Hand made by me, No two are alike

A few posts back I mentioned in the ABC's of me that I like to make things. To say I am crafty would be a bit of an understatement. I have always done this from the time I was a small child. I have tried almost everything, from painting to building things out of wood, from jewelry making to sewing. Some items are a success, some (like the sewing) not so much.

 My poor husband is always being forced to listen to me prattle on about the new thing I have just got to try, and sometimes finds him self being "voluntold" to help. (Voluntold is like volunteering, except you really have no choice) He is good about it though and only complains once in a while, actually for the most part he seems very proud of my work and often shares my creations with his friends and family.

 I do make a small profit from the things I create, and that justifies me making more, Thank goodness, because I could never afford to make these things just for me and I could never have a home big enough to display them.

 Last year while looking for a new project to try I happened upon a picture of a beautiful detailed snowflake. It caught my attention and I wanted to know how it was made. I learned that it had been made by hand completely out of paper. I was instantly consumed with a need to learn how to do this myself. After doing a little research I found out it was called paper filigree or Quilling.

 I had never heard of it. I asked some of my crafty friends and they hadn't either. So I did more research and found out that Quilling is an almost dead art that was popular in the 16th and 17th century among young ladies who at the time were not allowed to go outside their home with out a male escort.  Looking for a ladylike pastime, they came up with the idea of rolling  strips of paper on a quill and forming them into spirals and designs that they glued together to make designs and pictures or to decorate objects in their homes. The result is quite beautiful. Over time, most people forgot about it and most of the pieces have not survived the test of time. There are a few museum pieces though. Here is one for you too see.

This is a jewelry box that was quilled by a young lady in 1798.

After listening to me babble on about wanting to learn more about how to do this myself, John boy bought me a quilling kit off of the internet for my birthday. Quilling is making a small comeback and there are places on the internet where you can buy supplies. The best part is that they are very inexpensive and that is right up my alley.

So I began to learn and through some trial and error I came up with some of my own snowflakes. I have been making quite a few for Christmas craft shows and for our own tree. Quilling is not limited to ornaments you can make just about anything with it. The surprising thing is although they look very delicate, they are surprisingly strong once glued together or onto something. 

It is nice to make something that no one else is making . That is the biggest problem with making items to sell, too many people try to copy your items and then there is no market for them. 

Here are a few pictures of some of my snowflakes, I hope you enjoy

I have used both white paper and hologram paper although the hologram paper doesn't show up well in the picture.

This one I just finished this morning

Well, I hoped you enjoyed learning about this ancient art and I encourage you to try creating something new today,It doesn't have to be quilling, it can be anything, making something by hand is a wonderful way to relieve stress and gives you a reason to turn off the tv and the computer. It is very relaxing and good for your soul. Have a great day and Happy creating!