Materials Required for Quilling Earrings

A revolution has been happening in newspaper quilling. Designs made from rolled newspaper strips are becoming more sophisticated, inspiring people to attempt this beautiful form of newspaper fine art. At the forefront of this move is Ann Martin, author of The Fine art of Quilling Paper Jewelry: Techniques & Projects for Metallic Earrings & Pendants from Interweave. Ann besides has a projection in the November/December 2017 consequence ofFabric Paper Scissors magazine; "Circle 'Round the Dominicus Pendant" shows how to create a lovely sunburst pendant that'southward as light as air. In this guest postal service, Ann offers some corking tips for quilling jewelry for beginners. ~ Jeannine

The Art of Quilling Newspaper Jewelry: Techniques & Projects for Metallic Earrings & Pendants by Ann Martin features stunning projects made from quilled metallic paper.

The first fourth dimension my optics landed on colorful, on-edge paper designs in a magazine, I was instantly transfixed and fix off on a mission to larn all I could about this rolling, folding and shaping technique called quilling. Xv years later, I still find graceful coils and scrolls appealing.

Most people are probably familiar with quilled flowers and leaves, just the technique can also be used for creating beautiful lightweight, strong jewelry.

After making dozens of projects, including cards, framed designs, ornaments, and wedding invitations, I began to focus on quilling jewelry. Yes, newspaper is a perfectly suitable textile for necklaces and earrings! It's surprisingly strong when rolled, and completed pieces can be farther strengthened with fixative.

This Leafy Vine Pendant shows the delicate details that quilling jewelry can produce.

Working with narrow strips of newspaper (the standard width is 1/8″, or 3mm) can be intimidating, so I'm here to offer my best tips to ensure that your quilled jewelry project will be equally beautiful as you lot're envisioning it.

Silvery-edged black paper strips were used to create these eye-catching Shooting Star Earrings.

Quilling is an inexpensive hobby. In fact, ordinary printer paper and craft glue are all that are needed to endeavor information technology out. And so, enjoy choosing from a wide variety of newspaper strips. Yous'll detect every color of the rainbow along with specialty metallic-edge paper, pearlized, graduated shades, and more.

Teardrop shapes, swirls, and tight coils make up this elegant Classic Filigree Pendant.

To get a feel for how to coil paper for quilling jewelry, cutting strips from a sheet of paper and coil i at a time between your thumb and alphabetize finger. With practise, the pressure you lot apply will become even, so that each relaxed coil will exist about the same size. Notice I haven't mentioned a tool yet—some quillers don't use ane! They rely only on their fingers. Nigh, though, cull to piece of work with a needle tool or slotted tool.

Popular quilling tools include, from left, a needle tool, a super-fine slotted tool, and a standard slotted tool.

I recommend trying both needle and slotted tools to decide your preference. The standard slotted tool is the easiest to apply because the slot grasps the end of the strip and provides rolling leverage. However, its disadvantage is that the gyre center will have a crimp; certainly not the finish of the earth. The needle tool takes longer to master, merely the effect will be a coil with a perfectly round middle. A super-fine slotted tool is my favorite, equally it produces a tiny crimp.

Materials used for quilling jewelry, such every bit paper strips and glue, are inexpensive and piece of cake to find.

Whatever type of glue that is suitable for paper will be fine for quilling, and you'll be surprised at how piffling is needed. My gluing method of choice is to put a dab of clear gel adhesive on a plastic container lid. I prefer gel instead of white glue because it doesn't develop a skin when exposed to air. Dipping into the mucilage with the tip of a newspaper piercing tool or ball-caput pin ensures I don't utilise too much.

Whatever gum that works for paper can as well exist used for quilling.

Many quillers use a fine-tip squeeze canteen to apply mucilage. To forbid the gum from clogging the tip while working, position it upside down in a votive candleholder or shot glass lined with a dampened paper towel. A damp material for cleaning sticky fingers is handy, too.

When the individual quilled shapes are completed, arrange them with tweezers on an overturned Styrofoam™ tray or cork board, and gum them together one at a time. You may want to utilize pins to hold the shapes in position until the gum is dry. Turn the piece over to apply reinforcing dots of glue at the joins, and brush on a low-cal coating of fixative, if desired.

A clean Styrofoam tray is perfect for arranging and gluing quilled pieces.

Lastly, attach findings to the pieces. A pair of flat-nose jewelry pliers makes opening and closing bound rings a cakewalk, allowing you to skid on earring wires or a necklace chain.

Show off your quilled jewelry by adding findings and a chain.

Ann Martin's newest book, The Art of Quilling Newspaper Jewelry, contains 20 gift-worthy necklace and earring projects. Ann'south popular blog, All Things Paper, features remarkable paper artisans from around the world, in addition to her own designs. Acquire more about Ann and her piece of work at allthingspaper.cyberspace.

All art past Ann Martin. Jewelry images past George Boe from The Fine art of Quilling Paper Jewelry past Ann Martin. Other photos by Ann Martin.

Paper art tin take many forms; cheque out this tutorial for making mixed-media flowers out of paper cloth, from Diana Trout!