In keeping with the notion that quilling is not considered an art unless it is gilded with a precious or semi precious metal (see my previous post), this past weekend I decided to give gilding a try. It was an eye opening experience, not to mention a messy one... unfortunately, I tend to wear all my projects. There are so many ways to gild a piece of creativity; I was unsure how to go about it.

For those of you that are not sure what I mean by gilding, it is the process of applying metal leaf to a project. Metal leaf usually is available in gold, silver, and copper and is incredibly thin and delicate. You can also get imitation leaf in those same colors, plus a few more - including pewter - because there is no real metal in them.


I went to the local craft store to see what they had in stock. They did indeed have both real metal and imitation leaf... but what I was not ready for was the different ways to apply it. There was a wax that you applied with your fingers, a liquid solution, a self adhering leaf, and of course the traditional kind which required a plethora of chemical solutions. The wax, however, did not have any metal in it... so that was out of the question, as was the self adhering leaf, for the same reason.


The liquid and traditional leaf did have metal present in the composition; the kicker for me was that the liquid was tarnish resistant and seemed easier to apply to quilling than the sheets of leaf, so that's what I brought home. It was classic gold, although the solution was made with a derivative of copper.

The project I chose to experiment on was a wooden frame I had decorated with quillwork for my mother in law. It was something simple so if I messed up, I could redo it easily. First thing I did was seal it with an matte acrylic spray to protect the paper, as I had no idea what effect the solution would have on a porous material. I tried applying it with a brush first, but the solution dried so fast that I barely had time to get it on the coils - a sponge brush was not good, either. A linen rag worked well... the leaf was oily enough that you could rub it on.

A word of caution... use gloves! I found this out the hard way after the liquid soaked through my rag. And the only thing that removes it is xylene... or thinner for car paint. But the result is so nice that all the scrubbing was worth it. The metal powder in the solution was so fine that the coverage was amazing... there was no need for a second coat unless you wanted to. And the shimmer was beautiful; it immediately lit up the coils and scrolls so that you could notice every loop. If you put it on thickly on your pegs, they look like solid pieces and become a great contrast to the open quilling shapes.

I used a tan colored quilling paper, so it tended to blend in with the gold leaf and made it look as if the quillwork was totally gilded. In essence, I think the gold leaf enhanced the quilling itself and made the finished piece more visually pleasing to look at. I don't think I would purchase gold edged quilling paper again... leaf is so much brighter and customizable, even though it is a little more work.

I especially like that I can control the thickness of the application; the thicker gilded portions actually look like real metal filigree, and prompted me to wonder if my gilding resembled the work of the European nuns centuries ago.


Things that I learned about using liquid to gild quilling:

• Messy, but fun


• Use gloves


• You should probably go outside to do it the first time, if you're a bit of a klutz like me


• Seal your work with acrylic spray before you gild


• Very traditional looking; seems nicer than ungilded quillwork for framed pieces


• Fingers or a linen rag work best


• Gild your quilling before you mount it on anything, the liquid is very watery


• A fine paintbrush is good if you need to get into little spaces

This week I will try my hand at using the sheets of gold leaf to gild my quillwork, and I will post a comparison. I'm still trying to clean the liquid gold leaf off my nails :)