Quilling the Moon: Progress in the South

Some progress!

Even more progress!

As of this moment, I've finally completed my Moon, but I want to post some of the intermediate pictures to show the progress.  So I'll be finishing up the Moon blogging in another post or so.  But for now, compare the two images here and you can see how the edge of the Procellarum basin expanded towards the center of the image, and how the highlands were filled in from the right.

The mare sections at the top and left of Copernicus crater were really challenging.  As I approached the bottom of the Imbrium basin, I got more and more nervous about exactly how the basins would 'express' themselves.  I wanted them to be bold and easily recognized, but didn't want to lose the subtlety of the interesting margins, and of the craters and their ejecta.  So I moved very carefully, filling in the area to ensure that the basin would have an obvious round edge to it, but also ensuring that all the important tiny features could still be seen.

Close up of the area around
Copernicus.

Looking at the close up image makes this all seem so straightforward and easy!  But since every single quill was created on the fly - size, color, and placement - it was really very difficult.  But I do like the general effect.  It is certainly the Moon, and it has a strong mosaic look without losing the lacy feel that quilling offers.

What I'm starting to worry about now is how to hide the errors I'm spotting.  Like how my Moon is not a perfect circle anymore.  Pressure from the different areas as I glued them in place slowly altered the nature of the outline - it isn't quite a perfect circle.  I can see flatter areas, and areas with slight bulges.  Not sure how to hide this - I was already planning to put mat board around the outline, so perhaps this will make the project look more even.

Image Credits - My pix of my own quilling, my design!

Quilling the Moon: The Edge of Procellarum and Some Lessons

The first portion is filled in.

Here's some progress on my quilled Moon!  I filled in the areas of the highlands and the edge of the mare on the south eastern portion of the Moon.  Many lessons were learned during this initial phase of the project, and I'm sure I'll be going back to this section when it is all finished, and thinking, oh yeah, could have done that bit better.  But there is always room for improvement on any project, and if you wait for perfection, you get nothing!

Color choice - very tricky.

One lesson I learned is that I need better quilling lighting.  Working with dark paper in anything less than bright light is a chore.  It is too hard to see if the quills are nicely coiled, and to determine the perfect sizes to fit together in the mare regions.  So the lesson was twofold - buy a lamp, and also, only work on the mare regions during the daytime!  Another lesson, one I knew but had to have reinforced, was use the tiniest amounts of glue possible.  It really shows up in the dark regions, and I had to take out and redo some sections just to eliminate small glue spots I couldn't get rid of with my tweezers. 

I had no idea that only working with four colors could make color choice so difficult.  But it is.  Each and every one of these quills is an agony of choice.  The regions at the edge of bright/dark regions are particularly challenging.  How and at what point does the gradation start?  Some of the margins were easy, since they were very 'digital' - one side bright and the other dark.  But the messy grey regions ... very challenging.  I spent a lot of time making decisions between what met my artistic vision, and what was the most scientifically accurate.

One of the greatest challenges was the quilling around Copernicus crater, the larger bright crater on the right side of this image.  But I'll talk more about that next time!

Image Credits:  My pix of my own quilling!

Quilling Supplies: Little Circles

I put in a few orders recently to various suppliers to bump up my quilling inventory (including adding some books to my collection).  My Little Circles order arrived not a moment too soon, as they say!

I realized pretty quickly that I had not ordered enough paper for my quilled Moon, and put an order in for the two colors I was sure to run out of, the colors for the mare (Feathered Fedora) and the highlands (Fish Scales).  I also decided I'd do a bit of a review of Little Circles Paper in the future - like I did with Quilled Creations earlier this month.  So I put an order in for the paper sampler so I could play with it and add that knowledge to my review.  I also just love to have gorgeous rainbow samplers in my supplies.  So pretty.

I was curious about their new line of paper, 'On Edge.'  This is heavier weight paper, like card stock, that is designed to be used for outlining.  Outlining and paper line art has become very popular, especially for outlining letters in typography style pieces.  So I thought I'd give it a shot and see how it worked.  I bought one pack of the white 'On Edge' to play around with.  Plus I bought some tools - these are bamboo 'dowels' of various diameters that can be used in a variety of ways.  I've purchased them to help me make flower petals and such.  Last, there was a nice variety pack of extra paper added to the shipment as a free bonus.  Nice!

Keep your eyes on the blog for my upcoming review of how the Little Circles paper worked out for me.

Image Credit - My picture of my new quilling stuff from Little Circles. 

Quilling the Moon: Starting Considerations

Beautiful full Moon - must quill.

I've been telling myself for many, many years that I should quill the Moon in some fashion or other.  The Moon is one of my very favorite objects - I am a lunar scientist after all, and have been studying the surface of that world since I started college thirty years ago.  Thirty years is a long time to have a Moon fixation, be a quiller, and not quill the Moon.

My motivation for doing this now is mostly to have a piece to display at an upcoming science conference in October that has a small space art exhibit associated with it.  And in addition, there is a yearly competition over at Little Circles for quilling that I'm planning to enter this into, as well.

So even though I am not quite finished with my herb sampler from earlier in the year, I am plowing into another project anyway.  Well, plowing might be a strong word.  The first things I'm doing are: taking a good look at a lot of data from the Moon, buying a bunch of grey paper, and pondering what the heck to do with it.

One of the big things I'm fighting as I make this Moon thingy is my need for scientific accuracy.  I have to balance this against design and artistic needs.  This isn't a photograph I'm making after all, this is a quilled piece whose purpose is to evoke the Moon in more of an emotional fashion.  But one can't just turn off being a scientist, so that tension is informing the entire piece.

I found a picture of the Moon that I liked from my many NASA interests, and chose to blow it up to about eight inches in diameter.  I wanted to make it small enough that I'd actually complete it before a decade went by, but big enough that I could portray the craters in enough detail for my scientific perfectionism.

Paper strips, 1/4" in shades of grey.

After doing that, I bought a pile of grey paper.  I'd never bought paper from Little Circles before, so I chose to buy all these colors from their Culture Pop quilling paper line.  I'll talk more about using Culture Pop specifically in another post.  The colors, from pitch black to bright white are:  Velvety Darkness, Feathered Fedora, Steel Guitar, Bottlenose Dolphin, Indoor Recess, Fish Scales, and Photographer's Umbrella.  I went with the quarter inch wide paper instead of the normal eighth inch paper because I wanted the Moon to have a more substantial feel to it.  More mosaic-y I guess.  More depth.

My first choice in color was not to make the dark regions of the Moon out of pitch black.  As you can see from the picture of the full Moon, the dark regions, that is the 'mare' (pronounced "mar-ay") are not as black as space.  But I did want a good contrast, so I chose a very dark grey, the Feathered Fedora, as my major mare color. 

For the highlands, the brighter areas of the Moon,  I wanted to make the rayed craters the only thing in bright white.  So that meant choosing another color for the bulk of the bright areas.  I had to pick between the sort of ivory-ish color and the mottled grey color.  In the end, I liked the sort of 'bone' look of the very light ivory (thinking about bones and how these areas have a lot of high calcium rocks), and went with 'Fish Scales.'  I also decided I didn't like the sort of mottled look of the quills made with Indoor Recess, so saved that paper for other projects.  I also chose not to use the Steel Guitar at all, because it has a blue undertone that did not mix well with the Fish Scales, at least in my view.  That left me with just one more color, Bottlenose Dolphin as my intermediate grey to fill in the odd areas that are either darker highlands, brighter mare, or mixed regions with no clear color choice.

Enough for now!

Image Credits:  Moon, NASA.  Strips, my quilling strips from my supplies, my pic.

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.

Playing with Paper: Quilled Creations

As a result of some recent purchases to restock, as well as a few impulse buys at the NAQG conference, I found myself with several different types of paper from the Quilled Creations line, and figured I'd go ahead and play around with them, comparing and contrasting.  I thought you might be interested in some of my experiments and findings.

Do note that I do not endorse any particular supplier.  I'm happy to buy what I need from whomever has quality items at a good price.  I will buy glue from one dealer, paper from another, and tools from another.  And then books from anywhere at all.  I have a list on my toolbar of several different dealers and suppliers of quilling materials (and if you see someone missing, I'd be happy to add them!).

Note also, that this is not a comprehensive review of all the paper products from Quilled Creations, either.  All widths here are the standard 1/8 of an inch.  I didn't try any of the wider or more narrow paper.  Also, I haven't included things like their metallic or corrugated paper, either.

Still, using similar colors in the same widths from five different types of paper was certainly enlightening.  Here we go.

1.  Basic Paper.  I started off with their basic paper, here provided in the "sampler" pack.  And first I have to say, what fun!  This excellent little pack has so many colors and in a neat, compact form.  Would be perfect for people just starting out, or in my case, to have on hand when you need a bit of a very specific color.  Update - At first I said I didn't see where you could buy these, but stop here for the link, $1.95 each at this writing.

The purple petal that I made from this paper (in the approximately 7 to 8 o'clock position on my flower, there) is the only one not made from a single strip.  I used two on this one because the strips are so short.  Normally, I have a strong bias towards longer strips of paper, but in this case it is a sampler pack and short strips are expected.

The paper has a nice hand and feel, just the tiniest bit slick.  Glue takes just a touch longer to dry on this paper than other (especially older) papers I have.  The weights of the strips are pretty consistent from one color to the next, which is a change from the old papers where the black strips would be twice as heavy as the white ones because of the dye process.  I didn't have to discard any of the strips in the pack, either, which was nice.  Many times, as you know, there can be strips on the ends of packs that have slightly ragged edges, and need to be discarded.  All the strips had good color saturation and were very even and consistent in width.  A solid quality product.

2.  Jewel Tone.  Next clockwise around the 'flower' is the petal in the 10 o'clock position, made from the 'Jewel Tones' collection.  This paper is somewhat stiff, and has a glistening, sort of pearly finish.  In spite of the stiffness it holds a good coil.  The colors in my mixed pack were all bright and shiny, with very deep color saturation.  I think the red and green will make very nice Christmas poinsettias.  The general slick feel and stiffness made it less fun to use than other paper, but the end result I think is worth the trouble.  Glue takes a little longer to dry with this paper, but not enough to be a deterrent to using it.  Good length.  Will be getting more of this.

3.  Graduated Paper.  At the 12 o'clock position on my flower is the petal made with the purple 'Graduated' paper.  This paper is white at one end, and gradually turns to another color (in my example, purple) at the other end.  I rolled the strip so the white end would be in the center of the petal, and the darker color on the outside.  The paper has a bit of a slick feel to it, and glue takes just a tad longer to dry.  Somewhat short length.

A few things that didn't work for me - the color saturation at the 'dark' end of the paper just does not seem that dark.  Some of the colors are rather pastel, actually, which might be what you need in some cases, but limits the drama of the effect.  Also, the 'core' of the paper seems to be white, so you can see it on the torn/glued end, and you can also see white on the edge of the entire petal.  I have no idea how you'd go about creating graduated edge color, but that would really be pretty amazing (and see number 4 below about the 'Color Blends' Vellum).  As it is, this just didn't have the punch I was looking for.  I think I'll still be using two kinds of colors (white and then dark) and gluing them together end to end when I'm looking for this effect.

4.  Color Blends Vellum.  The petal in the 3 o'clock position, with the greenish center, is made from the 'Color Blends' line, which isn't really paper.  Instead it is vellum, a slightly translucent material.  I have very mixed feelings about this 'paper'.  I don't like the way it feels at all; it is sort of plastic-y and very stiff.  It needs to be wrapped tight to get it to hold a good coil in the center.  The color saturation also suffers because the paper as noted is just a touch translucent.  Length is a bit on the short side.

However, the paper does produce a very interesting effect.  The paper transitions evenly from one color to another as the strip goes end to end.  There is no white 'core' to the paper, so the color you see on edge is the color of the strip at that point on the flat surface (which differs from number 3 above, the 'Graduated Paper').  A feature of dying vellum vs. paper?  It is just not easy to get this nice effect even with rolling strips together or doing end to end gluing.  So if you just have to have this blended effect, there really isn't any other way to get it.

5.  Highlights Paper.  The last petal in the 5 o'clock position is made from the 'Highlights' line of paper.  This paper is one color on one side, and another color on the other side.  In this case, the primary color is a light blue (which is on one side, and forms the core color, so that's what shows on the edge.)  The other side is purple.  It is very hard to capture the effect in a photograph.  It is something you see as you view the petal from different angles - the color transitions from blue to purple.  It is a really interesting effect.  The paper itself is a nice length, holds a good coil, and like the regular paper has a nice feel with just the slightest slickness.  Glue dries relatively quickly.  I think the paper feels good to work with and I think the effect is very pretty, so I'm likely to be getting more of this. 

Image Credit:  All my own pictures of my own quilling supplies.

Quilling an Iris and Modifying Kits

My little 5x7 framed iris.

This post was supposed to be about my fun time at the NAQG quilling conference - but it turns out the guild embargoes all material relating to the conference until their next newsletter comes out (after June).  I think that this policy is not good for the guild.  My reason is that I think it is important to get new, young quillers into the guild - and having a strong, timely web presence is essential for that.  It means getting updates about events out immediately, and having them on several platforms (along with nice pictures and interesting text).  But I'm not in a position to make those decisions.  Sooooo instead we get an update post about an iris!  I'll post about my time at the conference later.

The original kit design,
note buds.

My husband's favorite flower is the iris.  I've been telling myself I'd quill him a little something for quite a while, and of course an iris came to mind.  But without a lot of extra time for quilling right now, I had to quill something small and straightforward.  I happened to have a kit to quill an iris on a card, and so modified that kit to fit my little frame.  I also changed some of the leaves and buds to fit my own idea of what an iris bud looks like (the one on the card is rather stylized).  I like the final product - a little framed picture he can take into the office.

So my question for you is this - do you use quilling kits?  Perhaps in a teaching setting, or for gifts?  Do you usually follow the directions along exactly or make your own modifications?

Image credits:  Top, my own picture of my own quilling, bottom, Quilled Creations Iris Flower card kit.

Herb Sampler, Selling Your Work, and More

Lovage - My favorite herb in the kit so far!

So as I mentioned in my first Herb Sampler post, I've finally gotten down to doing serious work on this project I've been meaning to get done for more than two decades.  It's a pretty good kit, this Herb Sampler, similar to the Berry Sampler in many ways.  But there are a few differences that make the Berry Sampler superior, I think. 

First of all, the berries are more three dimensional.  The leaves and such in the berry kit are more tilted, giving the whole piece more of a living feeling.  And the second issue is that this is the first time I have run out of green paper in a kit!  I'm very surprised.  I've never had this happen before, and certainly not with the old Quill Art kits.  Fortunately I had one of those old kits around to raid, and found enough similar paper to continue.  It isn't perfect.  The color is just a smidge off, and the width isn't quite as narrow by half a millimeter, but given one thing and another, I think it will suffice.  I'm pretty picky.  I think all quillers are detail oriented by nature, so good enough is probably, well, good enough.

Kit is coming along - just three more to go - assuming
I now have enough paper ...

I was about half way through the herb kit when a friend visited and saw my completed berry sampler up on the wall in the kitchen.  She liked it, but it was when I showed her my still-in-progress herb sampler that her eyes really lit up.  She asked me to make her one, and said she'd pay for it.  I was (an am) a bit baffled as how to handle it.  I'm more than happy to make her one, although it may be a while before I manage to get through another entire sampler after 23 years of waiting :)  But more, it is the idea of selling this kind of work.  It is impossible to actually get the work value out of quilling, assuming you pay yourself an hourly rate that reflects your expertise at the craft.  Even say $20 an hour, which seems very low for such work, means I'd be charging hundreds of dollars for this piece.  I'm not going to ask a friend to pay that.  So what is the answer?  Ask for less?  Ask for nothing and give it away?  That last is certainly how I've dealt with this issue in the past.  It has always seemed strange to get paid for quilling.  How do you deal with this issue?

Form with filled quills for petals.

So I've placed a picture of the "Lovage" herb front and center on this post.  The Lovage is my favorite so far.  I really love the way the flowers look, with the graceful curls all the same size.  I did not use a mold or form to make these.  I simply eyeball the size, and get very consistent results.  I rarely use the forms and molds, since I find them sort of distracting.  Still, I did use them recently to create my "Pantone" flower, ensuring all the petals would have the same size, in spite of the different weights of the paper.  How about you, do you use forms, and when?

Image Credits:  My pictures of my own stuff, and my own work.  Herb Sampler kit is 1993 Malinda Johnston.

Arts and Crafts Color Inspiration - Pantone Spring 2016

A bright quilled flower made using the colors
from Pantone's Spring 2016 palette.  Some
of my color matches are better than others ...

I always have my eyes out for inspiration for my various arts and crafts - I'm sure you do too.  Especially in dreary wintertime, I look to bright spring colors to give my work some needed lift and pop.  And to just lift my mood, in general.

So every year I take a look at the Pantone seasonal colors to see what inspiration I can draw for shades I don't often use, or for color combinations I don't usually consider.  They say that their colors this year "focus on a desire to breathe and reflect, then play" which sounds pretty good to me.

This spring's colors have some unusual shades in them.  I know this because I had a really difficult time creating my quilled flower, here.  My quilled flower is made from my best attempt at matching the Spring 2016 colors from paper I already had in my 'extras' box.

The color names are as follows:  Rose Quartz, Peach Echo, Serenity, Snorkel Blue, Buttercup, Limpet Shell, Lilac Grey, Fiesta, Iced Coffee, and Green Flash.  I was able to find very good matches for the first four colors on the list in my piles of paper.  I use a lot of blue shades, so I expected to have these on hand.  I was more surprised that I had an appropriate peach shade, although not much of it.  This is a very different color for me, I rarely work in any orange shades at all.  But I have a few collections of 'country colors' that have this shade.  The yellow was difficult.  This pantone color has a hint of orange that my yellows don't have.  It makes it tough to match. 

Color swatches for Pantone's Spring 2016 colors.

Tougher was the Limpet Shell color.  I figured I'd have plenty of this sort of washed turquoise shade.  I was wrong.  Maybe I have used it all up, since I love this color.  In the end, I had to use a related blue shade, which didn't match too well.  Again, I was surprised to find I had the two neutrals, the Lilac Grey and Iced Coffee easily matched.  I don't work much in neutrals, and I think I had a lot of extra paper from old kits in these colors that I simply never took a second look at.  The Fiesta color, again, was a shade I just didn't quite have.  This orange-red is rather unique, and I had to make due with a happy red shade.  I also had trouble with the yellowish fern green of the Green Flash color.  I had a lot of green shades, but none were quite right.  Had to wing it.

The combinations that I'm thinking of are the Rose and Peach shades - nice flowers.  I like the neutral Lilac Grey color thinking of stones, and might match it with the Iced Coffee and Green Flash, that make me think of soil and growing things.  The blues like Snorkel and Limpet naturally bring to mind the sea, and seashells.  A lot of inspiration in this Spring's lineup of color!

Image Credits:  My pic of my flower, and Pantone's 2016 Color Swatches from their site.

Herb Sampler after Twenty Three Years

First pattern of twelve - Lemon Balm

As the title notes, I've had my kit for Malinda Johnston's "Herb Sampler" since the darn thing came out - 1993 I think.  Since that time I've fully intended to start (and then complete) the kit.  I've already done the Berry Sampler (completed in 1994).  I want to get the Herb Sampler framed in the same way, and hang them together in the kitchen.  Right now the Berry Sampler is quite lonely in there (and has been for twenty two years ...)

So this is the current '"Work in Progress" WIP as far as quilling goes.  I cracked open the kit and started work.  First of all it is interesting to feel the difference in papers between now and then.  Modern papers, at least in my experience, have a pretty consistent feel regardless of color.  But back then, papers seemed to vary pretty widely in texture depending on the color.  I don't know if that was an actual difference in the paper itself used for each color, or if the dye process changed the texture.  But it is pretty obvious when you run your fingertips over the strands of paper.

My framed Berry Sampler

The second thing ... It's been a long while since I've worked exclusively with very narrow width paper.  This stuff is a shade more narrow than 1/16".  Quite narrow.  And my fingers and hands are rather a bit more stiff than they used to be.  I used to love narrow paper for the lightweight, lacy effect.  I worked with it as much as standard 1/8" paper when I was a kid.  Well the years have made quite a difference, there.

Lastly, I'll mention it's fun to work from a kit again.  My last project was of my own design, and so each and every piece was unique, won't be repeated.  All my color and paper length decisions were made as I went along, along with part of the design.  It made the quilling very slow going, trying experiments (that often didn't work the first time through) and new techniques.  It was fun, yes, but sometimes frustrating.  A kit might be boring for some, given you just follow the lines, but it is a welcome break from the detailed process of design.  At least for the moment. 

I'll post some more updates as I go!

Image Credit - My pic of my own work, pattern Melinda Johnston 1993.

Book Review: Quilling For Beginners

Quilling for Beginners by Jean Woolston-Hamey.  Published by Kangaroo Press, Simon and Schuster, 2004.  48 pages.

I rate it ... fair!

2.0/5.0

See my post about book reviews for details about my review criteria and biases.

I'm always concerned when I put up a less-than-stellar review of any product.  I'm well aware of the time and energy that goes into a creating a book, being an author myself.  But if one can't post an honest review of one's opinion, then what is the point of a review?  As always, this is only my opinion, and that of others may differ widely.

This is a relatively short (48 page) quilling book that introduces the art of quilling to beginners, and provides a few easy projects for them to try.  It ends with a gallery of those same projects done by children.

What I liked:
The book has nice, bright color images of projects.  My copy came with a small package of paper strips on the inside back cover, so a few projects could be tried immediately.

What liked less:
The tutorial for beginners is much too short, and misses out on some important techniques such as making roses.  Some potential resources and supplies are not mentioned that are standard in other books, such as fringers, molds and such.  The overall quality of the quilling in the projects is not high, showing uneven tension and very large open centers.  The projects themselves are not terribly interesting, and I don't think they will inspire children or adults to try the craft.  There is no history section, and the gallery space could have been used better with a few more advanced projects, rather than showing children's work.

Overall, as a collector, I felt compelled to buy it.  But for a beginner, there are much better quilling books on the market.

Book Review: Pretty Quilled Cards

Pretty Quilled Cards by Cecelia Louie.  Published by Lark Crafts, Sterling Publishing Company, 2014.  127 pages. (Review updated Aug 7, 2016)

I rate it ... very good!

4.0/5.0

See my post about book reviews for details about my review criteria and biases.

Pretty Quilled Cards is subtitled "25+ Creative Designs for Greetings and Celebrations."  I rarely put quilling on greeting cards, since such cards are hard to keep and store without marring the quilling (unless you leave them out or frame them.)  But I certainly have made quilled cards on occasion, and this book has a bevy of new designs for lovers of cards, tags, and such like.  I was also thrilled to find a quilling book with a relatively recent (2014) date - as I am looking to learn new techniques and am always on the hunt for new ideas.

It is a little difficult to rate the book, because it represents a significant departure from the "traditional" or even "modern" quilling in the books of the 2000's.  This book has more "innovative" or "new wave" quilling - emphasizing very loose coils and open outlines, rather than tight, lacy coils and borders that are completely filled in.  In fact, a lot of this isn't what I'd call quilling at all but instead "Paper Outlining" or "Paper Line Art" or even "Paper Collage."  This can be misleading for new quillers.  There are techniques in this book like 'softening' and 'scraping' that you won't find many other places.  The projects themselves are a little strange in terms of how they are presented, because every single strip of paper is shown with the necessary fold marks on it.  In other words, these designs show you specifically how and where to fold every single crease in every strip of paper.  This is different from other books, so it takes some getting used to.  So comparing this book directly to the other books I've reviewed isn't as straightforward as it could be.  But I'll give it a shot :)

What I liked:
New ideas and new designs.  Almost every project has something in it, however small, that I haven't seen elsewhere.  Even if it is just a trick of folding the paper, there is something new to be had.  The book is well illustrated and photographed, with lots of color pictures of projects.  The projects are highly detailed with copious instructions.

What I liked less:
The tutorial for beginners is not straightforward, and could cause some confusion.  There is a lot of coiling, opening, and recoiling of strips to achieve the effect the author wants to see in their quilling.  This may be necessary to achieve the very specific look and effects of this book, but is not at all necessary for many other forms of quilling.  This isn't mentioned, and a beginner could come away with the idea that this book shows the 'right' way to quill, and other books are 'wrong' rather than simply thinking of this as a different approach.  (Or perhaps a different craft altogether, such as "Paper Line Art" or simply "Paper Craft" etc.)  The projects often require use of a copier, or even color copier to get all of the pieces necessary - rather than emphasizing the use of materials a quiller might already have on hand.  There is no ancillary material at all, i.e. history, gallery of ideas, etc. (you know my bias.)

I wouldn't recommend the book for a beginner.  However, a practiced quiller who is looking for ideas for cards will find much to entertain themselves with here.  I'm glad it is on my shelf, even for the relatively high going price of a new, recent book (from $15 to $20).

Book Review: Quilled Flowers

Quilled Flowers by Alli Bartkowski.  Published by Lark Crafts, Sterling Publishing Company, 2012.  126 pages.

I rate it ... excellent!

4.5/5.0

See my post about book reviews for details about my review criteria and biases.

Quilled Flowers is subtitled "A Garden of 35 Paper Projects."  It starts with a solid tutorial and introduction to quilling supplies, then moves right into the flower projects.   There is no history section nor gallery. 

What I liked:
First of all, I was not expecting new ideas about flowers in any quilling book, given how overdone the subject is.  BUT I was pleasantly surprised by Quilled Flowers.  There are plenty of new ideas and designs in this book.  And this is a very pretty quilling book, with tons of color images all laid out very well.  In many cases there are close-ups of the finished work so you can see exactly what you are doing.  The quality of the quilling is generally good throughout the book (see below).  The finished projects are all quite aesthetically pleasing, and make you want to try them right away.  I think this book does well at achieving its goal.     

What I liked less:
I wanted the tutorial to be longer, more detailed, and just generally meatier.  And of course I wanted a gallery of amazing flower projects at the end ... I always want a gallery.  I was not impressed by the use of chalk and ink to change colors - this is just a bias of mine, where I like color variation to be achieved by the use of different kinds of papers, not inks.  I did note some inconsistency in the quality of the quilling (some flowers with larger open centers, large 'tags' in the center, etc.).

I think anyone will be able to find a project they like in this book, from beginner to advanced.  But I think it is more suited to the moderate level of quiller.  The paperback is going for less than $12, which I think is a fantastic price for what you get here.

Book Review: The New Paper Quilling

The New Paper Quilling by Molly Smith Christensen.  Published by Lark Books, Sterling Publishing Company, 2006.  127 pages.

I rate it ... good!

3.4/5.0

See my post about book reviews for details about my review criteria and biases.

The New Paper Quilling is subtitled "Creative Techniques for Scrapbooks, Cards, Home Accents and More."  It starts with a detailed tutorial and list of supplies for beginners.  Then the rest of the book is used to cover many different projects including motifs, frames, miniatures, mobiles, and more.

What I liked:
The book has a very nice presentation that I'm coming to expect from Sterling Publishing - nice pictures, good page layout, lots of color.  The projects have plenty of detail so they can be easily reproduced.  The "dazzling paisley mobile" is particularly interesting.  The tutorial for beginners is nicely fleshed out.  The quality of the quilling in the book is very good, and consistent throughout.

What I liked less:
I do not see that the book fills the niche of "new" quilling - what is here is largely standard.  Other than the embossing of the tulips and the interesting abstract paisley mobile, I do not see much here that is particularly new.  Many of the projects seem to use crimping as the particular technique to add interest, but this is a very old technique.  Many other projects are not very involved, and will not hold the attention of a moderate to advanced quiller.  There is no gallery, and I feel a book about 'new' quilling should certainly have a gallery of innovative designs.

New it is available for $13, which seems a bit much (although as a collector I paid it).  Used, the book can be had for as low as $2, which is pretty unbeatable for just about any interested quiller who wants a few more ideas to draw upon.

Book Review: Great Paper Quilling

Great Paper Quilling by Mickey Baskett.  Published by Sterling Publishing Company, 1999.  128 pages.

I rate it ... very good!

3.7/5.0

See my post about book reviews for details about my review criteria and biases.

Great Paper Quilling starts with a brief section for beginners - a tutorial on how to quill and an explanation of necessary tools and supplies.  Then the book quickly gets into the projects, designed by a host of different quillers.  The projects include: frames, motifs, flowers, insects, jewelry, letters, miniatures, snowflakes and more.  There is no gallery at the end.

What I liked:
The book is well produced with lots of nice color images.  The projects are well presented (and given the nice pictures, the projects are, for the most part, easy to follow.)  There is something for everyone here.  Since a number of designers are represented, the book does not get repetitious.  

What I liked less:
The tutorial section is quite small.  I can see a book like this opting out entirely, given this is supposed to be 'great' paper quilling, but if it is there, then I have a bias that a tutorial be substantial.  Some of the projects seem basic, again for a book of 'great' quilling, while others, like the quilled church, are quite large in scope.  There is no gallery at the end, and I expected to see more quilling inspiration there.  Because the quilling is created by different designers, the quality and nature of the quilling isn't consistent throughout the book.  Overall, I don't think the book quite hits its intended mark of 'great' quilling.

I'm glad to have the book on my shelf, and do flip through for inspiration now and then.  I think it is best suited for moderately experienced quillers, not beginners, since the tutorial is so short.  Advanced quillers may find the designs too basic.  Current prices - new at about $15, the book may be just a tad pricey, but used for less than $4 is a steal.   

Artist Interview: Philippa Reid

I'm very pleased to be able to post this interview with quilling artist Philippa Reid!  She has provided a wealth of information about her quilling life, as well as the Quilling Guild (UK) and their magazine, Quiller's Today!

1. How old were you when you started quilling, and how did you get involved?
I first got into papercrafts in 2007, when I was about to retire from full-time work at the age of 52. In those days I was a burned-out freelance writer, desperate to free myself from the relentless pressures of a career in marketing/PR, and ready to divert my creative energies into something visual rather than verbal! I received a catalogue through the mail containing intriguing details of a kit for making paper roses ... I sent for it, and received some interesting papers, punches, a needle tool and a packet of card blanks. I hadn't ever thought of making cards before, so I bought a book on the subject which included individual chapters on different card-making techniques, one of which was quilling! It gave details of some very simple projects based on closed loose coils which fascinated me at once. I had never seen quilling before, but I immediately fell in love with the look and the idea of paper filigree work. I bought a pack of multi-coloured quilling strips, a cheap and nasty plastic slotted tool (quickly discarded in favour of the needle tool that had come with the rose kit) and set about teaching myself to quill from specialist books and information that I was able to obtain on the internet, especially through people's blogs.

As soon as I got to grips with quilling, I wanted to do it 'differently' and to do it for a purpose. It's very much part of my nature to think creatively about unusual applications for things and push the conventional boundaries of my chosen art. So I experimented, beginning by combining quilling with photographs and digital graphics to create unusual greetings cards which I sold at my local village market. I designed and created quilled earrings and other types of jewellery which also proved to be popular. I learned to cast moulded acrylic shapes, creating paperweights with quilled motifs (and other things!) embedded in them. I started a blog, too, in which I shared my experimental endeavours with quilling - it quickly gained a significant following. Latterly, I've got more into creating framed pictures, moving away from cards and jewellery to concentrate on larger projects. All this brought me a level of creative satisfaction which I had not experienced in the world of work for a very long time.

2. What is your favorite project(s) that you have quilled? Was it a gift or a special occasion?
I think my favourite project so far has been a piece which won three awards in The Quilling Guild competitions for 2014. It's called 'Bordering on Antiquity', and was made partly for the Guild's competitions and also as an Accreditation project. My aim was to explore the artistic potential of intersecting circles using various border techniques that are evident in antique quilling, creating a piece which uses traditional quilling methods to produce a design which is unashamedly modern!


3. What is your current quilling work-in-progress?
I'm in desperate need of one!! My last project - the quilled fantasy octopus - occupied me for about six months, and was made as a competition entry for two events in 2015. Having just returned from The Quilling Guild's annual meeting at which it was most recently exhibited, I'm ready to start a new project but haven't yet decided what it's going to be. I feel lost without a current work-in-progress!

4. Where do you get your ideas for new projects?
From nature, architecture and other art forms. I tend to get a basic outline for an idea, start it, and then make it up/refine the detail as I go along! I am not a conventional quiller: I don't use patterns, and I'm not really into floral arrangements, cute characters or 'twee' images. My tendency is towards the abstract, and for that reason my work tends to be very different from 'mainstream' quilling art.

5. Do you have any special or long term goals for your quilling? (maybe win a prize at a craft fair, sell quilling online, create a particularly impressive piece, etc.)
I'm delighted to say that I have won several prizes over the years, not just with The Quilling Guild, but also at a major regional country show and a national Women's Institute competition. I don't sell at the market any more, as I wanted to free up my time for my growing involvement with the Guild and to tackle larger quilling projects. I love receiving commissions to create quilled pictures, and I have also had work on show in a local gallery which brought me a great deal of satisfaction. I enjoy doing workshops and demonstrations, and hope to do more of this, delivering activity sessions at outdoor events, in elderly care homes and at children's parties. I think, most of all, I would love to provide a student with one-on-one tuition, perhaps helping a promising youngster to develop creatively using quilling skills taught to Quilling Guild Accreditation standards.

6. How do you find and communicate with other quillers in the community?
The internet has always been my window on the quilling world, where my online persona is 'Quilliance'. In addition, of course, it is always wonderful to meet with fellow quillers face to face through Quilling Guild events. In the village where I live (in southern England), I became quite well known locally for my market activities, and people still come to me privately to commission work or book the occasional demonstration.

7. How long have you been a member of the Quilling Guild? What got you involved with the Guild?
I joined The Quilling Guild in 2010, having read about it first on the internet. At the time, the current Membership Secretary lived just a few miles from me, and invited me to participate in her local quilling group, which I still do to this day. Learning of my background in marketing and recognising my enthusiasm, she nominated me to join the Guild Committee, which I did in 2012. As a Committee member, I was keen to use my professional experience to help promote the Guild in order to try and attract new members in the internet age. I launched a private blog for Quilling Guild members, called 'Quilling Now!', which has proved to be very successful, and also re-vamped the Guild's website at www.quilling-guild.co.uk. In 2013, when the previous Editor moved on, I volunteered to take on the Editorship of the Guild's magazine, 'Quillers Today'. That same year, I succeeded in gaining Accreditation from the Guild in respect of my technical quilling skills.

8. Tell us more about editing "Quillers Today" - what interests you as an editor, and how can members best use and contribute to the magazine?
After a long break from writing, it has become an absolute joy for me to commission, edit and originate articles about a subject that I truly love. I can honestly say that being the Editor of 'Quillers Today' - a 32-page, full colour seasonal magazine - is "the best job that I never had"!! I keep my eyes open online to watch what is going on in the world of quilling, and never hesitate to approach Guild members and ask them if they would be willing to share information about what they are doing in the magazine. Mostly, they are delighted to oblige! Of course, I'm always happy to receive unsolicited material, too! My aim is to make it easy for people to contribute. Not everyone has the time or confidence to write articles themselves, so I just ask them to send me the basic facts about a project or activity in note form, together with some relevant photos, which I can then pull together into a magazine feature on their behalf. When people tell me that they like the combination of patterns, projects, news and features that I put together in the magazine, it really is music to my ears!



9. How do you stay current with new techniques and trends in quilling?
The Quilling Guild's annual 'Quill, Chat and Chill Days' provide a great forum for sharing and learning new techniques. I also keep a close eye on developments in the online quilling community via social media and people's blogs.

10. What one aspect of or technique in quilling do you really want to learn (or learn to do better)?
The quest for perfection is ongoing, especially in terms of achieving perfectly round and regular closed loose coils!

11. Do you have a blog/website/online gallery?
Yes, I have several links I can share with you:
My current blog: http://quilliance.wordpress.com
My original blog: http://quilliance.blogspot.com
Photos of my work on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/philippa_reid/
Quilliance on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Quilliance-151266724899022
My quilling workshops and demonstrations: http://learntoquill.weebly.com

Image Credit:  All images belong to

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.

Book Review: Paper Quilling for the First Time

Paper Quilling for the First Time by Alli Bartkowski. Published by Sterling Publishing Company, 2006. 112 pages.

I rate it … very good!

4.4/5.0

See my post about book reviews for details about my review criteria and biases.

If I had an adult friend who was interested in learning quilling, this is probably the book I would get for them.  This book almost has it all, and what it does have is nicely photographed, well detailed and a pleasure to use.  I don't think I'd use it for a young person (projects are more functional rather than just fun), but I think the book is well suited for an adult.

What I liked:

This book is laid out a little differently than others, focusing on beginners and their questions.  Each section (such as Section 2, The Basics) is motivated by subheadings in the form of questions (such as How do I make a folded rose?).  This lends a relaxed feel to the book that I think would appeal to a beginner.  The quality of the quilling is very good throughout the book.  The tutorial shows examples of good and poor quilling, and what can cause problems.  All the necessary techniques are illustrated, and then some.  Pictures are plentiful, and instructions are clear.

What I liked less:

I really missed a history section, but you know my bias there - I just think a beginner's book needs some history.   I thought the projects got a little too difficult too quickly, but this is a minor point.  The projects were not as appealing to me as some other books, but given I'm not a beginner, the book isn't targeted to me.  I thought some of the projects needed more detailed line drawings of the actual patterns.  The gallery of projects at the back is nice, but I wanted more.  (I always do :)

Overall, I'd recommend this book for an adult beginner.  As a collector I'm glad to have it on my shelf, and there are a few tidbits here and there that help spark the imagination even of a seasoned quiller.