Monthly Archives: September 2017

Sep25

Quilling Project: Quilled Octopus and Octopus Note Card

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Quilling Project: Quilled Octopus and Octopus Note Card

FIRST MAKE THE QUILLED OCTOPUS:

MATERIALS:

(3) 24” strips of light blue quilling paper

(3) 24” strips of medium blue quilling paper

(3) 24” strips of dark blue quilling paper

(4) 3” strips of purple quilling paper

(2) 3” strips of light blue quilling paper

(2) 3” strips of medium blue quilling paper

(2) 3” strips of dark blue quilling paper

Piece of cardstock or board

Glue

Ruler

Begin a tight coil using the light blue paper. When finished, glue the tip. Then wrap the medium blue paper tightly; glue the tip. Wrap the dark blue paper tightly and glue the tip.

For the eyes: tightly coil two of the purple strips separately and glue on to the face of the octopus.

For the tentacles: Bend one end of the strip of paper and make a wide curl with your finger. Curl the opposite end.  Glue the bent end to the octopus. Repeat for the other strips. Place four on either side of the head.

Push the coil out from the center to give the octopus a three-dimensional look.

Glue on card stock or colored cardboard.

THEN MAKE THE QUILLED OCTOPUS NOTE CARD

MATERIALS:

Card stock of various colors

Scissors

Glue stick

Pencil/eraser

  1. Trim the mounted octopus to an even length and width. The sample shown is 4” x 4 ½”.
  2. Measure and cut a piece of cardstock to 4” x 9” doubling the width but keeping the length to 4”. (Cardstock used for scrapbooking is ideal.)
  3. Measure and cut a piece of cardstock using a color that is compliments or contrasts with the color of the quilled octopus. Glue the pieces together and trim where necessary.
  4. Next measure and cut the envelope to 9” x 5”. Choose a color that compliments or contrasts with rest of your design. Mark with a pencil.
  5. Measure an area inside of that piece of cardstock to 5” x 4”. Above it measure an area 5” x 4”. Mark all areas with a pencil.
  6. Above that area measure an area 1” x 5” with a pencil.
  7. Fold at the creases and glue at the edges. Trim when necessary.
  8. Insert the quilled octopus into the envelope. You have a thank you or thinking of you note card.
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Sep18

Quilling Project: Quilled Flower and Flower Note Card

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Quilling Project: Quilled Flower and Flower Note Card

FIRST MAKE THE QUILLED FLOWER

MATERIALS:

(3) 24” strips of orange quilling paper (for the center of the flower)

(1) 24” strips of brown quilling paper (for the center of the center of the flower)

(4) 12” strips of yellow quilling paper (for the petals)

(4) 12” strips of orange-yellow quilling paper (for the petals)

(4) 3 ½” strips of orange-yellow quilling paper

(3) 12” strip of brown quilling paper (for the petals)

Cardstock or cardboard

Glue

Ruler

scissors

Tightly coil three 24” strips of orange paper and glue the tip. This is the center of the flower.

Using the 12”strips of yellow paper, make a small loop and secure the tip with glue. Continue to make a loop slightly larger than the first, securing the tip again. Repeat this pattern until there is no more paper to make a loop. Be sure each loop is bigger than the last one and glue the tip each time you make a loop.

These will be the petals of the flower. Continue with the rest of the yellow strips until you have four completed yellow petals consisting of open loops.

Continue this pattern with the orange-yellow strips until you have four completed flower petals. In the end, there will be a total of eight petals.

Make petals with the 12” strips of brown paper making the loops smaller.

On cardstock or cardboard, trace the flower’s center lightly with pencil. Arrange the yellow and orange-yellow petals evenly around this circle and glue down. Glue the brown petals randomly around this circle.

Glue the center of the flower down. Take one end of the 3 ½” strips of orange-yellow quilling paper and curl the tip. Finish curling the tips of the 3 1/2 inch orange-yellow papers. Glue the other end randomly through-out the petals.

THEN MAKE THE QUILLED FLOWER NOTE CARDS

MATERIALS:

Cardstock of various colors

Scissors

Glue stick

Pencil/eraser

  1. Trim mounted quilled flower to an even height and width. The sample shown is 5 ¼” x 5 ½”.
  2. Measure and cut a piece of cardstock to 10 ½” x 5 ¼” doubling the width but keeping the height to 5 ¼”. (Cardstock for scrapbooking is ideal.) Choose a color that compliments or contrasts with the colors of the quilled flower.
  3. Measure and cut another piece of cardstock in another color to 10 ½’ x 5 ¼”. Glue the three pieces and trim where necessary. Glue the pieces together.
  4. Choose a third sheet of cardstock for the envelope. Choose a color that compliments or contrasts with the colors of the quilled flower. Measure an area 5 ¾” x 5 ½”. Mark with a pencil. Cut.
  5. At the bottom of the cardstock, measure an area 5 3/3” x 5 ½” in pencil.
  6. Above that measure an area 5 3/3” x 5 ½” in pencil, too.
  7. Above that measure an area 1” x 5 ¾” and fold the marked areas at the creases. Glue at the edges.
  8. Insert the quilled card in the envelope. You have a blank thank you or thinking of you card.

Quilled

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Sep10

Lazy Day Crafts: Weaving With a Simple Frame

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Lazy Day Crafts: Weaving With a Simple Frame

 

Materials:

Cardboard

String

Ruler

Pencil/eraser

Scissors

Yarn

Large-eyed tapestry needle (optional)

Ribbon

Feathers

Wool

Strips of fabric

Leaves

Twigs

String

  1. Weaving consists of a warp and a weft. The warp comprises the vertical strings of the loom while the weft consists of the yarn horizontally interlaced through the weft. Take a piece of strong cardboard. Measure and cut ¼” incisions at regular intervals of ¼” to 1/8” on both ends of the cardboard.
  2. To make the warp: Take heavy string (i.e., kite string) and make a knot at one end. Stretch a continuous length of string across the cardboard. In other words, loop the string from one end of the cardboard to the other and back up again. When finished, cut and make a knot in the back or tape it to the back of the cardboard. Always leave a little extra string for knotting at either end.
  3. To make the weft: Think of a theme or a design for the weaving. The design is up to you! Use a variety of materials to weave in and out as you did with the paper weaving. Start with about an inch and a half of warp at the bottom. Make sure strips of material alternate with each row.  Roll the material into a ball if possible and pass it through the warp back and forth for several rows depending on the design. Tuck the end in the back of the warp. Do not tie a knot.
  4. Tips: You can using the tapestry needle to weave. A ruler will help you if the warp so you can pass material through easily but you must lift every other string.
  5.  When weaving is finished, cut any loose thread in the back of the warp but don’t cut too close to the weft.
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Sep3

Lazy Day Crafts: Papier Mache Dragon

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Lazy Day Crafts: Papier Mache Dragon

Materials:

Newspaper, cut into strips

Scissors

Wall paper paste or white glue slightly thinned

Containers for water and paste

½ egg carton preferably made of paper or cardboard

4 – 6 oz paper cup

Masking tape

Bond or construction paper

Green acrylic or poster paint or any color you choose for your dragon

Glitter, buttons, tissue paper, wiggle eyes, foil, etc

Paint brushes

Paper towels

 

  1. Cover your work space with newspaper. Cut egg carton in half and tape it shut. Tape the paper cup to one end of the carton. (This will be the head of the dragon.) Make a long tube with the construction paper and tape it to the other end of the carton. (This will be the tail of the dragon.)
  2. Cut newspaper into strips.
  3. Read the directions on the label for using wallpaper paste. Mix wallpaper paste with water and stir. Pour into container.
  4. Dip strips into paste mixture. Allow excess paste to drip off into container. Apply to the dragon mock-up. Apply two or three layers. Allow to dry. Add more layers if needed and apply them when the first three layers are dry. Dry thoroughly.
  5. Paint the dragon with acrylic or poster paint. Allow the paint to dry.
  6. Decorated the papier-mache dragon with a variety of embellishments. Use your imagination!

 

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