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.

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.

Akhil's birthday.

    Today Akhil is turning thirteen and he is having a wild  party. He is my younger son and  a ray of sunshine in our home. We both have a lot in common , we both love to do art work , we both are daydreamers and both of us spend at least an hour a day looking for things we miss-lay:)).


    We share the same work table , so when I am blogging he is doing his home work and  I get to share all the wonderful blogs I visit with  him. He is good at quilling too and loves making quilled cards and he takes time to admire my work.For his love of his guitar I wanted to add some music notes on the card , but it looked too crowded and I gave up the idea.


      I started this card with the idea of quilling his name with a  tiger for the letter 'I', but the tiger turned out like a teddy bear .For the rest of the letters I quilled the alphabet first and added on leaves and berries to give the look of plant vines .There is a caterpillar on the letter 'K' but it looks just like a design, and there is a ladybird on the letter 'L' .


      I am very pleased with the card, it looks so much better than the photograph(quilled work always does).For the paper bunting I cut out small triangles of quilling paper and I have stuck each of them on small pieces of double tape to give it some dimension.The cake is on a tree trunk , the honey bee is bringing an apple and the ant is carrying a gift.My son liked it and I am happy (and relieved:)) ). 

     Thanks for stopping by,Have a great day.

folded roses

       I have been away for a while  and  I did take my quilling things with me. A slotted tool ,1cm width strips and glue is all that is required for folding a rose , I had folded a few and arranged them on this card. 

       As before I have used Inna's tutorial for a folded rose.


       Thanks for stopping by, Have a creative day!

Birthday card

         This card is for my sister who is celebrating her birthday today. She  was the crafty one in our family when we were growing up. She is a doctor and has very little time now,but she always gets creative with her kolams and other art work when ever she finds time. She is also a huge admirer of my work and I take great pleasure quilling for her.

      I have cut yellow colour paper for the entire card, I always avoid swirls when I have to mail the card but I couldn't help it I think swirls are elegant ,so I have added an extra swirl so that the strip does not bend.

      I am going to take a few day off from blogging, hope to catch up on all my favourite blogs when I come back.

      Thanks for stopping by, Have a blessed day.

more gift tags

 

inspired by Navarathri

        For this Navarathri Golu I made  two golden lotuses , I made a miniature Madurai temple pond which has a golden lotus at the center. This card is inspired by that lotus and the golden stars are all punched from the paper I have used to make the lotus. I have also used the ribbon we used in our golu. 

     The pattern in the card made with combing technique is inspired by the lotus.I have made a pair of ear rings which goes with the card which will make a nice gift as well.This time it is inspire and create at craftyJC . Right now I can't think of anything but Navarathri and my card is inspired by all the glitters of Navarathri festival.


      Thanks for stopping by, happy Navarathri.


     

Flowers of Munnar

        This summer me and my family holidayed at Munnar(a bit of heaven on earth). it was such a welcome change from the hot and dry summer of Chennai. Tea estates covering acres and acres looking like green carpets was such a beautiful sight.I knew there must be a reason why Kerala is called God's own country.There were daises and roses and beautiful violet flowers everywhere.

   

        I wanted to quill something nice for my elder brother who is visiting us from Australia after four years to take back with him. I drew inspiration from  the colourful flowers of Munnar for my quilled basket with flowers. 

         I really wanted to frame my work but did not finish it in time so I made a shadow box to mount the basket and the quilled flowers( I bought a sheet of  green hand made paper to make this shadow box,a beautiful example of the sheets we are using for our library's golu this time).

    

        Thanks for stopping by, Have a lovely day.

Thank you card

       Time to say thank you to some wonderful people. I made this card for a teacher , my neighbour who kindly tutored my elder son Abinesh for his tamil exam.


     I also would like to thank Madhavi Sivan of Get crafty for featuring me on her blog.


     I don't have time for cards, but somehow I can't stop quilling. The ladybird I made on request from my younger son. The yellow paper I cut from A 4 size colour sheets and I have crimped the black strips for the center of the flower.
     Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

quilled daisy

      I have been thinking of quilling a daisy for some time ,I quilled one finally and really enjoyed making it . I did not mean to use it on a card, as it will be difficult to put the card inside an envelope without crumpling the daisy. 
Then again I used it on this card with this beautiful background. I will keep this card for myself .The quilled bee and the word happy together will make "bee happy", and it will look nice on my son's table.
      I almost never use pattern paper as it becomes difficult for me to quill over the patterns, but these had daisies on them and I thought I could use it. I vastly prefer white base as it will allow me to use lot of colours and the card stock I use has a slight gloss which reflects the colours in the strips making it look all the more beautiful. 


     I have quilled the word happy with black strips. The swirls are all dark green( it doesn't show in the picture).

       Take a strip of 10mm quilling paper , yellow colour and fringe it as shown.( I cut the fringes with a pair of scissors)
.

      With the help of a slotted tool roll the fringed strip.(Roll it with your hand if you don't have a tool)

    
      Remove the rolled strip from the tool and glue the end.

       Press the fringes on all sides to make a fringed flower.

      Take a small circle of paper and make a cut as shown.

      Stick the cut ends one on top of the other to form a small cone .

      Cut strips into small pieces of required length and then round off the edges.Stick the strips over the cone as shown.

        Continue this way , until you have at least three rows of petals.

       Stick the fringed yellow flower at the center of the strips. Here you have a beautiful daisy.

                                                      

Thanks for stopping by , Have a creative day.