When I first started quilling, I literally had no idea what I was doing. I had seen some images of Yulia Brodskaya’s work (this is a common story for most quilling artists, her work is INSPIRATIONAL) and I just knew I wanted to be able to do what she was doing in some shape or form.
So, I dug into my craft stash, grabbed some paper, cut it into strips and got to work. The first big piece I made was a wedding gift for friends of mine. I wanted to gift them something special on their wedding day, and I created their names and wedding date, with a rainbow spray of colour and shapes all around them. It was a beautiful piece and my girlfriend was so delighted with it, she displayed it at their reception on their wedding day.
My initial pieces taught me what paper is easier to use and how to use my tools to create shape and texture and depth.
On all my pieces today, I use a combination of different thickness cardstock.
The vast majority of my bird designs have been made entirely with AC Craft Cardstock (American Craft Cardstock) – don’t panic, this isn’t an add, I just really like using this product. 😊
One reason I use cardstock over just plain thin paper is that you can create perfectly straight lines from the strips you cut. Because the cardstock is thicker with a heavier GSM it will not bend or buckle as easily (especially when you add glue). Fine paper will also warp once your glue starts to dry, often distorting the original shape you’ve created with your on edge paper strip.
I’ve also recently been using Recollections Card Stock (again, this isn’t a paid infomercial, this is literally just the supplies I like using), this card comes in a 176gsm thickness, and I’m finding it’s perfect to keep creating your straight lines for letters or numbers, but you can also then get more details and tighter curls and coils in your work from this GSM.
You’ll often see with quilling artists, their inner workings of their design are filled with tight spirals and beautiful details of strips that have been shaped into tiny coils and alike (see Sena Runa https://www.senaruna.com/ as an example). For this detailed work in the centre of the pieces she would be using thinner paper and a fine quilling needle to roll it over.
What paper do you use for your quilling projects? Tell me in the comments below, I’d love to hear about it.