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!

Rhododendron September Calendar Page

Edited to add: My blog may look funny for a bit as I am trying to get the new Blogger Template Designer to work and I can't seem to see the preview.  So, I have to "apply" the changes and look and see what it will look like!!!!  Kinda like trying on clothes and they look good on the hanger, but not on you!! lol!!

Hi all! As promised here is the first of the Custom Quilling August Newsletter design team projects.  This is the last of the perpetual Quilled and Floral Punch calendar.  It has been so much fun to create these and I could keep on going with the wealth of designs!  September features rhododendron flowers in pink and purple.  These little puff balls are formed with a sakura flower punch and the small cosmos flower for the centers.  They are formed like the hydrangea blossoms on a rounded 1" circle punch.  The centers are shaded with a darker pink and purple before adding the stamens.  The leaves are made from the lily punch. 

I used the pink and purple card stock from the August Custom Quilling kit to make these striking blossoms but you could use the coffee filter/watercolor method also.  Now that the calendar is finished it is time to replace the months with the new year and enjoy them all over again! If you were inspired to create a calendar, link it in the comments section to share it!!  There are some other awesome supplies in the kit and I will be sharing the other projects made from them tomorrow and the day after.  A hint of the projects is: it is made from fabric and quilling, so check back to see.

If you are looking for the Fred She Said July Blog Hop, it is the post below this one.  Thanks for all the super sweet encouragement on the new DT FSS image projects!!! Good Luck!

Shalom,

Sonya

Day Lily August Calendar Page

Hi all, back with the next installment of the floral punch and quilled perpetual calendar.  I can't believe that I have only one more month to go before it is finished!  Again this one was made from supplies in the July Custom Quilling kit.  I used the soft peach card stock from the kit to make these summery day lilies.  They were punched using the lily punch that Denise carries in her store and chalked with Pan Pastels in yellow down the center of each petal.  Then I took an Adirondack pen in a brown/red color and added the dots close to the stamens.  The leaves of the lilies are from the same punch.  The stamens have nutmeg Flower Soft on them for a realistic look.  Next I quilled birds foot shapes and glued three of them together and layered two of these together with a pearl in the center for the accent flowers.  The bright yellow strips from the kit were used.  A lily bud in the top corner finished off this page. 

This months kit has a generous assortment of quiling strips in sunny yellows and stunning purples along with a nice collection of card stock and butterfly designer papers.  Tomorrow I will post the gazebo that has quilled fuchsias on it. Stop by Custom Quilling and see the July Newsletter for more projects using this months kit, Sue my DT sister has some great ones! Hope you have had fun with the calendar, if you have made one of your own, post it in the comments section below this post.  I'd love to see it!  Until then,

Shalom,
Sonya
Comments encourage my creative urge! Thanks for all of yours!

Zinnia July Calendar Page

Hi all, thought I'd fallen of the face of the earth? Well kinda, I lost the creativity spark and would walk past my craft room because there was a very, very small footpath to my desk which only had about 3 square inches of workspace!  So, I got in there the last couple of days and went to organizing.  It would be much better if I would just put the supplies up from the previous projects.  I tell my grandkids that all the time!  Well I do have several back projects that I haven't shared so I have about a weeks worth of posts!!!

First, today's project, the Zinnia July Calendar Page.  For the next three days I will show you the DT projects for this months Custom Quilling Newsletter.  I saw these green zinnias in the pretty card stock in the kit that had a beautiful array of greens.  The pattern for these zinnias are in Susan Tierney Cockburns book Paper Bouquet, and it is the first flower that I made when I purchased it.  I added the orange seed beads to the centers for a bit of sparkle.  The little punched purple violet flowers are a nice contrast to the soft lime green of the zinnias.  Well we are down to two more months and then the year of calendar pages will be done!

Check out all the other great projects and new products shown in this months newsletter and the great paper art supplies that Denise has at Custom Quilling.  I loved working with all the great supplies that came in the June Custom Quilling kit and will be back tomorrow with another of the projects!!  Have fun creating!

Shalom,

Sonya
Thanks to all of you who encourage me by stopping by and visiting my little blog!!

Cherry Blossom June Calendar Page

Hi all!  It is the first if the month at time to show you the projects that I made for the Custom Quilling Newsletter.  First the next installment of the quilled and floral punch calendar, Cherry Blossoms for June.  This flower is one that I fell in love with when I took the floral punch class last year and I have been saving it to do until now.  The blossoms and buds are punched out of coffee filter paper and water colored with Twinkling H2O's, shaped, layered and adhered to a wire branch.  I added some Stickles to the stamens for interest.  I inked the background with a pretty sky blue that makes those pink blossoms pop.  So pop on over to Custom Quilling and check out the newsletter to see the other project that have been made by Sue and I with the May kit.  Denise also has the punches needed to make these beautiful cherry blossoms and the other floral punch flowers shown on my blog. 

Check back to see another of the DT projects that I created with the kit, I call "Quilled Tole".  Plus a card made with cherry these blossoms.

Shalom,
Sonya
Comments are always welcome and very much appreciated! Link your creations in the comments section below.

May Daffodil Calendar Page

Hi all.  Lot's of apologies today, and it's no April's Fools.  First, as you can see it has been a bit between posts.  Life has been a bit crazy and medication changes have left me down more than up.  Pain management hasn't been managing much! But that is no excuse, next, I want to apologize to all who love the Custom Quilling Newsletter that Denise works so hard on each month, and to Denise and Sue also, for not getting my projects in on time, causing it to be delayed in transmission.  It seems that I have been a day late, literally,  for the last couple of weeks and can't seem to get caught up.  So for those who were wondering where your newsletter subscription was/is, please blame me, not Denise!  Denise is so wonderful to create for and has a great online store and resource for quilling and just about any paper crafting supplies!  I sincerely regret causing it to be late as Denise is so efficient, timely and dedicated in everything that is involved with Custom Quilling and her customers, and I would not want it to reflect upon her!  I did finally get my projects to her early this morning and your newsletter should be on it's way to you!

Here is one of my projects, the May Calendar page.  The pretty yellow card stock in this months kit was perfect for these cheery floral punch daffodils.  The petals are from the soft mottled card stock and the center of the daffodils are made from water colored coffee filter paper.  Little blue accent flowers with yellow pearl centers give some contrasting softness.  Now back to getting caught up!  More projects later.

Shalom,
Sonya

April Blue Hydrangea Calendar Page

Hi all, back with the next installment of the Perpetual Quilled and Floral Punch Calendar, April.  This month's Custom Quilling kit had in it a beautiful soft blue card stock perfect for the hydrangeas that I have been waiting to put on one of the calendar pages.  The hydrangea petals were punched out of coffee filter paper and then watercolored with various shades of blue and green Twinkling H2O's.  They were then shaped and glued to a mounded circle of blue paper.  I love all the colors that the hydrangeas come in and tried to put several of the blue varieties on the page.  It is finished with shaped birch leaves and little pearlescent daisy accent flowers.  I have some planted in my garden and can't wait to see them bloom.  For years this has been my Mother's Day corsage picked by my girls!

Thanks to all who have voted in my poll on the sidebar, I'll leave it up for a little while longer so more will have a chance to vote on what they would like to see. I have a request for a tutorial on the quilled eccentric flowers used in the Spring Verse, so I will work on that one first.  If you would like to see any others please leave me a comment on which one(s)! Back later with the last CQ DT project.

Shalom,

Sonya
Comments are always welcome I love to hear from you!

Go Green with Custom Quilling February Newsletter!

Hi all, back again with the quilling projects from the Custom Quilling February Newsletter.  This month features Green!  There are lots of beautiful shades of green quilling strips and card stock that can be made into lots of great projects!  I have posted the next installment of the calendar series for March that I have made for Newsletter this month.  There are more project to see in the February Newsletter that I will share later this week, and there are two free patterns in it for you to enjoy!  Sue has created a super Irish Blessing Plaque that features her awesome roses, I wish I could get mine to come out as great as hers!! Maybe one day she can show me how!! You can see all of our projects for inspiration using this months Custom Quilling Kit, click on the link above.

Now for the March Calendar page details.  With all the clover blooming in my yard this month I chose to use it as the natural theme for March.  The calla lilies are floral punched and have flocked stamens.  The clover are quilled and have a seed bead for their centers.  I also added clover blossoms that are fringe flowers shaded at the bottom with light green and pushed up from the bottom like quilled grape rolls.

Short post for today, hop on over to Custom Quilling at the link above to see all the goodies in the Newsletter and go green!

Shalom,

Sonya
Thanks for all the sweet comments, I love to hear from you!!

February Calendar Page

Hi all! Hope you had a nice New Year! Back to show you the January 2010 Custom Quilling Newsletter! The February calender page is just one of the projects that Sue and I created from this months Custom Quilling Kit (click on CQ Monthly Kit on the CQ site's sidebar). The kit has an abundance of pink and red quilling strips and a cute set of painted cards, envelopes and embellishments. There is enough pretty pink and red card stock and papers to make cute cards to send to special friends and family!

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Hearts come to mind as the "theme" of February and I love the delicate and unusual Bleeding Heart flowers. I used one of the many shades of pink from the quilling strip pack to make the Bleeding Heart flowers on the calendar with the accent flowers from the rose and pink pearlescent paper. You could use another shade of pink or make it in red and use the white and red version of these delicate and detailed flowers.

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Check out the January Newsletter to see the rest of my projects and the quilled "shade" that fits the new Glade flameless candles, the cutest purse note card holder and note cards (from the kit), and a truly awesome heart wall/door holiday decoration by Sue! Love her roses! Also, there is a link on the newsletter to the Custom Quilling Facebook page. Be sure not to miss the photo gallery, there are some amazing quilling projects posted by members!

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The next post will be to show you another Magic Box, this time with quilling!

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Shalom,

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Sonya

Thanks for the sweet comments, you can post you project links and questions in the comment section or email.

January Quilled Calendar Page

Hi everyone! With all the excitement of the anniversary, snow in Houston and life I haven't yet shown you this months Custom Quilling Newsletter DT projects. You can see the Newsletter here with all the great new products and mine and Sue's awesome quilled wearables, just in time for the holidays!!!

Here is January's Calendar page featuring pansies. The beautiful shimmery jewel tone paper n the Custom Quilling December Kit was perfect for making these floral punch pansies. It uses the Begonia punch and you can make different sizes from the one punch! I added blue vellum accent flowers with blue pearl centers, quilled leaves and vines. Very easy and quick to do and has a large visual impact. Hop on over to Custom Quilling and see the other great projects for December!

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Just a short post for today, I have to go clear up the piles in my craft room before I can create anything else, lol!

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Shalom,

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Sonya

Comments are always welcome, post your project links there too!

December Hanukkah Quilled Calendar Page

Hi all! As promised here is another one of the projects, this is one of two designs for the December Calendar page. Since the September Custom Quilling kit was in shades of blue I decided to do the page in blue dreidles and gold gelt for Hanukkah. The dreidles have the four Hebrew letters that are on each side they are made with strips of gold quilling paper. I embossed the metallic gold paper and cut out circles with my die cutter to make the gelt. A very easy and simple design. Next week I will post the alternate December Calendar page design that features poinsettia's. Just a short post for today, and thanks so much for all of your prayers and encouragement for my recovery, I luv ya!

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Shalom,

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Sonya

Comments always welcome!

November Quilled Calendar Page

Hi all! Still here! My goal for this week is to not use the walker for longer walks! I did go to Walmart but ended up having to use the motor cart. I was exhausted and hurting more afterward but, I did it!!!! So today I am going to try to straighten up my craft table so I can possibly create another card in the next few days. I still have some projects that I haven't show yet and I want to share with you another project for the Custom Quilling October newsletter. So, here is another calendar page that was made with the CQ October Kit's supplies.

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November's page is in the same 6"X6" matted layout with the removable calendar portion. The beautiful rich jewel tones inspired me to create a grape motif for the autumn harvest theme of November. The grapes are two shades of wine and dark purple with tendrils and punched grape leaves. This page also features a banner with the sentiment of "Give Thanks" with grape accents on the ends.

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There are many possibilities for these calendar page designs, if you are inspired to make a set, link your project in the comments section below and share it, I would love to see it!!

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Shalom,

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Sonya

Comments and project links always welcome, & don't forget about World Card Day Challenge from Fred She Said! enter for a chance to win!

October Quilled Calendar Page

Hi all! I have a project to share that I made for Custom Quilling's October Newsletter. I have been wanting to do a calendar set for some time and with the rich beautiful array of quilling strips and designer papers and card stock in the October kit, now was the perfect time. This is the first of set of quilled and floral punch monthly pages. I have seen many different layouts for these 6" X 6" calendar pages and absolutely love Jerri K's stunning watercolor version seen here. I loved the layout and thought that they would be the perfect place to showcase quilling and floral punch instead. The month is popped up with dimensionals and can be carefully removed and replaced with the current year making your calendar perpetual and can be displayed year after year!

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The texture of the 90lb water color paper gives a nice base for the quilling and the month which the edges are inked in Rose Distressed Ink and 18kt gold leaf pen. Quilled pumpkins in various shapes and sizes are surrounded by vines, tendrils with punched flowers with gold bead centers and oak leaves. The Fall Assortment quilling strips were just right for the indian corn with it's crimped husks. The cattails were made with brown Floral Soft an a few small brown buttons were added for interest. The month was printed on the watercolor paper and was from a free download on Split Coast Stampers forum.

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I will post a calendar page(s) for each month that features quilling with floral punch that can be displayed in a photo easel or a calendar stand made just for this design, which will be shown later. I have several projects that I haven't been able to post because of my hospital stay and will be sharing them this week while I am slowly (too slow for me and I can't sit at my craft table for long!!!!) recovering. If you want to see the rest of the Custom Quilling Newsletter projects that Sue and I made with the awesome October kit click here and click on "newsletter".

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If you are inspired to make your own monthly calendar pages, post a link in the comments below, I'd love to see what you create!!

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Shalom,

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Sonya

Comments, questions and project links are always welcome!!!

Floral Punch Calendars

Hi all, this is what has been keeping me busy the past couple of weeks. I took a Floral Punch class at Scrappily Ever After in Tyler taught by Susan Tierney-Cockburn (see post on 11-10-08). In one of these great classes she taught us to make the punch flowers in her book, Paper Bouquet, and to use them on the cutest monthly calendar. Each month has a flower of it's own.

I do not yet have all the punches to make the flowers yet so I had to improvise a bit and so a few of the flowers do not look exactly like hers in the book. Also, I had a Quick Kutz snowflake die that I was wanting to use for January and my Cuttle Bug leaf dies along with some of my leaf punches for November.

I cut the layered calendar scallops with my Nestabilities lrg scallop circle set using a light color for the smaller scallop where the calendar sticker goes so that it would be easily seen. The calendar stickers that were used in the class were from Pine Cone Press but I couldn't find them anywhere so, I decided to try to make them myself. I went to the office supply store to find clear printable stickers and left with a pack of 8 1/2 X 11 clear sticker sheets. Then using my Printmaster graphic card, poster etc. maker I laid out a monthly calendar on the sheet of stickers. Then I cut them out with my paper trimmer.

My goal was to make 4 sets to give as gifts and cut out all of the scallops quickly. Next came the flowers, that took a little more time. The monthly calendar scallops in the class sample were attached to a round metal cd tin with a small and very strong silver magnet. I liked this idea but since these were gifts I also had to think about storing the 12 flowers also. So off to Hobby Lobby I went and found these cute little white metal suitcase/handbag tins. All the flowers fit inside along the sides and bottom by magnet strips. The 12 calendar scallops fit nicely in a modified paper cd sleeve attached in the lid with 2 sided tape, the red one.

When sitting on a desk the tin's front lid becomes where you would attach the calendar scallops with the magnet and then the monthly flower. The flowers stick to the magnet by means of a small washer glued to the back. I had a lot of fun making these and now have to finish my set from the class! There were so many choices of flowers to use on the calendar and I'll have to find another project to try all of them!

Try it out and send me your versions, I'd love to see them.

Until tomorrow Shalom,
Sonya
Comments are always welcome, I'd love to hear from you!

Paper Punch Flowers

I had a wonderful time at Scrappily Ever After in Temple, TX taking a Punched Floral class with Susan Tierney Cockburn the author of The Paper Bouquet. I naturally am intrigued with floral punch flowers because of my love of quilling and I use punch flowers with it. So when I saw that there was a class withing driving distance and given by the author I had to go!

I wasn't disappointed. The class was held at a great scrapbook store, Scrappily Ever After, http://www.scrappilyeverafter.com/ . Cheryl, the owner, has a great room to hold classes and has a lot of great goodies to purchase including the punches from The Punch Bunch that are used in The Paper Bouquet to make the beautiful flowers. Susan comes down from Washington state to teach floral punch and there are wonderful examples of what can be made from these punched flowers as you can see from the pictures above. This craft is so versatile in what can be made and adorned with these lifelike creations.


The first class was for a tin calendar that had interchangeable scallops with the months and a different flower that was attached via the magnet that held the scallop in place on the tin. It is so cute, easy to make and makes a great gift! To Jody, my sister, and my Aunt Sandy, I guess you now know what you will be getting next month!


The next class was making cards and gift tags using the flowers and rubber stamps made especially for these flowers. Susan is a great teacher and punched all the shapes out for the class so that all we would have to do is assemble the flowers!


The hollyhock flowers on the pink card were made with coffee filter paper. It gives the flowers an airy delicate look. The color comes from Luminarte H2O's water colors. I love these sparkling water colors. You just take a watercolor brush, the kind that you fill with water, and squeeze some water onto the dry cake of color and let it sit a moment, swirl it around with the brush tip and then paint the coffee filter punch with it. The sparkle shimmer effect is beautiful. These come in over 100 colors and two sizes of pots. Back here at home I tried out these paints by making a hydrangea and sweet peas. Both were beautiful and will be another great version.

Pictures from the morning and afternoon class, with Susan standing.

I hope to be able to take another class from Susan next year. The class was fun and informative and while we were busily assembling the flowers we also tried to solve the worlds problems as only we women can. What did we come up with? Well, we came to the conclusion that we couldn't and that crafting was much more fun!

Comments are always welcome.

Shalom,

Sonya