My Little Sponges

Just had to post a quick update on how quilling is going in my household.  My little boys are getting in on the fun.  They loooove when I take their circles and make shapes for them, and they have started their own collections from my scraps.  Too cute!

You could say we like the long blonde shaggy look here in the Fergmonster household.  

Anybody else's kiddos picking up quilling?

~kef

I officially jumped!

Look what I did!

I finished my first piece - a dragonfly!  This was the piece I was working on when I decided I was putting the cart before the horse last week.  I had no idea how I wanted to fill this little guy's wings because I knew nothing about sizing my shapes.  I laid two teardrops before I put the first scroll in on the wings, and then I realized I wanted it to be all scrolls.  I almost took out the teardrops, but I decided to leave them in there to remind me to "think things through before you glue!"  The picture quality isn't great - my bad.  He actually has 4 distinct wings, 2 on each side, outlined in black.  So, here's my own critique (and some tidbits on what I learned with this piece).   First the good:  overall, for a first work, I'm very happy.  It is pretty.  And it wasn't difficult once the outline was in and I had finally decided on a design process, which was scrolling.  Now the bad:  I mistakenly used a 1/4 width strip for the body, which i didn't mean to.  I completely forgot that the black scrolled piece I used was a scrap from a larger width.  But...it' kinda works (even in person) because it gives a little depth to the body.  There are small dried pieces of glue that you see more in person that drive me crazy.  I need a new glue bottle stat!  I also see now why quillers use needles.  I never really saw a need for them until I needed them in this piece.  I also realized that I am so afraid of making a mistake that it takes me forever to decide on a design scheme and go with it.  I know, I know...it's just paper; I need to explore and see what works and not fret if something doesn't work out so well.  I just hate the thought of working so hard on something and it not turn out the way I like or, even worse, wasting supplies.  I am still on crutches from my surgery, so if I need to run to the craft store and pick up a paper or something else I need, it takes me forever to do it. 

Anyway, thanks for checking in.  Let me know what you think about my Dragonfly.  I need an official name for the piece - something about newness or being the first.  "Genesis" maybe?

Putting the cart before the horse...

I do it with everything in life.  I am a "cart before the horse" kinda gal.  I think it's because I love to plan, plan, plan.  And when the planning is complete, I think I know something.  But I really don't.  This newfound hobby is no different.  I have watched videos, I have learned the YouTube teachers' favorite ways of doing things, their favorite tools and paper and glue.  I have scoured pictures from the interweb looking for colorful inspirations that could make unique quilled pieces.  I have done everything....but actually quill.  That's a stretch I suppose.  I have quilled a few teardrops and circles, and I made a few cartoon animals before RN school (three years ago).  But what have I done this week?  I have started in on a 5x7 dragonfly...with symmetric wings and scrolls and mosaic fillers...that look horrible!  Why you ask?  Because I thought I knew what I was doing.  So after 48 hours of frustration and do-overs, I took a break from my dragonfly yesterday, and decided I needed to get back to basics.  I need to learn something.  I know that over time, my judgement about size and shape and technique will improve.  I get that, I really do.  But I was trying to make certain shapes into specific sizes and nothing was working the way I wanted it to.  So I decided to experiment with known lengths and known starting sizes (what a novel idea, I know).  I took several pieces of paper - full strips - and coiled them into known sizes using my handy-dandy circle sizer.  Then I made teardrops and put them back over the same circle to see how they turn out (black shapes in pics below).  Theoretically, every teardrop that begins with the same size circle, made from the same length of paper, should turn out just about the same.  I did the same thing with only half a strip of paper (green in pics below).  Very different results ~ very good info to have.

This is a full strip of black paper, uncoiled just enough that it fits into a 

13/16 or .8125" diameter circle.  Certainly this could have more or less rings depending on how i let it uncoil.  For this purpose, I just let it uncoil naturally in my hand until it fit inside the size I needed. 

This is what that same circle looks like when shaped.  (Not the best picture, I know).  The reason that I think this is important (for me) is because I want to work on quilling things that should have some symmetry or otherwise similarity in size (such as dragonfly wings, peacock feathers or fish in a pond).  But what I found before doing this is that I had no idea how to gauge how large or small or thick or thin my shapes were going to turn out.  

I know the picture quality isn't the best, but notice the two on the top row, right side.  The black teardrop is really thick and not very flexible.  It's a full-size strip.  The green one was made with only half the paper, but I made the starting circle almost the exact same size.  The resulting teardrop is much more flexible and shapeable.  

So that's the post for today.  My intention with this blog is not only to promote quilling and make new friends in the field, but also to help a new quiller overcome some of his or her frustrations.  I have learned by watching videos from YouTube - some are terrible (lol) and some are terrific.  I personally think Erin Curet with Little Circles is an excellent teacher and promoter of the craft, so check her out if you get a chance!

In the beginning...

Hi there!  Welcome to Wicked Paper Love - my name is Kristin.  I am so thrilled to have this blog up and going - finally!  It only took 3 years.  Wicked Paper Love (WPL) is a blog about quilling - the practice of rolling tiny strips of paper into beautiful works of art.  Never heard of it?  I'm not surprised.  I found it by accident a few years ago when I was searching the interweb for fun, easy art/crafts.  (For the record, I like to use made up words and slang a ton.  So yes, I call the internet the "interweb."  You may see more of that in posts to come.  Just work with me...) Anyway, back to crafts: yes, there are tons of crafts out there, but here's the kicker...I can't draw, and I can't sew.  You see the problem.  But I looooonged to be "creative."  I needed and outlet, and as much as I enjoyed writing, I needed to make something.  And I happened upon quilling.  Beautiful, amazing, inexpensive, quilling.  So I rushed right over to my local craft store...and found nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  The person who worked there had never even heard of it.  Next I went online to check out the arts and crafts realm of Meetup.com (awesome website, by the way).  I emailed the head of the largest craft group in my city - she'd never heard of it.  Grrr...  So I did the best I could.  I found a book, bought a kit, and started with basic cartoon animals.  It was fun, but I was about to begin nursing school, and as soon as I did, there went quilling...and the rest of my social life.  Fast forward 3 years:  I have graduated and worked a full year in a very busy and stressful ICU.  And I recently tore my ACL, so I am down and out for 12 weeks.  Lots of resting = lots of quilling.  Yessssss!  So here we are.  I am a beginner - a total rookie.  The extent of my quilling is working on technique, basic shapes, and looking online to see how different people do the same thing.  It's overwhelming, but it's so much fun.  I hope you continue to check back, and leave me a message or comment as you see fit.  Happy Quilling!

Just some basic shapes!

A face of...?

Trying out this technique for the first time (the inside of the teardrop).  Some people call it a beehive shape, others call it scrolling...there are lots of names, I suppose.  This would look much better if my paper hadn't already been so worn.  I use scraps when I am just playing around, so I can maximize my good paper. 

I cannot wait to try my first "real" picture!

Stay tuned!