Quilled chocolates

Hey there everyone,

I hope you've all had a fantastic Christmas and are looking forward to everything that the new year will bring. I'm a real sucker for making lots of New Year's resolutions (and then breaking them within a week!). One of my resolutions last year was to create and maintain this blog. I didn't manage to post as often as I would have liked to, but we're still here and I'm finishing off the year with this post!

These cards feature some really cute quilled chocolates. I made these at a workshop with Diane Boden a long time ago but have never really been able to work out what to do with them. I had an idea about using them for Valentine's cards but just could not get inspired about a layout. So a couple of days ago I just sat and played and this is what I came up with:

If you'd like to have a go at making these quilled chocolates, they are featured in Diane's book "Miniature Quilling". They look very realistic considering they are just made of paper!

Enjoy your New Year's celebrations,

Jill

Still here!

Hi everyone,

Wow, I can't believe it is over a month since I last posted. I don't think I'll reach my target of one post for every week of the year (ie. 52 posts), this year. I've been kept busy making lots of orders from my lovely customers, as well as trying to keep on top of paperwork for the day job. Never enough hours in the day, days in the week or weeks in the year!
Thought I'd just drop in really quickly here to show you a set of little Christmas gift tags. It's hard to get an idea of size from the photos but these are really tiny - about 3.5 x 4 cms. 

I need to make another set of these this evening ready for what must be one of my last Christmas orders for this year.

To those of you still following me, thanks so much for hanging on in there. My intention is always to post more frequently - let's see how things turn out in the New Year!

Hope all your Christmas preparations are on track. Sadly I've been so busy that I've made no cards for myself to send this year - had to nip out to buy some!

Until next time,

Jill

Paper quilling golden wedding card

Hello everyone,

I'm back again to show you another special order card. This customer wanted a large card for her parents golden wedding anniversary. She originally asked for an A4 card as she wanted room for lots of people to sign it, but I couldn't figure out how to do that and I felt that any quilling would look a bit lost on a card that size. So I suggested that maybe a 3 panel, concertina style card might be suitable, especially if it was a bit bigger than I'd normally make. She asked for the card to incorporate some gold, including gold ribbon, and burgundy. This is what I came up with:

The hearts were also the customer's idea. Each panel of the card measures 8" x 8". Here is a close up of each panel:

Here is a close up of the quilling. I don't think it shows up particularly well but the flowers are made with gold edged papers.

I added blank panels on the reverse so there was plenty of room for everyone to sign.

I am hoping the customer is pleased with it - I'm not sure it will have arrived yet as it was going to Australia.

I'm very excited about this weekend as I will be attending another workshop with the wonderful quiller, Diane Boden. So hopefully I'll have some lovely creations to showcase on here next week.

Jill x

Quilled anniversary card

Hello everyone,

My husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary earlier this month. I always find it hard to think of designs for cards for him - well, for any men really, but an anniversary is the hardest I think. In the end this is the card I made for him:

It was based on a very old design with a new twist on the colour. Seemed to suit the occasion.

I'm looking forward to this coming week as it is half term and I have the week off work. Hoping to get lots of quilling done alongside some of the inevitable jobs that I can't keep finding excuses for not doing - like cleaning the oven!

Jill

Another quilled sympathy card

Hi again,

Just popping in here quickly to show you the second sympathy card I designed last week. Although the quilling on this card is just as simple and minimal, somehow it seems far more "busy" - I think it's that embossed background.

Which sympathy card do you prefer?

I think this design would also be suitable for a wedding congratulations card - might have to try that when I get a minute.

Jill

Quilled sympathy card

Hello everyone,

This week I was asked to design a sympathy card for a customer - it's not something I get asked for frequently, but I was happy to oblige. The customer wanted something simple and elegant, but was happy to leave choice of colours to me. I opted for muted shades of white and cream.

I made another sample too so that the customer could choose the one she preferred - I'll show you that one next time. In the end she bought both!

Jill

Another quilled birth announcement

Hi everyone,

Yes, I know, two posts in a week - how unbelievable is that? I'm trying hard to catch up, as when I started this blog I was intending to post at least once a week, so I need to have 52 completed posts by the end of the year. As I've actually missed quite a few weeks I need to start posting more frequently.

As promised, here is another variation using the design from last time on a quilled birth announcement card:

This time it is on a bigger card - 6" x 8" with a little bit of further embellishment in the form of a quilled flower and leaf spray.

I bought these card blanks, with the embossed edge and frame, many years ago from a company in the UK called "Craft Creations" - I think I originally bought 500 and I'm now down to my last 50. Sadly, they have been discontinued so I won't be able to get any more (unless anyone out there knows a source). I'll be very sad when they are used up - they are the perfect base for a lot of my quilled designs. I still have lots of 6" x 4" cards left, just running low on 6" x 8". So if anyone has seen anything similar anywhere please let me know - I'd love to find a new supplier!

Well, that's all from me today - will try and be back soon.

Jill x

Quilled birth announcements

Hi everyone,

Oh my, where does the time go? Unbelievable that it's nearly a month since I last posted. Life just keeps on getting in the way. Since my last post, I've dispatched my oldest offspring to Uni in Brighton, celebrated the 17th birthday of the middle one and continued with the quest of the youngest to see just about all the musicals currently playing in London (she has aspirations to sing/be on stage).
In between all of that, I'm still holding down the day job as a specialist advisory teacher, meeting the orders from my Etsy and Folksy shops and trying to develop all the new ideas for quilled cards that are in my head.

This card has been in my shops for a while and has been a popular design for a new baby copngratulations card:

A few months ago a customer asked if I could personalise the front of this card with the name and date of birth of the baby. The original "It's a girl" message was made with an embossed rubber stamped image so I needed to work out how to print the name etc instead on computer. It took me a while to work out how to plan it to print in the right place (IT skills are not my strength!) but once I'd had a bit of a play it turned out like this:

I think maybe the text is a little higher than I'd like it but otherwise I'm quite pleased with it - just trying to find time to list it as a birth announcement card rather than a birth congratulations card in my shops. But even before I do that, another customer has this week ordered 60 personalised birth announcements in this design.

That's it for today, but I'll try to be back before too long with another variation on this card.

Jill

Quilled wedding cards

Hello again,

Today I thought I'd share with you another wedding card design.

This card design has become my number one bestseller and resulted from a request from a customer for a wedding congratulations in a "more sophisticated" colour scheme. Up to this point most of my wedding card designs had been variations of cream, white, gold and silver - just goes to show how you can get stuck in a rut! Once I'd made this one and it began to sell well, I decided to try it in other colourways:

This one was again for a customer, for a couple who were being married in the Carribean.

In pinks....

And autumnal shades.

Which one is your favourite? Are there any other colour combinations you think I should try?

Til next time,

Jill xx

I'm back!!

Hello everyone,

Well so much for me thinking that I'd be posting loads during the summer holidays. I'm so sorry for my delayed absence - I've been having a fantastic time doing all sorts of lovely things but as a result my card-making and quilling have taken a bit of a back seat.

However I'm back today to show you a card I made for my husband's niece and her new husband for their wedding yesterday. This is really just an update of a design I've been making for ages, but it was in need of a little something and this is what I came up with.

Sorry, the photo quality is not great. I took them very early in the morning so the light was all wrong.

For those of you who like to know, the heart was die cut from pearl cream card with an X-cut nesting heart die - the secong largest one. The scallop border is cut from the same card using Stampin' Up's Dotted Ribbon Scallop Punch, but I've cut it in half. And the font I've used for the greeting is "Hayseed" - currently one of my favourites!

And here is a photo of the recipients on their big day:

And one of me, my husband and two of our offspring (the youngest wasn't able to attend as she is away at a West End Theatre summer school):

That's it for today but I'll try to be back soon with another quilled card.

Jill xx

Quilled magician birthday card

Hello there,

Just popping in really quickly again. I thought I'd have time to blog a bit more in the holidays but this week my feet haven't touched the ground. Happily I've been busy doing lots of nice things, like catching up with friends, shopping with my daughters and enjoying the wonderful weather, so can't complain.

This card is another "one-off", made ages ago, at a workshop with Diane Boden-Crane.

Nothing else to say really - short and sweet.

Until next time,

Jill x

Quilled butterfly wedding invitation

Hello again,

Yay, the sun is out (at last!). It's been an unbelievably dismal summer so far here in the UK, so a glimpse of the sun is most welcome.

Today's card is another custom special order from a customer. She emailed me a picture of the wedding invitation and asked for the wedding congratulations card to reflect it. The original had printed butterflies, one pink and one grey, which I've tried to replicate in quilling.

I tried to use similar fonts too. I used Century Gothic and Edwardian Script ITC.

 



















That's it for today but I might be able to post a bit more often now that the school holidays are here!

Jill

Quilled bunnies birthday card

Evening everyone,

Sorry for my absence again last week - I always forget how frantically busy things become in these last weeks of term!

My youngest daughter, Annie, was 15 on 3rd July. She has two pet rabbits - one honey coloured, one grey and white. The grey and white one is always trying to hide. I made her this card based on an original design by Diane Boden-Crane, who now runs JJ Quilling (supplying absolutely everything you could want for quilling and more!).

It's a very exciting time for Annie at the moment. She recently won a talent competition and as her prize gets to sing in front of the crowds at the Torch Relay celebration event in Guildford, Surrey on July 20th. I'm so nervous for her but she seems to be taking it all in her stride!

My son, Joe, has left today for a PGL watersports holiday in Spain - the house seems a lot quieter and calmer without him but I'm not sure I like it!

I'm hoping that I'll soon be able to post a bit more regularly as I'll have time in the school holidays. Until then,

Jill

Quilled card for musician

My sister asked me to make a card for a friend of hers who is soon to turn 60. She suggested a musical theme, as he is a musician. I had made this card for my daughter's 18th birthday:

I thought this design in a more monochrome colour-scheme might be more suitable for a man so this is what I made:

I think it works. Do you?

That's it for today - short and sweet!

Jill x