Valentine Heart

Here is a filigree heart for a Valentines Day or anniversary card or "just because I like hearts" card. This one is a little tricky because there are so many open scrolls so I would suggest assembling it right on whatever backing you plan to use. It’s much easier applying glue to those scrolls one at a time rather than trying to move and glue the whole design. I used a deep red back ground and didn’t put the dome on for the picture so you can see the scrolls clearly. After I finished the design I realized I should have scanned it in progress, so I recreated the steps to make the instructions a little clearer.

View 1-I started with a 7” strip which I folded in half, the fold is the bottom point of the heart. I gently curled the strip with my fingers and then glued the ends of the strip together to form the rounded part of the heart. Then I held it with my tweezers while I applied just a tiny bit of glue to the edges and placed it on the back ground.

You will need nine 2” tight rolls which you can make ahead along with one 3” marquise, two 3” marquises, and two 2” teardrops. Glue the first tight roll at the “v” of the heart as shown.

Fold another 7” strip in half and curl the ends to make an open heart scroll. Glue the heart with the point at the tight roll and spread the arms to reach the sides of the original heart. (You may have to play with the heart a little to get it in place.)

Make a 4” open V-scroll and wrap it around the 4” marquise. Glue it into the point of the open heart as shown in view 1.

Make another 4” open V-scroll and wrap it around one of the 3” marquises and glue it into the bottom point of the heart, then glue the last 3” marquise in between the two open V’s as shown.

Make two uneven 4” open hearts as shown in View 2 and glue them in place. Then add two 2” open scrolls to each side as shown. Add the Last two 2" open scrolls, the 2" teardrops, and the tight circles as shown. You may need to make some adjustments to accommodate tighter or looser coils. Have fun with it!

Alternative uses for quilling strips

Quite a while back, I made this handout to illustrate different ways quilling strips could be used. We even carried Fiskars border punches for a while; although we are discontinuing them to make room for other inventory. I like using the punches or decorative edge scissors to create interesting borders for cards etc. I also use them to border the edges of my photograph albums/scrap books. I know some quillers like using the wider strips (especially the metallics and pearls) to make German stars. I have never quite gotten the hang of making them. I have had two different quillers sit down with me to teach me how to make them. I am fine until I go home and try it on my own; I get halfway through and then I get stuck! Oh well . . .

This week I found yet another use for my quilling strips. My 8 month old Shih Tzu puppy (Mandy) has discovered quilling! I just had to share her "work" I guess it is really more like "play".