Are you a member of NAQG?

Elegant Quiling just joined the North American Quilling Guild and we want to encourage all quillers to do the same. When you join you become part of a group of quilling enthusiasts, have access to some great free patterns/projects, get hooked up with other quillers and receive an invitation to come to the annual Quilling Expo NAQGCON. The guild is meant for all levels of skill so jump right in and enjoy the benefits today!

Elegant Quiling is proud to offer discounts to all NAQG members. Simply confirm membership and we will set your account up for a permanent discounted rate on all our products!

You can learn all about the guild here: http://naqg.org/

Letter to our customers...

Have you visited our websites and wondered if you were in the right place? If so, the answer is YES!  For technical reasons to complex to explain here, we have moved our websites to a new host company. When we made the move we decided we might as well spruce up the sites, make them easier to get around and modernize the shopping cart experience.  So we look different, but we are still the same ol' family owned business we always were. The only site yet to move is CApaper.com  That one will move in late June 2014

Visit the new sites and take a peek!

http://www.thecommunitypuzzle.com

http://www.elegantquilling.com

http://www.bulkglitters.com

http://www.kidscraftsplus.com

http://www.bulkorigamipaper.com

http://www.blank-puzzles.com

http://www.shrink-plastic.com

http://www.bookmark-tassels.com

Japanese Master Paper Makers

...coming to Los Angeles

You may be interested to know that the Japan Foundation is holding a special lecture about ancient Japanese paper-making techniques and their use in the modern world. It features master papermakers Hironao and Osamu Hamada, who will be lecturing and demonstrating their techniques.  You can read more about it and get information on how to attend by visiting their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/events/1376590129241570/

RSVP for the September 19th 2013 event right away. Space will undoubtedly be limited. It sounds incredible!

We are asking for help in getting the word out... can you lend a hand?

Over the past year and a half we have had an endless stream of calls, emails and even a few letters asking us to accept small paper orders again. We had our hands tied with a contact with the LA warehouse/shipping company we contracted with in 2011. They would not ship an order under $200.00 no matter how much we begged and pleaded.  So, we raised the minimum on the site and apologized to our customers and weathered the storm.  It broke out hearts to be honest... we are very customer oriented.

In November of 2012 we came up with an idea of telling customers they had 3 days to place any size order, we would take the orders and gang them up into one order and have the LA warehouse ship the merchandise to our office. Our office staff then split the order up into the small orders and shipped them out. It took only a couple of days to the stock here so we were able to turn the orders out pretty fast.  Customers were happy and we were able to make sure people had the stock they needed for the holidays.  We then went back to business as usual.

So many people began contacting us asking us to do it again that we realized that something had to be done. We sent out a survey (you may have seen it) and the response was overwhelmingly positive- customers wanted us to accept small orders again. With that feedback, we tried to find another company to stock and ship for us, but each time we thought we had found one there were just too many obstacles and we gave up.

Then we took another look at the holiday order idea again- if it worked at the holidays maybe we could just to do that same thing all the time. Let people order, gang the orders up, ship the merchandise to the office and have the office ship the orders. Why not give it a try and see if people like the idea.

Sooooo that is what we are doing. All we need to do is make sure enough people use the service! If lots of people order, we can gang the orders up quickly and ship orders out fast. If only a few people use the service it will take longer to gang the orders up and shipping time will be slow.

Since this is not a big money maker for us we can only do so much advertising. We are hoping customers will use the service, tell their friends and make the word spread like wild fire. If this works we will be happy to accept small orders and give you the very best service we can.

Thanks in advance for any help you give. It means a lot!

www.CApaper.com

Want to give Shrink Plastic a try?

Normally we do not push products on this blog but we had so many requests for this item that we thought we should do everything we could to get the word out!  We have just created an affordable new kit for those who want to get started in the retro crafts of Shrink Art.

Here are the product details:

This Starter Kit will give you all the basics you need to make your own set of earring! Using this shrink plastic and your home oven you can make your own earrings, ornaments, embellishments, key chains, mini frames, novelties and more. The package comes with instructions and suggestions but we also include a full color book of ideas, tips and techniques. Shrink plastic is easy to use and you can use your favorite rubber stamps, markers, paints, chalk pastels, colored pencils etc.

The size of each the sheet is: 8 x 10 1/2 and it is 10 mil., 8 sheets per package in 4 colors (white, black, clear and translucent).

Kit contents:

• 8 Sheets of Plastic
• 2 Sanding Blocks
• Shrink Plastic Book
• Set of 12 earwires (24 total)
• basic Instructions 

 

Buy on www.Shrink-Plastic.com

Fun Interactive Site!

We just came across a wonderful new site called Please Draw Freely created by Gutai Members in connection with the Guggenheim Museum website. It is free, fun and a very cool idea. They have created a site where you can either start a new drawing of your own (using their easy-to-use program) or you can contribute to another artists drawing. We did the contribute to another artists drawing and had great fun with it. This is a place that even the most timid artist can draw without pressure or frustration. You can do a fine work of art or just doodle- whatever comes out of you is accepted!

Start Drawing Here

We do not try to push too many products on this blog, but this one is just too great not to.  So here goes...

What a neat idea! A watch with a removable top and space enough for a small quilled creation. All you have to do is remove the top, glue in your design and screw the top back on. The white face background will really make your art pop! The watch offers quartz movement with battery included. The front face has gold plating and the back is stainless steel. The face measures 1 1/2" across and you can quill using 1/8" or 1/16" wide paper strips. The front bezel comes with a protective film to prevent scratching.

Of course this watch could also be decorated with other items too. Maybe a slice of polymer clay, stickers, glitter art, a small drawing, a photograph of your child or cat/dog.  Really, anyone could have fun with this product!

Here is the link if you are interested in buying one.

If you have not heard of Kickstarter, you soon will!  It is one of the hottest websites out there right now. The site is a way for creative people to raise money to launch projects that are close to their hearts. We were so intrigued by the site that we convinced KD (the owner of CPG and a professional artist) to launch a campaign and see what it is all about!

The result of KD's Kickstarter campaign was amazing!  Pledges of support came in from all over the world.  A total of 102 people backed the project and she raised more than she asked for.  A total of 2,800+ people viewed the project page.

If you are a creative person with an idea and want to get that idea out there or raise some money, Kickstarter may be just what you need.  Here is a link to the site: www.Kickstarter.com  and here is a link to the blog that KD started to take people through the process: Down The Rabbit Hole

Want to see KD's project page and see how it can be done?  Here you go!

Down The Rabbit Hole

We just discovered a pretty cool on-line publication called Arts & Activities. It is a page-flip style easy to use format. It is packed full of fun articles with good pictures and in some cases really well written instructions on some art project. Some of the projects in this issue include: Cave Art Ceramics, Eye Catching Calacas, Handmade Paper Landscapes and more!   You might take a peek: Arts & Activities

We found a quilling blog today that you might be interested in. This artist does very detailed pieces and has a good eye for color. Her post from Aug 12th2012 of a pair of butterflies is quite lovely!  You can check out the blog at: http://www.artbybetty.blogspot.com/