HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011

      

             

       A very happy 2011 to everyone.

   "  May the new year be warm with the memories of yesterday,

    Happy with the presence of today,

    And bright with the promise of tomorrow."

Wishing everyone who stop by a very happy  and creative year ahead.

Quilled kolam

        We are in the middle of a Tamil month called Margazli , this month starts from mid December and ends mid January. This month is considered very auspicious and a month dedicated to the Gods(there is an interesting belief -In general 4 to 6 Am in the morning(Brahma Muhurtham) is considered very auspicious time for prayers .It is also believed that one day of the Gods is one year for man and that the 4 to 6 Am of the Gods ,which is one month duration for man is this Margazli month .Therefore this is the month when it is auspicious even for the Gods.)

       As is the tradition every year ,I can see large kolams in front of houses . I only go down to make my kolam on very special days , but I can quill a kolam whenever I want.

       I wanted to post today because it is exactly one year since I started this blog. It was about this time last year, I was making my first snowflakes and Christmas tree to take to my mom's house . I had made at least a dozen snowflakes and hung them all on the tree. I decorated the house with kusudamas and paper snowflakes . 

       In this one year I have made so many friends ,learnt so much and rolled so many hundreds of strips.  Like every other place bloggerland is so beautiful because of the beautiful and talented people in it . I would like to thank  all the people who have encouraged and inspired me and look forward to draw more inspiration from them all. 

      Thanks for stopping by, Have a wonderful Christmas.

      

Christmas tree

       As one of the winners of the last CraftyJC challenge I am invited by Jaya to participate in the 5th challenge to provide some inspiration. The challenge is based on the Christmas season -Brrrrrr.

       I am so glad she asked me and I got to quill this Christmas tree, I needed just that inspiration to get me started. Do join in this festive challenge  and play along.

          

      For the Christmas tree. I have completely used crimped strips. I have tried this idea before in another card and it looked really like nib painting. I first drew the outline of the tree (really light) and then stuck a length of strip on the outline for all the three layers .After the outline  dried I stuck one end of the crimped strip to one end of the outline and I looped the strips with my hands and stuck it to the outline as I filled the entire space inside the outline (Strips when crimped become so flexible and workable) . I have used two shades of green  hoping to get a nice effect. 

     To make the holly leaves first make a loose coil and pinch on both sides to get an eye shape. Now hold the center of the marquis tight with one hand and with the other hold one pointed end of the marquis and push it towards the center.Now repeat the same on the other side . 

    Thanks for stopping by, Happy holidays.

Quilled ornaments

       

                                  Quilled ornament                                                      

Quilled Snowflake

                               Quilled angel

                                Quilled star

                                Quilled bells

Christmas card.

    With so much inspiration on the internet I couldn't put off my Christmas card any longer.  Quilling the holly leaves was really a challenge ,no two leaves looked the same and I did waste  a lot of strips trying to get it right. As soon as I saw this cute little angel I knew I had to quill it.  

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.