Art – Page 8 – Art Room Happenings!

Art, Art activities, card making, Craft, DIY, Make, Create, & Share!, paper art

Paper Mosaics

June 29, 2020June 29, 2020 Intheartroom

This is a great way to use up any paper scraps you might have left over from some other art projects! Paper mosaics are easy and can be made simple or into more detailed pieces of art. A mosaic is simply a piece of art that has been put together using smaller pieces of tiles (usually, stone, ceramic, shell, glass), typically of different colors, placed closely together to create a larger image or design. Instead of the typical tile and grout we may think of for mosaics, this project uses pieces of colored paper arranged closely together!

What you need:

Scrap pieces of colored paper – You could also use magazines, junk mail, etc.
Glue stick
Scissors and/or paper cutter
Piece of card stock or thicker paper to complete your mosaic on (my piece is appox. 5″x7″) You could also make it into a greeting card!

Step one: Gather your scrap papers! You can either cut your paper into a lot of geometric shapes in various sizes, or plan out a design – cutting blocks of colors that will get cut smaller later.

Step two: Start to arrange your pieces of cut paper on your card stock. You want your pieces to fit together like a puzzle – leaving small even gaps of the card stock showing between your pieces. Flip, rotate, and trim pieces as needed!

If you’ve cut larger pieces for a pattern, you can start to cut and separate into smaller pieces. You can also draw an outline of a shape or object to fill in like in the video.

Step three: Get your cats to help you.

Step four: Once you have your pattern started you can begin to glue down pieces – remember to leave the gaps between your pieces! The better your pieces fit together the more even gaps you’ll create between them! Sometimes you might have to cut and add little tiny pieces to fill in gaps. This is what give us the mosaic effect!

Step five: Keep going until you have your entire pattern glued down!

Make some awesome artwork just with paper! You can turn your finished paper mosaics into greeting cards, framed art, or incorporate them into collage artworks or even create them on wooden boxes with mod-podge instead of glue sticks! 🙂

Art, Art activities, Craft, DIY, Make, Create, & Share!

Painted Watermelon Flower Pots!

June 25, 2020June 25, 2020 Intheartroom

Bring on the summer vibes with this fun and easy painted flower pot!

What you need:

Terracotta flower pot – mine is approx. 6″
Krylon, indoor/outdoor, Gloss Clear Coat
Acrylic craft paints – I use Apple Barrel bran in Spring Green, Bright Red, & white.
Sharpie Marker
3/4″ Paint brush (or similar)

Step one: Paint the rim of your flower pot with green – also cover the rim on the inside portion of your flower pot too! (Note: if you’re re purposing an old flower pot make sure it’s scrubbed clean and dry!) It may require two coats of paint – in this case let your first layer dry completely before applying the second.

Step two: Mix together some red and white paint to create a dark pink color for your watermelon – add little bits of white to your red at a time until you get the color you’d like! Paint the whole bottom part of your flower pot with your pink color!

Step three: To add the light green stripes on the rim of your flower pot, mix a little white & green paint together. Once you have a light green, we want to use a “dry brush” technique for creating the stripes on your rim. This means that we don’t want a lot of paint on your brush and we want to see the texture of the brush stroke show up on your pot. To do this, wipe off most of the green paint from your brush and then paint your stripe! Remember we want to see the texture and create stripes that are all different!

Step four: Once your flower pot is completely dry, apply your clear coat. Let dry, and then using your Sharpie, draw your watermelon seeds!

Have fun creating this simple Summer project! Use your finished watermelon pot to hold pencils, start seedlings, as a cover for a plastic potted plant, to hold kitchen utensils, or just as a decoration!

Art, Happenings, Make, Create, & Share!, student artwork

Student Spotlight! (June 2020)

June 22, 2020June 22, 2020 Intheartroom

Each month I will be spotlighting one of my students – past or present, and their artistic ventures! I work with students of all ages and abilities and you’ll get to learn a little bit about these amazing artists and their work!

Our June spotlight is on:

Dorothy McCormick

Dorothy is 17 years old and is beginning her Senior Year of High school. Although she has been taking art lessons since she was 4, she started taking classes at In the Art Room at age 12. Dorothy enjoys creating works inspired by her life experiences however she has also created many works featuring wildlife. As someone who loves blending colors, her favorite mediums are colored pencils and watercolors. Dorothy spends anywhere from 2-15 hours on each piece. Since she devotes so much time to her projects, she has entered several art competitions and is a 7 time “Junior Duck Stamp 1st Place Category Winner” and 1 time state “Best in Show.” She has always been interested in the arts and is a classically trained vocalist and guitarist. Due to her love of singing and songwriting she hopes to pursue a career in Christian Music. Dorothy looks forward to continue taking lessons this coming year, as she believes art is one of thee greatest forms of self discovery and expression.

Work: I Am a Garden

Date: Completed October 2019

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Description: This piece was inspired by the importance of self-care. Just as gardens need to be gently cared for and cultivated, we need to care for and cultivate ourselves. With the right actions we will flourish.

Work: Cuteness Overload

Date: Completed October 2018

Medium: Acrylic on Chalkboard

Description: For a period in my life I had a strange fear of petting zoos. However, in the fall of 2018 I visited one and absolutely fell in love with some alpacas there. Ever since then, Alpacas have been a symbol of conquering fear for me; so I decided to paint this as a reminder.

Work: A Soldier’s Footsteps

Date: Completed February 2020

Medium: Graphite Pencil

Description: This year I entered the Young American Creative Patriot Art Contest. It features the story of my great-great uncle who fought in WWII, including: the battles he fought in, the medals he earned and his infantry’s standard.

Work: The Ugly Duckling’s Antithesis

Date: Completed March 2020

Medium: Ink and Watercolor

Description: Normally when painting waterfowl I pick a bird I consider beautiful. However for the Chincoteague Migratory Bird Art Contest, I wanted to do the opposite. So when I came across the “Horned Grebe” with its spikes, sharp beak, and seemingly red eye, I knew it was perfect. However, I soon found out that these unsightly birds are quite cute as ducklings, and realized: this is the opposite of the Ugly Duckling

Dorothy’s dedication and determination in her art – whether it’s creating a piece for a contest or expressing herself, help her to continue to reach her artistic goals! Her natural talent and abilities are strengthened by her persistence. She has a passion for self-discovery that is sure to inspire others as she continues in her artistic journey!

Art, decorating, DIY, Happenings, Make, Create, & Share!

Painted Furniture!

June 18, 2020June 18, 2020 Intheartroom

Painted furniture is a fun project I like to partake in! I love the process of taking an old piece of furniture and giving it new life – it’s amazing sometimes how much a coat of paint can transform something! With painted furniture, I enjoy creating pieces that are distressed and shabby chic as well as pieces that are more fun with colors and patterns!

The first step to my painted furniture process is finding the furniture – which can be just as fun as painting 🙂 I find many pieces at yard sales, flea markets, or thrift stores. The best ones are raw wood or ones that have yet to be painted. Pieces then get cleaned up and sanded down.

Once pieces have been sanded, I use Sherwin-Williams multi-purpose primer to cover the piece with. If I’m doing a shabby chic or distressed piece I sometimes just use chalk paint without painting the piece with the primer first – but for the most part each piece gets a primed with this paint!

After the primer is the fun part – figuring out what to make the piece look like! If I’ve decided to go distressed and shabby chic then it usually only requires a coat or two of paint on top of the primer – I sometimes use chalk paint for this but I typically use interior latex paint, BEHR, being my favorite brand for this. Once the color is dry, I distress the piece by hand sanding areas where I want some of the primer (if I’ve included this step) or original wood of the piece to show through. For the most part this means I’ll sand around the edges of the piece or if it has any defining groves or details in the wood I’ll pick them up by distressing with the sandpaper.

If I want to do a shabby chic/distressed piece with a drawn/painted element included, I will paint the subject it on after the color coat and before distressing – this way it will be included in the distressing!

If I’ve decided to take the piece in another direction – the more fun looking, crazy colors & patterns, they still get primed first. Then I’ll usually draw my outline for more detailed subjects and start to add some base coats of paint. From there I just keep layering and filling in with the colors and patterns I’ve decided on. Most of the time these designs get a final outline in paint as well. I typically just use a matte acrylic craft paint for all the designs and patterns.

Finally the pieces get sealed. My favorite thing to use is Minwax Paste finishing wax – I use it on so much stuff 😀 It’s a soft wax that’s rubbed onto the finished piece – it comes in a natural color or a special dark color. The special dark adds even more of a distressed look to pieces as it has a slight brown tint to it. Once the wax has been applied the piece gets buffed by hand. For some of the more colorful pieces where I don’t want a vintage or distressed look, I’ll use a clear coat sealer on top instead – typically a gloss, interior/exterior, non-yellowing, UV resistant, spray sealer!

Some pieces I add other elements to as well – such as the chess pieces (made out of polymer clay), or the cow and dog on the ‘Hey Diddle Diddle’ chair (which were knobs from Hobby Lobby) and switching out hardware on furniture with doors or drawers. Or the anchor & crab chair have painted fabric seats.

Painted furniture is also one of my favorite classes to have! It really is a lot of fun and I love how a piece can look totally different with just a coat of paint! 🙂

Art, Art activities, card making, Craft, DIY, Holiday, Make, Create, & Share!, origami, paper art, pop-up

Father’s Day Pop-up Fishing Card

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020 Intheartroom

Could you even fish for a better Dad? Make him a special Father’s Day card to let him know how Fin-tastic he is 🙂

What you need:

Card stock in the color you’d like for the outside of your card – 8.5″x11″, folded in half to make a 5.5″x8.5″ card
Card stock in the color you’d like for the inside of your card – 8″x10″, folded in half to make a 5″x8″ card
Watercolor paper – 8″x10″
Watercolor paint
Sea Salt (table salt can be used instead, however, the effect we’ll be creating will not be as dramatic)
A piece of a mesh onion bag (or any mesh bag you may get fruits of veggies in)
Tin Foil
Sharpies
Scissors
Paint Brushes
Pencil
Ruler
Glue stick & Craft Glue

MAKING THE WAVES:

Step one: Prepare your watercolor paints. I prefer watercolors from a tube and mix them with some water. I used cool colors – shades of blues, greens, & purples for my waves.

Step two: Cover your entire piece of watercolor paper with your paint – Work quickly to achieve a “wet on wet” technique where your colors will move and blend together while all your paint is wet!

Step three: While your paint is still wet sprinkle sea salt all over your paper! The salt creates a cool effect on your watercolor paint that gives us a unique look for your waves. Your paint still needs to be wet for the effect of the salt to work – the wet paint will pool around the pieces of salt, creating the textured effect! Adding too much salt can cause the effect not to show as well. If you only have table salt you will still get the effect just not as dramatic as the larger pieces of salt!

Step four: Let your paper dry completely – the salt effect works best if your paper dries naturally vs using a hair dryer to speed up the process (you can move onto one of the other card making sections for the time being). Once it’s dry, brush off the pieces of salt.

Step five: Cut your watercolor paper into stripes – you need one strip that measures 8″x 2″ and two strips that measure 8″x1.5″

Step six: On the back of your strips draw a wave pattern and cut out – you can use your first cut out wave to trace on your other strips or create a different pattern on each strip. I saved pieces of the wave I cut out to use a splashes of water later (you can also cut splashes out of your leftover watercolor paper).

MAKING THE CARD BASE:

Step one: Fold your card stock papers for the inside and outside of your card.

Step two: On the folded edge of your inside card stock, complete the measurements shown in the photo.

Step three: Cut on the lines shown in orange.

Step four: Open your card and fold in the sections cut in the last step – use your fingers on the back of your card to push the sections through. Fold the sections on your same center crease line, just in the opposite direction! Create new crease lines at the point you cut to. (The top image shows what your card should look like when it’s closed and the bottom image shows what it should look like open)

Step five: Fold your card back up and cut on the orange lines.

Step six: Open your card back up and fold in the sections you just cut – the same way you completed step four. You will have two sections to fold on each of your original sections or blocks. (The top image shows the cut lines before folding, the image on the right shows the folds, and the bottom image shows what your card should look like folded)

Step seven: Once you have cut and folded both sides your inside card is finished and should look like the photo!

MAKING THE FISH:

Step one: Gather your sharpies, tin foil and piece of mesh onion bag.

Step two: Tape your mesh to your work surface and then tape your tin foil on top.

Step three: Draw and color your fish on the tin foil with your sharpies – the mesh creates a scaly texture for your fish! My fish are not much larger than an inch.

Step four: Carefully cut out your fish!

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER!

Step one: Glue your fish to your wave pieces with a craft glue.

Step two: Glue each of your wave pieces onto the blocks you created.

Step three: Use a glue stick and add any splashes of water you’d like from your watercolor paper.

Step four: Close your card and using a glue stick, glue the inside card to your outside piece of card stock – your outside card is slightly larger so you’ll have a nice border around your inside piece!

Your card is complete! Decorate the front of your card and add a special message for your dad! Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads!

Art, Art activities, Craft, DIY, Drawing, Make, Create, & Share!

Scratch Art

June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 Intheartroom

Scratch art or scratch board is a fun type of art where you typically scratch the surface of a paper or board, of a darker color, to reveal a lighter color or white. This easy project is a fun way you can create your own scratch art at home!

What you need:

Oil Pastels
Black Acrylic Paint
Card stock
Toothpick or Wooden Skewer
Paint Brush

Step one: Cut your card stock to the desired size (mine is approx. 6″x6″) and color it in completely with your oil pastels! Make sure to press firmly and fill in any white spots of paper.

Step two: Water down some of your black acrylic paint – we want to thin the paint out just a little but not enough that it’s dripping off your brush. Paint your entire piece of paper – going over the oil pastel you colored in the first step!

Step three: Let your paint dry and then use your toothpick or wooden skewer to scratch the black paint off the surface of your oil pastel! If you make a mistake you can cover it up with a little more black paint.

Continue scratching your design until you’re finished!

Not sure what to draw? Try a scratch art zentangle – check out this post on how to create a zentangle and apply the method to your scratch art! Send me photos of your scratch art to add to the followers gallery!

Art, Drawing, illustrations

Westside Series

June 8, 2020June 8, 2020 Intheartroom

These are a series of small watercolor and pen paintings inspired by the area where I live here in Maryland. It’s a place that’s a bit outta the way and many think of it as the end of the earth – but I love it here. It’s full of history, plenty of nature & wildlife, it’s quiet, and you know your neighbors. Between where the Nanticoke & Wicomico rivers meet the Chesapeake Bay, we have several little towns including; Quantico, Tyaskin, Bivalve, Nanticoke, Waterview & Whitehaven – together known as the Westside. The Westside doesn’t have much in the way of stores or shops, however, we have a few post offices, a thrift store, the Westside Fire Department, Antique shop, Churches, community center, a Bed & Breakfast, marinas & parks, Campgrounds, Wades Repair, and a couple restaurants!

Building at Roaring Point Campground entrance

Former Tyaskin School House (over 100 years old)

A lot of the houses and buildings here date back to the 1800’s and many of them are no longer in habitable conditions, though, we do still have quite a few from that time period that have been kept up. I like to think about what it may have look liked here a hundred years ago when it was a bustling port town, filled with people and shops – all the buildings new. Then, there were oyster houses, canning factories, general stores, a saw mill, skip jacks, schools, steamboats, and later a shirt factory, town hall, hotel, & seafood packing plant. And even before that, when it was home to the Native Americans – the Nanticoke Tribe, what it must have looked like.

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, est. 1798 (rebuilt 1845) –

The Westside is also filled with nature and wildlife. During a walk in the Spring you’re guaranteed to see Ospreys that have just arrived back from winter migration. Eagles and many song birds also call the Westside home – some of my favorite sightings are Bluebirds, flocks of Cedar Waxwings, Flickers, and Buzzards gathering to sunbathe. Fox, Deer, groundhogs, hawks, muskrats, frogs, rabbits, turtles, and snakes are often seen. Of course it’s also home to much marine life! And we can not forget about the insects – yes, there are days when some of these bugs make you regret going outside, but, butterflies, bees, praying mantis, & ladybugs, fill the gardens. The summer evenings glow with lighting bugs, cicadas and peepers, clear skies filled with stars. Not to mention the best sunsets all year round!

We may not have a lot in the terms most think of – and yeah, we’re a bit outta the way, but I can say we have a certain nostalgic community feel that not a lot of places can claim. It’s a place where time slows down, people wave and stop to talk, it’s a place that causes you to take in what’s around you – something I find inspiring!

Tyaskin Pink House and former Post Office building

I hope you enjoy these little watercolors from the place, and surrounding area, I call home. Prints and originals are available in the shop section – I plan to keep painting more!

Art, Art activities, Craft, DIY, Drawing, Make, Create, & Share!

Shrinky Dinks

June 4, 2020June 4, 2020 Intheartroom

These have always been a student favorite! It’s like a magic art project – you draw on the shrink film, heat it up, and watch it shrink! Shrink film is so much fun, there’s really a lot of different ways you can create with it – it’s not just for kids!

What is it? Shrinky dinks are a type of plastic – polystyrene. Certain types of polystyrene are often used in food packaging and containers, it’s got the number 6 plastic code…..which also means if you have a take out container or some other type of plastic with the number 6 plastic code, you can make a shrinky dink out of it!

You can also buy Shrinky Dink sheets. I used the “Ruff n’ Ready” sheets. They’re my favorite, with one side that has a sanded surface, which, takes mediums really well! However, you can re-create this with recycled plastics too – just use some sandpaper to scratch up your plastic!

Shrinky dinks shrink about 1/3 their original size when heated – I use a small craft oven; a toaster oven, kitchen oven, or heat gun, can also be used! When they shrink, the colors on your artwork become more condensed, making them darker. I typically use colored pencils or markers on the shrink film. I’ve also use chalk pastels and pens. You can cut shapes out of the shrink film before you shrink it, as well as punch holes in it for key chains, etc.

For this project I’m making a key chain but check out some other ideas of things you can create at the bottom of the post! I’ll also be drawing my own design but as this shrink film is transparent you can also trace a page from a coloring book, magazine or book!

What you need:

Shrink Film, or #6 Plastic
Scissors
Hole Punch
Colored pencils or Markers & a Sharpie pen
Pencil
Paper
Key Chain – unless you plan to make something else!

Step one: Cut your shrink film to the desired size – keep in mind it shrinks to about 1/3 it’s original size! Trace your piece of shrink film on a sheet of paper.

Step two: Draw your design on your sheet of paper with a pencil – once you’re happy with your design trace it onto your shrink film with a sharpie pen. You can tape your shrink film to your paper to help keep it from moving!

Step three: Color in your shrink film design – I used colored pencils but you can use markers or pens as well!

Step four: Once your design is colored, punch a hold in your shrink film, using a hole punch, so you can turn it into a key chain later!

Step five: You can also cut out around your design if desired!

Step six: Bake your shrink film! 325* F for just a couple minuets – You’ll notice it crinkles up and then will flatten back out as a much smaller and thicker piece of plastic.

Let your shrink film cool for a few minuets. It’s fun to see how much it shrinks compared to your original drawing!

As it shrinks your colors also become more condensed, so they appear darker!

Step seven: Add your key chain pieces to your shrink film!

Trace a coloring book page instead of drawing your own design

Besides a key chain you could also turn your Shrinky Dinks into zipper pulls, magnets, pins, hair clips, jewelry, mini artworks, or anything else you can think of! I use the Shrinky Dink “Ruff n’ Ready” variety but they also offer several other types that you can use for different techniques!

Send me your Shrinky Dink creations to add to the Followers Gallery!

Art, Happenings, illustrations, Make, Create, & Share!

Milkweek & Monarchs

June 3, 2020June 3, 2020 Intheartroom

Going to my Grandma’s house as a kid was always one of my favorite things to do. We were always up to something – baking or cooking, gardening, canning, going for walks or tractor rides, exploring the attic and all it’s treasures, watching Wheel of Fortune, or just hanging out – didn’t matter what we were doing, we always had fun. In the summer months and early fall we would walk to the fields behind her house and search for caterpillars on milkweed. The waxy looking caterpillars, striped with black, yellow, and white, some as big as my fingers, some as small as a grain of rice. The milkweed just as interesting as the caterpillars, living up to it’s name when a leaf would get broken.

We’d take a jar or two with us and collect a few caterpillars to bring back home. I remember my family creating a “cage” for them out of a frame from an old wire lamp shade, stretching a stocking over it to keep them contained. The makeshift container was filled with fresh milkweed and hung on our screened porch. My siblings and I, watching the caterpillars, waiting for the moment they found a place to hang upside down in the shape of a J. Then that beautiful jade colored chrysalis with a little golden stripe would appear not long after!

We’d watch the chrysalis turn darker and darker, eventually becoming clear, being able to see the patterned butterfly wing right through. If we were lucky enough we’d get to see the moment when that butterfly finally emerged!

Monarchs still fascinate me – they’re pretty amazing creatures. And I still look for them each year, though, milkweed has been planted outside my art room window, making the search easy 😉

Monarchs are special because they are one of the only migrating insects. Throughout the spring and summer months there are several generations of Monarchs and finally, in the early fall months, the migrating generation of butterflies is born. For our area, this generation makes their way to Mexico where they will spend the winter months inactive before making their way back to repeat the cycle. During the flight to migration, many Monarchs head right through the Delmarva region. You can read more about Monarchs and their life cycle here.

This photo was from a walk on Roaring Point in early October a couple years ago….though hard to tell, the flying blobs and specks are actually Monarchs 😀

Milkweed is important for Monarchs as it’s the only food source for the caterpillars. Monarchs have had a huge decline in population since the 1990’s – one of the reasons being habitat loss. Check out these sites for getting milkweed seeds and plants for your own yard! Milkweed seeds & Milkweed seeds here

Can you spot the two Monarch caterpillars?

Check out these sites for more info on Monarchs as well as, native pollinator plants, activities, photos and coloring pages! Xerces Society, Monarchs NWF, Monarch butterfly info

Art, card making, Craft, DIY, Make, Create, & Share!, paper art

Paper Quilling Art

May 28, 2020May 28, 2020 Intheartroom

Create unique and decorative designs out of paper! Paper quilling involves nothing more than rolling strips of paper and utilizing these rolls by forming different shapes, designs, and patterns. It’s a simple process that can create, what looks like, complex pieces of art! Here, we’ll make a finished design with the paper quilling process that can be turned into a greeting card or decorative piece of art, however, paper quilling can also be used to decorate boxes, make jewelry, ornaments, and embellish other works of art with!

What you need:

Paper for quilling – I suggest a thinner card stock, typically copy paper is too thin, experiment with what you have and see what works best! I’ll be using papers in shades of blues and greens for this example, however, feel free to change up your design!
Card stock – cut to 5″x5″ (or desired size) or folded into a card
Glue – A glue stick and craft glue (I used Tacky glue – Elmer’s would work too).
Tweezers – these may come in handy to help hold your glued areas and place your paper rolls!
A needle or toothpick – these are to help roll your paper strips, try both and see which works best for you! I prefer the toothpick!

Step one: First take your paper for quilling and cut one piece that’s 1/4″ wide and 11\

” long. Then cut several other pieces it into strips 1/8″ wide and about 6″ long – A paper cutter is the easiest way to do this but you can also use a ruler and xacto knife! Take your 1/4″ x 11″ strip of paper and glue the ends together, overlapping about 1/2″, to create a circle. Glue your circle to a piece of card stock (cut to your desired size or folded into a card) with craft glue. This circle will be what we fill with your quilled paper!

Step two: Now we will be quilling your other strips of paper (1/8″ x 6″), first, take a strip of your paper and using either your needle or toothpick tightly roll the paper around it. You can either roll the entire piece of paper upon itself, while still on the toothpick/needle, or just use it to help get the roll going an roll the rest by hand (this is the method I find easiest).

Step three: Carefully remove your paper roll from your toothpick or needle (if your roll is still on it) – it’s okay if it unwinds and loosens up slightly. Use the glue stick to glue down the end of your roll. If needed, you can tighten back up your roll by gently pinching the roll between your thumb and index finger and pulling your end piece and then glue. You can use your tweezers to help pinch the glued area until it’s stuck!

Step four: Now we can take your roll and use it as it is, or pinch the ends to form different shapes to use in your project! The next few photos we’ll go over some additional ways to create different rolls with your paper!

Create a half roll – by only rolling a portion of your strip.

Create an ‘S’ roll – by rolling half of your strip and then roll your other end in the opposite directions.

Create a triangle – Start with a rolled circle and pinch into a triangle.

Create a heart – Roll half a strip, then roll the other half in the same direction, pinch the strip in the center of the rolls to form the heart.

Create a square – Start with a circle roll and pinch corners to create a square.

Create an eye – Start with a circle and pinch ends to create an eye shape.

Step five: Create several quilled pieces of paper – for my example I mostly used the, half roll and S roll methods. I wanted it to look like my circle was filled with wavy water – these methods allowed me to create that effect using line!

Step six: Arrange your quilled pieces in your circle as desired. If you have gaps you can use single strips of your paper to fill in more spaces or create more quilled pieces to fill gaps. Glue all your pieces down with craft glue (I found it easiest to apply a thin layer of glue inside my whole circle) use your tweezers to help hold your pieces in place – you can even use your toothpick or needle to help move pieces around, if you have some tricky pieces to get to!

Step seven: Complete your project by adding a small cut-out on top! I made my quilling to look like water so I added a shark on top! If you made yours to look like water some other ideas for your cut out could be: a turtle, jellyfish, fish, sail boat, sea shell, octopus, etc. Instead of creating your own cut out you could also use stickers or 3D elements such as pom-poms, shells, silk flowers, etc. The same method could also look like wind or clouds – cut outs could be birds, kites, tree branches, rainbows, etc.!

Some other ideas would be to start off with a different shape to fill – you could do another simple shape or create a more complicated outline, like a letter, to fill with your quilling! You also can just create quilling that’s not inside a shape – like the flower in the video. Get creative and have fun with the possibilities of this art form! Send me pictures of your paper quilling masterpieces to add to our followers gallery!