Quilling Numbers E-book, 13 Patterns and Templates for Quilling Numbers and More

Quilling Numbers E-book for Birthday Cards

Are you celebrating a friend’s birthday? Or commemorating a special anniversary? Or maybe you’re helping a bride and groom make their wedding day unforgettable.

All these memorable moments in life are marked in numbers. If you’d like to start quilling numbers, add punctuation marks, or quill an ampersand, then I’ve made this book just for you.

Just like my previous book, Quilling Letters, you don’t have to use a ruler to measure anything. Just lay your strip on top of my template, then score and snip where indicated. Each segment has a corresponding number matching the template so you can follow along easily.

Quilling Letters E-book, 26 Patterns and Templates for Quilling the Alphabet

I'm excited to introduce my new e-book, Quilling Letters! I have watched quilling typography projects gain in popularity with each passing year, and hope my book will help you in your next letter masterpiece.

My Book, Pretty Quilled Cards, is Translated in Chinese!

Guess what came in the mail the other day? A Chinese version of my book, Pretty Quilled Cards! I'm of Chinese descent, but I can barely write my name and recognize the numbers 1-10. So although I can't read this book, at least it'll mean more to my parents.

Then the other day, I received this photo from a dear reader. She was at Barnes & Noble and snapped a photo of my book on the shelf alongside other books. I was so thrilled because I've hunted in book stores in both Canada and US, and have yet to even see quilling books on the shelf. It's an image I've had in my mind to hope to see ever since my book was released. Pretty cool!

Pretty Quilled Cards - Review by Irena

I had the pleasure of meeting Irena a few years ago on FaceBook. She recently did me the honor of reviewing my quilling book and there is no better sense of a complete circle when I see someone making a quilled item from my book, Pretty Quilled Cards.

The first project she tackled was the baby rattle card, because she was enjoyed the inner flourishes. In a single glance, I can see she has such great control of her paper. Her tension is so evenly matched. I'm grateful she gave me permission to showcase some of her work on my blog.

Thank you for giving me your precious time, Irena! 

I'm so happy to read your kind words about my book.

Your reaction is everything I had hoped for, as I wrote it during that year.

~ Cecelia

 I quite enjoyed her pine needles and Christmas bells card, shown here. That's a keeper for sure!

I like her lilac card more than the one I made, because the fullness of the petals gives the true sense of a 3D shape. Sometimes more is more, and especially in this case!

A project that has been taking up Irena's time is her butterfly. Isn't it exquisite? I don't think I have this kind of patience!

You can see more of Irena's work on her Kiddo's Blog.

Lark Book: Quilled Wedding Cake Card

Wedding season is just around the corner, and this quilled wedding cake is the dreamy kind I imagined of having for my wedding day, when I was a girl. My real wedding cake was more grounded, but I have a soft spot for idyllic storybook versions.

Books simply don't have enough pages to show every angle of every card, so I'm going to show a couple close ups here. Throughout the 128 pages and 26 projects, I tried to incorporate as many new ways of using quilling strips as I could. See the ornate table surface? Can you believe that was a happy accident? I needed to ensure my table top and bottom strips were straight and even, so I made a spacer. I finally realized the spacer made a wonderful accent to the card and seemed deliberate.

My hubby helped me choose the wedding cake paper - it's textured and looks like frosting with a hint of metallic. Metallic ribbons encircle each tier and adds to the magical ambience.

When designing these patterns from scratch, I often made several versions because color combinations look different in my head than they do in real life. This green and teal version was one of the first. As you can see it's hard to keep a straight quilling strip when gluing such a long strip. I tried building the card from strips and using the teal to encircle the bottoms. Didn't make the cut for me.

Coral pinks/orange hues and chartreuse green have been popular wedding colors lately. I often challenge myself to use bolder color combos or ones that are not my personality. Cutting the cake shape seemed the best way to allow the quilling decor on top really come through unobstructed.

Sometimes I didn't have the right color ribbon to match my quilling strips (and didn't want to buy a whole spool), so I would use a felt marker to color a plain white ribbon.

So although the final pink and silver version is completely in my comfort zone palette, it's simply a classic to me. It also makes for a lovely congratulations card to the newlyweds because paper is traditionally given in the first year - how apt!

Pretty Quilled Cards is launching March 4, 2014 – less than 2 weeks away. Feels like I'm counting down to Christmas!

Lark Book: Quilled Snowman

When I'm asked which is my favorite project in my book, Pretty Quilled Cards, I'm hard pressed to choose – but the snowman is a card I'll never be able to give away. I'm glad Lark put it on the back cover.

With this card, I added different materials such skewer sticks and thread. The scarf actually curls around his neck, and these have got to be hands down the easiest quilled snowflakes ever made. I think I simply love all the dimensions, whether it's the hole punched blush or his fingers when you view the card on an angle. Even his nose is diagonal, tilted just above the quilling strip.

During the writing, designing, and quilling process, I sometimes made cards several times over - a frustrating yet inevitable déjà vu process. This one I happened to nail the first time. Don't you love it when that happens? It's like the planets lined up!

Lark Book: Quilled Valentine Card

Since the Valentine card is shown on the back cover of my book, Pretty Quilled Cards, I thought it would be timely to feature it in a post. This is a project I know all beginners will love because it's easy. In fact, I happen to know boys like making it for girls as much as vice versa.

I know when I started quilling cards as gifts, I got stuck figuring out where/how to glue it. So this flip design is included in the book (there are a few sprinkled throughout the book). Simply photocopy the design, score, cut where indicated, and voilà – the perfect background for a memorable Valentine's card.

Each week when I visit Amazon, I discover they unveiled something new in my book – is this a deliberate sneak peek, building up to the day? Since I never anticipated a book this way, I've never taken note. Now I've learned they are showing a few pages inside! You can finally see what I mean about how the lengths and fold marks are shown rather than stated. This means all you have to do is lay your strip on top and cut/fold where indicated.

Every strip is labelled so you can find it in the template easily. The quantity of each strip is also stated so you can cut as many as needed, efficiently. Each project includes an actual size template, which can be photocopied and placed under a sheet of plastic wrap to be pinned on. I remember reading once that Martha Stewart's recipes were always stated in the order they were needed/used. I kept that in mind as I listed the elements and tested each design.

When deciding card themes, my editor and I were conscious of celebrations throughout the year as well as cards for other occasions like "congratulations on a new house", a "get well soon", or a simple "thank you". Besides listing each project, the Table of Contents page also has an indication of skill level (1-5) so you choose based on your comfort zone.

Since showing my advanced copy to friends and family, I think the most flattering thing I've heard so far (from a non-quiller) is that my step-by-step diagrams and photos make it seem like they can do it too!

Lark Book: Quilled Cherry Blossom

Although one shouldn't judge a book by its cover, in this case I think it's quite indicative of what you'll find in the book, Pretty Quilled Cards. Some of my friends and family have told me this is their favorite card and since Lark chose it for the cover, I thought I'd showcase this card first.

As quillers, we are used to gluing our designs on the paper's edge. However, I wanted to share ideas of how we can also glue our versatile strips flat. I think having a coordinated border defines the inner space and even has an Asian feel to it.

Since quilling takes us a while to finish, it's nice to have a card like this ready to use for any occasion. Adding smaller buds next to the full blossoms gives these branches a more detailed look. Did you notice there are actually two sizes of buds?

I really enjoyed using metallic card stock as my surface because it contrasted so well against the matte quilling strips. Pale pink can seem almost white against pale colors yet also get overpowered by darker colors. When I am searching for the perfect card stock, my studio turns upside down - kind of like a teenage girl trying on outfits for her first date. I like how the branches and deep pink pops, giving the eyes so much to look at.

Please know that this process is all new to me as well, so I don't know how or when things will be revealed. I have just re-visited Amazon and noticed they have now shown the back cover, which shows my cards for Valentine's Day, a bird/treehouse, a snowman, and Father's Day ties. Can you see a pattern on the Valentine's Day card? That pattern is supplied to you in this book for photocopying. There are lines to indicate where to cut and score, because that heart ends up flipping over as you pull left and right, revealing your message. I hope you'll enjoy how this book gives you easy paper crafting ideas as well as quilling.

Thank you all for your wonderful responses so far! I've been overwhelmed by your kind words!

Cecelia

Video of Mystery Box

I shot a video of opening the Mystery Box, (All Things Paper book by Ann Martin) and the publisher, Tuttle, has now got it live on their site. Click the "Product Video" tab to see how it works!


http://www.tuttlepublishing.com/origami-crafts/all-things-paper-paperback-with-flaps

All Things Paper: 20 Unique Projects from Leading Paper Crafters, Artists, and Designers by Ann Martin

DON'T stop the presses! I can hardly wait to see this book in person (in another 3 months).

It's still being printed so I can't show you anything more, but when you see my project I hope you think the wait is worth the mystery. I'm honored to join some very prestigious paper-ists,  amassed by the well accomplished, all-seeing Ann Martin of All Things Paper.

So I can't tell you what I made, but no one said I can't say what it isn't. It isn't anything I've shown here before. Like I said - a "mystery"! Bah! It's no fun when no one else is in on the punny humor. Please bear with me - I'm excited by this milestone, my 2nd publication piece.

The book is available for pre-order on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/All-Things-Paper-Projects-Designers/dp/080484366X