If you have visited the shop lately you’ve probably noticed that our Agate Marbles are back baby! I absolutely love these papers and cannot tell you how happy I am with the new colors we got in. My favorite are the Peacock, Coral, and Malachite

With the re-release of our beloved Agate Marbles the makers over in Bangladesh were nice enough to share a little video demonstrating how each sheet is made.

I love the way they fan the marble bath to move around the pigments and the image of all those papers drying in the sun.

I was browsing online yesterday for some new fonts and got sidetracked looking up quilled lettering. After all that always seems to be how it works, start out on one task and spend an hour doing something else. During my little web browsing excursion I did find some amazing typography meets quilling pieces worth sharing.

From Sara Yakawonis‘ quilled drop case series these letters take the look of old greek lettering and add vibrant dimension.

 Artist Sabeena Karnik created an entire alphabet of colorful quilled letters.

And for some extreme wow factor this piece was created for the NY Times by the North American Quilling Guild

In case you are exactly like me and love quilling but know you will never try it on your own here are a few etsy sellers doing their own quilling alphabet magic.

(Etsy sellers from top to bottom – aCoCC, Melissa Van Hoose Design, and Dominique Handmade)

Focusing mainly on nature as her subject matter Lauren uses a combination of handmade and decorative paper, paints, and even dried fruits and leaves to create vibrant and textural works of art.

I’m particularly fond of her bird series. Don’t you just want to walk right into the forest with them?

I’ve finished my holiday shopping for the year and now it’s time for me to start wrapping everything. Since I’m always looking for new ways to fit even more pretty paper into each gift I decided to adore each present this year with one of these cute little paper bows. Truthfully each package will probably have more than one because once I started making them, I had a hard time stopping.

If you want to make some bows for your own gifts it couldn’t be easier. Make the whole bow in one pattern or combine two different papers like I did. Below is a link to the PDF template for you to download.

Step 1 – Trace the bow template onto your paper and cut out all of the pieces

Step 2 – Add a small drop of glue to the center of the bow piece

Step 3 – Bring the two sides to the center to create the bow loops

Step 4 – Add another drop of glue to the center of the bottom tail piece

Step 5 – Glue the bow loops to the bottom ribbon

Step 6 – Wrap the center band around your bow and glue together in the back

Berretti Florentine Marbled Paper – Rust, Gray & Cream Stone Marble Pattern | Rossi Tuscan Print Paper – Weathered Brocade in Gold | Midas Touch – Gold Coated Lokta Paper | Anaconda Embossed Paper – White Gold | Magnolia Branches on Lokta Paper – Gold on Cream | Gilded Cork Paper – Gold | Chiyogami – Gold Fronds on Natural | Halcyon Marbled Papers – Golden Rain

I love making papers flowers so of course to jazz up the office, I decided to make a few giant poinsettia. If you want to make a jumbo paper poinsettia of your own, here’s how.

Supplies for this project are really simple…paper, scissors, a pencil, and your favorite glue.

You can draw your own template for the petals or download ours (below)

Large Poinsettia Petal
Medium Poinsettia Petal
Small Poinsettia Petal

Trace the petals onto the back of your paper. You will need 5 large, 5 medium, and 7 small.

To get the slightly rumpled look of real poinsettia petals, fold each cut out in half lengthwise. Then pinch the two sides together to create creases down the fold.

Because the petals are somewhat skinny, you’ll need to add a little support to the back of the poinsettia. Cut out a circle of your paper – the size isn’t really important. As you can see I simply traced a plate I had on hand.

Now cut a line down to the center of your circle and glue the two flaps over top of each other to create a funnel.

Time to start gluing the petals. Layer each petal inside your funnel starting with the largest.

Keep going until you have all the petals glued down.

To make the center of the poinsettia, cut stripes of yellow paper (I used Unryu)  and fold it up into a tiny ball. Then glue into the center of your flower.

The poinsettia leaves are simply a larger version of the petals. Two to three leaves look best, but cut out as many as you like to glue to the back.

You’re all done!

Don’t forget that poinsettia come in more than just red. I made a white version with our Pebble Embossed – Ivory

I love how both versions came out and they look wonderful hanging off our ladder racks in the showroom.

Here’s a few of my favorite papers for each version

Terra Batik – Watermelon, Halcyon Marbled – New Way, Solid Lokta – Red

Pebble Embossed Metallic – Ivory, Midas Touch – Gold Marble Lokta, Crush Embossed – Quartz

And some great options for your leaves

Banana Fiber – Teal Green, Terra Batik – Olive Green, Mango Leaf – Olive

The walls have been covered in our Black Gold & Silver Pirouette Marble. The paper ends up looking like large slabs of agate or stone on the walls. Such an incredible way to get a luxurious look without spending thousands.

Either way when you cover a boring bangle in luscious Chiyogami it becomes the perfect statement piece.

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Don’t your fantasy worlds always include glitter?