Tagged!

This past week, it has been my privilege and pleasure to be involved in setting up a brand new website for the Quilling Guild. If you click here, you can see it in all its glory! The site has been restructured, comprehensively updated (with plenty more to come ...) and given a completely new look - and I'm pleased to say that it has received quite a few favourable comments already! This has all been part of a major initiative to reach out to the quilling community worldwide, leading up to our special 30th Anniversary Celebration of Quilling that will be held in Liverpool, UK, in August 2013 (click the 'Liverpool 2013' link on the site to find out more!)

But I'm not finished yet ... next week will see the launch of a brand new Blog exclusively for members of the Guild, which will be regularly updated with quilling-related news, exciting features and 'how-to' articles - and guess who will be writing it? That's right, me!! I can't wait to get started ... but, in the meantime, there's no escaping the fact that Christmas is coming and I really need to boost my stock of quilled items for the Friday market here in our village. So it was great to be able to sit down this afternoon and assemble a few sets of assorted gift tags with quilled motifs that I hope to be selling from tomorrow onwards.

Here they are:

Much as I love all my internet activities, it's also a real pleasure to settle back into some quilling and 'making' which, after all, are what it's really all about for all of us.

Right now, I guess you could say that I'm enjoying the best of both worlds!

Inspired!

A couple of years ago, I was inspired to create some quilled designs in the style of the 19th century English artist William Morris. You can find the posts about them here, here and here!!

Well, I was prompted to return to his wonderful works this month by the subject of another Homyachok Challenge: Quilling Task No. 11 - Paintings and Ornaments.

This particular challenge requires quillers to produce a creation which has been inspired by a particular art style, so of course I immediately thought of William's influence on the 19th Century 'Arts and Crafts' movement and set to work!

My quilling was inspired by the William Morris design 'Snakeshead' which takes its pattern from the rare and delicate 'snakeshead fritillary' flower that graces secluded English meadows in Spring.  The colours are different, even the pattern is different, but somehow the feel of the bold teardrop shapes and delicate leaf branches is the same.

I wrapped each of my teardrop shapes with gold-edged, pearlised gold strips to give them extra definition, and made the branches from narrower 1.5mm strips for added depth.

Here, for reference, is the original William Morris 'Snakeshead' design:

And here's another photo of my quilling, which now forms the front of a very special greetings card:

It's my pleasure to enter this work into the Homyachok Challenge.  Wish me luck!!