People practicing quilling today are afforded many options for tools and an array of different weight, quality, and thickness of paper. There are a few ways to approach beginning a design. For our line, we assign each artist one design for the most efficient workflow. This way, she can get to know the design and create a consistency in her work and our final product. We begin each card with a preliminary drawing of what the card will be. Using a slotted needle tool, we ‘thread’ laser-cut strips of kishu paper (a high-quality, Japanese paper) through the tool and coil it around to create a tight coil. Each shape that makes up a card begins as a tight coil. From there, the coil is relaxed and molded with fingers or tweezers until the desired shape is attained, and is then glued down onto the card. This process is repeated again and again, until the quiller has layered on the entirety of the final design.

Quilling Card, rooted in Vietnam, has been incredibly fortunate to assemble a team of women who have become passionate about the art of quilling. In 2015, we were honored to become Fair Trade Certified with the Fair Trade Federation. The organization focuses on maintaining a code of values for just treatment of employees. They encourage growth and sustainable business all over the world. Saying a product is ‘handmade’, especially overseas, can often carry a negative connotation if there is no transparency about the working conditions and treatment of employees. Allying with the FTF, we are proud to have established successful, flourishing business practices. 

In May of 2014, we opened the doors to our first factory in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. We were able to employ over 100 quillers, providing a stable, safe work environment with healthcare, and food benefits. We are continually striving to create a community of women that love the craft and genuinely enjoy the creative outlet that quilling can provide, while simultaneously providing a living for themselves. With the rapid growth of our business, we were able to open a second factory soon after, starting with more than 60 quillers. We have now given jobs to nearly 500 locals in Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition to our wonderful team, Quilling Card has also been able to establish a Cottage Industry in Vietnam. Societal aid for those with disabilities is not the same as it is in the US, and often leaves people out of work and helpless. We have set up a program where these members of the community can come take our supplies and complete work in their home, on their own time. They are paid per piece finished, and are able to contribute and create beautiful work they otherwise would not have the chance to do.

A native of Vietnam, Quilling Card co-founder Huong had previously worked in Marketing throughout Southeast Asia and the US for large corporations such as Unilever and L’Oreal. After years working towards someone else’s dream, she decided to leave the industry and pursue her entrepreneurial spirit and passion for the art of quilling. In 2011 Huong and her husband Raphael decided to take this passion and turn it into a flourishing greeting card company – making this beautiful art form more accessible and placing it in the homes of admirers all over the globe.

Daily business operations, sales, and design development take place in Framingham, Massachusetts. This is also where all cards/products are warehoused and shipped from. As a certified member of the Fair Trade Federation, Quilling Card has assembled three workshops in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam where each design is meticulously handcrafted by one of the 300+ local artisans.

Quilling Card has evolved into so much more than just a greeting card company and is proud to have become the premiere source of preserving and sharing this beautiful lost art.

Don’t just send a card, send art!