Week Fifty-Two: Framed Christmas Piece FINAL WEEK!

We've done it! We're skating over the finish line, we've got the medal clutched in our fist, we're tired and need a rest. But no! There won't be rest yet, not until after Christmas, as I have quilling to do for loved ones for that day.

It has been a long and very rewarding journey. I have at least tripled my loyal viewership, I have about doubled how many views this page has had, and I have a massive, massive pile of stuff ready for my next market. It's been wonderful.

To my Pinterest followers, you are a delight and I get a huge thrill out of seeing someone pin one of my projects and they didn't pin it from me, it's been on a magical journey to find them without me. Art can move through the channels of our web community, isn't that inspiring? Makes you just want to make and share more stuff I say. Speaking of which, I will be starting a new board for my quilling and leaving the challenge board to sit with its contents as is, I've called the new Board PDPD Quilling, so come have a look and follow it to keep up the fun and inspiration! Seriously, I thought I would be out of ideas and totally over this whole quilling thing after this challenge, but I'm not, I've got ideas pouring out of my little ears and I'll be going strong long after this challenge.

You'll see I've changed my blog header and Facebook page banner to display all the quilling challenge, or at least one thing from each week.

Anyway, enough gushing and happy-ranting from me, let's get on to our last project of the quilling challenge!!This week we're ending on one last framed piece and it's Christmassy to boot.

Santa is off on his busiest night of the year, with his trusty steeds ahead. There are only five visible, but let's just agree that magical flying reindeer are probably so in tune with the reindeer they fly beside that their movements are matched, and all nine reindeer are there, with Rudolph leading them all onward.

Perhaps this is part way through the event, Santa's tummy looks like it is full of milk and cookies!

I used the husking technique for all of these, with the one reindeer drawing to create all five, but they still came out with slight differences and I like that, Rudolph obviously having one very intentional difference.

This is a lovely way to depict the magic and wonder of Christmas.

I'll be back soon, some time in the next couple of weeks to show you the stuff I've made for loved ones for Christmas and get some pins in that new board on Pinterest.

Until then, Merry Christmas to all, and to the Quilling Challenge year, a goodnight.

xnata

Week Forty-Seven: Bees

I'm back! My university studies have delayed my challenge by three whole weeks, but at least that means there are six more projects still left, and lots will be Christmassy as we head closer to December! I'm finished with uni for the year, yay! Now I can focus on quilling in my son's nap times instead of desperately cramming information into my tired head. It's going to be a lovely three months.

This week we've got some sweet little 'buzzies' as my toddler calls them...

Bees are lovely. So interesting and colourful.

Five quilled bees, and the rest are drawn on, and then the hive is made of quilling paper too. I put some shimmer and glitter on their little wings to make them extra special.

They make me happy, and they're in short supply these days! My husband and I want to have bees when we're old and our kiddies are all grown.

Next week we've got a flower that is very important this time of year...


So happy to be back!

xnata. 

Week Forty-Six: 3D Koala

This week we've got one of my favourite Australian animals, the koala.

He's delightful, wouldn't you say?

This was fun to make and I'm already halfway through another, I want to keep one because they're just so cute.

This project was inspired by a spontaneous meeting I had with a koala a few weeks ago not far from my house. They're a precious animal and we all need to take care of them as they're a threatened species, so please go right now and Google your area's koala rescue service, and put the number in your phone just in case you find a koala in need of help!

I was going to glue his eucalyptus leaves in place, but I like having it so that he can hold it or go without or whatever looks most adorable.

Have I given you enough cuteness yet? Next week I'm going to have to postpone thanks to my uni studies, as my sanity is hanging in there by a threat, but I promise I'll be back with something fantastic.

xnata

Week Forty-Two: Lady in Red

This week we have a beautiful young lady wearing a long red dress, with a rose in her hair.

I love the rich red I used for the bulk of the dress, and the rose and scalloped edge on her back is a metallic red for a subtle contrast.

I could see making a few more of these in different colours, but sadly I am out of this size in my cards, so I guess I'll just have to go shopping...how sad...

This would be a nice card for a girl's 18th or 21st or something.

 Keeping it short and sweet this week. Next week will be another framed piece, it's a simple design with another inspiring message.


xnata

Week Forty-One: Peacock

I'm a week late again, and this time I'm not going to try and catch up. My university courses are demanding a lot of me right now, like too much, and if I try to catch up I will compromise the quality of what I am making, and that wasn't the point of this year long quilling challenge. I wanted to make good quality stuff that would improve my skills and give you all some pretty things to look at and for my buyers to take home, so the one per week thing is the only part I'm willing to modify. I won't be catching up, I'll just add an extra week to the end date each time this happens, which could happen a few more times as one of my teachers seems to think that I can simply quit sleeping if I'm having trouble keeping up.

Anyway, moving on to the project! I have made a peacock card before, a very long time ago and it was a very simplistic design, so with this one I went detailed and as real as my paper supply would allow, and I just love him. He's gorgeous, elegant and dignified.

Isn't he magnificent? I just love when an idea in my head actually comes out right on the page.

Here's a little look at him as he was being made, you'll see I started with the head and worked my way down.

There's a zoo not far from by house in which there used to be peacocks that would frequently escape, there was a number of times that I had to stop as I drove past to wait for ones like this to cross the road...I haven't seen any out in a couple of years, I assume they have worked out how to stop this for the safety of the birds,  wouldn't want one to get hurt!

The colours are so vivid, it's wonderful that nature creates these colours, and wonderful that my quilling paper managed to mimic them too!

He took a long time to make, time I didn't have, but he has been a wonderful creative outlet and I'm sure will catch people's eyes at the next market.


See you for week Forty-Two, whenever that turns out to be!

xnata.

Week Thirty-Nine: Dragonflies

So, I'm over a week late, but as no one asked I'm not explaining why, HA!

It seems that plenty of people have been visiting the blog anyway, so that's lovely, nice to know that my little place can hum along on its own without me. Let's get on with it then.


This (or last) week I've used my butterfly technique to make some pretty dragonfly cards.

 

 

 

Anyway, they're cute, I'm in a hurry, I'll be back soon-ish to put up this week's post, so see you then.

 

xnata

Week Twenty-Eight: It's Winter!

Remember that Autumn tree I did? It's lost all of it's leaves!

Actually, it got sold at the last markets I went to back in April.

But here's a new one!

I liked the idea of little half pearls being added to make it look like glistening drops of snow, and I'm really happy with the effect, I think I'll make one of these again.

As I'm writing this I'm shivering despite being in long pants and a jumper. And I live no where near snow. And it's not even technically winter for two days. So I should probably be grateful that this little tree is the closest I'll be to snow this winter.

Some of the pearl beads are reinforced with a little bit of white quilling paper to keep them in place, because the little branches were a bit precarious for them to sit on.

 

I'm working on next week's project at the moment, it's something I've been dreaming up for a while and I'm really happy with how it's going so far. It's a framed piece, and pretty different from everything else I've done so far, but I think you'll like it. As I work on it I'm getting more ideas for other pieces like it...maybe it'll become a series!

See you next week snow bunnies,

xnata 

Week Fourteen: Blog Header

I was looking over my blog last week, and it occured to me that my blog header is a drawing. And I mainly quill on here. Something doesn't make sense there...

So I quilled it!

Well...I quilled what it is in my head, which is apparently slightly wrong, but it's close enough that I'm sure as heck not going to start over. We'll call it artistic expression and move on.

I haven't put it up as the header yet (the thought of trying to fiddle with it to make it fit the space is not one that takes me to a happy place), but here are several photos of it for you to enjoy.

The finished product!

 



 

I might tweak  the colouring before I put it up also, to work with the background (I didn't have just the right shades at my disposal - though I will add that the turquoise edge is a shade of scrapbooking paper called 'rain', which amused me and I had to find some way to include it).

Now, one last thing. It's about to get pretty quiet around here. I start back at uni next week, and due to some confusion between me, the program coordinator and a lecturer, I'm doing 3 courses instead of only two, so I'm going to be crazy busy. I'll still be posting weekly, but don't be surprised if there are very few words to some posts.

xnata

Week Ten: This is Australia

Happy Australia Day!...For tomorrow. I know, I said I would leave you hanging till Saturday, but I can't help myself, I just want to show you things and I've managed to keep it to myself for several days now, so I say I'm improving, don't you?


I thought I'd do a quilled Australia for this week's project to celebrate!

See that greenish piece? That's where I live XD

I just took a basic outline of the land down under and put some baking paper on top, then quilled lots of little shapes in my chosen colours (next time I would go with less colour variation, maybe just two shades), joined them all together until I filled the space, keeping it in position with berry pins, and then outlined it with olive green before moving on to the water.

I thought it should be girt by sea, so I girted it...I don't know if that crosses over to a verb, but yes. I girted it with some bright blue to make sure Tasmania doesn't drift off anywhere.

To all my Australian readers, I hope you have a great day of celebration and or relaxation, and to all my international friends, I hope you enjoy looking at the pretty quilled map of our country!

Next week is a surprise for someone (yes, another thing I'm giving to someone, I know. I'll make up for it I swear!), so no cheeky hints.

xnata