Week Fifty: Christmas Card Pegs

It seems that Christmas is thoroughly here, you only have to go into the madness that is shopping centres at this time of year to know. As I only have three weeks of my quilling challenge to go, it's good to get a few quilled items in.


This was supposed to be next week's project, but I must do a bit more planning for what I was intending this week. Instead we've got an incredibly easy, simple and cute idea to help display your Christmas cards:

Christmas card pegs are such a nice way to display cards without them clogging up space on your sideboards or bookshelves. I've always thought they were adorable and nifty, and when I saw a pack of tiny wooden ones I realised how easy it would be to make little sets of quilled card pegs!

I have nine designs here, twenty pegs in all, but others that could be added would be tiny snowflakes, reindeer, candy canes, santa's face, elves, Christmas lights, letters to make them spell out 'Merry Christmas' or some other holiday message, etc. I could go on all day with ideas for these, they're just so quick and easy and cute. They were each topped off with Crystalina glitter glue and given a quick spray with Crystal Clear Acrylic.

I love the little angels...

...and the mistletoe is pretty cute....

and this shooting star is quite dazzling too. As I do with my usual snowflakes I added some glitter glue here and there to add that extra Christmas magic.

Super adorable right? Yes. Here's proof that despite their tiny size they can hold up a card, though these are all blanks as I don't have any Christmas cards immediately on hand just yet. If they were larger than the average size there's a chance you'd need two, but they held these up without any sign of difficulty.

Next week I'll hopefully have worked out what would have been on this week, but if not I'll push it to my final week of the quilling challenge! I've got so many other projects to work on after these three though that it'll probably seem like I've barely stopped at all.

If there's anything I've learned from doing this year long challenge apart from new quilling techniques and an overall improved ability, it's that this is a really good way to establish a blog, a following and help you decide if your craft of choice is for you. And quilling is for me, I love it, so that's good. Though I now have a massive supply of stuff to go and sell at a market, and no market actually planned yet! Hmm.


xnata.

Week Forty-Nine: Rose Pattern Card

This week I've taken a different approach to roses than my usual 3D quilled roses.

And it's a pleasant vintagey sort of look. I love it.

 

 

The way I made it I ended up with it all solidly attached without being a part of the card yet. It was very cute as a sort of doily on our table.

 

 

These took a lot of paper and time. I used three shades of pink and two shades of green.

It's wonderfully pink, soft and elegant.

Next week I'm going to get started on Christmas fun early to get a few Christmas themed projects into the end of my quilling challenge. Only three projects left!! I've got far more ideas than that though, it won't be the end, I'll just perhaps not be quite as reliable with my posting. Unless asked nicely.

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-Three: Kite

This week's project is simple and hopefully inspiring, while also being bright and cheery.

It's a nice little message that I hope inspires people to be courageous.

 

 

The clouds were created with loose swirls layered over the top of each other.

 

 

I went with bright and cheery colours for a simply designed kite with a nice long tail and a silver thread tethered somewhere far below.

 

 

 

Next week I've got something else that soars through the air...

 

 

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-Seven: Quilled Initials

Last week I made something in the popular Pinterest trend known as ombre, and this week I've made something in another pinterest trend's style: chevron!

Many people like to have their child's name or initial done up in an artistic piece for their bedroom wall, or maybe the family's surname initial to add to a beautiful wall of family photos.

I love this faux-vintage frame.

I went for a minty-aqua colour for this piece, I think with the white it's a very fresh sort of look.

 

Next week's piece is already done, and I've decided it's my favourite so far! I read the quote somewhere and the image came to me right away, and I just had to make it while it was fresh in my mind! So excited for you to see it, but I'll hold off for next week when it's actually due.

xnata

Week Thirty-Five: Butterfly Nursery Mobile

This week I have attempted something a bit different, and I gave a clue a week or two ago on the Facebook page, and I must say I'm quite chuffed with the end product, it is gloriously sweet.

A Rainbow of pretty husked flutterbies for little babies to watch as they fall asleep!

 

 

The fantastic thing about these husked butterflies for this purpose is that they are so light and seem to catch the teeniest tiniest breeze, so it's basically constantly moving, which is perfect for the little bubby watching, it's quite mesmerising and so happy and bright.

 

 

I've used the classic husking technique as displayed in Week 7, in various sizes and all the basic colours of the rainbow.

The frame is made of the inside ring of embroidery hoops of two sizes, and I've painted them with a pearlescent white paint, then it's all put together with white embroidery thread, nice and thick to hold up the rings but one strand thick for the pretty butterflies. I've sealed the knots with fabric glue to avoid it unravelling, and I've sprayed the butterflies with 'preserve it' to avoid colour fading and make them a little tougher. And it's all held up by a simple silver ring.

I've seen ways to make the structure to attach it to a crib, but as it's so delicate I would suggest hanging it from a hook in the ceiling would be much better, and you can add string to the ring to have it lower down without it ending up within reach of your little munchkin/s as even a baby would crush these within seconds.

Here's a shot of what the little ones will see...

It was hard to pick a photo of this nursery mobile, as the breeze changed it so often that each picture was different in a lovely way. Getting this to hang evenly was the hardest part of this project I must say, it took a few tries and lots of wasted thread, but now I've got the hang of it I am sure I won't have so much trouble in the future.

So, that was lovely wasn't it? Makes you wish there were more real live butterflies around. We should do something about that. Having said that I found one in my kitchen last week, perhaps she saw these others and knew we were butterfly-friendly. Anyway, next week we're going to see something really purple!


xnata

Week Thirty-Three: Bridal Gowns

Dum-dum-da-dum, Dum-dum-da-dum...

This week I've made some bridal gown cards for weddings or bridal showers, they're easy to make and can look really special and sweet for the couple or bride-to-be. I sometimes add a rub-on 'congratulations' to them, but this time I've left them word free so the buyers can say whatever they want.

We've got this big swirly wirly pearly gown....

....This feathery fluffy gown with 'something blue'...

...and a slinky mermaid type one with little capped sleeves, for those brides with nice curves that they want to show off...

I've given these to bride friends of mine in the past and they've mentioned that they've kept them as one of their keepsakes. Handmade cards are more special and worthy of being kept whether you're the one who made them or not though. The receiver gets to know they have this one of a kind card amongst their treasures, it's just nicer, okay?

 

The swirly one was done by forming the bodice, then a skeleton of the skirt which I filled in with lots of swirly bits and pieces. It's very big and princessy, and I added some pearl detail to the slim waist line of the gown.

The feathered skirt gown is mimicking those ruffled tulle type gowns, but in a feathery way that I just love. We've got a ribbon around the waist and some scrapbook paper to be the 'something blue', and I love how soft and feminine this one is. This was a bit more free-form than the other two, I just created the love heart bodice and then made lots and lots of the feathery shape and built it up and up until it was at a shape I felt happy with. Delightful.

Then the mermaid dress  was done similarly to the first one, with an outline being created and then filled in with teardrop shaped pieces which are a really easy shape to use for filling a space. It's so slinky and reminds me just a little of my own wedding gown, though mine was unfortunately sleeveless (it was so hard to find any with sleeves, and when I did they were for plus sized brides so I was left with no choice but to have a faux-fur made for my shoulders - you'd think these wedding gown makers would want to encourage winter weddings! Mind you on the day I had no sense of being cold because I was so excited and nervous). It's got a sweet bow at the waist, very romantic.

I'm working on next week's project at the moment, we're getting into this framed piece collection for the next few weeks, and this one is shaping up very nicely. Now please, remember that our give away is still going on on the Facebook page, so head over and comment to win the mask or the framed piece from last week! I'll be drawing that competition a week from today so get your entries in, I've pinned the competition photo to the top of my page.


xnata

Week Thirty-One: Love

My husband and I have been married for 5 years as of this coming Friday! We've made a pretty good team so far, he's my best friend, and the most awesome little boy, so I would say it's been a very successful 5 years.

Did you know that the traditional gift thing for 5 years is wood? We didn't really need anything made of wood, so we are just going to go on a date one night instead. But my craft involves paper, and paper comes from wood, and this week's project is to celebrate our anniversary, so that counts right?

I saw this design in teeny-tiny calligraphy form in my calligraphy book a while back, and instantly wanted  to quill it, but nice and big.

I got clever for a moment and drew it in the size I wanted, then quilled the shapes using the husking technique (for those not aware of what the husking technique is, check out my week seven butterfly post). For this it was a good way to get the shapes just right for the lettering, though the transfer process was a bit tricky as they all link together and didn't retain their shape so well once I took the pins away.

Careful gluing to the card was required to get them sitting just right, but it turned out just right. I briefly toyed with the idea of adding swirly bits and fill to the letters, but the thought was very brief indeed because I just love the simple look to this, and I think them being swirly bit free keeps the focus on the heart and just really makes the card pop.

This is a fun mod card and I'd happily make more despite the complexity. Now I can't wait to get this giveaway going, I've been working on one of the choices (yes, the winner gets to pick their prize!) and it's so special and exciting I'm going to give you a sneak peek at it on my Facebook page, so keep an eye out for that pickie and then next week we'll get the 100th Blog post celebration and giveaway underway!

If you're in Brisbane Australia remember to come see me at the All Saint's Winter Markets, 501 Hamilton Road Chermside this Saturday (the 22nd) from 7am to 12pm.

xnata