Quilling with tools

After I got the slotted tool, it became much easier to roll paper, especially if they were of a thick variety. I made another b'day card, this time for a little girl. I had seen a few patterns for a 'gift' and 'balloons', so decided to put them together on a birthday card. The peach colored paper is a handmade paper which has more of a fabric feel which I realized when I tried to cut/tear. So when I tried to use the 'saw tooth' pattern scissors, it did not work too well on that variety of paper.
I tried writing HAPPY BIRTHDAY with dimensional paint (paint that does not dry flat), the orange color for the balloon strings did not come out too well, however the words seem to be quite ok.

After this, I wanted to try my hands at making flowers and leaves. So I made some petals and leaves. I was thoroughly impressed with the beautiful butterflies that people had quilled. Butterflies in real life are so amazing to see with their spectrum of colors. So, I quilled a butterfly which also gave me a chance to try the alternate looping method. So, I put them all together and this is the result of it.
I used 1/4 in. paper for this one. I usually cut 1/8 in. but I wanted to try with a slightly broader paper.

Again I had a little bit of a tough time gluing the stems to the background paper. I dont know if I am doing it right. I applied glue with a toothpick onto the quilled shapes and then glued it on to the paper. I am wondering if I have to first lightly trace where the respective shapes will go, apply glue to the background paper and then place the quilled shaped on paper.