Another quilling idea

    I think the petals of the flower look like they are embroidered. I saw a picture of flowers in google images which looked like paper embroidery and attempted to reproduce the same effect , I Pinched my  coils in every imaginable way and only ended up disappointed. It so happens that there is a method to how we can get the effect. I chanced upon the tutorial at Alli's blog. 


    The wings of the dragon fly I made using wheatear technique. I added the dragon fly just to show the similarity in making the petals and the wings.


Wheatear method for the wings.


    For the four wings take four strips and make folds in them as shown. Starting  with one centimeter fold the strips increasing by a centimeter for each fold. Up to seven centimeters.(Six for the smaller two wings)

     Take one strip and make a loop as shown starting with the one centimeter length .

       Then fold the two centimeter length fold over the first one and form a loop and then the three centimeter so on.

         Once you finish looping the whole strip stick the end .(six loops for the smaller wings and seven for the larger).

        

Now apply glue at the folds so that the loops stay in place. That will make one wing of the dragonfly.

       The petals are also made in a similar way, first make a small loop , 

        Loop the strip around the first loop to form more loops each time folding the strip on one side where you are holding( just like wheatears). Be sure to hold all the loops together.

     Once you have finished looping the entire strip ,stick the end of the strip .Don't let go of the coils.

       Flatten the loops by nicely pressing on the side away from your hand,still holding the folds firmly.You can shape the petal a bit.

      Now let go of all the folds that your were holding.You have a beautiful petal. This method  also has a name it is called a vortex.Both the flowers are made using this method and without any quilling tool.

     I think it is beautiful , while I was finishing one flower  this way, it occurred to me that the loops look more like eccentric loops . As a trial I did this flower by first rolling the strip with my needle to make a loose coil . I pulled all the strips to one end and then pinched it and held it firmly after that I pressed the other side flat and then released the coils. And this is the result. 

Thanks for stopping by, Have a great day.

Quilled Annam

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        Annam is the name of a bird also called annaparavai, I am not sure whether such a bird existed but its beauty and grace has inspired Indian art for ages. We can see this bird in paintings ,embroidery , in temple sculptures ,brass work and on saree borders.....Its also the favourite of poets and writers of Tamil literature. This bird has been celebrated by writers as an epitome of grace and purity. It is supposed to be white in colour and has a character of when given milk and water mixed together to leave out the water and drink only the milk.(symbolically when both love and hate or good and bad exists together, the lesson to be learnt from this bird is to choose good and love).


     I traced the picture of this bird from a shopping bag and then got an impression of the picture on this card . I started with the swirls in the tail, then next I wanted to make sure I got the face right before I quilled some more. I found it really difficult and I fairly gave up, but the eyes looked good and I was eager to know how it will look when completed and after a long struggle with paper strips , scissors and glue. I completed my annam. I have used a metallic brown colour paper strips through out , I had to cut small bits and piece them together. Its a bit thick paper and so I had to hold down the pieces until it dried. But the  end result was really more than I had hoped for.The beauty of this annam is it is wearing jewels around its neck , anklets and also a small dot on its ears, which I suppose are earrings.
   
    
     This also coincides with this month theme crafty JC Indian ethnic challenge.


     Thanks for stopping by, have a creative day.

quilled flower card

       

          I always find photographing my quilled work difficult ,  I sometimes find the colours not true to the real one. My brother thinks it is my camera and that I need to get one with more pixels. Though I cut strips for quilling I prefer pre cut strips. Here, in the craft stores I only get multicolour strips and when I need a lot of the same colour strips I  have to cut 


       For this card too I have cut strips and tried to do something new with the green strips( I have seen this technique on lot of other blogs).  


       I feel so happy when  someone  tells me I have inspired them to quill. I have people where I live asking me to teach and I have also seen people start quilling after buying my cards . I introduced quilling to my students this summer ,my hope is that quilling becomes popular in India ( that way I can get quilling paper easily and I don't have to go half across my city to get it).


      Thanks for stopping by , Have a great day.

    

quilled card

      I am experimenting with different colour combinations and shapes. This design is inspired by the kolam I made for this Diwali. In my recent posts I have been using either one colour strips or two colours , here too I have used only two colour strips . I have hand cut the strips from blue and red colour sheets.

    
       Thanks for stopping by, Have a creative day.

Celebration

        I have tried cursive lettering for this card. I first wrote the word 'celebration' in pencil and then stuck the strip over it. I must say it was a bit difficult.I had to cut and stick the strip to look as if it is continuous.
        The petals are made from eccentric coils ,I have  hand cut orange and green colour sheets for the flowers and leaves. This is a time for celebration and I would wish in advance a very happy diwali to everyone.
This card goes to take a quill pill challenge.

                


       Thanks for stopping by, have a great diwali.