Make a Quilled Face Vase Card
Did you know that stationery retailer Paper Source has a YouTube channel where paper craft how-to videos are posted? A complete quilling tutorial was a recent upload (shared below) and it was where I discovered the idea to make this face vase lady friend card.
I'll come right out and say I unabashedly love her, plus I was able to use up quilled flowers and leaves left over from previous projects so she came together in a jiffy.
The design is a cute take on the head planters and vases (sometimes called face pots) that are so popular right now. Are you seeing them in lots of stores like I am? This Opalhouse stoneware family planter is proving to be a hit among Instagram influencers since cacti and succulents are still very much in vogue.
When I mentioned the head pot trend (as opposed to pothead, ha) to my Sydney quilling pal Licia Politis (IG link), she said that coincidentally she'd just given a lemon head vase to her son complete with a fruit and vegetable arrangement as a birthday gift/joke.
She also sent over this photo of her whimsical (and rather scary!) head planter with a spikey 'do.
Note: This post contains Amazon and Etsy affiliate links.
Our conversation led to her forwarding quite a few pics she found on Instagram of more face pot styles that gave me the idea to poke around on Etsy and Amazon. I found lots to choose from, but before we get to clever examples, here are a couple more thoughts about my card in case you'd like to make one too.
Not a quiller? No problem... instead of quilled flowers, decorate with rubber stamps, stickers or whatever strikes your fancy.
After cutting a vase head and heart mouth out of scrap papers, I fussed with the floral arrangement until it kind of looked (to me) like one of those dotted tulle headpieces that women wore back in the day. I penciled in downcast eyes and then glued everything in place.
The pretty burgundy rose was one of many sent to me by a friend in a Yahoo quilling group ages ago. [here's a video how-to for making this type of rose; just scale down in size] I applied light dabs of cream blush to her cheeks via a fingertip and also made a pearlized pink envelope using this video tutorial.
I think part of why I find this little lady so appealing is because she brought back a childhood memory. My mother worked as a children's librarian, but once a month or so she would arrange an afternoon to gather with a group of women for a game of bridge at one of their homes or ours.
My dad referred to them as her lady friends... "Are you playing cards with your lady friends today, Dorothy?" So those were my thoughts while creating this card, and my quilled lady friend is a nod to Nettie, Ruth, and Min who would arrive all dressed up and ready for an afternoon of cards, chatter, coffee, and cake.
And now for some extra fun, let's go on a non-paper tangent to see an array of face vases, ideal for succulents or floral arrangements, not to mention just starting a conversation. There's definitely no shortage of choices once you start looking and who knows, a facial expression might turn out to be inspiration for your own expressive lady friend card!
(I came across quite a few irreverent full body styles as well, but I'll let you google those for your own amusement. :))
This little lady by Appletree Design is practically a guaranteed smile inducer.
Ceramic family character vases [no longer available] from Hrtrendsstore gave me a chuckle, especially the ones with a bird on the head. Oh and look... a couple of the ladies have a heart shaped mouth and demure eyes just like my (rather PaperSource's) quilled one. All this shop sells are character vases... they have some truly wild ones!
How great are these Nordic minimalist vases from DreHomeCrafts? I think the quirky expressions make them my favorites. The shop has lots of neat finds in general.
These vintage ladies from TheAntiqueHer are a flash from the past... I have an inkling of seeing one in an elderly relative's home once upon a time.
This duo is part of a happy human flower pot family from Vasessories, where you'll also find the very minimal grouping below that the shop calls cartoon face vases along with about a zillion other amusing choices.
NutPottery is the only shop I could find that sells these resin mother and baby planters that have the look of porcelain. I think they're attractive and humorous at the same time, and would make a great Mother's Day gift (especially when given along with a quilled lady friend card!)
I hope you had at least half as much fun looking at these examples as I did searching them out and making the card.
Ann, Who wouldn't love to receive this card in the mail? My grandmother had lady vases on her window sill and I have no idea what happened to them.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like the card, Pat, and also that you have a memory of lady vases. :)
DeleteI'm always amazed and heartened when I see such overwhelming evidence of peoples' creative drive in action, concluding with whimsical, decorative functional items - the best of all worlds. Thanks for bringing this moment of inspiration to me early in the morning - it'll carry me through the whole day, no doubt!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy the post got your day off to a pleasant start, Deb!
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