I don't know about you, but I love learning about new crafts and skills I'd never even thought of. Gorgeous and ornate paper quilling has been popping up on my radar and I invited Ann Martin of All Things Paper to stop by to tell us why she loves this art and share a few of her Valentine's themed tutorials.
I'm Ann Martin, a quilling enthusiast - yes, that's two LLs - just like the ones in rolled paper, which is pretty much the definition of quilling. I enjoy exploring the worlds of creative paper art and paper craft via my website, All Things Paper, where I feature a variety of people who work with paper.
In a previous life I was a hospital nurse, but now I design paper projects and write tutorials for books, magazines and websites. I love introducing the concept of rolled paper art to those who have never seen or heard of quilling, as it almost always elicits a "wow!"
How did I get started?
An article about quilled Valentines and monograms in Martha Stewart Living magazine stopped me in my tracks... I knew immediately it was something I had to learn how to do. I'd long dabbled in calligraphy, so it was no wonder the graceful paper scrolls and flourishes caught my eye. Captivated by quilling's elegance and intrigued by the short list of necessary supplies, at first I cut paper strips by hand and used a cake tester as my tool of choice. A huge asset was the lovely group of quillers around the world who gathered online in craft forums to share tips, and now via Facebook and blogs. The quilling community is a thriving one and it's great to see the way it's grown by leaps and bounds just in the past few years.
Want to try? Here are a few Valentine's paper quilling projects to get you started!
If you're interested in learning to quill, there are lots more ideas and tutorials posted on Ann's website.
Have you ever tried paper quilling?