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Book review: The Art of Quilling Paper Jewelry



Ann Martin has written a new book, published by Interweave, on the beautiful art of quilling.  Her twist is to apply this ancient art form to wearables!  The Art of Quilling Paper Jewelry is a marvelous introduction to quilling techniques, and it might just become your next obsession!  I'm going to be doing a giveaway with this book very soon, so stay tuned!!

Ann starts with the history of quilling, and introduces us to the wide variety of pre-cut strips with metallic edging.  She also shows you how to make your own, if you want to try it out before buying supplies, or if you're a purist about materials!  Besides the quilling strips, a few very basic tools are needed, most of which you probably already own.  The needle tool or slotted tool may be the only things you don't have, but you can substitute plain wire to try it out before buying a tool.  Otherwise, you will need some dowels, tweezers, scissors, a ruler, pins, glue, and basic jewelry-making tools.


The basic techniques are easy to learn, though it takes practice and patience to master them.  Isn't that true of all the best art?  Simple, but not easy.  You will learn how to roll the strips properly, how to know the correct length for the strips, how to create a longer or thicker strip, how to glue them properly, how to create basic coils and scrolls, and then finally how to make all the basic shapes that will be used in the following projects.  The really neat thing is how much variety you can achieve in looks with very simple internal shapes.



The largest section of the book is the projects, 20 in all.  My very favorite is actually the one shown on the cover, although there are lots of lovely earrings and pendants to choose from.  And it doesn't take long before you start to see how you could change the designs to suit yourself...

You've been warned!  This looks like a LOT of fun :-)

Comments

Robbie said…
I did quilling years ago and then attempted some again not that long ago (I did a blog post on it)...but didn't really want to make something for a wall...who knew about jewelry using quilling!!! WOW!!! Looks really cool!!! Thanks for the review!!!
Robbie said…
I just looked at our library and they have another book by Ann...2013 I ordered it just for fun! You are a bad influence on me!
Cyndi L said…
Hey!! How could I possibly be a bad influence if you're finding the books at the library?? :-)