Quilling butterfly with a quilling comb

Back in 2011, when I first got my quilling comb I did made some quilling butterflies with it. Although it was nothing much, just some simple ones, I did remember how much fun I had making them.

When I looked back at the quilling butterflies I made with the quilling comb, I couldn't even remember at first how to make it again because it was so long ago since I last made one. I thought to myself here is something that I have to record so that I won't forget how it's done. So once I figured it out, I immediately made a video tutorial of it. I don't mind sharing it with everyone. I'm sure a lot of people would like to try to make one too.

In the video tutorial, I showed how to make a quilling butterfly using a standard quilling comb. But you can also use other types of combs as long as they come with long pins. I also mentioned about the measurements but you can always change the measurements and make the butterfly according to the size that you like. Like for instance what I've shown in the photo above. I used a stainless steel comb and marked the numbers beside the pins. And instead of doing 6 loops for the top wings, I made 5 loops instead. Just by doing so, it immediately changed the whole look of the wings. So, it's all up to you! :)

You can even make the butterflies very very small, just by cutting the paper strips yourself using a craft knife like I've done at the photo above. I used the other side of the stainless steel comb where the gap of the pins are narrower. As a result when you comb the paper, you will get the butterflies in smaller sizes. I just love them this way. So small and cute! :)

Here is the video tutorial for your view. I hope you will spend some time viewing it and learn something new.

Sending you a note of thanks

TY007

Sometime ago this year I made some soft clay heart shapes so that I can use them as decorations for my handmade cards and hand-bound books. At one point I kept making lots of them but I never used them until I got this idea for this thank you card.

I've ran out of thank you cards and desperately need some in stock too. I need it to give to a good friend of mine and she loves shades of brown and gold. I'm convinced that she will appreciate this card very much just because of the colours. But of course I also hope she loves the design although simple it may be. However, although it looks simple, it's pretty much time consuming to make especially the pop up part inside the card.

The gold frames I used for the cards are not store bought ones. I made them myself. It was fun making them. Now I've got an idea of how to make my own cute little frames for decorations on cards and hand-bound books. That will save me a lot of money plus making my artwork quite different from the rest. I wrapped around the frames with a gold thread. It's not real gold of course! Haha! But it sure looks expensive though! :D

For the first time too I used this rubber stamp that I got as a gift last year. I never thought I would like it this much. I didn't think much of it when I got it, but now I'm seeing it in a different new light. I love how the soft yellow chalk colour the ink pad made on the dark brown paper. It really stands out. :)

I just realised how many heart shape craft punches I have! I'm such a sucker when it comes to heart shapes. I guess I can never resist buying craft punches with that pattern. Besides it's one of the most used craft punches I've bought thus far. It's the most productive ones in my craft room. Worth the buy!! :D

I'm so glad I finally made all the thank you cards. I might make them in different colours if I have some spare time. But for now I'm happy with what I have! :) Do check out the video of the card that I made. You'll be able to see how the hearts pop up inside it! :)

How to make a two tone quilling teddy bear

I've been thinking of making a video tutorial for a quilling teddy bear this year but I wanted the design to be different from the quilling teddy bear I've made years ago. So after taking such a long time to practice making and redesigning my quilling teddy bear for the past few weeks, I'm finally satisfied with the new design.

As you all know I have made quilling teddy bears before way back in 2010. Back then, the quilling teddy bears that I made were a bit bigger and mostly were brown in colour. Later after that I did make smaller ones but they were simpler, with loose coils and had faces that didn't even have any eyes or lips.

But for today's design, although they are small, but it's combination of the big and small quilling teddy bears.  Also, I've added something new to my quilling teddy bear design especially for the face and body. If you take the time to look at my older quilling teddy bear designs then you will be able to see the differences between the old and new. 

A lot of people have been asking me to make a video tutorial for my quilling teddy bears over the years but I never got around to doing it till now. So I hope that this video tutorial will make a lot of people happy :).

As promised, below are the measurements for the two tone quilling teddy bear:

I am using 80gsm quilling papers to make my two tone quilling teddy bear. The quilling papers were made by cutting up an A4 colour paper using a mini paper shredder. The size of each strip of paper is 3mm x 297mm.

1. For the face:
    - 5 quilling strips
    - Circle number 7

2. For the body:
    - 11 quilling strips (5 strips of soft cream colour + 6 strips of any colour).
    - Circle number 11

3. For the hands and legs:
   - 1/2 strip of any colour + 1/4 strip of soft cream colour.
   - Circle number 5

4. For the ears:
    - 1/4 strip of any colour + 1/4 strip of soft cream colour.
    - Circle number 3

5. For the cheeks and nose:
    - 1 strips of soft cream colour, cut in half and joined together + 1/2 of the 1/4 strip of black colour.
    - No need to use a circle template for this. Just roll the strips to make a tight coil.

6. For the eyes:
    - 1/2 of the 1/4 strip of black colour for each eye.
    - No need to use a circle template for this. Just roll the strips to make a tight coil.
    - Paste on top of each eye a tiny white paper dot.
    - Then finish it by pasting on top of the white paper dot with an even tinier black paper dot.
    - The tiny dots were made by using a Martha Stewart craft punch.

7. For the lips:
    - I hand cut the shape of the lips using a craft knife.
 
Do enjoy watching and learning how to make the two tone quilling teddy bear from my video tutorial below. Have fun quilling!! ;)