Quilling Basic

Aaah. How I remember thee. This card is truly a special one, as this marked my first try at quilling. This was done in 2006.

I cut the papers by myself (hence, the uneven edges), and rolled everything using fingers (hence, the not-so-whimsical design on the swirls). I didn't even know how to make flowers and yet I threw myself into the over-ambitious project, ha!

It turned out quite ok and I think I've improved a lot over the years. For example, here's a huge comparison on the butterflies that I made, and how they evolved in time:

The 2006 butterfly:

The 2008 butterfly:

 

The 2009 butterfly:

 

(yet to make butterflies in 2010 hahaha)

I've started doing paper craft ever since high school, but only dwelled into the beauty of paper quilling four years ago. I was browsing scrapbook.com, and came across some beautiful quilled flowers. I was immediately in awe, and later found out that it's called quilling. So I started digging more on the type of paper art, and had been in love ever since. I'm still no quilling expert, and my mentors are the Internet and quilling blogs, so it's a pretty much self-learned (I only have 1 quilling book to date!). But it's one thing I really enjoy doing, so I plan to continue doing it. Since it's no fun quilling alone, I'm always excited to spread the quilling love around, and am still trying very hard to encourage others to start quilling seriously.

I've received few queries about quilling tools in Malaysia, as it's not really a popular paper art among Malaysian crafters. I'm not really sure why it's not really popular - perhaps it's because of the hard to find materials, or the too-expensive quilling tools or simply because of the much needed patience and time to finish a quilled item. So here's another attempt of spreading the love around. Here are some questions that I always get, together with the answers I always give to interested quillers wannabes :P

Do you need special tools for quilling?
There are two types of quilling tools - one is the slotted type:



and another one is the needle type:



You can always google for further info and you can use either one of the tools. I started off quilling by rolling the papers using my fingers - you can do that if you want, but quilling tool will make you life easier, and will give you better quilling quality.

Where can I get quilling tools/ materials/ sets in Malaysia?
Since I've done my quilling research hehe, there are three places so far that I found selling quilling tools and quilling papers in Malaysia. Craft Haven @ One Utama, Scrapbook Memories @ One Utama and ArtFriend @ The Garden.

How much are they priced?
To date, Craft Haven is selling the slotted tool at RM10.90 each (they used to sell the needle type at RM15, but no longer having that stock now). Scrapbook Memories is selling branded Scrapbook Memories quilling tool set of 2 (both slotted and needle type) at RM45++ (can't remember much). ArtFriend is selling quilling set of 2 (different brand) but at RM19.90.

The papers are usually priced at RM15 - RM20 per packet, but I don't really care much about them, as I prepare my own quilling papers. If you're new to quilling, perhaps you would want to start by cutting your own strips first.

Quilled items are sold at the same craft shops at a range of RM7.50 - RM15.00 each, depending on the type of quilled items.

What types of papers can be used?
I'm still experimenting on the best papers to use - it truly depends on you. So far multi-coloured IKEA papers (can be found at Kid's Section and priced at RM20 per pack, but I found mine at As If section priced at RM10 per pack hehe) are the best type I found, but I also found construction papers (also known as sugar papers) to have some nice effects to quilling as well. I used A4 papers, and also buy those multi-colour A4 papers that come in set - usually priced at around RM4.00 - RM6.00 per pack. It's a bit thin though, and could be a bit difficult to shape, but I'm getting used to them.

In getting the quilling strips, at first I used to cut them (freehandedly coz I was too lazu haha) so they sometimes out uneven, but now I'm using paper shredder to shred my papers (i wrote about it here).

As for the tutorials on quilling, I have some in my tutorial section (promise to add some more later!) but you can check the quilling websites on the right side of this blog for some examples and other tutorials. There are also many free templates available online, and so many different ways to quill, but I believe the most important part of them all is not only the basics, but you need a WHOLE LOT OF PATIENCE and time to be dedicated to quilling.

Good luck and happy quilling!