Lily and dragonfly, framed quilling

My new paper quilling project, from the "Bugs and flowers" series :) The design is based on a picture from Embroiderer's Countryside, explanation of how to make a similar lily flower can be found in Jane Jenkins' "22 flower designs".

Quilled Hamsa pendant

The Hamsa is an amulet in the shape of a hand. It's believed to protect against the evil eye. It's usually hung in a car, at the door of a house, or worn as a jewelry. Often it has an image of fish, eye or The Star of David in its center. Blue color is also said to protect against the evil eye.

Paper punches collage for kids

Recently I've bought a few paper punches for scrapbooking. I haven't tried them yet, but my children have :)

Parchment craft, my first card with a butterfly and flowers

I got introduced to parchment craft or pergamano through the works and tutorial of lenka_kalinka. It's in Russian, but well worth taking a look, the author also speaks English. I had a small piece of pink parchment, which was used for my first attempt. Tools: a white colored pencil, home-made awl, embossing tools, small scissors. I also used the reverse side of a computer mouse pad to work on.

The pattern is from Embroiderer's Countryside by Helen M Stevens, one of my favorite books ever.

I know, the result is far from perfect, but wanted to share it as is anyway. For those, who decide to give it a try :)

Orchid again, framed paper quilling

I created my first paper filigree orchid when I receiver this amazing plant as a gift.

DIY: Make a storage organizer from old boxes and wrapping paper

For a long time I used to keep all my quilling tools and paper in chocolate boxes, as you probably noticed :) I had to do something about it, so I built this storage organizer. It's made from cartons and pieces of cardboard and covered with gift wrapping paper. The knobs are from plastic bottle caps and copper wire. Great! Now I have everything I need: two large drawers for paper sheets and strips, two smaller ones for tools, and three "cups" for pens, scissors, glue, etc. It's so convenient and lightweight that I can move it around easily.

I'm very happy with my new organizer and would recommend everybody who needs one to make it themselves. You can save a few pence in out tough times, get exactly what you need, and also go at least a little greener.

Spring birthday card with quilled flowers

This is my new birthday card. With paper filigree, as usual. You can find the instructions for making the base here, although I used the template from this Russian blog. You should use thick paper for it, since the quilled decoration is pretty heavy and the card may collapse. I had even to support it with a peace of card stock, attached one end to the bottom and the other end to the reverse of the bouquet.

I used pattern edged scissors to cut the background, hand-cut paper strips for the quilling, and a gel pen for the lettering.

Moth and thistles, framed quilling

I was pretty much satisfied with my previous small framed work "Bumblebees and flowers", and short time after it created this thistle with a hawk moth.

3D quilled mouse toy

I have a lot of new creations to show, but no time to post :( Despite this, I'll try to blog as much as I can. This mouse was made as a gift for friends who like mice of all kinds :) The design is based on the one from "Quilling: Techniques and Inspiration" by Jane Jenkins (this is one of the best books on quilling I've seen so far, by the way). The mouse is about 2cm (7/8 inch) long without the tail, the paws are made from narrow strips (half the regular 1/8'' width). The wheat ear is real, not quilled :)

Altered item: Decorative box with a quilled folk art bird

As I already wrote, I like using folk art motifs in my paper quilling. Here's a new box with traditional Ukrainian patterns.

Make a sea world themed vase using window sticker paints

With my elder daughter we like window sticker paint (we have Amos Glass Deco - Window Sticker Paint) and used it to make some window decorations for her room, but this time we decided to decorate something else. I bought a simple glass vase and we painted it for my mother's (her grandmother) birthday. The subject is the sea world, one of our favorites. Some of the patterns came with the paint, when others are our designs.

First, we drew fish and other sea animals with pencil on plain paper and cut them out.

Fox & rabbit quilled miniature

Some time ago I created a tiny cat and mouse using paper quilling. One of my Russian readers, a remarkable person, Waldorf educator and Waldorf doll artist suggested that they can be used for what she calls "tales on the palm of a hand". The main idea is that such miniatures can be created in the process of telling a tale, or hidden in a hand and then shown, as children watch and listen. The tale must be short and simple, not a classical fairy tale, but a story about familiar, everyday matters. She gives an example of such a tale with the cat and mouse (something similar can be done for these fox and hare):

— Hide the figures in the palm of your hand and begin: "Once upon a time there was a kitty. He was as black as coal. His tail was black, and his ears were black, and his paws. But his eyes were green, like spring buds."

— Open up your hand and show the kitty: "One day he felt very lonely and was looking for a playmate, when suddenly he heard a strange noise".

— Scratch something with your fingers making a noise: "Who's that?!"

— The little mouse shows up (from your hand or pocket), you tell how the kitty chases the mouse, and so on. You can even finish at this point. That would be enough for small kids.

For those interested in making the fox and hare characters with paper quilling, I used simple quilling shapes, made of hand-cut strips. For the eyes the strips are half the width of regular 3mm (1/8 inch) strips.