Earrings are everywhere!

It seems that many of us who are quillers are now creating jewelry!  I guess once you're in the holiday spirit you can't help but think of things to wear that match all of our favorite holiday outfits and colors.  I'm certainly no exception.  I made up some poinsettias a couple of months ago in a variety of sizes.  Two of them just seemed the perfect size for earrings, so I made them up.  But then I put them away safely and sort of forgot about them.  But I found them again and here they are!

I'm still working on the photography issues or practicing to get them looking good, but I am slowly getting better.

I really love poinsettias, they just make me think of Christmas and love and closeness.  The colors are so warm and these earrings just turned out the way I wanted them to.

I wish for all of you a fantastically successful, warm, loving, family filled and safe holiday season.  Get busy now!


Until next time!
Shelly

Hello my friends!  We've gotten the first week of school behind us now and are settling into our routine.  I was able to get a lot of creative work done last week and that makes me feel good.  The card I'm sharing today is from a challenge I participated in on the Paper Craft Planet site.  Anything But Cute (or ABC) challenges have been great to participate in.  The most recent challenge was to create a round card.  Of course with Christmas looming the first thing I thought of was a wreath.

I used brown kraft paper for the base, but must admit I think it would have looked better if I had used white.  I used two shades of green to create the leaves.  The leaves were a bit of a challenge in themselves. I have fat stumpy fingers and some of the pieces are small, so getting six points on those little babies caused me to think a bit.  But I managed!  It was fastest to pinch the coil into a marquis, then taking my tweezers I held the middle and used my fingers to hold the pinched part and push in toward the tweezers thereby creating two more points.  Then I flipped it over and repeated.  The berries were easy enough using a tight coil and ever so slightly pushing up in the middle to give them a slight roundness.  The gold bow finishes it off.

I wanted to take a minute to share an article I read on another blog.  If you can, please check this out:

http://allthingspaper-annmartin.blogspot.com/     Ann's article on Pavlos was inspiring to me.  His work emphasizes my point that there are no rules to quilling.  You can bend that little strip of paper and make it come to life!  I just love the way he used the paper to create and it doesn't look like quilling, it looks more like painting or even that he used textiles.  I just found his work to be inspiring and hope that you do as well.

Best wishes to everyone!

Shelly

Back to a Routine!

Here in my area of Florida, we are back to school now, and hopefully, I will be able to get back into a routine soon as well.  I think I had too much off time this summer as I was keeping busy keeping the grand-baby busy!  But she's happily started the first grade and now I can turn my attention toward getting projects done!
The first card I've done this week is one I have titled "A Nest of Roses."  As you look you will see that it is created by allowing a large quilled circle to go awry.  Then I made yellow and white roses and stuck them all about the inside and outer edges.  I put a few short strips of browns down to create a tree branch look.  I added just a few leaves to give a spring time budding effect.  I like the paper I found for the background, as it gives the thought of being in the tree and having a great deal of sunlight peering through the other leaves in the tree.  It was a fun project.
I've also started in on a wreath card project that I think will be a lot of fun and perfect for the holidays.  More on it later!

 
So in addition to getting ready for the holidays, it's time to get ready for the colorful fall season.  And I've got a couple of ideas on that as well.  I just love fall colors!


So until next time, best wishes to all of you.

Shelly

Amuzeing Yet Humbling

I know I've been away for quite a while and I apologize.  I know everyone understands when day to day family life becomes more important than creating.  Although creating is often an escape from the day to day pressures, sometimes it just has to take the back seat to getting life in order.  So enough with the excuses!

I think it is truly marvelous how those who quill seek out one another.  Like so many other groups that band together and start sharing information and techniques - it helps us grow to share .  It always makes me smile when I get a compliment about a card or picture that I have quilled.  It humbles me when someone new thinks my work is beautiful while I look at the work others have done and strive to be as good as they are.

Because I'm self taught and haven't been quilling more than 7 or 8 months, I feel like a true amateur.  I spend hours creating shapes that don't do what my mind has in store for them.  I don't like doing the same picture over and over so if an idea doesn't work out after a few tries, well, I just give up.  Of course, sometimes I begin with an idea in my head and although it doesn't work out as I imagined, I end up with something even better.  But the point is that both amuses and humbles me that I can be so new and yet appreciated at the same time.  And I think that at this point in time, that is a very inspiring thought!

I haven't created anything different, but I did create one card to meet a lesson requirement.  It is done on a background of watercolor paper that I created.  I don't have paints, so I wet the paper and let the markers bleed on the paper.  Once it dried I was able to trim it to size and add my quilled pieces.  I used the same color strips as I did markers so that it all matched up.  I made it a friendship card with the stamped sentiment.  It turned out to be a very colorful card!

If you have a chance to do so, let me know about your beginning days of quilling.  Were you self taught or did someone show you the tips and tricks?  Do you have a favorite other person that inspires you or do you look around at nature for your inspiration?  At what point did you feel you were no longer an amateur?

Old or new at quilling, I hope you enjoy being creative and that you have a fantastic week!

Best wishes,

Shelly

I just love to quill!

I've been studying a bit lately, as mentioned before, on improving my business and I've hooked up with Paper Craft Planet for the card challenges and I've really learned a lot.  But what I think is most important is that I know now, even more than before, just how much I love to quill!  While I'm constantly looking for new ideas of what to quill, I know that if you try to use your imagination and skills you can come up with a way to quill just about anything.  To me that's an exciting idea.

Most anyone quilling can do a flower.  Daisy shapes are very easy to master.  The folded roses are a bit more challenging.  But have you tried making something different? Have you tried making something no one else has made?  Who makes the rules about how quilling has to look?  How wonderful is it that you can twirl, twist and manipulate a thin strip of paper into a shape and no one can say, hey that's not quilling!  I love that you can alter that thin strip into anything you can imagine.

So I've been playing around with some ideas.  I like the idea of adding to patterned paper.  I like the idea of using something more iconic than "picture perfect."  I also like the idea that I can take a traditional card format and turn it into a beautiful personalized quilled card.

The picture below shows the card style with an oval cut from the center.  I put a piece of patterned paper that I like behind it.  Then the flowers that I quilled are my interpretation of those flowers from the pattern. The colors match as closely as I could get them to.   I think the "s" swirled shapes are great, so I added them in a pale green.  The choice of brown card stock to base it on is because of one of the challenges, and I like the way it came out.

Notice that the leaves are a little different as well.  The entire front is utilized, yet it is still airy in appearance.  One of the other things I have definitely learned is that pictures are so very important and everyone can learn more about taking good pictures.  I know I fit into that category!

So I encourage all of you to start experimenting with your quilled shapes.  Try something you already know how to do, just a little differently than you normally do.  Who knows, you may fall in love with quilling again too!

Best wishes!

 

You're Never Too Old To Learn

 While I certainly don't want to call myself old, I think it's fair to describe myself as very mature!  I've definitely been out of school for many years now.  But recently I have been trying to do a lot of studying.  I've participated in an online class to help me build my business/business plan.  I've joined an online group of fellow card makers to challenge me and teach me new techniques.  I've learned a good bit.  I've certainly enjoyed learning some new techniques, getting new ideas and meeting a few very nice and talented people!  But one of the things I've learned is how much I enjoy making my quilled cards.

So I've begun getting ready for the holiday season.  I've made a few cards and tags.  I've put together a few ideas and purchased the items I need to create according to my plan.  So now I'm just getting busy.  Below I'm sharing my quilled gift tags and a friendship card.  I hope that you enjoy them.  Very clean and simple items that make their point on their own.  Enjoy!

                 
                                                                                                  

Blessings to all of you!

Shelly

June 2010

June has been a busy and interesting month.  School let out for the summer, of course, so now I find myself challenged with keeping my grand-daughter busy - daily.  We've been doing some crafting.  She's quite creative and enjoys making cards along side me.

My oldest daughter celebrated a milestone birthday.  She wasn't pleased about it, but she did enjoy the surprise party that her dad and I put on for her.

One of my friends, who's son is my grand-daughter's friend as well, moved away.  Far away.  It was sad.
But her best friend is now more available!  So there are day visits and overnights to enjoy.  And that's not only fun, but a lot of what summers are supposed to be about!

And I'm still creating.  I've done another pair of earrings.  Trying out some different shapes this time.  Also a card.  A card challenge on Paper Craft Planet asked us to use words - something that inspires us - to create the card.  I don't know the author of this because I found the words on some paper I purchased.  I liked the way it sounded and saved back the paper for the right occasion.  It seemed perfect for a new graduate or someone who has received a promotion.  And I used bold colors and patterns to match the idea.  I also hand penned the sentiment, because after all, I enjoy writing!

 

Quilled earrings.  I used teal and brown papers and shaped them into a diamond.  The dragonflies are antiqued gold looking and swing freely in front of the diamonds.

Show the World Who You Are! card sports fall colors, but they are bold.  Based around brown, you have cream polka dots and multiple colors, then a rust card stock layer with a splattered cream with rust and gray layer.  I used royal blue and deep brown ribbons to break up the lines and topped it with the sentiment on a light blue card stock.




So June has been a good month.  I'm getting better organized, finding ways to meet the time challenges and enjoying time with my grand-daughter.
I hope that all of you have a wonderful summer and that you find ways to meet your challenges as well.

Best wishes,
Shelly

Quilled Jewelry

Well, as everyone knows, it's never good to put all of your eggs in one basket.  And as an artist, you can't do the exact same thing and never try new things.  So, with that thought in mind, I decided to try some quilled jewelry.  Nothing complicated.  It is just a basic daisy pattern flower with a metal embellishment.  I love earrings that have a lot of movement.  So I put the metal pieces as free moving additions.  I also made sure to seal the paper so that daily wear and the possibility of humidity or rain wouldn't allow harm.  So I'm pretty happy with the results.  I might try a few more!

Let me know what you think of them!



Have a great week!
Shelly

I made a Treasury!

I just have to brag for a minute - since this is the very first time I've made a Treasury!  Here's the link:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c07c71bab056d915c00ddce/sun-and-sky

I feel so happy!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Shelly

Trying a New Medium

Hello!  As a paper crafter I have found that it is definitely a good thing to try new techniques and new mediums from time to time.  Since I love paper, I wanted to play with something I had not used before.  Vellum is a cool paper to me because it can incorporate sparkles or natural elements.  I had purchased some earlier, but never used it.  It just didn't seem to fit anywhere.  But since I've been stamping a little lately, I thought I would try stamping on it.  I had used embossing powders in the past, many years ago, and thought that using them would be interesting as well.  So, I took one of my favorite stamps and used white ink and stamped for as many colors of embossing powder as I had available.  It worked great!  I was excited.  So then I had many beautiful and colorful dragonflies, but they looked lonely just flitting around the page.  I have a couple of different flower stamps, but I needed one that fit size wise and not too cutesy! I found the magnolia and it also stamped well.  I colored in the pedals so that it blended well with the page and didn't look too blue (as you can see through the vellum pretty well).  

I also decided, since I was experimenting, that I would add a bow.  I like the look of a bow, but often feel it's just too much on the front of a card.  So a thin ribbon in a matching shade of blue and I liked it.  Then I needed a sentiment.  I wanted that to pop off the page so that it didn't look so flat.  I layered the stamped and embossed wording with a slightly larger piece that I embossed in silver only.  

So here's the results of my experiment!  I encourage you to play a bit as well.  You never know how much fun you could be missing out on!

Best wishes for a fun week!

Shelly

Catching Up!

Last weekend I was ill!  That's no small statement in my book.  I don't get really sick very often, but I was this time!
Anyhow, after a busy week of recuperation I was able to put together a new gift bag.  This one is on a kraft bag with the outside painted a dusty blue.  I added a sheet that had happy birthday written all over it.  Different sizes, fonts, and even colored bubbles.  I cut a diamond in the middle and quilled a two tone brown puppy and added a thought bubble with a quilled bone.  Then I took white cardstock and cut a bone shape and penned to: and from: and added a blue curling ribbon.  It's a cute bag and I'll be doing other sets.  I'm making them sets, by the way, that include the tissue paper and gift card.   I think that there are plenty of folks out there that appreciate everything coming together and having it on hand for last minute gifts.

Have a wonderful week everyone!  Happy Memorial Day!
Shelly

Thank you, thank you, thank you - cards

Last week I needed to get a few things done around the house so I didn't create.  But, of course, by this weekend I really wanted to make some cards.  So I did!  I made three cards all of which I made as thank you cards.  The first one was a quilled butterfly on gold swiss dot.  I used fall colors keeping in mind that it would be a masculine card.  I used the Design Runner to put the words at the top of the card.

The second card was made using a new MS punch I found.  It has sort of a seashell look, but when I doubled it, one on top of the other, it made a flower.  So I decided to put a darker purple under the white card for the shells and then cut pink shells to make the flower for the top.  It turned out to be interesting.

The third card used another MS punch that makes pretty vines with a little daisy in the middle.  I used this across the bottom of a white card and put a sunny yellow under it.  Then I cut two scalloped squares.  One in yellow and one in white.  On the white I stamped a dragonfly using white ink.  I used colorless embossing glitter on that and "filled in" here and there with a light brown and yellow color pencil.  Then I decided to give it a bit more bling and added gold embossing powder to the edges.  I added just a bit of green pencil around the outside.  Then I put the yellow square at the opposite angle of the white one, glued them together and put pot dots under it.  Then added a sticker and I like it!

So another weekend has passed us by.  We are working on the house a bit, fixing things that have been too long neglected.  We're gearing up for summer vacation that is too quickly coming.  And of course, I'm thinking about creating for the holidays already.

I hope that you have a fantastic week!
Shelly

A Good Mother's Day

No new items to share today.  I just wanted to wish everyone a great Mother's Day and a fantastic week.  My daughter and son-in-law surprised me today by arriving at my mom's house yesterday so that they could spend the day with me once I arrived there.  My mom loved the card I created for her and my hubby and son-in-law made a wonderful meal for everyone.

Later we went to my mother-in-law's house to visit.  She had back surgery earlier in the week and wasn't quite up to par, but it was nice to see her and talk for a few minutes.  She liked the cards I made her as well.  She commented about how she hoped I could start selling some.

I've been working on a couple of new ideas for cards and hope to get them up in the next few days.  I have several birthdays next month and need to get ready for them.

Until then, take care!

Shelly

A Get Well Wish

After a nice weekend away from home, we came back to find out that my mother-in-law was in pain and needed to be taken to the hospital.  After some tests they discovered herniated discs in her back that needed surgery to be repaired.  If not, she faced the possibility of not walking.  Of course, she's elected to go forward with surgery.  So to cheer her up a bit, I created this card.  Please forgive the lousy pics.  The flower is attached to one of those clear sheets, which gives the card a nice effect, but makes for terrible picture taking!  I colour penciled the flower and used a sticker for the wording.  I think it turned out nice.  I like the way the gentle yellows seem peaceful and calming.

I hope that you are having a good week.

Shelly

Internet, cards and busy stuff

I want to start by saying that I have recently had internet issues.  We lost our DSL for 4 days.  Apparently 65 people in my area were on this DSL box and something happened to it.  Once it was working again, it only took two calls to get everything completely back in order.  The tech department at AT&T was helpful and friendly.  And their help as well as their attitude, was very much appreciated!

The first card I want to tell you about today is for my best friend Brenda's daughter-in-law.  She's expecting a baby girl in mid-July, but decided to have an early shower.  I wanted to be sure to make a quilled card to include with the gift.  The baby buggy seemed like it would be a bit of a challenge, so that's what I went for.  The card is pink card stock with a second card stock on top.  It has the word "baby" written in multiple colors which I thought made a nice background.  I used a MS punch to create the scalloped top.  I then used shades of pink to create the buggy.  I made a pink heart with a smaller white heart for the center of the buggy body, then used "s" curls and small circles to fill in the interior of the body.  For the top I used small tight circles, V scrolls and "S" curls to fill in.  The handle is an uneven "S" and the wheels are white open circles.  Overall I like the way it turned out.


My second card is a birthday card that I like the way it turned out.  This one is being listed for sale, but I thought I would show it here anyhow.  This card is on white linen card stock and has green swiss dot card stock with a yellow patterned paper on top of white linen.  The smaller message is a pop up with the square foam pieces.  Happy Birthday is stamped in black ink.  I like the way it pops off of the yellow when you use black.  Three daisies are quilled and I added the "S" scrolls to match the print pattern in the yellow paper.

This weekend is the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival.  Some of you may know of it, others probably don't.  Its a huge weekend long affair held on Amelia Island each first weekend of May.  Many artists and local clubs take the opportunity to show their wares and make some money.  It is a long running festival that used to be mainly for the local people to celebrate the beginning of the shrimping season.  But it has grown and is very popular and visited by people from all over the place now.  So it is going to be a busy weekend!

I hope all of you have a great week and weekend.

Mother's Day and Something Abstract

Well, as we all know, Mother's Day is coming in just a couple of weeks and I really needed to get a card made for the moms.  I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like, but alas, I couldn't find the stamps I wanted.  But I did find this one and I like it. It has an element of fun about it!
I started with my new white linen cardstock and cut an oval for the stamp to show through.  The text sheet behind is a very pale yellow.  I used the Design Runner for the wording.  That worked very well, but took a test run to get it right.  Then I added the quilled flowers and shapes.  Behold, a very personalized Mother's Day card.

 And, while I had the time, I made this abstract piece.  I'm trying to incorporate more elements into my cards.  This uses layering (white linen, peach and printed papers), quilling (royal blue, carmel, coral, red and white 1/16 inch) and embossing powder.

Both cards turned out really well and I'm glad that I took the time to play with some new ideas and elements.  I hope that you enjoy looking at them!

Birthday card and holding boxes

I didn't want anyone to think I had been lazy the last few days.  I have been creating.  I have played with the stamping a bit more and I've been showing off everything I have created.  I visited my old friend Marilyn yesterday.  She loved my work, which I greatly appreciate.  If I'm ever going to turn this into a business, I've got to understand what people want and need.  I bought some boxes with clear covers to hold the cards that are quilled so that they don't get messed up.  If too many cards sit on top of each other the very thin quilled paper may get pushed to one side by the weight of the others.

The card I have pictured here is going to be for a niece.  Just a single beautiful flower with a simple message.  I think she will like it!

It's Spring Break here and I've been busy with my grand-daughter.  Keeping her entertained is a full time occupation!  But it's fun.  I wish everyone reading this a pleasant week and weekend.

Shelly

My new punch works great!

I know a lot of card makers use punches and stamps.  And I'm probably excited over something many others have enjoyed doing for a good while now.  But I don't care!  I'm excited about how this card turned out!  I made it for a friend to give to one of her friends, but I wanted to share it here.  The stamp is Happy Birthday with a really fancy font for the H and B.  The punch is a MS lattice fence.   I chose to space it so that it appears to have posts as well.  Then I quilled and put tulips, a pink daisy and a sunflower in front of the fence.  The inside says "Bouquets of Birthday Wishes."  So now that I've had fun using a stamp and a punch I think I'll incorporate them more often.  They go well with my quilled flowers, don't you think?  
Have a wonderful Easter Sunday everyone!
Shelly

I'm a featured artist!

I'm so excited and honored to be the featured artist for the Giddy Greetings blog! Monica of Giddy Greetings has been a quiller for 30 years and has a fabulous web site that shares designs and lots of how to videos. Please take a minute to check her out at www.giddygreetings.com. Today I'm sharing my new congratulations card. It was designed to give to either a wedding couple or an anniversary couple. It has gold bells and royal blue, deep blue and white accents. The sentiment on the inside says "to love is one of the greatest joys in this life." I used 1/16 in. quilling paper this time and I really like the results.

Thanks for stopping by!

Shelly

Adorable ducks

Well, as most of you know, when you are looking for inspiration, it can be found in some of the most unexpected places. I recently saw some art prints that caught my eye and I decided to recreate them. This one, with the ducks on a pond, was in a bathroom. I found the "i adore you" print on my Xyron Design Runner and needed something to finish the thought. When I saw the print, I knew I had a match!

This was a fun project. Mainly teardrop shapes and the leaves and large butterfly wing were combed. The water and flower are shaped marquise. For the butterfly's head, I left a piece hanging after I wound the end. Then shaped the teardrop and cut the middle from the hanging end so that I could create antennae.

Let me know what you think of it.

I'm quilling now!

Yeah, ok, I admit it! It's been a long time since I last posted. Didn't know what I was going to do. Not sure which direction to move in or whether I should give up everything. But just in that last month I've discovered quilling! I'm thrilled with it in fact. :O)

So here I'm sharing some of my newest work. And I hope to continue sharing it as new cards become available.

Recently I've been made aware how important bereavement cards can be. We all grow up knowing that some day our parents will pass on. But we never quite grasp the concept that our spouse or child may precede us. When it happens it is a devastating blow to our lives. If it happened to me, I want to know that I had people out there willing to help me get over it. I think most people have their family to turn to, but sometimes we need peers that can get us past that point in our lives. People who love us, but understand when it's time to move on. So I'm going to work on a few bereavement cards that people can use when needed to let that person who has suffered a loss know that they are cared about. Loved. I think a handmade card helps make that point, as well as a handwritten note inside.

Let me know if you have any comments or ideas. You can see this card and others on my Flickr page.

Warm regards,

Shelly