27 September 2012

New pens!!

Ooooh, look what I picked up from the post office on the way to work today - needless to say my work colleagues did not share my excitement on what was in the box!

As the box says this is a limited edition Copic sketch set - they are black bodied pens and have the normal brush tip but also a fine nib end.

I believe there might still be a set available from Stamps and Memories.  After thinking I would like them I decided to see if I could sell enough cards in the meantime to fund the set (work would definitely not understand how much a set of pens has to cost too!) - and I did, hooray, I think that makes me feel less guilty!

Aren't they lovely?!

23 September 2012

Quilled Snowflake Cards

As promised, the sample cards I made for my workshops yesterday.

They are 4x4" cards and I die-cut some matching backings with an x-cut nesting die which set the blue & turquoise snowflakes off nicely.  I used punches for the red snowflake.

I had some beginners in my classes but also some ladies who had mastered the basic shapes so I added some filigree shapes 3 of the cards.

The blue snowflake uses tight coils, teardrops &  marquise shapes.  The turquoise one incorporates some 'p' shapes, the red one some filigree hearts and the last one 'feelers'.

I made 3 of each card so everyone could see one 'for real' in front of them - I like to see what I am working towards if there is a specific target.

I also had other Christmas designs if anyone wanted to try something else and had some examples of snowflakes quilled in 5mm and 10mm paper which look lovely hung on a Christmas tree.

The beginners made some lovely cards, even with some variations to the patterns (so many combinations of these shapes are possible), my Japanese visitors cards were beautifully & finely quilled and Val over at Aquarius blog did a grand job and finished a third card for homework!

22 September 2012

International Quilling Workshop!

 A couple of pictures from one of my Christmas workshops in Somerset.

A slightly daunting prospect for me today because Shiro & Noriko from Japan came.

They came to the UK last week to visit the Quilling Guild AGM and are staying in the country for a couple of weeks.  They saw my workshop advertised on the Guild website and asked if they could come along.

Their work displayed at the AGM was fantastic and I have only just read that Shiro is in fact a Fellow of the Quilling Guild.

Sue also came along who is one of the other Guild local contacts for Somerset.  I had 2 absolute beginners and 3 other ladies who have done one workshop with me before.

I provided some Snowflake card options, as well as other Christmas options if anyone wanted to have a try at something else.

Today's beginners took to it brilliantly - you can see the hard work in this picture!
It was lovely to see Shiro & Noriko's work in action up close as their quilling is quite fine and so neat.  Everyone took away at least 2 snowflake cards and wants to come again.

After a quick lunch and a tidy another 8 ladies turned up for the afternoon session - apologies but we were so busy I forgot to take a picture (some of my blog visitors may be relieved to know that).
More snowflakes and keen quillers so a very successful day.

I will add pictures of the cards tomorrow.  Thanks for popping by.
Jill

20 September 2012

Harvest

Just passing again!

This is one of the pieces I made for the regional table in the previous blog post.

The fruit bowls and contents were based on                 patterns in one of my quilling books (slightly buried as I type this but I can let anyone know if required!).

The bowls were solid coils, pushed out to form the shape and covered in glue so they stayed in shape.
Apples, oranges & grapes are also a selection of tight coils.

The basket was also based on an idea in the same book and involved graph paper and latticing.  The handle was plaited.

The basket is then filled with carrots which did create a bit of interest at my last demo when I was making a few.  They are made from 2 tight coils, one pushed right out for the 'body' and a little one (slightly smaller) sat in the top.  Leaves are trimmed pieces of 10mm paper.

To scale this picture, the carrot bodies (excluding leaves) are less than 1".

18 September 2012

Quilling Guild regional display


Another report on my trip to the Quilling AGM at Lutterworth at the weekend.

I am a local contact in Somerset for the Guild, along with Sue near Bridgwater. A group of quillers meet one Friday evening a month and twice a year all day on a Sunday in Woolavington - something I started to attend over 20 years ago as we discussed at the weekend!

From these groups and ourselves we had a theme for our regional table as harvest festival/autumn and brought together all the contributions. At the beginning of the week we thought we had half a dozen items so were rather surprised that one table wasn't enough when we put the display out.

We were very pleased with how it looked but unfortunately knew straight away that some of the other tables had that extra 'factor' that would make them winners. There were some lovely things on display.

I will get some better pictures of the pieces that were my contribution for future posts.




17 September 2012

A great weekend

I finally made it back from a few days away and it has been great.

A trip through the Cotswolds stopping off in Bourton-on-the-Water and Moreton-in-the-Marsh whilst heading up to the Quilling Guild AGM in Lutterworth, Leicestershire.

The AGM was on Saturday with displays, competitions, goodies to buy (& many people to chat to!), followed by a shared ideas day on Sunday which was so enjoyable.

Today was a much longer day than planned but we stopped off at the Cotswold Wildlife Park on the way back - I was very impressed and had a great day.

I have just plugged my camera in from the weekend and it has taken a while to download all my photos.  I've rescued a quick Giraffe one for today - I don't think I've ever been so close to one and they really are weirdly fascinating.

I shall report back on the Quilling days and probably more exciting animals this week in between preparing for more workshops at the weekend and that will be another tale for the weekend!
Thanks for popping by.
Jill

14 September 2012

Boofle

A quick Boofle post before I go away Quilling for a few days, sorry for the lack of posts again.

Boofle was stamped using the 'kiss' technique.
I inked up a texture stamp in gold and a Boofle stamp in brown and 'kissed' them together and stamped on my card.

I then used my SU stamp-a-ma-jig to align his outline over this stamped image and he's nearly there.  I then stamped his nose and heart out separately on coloured card and stuck these on, then cut the complete Boofle out.

Papers are from a Boofle pack.  Peel off greeting mounted on SU oval punches and Boofle on large circle and scalloped circle punches.

5 September 2012

More Snowflakes

Still busy quilling, but some things are still work in progress I'm afraid.

These are a few more snowflakes to add to the collection.


Nothing amazing or too complicated but just to show how different shapes and varying combinations of them come together.

I have found all sorts of patterns in the books and magazines I have and plan to make some of the fancier filigree ones at the weekend where I am demonstrating at Yandles, Martock, Somerset.  Then the following week it's off to the Quilling Guild AGM in Leicestershire before 2 quilling workshops the week after that and then a slight rest!