Quilling for Scrapbooks and Photo Albums

Quilling in Scrapbooks and Photo Albums

I am not the scrapbooking person in our family. That would be my daughter Christie, the one who manages my Ebay store, juggles a full time job, takes care of a husband and two dogs, and makes wonderful scrapbooks. A diehard Yankees fan, she did a great scrapbook to commemorate her first game at Yankee Stadium. What does this have to do with quilling? She used 1/8" navy blue quilling strips to PIN STRIPE the pages for her Yankee Scrapbook.

I, on the otherhand, have a thing about preserving our family history and passing it on to my kids. Between my husband and myself we have five children, all grown. I started keeping family photo albums years ago, you know, take the pictures and then stick them in one of those '"sticky page" things they used to call photo albums. Then a distant relative passed away and when we started going through "stuff", there were all of these pictures with no names or explanations. That's when I decided to redo the family photos. Now they look more like a family story book, with funny little annecdotes about how and when we got the dogs, graduations, weddings,silly pictures etc. After seeing my daughter's scrapbooks, I decided to dress up my photo albums as well. I use quilling strips to border most of my pages, sometimes combining different widths, sometime using border punches on the wider strips. I always have just the right colors to go with all of my pages because the strips come in so many colors. They may not have an adhesive backing like some of the border strips sold in stores, but I use my fine tip glue bottle and I'm good to go.

Several years ago, I was asked to do a taping for the DIY network on quilling for scrapbooks. That really made me think about adding quilling to my own pages. Now, I have ten volumes of family photos, and trust me, there are a lot more quilling paper borders, than there is quilling, but little by little I am going back and adding a little quilled here and there. The albums all sit on a book shelf in our living room and everytime we are all together somebody pulls one out and starts reminiscing. I have put some of my favorite pages up in the picture gallery on my "new" web site http://www.Whimsiquills.com with little blurbs about each one.

It's kind of funny, there are quillers who don't even want to hear about scrapbooks (I think scrapbooking is a lot more expensive than quilling), and when the scrabooking craze first started there were people who said you couldn't use quilling because it wasn't flat. But as scrapbooking has evolved, and more and more dimensional embellishments are being added, the interest in quilling continues to grow. At Whimsiquills, we try to encourage that growth and carry a number of kits and books geared toward scrapbooking. I think the designs in the Accord quilling calendar are perfect for scrapbooking. Twenty years ago, the quillers worried that quilling might die out, today is seems to be alive and well becoming more main stream every day. Hooray!! That's just what we wanted, and the scrapbookers are helping.

The Business of Quilling

The Business of Quilling

I am often asked about how to go about starting a quilling business. Probably the best advice I can offer is based on my own experience with Whimsiquills. I started quilling 30+ years ago as a hobby. I always enjoyed working with my hands, and quilling just seemed to suit me. I gave some of my work away as gifts and soon began to get requests from people who were willing to pay for my work. When I decided to get serious about selling my work, I tried a number of venues which helped me build up a customer base and advertise my work at the same time. Here are some thought starters:

Local Craft or Artist’s Guild-join your local or state craft guild. They often have directories of craft shows, craft malls, opportunities for demonstrations and workshops, and you are listed in their directories as a quiller.

Demonstrate- volunteer to demonstrate for your local women’s club, scouts, church groups, adult education, historical society, etc. When you demonstrate, have some of your finished work available for the audience to see, simple pieces as well as show stoppers. Encourage them to ask questions. I never charged for demonstrating, but always got paid by the new customers and orders I picked up.

Your name-put your name, addresses, and phone number on every piece you sell. Even something small like a magnet or gift card should have either a hang tag or a sticker with your information on it. I like to print a small card with an explanation of quilling on it, my company logo, and name etc. Many people who receive small items as gifts go on to become good customers, but they have to know how to find you. You can print stickers, and hang tags on your home PC.

Business cards-they are inexpensive (you can even print them yourself) and you can put lots of information on them. It’s amazing how many people will pick up a card and call later, even years later. (When I sold at craft shows, I used a double sided business card with the explanation of quilling on the back, so people would remember who I was). I also give customers magnetic business cards so they can “put me on their refrigerator”. You can purchase magnets to fit business cards at office supply stores; there is also magnetic card stock available that can go through an ink jet printer.

Press releases-if you win an award, attend a conference, give a demonstration for the historical society, and do a press release. Press releases are often followed up by newspaper interviews, sometimes including photographs of you and your work. This is wonderful FREE advertising. There is info online and in the library about writing press releases.

Mailing List- maintain a list of your customers and do periodic mailings. I usually did post card mailings, they are inexpensive, and if you print them on brightly colored card stock, your customer cant help but read it before s/he tosses it. I always get calls from customers after a mailing, sometimes all they need is a little reminder. Mailings also help keep your customer list up to date, cards may be returned with a new address from the post office, and some will be forwarded to customers who may call to give you their new mailing info. I never buy mailing lists or put anyone’s name on my list unless they ask to be included. Purchased mailing lists are a waste of money since the majority of people on them have no idea what quilling is anyway.

Home parties-I gave a very brief history of quilling, a short demonstration, showed sample pieces and took orders. I showed small things like baby frames, plaques for kid’s rooms, small floral pieces, and one or two larger pieces, like wedding invitations. The hostess received a credit of 20% of the total party order towards anything she ordered. I went home, completed the order and returned it to the hostess. Of course I got everyone’s name, address and phone number, which was the beginning of my customer list.

Local craft shows-PTA’s, churches, and local civic organizations often hold craft shows as fundraisers. The booth or table fees are nominal, and once again, it gets you out in front of the public and acquaints them with quilling. I always demonstrated at my table, which is enough to get people to stop and visit. As all quillers know, there are very few people who really know what they are looking at when they see a piece of quilling; demonstrating is a great way to educate the public. I would always have a sign up sheet for interested “potential” customers, and of course took the name and address of any one who bought.

Juried Craft Shows-these are a lot more expensive and often run for several days, some require slides or photos of your work and/or display set up. Juried shows are often well advertised, and you may be listed in press releases as a participating artist. I always demonstrated at these shows as well and had sign up sheets for “potential “ customers, as well as business cards. You can also have flyers announcing future show you are doing. It’s kind of “trial and error” deciding what you want to sell at craft shows. I found that small items sold well, but I always had some larger more expensive pieces on display as well. You also have to be able to produce enough inventory so you don’t run out of stock during the show. (Once I had a customer base, I stopped doing shows. I found the amount of time involved in traveling, setting up, doing the show, breaking down, and then doing the paperwork, took too much time away from production. But that is only my personal feeling; many quillers sell their work at shows.)

Craft Malls-once I stopped doing shows, I started selling my work through craft malls. I would rent space for a monthly fee, set up my display, and let the store staff sell my work for me. I did this for a number of years. Some craft malls are very good, others are poorly run. Your display needs to be “eye catching’, and you need to have an explanation of what quilling is that is very visible. As you know, people will stop and look at a quilled piece and not have any idea of what they are looking at. Signage is important, especially when the store staff is not available to answer questions. You really have to do your homework, (here’s where craft guilds can be helpful. They often rate craft malls) and once again have enough inventory to keep the shelves stocked. As always, my name was on every piece, and a sign up for my mailing list was available.


I no longer do craft malls, since my customer base is so large that they keep me pretty busy with custom orders. A large percentage of my work is wedding related. The quilled wedding invitation is still a best seller and brides love them. Many of my best customers received their own invitation as a gift and go on to give them to friends and family. I also do anniversary, baby, graduation and other special occasion frames. I don’t advertise at all, my customers do it for me.

Hopefully this information has been helpful; if you have questions (or ideas) feel free to give me a call. Our toll free number in the USA and Canada is 1.877.488.0894

Quilling Applications (Where do you put your quillling?)

Where do you put your quilling?

I thought, on the heels of my little blog about Megan Wilson, that maybe it was time to talk about some of the many applications quilling has. I think I may have mentioned that my first exposure to quilling was a quilled snowflake. Quilled snowflakes look so lacey and delicate and I still love to make them, hang them in my windows and give them as little gifts. But when I decided to sell my work, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to earn much selling such a small item. Over the years, I have done quilling around literally hundreds and hundreds of wedding invitations, anniversary announcements, poems and birth announcements. These became my “bread and butter” items; there was always a market for these occasions when people are looking for a very special gift. But there are so many other applications for quilling; I usually tell people the only thing that limits them is their own imagination! Here a just a few things that I have tried or seen others try.

I still have a quilled switch plate in the Whimsiquills room that is almost twenty years old. It is a fairly simple design on a wooden heart shaped switch plate that I bought in a craft store and painted to match the woodwork in the room.

I had quilling around a mirror mounted on a wood background with a towel bar underneath in my bathroom for years until just a couple of years ago when we remodeled the bathroom. We did knock a few of the quills off from time to time, but I just replaced them . . . it was kind of neat!
I designed and quilled a chess board to go with the chess men I made from a kit. Once I made the men, I felt they had to go with a quilled board. That design is available in Malinda Johnston’s Book of Paper Quilling on pages 105-106.

Dimensional or free standing quilling can be challenging but very exciting. Jinny Alexander’s Jinisans, my tea cups and saucer, and Christmas tree all pictured here on the blog are just a few examples.

Quilled greeting cards are very popular, especially when you look at the prices for greeting cards in card shops! Why not make a really special card with your personal touch? Several years ago (2003) I did some quilled eggs and Easter cards for Family Circle magazine at their request. They sent me some colored cards with oval cut outs etc. I got a bunch of calls asking where to buy those cards; Family Circle told me they had purchased them from a little boutique in New York. Now those kinds of cards are available in craft stores and on the internet Combine your quilling with rubber stamping, embossing, Pergamano (parchment craft), and embroidery to make some very unique greeting cards. I know others have done this as well, make a removable quilled Christmas ornament part of the greeting card. I make matching quilled gift tags to give to all of my customers with their orders.

One of my quilling friends, Rick Whitman, loves to do counted cross stitch. She will stitch an appropriate Bible verse, then mat it and quill on the mat and frame the whole thing for a very special gift item.

One of the more recent applications is the use of quilling in scrap books.
Quilled jewelry, I’ve made quilled pins, earrings and stick pins. There are a couple of kits and books with jewelry designs, and we are including quilled jewelry in the 2009 Accord quilling calendar. Of course the Quilling calendar (2008 now available) was a really unique application for quilling. The first calendar was done for 2007; each page has a quilling design, the directions are printed on the back of the page, and the strips are on the bottom of the page.

And last but not least we have the Megan Wilson application just in case you missed it! http://www.meganwilson.com/projects.php

I would love to hear what everyone else is doing, I’m sure I couldn’t have possibly covered everything. Share your ideas!

FYI there are two new posts on the Whimsiquills blog, one about a very interesting artist and another on the many applications of quilling. Also for those concerned about the 2007/2008 calendars I have put in a call to Accord publishing, but I really think the two calendars on the web are actually same calendar, the 2008; (even though one picture shows the 2007 box. I was told that the leftover 2007 calendars were destroyed which upset me more than a little.) The publisher has a suggested retail price ($14.99 for the 2008 calendar), but anyone selling them can charge whatever they choose. Mega calendar is just one of the distributors that Accord (Andrews McMeil) sells to. If I find out anything different, I will be sure to post to the groups.

Specialty Quilling Papers/Strips (Graduated/Dark Center)

Specialty Quilling Papers-Graduated and Dark Centers

We get a lot of questions about the specialty papers we carry, so I thought that might be a good topic to cover here. One of the questions we get frequently is "What are they used for?" Let me get some of the basic information about the strips first, and then we'll give some suggestions as to how they can be used. When we first brought graduated and dark center strips in from England, there was nothing like them here in the USA. All of the English graduated and dark center strips are 12" long. That's because they are printed on the paper. The English graduated strips come in 10 colors and in all 4 widths: 1/16", 1/8", ¼" and 3/8"as well as mixed/multi packs. One end of the strip is very pale, (almost white) and the color gets deeper as it goes up the strip. The dark center strips are pale on both ends with the deeper color being in the middle of the strip. The English strips come in pink, orange, yellow, opal green (which is like a turquoise), bright green, blue, red, lilac, brown and black. They are available in single packages or mixed/multi packages with all ten colors. Lake City now has some papers which they call watercolors which are dark center. They are also 12" long, and come in mixed packs only, no single color packs, in 1/8", `/4", and 3/8" widths. They come in ten colors which are quite close to the English colors except they have two shades of pink and no opal green. Paplin Products have also created a line of graduated (although they are actually dark center strips) papers. They are available in all 4 widths , their colors include red, yellow, fern green, peach, purple, orange olive green, pink, federal blue, orchid, and hyacinth (which is like a pale periwinkle) I like the Paplin colors because they "match" their regular papers. For example; the English and Lake City greens are bright almost Christmas green and that's a color I only use for Christmas. Paplins olive green and fern green are the kind of greens I prefer in my work. Quilled Creations also have graduated and dark center strips in the same colors as the English strip, but don't offer them in 1/16".

OK, so what do you do with them? I guess the first thing to think about is how long a strip you usually use. I generally don't use anything longer than 6" for conventional quilled shapes, so for me the dark centers work well; I cut the strips in half and then I have two six inch graduated strips. Then you decide whether you want the lighter or darker color on the inside of your shape, and that's where you start rolling. I especially like to used the graduated strips when I am doing wheatears or alternate side looping, (you remember, that's husking without pins). The quilling in those techniques is much more open so you really get to appreciate the shading differences in the papers. I will use the whole 12" strip for husked petals and love the effect of the petal center one shade and the shade deepens as you finish the petal, with the darker shade wrapping the petal. I also like fringed flowers using the graduated and dark center papers, it is a somewhat softer look than using two totally different colors. There is also a flower that I like to make that reminds me of lupines. It is a series of open s scrolls that get progressively smaller and the shade changes very softly with these papers. I don't remember where I first saw it, probably in one of Jane Jenkins books. On page 36 of her book Quilling Techniques and Inspiration, she has a very pretty arrangement of flowers all made with graduated and dark center papers. Next up we'll talk about two toned papers, and I will get some pictures posted so you can get the effect of these and other specialty papers. I would also like to see what you are doing with these strips. Stay tuned.

Quilling Calendar

Quilling Calendar

Today’s post is about a project you may or may not be aware of. In 2006, I was approached by Accord Calendar Company to coordinate a quilling-pattern-a-day calendar for the year 2007. Accord specializes in novelty calendars; they are actually more like kits than calendars. They make an origami calendar, an airplane calendar, a scrapbooking calendar, a watercolor calendar, a watercolor calendar and many more. The calendars come in patented gift boxes which open to form an easel stand. While the pages are dated, there is no room to jot down appointments or reminders. Instead each page has a picture of a small quilled item at the top of the page. The items are generally themed with the time of the year, for example: if you are looking for Halloween ideas just flip through until you get to the month of October. The bottom of the page is die cut into 18 six inch long quilling strips in the appropriate colors to complete the piece shown at the top of the page. The directions for making the piece are on the back of the picture. I had trouble visualizing this too, until I saw an mock up of the real thing. It is such a clever idea! The box includes a small slotted tool, a quilling shape key, and general instructions. Wow! Was I impressed!

The really neat thing about this project was the fact that quilling was finally being sold and seen someplace other than craft stores, (not that you see very much of it there either.) The calendars were sold in book stores, kiosks, craft stores, mail order, and by quilling suppliers; we sold more than 150 right here at Whimsiquills. We received terrific feedback from our customers. Teachers and scout leaders bought them as a teaching aid. Quillers bought them because they just wanted the 313 design patterns. Where can you get 313 designs for only $13.99? Why only 313 designs you ask? Well in order to be able to fit all of the pages in this neat little gift box, Saturdays and Sundays were combined on one page. Oh and where did the designs come from? From quillers of course! Each design had the creators name and web site (if there was one) printed on the page. North American Quilling Guild members created the designs for the first two calendars, (2007 and 2008). It was a challenge, because the quillers had to come up with designs that were approximately 2”x2” and didn’t use more than 108” of paper. You can’t even imagine the things they came up with! Since I was coordinating the project, all of the pieces came to me. What fun! It was like Christmas every day! I couldn’t wait for the mail to come to see what delightful surprises were in store.

Well, the 2008 calendar is finished and will soon be in stores, we are anxiously awaiting our shipment, but while we are waiting we are busy working on the 2009 calendar. (Talk about confusing, you can’t imagine what it is like working on a 2009 project in 2007! I have to double check every check I write because I keep writing 2009! . . . Talk about postdating a check!) One of the reasons I am doing this blog is to reach quillers who might not have known about this project and invite them to participate. If you are interested, contact me a Whimsiquills@cox.net or if you are in the USA or Canada you can call toll free 1 877 488 0894; if you are outside of the USA or Canada, our phone number is 1860 749 0894 and the fax is 860 763 3904. If you are interested in receiving the info packet via email or snail mail just let us know. We still have lots of days open for the 2009 calendar and would love to have you submit a design. We have a list of themes we are looking for and all of the general directions which we will be glad to send you. I’d like to get all of the submissions by the end of September.

Quilling is it Art or Craft?

Quilling: Art or Craft

Many quillers struggle with the question as to whether quilling is an art or craft. My personal opinion is that it depends on the quiller and who the quiller is discussing the subject with. It has been my experience that many art "shows' don't have a quilling category simply because they have no idea what quilling is. How can they make a judgment that quilling is not an art when they really don't know anything about it? Sure quilling supplies may be purchased at craft stores, but oil paints and brushes are sold a craft stores as well; does that make oil painting a craft? I have seen quilling that is undoubtedly "art", in fact, a couple of pieces of my work are presently on tour with Exhibits USA, an art museum that puts together traveling exhibits. I have also seen quilling that would only fit into the "craft" category. To further illustrate my point: my painting ability could never be considered anything other than a "hobby/craft" and could never be mistaken for art, but that doesn't mean all painting would fall into that category; there are many outstanding artists who use paint as their medium and their work would never be considered anything but art. It definitely poses an interesting question. I recently read a post by Niki Abbott, a NAQG (North American Quilling Guild) member who was asked the same question, and with Niki's permission, I am reprinting her words and thoughts for your perusal. We would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this topic. Niki is a Canadian quiller who also sells quilling supplies Blueberry Lane Quilling I have included this link for the convenience of our Canadian quillers. She also writes a blog

Quilling - Hobby or Art? By Niki Abbott

Recently I was challenged with the question of whether quilling was an art or just a hobby craft. To be honest, I had not really considered it until now; I assumed anything a person made through their own innate creativity was art. I had quite a bit of difficulty answering this question, and I'm not entirely sure I've done so even now; but I have managed to dig up enough information to shed a bit of light on the subject.You can ask any serious quiller whether they believe their work is an art or a craft, and they will tell you that they wholeheartedly consider their work to be art - myself included.Unfortunately, quilling is considered a hobby craft in the art world, like scrapbooking and wood burning. This is because it is most commonly associated with scrapbooking and paper crafting.From an art critique's approach, although a quilling pattern may be original, the techniques and materials used nowadays are not. And in respect to that point of view, there is no real transformation of materials or unique signature of the person who created it. To put it bluntly, any two people can go out and purchase the same or similar materials, use the same pattern and produce nearly identical pieces. And that's why quilling falls through the cracks in the art gallery floor, so to speak.I know this point of view is highly argumentative, and I want to reassure you that I do not share this opinion on quilling - I believe each piece is unique in its own way and that quilling is an art form, albeit a lost one.I posed the question to the members of NAQG (North American Quilling Guild) and received some great responses and insight. I also contacted Mary Walker, a professional quiller in British Columbia, Canada, who had managed to convince her local art community to recognize quillwork as a true art form. She currently has many pieces on display in art galleries across Canada. According to Ms. Walker, who has done extensive research in her quest to revive the artistic side of quilling, it did actually start out as a craft. The common shapes used in quilling, marquises, pegs, teardrops, etc. are Egyptian in origin. Thirteenth century quilling extended from this craft, as Italian nuns began to create them with paper on a quill.Two centuries later, the nuns were melting silver or gold and covering the exposed surfaces of the paper, softening the edges. At this point in history, a name was chosen for this pastime and 'quilling' became recognized as an art. This was because by artists' own definitions, when you add a precious or semi precious metal to anything, you have created an art form.So, unless you soften the edges of your quillwork with gold or silver, it falls under the craft category. But if melting your own gold and silver is not an option for you, there is also a special paper available at quilling supply shops which already has the edges softened, thus giving the finish you need.Once you work is gilded, then and only then are you actually quilling - and creating art.

Matting Your Quilling Part # 2

Matting your work –Part 2

When my husband went to framing school, (he really went because we needed to learn more about framing so I could frame my quilling) it opened a whole new world to me. As I explained in Part 1, I learned to work out the back of frames so I could use all different kinds of frames that previously I believed would not accommodate quilling. Quite a few pieces in the custom pieces folder are in what would be considered regular frames, (not shadowboxes). The mats are attached to the back of the frame. But today we are going to be talking about the matting, which is just as important, maybe even more so, than the frames.

There are lots of things to take into consideration when you choose matting for your work. The colors mats you use on a given piece can make it look very rich (like ivory on ivory), dramatic (black and white) or fun (like the primary colors in the cat in the hat piece. You can use soft neutral colors or strong vibrant colors. You can choose colors based on what colors are in the piece, for example you can be matting a multi colored bouquet of quilled flowers and change the whole “feel” of the piece by the colors of the matting. I like to do floral on a fairly neutral background mat so the quilling shows well against the background. Then I choose colors that are in the quilling for the matting; if I want to keep the piece on the neutral side, I might do the matting in soft shades of green, picking up the colors from the greens in the piece. If I want the piece to stand out a little more, I might use one of the other colors in the piece, for example: if I have lavenders in the piece, I might mat the piece with a lavender mat and a darker purple mat liner or I might choose another color from the flowers, like light blue with a darker blue mat liner.

Rather than just putting the quilling on a mat and framing it, I like to use the mat to create a “frame” within the mat. You can see examples of this on the Unicorn, Quilled filigree cross, and the Victorian fan. All three of those pieces are done on suede mats. Instead of just framing the pieces, I created a frame within a frame by cutting a second mat (in the same suede) and raising it slightly to give the piece a little depth and to draw the eye right to the quilling.

When I do butterflies and birds, I like to use an oval
opening with a v-groove. I usually have the quilling extend beyond the mat opening; I think it is a more interesting look. There are so many interesting things you can do with matting, especially if you are adding quilling. In the Florida Gulf Coast piece in the pics/Custom Works folder the “sand” at the bottom of the frame is a second mat which I hand cut to fit across the piece, the blue sky is a second mat which I put behind the “sand”.

Matting can come to the rescue when you are working with ready made frames and have an item that just isn’t the right size or shape for the frame, especially if you are going to be adding quilling to the piece. Let’s say you have a long narrow invitation that needs quilling/matting/framing. I will, either mat the invite off to one side and do the quilling down the other side, or I might center the invitation and then do some quilling on either side of the piece. I’d like to give you visuals for all of these examples, but rather than having you hop around between picture files and the blog, I’m going to see if I can figure out how to link the visuals in the blog itself. If any of you know how to do this . . . HELP!!!! If not I will keep working at figuring it out, but I am going to post this anyway . . . you’ll just have to come back to see the pictures! Pretty sneaky, huh?