Quilled lion nursery decor

My friends recently adopted a sweet boy from India and named him Aslan after the character in Chronicles of Narnia, one of my favorite book and movie series that I grew up reading and watching. As they patiently went through the long process of paperwork and logistics, I had some time to make a quilled lion for his nursery art. It took me awhile to find a lion that didn't look too fierce! I didn't want his wall art to give him nightmares overnight.


Click below for more of the step-by-step photos!

Baby carriage card for Koman STL fundraiser

My friend Julie recently asked me to make a baby card to donate to the Koman St. Louis fundraiser trivia night. To make this card, I used the Cricut to cut out the baby carriage out of one of my favorite scrapbook patterned papers: purple polka dots! Perfect for a sweet baby girl. The little pink heart is quilled and I bought the little butterfly scrapbook embellishment in a pack.

First wedding anniversary --paper gift

A few months ago my friend asked me to make a quilled Golden Gate bridge for her first wedding anniversary. They had their honeymoon in SF last year and they loved it so much that they are going back to California again this summer! Since it was their first wedding anniversary, they decided to follow the wedding anniversary tradition of gifting something made of paper. I made a similar quilled project last year for my sister and decided to make one for them too.

Read on for more details! 

Calligraphy with Quilling and a weekend St. Louis visit

We visited old friends in Saint Louis this weekend and visited all our favorite places of nostalgia--Forest Park, St. Louis Zoo, our old church, Tortillaria. We also stopped by a couple of new additions to St. Louis that arrived after we left: IKEA, Jeni's Ice Cream, and Lonas Lil Eats. It was the best way to spend 3 short days in St. Louis!

B & T were our amazing hosts and fed us/cooked for us/drove us and let us play with their adorable kids! B ordered a custom quote of Joshua 24:15 embellished with quilling, inspired by a previous project. I hand-carried the framed print onto the plane and was quite relieved when I was able to deliver it safely to St. Louis. This was another collaboration between Karmomo (the brushlettering) and me (quilling).

Since I'd made gifts for B&T's 2 boys in the past, I decided to be fair to their 3rd child and make her a personalized gift---another log branch slice ornament! B&T plan to use it as a door sign for her room.

Thank you card for B&T's generous hospitality during our lovely St. Louis weekend visit!

Quilled Christmas tree card

Merry Christmas!

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

My friend Steven has a delightful family tradition where his entire family brings the Christmas cards they received each winter and vote on the best Christmas card. They give out prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and the kids get to vote too! I entered the contest a few years ago and ended up winning 2nd place with this quilled Christmas tree card.

Yes there's a little hidden treble clef in there ;)

May you and your families have a joyful Christmas season!

Quilled flower wreath and pink and gold glam birthday cards

Birthday cards galore! K requested a bright card with red flowers for her mom, and a pink and gold card for her niece, whose recent 1-year-old photoshoot had lots of adorable glam elements.

Materials used: chipboard letters, baker's twine (DIY'd with yarn and a power drill), cardstock, alphabet stamps (similar), and glitter washi tape (exact).

Materials used: paper, paper, and glue 

Pop-up typewriter birthday card and quilled cat bridal shower card

Last month I visited my little sister in San Francisco and we discovered a pop-up Golden Gate Bridge greeting card in a gift shop near Lands' End, one of my favorite places in SF. She immediately turned to me and said, "Make this!" So when I saw this pop-up card tutorial, I knew she would love it for her birthday card! 

In other news, this past week my friend Kristin ordered a custom card from me for a bridal shower. Her requests for the card were to include a monogram and cats. I used to make lots of animal-themed cards for a florist shop in Saint Louis and cats are one of my favorite things to quill.

30th birthday and fall-themed quilled birthday cards

My friend Kristin recently ordered these 2 custom cards from me. I love how quilling adds a 3-dimensional effect to jazz up simple greeting cards.

Requests for card #1: 30th birthday, champagne, pink, and teal. The recipient of this card is an upholstery expert so I picked out this patterned paper to mimic upholstery fabric/wallpaper design.

Requests for card #2: fall colors, birds, and flowers.

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!

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.