TODAY IS, Look at Extraordinary Paper Quilling, MONDAY

I decided to look at Yulia Brodskaya videos for a bit of inspiration... and this one caught my eye, WOW. 😮 A paper quilling portrait of Joanna Gaines of Waco Texas, the Fixer Upper show lady. The Magnolia Empire woman.

Yulia does more folding paper art now, along with a gazillion multicolor tight rolls, and oh my gosh, she is increasingly AMAZING at what she does. 

In the beginning, I noticed it wasn't Yulia's hands, and I saw a different way of rolling 1mm strips, with the same tool I use, for the magnolia flowers. So excited, no more slicing my thumb. 👍

As it turns out, Yulia asked Manuela Koosch to do the gorgeous paper magnolias added to the Joanna portrait.

I went to Manuela's channel and discovered she is ManuK who is a subscriber and was active here years ago. Very HAPPY to find her again. Manuela's quilling is so impressive and inspiring. 

I hope you will enjoy Yulia's short video and visit Manuela's channel Paper to Petal . Tell her I sent you. 😊

Have a fabulous week!

xo 🌻
Molly

P.S.  Yulia's Portfolio 💖

This low-quality screenshot is dated 2011. Yulia had her own MS Browser theme. 

I'm Puzzled About This Craft Trend, UGH.

 A.I. Digital Crafting.

I tried to learn the specifics and benefit of AI, but it's not for me. I grew up in the greatest generation of crafting and did just fine. Only thing I would do different is learned to sew. 👗

The above is listed as No.10 of the top ten craft trends for 2023. Yes, I know, I am a bit behind with this info. 

Number 1 is, are you ready? 🥁

1. Slow Crafting: The Art of Mindful Meditative Crafting

"It is not a craft itself, but slow crafting is set to be the most influential trend in crafting for 2023. If you haven’t heard of slow crafting before, you’re not alone. Think about why you took up your craft or are seeking to take up crafting. If you said to relax, you would not be alone." 

Four others that made the list: Repurposing, Recycling, Upcycling, using Natural materials. IKR? 😉 

Enjoyed doing this recycling in 2010. Using the inside of envelopes with the security print to make things.

I couldn't get into Christmas in July... first time in ages. I started searching for project ideas in June, never found one to post and share. I could've posted 80 in one video, but nah. 

With July gone, hey, Happy August to you! 

Stay safe and take care of yourself. 

xo 🌻
Molly

Changed my mind. 😂 I watched eight. If you have the supplies, these look easy, or maybe give you ideas for craft fairs year-round. 

P.S. 80 AMAZING CHRISTMAS DIY Crafts You Will Want To MAKE NOW - YouTube

March Quickie

Hello, all! 

Happy Spring. 🌷

I mentioned last month, a few details about the NAQG annual conference, May 12-13, 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

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