Cut-Coil Quilling A Reverse Monogram

This 2" thumbnail is from my sketch book. At first I had planned to make quilled teardrops surround a letter shape, then remove the letter and allow the negative space be the monogram. Then I realized the Cut-Coil technique could be something better to experiment with.

I do enjoy the stately look of serifs, and placed my previously made cut-coil flower gift tags underneath a letter E to help imagine how it might turn out. I felt the serifs would cut into the flowers too much, so opted for a sans serif font instead. The one I chose to use is Amaranth, Bold, at 500 pt (a free font from Font Squirrel).

Quilled Jade

 

A special gift for a special girl.

The frame is a 9x9" shadow box from Ikea. The "jade" letters are outlined and printed on a sheet of card. I cut it out from it's background and filled the insides with flowers and swirls. I then put folded posts underneath to raise it .5" high, and glued on polka dot patterned scrapbook paper.
The background swirl was glued in place after the letters were set. I think the one swirl that was allowed to come forward to brush the "j" adds to the depth. Of course the cherry on top of the cupcake is the pièce de résistance.