DIY Paper Quilling

If you love making handmade cards and crafts, for sure, you would love to find great paper quilling ideas you can use in your creations. You can use them in ornaments, to personalize your gifts, in cards and scrapbooks, and many other things you can do with it. In expressing your art, you can only have your imagination as your limit.

Of course in art, it is always good to have your own unique style in creating your crafts so that you can practice and hone your skills and discover new things about it. Although this is true, it could also help a lot, especially in quilling, if you can start with some paper quilling ideas from others who have mastered the craft. Then, from there, you can work on your own style as soon as you explore many other things you can do with quilling.

Anyway, we all have to start from the basics. Here are some basic ideas that you might find useful in your craft.

You can select the size of the quilling paper depending on the design you have to make. The standard paper size you can use is the 1/8", which you can actually cut on your own in a paper trimmer or paper shredder, although you may not get this size in a shredder. Buying pre-cut strips is a good option though if you want them to curl perfectly. At least, you would get a uniformly sized paper. But if you are just starting out, you may also opt to practice on paper that you cut yourself to at least save you a few dollars while still trying your hand on the craft.

To guide you through the correct size of paper you need, if your quilling project involves fine details, you may need narrower strips of quilling paper such as 1/16" in size. For 3D sculpting and fringe designs, you may want to use wider strips - 1/2" or 1/4". For basic designs or when practicing, 1/8" would do.

You can also choose from a variety of color to help enhance your design and paper quilling ideas. If you are choosing your own paper, make sure you choose something that has the same color at the front and back of the paper, or else, it will mess up your finish product. A lightweight card stock will work nicely.

Choosing your glue is also essential in making your craft. Surely, you would not want your quill design to be stained with visible white glue all over. Choosing a glue that dries clear is recommended to avoid messing up with your art. One way to help you in gluing your creations especially involving those fine curls, is to spread the glue thinly on a paper and with tweezers, you can lightly press your quilled designs on it just enough for the bottom to get enough glue and stick it to your scrapbook or card. You can also make use of toothpicks to help you with the gluing.

If you have mastered the basics, you can then make your own design and squeeze your creative juices to make designs that are not yet existing. This will truly unleash your creativity and allow you to make your own style. If you want to learn more paper quilling ideas and master the art of quilling, you first need to learn how to make basic designs and shapes. You can find useful resources that will teach you step by step on how to make teardrop designs to square designs and other patterns. It will also be useful to observe from quilling masters and learn from them.