3D Paper Ball with Hearts and Arrows

Beware of Cupid’s shooting arrows! It was a great discovery my first time to use an ink pad on the edges of my paper ball decorations to add dimension. I realized dragging the ink pad across the arrow would make it appear as if Cupid had just let it fly, especially when it caught on the edges.

Version 1 is easy to put together since it’s a single sheet of paper. Simply use beading wire, fishing line, or string to thread from the bottom hole, then thread each arc at the top. A rolled paper straw in the middle keeps the ball fully inflated. A scalloped circle finishes the top and bottom and the beads are optional. Version 2 allows you to combine two different papers, of course.

Part 4 of upcoming Valentine collection on Etsy.

Quilled E Monogram with Fringed Flowers

So I made a monogram for a friend who is turning 40 and requested a no gift policy – well, I'll still be able to say "I didn't buy anything." I wanted to show the flowers bursting forth in different stages of bloom. The "moat" which corrals the quilled flowers ends up hiding the quilled base from most angles; tilting the blossoms on their sides doesn't hurt either. I designed each flower pattern and cut them digitally on the Silhouette.

I’ve just discovered Moxie Fab World through a reader’s post of an intricately quilled heart, by Sweet Spot Cards. MFW have weekly challenges in their side bar, and I was pleased to find the right stuff in my stash for their “Pretty Pastels Color Challenge for Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week in the Moxie Fab World“, shown below: