The Model
Several hands meet on every card.
The work is divided by skill. Artisans specialize in quilling techniques rather than in one fixed element, and the mix of hands on a card depends on its design. One artisan may be strongest at coiling, another at scrollwork or fine line placement.
Most workshops put one person on a card start to finish, which caps how refined it can be. We divide the work by technique instead. Artisans are not locked to one, and a card is built by whichever hands its design calls for. What stays constant is the model: no one builds a card alone. Meet them on the artisans page.
The Build
How a card comes to be.
01
Designed
Each design begins with Kirushanthi's creative vision and is digitally refined by Shobethan.
02
Explored
The creative team works it up in different colors and styles until the strongest version is clear.
03
Prepared
One master design is chosen. Papers are cut and the base cards printed in bulk, ready to build on.
04
Built
Two to three artisans add their work by technique. No one builds a whole card alone.
05
Inspected
The quality team reviews each card, then Kirushanthi inspects every one herself before it moves on.
06
Packed
Boxed in recyclable kraft, ready to ship from our Jaffna studio, awaiting its place in your hands.
What is inside
What is actually in the card.
i.
The base
300gsm specialty card stock, white, cut to a five-by-five-inch square. Heavy enough to hold raised paper without bowing.
ii.
The quilling
Color paper strips rolled and shaped into coils, scrolls, and petals. The whole design is built by hand, in rolled and shaped paper.
iii.
The adhesive
Water-based and non-toxic. No synthetics anywhere in the quilled card.
iv.
The wish, where present
Calligraphic script on the cover top only, on designs that include one. The inside stays blank. A faint guide line beneath the design is printed and then fully covered as the card is built.
v.
The packaging
A protective sleeve and a rigid, recyclable kraft box. No plastic beyond the sleeve.
The quilling
What quilling is.
◉
Coiling and shaping
A strip is wound tight, then loosened or pinched into a teardrop, leaf or eye shape.
∞
Chains and scrollwork
Ends are curled into open scrolls and S-shapes that build the flowing borders and frames.
▩
Line and Filling
Fine lines and filled lattice work the space between elements.
By Hand
Hundreds of shapes, each one placed by hand.
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