Star Medal: Handmade Quilled Congratulations Greeting Card
"They didn't expect a medal. Send one anyway."
Every coil placed by hand
Ships flat in a rigid box
Replaced if damaged
Star Medal is a handmade quilled congratulations greeting card, showing a gold service-style medal with an orange star at its center, hanging from a red and cream striped ribbon, with "Congratulations" printed above in calligraphic script. The medal and ribbon are hand-quilled. The gold ring is built from several tightly rolled chained coils, the same construction method used to build solid disc shapes in quilling. The orange star at the center is built from five compressed paper segments arranged in pentagonal symmetry, layered above the ribbon's parallel paper bands.
The First Place Medal (QCOB-01) is the companion card, showing a competition-style medal with a red "1" at the center, for ranked or first-place wins specifically.
Timing note: congratulations cards sell year-round, with notable peaks during graduation season (May and June), Veterans Day (November), and corporate end-of-year recognition cycles.
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Ships from Sri Lanka in three options, available at checkout:
- Sri Lanka Post (standard): 3 to 4 weeks. Free Shipping.
- EMS Speed Post: 10 to 14 working days. Limited tracking.
- DHL Express: 5 to 7 working days. Fully tracked from dispatch to delivery.
Every card ships flat in a rigid-backed kraft gift box, fully protected for international transit. Every card is inspected before it leaves our studio. If yours arrives damaged, we replace it without question.
To keep: away from direct sunlight and moisture to preserve the paper art over time.
To display: fits standard 5x5 inch frames. This card is designed to live on a wall, not in a drawer.
To store: keep flat. Do not fold or roll.
Star Medal: Handmade Quilled Congratulations Greeting Card
Specs
The card, in detail.
The design and the day
Built one way. Made for specific moments.
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Built like a service medal.
A medal card is what you send when the achievement deserves a formal marker, the kind of recognition that warrants more than a verbal thank-you. This design references the service medal tradition, a striped fabric ribbon hanging from a flat bar with a gold medallion below, used to recognize military, civic, and institutional achievement for over two centuries. The star at the center is deliberate, not a number, not a name; a star signals honor and recognition without claiming a specific ranking, suitable for the kind of achievement that doesn't reduce to first place. The gold ring's multiple coils are rolled to identical diameter and chained, forming the solid medallion shape.
The orange star is built from five compressed paper segments arranged in pentagonal symmetry. Each segment is shaped individually and joined at the center, then layered above the ribbon's parallel paper bands so the star reads as the focal point.
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For the quiet honor.
For the veteran on Veterans Day, the colleague reaching a thirty-year service anniversary, the volunteer recognized at the community awards, or the friend retiring after a long career. A handmade congratulations card with a service-style medal carries the weight of formal recognition, more substantial than a generic congratulations card and more appropriate to the seriousness of the moment. It fits Veterans Day, Memorial Day weekend, retirement parties, long-service anniversaries, civic awards, employee recognition ceremonies, and any moment where the recognition is formal and the achievement is sustained rather than singular. Often given by employers to long-tenured employees, by veterans organizations, by community boards, and between family members marking a milestone career moment.
Many recipients frame this card. It was designed for that, sized 5x5 inches to fit standard frames sold at most US home stores.
The studio, The hands
Inside the Jaffna studio.
Coil by coil
Paper strips · The hands · Finished card
Primary specialist on this card
Every Vonderly card is built by 2 to 3 specialists working in sequence. The artisan below led the work on this one.
I work on the figures and characters. My style is shape-based, so the posture has to carry the character. Getting a small figure to read correctly is harder than it looks, and I redo them often.
Priyanka K.
Figure and character specialist
Frequantly asked
Questions, answered.
How is this medal card different from the First Place Medal card?
What is paper quilling?
Paper quilling, also called paper filigree, is the art of rolling, shaping, and placing thin paper strips into three-dimensional designs. It is one of the oldest paper art forms in the world, and requires precision and patience to build up layer by layer.
At Vonderly, each card is built entirely by hand using this technique by a team of specialized artisans in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. What you see on the card is paper, shaped by hand, one strip at a time.
Is the inside of the card blank?
Yes. Every Vonderly card has a blank interior. There is no pre-printed message. The card is made for your words, not ours. Write directly on the card or include a separate note inside the kraft envelope.
Can I frame this card after gifting?
Yes, and many recipients do. Every Vonderly card is 5x5 inches square, a size that fits standard frames available at most US home stores. The three-dimensional quilling gives the card real depth behind glass. To preserve it, keep it away from direct sunlight and moisture.
How long does shipping take to the United States?
Standard shipping via Sri Lanka Post takes 3 to 4 weeks. EMS Speed Post takes 10 to 14 working days. DHL expedited takes 5 to 7 working days and is fully tracked from dispatch to delivery. All three options are available at checkout.
What if my card arrives damaged?
Every card is inspected before it leaves our studio and ships flat in a rigid-backed kraft gift box to prevent damage in transit. If yours arrives damaged, send a photograph and we will replace it without question. No return required.
