Friday, May 29, 2015

Framed quilling and brushlettering: Jeremiah 29:11


One of my best friends happens to create stunning brushlettering calligraphy, and now that we live in the same city, we finally pulled together some collaborations. For instance, this framed Bible verse with quilling that we recently gifted to a bride-to-be at her bridal shower. Here's the 7-day storyline of this project!

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Framed quilling: Golden Gate Bridge

Quilling: a type of ornamental craftwork involving the shaping of paper, fabric, or glass into delicate pleats or folds.

I started quilling in college when a friend introduced me to it to embellish handmade greeting cards. The first thing I ever quilled was a tiny heart for a Valentine's Day card for my now-husband. Since then, I've borrowed books from the library and perused many a blog on how to quill different shapes and grown to love it! I previously used a thumbtack (yes. a thumbtack. ) to roll the strips of paper, but have now progressed to using a professional quilling tool that speeds things up. 

I love quilling because it's calming. I have to sit and think about my next move between each strip of paper I roll, because I do not usually draw out the final design. I also love that quilling paper is relatively inexpensive and I often make my own quilling paper by cutting strips of 8x11 sheets, even though it means that the height of each strip is sometimes inconsistent. And finally, I love quilling because it transforms paper into 3-dimensional, tangible designs with depth and shadows. 

Here is one of my most recent framed quilling pieces that I gifted to my sister for her birthday! I found the shadowbox frame on the Michaels clearance rack (now out of stock) for $6.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

DIY Personalized Baby Hat

When I found out that one of my best friends was having a baby boy, I was elated both for her expanding family and for the chance to finally use my Pinterest board that I'd been adding to for the past few years! I decided to create a simple personalized baby cap with their last name, "Baker". Here's the tutorial below!