5/25/2012
Etsy Team Challenge
On Etsy, teams are formed based on some commonality - type of craft, location of crafters, etc. My favorite team is the PaperTwirlies Team. Occasionally we have challenges - it promotes team commaraderie and induces creativity. The current challege, as posted on the PaperTwirlies Blog, is to create a quilled item inspired from a quilt design by Clothscapes, using any picture in the listing and/or any aspect of it as inspiration.

The quilt design is a square spiral with many colors and shades of color. My imagination drifted to the spiral aspect and that made me think of the chambered nautilus. This cephalopod lives in tropical waters extending from Burma to Fiji and from southern Japan to the Great Barrier Reef (Austrailia). During the day, it resides in dark, cool waters 900 to 2,000 feet deep; at night, it ascends to waters 300 to 500 feet deep to feed. As the animal grows, it expands its living space, adding internal chambers in a perfect logarithmic spiral. The body is situated in the last (largest) chamber with up to 90 slim tentacles extending out.

My entry in the challenge is an interpretive nautilus. It uses several colors/shades to create the chambers, off-white strips to create the spiral, and it's mounted on black to represent the depth at which they reside.

Using creamy white paper as in the quilt to emphasize the spiral, I lined up 5 strips and staggered them a quarter inch from the same end. After gluing them this way, I started at the glued end to roll a tiny tight circle, leaving the remainder free for now (loose ends). This is the center of the nautilus.

Next, I rolled 28 circles in different colors/shades in the same order as they appear on the quilt: blues, aquas, greens, yellows, oranges, reds and purples. The circles needed to be in slightly increasing size. My circles template was key to this - every hole from 1/8 inch to 3/4 inch was used. Length of the paper strips ranged from 1.5 inches for the smallest to 18" for the largest. (I think I bought this template at an office supply store or back-to-school sale - an online search for "circles template" will help you locate them).

Starting with the smallest colored circle and adding in order of size, I glued them around the center bringing the white strips around as I progressed. Each colored circle is glued to the white strip "below" it and to the white strip "above" it when that strip is brought around. After one round, I added another white strip, and after the second round, I added another. Pins help.

I wrapped the first of the 7 loose ends around the last colored circled and glued it in place. Each of the next 5 loose ends was spaced evenly across that last circle and glued. The last one was glued where it ended when it was wrapped.

After the glue dried completely, I trimmed the white strips. Then I oh-so-carefully glued the entire nautilus to an 8" by 8" piece of black cardstock. I must say, I'm pleased with the results!  

5/5/2012 New Technique I learned a new quilling technique called "beehive", I suppose because it looks like the flight pattern of bees around a hive. I had also been trying to create a "medallion" from the silver-edged turquoise quilling paper I started using (and loving!) recently. I had in mind the impression of American Indian jewelry. The 2 met and a wonderful piece of jewelry emerged! Quilling is also called paper filigree, and this piece looks like silver filigree - a perfect match... Didn't take long, of course, for the inspiration to spread to many designs using that "super-edged" paper. Here are a few, available in my Etsy Shop over the next few days, and a brief explanation of how it's done below. HOW TO: Working from the back, create a "frame" for the piece - I wanted a 2-inch long tear-drop, and coins make good templates. Wrap about 5 times. Very carefully use glue from a fine-tipped nozzle on the back edge to seal the pieces together and reinforce/stabilize the outline. While it's drying... Place the slotted tool about 1/2" from the end of a strip of quilling paper (most designs will take 2-3 strips glued end-to-end). Turn the tool a few times, tucking the end inside the coil you are making. Remove the tool and place it about an inch from the curl you just made; roll in the opposite direction until the 2nd curl touches the first. Repeat for the length of the strip. Place the curls into the frame, tucking & wrapping until the shape is filled to your satisfaction (may not take all the curls on the strip - don't force them). Use ModPodge or a sealer to stablize the piece. Dab it on with a small sponge brush, front and back if using regular ("unedged") paper, back only if the paper has a gold, silver, etc., edge. Add findings and a fish-hook or neck chain to compete the piece. Enjoy wearing it - or give it to a treasured friend! 4/28/2012 Mother's Day Cards I have a bunch of cameos I wanted to use in my quilling creations. What better time than mother's day to use them to make cards? For the pink, blue and black-on-ivory designs, I used off-center circles and teardrops to create a light and airy effect - very pretty, if I do say so myself! Bonus - check out the matching needlepoint boxes linked to in the listings for the pink and blue cards - a really special gift set. Click on any picture to see that item in my Etsy Shop (better photos in the links).

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