side view

paper shoe

Marie Antoinette would have loved this shoe but this one is made of paper. The blue "lace" is paper and the front tongue is quilled with pearl papers and yes even the peacock feather is quilled. The edge treatment for the feather is a combination of verdigris and platinum ink to give a natural iridescent shimmer. I found the buttons, lace and strung glass beads. In the upper picture you can just see the glass heal made fron a mini box knob. you can watch a video and download a template to make your own shoe...Thanks Terri!

high price of framing

This struggle has been going on for some time. Do I use a cheap frame so the customer is paying for the quilling not the frame? This does not present a professional product and your quilling, no matter how beautiful, is bound to suffer. That takes us back to a proper frame and a large expense for the customer. Unless you have personally priced the cost of framing, you can not see why art can be so expensive..."it's only paper" I heard one lady say while looking at my work.
What to do? I buy A7+ card blanks. This is slightly larger than 5X7 (standard size frame) I don't put any text on the front of my cards and on the back I have a label that reads: "suitable for framing" You pay for only the quilling and you can frame it any way you like. You end up with a price on your cards that your work deserves and knowing that your art is not viewed as "disposable" makes me happy. So make those beautiful cards and charge a proper price but be sure to use a high end card sleeve and include a business card too.

Thoughts of Autumn

Have you ever got carried away and have your design blossom into an overblown creation? Well that's what happened here. It was to be a simple tag but now it will require a shadow box frame. Oh well maybe simple just wasn't on my mind. Anyway enjoy.

Location set for Artrails

I will be at the Still Water Estates in Centralia for Artrails this year. Several other artist will be there too. The third and fourth weekend in September. I will have framed pieces, Christmas ornaments, 3-D work such as boxes and journals, and cards. I will also be doing quilling demonstrations all day on all four days. Check the side panel for more info.

Christmas in July?

It has begun. I am working on Christmas items both for Artrails and the tea shop. Have you started your Christmas cards?
This is an ornament about 5 inches in diameter. It has no backing so the back of it had to be as neat and clean as the front. There are ASL, Wheatear, marquise, teardrop, tight coil, V scroll, and heart scroll. There are five shades of red and just as many shades of green. I used both 1/8 and 1/16 inch wide strips. The candle is fill work.