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-Six: Purple Ombre Mask

Sorry I'm late this week, I'm back at uni and it's been keeping me very busy!

This week I've made my second mask and it's a dramatic purple ombre this time! Trying to get a few of these for the next markets I'll be in, though none are officially scheduled, there is a possibility for Christmas time...

And look, they're on sticks now!

I decided that the stick option worked better than ribbon as what beautiful lady would want a mask that interferes with her hair? The result is very elegant and sophisticated, and looks so natural displayed in a vase don't you think? I just bought a long piece of dowel from Spotlight, measured, marked and had my hubby cut it up, then I got all sandy and painty.

So many ideas for these. And it was easier this time, so hopefully I'll get faster at it each time.

 

I'm glad I have a hobby that 1: produces pretty things 2: pays for itself through selling what I make and 3: gives me something artistic to do when I need to take a break from my studies.

 

Next week we've got another framed piece to enjoy!


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-Four: Blowin' Bubbles

This week we are getting into my framed pieces, there will be several of those in the next few weeks (apart from next week, which will be a whole other story) we get a reminder to enjoy the simple things in our lives. It keeps you young.

 *Before we continue, I have announced the winner of the mask or frame competition, the winner's name is up on the Facebook page - the winner chose the frame, so the mask is now available for purchase! I'll be mounting it to a stick, and it will be $18 + postage*

This design is fairly simple in terms of the quilling, bubbles don't take much to look good, but what is great about them is the impact of lots and lots of them! I've got them gradually increasing in size on this one.

I think he looks a little like Christopher Robin, don't you? I think it's that scruffy head of hair.

H. Jackson Brown has some fantastic quotes, I'll be doing others with his wisdom involved, all taken from a book I own that he wrote called 'Life's little instruction book'. It was written for his son, so I think it's quite fitting that we've got a boy involved in this piece.

The bubbles are in all the colours you might see in the surface of a real bubble.


We've got lots more framed pieces coming up in the next couple of months, all to end up for sale along with masks and other items on my madeit page (currently under construction, will put up a link when it's up and going again).


Next week though we're not doing something framed or a mask or a card! It's something very special and beautiful, for which I've left a photo clue on the Facebook page...

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