Quilled Letter Holder

Hi all, I have neglected my poor little blog but have been working hard behind the scenes getting my online quilling class for My Creative Classroom ready for registration. It is now finished and I am excited that I can now reveal the link to the class.  But first the project above that I made for the Custom Quilling Newsletter this month.  I used a purchased letter holder and added the quilled embellishments.  The technique that I used for the center flower was from this blog and it uses looped flowers in a new and very pretty way.  Asma has a great tutorial on how to create them plus many wonderful projects using them! Stop by and visit her blog you will love her projects. I know I will be using this technique again.

Now for the quilling class, it is named Quilling, Twirled Paper! It will cover the basics, intermediate and some advanced quilling techniques and will be 6 weeks long.  There will be a class project(s) each week with week's 5 is a quilled keepsake such as I feature here on my blog.  Week 6's project is a quilled necklace that used the technique that combines jewelry pieces and quilling such as this one.  You can visit My Creative Classroom Quilling, Twirled Paper! class site here to see the full description, cost, and supply list (which Denise at Custom Quilling has a copy of and can help in ordering any supplies, Thanks Denise!).  If you have any questions about the class, just email me at appelquillinggarden@yahoo.com and I will be glad to answer. There are also many other wonderful papercrafting classes offered this fall through MCC.

I should be back to creating on a regular basis now that the class is up for registration.  I will be back tomorrow with more projects!  Thanks for all the comments, I have and do read them all.

Shalom,
Sonya

Quilled Butterfly Necklace

Here is another of the project for the Custom Quilling Newsletter this month, a quilled butterfly necklace.  I used a butterfly filigree piece for the base and used pink strips to quill teardrop shapes to follow the pattern on the base piece.  I then gilded them with a silver pen.  

The butterfly's body was made from beads and silver wire which also made their antennae. AB and pink crystals give it some sparkle as well as the butterfly dangles.  Click on the pictures to enlarge. I love making quilled jewelry with these filigree base pieces and the possibilities the extra foundation that it gives to the piece.  Short post for today, thanks for all the encouragement!!  Back later with another project.

Shalom,

Sonya

Back Again!

Hi everyone, sorry for the long MIA.  I have not been blogging, but I have been working on a project that has been taking a lot of my attention and that I am excited about.  I'll tell you about that in a just a minute.  First I want to share a project for this month's Custom Quilling Newsletter, an altered ribbon spool with a quilled fan.   I have seen several of these altered spools and have been collecting them to try my hand at one. 

I used the shades of pink strips and card stock that came in the kit to create the fan and floral punch flowers.  I used a quilling grid with circles and angle lines to lay out the spirals that make up the spokes of the fan, pinning them in place.  I then made the looped portions at the top of the fan, again pinning to hold them in place while drying and keeping the fan shape steady.  The two wing butterflies in the middle give the fan more stability as well as the teardrops between the spokes where they meet. A gold tassel hangs from the bottom of the fan.

It is a delicate design and if I do one again I will have to make adjustments to the double spiral spokes.  You can see that a couple of the spirals are separating.  I think I needed to glue the ends together so that they stay spiraled next too each other and do not separate.  But, that is for next time.  Three teardrops and a flower help stabilize the point where the spokes meet even more.  At this point I could un-pin the fan and it held it's shape well.  A few more tear drops at the tips of the spokes and some bling and it was finished. 

The spool was covered in decorative paper around the center and has scallop circles out of the same paper on the ends.  To cover the bottom end I die cut the center of a scallop circle with a circle die the diameter of the center, cut between two scallops and hid the seam with embellishments. I wound the wide pink ribbon from the kit around the spool and added pearls, buttons and lace at the ends.

Next came the more quilled flowers and butterflies mixed in with the pink lilies.  Aurora crystals, more buttons and pearls make it frilly and feminine. 

Now for the news that I have been waiting to tell you about.  This fall I will be teaching a 6 week quilling class with -

 I had taken two Tombow marker background classes through MCC and loved the format, the classes and the teacher, Kim Teasdale! The class was online and while I was considering taking a class, I wondered if it was going to be worth my time and cost.  It was and I was not disappointed!  There was a lot of content, easy to follow and understand and you feel as if the teacher is right there giving you private lessons even though it is a PowerPoint presentation with added videos.  Kim, as well as all the instructors, were also there to answer questions and give feedback on our projects that were posted to the class gallery.

There are many like me who would like to take a class but have no teacher close by or giving a class when you would like to or able to take one.  I wish there had been a class like this when I first started quilling. One where the basics of quilling, using the tools, through the varied techniques of husking, looping, 3D etc. were taught and demonstrated.   The online format with MCC gives you that opportunity and the freedom to sign in on your schedule and view the weekly lessons when the class semester is open.  And you have the added time of two weeks after the last posted class to go back and review any lesson, post your projects, get questions answered, and download the class PDF lessons.

The class that I will be teaching is 6 weeks and covers quilling basics, using the tools, shaping coils, fringing, domes, bells, folded roses, looping, husking, 3D quilling.  Each week there will be a guided project to showcase your new quilling skills. The last two weeks you will be completing a Keepsake quilled project and I will teach you the quilled jewelry technique that I used to make the necklaces and bracelet posted here, here, and here.  All with class lesson PDF's.

The class will be open for enrollment on August 23rd 2011 and I will have more info later. Until then, if you would like to get a preview of the projects and explore the other classes at My Creative Classroom click here. and see if the classes are a match for you. And anytime you would like to go to MCC to see what great classes are offered, from my blog, just click the MCC blinkie on the right sidebar.  If you have any questions please email me at appelquillinggarden@yahoo.com.

Tomorrow I will post another quilled jewelry project.  Thanks for all the sweet comments while I was MIA.

Shalom,

Sonya
Your comments are read and appreciated!

Magnolia Box

Hi all.  Did you think I was never gonna post again?  I thought so for a while!  It has been crazy here with some family issues, health and other things.  And I have been trying to get caught up and the stomach virus caught me!!  I still have some lingering issues here and there but I am getting back to the craft room finally.  I have had this to post for weeks but just didn't have the umph to get it written, sometimes one more thing, is, well too much.  So, here is a project that was made for the Custom Quilling Newsletter, last month. 

The kit had a black and white theme and since I had been wanting to alter a chest type box, I thought the time was now.  The box is decorated and stays open to see the punched magnolias and quilled flowers.  I'll keep it short so if you would like to know any details let me know in the comments and I'll edit this post to answer them!! 

I had a lot of fun creating this box and have another little one to do also.  I guess this break has done my creativity some good as I have several "ideas" sprouting for projects along with some of the not-yet-posted finished projects.  Back tomorrow with another post and some announcements!!

Shalom,
Sonya

Quilled Spring Mini Album

Hi all, back with the first of this month's Custom Quilled March newsletter projects, a mini album with quilled accents. 

 A while back I had purchased several chipboard albums with a ring at Michael's and stashed them away for a later time.  One Youtube video caught my eye and I started looking at more of them and their creators blogs.  I fell in love with these little album's with their many surprises, pockets and pullouts.  I love the shabby chic ones, the steampunk ones, the ornate ones that have something new to find every time you open it. 

 One of those video tutorials here, shows how to paint the chipboard that has edges too detailed for covering with paper.  Also it shows the binding technique that will expand with the embellishments and future addition of pictures/keepsakes etc.  I painted the pages a light green and bound each page with a binding piece, card stock piece and then DP and then started to make the pockets and tags. 

 Again I went to Youtube to find all the pocket ideas and tutorials.  Some I changed other I used as they were.  Most pockets in my album have many more places to tuck more tags or pictures into. 

 The tags are a combination of manila shipping tags and ones that I cut out with my Criuct and Picturesque cartridge.  All of the tags have simple 5 petal quilled flowers and leaves as embellishments that were made from the shades of spring strips in the March kit.  All the flowers have rhinestone centers for sparkle.  Edges of the tags were inked and some have gold gel pen stitching.

The front of the album has a frame for either journaling or a special picture. It was fun to make and I will be making more of these.  There are so many ways to create pockets, foldouts and tags and even the shape of the albums are endless.  With the expandable binding it allows for the dimension of quilling and all of it's versatility.  If you make one, link a picture in the comments section below to share!

Also don't forget to stop by Custom Quilling to see the super cute projects that Sue has also made for the newsletter! Back tomorrow with another of the projects!

Shalom,

Sonya

Y'all are so sweet to leave me such encouraging comments, THANKS for all of them!

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!!

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!