New twist on old design

Hi there everyone,

Wow, life has been so busy once again. Lots of orders from my Etsy and Folksy shops to keep me out of mischief!
Just thought I'd pop in here really quickly to show you this card:

The quilling on this card is a design I've been making and selling for years. But previously I mounted it some lovely blank card blanks which had an embossed border which showed the quilling off just perfectly - see below:

I think I originally bought 500 of those card blanks but am now down to the last 12 or so. Sadly I've had to give up on any hopes of buying any more. I contacted the company I bought them from (Craft Creations) only to be told that they were the only card blanks they have ever "bought in" rather than manufacturing themselves. The company they bought them from went bankrupt a few years ago and the machinery for making the card blanks was destroyed.

So I need to find an alternative. After spending a ridiculous amount of time trying to print an appropriately placed border on blank card blanks and failing miserably, I resorted to using a different card blank (again from Craft Creations). I like the foiled oblong border but just wish it was a little bit bigger. Compared to the other card, I think the quilling looks a bit squashed. What do you think?

However, I love this colour combination - it's not one I've used before. They are all JJ Quilling papers - cyclamen, petunia and spring green (which is now discontinued - I have a little stash of it to keep me going!)

Must dash - lots to do this evening, including getting ready to go back to the day job tomorrow as half term is now officially over. Roll on the Easter hols!

Jill

Valentine's Day is just around the corner

Hi there everyone,

Sorry that I've not been around much just recently. Orders in my Etsy and Folksy shops have just taken off and I'm spending every spare minute getting cards made and shipped off. I reduced my working hours, in my day job, to three days in January and its just as well that I did as I need those extra hours to keep up with the orders.

Thought I'd just pop in here quickly today and show you one of my Valentine designs that is selling quite well.

It has occurred to me that this design could be suitable for other occasions if I made it in other colours, so have experimented with pink.

Let me know what you think. Might have a play with lemon when I get a spare minute! Must dash - my youngest daughter is playing the leading lady (nurse Nellie Forbush) in her school production of "South Pacific" this week. First performance is tonight and I'm so excited for her - I know she'll be great. Break a leg, Annie!

Jill

Quilled Mother's Day card

Hey there everyone,

I hope all my UK readers have been enjoying the snow for the past few days? My children are now 19, 17 and 15 but still can't resist going out there to have a play. My youngest, Annie, went sledging with a friend on Sunday - I think a good time was had by all! And my son spent most of the weekend building an igloo in our back garden. Sadly he ran out of snow before completing the project but apparently it is snowing again now, so maybe tomorrow he can finish it.

The days since Christmas seem to have slipped by so fast and we are hurtling with great speed towards Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. Today I want to show you a quilled Mother's Day card design which I have been selling in my Etsy and Folksy shops for a couple of years.

A very simple design in a range of pretty colours as you can see. This card has sold well in previous years so am hoping for the same this year.

I was just checking my Etsy shop and did a little squeal when I realised that I've now sold 997 cards from that site. Only 3 to go until 1000. I can still remember the excitement I felt on my first sale and here we are, three years five months later on nearly number 1000. 

Stay warm. I'll be back soon,

Jill

Paper quilling birthday card

Hi everyone,

Just popping in here quickly to show you another quilled card. Again, this was a result of a special request from a customer. She liked this card:

but asked if I could make it in red, as that is her mom's favourite colour. Once again, this pushed me to the limits of my comfort zone. Red is not a colour I use much, apart from Christmas and Valentine's Day cards. However, we agreed on a couple of contrast colours, to make the design work: tangerine and lemon, and this is what I came up with. 

I would never have come up with this colour combination on my own, but now I really love it. On this design, only the first panel is quilled, as otherwise the card would not fold up flat. Here is a close up of the front panel. Simple but effective, I think!

The patterned papers are from Stampin Up (polka dot) and Doodlebug.

That's it from me today - if you are in the UK, wrap up warm. Apparently snow is on its way.

Jill 

 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my readers and followers.

Just popping in here quickly, to get the New Year off to a good start. This card was made for the birthday of my niece who celebrated her 13th birthday on Christmas Eve. It always seems such a shame to have a birthday so close to Christmas - never the same as when they are well spaced apart. One downside is that there is never anywhere for her to display her cards, as there are Christmas cards everywhere by that stage. However, I am hoping that this card was on display for a while at least.

This card is not a new design for me but I tweaked it a bit, as I was very short of time. For a start I usually die cut the letters for the greeting but decided instead to print it. The font I used is Hot Coffee I think, which is very similar to a Quickutz alphabet called Moxie. And then instead of adding quilled stems and leaves I cheated by using a punch - the leaves from the Stampin Up bird punch. The fringed flowers were made using a fringed quarter length strip of 6mm paper attached to a quarter length of contrasting 3mm. I always try to use 6mm rather than the more usual 5mm - JJ Quilling will cut papers in any width you need so its not a problem.

Hope you like the card. Will be back soon with another.

Jill

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