Hi everyone! This is Krista from AllFreePaperCrafts.com. Pam was gracious enough to let me share one of my favorite paper projects with you today, the Pistachio Peacock Feather Card.
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It is a gorgeous card featuring a quilled interpretation of a peacock feather. This elegant homemade card can be used for nearly any occasion and is always impressive, which is why it’s one of my go-to card ideas.
If you have never tried paper quilling, the Pistachio Peacock Feather Handmade Card is a fun intro to the world of this intricate hobby. It’s a bit tedious but the results are always worth it. The step-by-step pictures below will show you how to create your peacock feather and you can experiment with colors and coils the more you practice your quilling skills.
Materials:
- Mint cardstock for card base
- Nearly solid patterned mint paper for background
- Quilling strips in 5 assorted shades of green
- Cutting mat
- Ruler
- Craft knife
- Quilling needle
- Straight pin
- Glue
- Scissors
- Bone folder
- Cut papers
- From mint cardstock, cut a 5-1/2″ × 8″ (14cm × 20.3cm) rectangle
- From background paper, cut a 5-1/2″ × 4-1/2″ (14cm × 11.4cm) rectangle
Instructions for Making Peacock Feather Card:
- Select 1 quilling strip in the darkest shade of green. Coil the entire strip, pinch 1 end to form a teardrop shape and glue in place on the background just below and to the right of the center.
- Select 1 quilling strip in thenext darkest shade of green. Align 1 end with the point of the existing teardrop and wrap the strip around loosely so that it echoes the shape of the teardrop, leaving approximately a 1⁄4″ (6mm) gap between the top of the teardrop and the top curve of the strip. Trim to size and glue in place.
- Coil two 6″ (15.2cm) lengths of the same green strip. Glue and pinch 1 end into a curved teardrop shape. Glue in place between the teardrop and the strip applied in Step 2. Coil a 6″ (15.2cm) round and glue it in place between the 2 teardrops in the gap.
- Cut a length from the third color of quilling strip. Trim if needed and glue it in place, echoing the last-created teardrop shape.
- Create 2 teardrop shapes from 6″ (15.2cm) strips of a fourth color and glue in place, nestling the teardrops into the outer points of the gap created in Step 4.
- Quill a round coil from a 7″ (17.8cm) strip of the fourth color, and then gently squeeze in the edges to form an oval shape. Glue into place at the center of the gap, leaving a space between the oval and the teardrop shapes from Step 5.
- Cut two 4″ (10.2cm) strips from the fourth color and coil each half in opposite directions. Do not allow the coils to relax much; glue them in place to fill the gap between the oval and teardrop shapes, filling the remaining areas of the current teardrop shape.
- Cut a strip from the third color that is long enough to outline the entire quilled teardrop shape. Glue in place, and then pinch the top edge to create the pointed tip of a feather.
- Create 3 round coils from 5″ (12.7cm) lengths of the third color and glue in place, centering the coils in the final gap.
- Cut a 6″ (15.2cm) strip from the fifth lightest color and coil about halfway down the strip. Remove the coil from the needle, and then gently slide the remaining straight tail between your finger and the quilling needle to form a slight curve. Use a straight pin to apply a small amount of glue to the back of the coil and the edge of the tail, then glue in place so that the tail extends below the bottom point of the feather.
- Repeat Step 10 on the opposite side, forming the illusion of a feather stem.
- Continue curling and applying loose accents in the fifth, lightest color until the desired fullness of the feather is achieved.
- Fold the mint cardstock in half and crease with a bone folder to create the card base. Adhere the card front to the base.
This is the kind of design that crafters of any skill level can enjoy, so I am excited for you to try making this beautiful card. You can also find more quilling projects and how-to articles in How to Quill Paper: 40+ Free Paper Quilling Patterns.
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Very nice post and directions for this lovely craft. Quilling is one technique that fascinates every time I see it. It can be mixed with flat unit origami for even more visual depth.
I love peacocks and can’t wait to try this out ! 🙂
i love most of your work….. i admire almost all of them especially this one right here…. i have never try quilling before but im looking forward to it….already order my tools for it and m surely gonna try this one for sure….. thanks so much for sharing…. appreciated you….. 🙂