How to Build a Butterfly ~ a Quilling Art Workshop

My mom made some really nice quilling art butterflies, and what I know about it I learned from her. So what I'm sharing is basically her technique. The butterfly to the left is one I recently made. The yellow butterfly below is one of my mom's.

The Wings: As you see, you start by making loops ~ 3 or 4 graduated loops deep, glued at one end, open at the other. Make 6 or 8 of these (it's up to you... it's your butterfly). Looks like Mom used 3 and I used 4 here. I used 7 to 9 inch pieces of 1/8th quilling paper for this. Experiment with a piece and see what works best for you, then try to make them uniform for the top wings. Then you need to make some more for the bottom wings. I made 6 ~ 2 each small, medium and large.

Put the loops together, then choose a secondary colour to add to embellishing it with frilly shapes. Mom favoured C scrolls, but I rather like lopsided hearts, pictured below. If you click on the pictures, they will get larger and you will see how I used the lopsided hearts between some of the wing loops. Of course, I also used C scrolls, teardrops, S scrolls, etc. Whatever you like. I have also put some double-colour teardrops inside the loops to create the "eye" affect on the wing. And I put some loose circles in there as well. You have to basically just keep going with the frilly bits until you're satisfied with wings.

Attach them with glue. If you don't want a flat butterfly, pin one wing to a quilling board and place something under the second wing to hold it at an angle while the glue dries.

The Body: I used a beading tool for this, which is much deeper than an ordinary quilling tool.

You need some black craft wire, a glass or plastic bead or two (Mom used two small beads; I used 1 medium one) and a sheet, or wide cut, of quilling paper. Cut the paper in a long triangle, point at one end, about 3/4 to an inch at the other. You'll need one for the body and at least one more smaller piece for the head, depending on how wide you're able to roll it. You can attach as many pieces as you need.

Glue the tip. You can adjust your paper "bead" by inserting a cocktail toothpick and shaping it the way you want it. This also makes sure the center is open to receive the wire. Cut a long piece of black wire and insert it through the head and body pieces, string on a bead, or two, to hold the wire in place at the tail, then re-insert the wire in the other direction. The pieces of wire at the "head"end will form the antennae. Shape it the way you want, make sure it's cut evenly. Run some glue down the underside of the body and between the pieces to make sure it stays together. Allow to dry while you roll two narrow bits of paper and glue to make the antennae tips. Glue these onto the ends of the wire.

Mount the body onto the wings, glue, and VOILA.

I hope this is helpful for those wanting to make their own quilling art butterfly. Another one I made, I chose lime green and lavendar as the colours. My teenage daughter said it was like "rock star meets old lady." I changed it to lime green and grape, but I still have that first wing and I still like it. Afterall, what's wrong with rock star meets ol' lady anyway? ;o) Back to work.