Whenever I get some downtime, I enjoy seeking out other quillers on the net. It is always fun to see what others are doing with their quilling skills, often I am pleasantly surprised. Actually, Delphene, who is Dutch and French, found me! She emailed me and told me how much she enjoyed the Whimsiquills site, and told me a little bit about herself. When I saw Delphene’s web site, which is in French, Dutch and English, I contacted her and asked her if I could feature her on my blog. As it turned out, she was moving to Orlando, FL so I sent her information about the NAQGCON (North American Quilling Guild Conference), and she was able to attend. She asked me to wait until after the conference to publish her “interview” because she planned on showing her quilled lingerie, (yes, you read that right!), at the conference. We have put a few pictures of her work here in the blog, but be sure to take a few minutes to visit her site; she has some really neat work to share with you. Here is a link http://dequillingworldwifeeo.com because English is a second language, Delphene has given me permission to do some editing, but most of her story is in her own words.
“I started quilling at the age of 8 or 10. My sister had won a craft kit at a Saint Nicholas (November 5th) feast given by the Dutch embassy in Paris. This kit included a simple quilling pattern with a few strips of paper, since she took no interest in it, I finally made it. It was flowers with a bird. Though it looks quite awful, I really enjoyed making it and was proud of it at that time. I always kept it as a reminder, but it is somewhere in a box in France and I don't have a picture of it to show you.
Anyway, from that moment, I never stopped quilling. I was lucky to have an aunt in the Netherlands who was loved crafts (she even worked later in a craft shop) and though she never enjoyed quilling herself, she helped me purchase the paper strips and my first books (I was also lucky that quilling was in at the moment in the Netherlands, because it is now almost impossible to find any quilling supplies and there was no internet then). In the first years I mostly made cards for birthdays, Christmas... following the patterns. When I mastered the basic shapes, the flowers.... I made bigger patterns still following the books. I actually made all the patterns from Malinda Johnson book: Decoratief Papierfiligraan (in Dutch): the panda, the alphabets... which is my very favorite book.
At that time, I had less time with my study and my job, and became bored by the book patterns. So when I had more time during a holiday, 5 years ago maybe, I made my first personal designs. From that moment I kept receiving orders from friends and family, since I told them that you can do everything in quilling, and it is always a new challenge. I also sold a few of my creations in a shop in Paris owned by a guy who made the most amazing origami lamps I've ever seen. Since he had to close the shop (he's now selling on internet) and I was to move to the US anyway I had the idea to create my website: in English and Dutch to make contact with other quillers, in French to promote quilling in France where it is completely unknown. I never took pictures of my creations before I started selling them. And when I created my website I have been asking around for pictures of the quilling I have given away, and most of them are now in my picture gallery, there are just a few creations missing.
I make flowers and frames when I am asked for them, but they are not my favorite (I might have made too many of them earlier!). I enjoy making designs who are the main object of decoration. I tried modern techniques like 3D and husking, but I have a preference for traditional quilling. I use almost no tools, and I coil the strips with my fingers; I used to work with 3 mm strips, but I now often use smaller ones.
I like using the traditional basic shapes in a new context. I particularly enjoyed making the umbrella, and I am currently making lampshades in the same way. I also like making fantastic animals, working on the shapes and colors, the eye expressions. My lingerie designs have a huge success, and I intend to make a whole collection. I have a lot of other projects, and my problem is not a lack of inspiration but a lack of time!!
After high school I studied law, and worked as a student in kitchens. After a few years I decided to turn myself to bakery and pastry; Though I do love my job as a pastry cook, I really envy you for being able to quill full time; and I would love to teach quilling because the persons I tried to interest in it never had the required patience for quilling! . I will love to have some feedback from anyone who visits my site.”
“I started quilling at the age of 8 or 10. My sister had won a craft kit at a Saint Nicholas (November 5th) feast given by the Dutch embassy in Paris. This kit included a simple quilling pattern with a few strips of paper, since she took no interest in it, I finally made it. It was flowers with a bird. Though it looks quite awful, I really enjoyed making it and was proud of it at that time. I always kept it as a reminder, but it is somewhere in a box in France and I don't have a picture of it to show you.
Anyway, from that moment, I never stopped quilling. I was lucky to have an aunt in the Netherlands who was loved crafts (she even worked later in a craft shop) and though she never enjoyed quilling herself, she helped me purchase the paper strips and my first books (I was also lucky that quilling was in at the moment in the Netherlands, because it is now almost impossible to find any quilling supplies and there was no internet then). In the first years I mostly made cards for birthdays, Christmas... following the patterns. When I mastered the basic shapes, the flowers.... I made bigger patterns still following the books. I actually made all the patterns from Malinda Johnson book: Decoratief Papierfiligraan (in Dutch): the panda, the alphabets... which is my very favorite book.
At that time, I had less time with my study and my job, and became bored by the book patterns. So when I had more time during a holiday, 5 years ago maybe, I made my first personal designs. From that moment I kept receiving orders from friends and family, since I told them that you can do everything in quilling, and it is always a new challenge. I also sold a few of my creations in a shop in Paris owned by a guy who made the most amazing origami lamps I've ever seen. Since he had to close the shop (he's now selling on internet) and I was to move to the US anyway I had the idea to create my website: in English and Dutch to make contact with other quillers, in French to promote quilling in France where it is completely unknown. I never took pictures of my creations before I started selling them. And when I created my website I have been asking around for pictures of the quilling I have given away, and most of them are now in my picture gallery, there are just a few creations missing.
I make flowers and frames when I am asked for them, but they are not my favorite (I might have made too many of them earlier!). I enjoy making designs who are the main object of decoration. I tried modern techniques like 3D and husking, but I have a preference for traditional quilling. I use almost no tools, and I coil the strips with my fingers; I used to work with 3 mm strips, but I now often use smaller ones.
I like using the traditional basic shapes in a new context. I particularly enjoyed making the umbrella, and I am currently making lampshades in the same way. I also like making fantastic animals, working on the shapes and colors, the eye expressions. My lingerie designs have a huge success, and I intend to make a whole collection. I have a lot of other projects, and my problem is not a lack of inspiration but a lack of time!!
After high school I studied law, and worked as a student in kitchens. After a few years I decided to turn myself to bakery and pastry; Though I do love my job as a pastry cook, I really envy you for being able to quill full time; and I would love to teach quilling because the persons I tried to interest in it never had the required patience for quilling! . I will love to have some feedback from anyone who visits my site.”
Posts
1 comment:
beautiful. i'm usually interested in beading with gemstones. hoping to learn much more about quilling.
Post a Comment