"Hope is the thing with feathers"

I've been feeling strongly lately that I needed some hope. With all of the dreary, freezing days of winter, the unsettling feeling rolling through the country, and some personal stress, I just needed some brightness.

To help me feel a bit more hopeful, without having to leave the house, I thought a literal interpretation created in quilling would be the best way forward.

I chose some fun sheets of scrapbook paper as the backgrounds for each letter and began by outlining each.

I was going back and forth between quilling the letter "o" as a heart or its letter shape and decided on a combination, with the heart on the inside.

I filled each letter with bright colors and designs that bring me joy. I also made a feather, but decided that it was too much for this piece.

I put the quillography on a torn paper background, in part because I love the look, and also to convey that hope can come from a broken place.

I added some pieces of colored paper to emphasize the tears.

I wanted to save the feather, because it took a long time to piece together.

I added some papercut birds and calligraphy to complete it.

And so I ended up with two hopeful pieces instead of just one. 🪶