Quilled kingfisher

I've been working on this kingfisher on and off for the last couple of years - and now, at last, I have finished him! Now all I need to do is find a suitable frame ...

Welcome card for an adopted baby boy

I used to make a lot of these 'cut-out' cards in the days before I discovered the endless design and print possibilities of my iMac software! This card is in the same style as one I made for the baby's sister a year or so ago, and was made in response to a special request from a friend (the proud adoptive grandmother).

After cutting out the oval shape, I dry embossed the lettering using an alphabet stencil and light box (working from the reverse side). Then I went over the letters with a silver gel pen, using the raised embossing as a guide. It really made me appreciate the accuracy and versatility of computer-generated shapes and type, as it's so hard to achieve perfection when trying to do it by hand!

My friend wanted quilling to be added on a steam train theme, so I've created an engine and a little truck. I hope she likes it!

I've also been working on a new 'photo montage' design for cards this week, and I'm quite pleased with the results.  Please check out my Flickr page to see some more!

The joys of quilling in black and white

Over the past week or so, I've been fascinated by the idea of using black and white photos as backgrounds, with just a small section of colour picked out.

So I've created these two cards as an experiment. I used the iPhoto software on my Mac to convert two of my own photos to monochrome. Then, using the Pages word processing software, I pulled the images into pre-defined shapes before printing them on to the front of the cards. I used brush marker pens to colour in a single section of each picture, before adding some small quilled details (hooray - I'm back to quilling again!!)

I think this technique has potential to create some unusual and eye-catching cards. It could be used for framed pictures, too, so I'm glad that I gave it a try.

Also today, I finally decided to make use of a quilled butterfly that's been lying around on my table for ages. I had originally used light green and purple strips to make the wings (inspired by the colours of a sea anemone!), but I thought the end result was actually a little bit dull on the brown body. So today, I 'gilded' the whole butterfly with metallic and glitter gel pens, which brightened it up quite well.  And I found just the right background to mount it on, in order to create this card. So my butterfly has a home at last!

Still not quilling!

I'm sorry to say that I'm still unable to quill because my thumb is still too sore - but I'm hoping that it will be fully healed next week.

Never mind, it's given me the chance to take a breather and catch up on some reading.  And fortunately I had plenty of stock to take to the market on Friday.  Here's part of my little display, which I share with other crafters every Friday morning.

Quilling accident ... ouch!!

Well, there I was, quilling happily this afternoon when - ouch!! I cut the tip of my thumb on the razor sharp edge of a quilling strip (a blood red one, as it happens). The cut was deep, it bled - and now I have an annoying plaster on my thumb which gets in the way of everything.  I hadn't realised how much I rely on that thumb for making coils, and it just doesn't work the same with a plaster on. So I'm going to have to wait for it to heal before doing any more quilling.  Either that, or learn how to make coils with the other hand.

So, be warned fellow quillers - at the time I got cut, I was trying to straighten out the bends in a new strip by running it between my finger and thumb. It's easy to forget how sharp the edges of cut paper can be.

Fortunately, I had just finished making these two cards which I needed to have ready for Friday.

Some words of wisdom for today:

1) Be careful of paper cuts when quilling!

2) "A man's errors are his portals of discovery" - by James Joyce.

This thought-provoking quotation came my way via Charlotte's excellent newsletter, The Art of Quilling, which arrived in my inbox this morning. You can subscribe to future editions via her blog at www.theartofquilling.com.  Great reading!

And finally ... a warm welcome to Quilling Arte Virna Genovese who joined my list of Followers yesterday.

More signs of an English spring

Check this out!

If you're not already a follower of All Things Paper allthingspaper-annmartin.blogspot.com/ , do visit Ann's excellent blog this week. Not only does she have a fabulous quilling book to give away, but the articles in her blog never fail to inspire. Well worth a visit!