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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Quilled in Blue Bracelet


Hi all, back with another quilled jewelry project.  This bracelet was on of the projects made for the February Custom Quilling Newsletter that I haven't posted yet.  I used the navy strips that came in the kit to quill the motifs.  These strips are a little heavier weight and I think it gives the quilling more stability for jewelry. 


I used oval shaped antique gold filigree pieces as the bases for the quilling.  The motifs have alternating rounded and softly pointed petals with light and medium blue crystal centers.  Bugle beads and peacock beads accent the bracelet ovals for additional sparkle. 


The motifs were gilded after completion and before adhering to the filigree bases with an 18KT gold pen.  I love the way the filigree bases expands the possibilities of quilled jewelry and have more ideas and shapes to play with!  Back later with another project!

Shalom,
Sonya
Thanks for the lovely comments!!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Rose Garden Diorama Card

Hi all, sorry to be MIA for a while.  My husband had surgery on his knee that kept me busy and I had to be his chauffeur and runner on his job while he was unable to do it.  Early mornings and exhausting days!  But I did manage to get a couple of projects done and I still have some to show you. 

This is one on my "want to do" list and Tracey's pre-colored roses were first on my list to try it out with.  You can find the tutorial on how to make a diorama card here. It is really easy and the hardest part is deciding what to decorate it with.  I wanted it to be like looking into a climbing rose garden and used a Martha Stewart punch for the rose mounts. 
I printed out the single rose spray in pink, red and peach several times and then cut out the different roses to layer.  Some I layered the largest rose and others the smaller to give them dimension.  They are all popped up on foam tape.  The butterflies are from the Fred She Said Ornate Butterfly and Tattered Rose set.  It has a digi file and a cut file for your electronic cutter.  I used only the bottom blackout file of the butterfly and glimmer misted them with pink and gold. 
The sentiment was stamped and embossed in gold on a Cuttlebug tag.  The bow looks blue but really is a in shaded greens.  The original card design easily folds flat for mailing, but with all of the pop dots on this one it doesn't really lay flat enough for a regular envelope. It has a lot of depth that the camera doesn't pick up well.  The pre-colored images makes it super easy and vibrant and a design that has lots of possibilities. 

Tomorrow another quilled jewelry piece.  Until then,

Shalom,
Sonya
Thanks for your comments, I read them all!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Quilled Arbor Perpetual Calendar


Hi all, back with another of the Custom Quilling DT projects.  This is a different perpetual calendar than the previous one that I did.  I saw several of these handy little block style calendar made from wooden blocks or paper and decided to give one a try.  The basic design of these calendars is blocks and bars that have numbers and months that can be mixed and matched for the correct date.

There are many square box templates and tutorials on the Internet and you could also use your Cricut to cut them if you have one.  Here is a good tutorial, with cute examples, that shows how to cut and assemble one of these calendars from card stock.  The month blocks are smaller and the base design is different but you can alter the design as you like.  If you alter the month blocks to be larger be sure to add to the end flaps as well so they will close properly.   

For the calendar assembly I inked and stamped the edges of the number and month blocks before I put the them together.  The numbers were cut from my Storybook Cricut Cartridge.  I printed the months out on my printer and then used punched the ends with a MS punch, cutting off excess to fit the block front. In the tutorial  the three month blocks sit on top of the calendar base and the number blocks fit perfectly on top of them.  Since I wanted to print my month names I made mine a bit bigger and only two fit on top of the base, the third is stored in the base.
The calendar base is constructed from an open rectangular box and a back piece that forms the arbor.  For the arbor back I started with a rectangular piece and used on of my circle Nestabilities that made a nice rounded shape on the top and ran it through my Cuttlebug only half way so it would leave a rounded top.  next I took the next smaller Nestie circle and laid it on the rounded top and did the same half way cut and then used my craft knife to cut the straight edge at the bottom of the half circle to finish the arbor arch.  The white lattice is a MS punch. 

For the quilling I used the pretty shades of blue and green quilling strips in the CQ Feb kit and quilled the flowers and vines adorning the arbor.  The grass on the front is made from hand fringing two strips of green card stock and layering them.  It isn't a straight fringe but one of tall spiky grass like shapes.  A blue bow and some Stickles to the centers of the quilled flowers finish off the design.  It is an easy design and can be altered in so many creative ways for a calendar that you will get many years worth of use from, or give as a gift.  Back tomorrow with another project a quilled bracelet.  Until then,

Shalom,
Sonya
Comments and project links are always read and appreciated!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Rainbow Awning Card

Hi all, back with the projects for the Custom Quilling February Newsletter.  The first on that I have to show you is a window card.  When I saw the scalloped fabric like stickers in the kit it reminded me of the trim on a window awning and it inspired this card.  I used a window stamp from Heartfelt Creations that I stamped, colored with Prisma Colors/oms and then cut out the "glass" portions.  Here is a picture of what it looks like with the awning closed. (That little spot above the ribbon on the awning you see on the first picture is a glue dot that I used to hold up the awning to get a picture and forgot to take off!)


Here is what it looks like open:

 I know that an awning is on the OUTSIDE of a window and not on the inside but for purposes of the design I put it on the "inside", and used some of that "artistic license".  After the window panes were cut out I lined it with a piece of acetate for the glass and put foam tape on the back along the wooden parts of the window.  I drew a rainbow shape on card stock that would fit into the window area and colored it in with my Tombows first.  Then I applied clear glue to each band of the rainbow and glittered it. 

Next the sky was done using a cloud template and blue ink, the rainbow was popped up on the sky.  The outside of the "house" was made with a Cuttlebug folder and I cut out the place where the window would sit.  The window frame was adhered to the cut out embossed panel and then I placed it over the sky and rainbow and finally onto the card front. 

I used the green card stock from the Custom Quilling February kit and cut it to be a bit bigger than the window frame.  It was edged with a EKSuccess punch and then embossed with a Cuttlebug folder about halfway down.  Next I used that cute scalloped sticker and green ribbon to trim my awning.  It was scored about an inch from the top so that it had the awning look and would lift up.  The sentiment was stamped, inked and put on a scallop circle with the cute shamrock that also came in the kit.

The inside of the card also has a little awning and shamrock.  The rainbow really sparkles with the light hits it, unfortunately the camera doesn't pick it up. There are so many things you could do with this window stamp and I will be using it more often.  I think it is a cheery card to send to someone needing an encouraging lift.

Click the link here, and then "Newsletter" on side bar to check out what other projects were made by me and Sue, really CUTE, and what is in the February kit. I will be back tomorrow with another project, a different kind of perpetual calendar.  Until then,

Shalom,
Sonya

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Ribbon Flower Bracelets

Hi all, hope you are enjoying the Fred She Said Blog hop that will run through tomorrow midnight.  Click here if you would like to hop before it ends and enter for some great prizes.  Today I have one of my ribbon bracelets to show you.  This is one of the first ones that will be posted for sale in my Etsy shop this week.  I have put a page at the top of the blog where you can find the link to the shop.  This bracelet features a beautiful jacquard ribbon as it's base and has a variety of ribbon flowers.  It is embellished with seed beads, Swarovski crystals, hand dyed lace and a beaded dragonfly.  The ends are finished with bar clamps and has a bar and circle clasp.



This season of life and others have encouraged me to start this business venture that I hope will be successful. I will have many more ribbonry projects listed for sale along with quilling and paper florals in the shop as soon as they are finished.  Working hard to get them finished, photographed and listed. I does take a while to get a selection, samples and examples of what will be for sale and is quite different than making them for fun.  I love all things floral and have been in love with ribbonry flowers for some time and am enjoying getting back to these as well as my paper versions.  There are several great books and video tutorials for making ribbon flowers if you would like to try your hand at them.  Here is a link to Helen Gibb Ribbonry, a great site that has ribbons, books and supplies. Back later with another project.  And a GREAT BIG THANKS to all who stop by and leave such sweet encouraging comments!

Shalom,
Sonya