finish the project, make two keyholes.  Use the black 4” strips to make circles, and the black 6” strips to make long triangles.  Flatten the tops of the triangles slightly.  Glue the circles on the tops of the triangles.

Display your keys and the keyholes together in the sampler.  Glue them into the square in the middle of the left (first) column.

Image Credits:  All my own pix of my own qulling, my original designs

Halloween Sampler - Projects #4 and #5

I had said last year that I'd get all the instructions for my Halloween Sampler posted by Halloween.  Well, that didn't actually happen - and I just realized that Halloween 2016 is fast approaching!  So at the least, I will get them up by *this* Halloween!

So here is the next installment of the Halloween Sampler Instructions!  This covers projects 4 and 5 (out of nine).  I've already posted the general instructions, the mat board cutting instructions, as well as project #1 and a bonus project!


First post -  Halloween Sampler
Second post - General Instructions and Mat board
Third post - Bonus Project and Project #1
Fourth post - Projects #2 and #3

And remember, if you want to download all the instructions right now in one go, then head over to Craftsy where I have them posted for $3.99.

Project #4:  Lonely Tombstone

Materials:
- grey, 6 strips at 10” long (stone center)
- dark grey, 4 strips at 10” long  (base)
- dark grey, 5 strips at 6” (stone bevel)
- grey, one strip at 30” long (stone top)
- black, 2 strips at 2” long (R and P)
- black, 2 strips at 1.5” long (R and P)
- black, 4 strips at 1.5” long (R and I)

Start by making squares out of all the 10” strips.  Glue the four dark grey squares into a line.  Glue the six grey squares together to form a 2x3 box.  Glue the grey box in the center of the line of dark grey squares, as shown.  (You may notice that all my light grey squares are not quite the same size.  If this happens to you, use the slightly smaller squares higher up on the tombstone, and put the larger ones lower down, glued to the dark grey base.)

Now make squares out of all five of the 6” strips of dark grey, and glue these into a line.  Glue this line on top of the grey box.  Using 30" of light grey paper, create a half circle, and glue this onto the small, dark 
grey squares to form the top of the tombstone.  You might not need the full 30” of paper.  I wanted a very dense top to the tombstone.

The RIP is formed using black strips.  Make a circle out of a 2" strip, and squash it into a line.  Do this with a 1.5" strip as well.  Make a circle out of a 1.5" strip, and slightly flatten it on one side.  Glue these three pieces together as shown to form the “R”.  The “I” is made from three, 1.5" strips, formed into circles and squashed flat.  The “P” is the same as the “R”, without the extra 1.5" piece.  Glue the letters onto the middle of the tombstone.

This forms the central project in the sampler.  Glue it into the center square.

Project #5:  Scary Owl

Materials
- black, 2 strips at 6” long (pupils)
- honey gold, 2 strips at 6” (irises)
- white, 2 strips at 9” (whites of eyes)
- black, 2 strips at 2.5” (outer eye)
- white, 1 strip at 25” (body)
- dark brown, 1 strip at 10” (body)
- dark brown, 1 strip at 4” (forehead)
- dark brown, 2 strips at 6” (eyebrows)
- dark gold, 2 strips at 4” (feet)
- dark brown, 2 strips at 10” (wings)

For the eyes, start by gluing the following in order, end to end:  6" black, 6" honey gold, 9" white, and 2.5" black.  Make two, and create tight rolls with them.  Start rolling from the longer black end (this is the pupil,) and then continue rolling the honey gold (iris) etc.

For the body, take a 25" strand of white and create a circle.  If you like, you can offset the center as I have, or leave it 'natural'.  Surround with 10" of dark brown.  Form into a slight oval shape.  Glue the eyes to the body. 

Now create a dark brown, long triangle to fill in the 'forehead' of the owl.  Use a 4" strip of dark brown.  Use two more dark brown strips 6" in a wavy leaf shape to make 'eyebrows.'   Glue together.

The feet are made of two dark gold strips, 4" long, made into curved teardrops.  The wings are dark brown, 10" long.  You can make these into curved teardrops, as shown here, or semi-circles.  You can keep them close to the body, as I have done, or angle them outwards so the owl appears to be flying.  Glue as shown.

Finally, use a 4" strip of honey gold in the form of a diamond to make the beak. Glue the beak on top of the 'face' just a bit between and below the eyes, as shown.

In the sampler, the owl is in the center of the top row.  Glue the owl into this square.

Image Credit:  All my own pix of my own quilling, my original designs.

Preparing for a Quilling Conference

I'm soon off to attend my first quilling conference!  This is the North American Quilling Guild's 2016 Con, this year in Nashville, TN.  I thought I wasn't going to be able to attend, but as it is, I'm on work travel not too far away just before the conference.  So I have the opportunity to pop on over and spend the weekend steeped in quilling.  I really hope it's as fun as it sounds, and that I get to spend time meeting new people who enjoy quilling as much as I do!

Still, it was difficult for me to figure out what I had to do to prepare for this conference, and even now I think I might not really be ready.  Not everything one needs to know as a first timer is in one place.  So many people are repeat attendees they probably assume everyone knows how long the con is, when you can register, if there are group events, if there are public events or demos, etc.  Now that the agenda is out, that information is all available, but I didn't know a lot of it when I was making my travel plans many months ago.

I realized rather late in the game that I needed to make my own thematic name tag.  I eventually managed to find a bit of time this afternoon to put one together, a little banjo with some musical notes.  It's pretty basic, but it will do.  The next time I can go to this conference I hope to be able to spend more time on the name tag.  It is a fun idea, and will make a nice keepsake. 

I registered for the contest, but was unable to complete the piece I'd hoped to bring.  So I'm bringing another one.  My fault entirely, I have no idea if I can change pieces at this late date.  But I'll bring a project and see.  Annnnnd then I realized I did not have new business cards for the blog, here!  My cards still have the old blog name.  So I quickly mocked up some cards and printed them at home on card stock.  Not as nice and spiffy as they could be, but hopefully they will serve the purpose.

I didn't even know I had to sign up for classes until it was almost too late to do so.  I blithely assumed I'd just show up and go to whatever classes floated my boat.  But it makes a lot of sense to assign people a priori.  That way there is a good balance, no one instructor is left alone or overwhelmed, and people can plan for how much and what materials to bring with them.  Oh yeah, the materials.  That's another interesting situation for me, since I never check bags when I fly.  But I'm going to have to check for this flight, what with all the quilling tools, scissors, pliers, and other odd devices I'm bringing with me.  Technically, they are all small enough to get through security, but I don't feel like trying to deal with that if someone is weirded out by my odd little paper craft.

Another last minute item that worked in my favor was that they were still looking for volunteers for Saturday afternoon to do demos and take-aways with the general public.  I love stuff like that, and am looking forward showing a few folks how great quilling is, and maybe making someone a quiller-for-life!

Image credit:  All my own stuff, and all my own pictures of that stuff.

Poinsettia Flower Ornament Revisited

As you know I posted the directions for my Poinsettia Flower Ornament here on the blog a few weeks ago.  (I had also created directions for my Halloween Sampler, and posted that up at Craftsy for a fee.)  It occurred to me that the directions for the simple poinsettia flower might be a nice thing to post for free, so that's what I did.

I am astonished to say that the Poinsettia Flower Instructions have been downloaded from Craftsy more than a hundred times already!  This means a couple of things to me - people really like free patterns (of course) but also, that there is a demand for really simple quilling patterns.  I am surprised, actually, but it has been ages since I was a beginner at quilling.  I'm having a little trouble imagining what it is like ... especially since there was no internet nor computers when I first started.  I learned all my material from books or from patterns I purchased.

These days, of course people are turning to the internet before anything else.  Why buy a potentially expensive book when you can download patterns for free, and get all your instructions on free videos from various sites?  Seems like a smart way to start and see if you like a craft before making more of an investment in time and money.

So I'll be thinking of ways to post other, small, free patterns and hope they are as useful and popular as the poinsettia!  I wish I had written down the directions for my candy cane when I made it.  I'll have to be more thorough when I make new pieces - someone else might want to make them, too!

Halloween Sampler - Projects #2 and #3

Here is the next installment of the Halloween Sampler Instructions!  This covers projects 2 and 3 (out of nine).  I've already posted the general instructions, the mat board cutting instructions, as well as project #1 and a bonus project!

First post -  Halloween Sampler
Second post - General Instructions and Mat board
Third post - Bonus Project and Project #1

And remember, if you want to download all the instructions right now in one go, then head over to Craftsy where I have them posted for $3.99.

Project #2: Frightening Ghost

Materials:
- light grey, 9 strips at 6” long (body)
- light grey, 2 strips at 4” long (body)
- light grey, 1 strip at 10” long (head)
- light grey, 2 strips at 8” long (arms)
- black, 2 strips at 2” long (eyes) – 1/16” narrow strip
- black, 1 strip at 4” long (mouth) – 1/16” narrow strip
- grey, 4 strips at 6” long (fog)

Take the nine strips of light grey 6” long and make long diamond shapes. Take the two strips of light grey at 4” long and make two teardrops. Also make teardrops out of the two 8” long light grey strips, curving the teardrops slightly at the ends. Make another teardrop from the 10” long light grey strip. Glue these together as shown to form the ghost.

For the face, create three circles from the narrow black strips, and use the larger circle for the mouth. Glue these onto the ghost.

For the ‘fog’ use 4 strips of a slightly darker color of grey. Make very long “S” coils from each of these. Glue two of the “S” shapes together as shown for the lower border, and two other “S” shapes together for the side border. Glue these together where they touch.

The ‘fog’ is of course optional. If you are choosing to put your projects into the sampler, then you may want the fog to help ‘frame’ the projects. Each of the four projects in the corners of the mat board have an element that helps to frame them.

Glue these pieces into the mat board, right column bottom square.

Project #3: Jack-O-Lantern

Materials:
Jack-o-Lantern
- orange, 1 strip at 14” (large pumpkin)
- orange, 2 strips at 16” (large pumpkin)
- orange, 2 strips at 18” (large pumpkin)
- light brown, 1 strip at 4” (large stem)
- olive green, 1 strip at 3” (leaf)
- olive green, 1 strip at 2” (corkscrew vine)
- black, 2 strips at 4” long (eyes)
- black, 1 strip at 3” long (nose)
- black, 3 strips at 2.5” long (mouth)
Border
- olive green, 2 strips 3” (leaves)
- olive green, 2 strips at 4” (leaves)
- olive green, 2 strips at 4” (vines)
- light brown, 1 strip at 2” (small stem)
- olive green, 1 strip at 1” (corkscrew vine)
- orange, 1 strip at 4” (small pumpkin)

The pumpkin is made of bright orange, five strips, one at 14", two at 16", and two at 18". Take the 14” strip and make an ‘eye’ shape. Take the other long orange strips and make crescent shapes. Glue the shorter crescents to the eye shape, and then glue the longer crescents to form the outside of the pumpkin, as shown.

The stem is light brown at 4" long, formed into an asymmetrical square shape. Make the leaf shape from the olive green 3" strip. Use a toothpick or quilling tool to help form the corkscrew vine from the 2" of olive green. The face is made of black strips, all triangles, with eyes of 4" long, nose 3", and three teeth at 2.5" each. Glue together as shown.

The vines are long “S” shapes, each 4" of olive green. Make all four leaves, and glue the smaller 3” leaves closer to the middle of the vines. Glue the longer 4” leaves to the ends of the vines.

The small pumpkin is a somewhat flattened circle made from one 4" bright orange, strip. It has a tiny square stem made from the 2" light brown strip, and a coil of 1" olive green.

As you see from the photo, the ‘vines’ and the small pumpkin are not attached, but are separately glued to the white background. The jack-o-lantern is framed nicely by the vines. Glue these pieces into the left column, into the square at the bottom left corner.

Halloween Sampler - First Projects

As promised, I'm going to post the instructions for my Quilled Halloween Sampler here on the blog.  This is the third post; time to get into the projects!

First post -  Halloween Sampler
Second post - General Instructions and Mat board

And remember, if you want to download all the instructions right now in one go, then head over to Craftsy where I have them posted for $3.99.



BONUS Project:  Quilled Candy in Wrappers

Materials:
- white, 6 strips at 4” long (wrapper)
- white, 3 strips at 8” long (candy)
- bright yellow, 1 strip at 8” long (candy)
- light red, 1 strip at 8” long (candy)
- purple, 1 strip at 8” long (candy)
- orange, 1 strip at 8” long (candy)
- black, 1 strip at 8” long (candy)


Here is an easy project to start off that’s not shown in the sampler – quilled candy in ‘wrappers.’  Start by stacking (right on top of each other, NOT end to end) the red, yellow, and white strips all at once.  The white strip should be on the ‘bottom.”  Roll the three strips up all at the same time.  The three colors swirl together as you roll them.  Make sure the white ends up on the ‘outside.’  Form a circle (the colored strips might need to be trimmed to hide them under the white.) 

Make two triangles with 4" of white paper each.  Curve one side.  Glue these with the curved side out, to either end of the circle.  Repeat with a stack of green/purple/white, and then a stack of orange/black/white.

Project #1:  Flying Bat

Materials:
- black, 8 strips at 6” long (wings)
- black, 1 strip at 9” long (body)
- black, 2 strips at 2” long (ears)
- black, 3 strips – from ¾” long to 1.5” long (small bats)
- bright yellow, 1 strip at 10” long (moon)

First make eight circles with the 6" black strips.  Form these into triangles, but curve one side of each.  Glue these together as shown to form two wings. (Each wing has three triangles pointed ‘up’ and one pointed ‘down’.) 

For the body, take a 9" black strip and make a teardrop.  Take 2" black strips and form them into long triangles for the ears of the bat.  Glue the pieces together. 
Take three black strips that are from 3/4" to 1.5" and make "M" shapes (other bats).  Use a 10" strip of bright yellow in the form of a crescent to serve as the Moon.

Glue these pieces into the mat board – right side middle square.

Image Credit - My pix of my quilling, my designs

Quilled Halloween Sampler - Starting the Directions

Empty mat board ready for quilling!

As promised in my first post on my Halloween Sampler, I'm going to post the instructions for the Sampler here on the blog.  It's a lot of material, so it will take several posts to get it all up.  No time like the present!

And remember, if you want to download all the instructions right now in one go, then head over to Craftsy where I have them posted for $3.99.

Here's where it starts … General Instructions

The rest of the projects in the Sampler assume you have read and followed all of these instructions.

Difficulty: 
Overall, the level of this tutorial is “Beginner” with some elements that are “Intermediate.”  If you are a “Novice” (that is, if you have no experience with quilling) you will first need to find a book or online tutorial that shows you how to quill, and how to make all the standard shapes, such as roses, coils, off-center quills, and more.  Practice making these shapes and doing some basic projects to learn about how to use the materials, etc.  Then you can proceed to use these instructions.  These projects are listed in order of increasing difficulty.

Photos:
Photographs are not to scale!  They are only for reference!  Some are close-ups and some are zoomed out!  They do not show the exact size of the intermediate or finished projects.  So do not print them out and quill over them!  Make the shapes as directed in the instructions, and glue them together in the ways shown in the pictures.  You can get an idea of the size by looking at the front cover (the image from the last post of the whole sampler).  Each of the boxes, including the black outline, is 3x3 inches tall and wide.  The black lining takes up ¼” on each side of the box, and the top and bottom.  So the white space inside each box is 2.5”x2.5” on each side.

Materials: 
This tutorial assumes you have access to a variety of colored quilling papers, (but feel free to make substitutions for color as you like when you go along).  When not stated, the width of the paper is the standard 1/8 of an inch.  Other papers used are 1/4 inch wide paper and 1/16” (inch) wide paper.  You will need scissors and white craft glue.  Tweezers and a quilling craft board with pins would be very helpful.  If you wish to make the mat-board for the whole sampler, you will need the materials listed in that section.

Length of Strips:
Remember as you are working through this project, and all the other projects, that the length of strips listed may not work perfectly for you.  Some people roll quills tighter or looser than others, and so need a bit more or less paper to get the same size in the final piece.  Also, some paper is thicker than other paper.  Be prepared to experiment to get the results you want.  Use the lengths of paper suggested as a guide that you can detour from whenever necessary.

Make and Use What You Like:
Some of the projects have additional pieces you can make, like the ghost has a swirled ‘fog,’ the vampire fangs have a thorny rose, and the pumpkins have coiled vines around them.  You can choose to make all the pieces and frame your sampler together, or just make the pieces you like and use them on cards, gifts, and whatnot!

Displaying Your Projects - Creating a Mat Board

Materials:
- One piece 12”x12” cardstock, medium grey (top)
- One piece 12”x12” cardstock, white (bottom)
- Black quilling strips, 1/4" wide

As I mentioned, you can use these designs and motifs in a variety of ways. I decided to put all of mine into small 3x3 inch 'vignettes' and show them off together as a “sampler”. To do this, I purchased two pieces of good 12x12 inch cardstock, one in a medium grey (top layer) and the other in white (bottom layer).

I cut 3x3 inch holes in the grey cardstock, measuring a one-inch margin all around the outside, and a half-inch between each of the 'windows.' I glued the cardstock pieces together, and then lined the inside of each of the 3x3 inch windows with 1/4" width strips of black quilling paper so it would look like a double mat.

If you like, you can frame your project when it is complete. I suggest a shadowbox frame with at least ¾” of clearance between the background and the glass. The rose sticks out about that far, and you don’t want to squash it or any of the other elements that have relief.

I found a standard 12”x12” black shadowbox frame with an inch of depth inside, and used that.



Image Credit:  My pix of my mat boards, my design.

Quilled Halloween Sampler

I've been considering making a sampler of quilled Halloween projects for a long time.  I love Halloween, and often use small designs and motifs on place cards, tags, ornaments, wall art, and more.  I've never bothered to actually write down any of my designs before - so they come out differently every year, AND I have to spend extra time and paper trying to figure out what I did the last time around :)

So this year I spent the time and effort to record all my paper widths, lengths, and shapes as I worked.  I also took a few pictures of the intermediate stages as I went along.  I realized when I was close to finished that I might not be the only person who would like to use the directions.  So to make up some of the resources I used, and to cover some of the time (it took a loooong time to write this up), I decided to post all the instructions for a fee over at Craftsy.  So if you are in immediate need of some ideas for Halloween, look no further!  You can download all 16 pages of Halloween packed PDF for $3.99.

OR if you can wait, and don't have the extra $$, then keep your eyes here on the blog.  I'm going to post all the instructions in pieces right here between now and Halloween!

Here's the blurb from over at Craftsy:

The Quilled Halloween Sampler Instructions will tell you how to make nine different small Halloween themed projects (plus a bonus project!). The 16 pages are packed with pictures and ample details of paper quilling for you to recreate the sampler, or use it to come up with your own scary ideas!

These spooky designs can be used together to form a framed Halloween sampler group, or they can be used separately on greeting cards, gift tags, place settings, ornaments, wall art, or in whatever way suits your fancy! You can be creative and detour from the exact directions whenever it suits you and your project needs.

Some of the projects are very quick, while others are a little more involved, so you can fit the projects to the time you have available. Most of the designs are suitable for someone who knows the basics of paper quilling (beginner), while a few others are suitable for an intermediate level of quiller.

Most of the designs and motifs will be familiar, like bats and pumpkins, while others will be more unusual, like vampire fangs and skeleton keys. Let your creepy side out and enjoy some Halloween fun with the Quilled Halloween Sampler!