HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

           

Wishing everyone who stops by a very happy 

New year.

Quilled miniature Hanuman

      Today is my second blog anniversary,and I have something new to share - a miniature Hanuman doll. Hanuman is a Hindu God , he is depicted with a face of a monkey and he is worshipped for good health.He is famous for being very brave and strong and deeply devoted to Lord Rama. He is also the favourite among kids, like a super hero with lot of animated movies based on his stories.

       When I first got the request I took it up with lot of doubts.  It was not easy and it took me a long time to figure out and then quill this doll, but I am happy with the likeness I managed to get . 

        Here's how he looks from behind. He is very colourful and he is made almost completely from paper , except for his earrings which are beads and the floral wires which were inserted inside his legs, arms and his tail. Even his jewels are cut from a shiny paper and his clothes are made from duplex crepe paper .The dome shaped of his crown is made from gold colour quilling strips.I am most happy with his tail as it took shape without much trouble . I worried about it's drooping down.This doll is more than four inches tall.

           When I wrote this post I did not know but only learnt from Anandhirajan's comment that Hanumanth Jayanthi is on 24 th , which makes for a happy coincidence.
       This is another kolam which is also a repeat of my earlier work for the same person who requested the doll .So far I have only accepted requests from people whom I know  ,this is the first time I accepted a request through Email. 

        LInking to Kavi's Challenge  -anything but a card.


      Blog land has given me above all an opportunity to know so many wonderful people. I received this lamp from one of my blogger friends, Viji I came to know her from the wonderful comments she would leave in my blog and I found her from her blog to be such a warm person who takes joy from the smallest of things . When she posted pictures of her lamps ,I liked this one so much that she would have a similar one sent to me. I am so very touched by her affectionate gesture.

         I thank again and again all my blogger friends for generously sharing their work and techniques.Ann  for always inspiring me by her awesome finds and her all too elegant quilling.Also many thanks to people who take time to email me and tell me how my blog has been of help .Makes me feel better at times when I find blogging overwhelming.
        My husband for buying me a new camera early this year, and for promising me all the paper strips I want for my big projects.
Akhil enjoys quilling and even Abi , during his holidays when he had nothing to do wanted to know how I made the square shape. My kids say such nice things about my work and bear with me when all is not working , that I am so very thankful to them.
        Leaving tomorrow to visit my mother in Bangalore for the Christmas holidays and will be back with one last post(I hope) for this year.

         Thanks for stopping by.Merry Christmas to everyone .

Christmas card

         A simple card for Christmas. I saw an image of  this candle on a greeting card with similar such flowers , The frame with holly leaves is printed. For me Christmas season is such a joyous time. Even in quilling I get to make such pretty things. 

      This is my first trial of Mihaela's tutorial for the greens.

     Thanks for stopping by, Happy a lovely day.

Quilled kolam

         I have never tried to repeat any of my work , as I think I  am always first time lucky. But  when I got a request to quill a kolam which I had done almost two years ago, I wanted to find out if I really can make a similar one. This is the kolam , I made it when I was cutting paper strips with scissors with very thick paper .And it was a time when I was blogging just for myself to record my own progress in paper crafts with only Akhil as my follower. 
         I am happy that this kolam is an improvement over my previous one and hope I will find my quilling more improved when I look back at this after a few more years. This turned out a bit bigger than the earlier one. Though I don't have the previous one now , I know it fit inside a C.D.
         I have used thick white pearlised paper for this kolam and hand cut A4 size paper 80 gsm for the pink teardrops.The kolam is quite sturdy and since Thiru Karthigai is just a day away it is nice to post a kolam. 


Thanks for stopping by ,have a lovely day.

Quilled flowers in a pot

      I wanted a quilling comb for a long time ,to help me make perfect wheat ears and to make this flower.

The colour I choose was the one I have not used much(a little different in real) , I hand cut the strips and used the quilling comb for the petals and a fringed flower for the center.

     The flowers kind of popped out when placed against this background. The background is a hand made paper from my favourite pack. I hoard handmade paper and admire them and it is with some difficulty that I cut them up for a project.

     It took me a lot of time to figure out how to arrange the flowers as most colours did not show on this background or looked too bright.So I used the same colour paper for the pot, which is hand cut with a pair of scissors (I stuck quilled elements underneath to give it dimension). I must say I had a lot of input from my kids .

Stick the first loop around the first needle.

Loop around the needles .

Once you reach the required number on the comb, cut up the strip and stick the end.

Remove from the comb.

       A very simple tag ,using my scraps for priya's challenge. Glad I remembered on time.

Priya's challenge

ICR Challenge 12

     Thanks for stopping by, Have a wonderful day.

Some quilled ornaments

                                   QUILLED SNOWFLAKE

                                      QUILLED ANGEL


               Red colour earrings for Pritesh's challenge.

        This is what I got from Piyu, she kindly ordered them for me and got it shipped to me. These are somethings I had wanted for a long time. Though I have alternatives that I use, these are so compact and very useful. I really enjoyed online shopping and want to order all the other tools too ,including the curling coach.

Quilled butterfly mobile

          The first challenge on Kavi's new blog is starting from today. The challenge is to make a project that can be hung. It can be a tree ornament , wreath or a wall hanging or any other project of your choice. It need not have to be a quilling project ,you can use any material for your project.

       I made a quilled butterfly mobile and I hope it inspires you all to join and play along this challenge . You can find more on the challenge here.

          Exam time for my kids mean less computer time and crafting time for me . I tried to do as well as I can in the little time I had. 

      I went Ann's blog for inspiration and there I found this which answered to all my wishes for making something beautiful with paper strips mainly .

         The pot was not easy at all. I cut a whole lot of paper and then rolled them all together , I enlisted the help of an old C.D to support the coils as I don't have a curling coach. That was the easy part, when I tried to shape the coil , I did not drop the coil once but several times and I very nearly gave up on it. When only the recollection that I have put so much strips into this project made me complete the pot.
          I used 5mm wide strips but I suppose using one centimeter wide strips would be a wiser option. The pot is not as perfect as I had planned but it is better than what I had hoped for at one time .I applied a nice coating of glue and gloss to the pot for durability.
        I already had this string of beads which I attached to the center and then quilled some small butterflies which I  stuck to the beads at regular intervals. Then I attached a bell to the string , I had the bell with me for sometime It was hanging from my Kusudama until recently.
       Photographing the mobile was the next challenge , the butterflies were always in motion and it was not easy to get a nice shot.


        I am top three and winner of take a quill pill Piyu's first anniversary challenge. I get 10$ to spend in any store of my choice(for a curling coach perhaps).I had entered this project for the challenge. I am so very pleased . 


 Thanks for stopping ,have a creative day.

Sweet leaves Blog hop.

         Welcome to my blog for more sweet leaves, If you are from Syaz's blog you are in the right place.

         I choose eccentric coils for my leaves. I used about five to six A4 colour strips joined together end to end to make one leaf. The flowers are fringed flowers with a tight coil center.I only added one butterfly to this.

  
       For the butterfly , I gave them royal wings. First I used the Multiple strips  method to make the loops and then I used a slotted tool to curl the loops.

       

                  Here's the complete picture.

       Your next stop is Annie Anastasia, she is already famous for creating so many different quilled leaves.


Here's the list of blogs in case you lose your way, do hop on.
                                      SANDY
                                   JACQULINE
                                      SYAZ
                                   SUGANTHI you are HERE
                                   ANASTASIA
                                       LIN
                                   THUSITHA
                                      MIEZ
                                      AMNA
                                   CRISTINA
                                    SUZANA
                                   FINNUALA
                                    PRITESH
                                   PHILIPPA
                                   JENNIFER
                                     PAULA
                                     LINDA
                                    SHRUTI
                                   MELISSA
                                  BRONWYN
                                    REGINA
                                    NATILDE

    To be a part of this blog hop with such quillers as you see from the list above is really an amazing feeling. Many thanks to Sandy for asking me to be a part of this hop.


 Thanks for stopping by , Have fun blog hopping.

Akhil's birthday gift.

     Akhil is turning fourteen today and this is my birthday gift for him. A quilled guitar fashioned after his own guitar.

     Akhil is so good at almost everything  he tries and he is really good at playing the guitar. He is very creative ,if I can get him away from his computer games . I haven't found a way yet:)).

      Here is a poem Akhil wrote one day when I was cross with him , he can be a real charmer when he wants to be.


Quilling strip


Oh! what is it's beauty? he asks,
For its just paper ,thin and long.
But few know the beauty it masks,
Too good to put into a song.


It's the art of quilling,
And it is easy to learn as well.
All it needs is guiding and rolling,
And there it is, ready to sell.

He is good at writing poems that rhymes.


Thanks for stopping by, Have a joyful day.

Diwali greetings

             A quick post ,wishing everyone who stop by a very happy Diwali.


        Take a quill pill-first anniversary challenge.

Quilled easel card

      I am making an easel card after a long time ,this one is for my childhood friend.

     She is now in Bangalore . We lived close by and went to the same school when we were kids .Though we have gone our different ways she always remembers to wish me on my birthday and on friendship day. She doesn't know about my quilling , so I am hoping this will be  a pleasant surprise to her.

      

ICR challenge 11

Update:

   Since I have so many requests from my friends ,who want to know how I made the crimped circle, I am updating this post. There might be an easier way but this is how I made it.

 For the crimped circle, I used  a very thick white strip (hand cut) for the first inner layers( Thick paper remains a bit stiff even after crimping and can be shaped easily).

      I applied glue to the edges of the purple circle on the card and stuck two layers of the thick white crimped strip. Next I stuck a lot of purple strips together and crimped them. I applied glue to the entire width of the circle ( I had already marked the width of the crimped circle with pencil) and quickly wound the purple strips around the white ones.Adjustments can be made before the glue dries. It is important that we apply the same pressure when we wind crimped strips or else the circle will not be perfect. For the last couple of layers I again used the thick white crimped strips to get the right circle shape.

Thanks for stopping by , have a lovely day.

Multi-strip scrolls.

     Tips for multi-strip scrolls were recently shared on facebook and I am so charmed by its elegance .I have seen so much of these scrolls on Neli's blog , that this piece is much inspired by her work. I had different coloured strips left out from other projects in a box and I tried to use as many colours as possibe. I am entering this card for the first anniversary challenge by Piyu at take a quill pill. All the strips are hand cut from A4 colour sheets.


 For those who missed this on facebook here is the picture . (click on the image to view).

      I also have such wonderful news to share. I won Ann martin's fabulous giveaway . I won a beautiful glass paper weight kit, which has space to house quilled work!!. I have been smiling all week:)).


    I have some more news too, I just now found out that I  have also won the challenge for last month at the Emirates quilling guild on facebook.The topic was leaves and I had entered my Peepal leaf Ganesh. I would like to thank everyone who voted for me. The prize is a goodie bag from Meg crawford another super quiller from Australia:)).


    Thanks for stopping by, Have a wonderful day.

Quilling for Navarathri Golu

          Still in  Navarathri Golu mood. I wanted to share some papercrafts I made for our library's golu. The quilled lamps are but 6mm in diameter , I rolled scrap book paper for the lamps and quilling paper for the flame . All the kind ladies there were so delighted with it . The scene depicts a festival where lamps are lit and placed on leaves and are let afloat on water. The water itself I made from hand made paper.

            This is not a real shirt but a tiny origami shirt less than two inches in length.I made the shirt with pattern paper for a scene  where new clothes are gifted to newly weds. I found the tutorial on you tube.

          This is a miniature Mulaipari( During festivals seeds of nine grains are let to sprout in a vessel in the dark) and then the vessels are carried on the head in a procession . This is done as a worship for rain and fertility.

            My part of this year Golu  is the story of birth of river Cauvery. Me and my friend completed the steps with scenes which tells the story. This is the main scene where Cauvery starts flowing.I made the mount with themocol and then painted with acrylic paints and then for the water I used handmade paper crushed and folded with the help of water and glue. 
        According to the story the sage is carrying a divine girl after transforming her into water in a small vessel. But when he is meditating in the forest with the vessel beside him a crow(which is lord Ganesha in the form of a crow) knocks the vessel over and she flows down as the river Cauvery.
  
       Since I started working for our library's golu I have learnt a lot of mythological stories. We have a senior member who is so knowledgeable about these stories she also researches them thoroughly . She suggests the topic , tells us the stories and then guides us through . I am really fascinated by these stories and love working for the golu.


       Thanks for stopping by , have a happy navarathri.


 Linking this this Take a quill pill secret sponsor challenge  -celebration.      

Golden lotus pond.

    Hi everyone , I don't have much to share because I don't have time to quill these days. Navarathri Golu preparations are on at our library and I am trying to do justice to my part of the work there. I am also in the middle of my kids exams which means even less internet time for everyone.


    One of my dear friends who always has a beautiful golu at her home every Navarathri asked me to make this for her . This is a miniature pond of Madurai Meenakshi temple with lotus flowers with the center one being a golden one. It is called Porthamarai or golden lotus pond.


    The temple has mention in Tamil literature for more than two thousand years ,As legend has, new literature was tested by placing it on the surface of the pond(written on palm leaves) , weak literature sunk whereas good literature floated.There is also this story that Thiruvalluvar's Thirukkural was rejected by the Sangam poets for not following the prevailing rules for poetries of that time, and thrown into the porthamarai kulam , but Thirukkural came to the surface on a golden lotus.The Thirukkural though written more than two thousand years ago ,is relevent even to this day and is the most translated book in the world second only to the Bible.
     
     For the water I  used a hand made paper . For the one step  that I  have made for the pond it is a shadow box made from a thick paper and  I stuck red colour strips all around at regular intervals as it is seen in temple ponds. For the gold lotus I cut gold colour paper but the edges were not golden ,I painted the edges with acrylic gold colour. The rest are flowers made from 2mm paper pink strips . I have not stuck the flowers I will give it to my friend and she can arrange them just as she wants .The entire pond is about six inches in length and the flowers are really tiny. My friend did not want any leaves.
     
    Thanks for stopping by, have a great day.
    

Quilled scenery

             I wish all my friends from Kerala a happy Onam. This quilled picture did start with my intention to quill something with the onam theme. Scenes of Kerala always show coconut trees and back waters, I started with qulling the coconut trees(they are coconut trees). I wound brown colour strips around an empty refill to make the tree trunk and fringed the leaves. I rolled some strips cut from scrap book paper  for the coconuts.


        For the solid land I cut brown colour handmade paper in random widths and rolled them by hand and stuck them .Handmade paper when cut into strips have edges that do not have a uniform colour and this gave texture to the coils. For the water I crimped four different colours strips , light blue, dark blue , light green and white (the colours were Abi's idea). I stuck them in a wavy fashion to give the appearance of water and ripples. This picture reminds me of drawings I made as a kid. I am happy the way this turned out .


       I edited my picture in Picasa and gave the frame to the picture which is a new feature in picnik.


       Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day.

Quilled Peepal leaf Ganesha

      Lord Ganesha or Pilliayar is widely revered as the remover of obstacles and the lord of new beginnings.


    This elephant face God is represented in so many amazing ways. Peepal leaves with the  proper shapes are arranged to represent this God. This design has found it's way in paintings and kolams and I have attempted it with quilled peepal leaves.

     I made all the leaves separately and then arranged them. 


     On this day of Ganesha chaturthi lord Ganesha is worshiped for knowledge , good health and prosperity.


     Thanks for stopping by , have a joyous day.

Quilled leaves

    Ever since I saw Annie Anastasia's unique leaves I have wanted to try making them. When I first tried making them it did not occur to me that she used a comb to achieve this effect so I couldn't get it right. Now that she has a very good tutorial  where she shows just how she makes her leaves with veins.

    Looks like I have filled up the entire card.I am planning to put this in a shadow box. The paper strips are all hand cut from A4 colour sheets.


   Thanks for stopping by, have a creative day.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY.

           A VERY HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY TO EVERYONE. 


 Akhil is ready with his speech, we are now off to our local library for the flag hoisting.

Quilling for kids

      This month on take a quill pill, it's quilling for kids.Your entry can be a card,   a tag, book mark , a frame or any such other of your choice  , with quilling on the given theme. Here's more on the challenge.

       A card with a quilled clown was my first choice , I found this clown in the quilled creation gallery. The strips are hand cut and the sentiment hand written. This card is with my brother's son Rithesh.

     Here's  a book mark with a quilled book worm I made some time ago for my son Abi.I found this book worm on a shopping bag from a popular store.

     Gift tags with a quilled girl dress and a quilled dinosaur. The tags are now with two lovely kids in Ireland .

  

      These quilled strawberry earrings- easily the  most popular among all the earrings I have made. I have lost count of the number of pairs I have made in the past few months. Little girls love them, with beads on them it looks really pretty.This pair is with Prisha. I have found it is so much more rewarding when quilling for kids, you get paid with hugs and kisses.

Thanks for stopping by, Have a great day.