I noticed this article in the New York Times last week... Mrs. John L. Strong, Closed Stationer, Sends Regrets . I had been introduced to the Mrs. John L. Strong company via Martha Stewart's magazine and television show years ago, and was sorry to read it is closing after 80 years in business. Chalk it up to these challenging economic times. The Madison Avenue go-to shop for royalty, celebrities, and socialites sold custom hand-engraved, hand-crafted invitations, as well its own line of the finest papers... the kind you just know are ultra-expensive the moment you feel the weight of the envelope in your hand. The end of the elegant, old world era...

Here's my take on a quilled Best Wishes card... this golden compass design would be great to send to a graduate or perhaps it would make a nice retirement or bon voyage card.     But come to think of it, does anyone actually send bon voyage cards or are they as passe as the days of lengthy ocean crossings?! The card was my first try at quilled lettering - I found it enjoyable, if not a bit tedious. Thus my hat is off to Yulia Brodskaya , the Russian-born artist whose paper filigree letters are nothing short of astonishing - so incredibly detailed with each scroll and coil perfectly placed. Like this:       Speaking as one who has been working with a needle tool and tiny strips of paper for quite a while, I can vouch for the fact that Yulia's extraordinary talent is very rare indeed. Something tells me she will never, ever run out of ideas!

If you'd like to learn how to make this quilled fringed flowers card, perfect for a summer wedding, zip over to HeartHandmade for my step-by-step tutorial on making double fringed flowers.

While whizzing through a recorded Martha Stewart tv episode recently to look for Eloise Corr Danch's poppy segment , I was stopped in my tracks by a UPS Store commercial. Have you seen this cardboard goodness?! If not, YouTube to the rescue... when I went to see if some kind soul had posted it, not only was the commercial there, but I found another that's equally awesome. credit: www.advertolog.com Take a look at both - they're just 30 seconds each [edit: no longer available]: The Circus The Gladiator The $30 million campaign was developed at Doner Advertising in Southfield, Michigan and also includes radio, print and online ads. The animation was produced by Psyop, New York, and Tool of North America filmed the live action sequences in a UPS store in Whittier, California. Such clever people! And on another note, many thanks to the lovely site FoldingTrees where my very first online tutorial has been featured. I show how to make these gilded paper pendants tha...

Here's a foot loose and fancy free design I came up with that makes me think of summer days in sunny Provence... not that I've visited there yet, but a girl can dream. The filigree design of shaped wheatears, coils, and alternate side looping was drawn from the patterned background. The paper started out as a fabric sample I admired on a French website. I printed it out and added the glossy blue cardstock strips that were cut from the cover of a catalog. And so, I repeat my mantra.... you never know where or when you'll come across design inspiration and project-useful paper supplies. And hear ye, hear ye... don't forget about my Blog Candy contest ! No matter where you are in the world, there's still time to try your hand at quilling a king and/or queen based (loosely, or not) on the ones featured on the new U.S. stamps. To enter, email a jpeg of your design to ann.b.martin at gmail.com by May 31st.

A year ago this weekend I had the pleasure of attending the opening of a solo exhibit of my paper filigree work at the Brandywine River Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Well... not entirely true... yes, it was all my work except for two uniquely beautiful antique tea caddies from the 1780s. They had been quilled by unknown makers and were in excellent condition.    Aren't they something to see?! Such vivid color after all this time and the intricate design is pretty incredible. Their presence lent an important historical perspective to the display and the detail of the workmanship makes today's filigree style appear minimalistic in comparison. I'll long remember stepping off the elevator that evening and seeing the professional display cases and signage as arranged by the curator. What a thrill! But the best part of all was talking to the museum patrons about what I do - most had never heard of paper filigree, much less seen examples of the art. I exh...

Oh you must go see more pics of this exquisite paper dress. Jolis Paons used only phone book pages, stitches, and glue to make it by hand for a Creative Processes class. It definitely deserves an A+! Thanks to Ullabenulla for this great find.

If you're not familiar with the specialty papers available for paper quilling, there are loads of options - beautiful options! Pearlized or parchment strips, speckled, glistening, or sparkling, pearl edge or silver, gold, or copper gilded edge papers, two-tone strips with a different color on each side, not to mention a rainbow of colors from pastel to jewel-tone.     My very favorite variety just might be the graduated colors. Because nothing is ever simple, there are {happy} choices within this category also. There's the type that's shaded most in the center of each strip with the color lightening at the ends and there's also a strip that starts out dark and lightens toward the opposite end.   This is a bookmark card I made for a quilling friend in Dubai that's an example of using graduated color strips. You can randomly cut the papers without thinking about the color variations for a casual look, or as I did here, cut the strips so the shading is the same for...

It's been all about paper flowers this week - small wonder, as it is the merry month of flower-filled May here in the northern hemisphere. I'd like to introduce you to Paula Bauer, a self-professed folded rose addict. Take a look at this beautiful rose trellis journal cover she designed for a custom order. I love the way Paula wove paper strips to create the trellis and how the roses spill over its confines the way they do in real life. Folded roses are one of those bugaboo techniques that often frustrate those of us who do paper quilling. When I was first learning, I remember having a devil of a time getting them to look like they were flowers rather than torpedoes - the centers kept springing up and out. Luckily I had met Paula, owner of Gem State Quilling [edit: site no longer available], via an online quilling group and she kindly talked me through her method. Want to learn to make folded roses, Paula-style?  Here's my folded rose tutorial .  As a busy mom o...

Eloise Corr Danch of New York City is an illustrator, painter, and designer of products, props, sets, and graphics, as well as an imaginative paper sculptor. In April, her captivating paper floral work was displayed in the windows of Macy's Herald Square store in Manhattan as promotion of the retailer's 2009 Flower Show. She designed 2500! handmade paper flowers, arranged as eye-catching garlands and headdresses. In 2007 she collaborated with the New York design team, Ruffian, to create this elegant Rococo paper dress. Eloise credits the project in launching her fascination with three-dimensional paper design. Last summer her impressively regal paper sculpture, titled Lady Dulcinea, was featured in the gallery of Anthropologie's flagship store in New York's Rockefeller Center. Don't miss Eloise on Martha Stewart's television show tomorrow , Wednesday. She and Martha will be making paper poppies - so timely with Memorial Day on the horizon. Check ...

Sue Custer, a talented quiller from Missouri, made this beautiful basket of life-size flowers as one of her design team projects for the May issue of the Custom Quilling newsletter. Zinnias and daisies speak to me of the promise of bright summer days - I'm so ready!     Sue has been quilling since childhood and honed her skill via Quill Art kits that are now considered vintage. That word is used pretty loosely in relation to quilling though, as Sue personally doesn't fall into the vintage category! She used a Sissex die-cutter to make the shapes for some of the flowers and leaves; others are quilled, fringed, or husked. To make the die cut zinnias, she cut away petals from the top two layers and brought edges together to make each layer a bit smaller than the one below. Curving the petals downward adds to the realistic look. Sue covered the collapsible cardboard pot with terra cotta cardstock and applied brown chalk to the edges. And here's another idea for bright paper...

I've always thought it would be cool to quill a joker... you know, the playing card kind with the zany hat... the bright outfit... and the silly expression. I did some googling for inspiration... Here's the circus clown variety... and a prancing drum major with a baton... or maybe it's a back scratcher? This fellow is downright scary - he has to be the one that inspired the Batman creative team. I know the blue thing is a collar, but what I'm seeing instead is a big head, no neck, and a little crouching body down on all fours... er, fives, ready to spring. oh my... Siamese twin jokers A Viking clown? The antlers are a great touch. Hey, remember this dapper guy? I always thought a raven and a bat had swooped down and landed on his head. He looks quite pleased about it too. Enough foolishness.... onto what prompted this post in the first place... Lo and behold, look at the new love stamps just released by the U.S. post office - the King and Queen of Hearts! (T...

On Sunday night HBO aired The Memory Loss Tapes, the first portion of the new and excellent documentary series, The Alzheimer's Project. Additional segments followed on Monday and Tuesday; it will re-air throughout the month. Since the number of people with the disease is growing exponentially, it's a good idea to understand what may lie ahead for each of us and to learn about the newest advances in treatment that offer hope. One of the families featured in The Memory Loss Tapes is a woman with Alzheimer's and her daughter, Annie, who is caring for her mother on a Minnesota farm. Like all of the stories told, theirs is heartbreaking, but very compelling. I found myself wanting to read more about the series, so I turned to the internet; a search led me indirectly to Annie's blog . So how does all this tie in with art, and specifically paper art? Bear with me for a moment... Their life together is a quiet one, mother and daughter, with a reversal of roles. Annie...

Stefani Tadio of Stefani Tadio Paper Art [edit: site no longer available] combines two loves - paper and stitching - to make meticulously hand-embroidered mandalas. She uses sturdy cardstock, beautiful high-sheen thread, seed beads, and crystals to create colorful framed art, notepads, jewelry, and greeting cards.   Stefani was inspired to create stitched mandalas after discovering a paper embroidery book by Erica Fortgens and also seeing an exhibit of art made from "extreme materials" that featured round paper collages by Marietta Ganapin . This pretty mandala is one of my favorites. She says it puts her in a Florida state of mind and I agree - pink flamingos and aqua water. Her motto is 'the smaller the better' and as she tells customers at shows, "I love teeny-tiny." Think of the time that goes into each design... punching layers of cardstock, piercing holes for stitching in some layers and spirelli (thread wrapping technique) for others, not to...

One of the most interesting commissioned pieces I've been asked to quill was a Quaker marriage certificate. My task was to design a floral border to surround hand calligraphed vows that would be spoken by the couple during their wedding. Often a hand painted design decorates a document such as this, but the bride-to-be knew about paper filigree as she had been a student in one of my classes. Monica had taken to quilling like a duck to water; in fact, she added her own work to their handmade invitations, place cards, and programs - quite an undertaking! You can see the beautiful papers she used for the invitations in this picture, just to the left of the (large!) certificate. Monica brought samples along to help select quilling paper colors when she dropped off the certificate at my home. As you can see, calligrapher Riva Brown of Living Letters Studio in Wilmington, Delaware had already worked her magic. I'm sure Monica would have done a fine job on the document, but since ...