The Last Card

I FINALLY finished the Christmas cards today.......

Better late than never I guess. As usual they feature a Christmas tree, and the theme is "The true meaning of Christmas".  This year I used the paper quilling technique. According to Wikipedia,

Quilling or paper filigree is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The paper is rolled, looped, curled, twisted and otherwise manipulated to create shapes which make up designs to decorate greetings cards, pictures, boxes, eggs, and to make models, jewellery, mobiles etc. In the 18th century, quilling became popular in Europe where gentle ladies of quality ("ladies of leisure") practiced the art. It was one of the few things ladies could do that was thought not too taxing for their minds or gentle dispositions. Quilling also spread to the Americas and there are a few examples from Colonial times. ^[3]

Sounds perfect for me doesn't it? Hmmmm. I found it a little taxing....obviously I underestimated how difficult it would be and did not allow enough time to get them all done before Christmas. Here are some photos of the whole process.

First I spent quite a bit of time at the computer figuring out how to print what I wanted, where I wanted it, on paper that was already cut that I had scored at a garage sale. Not so easy I found. Anyways..... Then I designed a label for the front of the card....

And sewed the labels together. I like the sewing technique because it's cute and it saves money on adhesive.

Then I cut 1/8 inch thin strips of paper (because they don't sell quilling paper here in Africa of course)....

Green paper for the trees and yellow paper for the stars. Then the "quilling" began.... it takes a special tool that has a tiny slit in the tip to hold the end of the paper strip in place while you spin it....

 note to self: always check for hangnails before taking closeup photos

I broke one quilling tool and despaired that I wouldn't be able to find another one...but low and behold, Ben Franklin had some!  Yeah, they said they had gotten some in a notions shipment, and noone knew what they were. They sat on the shelf forever until they finally stuck them in the sale bin.  So, not only did I get this obscure tool here in town...it was ON SALE!!!!

I rolled one, two, or three strips at a time, for different parts of the tree. Then coils with multiple strips were spayed apart and glued together....

Glue was applied to the back of the coil....that was a tittle tedious....but necessary.

 
Then the coils were glued in place on the cards...

The stars were a little more tricky....I tried lots of different techniques and they all looked like yellow blobs until I started folding the bottom of the strip like and an accordion and rolling the rest...

There was another definition inside....

And a hand written sentiment....."Christmas began in the heart of God, but its true meaning can only be realized once it enters the heart of man" ......an anonymous quote I altered from the internet.

Well.....I'm so relieved that the Christmas card project is finally finished..... Now it's time to clean up the mess....

.......and start the next one!!!!