Giveaway Contest – Celebrating 2,000 Fans on Facebook

It’s time for another celebration!  Honey’s Hive on Facebook has reached 2,000 likes!

I’ll be giving away FOUR prizes to my etsy shop!

Grand prize – a $30 gift certificate

Three other prizes – 50% off coupons

Rules for the gift certificates and coupons:

1. All of these gift certificates and coupons can only be used in my etsy shop.

2. The gift certificates and coupons will expire one year from the day I e-mail it to the winners.

3. Gift certificates and coupons will be e-mailed to winners within 3 days of the end of the contest (please make sure you leave me a way to contact you with your entries, I will also announce the winners on facebook).

4. Gift certificates may NOT be used in conjunction with any coupon codes in my etsy shop.

5. If you use the gift certificate to make a purchase worth more than the amount I will send you a paypal invoice for the remainder.

6. The gift certificate and coupons  are valid for all finished jewelry and accessories, quillied pieces, and tutorials.  They are NOT valid on supplies or paper quilling tools.

7.  Instructions for the gift certificate will be sent along with the gift certificate itself.

So how do you enter??  Click below for the link to the Rafflecopter Giveaway.  Because of restrictions on wordpress blogs you cannot see the giveaway from here, but if you click you will see it.  Let me know if you have any problems!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway is scheduled to begin on March 11th and run through March 24th.  Winners will be selected and posted within 3 days of the end of the giveaway (probably sooner!)

This giveaway is open to anyone, worldwide!

And as an extra gift for everyone ………. Use coupon code “CELEBRATE2000″ to receive 20% off any order in my etsy shop!  Valid through March 31st!

What Paper to Use for Paper Quilling – Buy or Cut Your Own?

Some of the questions that I get asked most frequently are about paper quilling strips.

Is it worth the extra expense to buy pre-cut strips?
Can’t I just cut my own?
Can I use a paper shredder to cut strips?
What type/weight of paper can I use to cut my own strips?

Hopefully this post will answer all questions regarding this topic! If you have any questions not covered here, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll add my thoughts

Please note that all quillers have their own opinions about this matter. This post is MY opinion and My preferences.

When I first started quilling I was ten years old. I got a book about quilling at the library. I did not have any quilling paper, tools, or anything. I used a toothpick as a tool and I cut my own strips. At first I would use lined paper and just cut those strips and use them. If I wanted them colored, I would color the paper with marker or paints and then cut the strips out. After a couple years of that I moved on to colored papers. I would mark the measurements with a ruler on each side, draw the lines, and cut the paper strips. After a couple more years I started using a razor blade and ruler to cut the strips. This was my method for the next several years. So I know all about cutting your own paper strips!

When I went to college and got a job, I finally had some pocket money. I was so excited to purchase some pre-cut quilling paper. It was a joy to use! No cutting, no rough edges, no uneven strips. I could focus on quilling and not on cutting paper. I haven’t looked back since.

Another benefit of buying pre-cut quilling paper is that you can purchase acid-free paper. You can buy some cheaper quilling paper strips that aren’t labeled and probably aren’t acid free. But papers from the bigger companies (Quilled Creations, Lake City Craft, and many more) are all labeled as acid free. This means that you don’t have to worry about the papers turning yellow over time, discoloring, getting spotty, etc. This is not so important if you are making things like bookmarks, gift tags, etc. that won’t be used forever. But if you are making frames and other items that you want to stick around for a long time, you want to make sure they stay looking nice!

If you are cutting your own paper, look for paper that is labeled acid free if that is important to you. Some are, some aren’t.

The weight of a paper also makes a difference. Thinner and thicker papers curl differently and hold their curls differently. I do not know the weight of all quilling papers, but papers from Lake City Craft are between 60 and 80 pounds text weight, which is equivalent to 90-120gsm. Papers here in Malaysia are labeled in gsm. Normal printer paper that I see here in Malaysia is usually labeled around 75-80g, so it is thinner than usual quilling paper. If you are going to cut your own quilling paper and you want it to have a smooth curl, look for heavier paper instead of plain printer paper.

Yes, you can cut your own paper strips with a paper shredder.  Just be aware that, depending on your shredder type/model, the edges of your strips may be more rough than smooth.  And sometimes the edge strips won’t come out evenly  depending on how you put in your paper.  You also then have to find a way to store these paper strips so they won’t get all crumpled.

Here are some pros and cons of using pre-cut paper and cutting your own paper:

Cutting Your Own Paper

Pros:

Cut only as much as you need, you don’t need to have a bunch of paper strips stored

Less expensive

If you are willing to shop around you can look for the exact shade of paper you want instead of relying on the selection from quilling companies

You can cut the paper any width that you would like.

You can usually purchase sheets of paper from quilling companies to cut your own strips from. So you can save some money, but still have the same paper. (some available from Lake City Craft here)

Cons:

Time consuming to cut with razor and ruler

Can be an expensive investment to purchase a paper shredder

Might not be easy to find all the colors you want in the weight of paper you want (and acid free), unless you shop for paper online

You might end up with many packs of paper, not all of which you need/want

Paper may be uneven and have rough edges

Your strips are only as long as your paper, usually less than 12″

If you cut a lot of strips it can be cumbersome trying to find a way to store them without crumpling

Purchasing Quilling Paper

Pros:

Convenient

Nice, even cut with straight, smooth edges

Longer strips

The paper will be the perfect weight for quilling

Papers from most companies are acid free

Papers can be stored in the packages they come in to keep them non-crumpled

Cons:

more expensive

Although there are many  many color choices, you may not find the exact shade you want/need for a project

You are limited by the widths of paper available from quilling paper companies (though this hasn’t been  a problem for me as I always use the normal widths anyway)

This post is a work-in progress, I will add to it when I get more questions about the topic or think of other points to add.

My Choice - My personal choice for paper quilling is to use pre-cut papers.  I like the nice smooth edge.  I am happy with the color selection.  I like being able to easily store my papers, know they are acid free, and have nice long strips.  To me, it is definitely worth the extra expense.  I don’t have time to shop for paper colors, cut my pieces, etc.  I don’t have room to store a paper shredder, and I don’t want rough edges on my papers.  But everyone has their own opinions and for some people cutting their own strips is what they like to do.  As for me, I will continue to use professionally cut papers and spend more time enjoying what I love to do – paper quilling!

Storage for Paper Quilling

Everyone has their own system of storing their paper quilling strips, extra pieces, tools, etc.  I’ve had questions about what are some of the best ways to store these things, so I’ll share what I do.  My system may not be best for everyone as it depends on personal preference, how much quilling paper you have, etc.  But it is one way and it is the way that works best for me!

First of all, I have a LOT of quilling strips.  I have an open pack of probably every color that is available from Lake City Crafts.  That’s a lot of paper!!  So what do I do with it all?  I store all of the strips still IN the original packs in these two sets of file drawers:

I

I started with only one set of drawers, but I soon got another one and I have just the right amount of space.  I organize the drawers by color and/or type of paper.  Here are nine of the ten drawers with labels for what is in them.  In the tenth drawer I have a few mixed color packs of papers.  Mixed color packs are great when you don’t need a lot of each color and you are short on storage space.  But as you can see I prefer single color packs.

When I need to use a certain color I take out the pack and take the ends of the papers out of the bag.  Then you can take out as many strips as you need (undo the strip from one end , pull until the entire strip is out, and undo from the other end.  When I have enough strips I tuck the two ends back into the pack and then put it back into the drawer.  With some brands of paper you don’t have to untuck the ends and put them back in because the bags are longer.  But the new bags from Lake City Crafts are shorter, so you need to do this.  It’s not quite as convenient, but it does make the packs take up less room, so that is the payoff.  I don’t really mind.

 

Inevitably you will end up with strips of paper that you have not used up.  These come in handy for future projects, so of course you don’t want to throw them away!  I have a particular sectioned plastic container with lid that I use for these strips.

In the long section I put the 12″ pieces of paper.  In the medium sections I put 6″ strips of paper.  In the small sections I put 3″ strips of paper.  There is also a section that holds a few of my extra tools, and a section where I put the leftover specialty papers like gold and silver edge.  As you can see the container looks pretty messy, but ah well, crafting can be a messy business!  The ends of the papers sometimes get a little squashed when I shut the box.  This doesn’t matter since when you are quilling you twirl the paper and any bent pieces get smoothed out when you do that.  When I am doing a project and need just a couple shorter pieces of a certain color I always look through this box first.  When it seems to be getting pretty full (like now!) I will spend a day making gift cards to use up the little pieces.  I make hearts, twirls, gifts, etc. to glue onto little cards.  These cards always come in handy to put on gifts!

 

Sometimes you are in the middle of a project and you need to put it away for awhile, or you want to work on another project for awhile.  For this occasion I have boxes to store my semi-finished pieces in.  Some of these were extras for designs, some are for pieces I haven’t put together yet, some are scraps, etc.  I have 3 containers like this of various sizes to keep my semi-finished projects in.

 

 

Since I sell my paper quilled items in my etsy shop I have a lot of finished pieces around.  It would not be a good use of space if I put these each in gift boxes waiting to ship out.  That would also make it very difficult to find a particular piece! So I also have several containers to keep my finished jewelry, accessories, etc. in.

I group the finished pieces by style so that it’s fairly easy for me to find a piece when it gets sold.  Then I can put it in a cute gift box and get it sent off to its new home to be treasured!

Because I make jewelry and accessories from my paper quilling I have a lot of other findings, tools, etc. around.  I store them, and my quilling tools, in this:

 

There are many drawers in this, so it’s nice and easy to organize my things.  Some of the bottom drawers are bigger so they are perfect for all of my quilling tools.

Paper quilling can also be a great craft to do on-the-go.  Of course you can’t can’t carry everything with you, but if you have a certain project in mind you can carry with you just a few things to work on that project.  The travel box that I currently use and like is this one:

 

It is a double sided box.  On one side, the side you can see here, there are several compartments.  This is great for tools, glue, little pieces, and short strips of paper.  The other side of the box has no compartments, so it’s great for storing a few packs of quilling paper.  Love this box!

The travel box is sold by Quilled Creations, and I have it in my quilling supplies shop.  All of the other boxes I bought locally here in Malaysia at department stores, Toyogo, etc.  They are not very expensive and they work well.

How do you store your paper quilling strips?

 

Tutorial for Paper Quilled Dinosaurs

Big, scary Tyrannosaurus Rex

Majestic Apatosaurus

Lumbering Triceratops

Mighty Stegosaurus

What child is not intrigued by dinosaurs?  What are these mighty creatures who are seen so often in books but never in real life?  I wonder at what age a child truly understands that there used to be dinosaurs on the Earth, but no longer.

Do you have a child who loves dinosaurs?  Is there a dinosaur themed party coming up?  Need to decorate a dinosaur themed greeting card?  Here is your solution!   Use the art of paper quilling to create your own paper quilled dinosaurs!

A lot of work goes on behind the scenes when creating tutorials.  When I am working on tutorials I often feel guilty for not posting more often, as if I’m not doing any work.  But really, it takes a long time!  From creating designs, taking photos, editing photos, compiling photos, writing the tutorial, and so forth.  I feel a great sense of accomplishment once I am able to share all that I have been working on!

So here is my newest tutorial, paper quilled dinosaurs!   These awesome dinosaurs can be used to decorate frames, bookmarks, greeting cards, placecards, door hangers, notebooks, magnets, anything really!  Here are some things that I have used these dinosaurs for:

A paper quilled dinosaur frame

Paper quilled dinosaur party gift bags

 

Chinese New Year Gift Tag Pattern

It’s that time of year again!  Here in Malaysia we are greeted with cheerful cherry blossom branches, red Chinese lanterns, and other festive decorations wherever we go.  One of the great things about living in Malaysia is getting to experience the holidays of many cultures!

For several weeks now I have been wanting to come up with a Chinese New Year greeting card design, as requested by one of my customers of Honey’s Quilling.  Time is getting closer to Chinese New Year and I keep finding myself short of time!  Between homeschooling my 5 year old, taking care of my 4 month old, the house, and keeping up with orders, I find myself short on creative time.  But creative time is what I crave, so I find what moments I have.  Tonight I sat down and squeezed out some creative time in between completing some quilling orders from my etsy shop.  It isn’t the decorative greeting card that  I had planned, but it’s still cute and hopefully someone will find this little pattern useful

 

If you wish to make a gift tag yourself, here is the pattern that I used.  Feel free to change it up to suit how you would like your own lantern to look.  I’m just offering mine as a starting point!  I used all 1/8″ (3mm) width paper.  Narrow (1.5mm) would also be a good choice for cards.

48″ strip of red paper for lantern

six 1cm strips of bright yellow paper for small tassel

one 1cm strip of bright yellow for string

one 3cm strip of bright yellow for circle

four 2cm strips of bright yellow for bottom tassel

one 3″ strip of bright yellow for top of lantern

Roll the 48″ strip (I glued together two 24″ lengths) and let it expand just a little bit so that the circle is not too tight.  Squish it slightly into an oval and glue it down onto your card.

Fold the 1cm strips for the small tassel and pinch tightly.  Glue them to the bottom of your lantern.  It is helpful to put some glue on top of them after you get them in place and squeeze them with the tweezers so that they all stick together well.  Stick the 1cm strip for the string into the tassel so that it sticks out a bit.  You can cut it shorter if you think it is too long.  Roll the 3cm strip into a tight roll and glue to the end of the “string”.  Fold your 2cm strips for the bottom tassel.  Glue each one closed and then glue into place at the bottom of the tight roll.  Roll the 3″ strip and let it expand.  Pinch it into a rectangle shape and glue it to the top of your lantern.

As I said, this is just a simple little design.  Good for a gift tag or to embellish an Ang Pow packet. Feel free to use it as is, or let it spark some of your own creative juices!  I am imagining a much larger lantern to use on the front of a gift card. The lantern base would be made of several expanded rolls that are pinched together to make a ball shape.  Each roll would be bordered with a gold paper to give some golden accents in the lantern.  I don’t know if that makes much sense, but I still have some hope that I am able to sit down and create this larger lantern before Chinese New Year gets much closer!

 

Ayyam-i-Ha Gifts From Etsy

I have to admit that I am partial to purchasing things from etsy.  I have a shop there and I like to browse other shops and purchase from them.  If I need to purchase a gift for a family or friend, the first place I look is etsy.  When I wanted to purchase some cloth diapers, receiving blankets, and other baby stuff, I went to etsy.  It’s a great place to shop!

Today I want to highlight some of the shops that sell Baha’i items that would make great Ayyam-i-Ha gifts.  I’ve noticed over the past couple years that more and more Baha’i themed items are showing up on etsy.  Awesome!   I’m going to list them alphabetically here, give links, and a short description of the items they have.  Note that this is NOT all of the shops that sell Baha’i items.  To find even more, do a search for “Baha’i” or “Bahai” in the etsy search bar.

A Tiny Seed - This store has been around for quite awhile!  I have always admired it.  Gorgeous art prints, ceramic pendants, and more.

Azadiart - Fused glass pendants.  Search in the shop for “Baha’i” to find the Baha’i pendant.

Baha’i By JBeads - Beautiful stone based jewelry and prayer beads.

Baha’i Gardens - This is a new shop.  It has gorgeous wire wrapped jewelry!

Fine Art By Nicole - Lots of beautiful jewelry. The Baha’i items are gorgeous Greatest Name original art, and nine pointed star pendants.

Honey’s Hive - This is me  Unique Handmade Paper Jewelry, Accessories, and tutorials.  Search for “Bahai” in the shop to find all nine pointed star and lotus designs.  I am having a 20% off sale with coupon code AYYAMIHA20  through mid February.

Karen McCants’ Art - Original art and prints.  Search for “Baha’i” in the shop to find the children’s art painting.

Little M Creations - Headbands, hairbows, and more.  A children’s Baha’i prayer book is available here.  We have one, it’s great!

Love Bits & Peaces - Unique jewelry.  Search for “Bahai” in the shop to find the Baha’i inspired pieces.

Misha Blaise - Fun artwork and prints!  Do a search in the shop for “Bahai” to find the Baha’i inspired pieces.

Muluc - Baha’i book covers

My Little Cards - a brand new shop!  Cute Ayyam-i-Ha cards with promise of more to come.

Safarista Design - Here you will find cute and modern Baha’i quotes to print out and frame up.

Sophia Wood Art - Original art, prints, cards, and more.  A children’s book about Ayyam-i-Ha!

The Bear Foot Rabbit - Lovely stone based wire wrapped jewelry.  Unique nine pointed star pendants!

The Becks CR - A lot of variety here!  Pendants, signs, banners, cupcake toppers, and more.

Transfigured Jewelry - A new shop, so far selling prayer beads.

Have fun browsing, and perhaps even purchasing some gifts!

Nine Pointed Star Jewelry

If you have visited my etsy shop lately you might notice that most of the new pieces are all nine pointed star earrings and pendants in different colors.  There is a reason for this!

The nine pointed star is a very meaningful symbol.  It is a common symbol for the Baha’i Faith, of which I belong.  It has many other symbolic meanings as well for Christianity and other religions .  The number nine is the highest single digit number and as such is considered to symbolize completeness and unity.

The main reason I create nine pointed star jewelry is because it is loved as a symbol for the Baha’i Faith.  I always liked nine pointed stars.  When I started making paper quilled jewelry it was one of my goals to develop some nine pointed star designs.  I have two main design types for now.  One is kind of like a flower and comes in small and larger sizes

   

The other design is more like a star and has points all around a large circle center.  I usually make the earrings with open middles and the pendants solid, but I can do custom orders differently.

It took me awhile to develop the patterns for these earrings since the shapes have to be just right to be able to perfectly fit nine points.  I hope to find the time soon to create another design to add to these two!

Keep in mind when ordering from  my etsy shop that all of these designs (and most other designs!) can be custom made in any color(s)!  If you see a design you like but you want different colors all you have to do is purchase it and let me know in the notes what color(s) you would like!

From now until mid-February I am having a 20% off sale!  Use coupon code AYYAMIHA20 during checkout to receive discount.    If you are shopping for Ayyam-i-Ha gifts and you live far from  Malaysia be sure to order by the end of January to make sure the gifts arrive in time.