Diana Official Blog

I wanted to make a gift and thought Ann Martin's Blue Bubbles pendant project from her book, The Art of Quilling Paper Jewelry , struck the right chord – playful sophisticated minimalism! The person I am giving it to admires teal and green, so I paired those two colors with metallic silver. I changed up some of the dimensions to suit my needs and as I made the smallest tight circles with the metallic silver paper, I was dismayed I couldn't achieve the same metallic shimmer that Ann creates using proper silver edge quilling paper.  Although I flattened my tight coils as much as I could, I could still see the rings, and I found it distracting. So I simply hole punched the same metallic sheet of paper, and glued it on top. Not only did it hide the rings and innermost bellybutton hole, I found it showed off more shimmer from the paper naturally.  I hope she'll like it! Update: she was surprised by her Christmas gift, a necklace made specifically for her!

Ever since Honey of Honey's Quilling blogged about Paper Peacock Jewelry around the world, it's been on the back of my mind to make a pair for a friend who loves peacocks.  I wanted to experiment with Aleene's Paper Glaze (left) and  Mod Podge Dimensional Magic (right).  Both gave good results. I found the Paper Glaze retained the color of the paper better, while the Magic tends to deepen the color. Both tend to make bubbles very easily so I had to pop them using my quilling needle.  I chose to use the Dimensional Magic because I wanted the dark blue to pop out from the other colors.  It comes out cloudy, then dries clear. I also called the company to find out more about their product. Although it's water-based and non-toxic, it's still not cleared for someone like me who deals with eczema skin issues. Since the area I was covering was being encircled by several rings of paper, I felt it would be safe to give to my friend. So the rest of the paper has been le...

For years, I've been tempted to make paper jewelry, but for some reason haven't taken the leap. Then along came Ann Martin's book, The Art of Quilling Paper Jewelry , and BAM! You know what that's like right? For me, it's a weakness behind the knees and an impatient twitch of the fingers. Although I don't wear earrings, I know a few people who do, and immediately embarked on a new adventure in paper. Each project in Ann's book starts off with a concise list of materials, shapes, and finished sizes so there are no surprises. The steps are illustrated and I highly suggest reading the beginning chapters to familiarize yourself with the basics. Although I've quilled for a while, there are many techniques and knowledge bombs specific to jewelry making, such as handling 3-ply quilled paper in Chapter 2. I have been SO curious about a Mandrel Set  for eons, and finally broke down with this oh-so-valid justification. The mandrel's sizes are not marked, so I ...