Quilling

What is this quilling nonsense that Jennifer is up to these days?
Well, according to Wikipedia...

"Quilling or paper filigree is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs."

"During the Renaissance, French and Italian nuns and monks used quilling to decorate book covers and religious items. The paper most commonly used was strips of paper trimmed from the gilded edges of books. These gilded paper strips were then rolled to create the quilled shapes. Quilling often imitated the original ironwork of the day."

That's pretty much the jist of it in a nutshell.
Here's another tid-bit of Wikipedia wisdom that I found quite comical.

"In the 18th century, quilling became popular in Europe where gentle ladies of quality ("ladies of leisure") practiced the art. It was one of the few things ladies could do that was thought not too taxing for their minds or gentle dispositions. Quilling also spread to the Americas and there are a few examples from Colonial times."

Poor ladies...they couldn't do anything "too taxing".  How boring life must have been for them.  I imagine there weren't too many ways to express themselves.
The picture above is from the blog Women in American History (link below).  It's an interesting site with many pictures and text to peruse.
http://b-womeninamericanhistory18.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html

When I first started quilling I thought it was only flowers, small animals and maybe a little train car or two.  Boy was I wrong!  Quilling can be so beautiful!

Yulia Brodskaya is my all time favorite quiller.  Here is her website. http://www.artyulia.com/index.php/Illustration 
If you visit her site, be sure to check our the "News" link.  Here, one can see all of the illustrations Brodskaya has done for different companies and magazines through the years!
And check out this beautiful wedding invitation designed by Spark Stationery.  You can see more at  http://www.letterpresslove.com/

Quilling is one of my many hobbies.  I'm not great at it, but through practice I feel I'm improving through the years.  Usually, the quilling bug takes hold around November and I start making snowflakes for Christmas season.  The snowflake ornaments are given away as gifts to my friends and family.
Last year I did not quill.
This year I am making up for it.

Last weekend, darling daughter had a sleepover, the perfect opportunity for me to do some late night quilling!  I quilled for 5 hours straight! (Well, there were a couple of snack breaks in there). I listen to the Pride and Prejudice Soundtrack from the 2005 film.  (I don't know why.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQgnEvQX3eM

Colored quilling paper!

Some placecards I was attempting in 2010.



This is the basic beginning of most of my flakes.

I bought this really neat little box at a scrapbooker's garage sale.  I don't know where it came from originally, or what company sold them, but it works great for storing quilling supplies.  It is long, so is perfect for storing the long loops of quilling paper.  The drawers are also removable!

This is my quilling kit.

The top drawer is shallow and undivided, the perfect place to store flakes-in-progress, scissors, and paper strips.

The bottom drawer is full of little, removable boxes.  These are perfect for storing small pieces of quilled work.  The small plastic jars are from JoAnn Fabrics jewelery department.
The only thing this box doesn't hold is my bottle of glue.

A flake in progress.

Blizzard.

The beauty of quilling is that little projects like these snowflakes are so easy, with a little practice, ANYONE can do them! 

Until another day,
Have a Crafty Day!