Book review - Pretty Quilled Cards by Cecelia Louie

     

               I have known and admired Ceclia's work for several years now , she brings to quilling a fresh style with her use of paper strips which is both expressive and delightful . When asked to review her new book I was sure I was only dreaming. 

             It was not easy to choose a favourite as I liked them all. Each of the 25 projects  in the book is designed to include at least one new idea. But I was most delighted with the 'Jam jar Thank you card' for I did not understand at first glance and had to read through the whole description to find what a clever idea she has had for this card.

          About an year ago Cecelia gave me her 'Heart full of flowers' tutorial because I liked it so much . I have tried it here . I already knew from that tutorial how detailed her instructions are and I found the same in the book too. While making the valentine I did not follow her measurements I just followed her flower tutorial and her very useful tips on gluing . But this time I wanted to try a project exactly as she has given in her book . I measured all the strips with the templates given, folded and cut where indicated, and made this card. I was amazed at how perfect the measurements were and how easy it was to make these pretty vases just following her steps. Nothing is left to chance , She has included tips for making the vase shapes ,flowers and leaves with pictures and diagrams , which even includes how to stick the strip for the table straight. 

          Look how pretty this card looks sitting on my table. I tried this project because the vases looked tempting, There are so many such yummy projects in the book which I can't wait to try.Cecelia's ideas and style are unique and the hard work she has put to get all the measurements right and give instructions with so much clarity is commendable. I would recommend beginners to follow all her instructions to gain confidence as it is not always easy to work with single strips . This book is a must for quillers who aspire to learn on edge quilling or quilled typography. She teaches how to soften and shape strips throughout the book.

            Thank you Cecilia for your really great book. 

            Thanks for stopping by , have a great day.

Quilled flowers using multi strips loops

      These flowers were made using multiple strips looping technique. You can find the tutorial for this here. I used four strips of paper together to make the loops of the petal.  The paper strips I used were heavier than the usual quilling paper and using four strips at a time was a bit difficult. But the flowers turned out very pretty . I used alternate side looping method as I used just one colour for looping .The picture was taken in Sunlight.

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Purple quilled flowers

     A few days ago , I received a request to make a card to be gifted to non other than the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J . Jayalalitha for her birthday . which is today. The request came from the management of a school.  They had no idea about quilling or quilled cards. They were looking for someone who could make them a handmade card  . Their search led to our library and to me .After seeing some of my cards and my blog  they asked me to make a completely quilled card with flowers and leaves. The only problem was I had less than two days in which to finish with the card size being a little less than A4.I wanted the card to look more green , which is the Chief Minister's favourite colour but instead it turned out more purple and adding more leaves only make the card look too busy.
    I tried some new colour combinations for this card  I made all the flowers using a needle tool, using  three different shades of purple. The greens and purples are made using 5mm strips and the little blue flowers were made using 3mm paper strips.

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Quilled Valentine with Royal flowers.

    A few weeks ago I received a mail from a very sweet person asking me to make a valentine's day card. She let me choose the colours and layout . Her only request was that I use Royal quilled flowers in them.  Thanks to her I made these gorgeous flowers . I used  dark centred pink-purple paper strips and white strips . I embossed a sheet of metallic white paper and cut out the heart shape. Although most people use a slotted toll to make royal quilled flowers , I prefer using a needle. I loved using these dark centred paper strips , the tight coils and the multi strip scrolls were all made from the same pack. The thick crimped white paper strips are hand cut.

   Thanks for stopping by , Have a great day.

By Hand, From The Heart- One Show, Many Stories

                                                                      Quilled Lilac

     By Hand, From The Heart , is a market place for artisans, designers and entrepreneurs to showcase their handmade, handcrafted, handwoven and homemade products. The market place is held periodically in Chennai to celebrate and to promote all things hand made.
     I could only dream of taking part in such huge events . Thanks to Deepa Sekar Co founder at By Hand, From The Heart, who convinced me to take part in the event this month in a very small way , I have been working  for the past few weeks making cards which will be on display at the event and will also be available for sale. I have posted a few of my cards on my page . If you are in Chennai on the 14th and 15th of this month don't forget to drop in at By Hand , From The Heart market place . Here is the event page, you will find such wonderfully talented people and their beautiful work featured on the page, it would be such a treat to see them all in person.

                                                                    QUILLED KITE

 Friday & Saturday. 14th & 15th February 2014 from 10 A.M to 8 P.M
At, Hanu Reddy Residences, 41/19, Poes Garden,
Teynampet, Chennai - 600086   


Thanks for stopping by , Have a creative day.

Quilled valentine.

      I quilled this for a valentine theme scrap book cover page. I was asked to use red and black combination, something I have not tried so far. I found three different shades of red strips with me and used them on a hand made paper background. I embossed a red colour card stock first and hand cut the heart shapes. I used 120gsm and 160 gsm hand cut black colour strips.

      If you are following my facebook page you might have have seen this card I made a while ago. I have embossed the background here as well . Must admit that although I like the texture, it is difficult to stick strips down on an embossed paper .

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Pongal Wishes

         A very happy Pongal to everyone. Today on Surya Pongal , salutations are given to the Sun.
Pongal is the most important festival for Tamilians around the world. It is a harvest and thanksgiving festival. The first day is Surya Pongal , The second day is Mattu Pongal, on this day the Oxen is decorated and fed a sweet dish called Pongal. This is to thank them for their hard work along with the farmers in bringing about a good harvest. On the third day(kannu Pongal) , relatives and friends are visited and thanked for their support.
      Thanks for stopping by , Have a great day.