Custom Quilled Ketubah - in Progress

Here's a look at what I've been working on - a quilled ketubah (a Jewish prenuptial agreement that is signed at the wedding and later framed and hung in the home). I love doing quilled monograms and whenever I'm presented with a new one, it's like a game to figure out how best to sculpt the letters so they fit together in a pretty way. In this case, I shaped them to resemble the lettering on the couple's wedding invitation.

Calligraphy by Riva Brown of Living Letters Studio

I've been enjoying the elegant color palette of navy, blush and silver. Roses and peonies in the palest shade of pink were included in the bouquets and table arrangements; I combined the two flowers into a stylized circular design with graphic navy foliage. Various brands of pastel pink quilling papers turned out to be too pink... baby pink, if you will, but parchment paper strips were just right in achieving the very soft look of blush.

There are side scrolls in the making too... they feature lilies like the ones on this quilled anniversary certificate, but in silver foil instead of gold sculpture paper. Here I was rolling textured foil to smooth it out, ready for shaping. Next, it will be time to glue everything in place.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you back here on Monday with a new book (and giveaway!) that's all about books... folded ones, that is. But before I go, I want to give a shout out to paper artist Kathryn Willis whose work I was introduced to via Instagram (@kathrynwillispaper) after Monday's Paper Pups feature went live. Kathryn also does amazing pet portraits - similar to, yet very different from those by Megan Mead of Paper Pups - as she incorporates all sorts of personalized tiny effects into each custom design. Such talented artists!