March Quickie

Hello, all! 

Happy Spring. 🌷

I mentioned last month, a few details about the NAQG annual conference, May 17-10, 2023.

Registration deadline is Friday, March 31, 2023.

The venue hotel has a new name: Clarion Hotel Airport & Conference Center New Orleans. For reservations, phone (504) 463-7002, before April 11, for the special rate. Every bit of information about the conference is available at the link below.

NAQGCON May 2023

Quilling Announcement

Hello, there! 🌼

The North American Quilling Guild conference will be held May 12 and 13, 2023, at the New Orleans Airport Hotel, 2829 Williams Blvd., Kenner, Louisiana 70062. Kenner is a suburb of New Orleans and is about 20 minutes from downtown.

You do not need to be a NAQG member to attend. 

Deadline to book hotel is April 11, and it's secured at an amazing price. The best of the best conference is when it is held near the airport you fly into. 

The hostess of this year's conference is Marion Bertaut 💖, an absolute treasure to know and be around.  

Check out all the information and see the fabulous events on the schedule.   

2023 NAQGCON

Stay safe and enjoy this time of year!

Molly xo 🌷

This blog post, that took me 26 days to get around to writing, is sponsored by my Zazzle Store.  😊  Thanks for looking.

Happy 2023!

Hello there! 🌼 

I have a few links that may be of interest to you. This first one is not paper related. It's more "new year, new you" (good articles on Dry January). I recently began looking at Real Simple online and have found some amazing tips and ideas. I also think it is a good way to keep up with trends (was a pop culture nerd when I was younger). The recipes alone, food and beverages, is worth a look. 

Even though I retired from quilling last May, I continue to look at what Miriam's Quilling is sharing. She gives so many ideas in her videos. What I like is she quills most of the pieces offline, so her videos are brief, and you see her finishing the project. If you notice her using the 1mm wide paper, go ahead and use 1/8" (or even 1/4") to save some frustration. I mentioned a while back where to purchase these papers from Romania. Phew, I plan to try again at some point, but the paper strips kept cutting my fingers while twirling. 

You just need to look at this article-- there's no way to describe it, other than miniature paper cutting to make people and much more. I love miniatures and this is about as tiny as you can get with paper figures. While there, take a look around Ann Martin's awesome, unique paper blog.  

Happy New Year to everyone! Wishing good health, happiness in the year ahead, and all the best to you and yours.

xo🌺

Molly

P.S. Pantone's Color for 2023 is "Viva Magenta". Hex Code #BB2649.

Happy October!

itsMolly Store - Zazzle

Holy Cow this has been a lot of work since March. I want to announce the opening of my Zazzle Store today. I'm finally making my new Collections public. The original 3 quilling themes, 2 new quilling related and 13 new Collections. More on the way. 

Please keep my store in mind for future online browsing and gift needs. My website always lists daily discounts and has a link to the store. Never buy at Zazzle without using a discount coupon.  

Thank you all❣️

~Molly xo

Christmas in July

 

I have been watching the same YT channel every July forever, and I decided to see what else is out there for Christmas in July. This link is filtered for videos this month only, so there are even more if you do your own search without filtering. 

YouTube Christmas in July Crafts

Poinsettia:

Leaves 4" shaped marquise

Petals 3" marquise

Center 2" loose coil

Six Point Snowflake:

Center 3" loose coil, teardrops 2.5", T-shape 2.5", 3" loose coils -- in this order

Open ovals glued to center between each point are 2" wrapped around a dowel, glue end and shape. I cut off one end of a Q-tip and use the stick as a dowel. If the end of the paper you started with sticks out in the open space, just glue it down. This usually happens.

The ring glued to top of snowflake for the ribbon tie, is 2" wrapped around a 6mm diameter dowel. I use the handle of a quilling tool.

If you prefer larger pieces, add in increments of 1/2" in length to these measurements.  All quilling strips are 1/8" wide.

I paid a mint for this bag a while back, I think at Michaels in the wedding section. I looked on Amazon and you can get100pc 3"x4" organza (not mesh) bags for $8, 100pc 4"x6" for $9 and 50pc of the larger bags for around the same price. There are so many choices of colors. 

I purchased the gold edged paper at JJ Quilling in the UK. These gilded edge papers are now available in the U.S. at Quilled Creations. My favorite is the Silver Holofoil on any color paper. This project was for a magazine, and they wanted shiny and gold everywhere.

A nice gift to make early if you know someone expecting. A great selling project too. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Molly xo

Tags. Are they really inexpensive, easy and fun to make?

 YES, I think so. I've decided to start making "all occasion" tags and gifting to my daughter in an organized... something, I haven't decided what.  😃

I made tags 15 or so years ago for my mother, back when I hand-embossed a few and used one of those silver "office" hole punches. They were cut on a trimmer, no die-cuts available. I rounded the bottom corners, tracing a curve with a penny or dime, and fussy cutting.  

I make it easy by using one or three (always odd numbers) quilled elements on a single tag. I know of a guy who had a fit over a small tag with his name, one quilled fish element, and tied around a bottle of wine. It was a dinner-host gift and he enjoys fishing. He showed each guest as they arrived. 

As you know, Etsy, eBay crafters sell tags by the dozen. I think most people don't want, or don't know how, to make tags and it saves them time. Selling online, craft fairs, holiday sales parties-- oh my gosh, Christmas tags are hard to pass up.

Easy. Used punch on the divider cards you get in those craft store photo boxes. Love the lines. You could line cardstock on a printer and do this. No big scalloped punch? Make circles or squares (shape the corners).

Labor intensive 😁, a past thing. I quilled some flowers on the tag to match the gift paper. Retiring the photo.

I have no idea what this was for, but an idea for printing a message or quote instead of stamping. I used this daisy paper a lot with the daisy quilled stickers. Horrible angled corners on top, yikes, don't do this. 😬

I admit, I over-do holiday/winter tags during watching Christmas in July videos, but this is a more simple tag using scraps. I cover front first, then trim and shape corners. I use the backs of tablets mostly and don't stamp To & From. This type of cardboard is easy to use a marker, no bleed-through. 

And the basic quilled element on small folded tag to stick on a card, package (or a bottle of wine 😉).

If you feel creative and don't want to jump into a big project, make a stack of tags using leftover quilling elements (and scraps). When you need one you'll have a selection to look through. 

Stay safe and well.

xo, Molly

Mini Quilled Carrots - Archives

Wow, this post is only 11 years old, and I changed most of the wording since things have changed so much in quilling. These are last minute elements for Easter card/envelope, tags, napkin holders, place cards, scrapbooks, picture frame, Easter thank-you card, etc; three quick carrot styles to make. 



TINY BASKET OF CARROTS

Carrot: 1/8" x 7" tight roll. Shape with a small, pointed dowel and glue inside.

Green leaves: 1/4" x 2.5" strips. Fringe down the edge of the 2.5" strips. Roll around toothpick and glue end. Insert into carrot top halfway and glue. When dry, spread fringe outward with fingertips. 

CARROTS ON MATCHBOX

Carrots: 1/8" x 12" loose roll. Shape in a long teardrop.

Green leaves: 1/8" x 3" pieces. Make three 1/2" loops the same height (accordion folds) and spread out before gluing at bottom. Trim each fold in half lengthwise, making six thin leaves for each carrot. 

FLAT CARROTS

Carrots: 1/8" x 7" tight rolls. Shape with a small, pointed dowel and flatten with fingers.

Green leaves: 1/8" x 1" pieces. Cut slivers of paper at various lengths. Glue ends individually into top of carrot until full.

These are my favorite for the cards because they lay so flat.

Thank you for stopping by.

Have a blessed Easter. 🌷

xo,

Molly

Idea: A small tag with "For You" add three carrots, hang tag with pretty ribbon around a bottle of wine for a hostess... Awesome! Or bring it for the person who arranged a restaurant Easter brunch. If you are like me, and aren't going to a brunch this year, make a tag anyway and who knows what next year will bring. Non-alcoholic Welches Sparkling White Grape Juice is another gift suggestion.