Life Is Really Simple, but We Insist on Making it Complicated. ~Confucius

 Hello! 

A bit of quilling news first.

The 2024 Annual NAQG Conference "NAQGCON" will be held in Oklahoma City, OK, on Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton. This location is only 5 minutes from the Will Rogers World Airport. There is a huge discount on rooms when you book as attending, and for the first time, an "early bird" discount if you register by February 15. There is so much information on the website here North American Quilling Guild.

Positive Daily Affirmations

I haven't posted this link in a while. Real Simple magazine online is very inspiring, even if you only scroll through and look at the pictures.😄 I hope you will take a look and find something entertaining or helpful or both. It will renew each month.

Real Simple Magazine

Enjoy the magic 💖 of February and stay safe.

xo ☕

~Molly

Dreams, Hopes & Happiness

Hello! 😊

Paper To Petal

A short 3:25min video for ideas and inspiration. At :40 seconds, ManuK slows down and shows many how-to shapes she uses for her creations. She has individual videos on her channel for how to quill all these flowers.

Happy crafting or doing what you love. Have a very warm & safe end of the year. 

May the New Year bring you and yours new dreams, hopes and happiness. 

xo 🎉

Molly 

P.S. This blog post sponsored by my Zazzle stores. 😉

March Quickie

Hello, all! 

Happy Spring. 🌷

I mentioned last month, a few details about the NAQG annual conference, May 12-13, 2023.

Registration deadline is Friday, March 31, 2023.

The venue hotel has a new name: Clarion Hotel Airport & Conference Center New Orleans. For reservations, phone (504) 463-7002, before April 11, for the special rate. Every bit of information about the conference is available at the link below.

NAQGCON May 2023

Quilling Announcement

Hello, there! 🌼

The North American Quilling Guild conference will be held May 12 and 13, 2023, at the New Orleans Airport Hotel, 2829 Williams Blvd., Kenner, Louisiana 70062. Kenner is a suburb of New Orleans and is about 20 minutes from downtown.

You do not need to be a NAQG member to attend. 

Deadline to book hotel is April 11, and it's secured at an amazing price. The best of the best conference is when it is held near the airport you fly into. 

The hostess of this year's conference is Marion Bertaut 💖, an absolute treasure to know and be around.  

Check out all the information and see the fabulous events on the schedule.   

2023 NAQGCON

Stay safe and enjoy this time of year!

Molly xo 🌷

This blog post, that took me 26 days to get around to writing, is sponsored by my Zazzle Store.  😊  Thanks for looking.

Hello 2021! 

I hope you are recovering from the holidays and starting the year off with fun ideas and plans for lots of crafting. I found some 2021 planners (daily, weekly, monthly) at the OneGoodThing blog... they are FREE to download. I don't use them every day, but they are perfect to plan for special occasions, events, lists or just to organize your thoughts. 

Thank you, Jillee!  

2021 Printable Planners  

I recently purchased the book "Quilling Art" by Sena Runa and this is one of the more simple patterns I decided to try. This is my first attempt to do a project using the on-edge, also referred to as outlining technique with added quilling. 

I used 1/4" Quillography cardstock strips. This is on a background of approximately 5" x 5" (the frame is photoshopped for show). I added a small flatback Swarovski crystal at the top of the heart. 

Well, it is a start. I want to create more projects and I'm thinking lots of Spring colors. 

Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe and be healthy.

~Molly  🌻

NAQGCON update

The NAQGCON was a huge success, thanks to Roxanne's diligent planning and fun activities! 

Thank you to all attendees, for your friendship and if you happened to take my class. I enjoyed meeting each of the first-timers. We had quillers from Peru, Japan, Sydney, England and Canada. Thank you for making the long trip!

Can't wait to see the next copy of the NAQG Newsletter at all the photos. My class photos didn't come out well and I took no other pics. 

Check out the NAQG FB page (closed to members only) for lots of updates and continued conversations about the convention.

Example of a scrapbook layout using quilled motifs and baby buggy. This was one of six. Email me for a pdf of instructions, if interested.

Please keep in touch here and via email. I am on Facebook so little.

Happy June!

Hugs,

Molly 

Quilling Conference

After a two-year absence from the blog, I am back!

I will be attending NAQGCON in May & teaching a class.

North American Quilling Guild Conference

May 19-20, 2017

Tampa, Florida USA

Roxann Dragula, 2017 NAQGCON Host

The info below is a simplified, partial conference agenda.

Click link for the complete schedule, registration and competition guideline forms.

 

 THURSDAY

(afternoon)

early registration

receive "goodie" bags

greet & meet

FRIDAY

registration, "goodie" bags

classes/workshops 

viewing competition entries

SATURDAY

viewing competition pieces, displays, demos

make & takes, vendor shopping 

(Saturday afternoon is open to the public)

Registration is Closed.

INFO HERE for Open to Public on Saturday

Quilled Eyeballs from Archives

This is an oldie for my new followers. I ran across these the other day and I am thinking about making them larger (really big) to send to the grandkids next week :-) I will definitely post a photo if I get this done. (Didn't get it done, sigh)

The original 2009 post with instructions for eyeballs and the tiny box is HERE .

Thanks for stopping by!
~Molly

Happy Fall Y'all

From the archives:

I don't make many cards but this is a favorite autumn card. I used paper from The Autumn Splendor Stack (DCWV). The piece leftover after trimming, fit perfectly as the envelope lining. I used spiced marmalade Distress Ink to cover the core white edges of the card and layer pieces. The message piece is raised.

Both papers have a gold foil print on them.

I also used quilled sticker leaves from my Provo Craft Stand Out line (no longer available). I have project ideas for those exact quilled leaf motifs, 8 different shapes & colors and basic instructions how to make the quilled leaves.

Quilled Fall Leaves

Quilled Leaves Instructions

Have a great week :)
-Molly

Quilled Hats

Happy September!

I am going through boxes and throwing away a lot of things I no longer need. It is so, so difficult. I came across this hat. I sold a ton of these for framing on eBay in 2002 to The Red Hat Society ladies. I realized that I am that age now :o) 

The hat is 2" x 4.5" and made with two crimped loose circles. The bow is 3/16" feather-edged ribbon. The purple paper is faded a bit. Here is a link to my Easy Quilled Hat with specs and instructions.

Thanks for stopping by!
-Molly

Vintage Quilling Kit

I received an email from a crafter in Russia last week. She is young and commented on my 70s vintage quilling. So I decided to look in my box of vintage kits.

I opened this Quill-It kit dated 1976; the photo is very faded. There are two shades of red paper plus many enclosures. The geranium flowers aren't something I would make. 

Also inside was an actual size pattern to slide under "wax paper". A full sheet of quilling information for beginners. Two large pages of green paper for leaves and sheets of black and red cardstock for the flower pot. A booklet, sort of a mini catalog, to order supplies. I am blown away at the $1.75 lap board. I still have mine and the soft board is indestructible -- the best ever made. 

And my favorite item, the corsage pin. This is what I learned to quill with and every kit contained one.

I decided to start making a friend the red snowflakes I promised about three years ago. Her Christmas tree is solid red ornaments and she requested red. The 1/4" wide vintage paper is very thick and easy to work with. 

Just a reminder it's not too early to start making snowflakes. This is a basic 20 piece snowflake design. The 3" center, 3" ribbon holder and six pieces of three different shapes.

Many other patterns are here:  Snowflakes

Thanks for stopping by!
-Molly xo

A Few Tuesday Tips

This month is flying by, almost half over! I hope everyone is doing fantastically :o)

Shylaa Shree is organizing an, "Indian Quilling Challenge Group". Sign up is open until May 25th. Details are HERE.

I like to use my template board to organize small pieces when I am quilling smaller pieces and miniatures. When I need to clear the area, or if I am finished for the time being, I can pick up the board and quickly move it elsewhere without disturbing the pieces. Other methods could be used:  shallow boxes, trays, food container lids, etc.

I think a package of page protectors is a wise investment for any crafter. I live in west Texas and our skies are more often brown from dust than blue. I use cheap plastic page protectors for EVERYTHING in my craft room. 

Plus they are transparent and are perfect for when I want to stack several layers in a box, just cut to size. Whether you have dust problems or not, they are perfect for easy storing and stacking.

Have a GREAT day. Thanks for stopping by!

-Molly xo

Quilled Jewelry Set

I taught a quilling class at a museum in Fort Worth a couple of weeks ago and wore this jewelry set. I read that you should wear your work, I never have, so I wore this white set.

The flower is 2.25" in diameter and the earrings hang about 1.25". Sorry about the photos. I made a mistake and photographed on gray paper thinking they wouldn't show up on a white background. Click to get a better look.

I used a standard 1/4" hole punch to glue a white dot on the back center, thinking someone may look at the back. Sure enough, every person who looked at it turned it over :)

I glued a Swarovski crystal on the earrings and center of the flower for some bling. Each petal is wrapped with the English hologram edge paper. I believe I used 12" bright white strips for the individual shaped marquise.

Thanks for stopping by!
-Molly

Olive, the Other Reindeer

I found a box I have been looking for over the past three years. It had all my prototype quilled stickers I designed that Provo Craft didn't accept. It also has three small tablets filled with all the instructions for the 64 SKUs they did accept and manufacture. I really thought that the box was accidentally lost in the move. 

The line in Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer that says 'all of the other Reindeer...', is sometimes misheard as Olive, the other Reindeer. In 1997, author Vivian Walsh wrote a children's book featuring a Jack Russell Terrier as Olive, the other Reindeer. The book was made into a film in 1999. Maybe someday, Olive will be just as much a part of the Reindeer story as Rudolph and Blitzen.

Happy Friday, have a Fabulous Weekend!
-Molly

Easy Pillow Boxes

Happy June!

If you are a regular follower, you already know I love making boxes, hoarding boxes and buying boxes of boxes :) I want to stop buying expensive boxes to ship my neon paper earrings and really don't want to make the two piece boxes either. So, I thought maybe pillow boxes would work but I couldn't find my template this week.

I found this short video and free printable FTP template by Jennifer .. via Twitter.

 Make Your Own Pillow Boxes

The two things I did differently from the video:

• I used a clear tacky glue ...easier to move and get the edges even before the glue dries.
• I also used the edge of a metal container to score the flaps.

These were SO easy!

 I was able to print a watermark on the pink box - to personalize. 

 Thanks for looking and have a fantastic week!
 -Molly

Wordless Wednesday .. sort of

This is a giveaway at NAQGCON next week :)

Have a fantastic day!
Molly

Happy Easter

On this Good Friday I would like to wish everyone a Happy and Blessed Easter.

The bottom layer is 1/8" bright white paper strips. On the top layer, I used a silver holofoil edge on white paper imported from England. I added several Swarovski crystal rhinestones.

This cross pattern is copyright of Malinda Johnston in her book The Book of Paper Quilling (Sterling Publishing, Lark, 1994).  I love the look of all the eccentric shapes. The instructions can be found on page 81.

Molly

Congratulations to Ann Martin!

Happy March!

I am so excited to announce that a quilling friend, Ann Martin, has authored a book, currently in print and it will be released May 28th. It is titled All Things Paper: 20 Unique Projects from Leading Paper Crafters, Artists, and Designers and is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

Ann is the creator of All Things Paper, a blog about the latest on the craft scene... stylish projects, trends and book reviews. She interviews established artists and features novice artisans with big ideas. She also offers fabulous giveaways from time to time. Ann enjoys introducing her specialty, quilling, to those who have never seen or heard of the rolled paper art. In addition to designing projects for books, magazines, and websites, she creates amazing custom quilled marriage certificates.

I cannot wait to get my copy and see all the projects. Congratulations, Ann!

Have a great weekend :o)
Molly

Tuesday Tip

I have been using this daisy background graphic for about six months for all occasion cards. I make the daisies while watching TV or when I am in a mood to quill. I like to use the 1/16" English paper strips I buy from Whimsiquills .. the strips are actually more narrow than the American 1/16" paper.

I embellished this with several shades of brown chalk, set it with a fixative and glued it on the card. The center tight roll is slightly convex. I covered the quilled daisy with two layers of tissue paper and mailed in a regular envelope, no bubble packaging.

TIP: If you make up a stack of all occasion cards ahead of time and use quilled motifs on your cards, try using 1/16" paper strips and mail one to yourself, first, to test how it turns out in regular mail.

Have a great day!
-Molly

Stepping Back in Time

Happy September!

A long time ago when I started quilling, I could only find kits by Quill It, Inc. (1974) owned by Barbara B. Maddox. They were sold at a Fort Worth, Ben Franklin Craft Store. From the information included in the kits, I could soon order via mail by catalog. Later in the 80s, the kits were sold at MJDesigns in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (the M stood for Michael, as in the Michaels Stores, Inc. started in Texas.)*

Most of the kits included printed card stock to cut out and use for leaves and other motifs. They also included a printed saying to use as the background. I bought as many kits as I could find and still have several unopened. I continue to collect and buy the original Quill It kits on eBay when I can find them.

As you can see, my mat cutting skills were horrendous! LOL I collected strawberries in my kitchen for about a year, but didn't like how the reds never matched and seemed to clash. The fact that I had bright yellow and brown (70s) wallpaper in the kitchen didn't help with the decor.

I cannot remember the reason for doing this, but I always covered the backs with coordinating paper, probably gift wrapping paper.

Bright colors have always been my favorite. I collected parrots in the 80s so this is one of my favorites. (I am a huge Jimmy Buffet fan, an original parakeet.) In today's quilling standards, I believe these cut-out leaves would be quilled, along with the beak. The same with the sun below.

You guessed it! I also collected rainbows. Back when these kits were sold you couldn't purchase individual packages of quilling paper. So I saved every piece quilling strip leftovers. I did break into other kits to use the paper when I started quilling my own little pieces. I regret that now.

These three projects are in poor shape from not being stored properly and kept in a hot Texas garage for all these years. I clean my old, dusty quilling pieces with a can of air and an old, soft shaving brush. I'd like to think some of the age spots show character :)

Thanks for going down memory lane with me.
Have fun quilling!

-Molly

*Michael's dad, James Dupey, bought the Ben Franklin craft stores. I taught quilling at MJDesigns in 2002. They filed for bankruptcy 10 days before Christmas and I never got paid for teaching the classes. I was devastated, but looking back I am glad for the experience (it gave me much needed confidence) and the teacher discount was nice.