Quilled Birthday Card

Last time I checked in with you guys, it was Friday. And I had no dessert. But I also needed to make a card for my husband’s grandma’s 85th birthday.

So the husband went out and got us some Dairy Queen, and then I had the energy to make a card. There is a direct correlation between the intake of dessert and the output of crafts.

Anyhow. I started out like I always do– browsing Google images for inspiration.

Ok, guys, I’ma get real for a minute. (Please excuse the ridiculous slang.) I feel that it is of utmost importance to respect others’ creative ideas. While I peruse the internet for inspiration, I go out of my way not to copy others’ designs. Occasionally I have made crafts I’ve found on other websites, but I don’t generally blog about those things (and if I do, I link back to the original site.) So I want to ask you to do the same. I would be honored if any of you wanted to make some of my crafts for your own personal use, but please don’t claim others’ hard work as your own original idea, and under no circumstances sell those products without permission from the artist. Be cool, ok? I’ll do the same for you.

Ok, so now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let me tell you about this card I made.I kind of have a thing for cupcakes. I make these adorable cupcake cards that I plan to show you one day. They’re some of my favorites. Anyway. Somehow I got to the idea of a quilled cupcake (I saw cupcake cards and quilled cards and it seemed like they should go together.)

I also saw a card with this mulberry paper as the background, and I thought that was a super cool idea. I like it so much, I might use this kind of paper as a background for a lot of cards. “Mulberry” refers to the type of paper, not the color. I have a lot of this paper and have used it for different things, but I like the backdrop it creates for whatever you put on top of it. To get the affect, I tore the paper into a rectangle a bit smaller than the card and let the edges be rough.

I started off by making the base of the cupcake. Since I wanted rectangular shapes, I folded the quilling paper by hand. The quilling tool is great for making circular shapes, and you can make it into smaller square/rectangular shapes, but not ones at this size. I just did this freehand because I didn’t want them to be too regular. I did make sure that the base of each rectangle was smaller than the top so it would create the right shape in the end. I also used straight pieces of quilling paper to define the top and bottom of the “cupcake liner.”

For the “frosting” I made a bunch of teardrop shapes in varying sizes. This was the hardest part– not making the teardrops, but figuring out how to arrange them to look “frostingish.” I swear, one of these days I’m going to take some in-process pictures of cards I make. But that will require me to make them during the day. Which means I have to plan ahead enough so I’m not staying up late the night before the event. So… it might not ever happen.

I added a candle, which I think was key to making sure the thing was easily recognizable, otherwise it’s a little abstract. I made little squares by making loose circles with the quilling tool, gluing the end down, and then pinching 4 corners into the circle with my fingers. I outlined it again with some straight paper for a more finished look. And the flame is another teardrop.

There you have it! A quilled cupcake card perfect for a loved one’s birthday. And it kicks any store-bought card’s butt! 😉