Diana Official Blog

Gift cards are great - one size fits all, and they can choose what they want. But how do you personalize that ubiquitous gift card? For me, unwrapping a gift a part of the fun. Well, I guess I mean wrapping it up for someone to unwrap is THE funnest part of all! I just love seeing them gasp and ask if it's all made of paper. I love it even more when my card is the chosen one to stay on the shelf when all the others get tossed. My nephews wanted to give their teachers an appreciation gift, so I designed a box card that also has a pocket for a gift card. I had so much fun making the box card that it was an obvious choice for my friend's birthday card too. Then a neighbor helped us out on a chore so my card has served us very well for so many occasions, and yet each look so different simply by changing the paper it was cut out of. It folds up and fits neatly into a 5x7 envelope and looks so dimensional when it pops up! Here's a trailer for it (full assembly video is found in t...

My friends celebrated their 15th anniversary recently, and this is the card I quilled for the love birds. I didn't have time to capture the entire process, but thought I'd show a bit of how I work anyway. Instead of using standard quilling paper, I decided to cut them 1/4-inch wide out of Canson Mi-Tientes paper, using an electric cutting machine (such as Cricut Explore or Silhouette Cameo / SD). I enjoyed quilling with the substantially thicker paper (160 gsm), and I really liked how all the colors went so well together, especially how the colors are earthy without being drab. To create the tiniest coils, I used a quilling needle, but I always pre-soften the paper strip beforehand to soften the fibers. As you can see in the video, I am using a crochet hook to rub the paper into the shape I want for the dragonfly. I prefer using the greater circumference of a crochet hook rather than a quilling needle because I want a gentle and soft curve. A quilling needle could also be used ...