Quilling takes up her weekends

Unique hobbies

After a hectic week at work, IT professional Priyanka Shriyan looks forward to spending some time with her quilling sheet and glue. Having discovered her love for the art of quilling a while ago, she now finds them a perfect stress buster for the weekend.

Quilling involves rolling small strips of paper, shaping them and glueing them together into decorative designs. “I saw a friend and my cousin quilling seven to eight years ago. I took it up because I found it interesting. I spend my weekends working on them and find them to be a perfect stress buster. Whenever I am sad it helps me uplift my mood,” said the 25-year-old.

Using these small strips of paper, Shriyan not only makes jewellery but also art pieces on canvas and wind chimes. By quilling she has also made on canvas a horse, flowers and even a character from Game of Thrones (GoT).

While she learnt the art herself, she also takes inspiration for her designs from Pinterest and YouTube videos. She has also now begun taking orders from friends and colleagues for her products.

“Though I have not started advertising my products on social media, I share the images on WhatsApp and receive orders. But I sell them only at the cost price as it is still only a hobby. My friends are encouraging me now to turn this into a business. Apart from making some things as gifts for my friends and relatives, I also make logos of companies on request,” she said.

Shriyan does not use quilling tools available in the market for her art pieces and generally makes them with her hand or with things that are easily available around her like pencils, blade, players or even a comb. In fact, she even makes her own quilling sheets. “Small strips of paper are readily available in craft shops but I prefer to make them on my own by cutting them from coloured papers,” she said.

After having mastered the art, Shriyan aspires to make a human face using the art of quilling someday.

“It is quite challenging as it will be difficult to shape it. But it is something that I am hoping to make soon,” she added.

With a busy work schedule, Shriyan manages to make around two to three art pieces on canvas in a month.

While the Game of Thrones character took her only around two to three weeks, to make some pieces even take up to a month. Apart from quilling Shriya also enjoys painting as a hobby.