Diana Official Blog

One question I'm commonly asked is how to make a quilled monogram. When someone is new to quilling, it is daunting to make such a large customized project, especially when they want it to be done in an afternoon. Rather than tackling how to outline a letter (an advanced technique I plan to discuss later), I want to show a quick and easy way to make a monogram for room décor. This letter M has been covered by 3 types of quilled dots/circles. You can certainly minimize the design with a single type, but I wanted to show various ways of making circles out of quilling strips. Before cutting my materials, I gather them to ensure they go well together. Here's what I used: Green patterned paper from DCWV Doodlin' Around Stack Metallic bronze card stock from Stardream Orange paper from Daiso (a local dollar store with Japanese items) Light blue quilling strips Ikea 9x9 picture frame Choose any font you wish, type your letter at about 4.25" high, and print it out. The font show...

My soccer-loving nephew has turned 12 and I thought it would be fun to make a card he could get a "kick" out of. He and his brother used to enjoy receiving extra pieces to make the exact card I made. Alas, they're growing up and it's getting harder to impress them. Luckily my readers are a more forgiving audience! The soccer ball is made of a single piece of white cardstock that gets glued together. Then the black pieces are added afterwards. I added a springing coil of quilled paper to represent a bounce, and a torn green sheet for grass. To assemble the ball follow the directions – the numbers match the image below: 1) fold along the dotted line and glue the grey triangle under the white pentagon; repeat 4 times. 2) fold the grey tab under the same white pentagon and glue; repeat 4 more times. 3) fold these remaining gray tabs over and glue to your card The PDF version will have the black areas printed on the ball, so it's easier for hand assembly. The SVG versi...

I've talked about cutting my own quilling paper because I prefer a slightly heavier weight than standard quilling strips. Seeing Honey Moser's blog post and a reader's question on Jin's Craftsy post prompted me to make these files. I use a Silhouette SD to cut mine, and whether you want to cut your own by hand or by machine, I hope my files may be of help to you. HAND CUTTING METHOD There are 4 pages in the " DIY Quilling Strips.pdf " file, containing varying widths of 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 inch markings on top and bottom. You'll see the measurement listed along the top left. Ensure your option for "Page Scaling" is set to "None" when printing, so it comes out at actual size. Option 1 You can certainly print these markings right on top of your sheets of 8.5x11 inch paper, keeping a margin all around so it's tangle-free during storage after cutting. However, I know some people who are aghast at any paper wastage, and if you...

I've quilled the quietly serene ginkgo biloba leaves before here , here , and here in the past, but this new version is similar to the one in my book, Pretty Quilled Cards . These two cards are ones that I made with the leaves I practiced on, but what I really wanted to show you was the subtly patterned paper beneath the leaves. Sometimes during pre-press or printing, some highlights get blown out, which means no definition – as in the case of the ginkgo project. So I thought I'd show it here. Isn't it the perfect backdrop? I got it at Daiso, my fave $2 store. They're meant for blotting tempura, but they are just gorgeous for an Asian feel without overpowering the card. It's a tad see-through, so I'd suggest using double-sided tape, spray adhesive, or Letraset Studio Tac/LetraTac to adhere to your card rather than glue. I've used this dry adhesive for many years and still have the packaging from the first pad I got in college. It's kind of like the Xyr...

I'm so excited to show you something completely new! I have often admired simple line drawings of flowers and wished I could express it with quilling. Yes, I know it's ironic that I didn't have the patience to measure each strip to outline every petal since I just quilled my challenging pink poppy. So it's with great pleasure to tell you a bolt of lightning hit me with this easy-peasy-quicky idea! Notice the random size of petals? See how the points are not always centered? I love that because I'm innately anal about my precision and this forces me to be looser, more natural, and less controlled. I'd like to ask you to take a moment and think how I may have done this before having you scroll down to find the answer. Again, I'm LA-A-AZY! So how did I do this flower gift tag in less than 10 minutes? Thought of some ideas? OK, scroll down to read the answer. I am going to call this technique "Cut-Coil" because that's all I did. After pinching a tr...

It's finally done! My largest project to date at about 11"x11".  I'm struggling a bit with the photography because I can't seem to make the color strips stand out as much when I shoot straight down. To achieve the photo above, I shot a bit from the bottom, and tweaked the perspective within Photoshop. This ends up showing a bit more of the strip from the side. Anyway, on to the crowning glory - the stamens and pollen. I drew a circle of stamens and cut 3 slightly varying sizes. I did this because anything drawn in a repetitive pattern looks very mechanical. Stacking the stamens directly above one another just looks too "perfect", and not as natural. So I cut one of the circles into 3 parts to deliberately offset the stamen lines. Next I borrowed my cheese grater and grated a rolled up piece of matching yellow paper and proceeded to grind away. UHU glue stick was smeared on just the tips, then dipped into the "pollen". If you'd like to see t...