You're the Sweetest Friend

Hello friends! Summer, also known as my “brightly colored project” season, is almost here! I have another quilling idea for you today - but it’s a little trickier than my last post with quillwork.

I didn’t want to add in too many flowers on this one since the central piece takes a bit more time to make, so I just used it as the focal point of the card.

To start the petals, you’ll need to trim 1/8” x 11" strips of PopTones Blue Raspberry 70lb paper and Basis Teal 70lb paper. You’ll want to cut about twenty pieces from the Blue Raspberry and five from the Teal.

Using a Slotted Quilling Tool (or the clipped eye of a needle in a cork, or a split toothpick), make ten loose coils from the Blue Raspberry strips. To do this, grab the end of the piece with the tool and try to roll the paper with even tension.

When you get to the end, hold the roll and give your tool a quarter turn in the opposite direction to “unlock’ the center. Carefully slide the roll off, keeping it tight. Then, slowly release the roll with your fingers and let it expand into a 1/4” coil. Glue the end with a tiny dab of your favorite glue. You should be using about this much:

Still working with the remaining ten strips of Blue Raspberry, pick two pieces and glue them end to end to make a 22” length. Use the same technique as the smaller coils to make five large coils, except when you let it expand, lay the roll on a table to keep the center from falling out. These should be about 1 1/2” wide when you glue them.

Next, pinch a large coil into a marquise shape and two of the smaller coils into half-moon shapes. Secure them together at the bottom corners with a tiny dab of glue.

Then, take a strip of the Teal and glue that to the bottom edge of the shaped coils. Wrap it around three times - you can tighten a little as you go to make the coils inside all snug. Secure it with a dab of glue and trim the end.

You’ll probably have some scraps left around, so grab (or cut) ten 1/8” x 1 1/2” strips of Blue Raspberry and make tiny rolls. Don’t let them expand - glue them shut while they are still on the tool, then slide them off and tuck them in the gaps inside the flower petals.

Once you have five of those made, we can build the center. I used a 1/4” x 4” strip of Pop-Tones Orange Fizz 65lb cardstock and a 3/8” x 3” strip of Pop-Tones Lemon Drop 65lb cardstock.

Get you some Detail Scissors and start fringing one edge all the way down to the end of the strip. You can actually get a little machine, aptly named a "Fringer," that’s made especially for this, but I always find you get better results when you do it yourself. The imperfections are what makes it pretty.

When you have them all fringed, glue them end to end like you did for the large coils. Then roll them up with the slotted tool, starting with the orange strip.

Glue the center shut while it’s still on the tool, then slide it off. Lay it down on your work surface and attach the petals with dabs of glue along the base. Put the completed flower aside to dry.

Meanwhile, mat a 5 1/4” x 4” piece of Pop-Tones Sweet Tooth cardstock with a 5 1/2” x 4 1/4” rectangle of Lemon Drop. Add some dye ink (New Leaf, Papertrey Ink) with a blender to the top left corner.

Add some leaves around where your flower will go with a die from your stash. I used Pop-Tones Gumdrop Green to cut mine.

You might have noticed that this is my favorite leaf die. It’s just perfect behind quilled flowers! Of course, if you don’t feel like using dies, you can always quill your leaves as well - just use the same technique as the flower petals but on a smaller scale.

To finish putting it together, stamp the sentiment (Totally Random Sayings, Essentials by Ellen) in black ink, then adhere your lovely quilled flower in place with a few strategic dabs of glue. Don't forget to fan out the flower center!

Add your card front to a card base, and you’re done! Well, right after the sequins :)

Thanks for reading today! Feel free to pin this project to your cardmaking board on Pinterest, and please share to your favorite social media site!

❤️  Niki • cardstoq.com • @cardstoq (on Instagram, Pinterest & Twitter)