Dear readers! First off, I would like to wish you a happy New Year! May the upcoming year be full of joy, good health, peace and creativity. I'd like also to apologize for not blogging, and not responding to emails and comments lately - I've been too busy with my classes.
To continue the subject of Hanukkah-themed recycling crafts I started in the previous post, I'm sharing another Hanukkah Menorah idea. This one is made of recycled paper using the paper quilling technique from 1/4"- and 3/8"-wide strips (0.5cm and 1cm). First I planned to paint it silver, but then decided to leave it as is. This Menorah is approximately 5 inches (12.5cm) in height, I think it may be called "Mega-quilling" compared to the miniature quilled Hanukkah Menoras I made last year.
Happy Hanukkah! חג אורים שמח
Very soon, at the beginning of December, Jewish people around the world will be celebrating the holiday of Hanukkah. Candles, Hanukiyot (Hanukkah Menorahs / Hanukkah lamps), doughnuts and dreidels (spinning tops) are being sold everywhere in Israel.
Nuphar lutea or Yellow water-lily is a genus of aquatic plants. It grows in ponds and slow-moving rivers, native to Eurasia and North America, but can be also found here in Israel. Nuphar blooms in spring and early summer.
A new baby was born to the family of mice-lovers, our friends I already made a 3D quilled mouse for. First I wanted to quill a traditional baby carriage or cradle for them on this special occasion, but on second thought found a better idea — a family of mice with a newborn baby mouse. Look how this loving couple have their tails interwoven and how tenderly they are holding their baby :) The father looks so proud!
I've been creating three-dimensional quilling recently. This is one of my new miniatures — a quilled tea set and a cupcake with cherry. The set includes a tiny teapot, cup, and saucer. I often saw similar designs on the Internet, but had never thought of making one myself. However, the idea came in handy when I needed to make a gift. I knew it had to be something other than flowers, and a decorative tea set seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I quilled also a cupcake to make the whole set more lively.
The praying mantis is an amazing insect who has been always fascinating me. Some time ago I was visiting Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art in Haifa when I saw a beautiful box decorated with an image of two praying mantises. The full title reads "Stationery box (Suzuri Bako), 18th c. Flowers and two praying-mantises. Lacquered wood. Design in gold hiramaki-e and mother-of-pearl inlay. Tikotin collection". This experience has become the catalyst for my decision to make a quilled praying mantis.
In three days starts a new year by the Hebrew calendar. I'm wishing everybody who celebrates, a sweet and happy new year. May it be filled with peace, prosperity and good health. And creation, of course!
!שנה טובה ומתוקה
I finished this quilled lotus flower last fall, almost right after the Sacred lotus seedpod sculpture. I'm fascinated with this marvelous flower, so it's only natural that I often feature it in my art works.
I created this simple quilled card for our neighbors' new baby girl, who was born a couple of weeks ago. I immediately decided that it should feature a baby cradle, but some other element, preferably a toy, was still missing. My husband suggested a teddy bear, and it seemed exactly what I needed. White card stock was used for the base, tiny pink punch flowers, and 1/8" (3 mm) quilling strips. Size: 4 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches (11.5 x 10.8 cm).
This time I'd like to show a simple piece, which is a tiny bouquet of quilled flowers — roses, daisies and fronds. Stems of the roses were made of pieces of wire wrapped in dark green paper, the same paper was used also for the miniature leaves. For the stem of each daisy I used two pieces of 1/16-inch wide (1.5 mm) paper strips glued together lengthwise. The leaves and fronds were made using narrow 1/16-inch wide strips, too. The vase was easy to make by employing the basic techniques of three-dimensional quilling. I put a small piece of polystyrene foam into the vase so that to thrust the roses into it. Some of the leaves and fronds are attached directly to the vase. Size from the bottom to the top edge of the roses is about 2 1/2 inches (6 cm). In the photo the bouquet is seen compared to a Plumeria flower.
Useful tutorials: How to make fringed flowers (for daisies), and Folded rose tutorial.
I started making this flower basket last winter. Since it turned out extremely time-consuming, I had to make a break at some point, then resumed working on it, and eventually got enough time to finish it. For this project I used hand-cut 1/8-inch wide (3 mm) paper strips. The basket is made of white strips with gilded edges created using a metallic gold marker.
Let me introduce to you a new character in my collection of three-dimensional quilled miniatures. This is a princess in a fancy dress. It's hard to call this miniature a masterpiece, but my girls love playing with her, and this is most rewarding to me. The lower part is made up of two layers: the base is a quilled bell (beehive) of 1/8" strips decorated with "eyes" and tight coils; on top of it there's another layer, which consists of wheatear shapes created using 1/16"-wide paper strips. The crown is decorated with tiny rhinestones, as well as the pendant. The book is made of small colored paper sheets, about 3/16 x 3/16 inches each (5 x 5 mm). I decided not to create facial features this time. Height: approx. 3 inches (7.5 cm).
To learn the basics of three-dimensional quilling please download my step-by-step tutorial for making a 3D lion.
It's amazing how every quiller has her own method to fold a rose. I, too, have some tricks that I've never seen before, either on the Web or in a book. So, please welcome my — yet another — tutorial on making folded roses.
I created this simple purple card for this week's CPS Sketch challenge, #170. I've been following their blog for a long time, but this is the first time I participate :) Colored paper of various tints of purple and white watercolor paper were used for it. The quilled flower has been made using 1/8"-wide (3mm) hand-cut paper strips. I also used patterned scissors and punches to decorate the card. Size: 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches (11.5 x 11.5 cm).
I think most of my regular readers aren't new to paper quilling, but if you are, you may want to learn how to make a quilled flower embellishment for your greeting card. I have many quilling tutorials on this blog, the basic instruction can be found in Getting started with paper quilling.
This is one of my old quilled cards made for Valentine's Day (sorry, couldn't show it back then). Colored copy paper, watercolor paper, and wrapping paper have been used for this one. The quilled heart was created using 1/8"-wide (3 mm) strips. This technique is called "multi-strip open coil" in Jane Jenkins' wonderful book on quilling. I like the way lower part of the heart resembles tree roots, although it came out unintentionally :) That's all for now. You might also like my more traditionally-looking Valentine cards.
Unfortunately, I'm not having much time for blogging these days, although I do have new pieces to show off. In the meanwhile, I'll try to do some cleaning up and writing overview posts, which I feel may help my readers to find what they need. Today's post is about quilled insects.
As I already wrote, my art classes keep me very busy. Usually I have a lot of projects to do, and I wanted to share one of the latest. It's a plaster cast of my own hand with a quilled Monarch butterfly.
I made this quilled jewelry for my daughters, thought I would share this idea on the blog. I hope the mothers of little girls out there will like it :)
Roll a ring using an approx. 1/4"(6mm)-wide paper strip, about 5"(12.5cm) in length. Fit the diameter to the finger of you little princess. Then fold a small rose using a strip of the same width and glue it onto the ring. A tutorial on how to make a folded rose can be found on Ann Martin's blog. Enjoy!
Some time ago I created this paper filigree picture using a variety of quilling techniques. You can see here the traditional quilling shapes, as well as husking and fringed flowers. The basket, violets and daffodils were made using teardrops, eyes and bent half circles (1/8"-wide strips). For the leaves of daffodils I used husking. The daisies are fringed flowers (both the petals and the centers), their foliage made of simple cut-outs. For the poppies I used eccentric coils (see Sonya's tutorial for those), and paper punches for the centers.
Size: 5 1/2 x 5 1/2"(14x14cm). The finished work has been framed in a simple white shadowbox.
I created this card for my mother-in-law's birthday. Water-color paper and colored construction paper were used for the base. I used patterned scissors, a gel pen and paper punches to decorate the base. The purple gel pen was used also for the lettering.
This image is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
I'm inviting you to download complete instructions for making a quilled lion (2.5 MB).
Sometimes I stumble upon my texts and images, stolen by other websites. Sometimes I see copies of my designs, published on the Web without mentioning me. Sometimes I even blog about plagiarism. But what I've seen 10 minutes ago was just "above and beyond"! My photograph of my quilled butterfly had been used for a Russian book cover! They are going to publish the book by March 8. I'm not sure if my text, designs or images had been used inside the book, but the cover is more than enough.
If you don't recognize the picture on the screenshot, look at my Quilled butterfly in a fishbowl.
I want to say a big "Thank you!" to everybody who supported me in this unpleasant situation. I received a letter from the publisher, and they assured me that the cover will be changed and the content will be completely original, written by their author. They blame the designer, who made the cover and let down both the author and the publisher.
Almost one year ago I've "met" Patricia Caputo — a wonderful person and talented quiller, the founder of North American Quilling Guild, and the owner of Whimsiquills. If that's not enough, Pat is also a blogger. On her blog called Quilling with Whimsiquills you can read her fascinating personal story, find useful information about quilling, meet quilling artists, and look at the craft of quilling from some unusual points of view.
Unfortunately, my acquaintance with Pat is only virtual, but I don't give up the hope that one day I'll meet her in person :) In the meanwhile, I'm having the chance to enjoy this interview with Pat, taken by Linda at Gratitude Rising (here's the original post). Many thanks to Linda for sharing this great video, a true gift to the quilling community!
Wishing you a Happy New Year! I made this greeting card with a quilled snowman using blue card stock for the base, and white and light blue copy paper for the quilling and decoration. The tools used for this card include paper punches and patterned scissors.
