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