Book: Pretty Quilled Cards

When I saw Cecelia's quilling work the first time a few years ago, I was stunned by its delicacy. It is amazing what she can do using a very limited number of airy curls. Her quilling is not just the traditional paper filigree we all are used to. It is particularly fine, intricate, expressive, and I would say "laconic". It is different. You can always recognize Cecelia's style when you come across a photograph of a piece made by her artistic hand. I have been wondering how she does it.

Fortunately, today anybody can learn the secret of Cecelia's quilling, and probably create their own beautiful designs taking advantage of her unique quilling language. Do you know why? Because Cecelia has written and published a book called Pretty Quilled Cards, where she shares a lot of great projects, most of which she has never showed before.

In Cecelia's own words: "Experienced quillers will notice that my style is a bit unorthodox, perhaps looser than you might be used to seeing". I think this is what gives Cecelia's artworks their distinctive look. It should be also mentioned that Cecelia is a graphic designer by profession, and this clearly shows up in both her quilling and the appearance of the book.

The book contains more than 25 creative designs for everyday, holidays, and special occasions. It is packed with useful general information, very clear step-by-step instructions, and high quality photos. When I say "high quality", I mean clear, beautifully lit, and easy to follow. I also like the fact that instead of just indicating measurements, Cecelia provides visual diagrams of the exact quilling paper length to cut, where to fold, and the order in which to glue. Each project is accompanied by a life-size pattern to help you assemble the design — this is very convenient, and will be for sure appreciated by beginners. I hope that everybody understands that the book by no means should be a creativity killer. On the contrary, the projects are intended to assist in learning the technique so that it can be then used to create new original designs. Each project is assigned a skill level — you can start with the easy ones and increase the complexity gradually as you master your quilling.

I'm sure that Cecelia's new book will benefit quilling newbies and experience quillers alike. Although I consider myself a pretty seasoned quiller, I found there many tips and tricks I had never seen before. How to make what Cecelia calls "contemporary open-petal flowers" is just one example.

Dear Cecelia, thank you for your great book. I love it very much!