A right royal struggle!

One of the Quilling Guild's competition categories for last year's Display Of Work was a quilled card to celebrate our Queen's Diamond Jubilee (60 years on the British throne) in 2012. I thought really hard about entering this competition, but just couldn't get my head around it. What would I quill? A diamond? A coat of arms? A crown? Inspiration simply would not come ... so I backed off, and did not enter anything.

But ... what goes around, comes around. Now that we're actually in the Jubilee year, the challenge has raised its head again! This time it's the Hampshire Federation of Women's Institutes holding a 'make a card for the Diamond Jubilee' competition - and my fellow WI members have INSISTED that I enter.

Oh dear - back to studying the Royal Crown again! The real thing is so ornate and intricate that I could easily spend the rest of my life quilling it. So I decided to create a simplified, stylised version representing just the central section which will - hopefully - look OK sitting flat on a card.

I have found this project to be a REAL challenge! I started with the base of the crown, using teardrops and tight coils to represent the ermine (white fur with black spots) that encircles it. Next, I created a section to represent three of the precious jewel clusters, surrounded by an infill of gold 'beehive' curls. Then comes some two-tone purple 'beehive' on a background of purple card, to represent the velvet centre of the crown. Then there are two crosses, each created using a set of four vortex coils squished into triangles. Oh yes, and an golden orb, plus a strip of gold paper up the middle which is mounted on card so that there's a slight ledge to hold the purple beehive in place ... do you know, I'm feeling tired just telling you about it!

I really don't know whether I'm pleased with this crown or not - but I've done it now, and I'm desperate to move on to something else!! So this is the design which is going to be mounted on to my card, which is unlikely ever to get sent to the Queen - but I'll let you know how I get on!

Thinking inside the box

As you might expect, I could not resist making one of the lovely little display boxes for quilling that Pritesh has recently featured on her blog!

Pritesh very kindly sent me the template for her brilliant box, which has a clever little 'window' aperture in the lid that allows you to view the quilling displayed inside. I found it quite easy to cut out and assemble  the box, having first printed the template outline on to an A4 size sheet of card. Before adding the transparent acetate film for the 'window', I decided to emboss the outside of the card using my Cuttlebug. (For my next box, I may even experiment with colouring some of the raised sections for extra effect.)

Having made the box, I actually lay awake last night thinking about what I might put inside!! In the end, I decided to create a little heart shape which is filled up with a miscellany of coils and shapes that have been left over from other projects (I'm sure that most quillers have an extensive collection of these!) using a technique which I learned from the inspirational Jane Jenkins at last year's Quilling Guild Shared Skills Day.

I've added a cut-out border around the inner heart to add emphasis to the decorated shape, which is mounted on to the square of card left over after I had cut the box-lid aperture. I attached it to the base of the display box using little adhesive pads so that it is raised at a slight angle.

Unfortunately, I found it hard to photograph the contents of the box sharply due to reflections in the acetate - the sun is actually shining here in the UK this afternoon!! However, I think you can get the general impression of how my box has turned out.

Thanks again, Pritesh, for this excellent idea. I think that it has fantastic potential.

Same background ... different design!

I had so many favourable comments about my 'beehive' quilling photo background, that I decided to use it in another way for a different card:

This time, I used the image at 100% resolution, and it looks almost as 'real' as the actual quilling in the centre.

What next? A new 'beehive' background using a different combination of colours perhaps ... watch this space!!

Multicoloured multitasking!

I'm still exploring the potential of the versatile beehive technique, which lends itself so beautifully to working with an array of different colours.

Yesterday, I filled in a large open ring coil with pairs of twisted strips, working with that 'magical' colour combination of purple, red, pink and green (... plus a tiny bit of white, silver and black thrown in!)  The result is almost a marbled effect, full of interest and movement.










I used it to make this card:

And then it struck me what a wonderful background pattern a photo of the quilling would make. So I've used it for this one too, with just a little flourish of real quilling on the top:

Swirls and twirls

Having sorted out a couple of new card designs for men in my last post, I've now returned to my 'feminine side' once again!

This design begins with a simple grey background square (bordered with green), on to which I have glued two red cut-outs which I created using one of my newly-acquired Cuttlebug dies. (I love the way these swirly patterns seem to complement quilled shapes and coils so well.)

The centre piece is a thick diamond-shaped ring coil which I have filled up with a random two-tone 'beehive' pattern. Still thinking diamonds, I then decided to add a pair of tiny purple vortex coils to the edges of the cut-out shape above, before putting in a couple of extra pieces of quilled filigree just to balance the design.

This card features my all-time favourite colour combination: purple, red and bright lime green. I don't know why these colours work so well together, but they do!

A sideways glance ... and one for the road!

Well, here it is - my first post for 2012.  It feels SO good to be getting back to normal once again after the Christmas break. I've actually been doing quite a bit of quilling over the past couple of weeks, but I'm keeping the details 'under wraps' for the moment because the work I've been doing is for a really big project that I'm not ready to reveal just yet!

However, time is ticking by, and our local weekly market opens again on Friday of next week. So it's time for me to review my stock of cards, which is looking a bit thin in the men's department - always a challenge in terms of designs, as every quiller knows!!

For Christmas, I was fortunate to receive some new die cutters for my Cuttlebug machine, including one which cuts out a 'swirl' shape that makes a perfect complement to quilling. Having cut out a bold swirl in dark blue paper, I decided to team it with some rolled quilled pegs lying on their sides, plus a conventional open coil to add some symmetry. I've used this little combination to brighten up my first 'male' card which is designed for a computer user (when asked what their husbands are interested in, several of my customers have bemoaned the fact that "he's on the computer all day"!!):

Computer image sourced from Wikimedia Commons

My second idea for a man's card focuses on driving. Most men seem to love their cars and planning routes for a journey, so I created this design featuring a colourful old map of England and Wales which I sourced from The Graphics Fairy. I've simply added a small section of 'road' with a quilled steering wheel and a couple of road signs, and I'm quite pleased with the result. Well, hopefully that's another 'male interest' covered!

My top ten projects of 2011

It's always fun to look back over past achievements, and fellow blogger Regina Ribeiro has suggested that we all take time out to select our favourite ten projects of the past twelve months. I was actually quite surprised by the number of posts I have managed to make in 2011, but it didn't take me long to select the following for my own 'top ten':

My decorative card featuring a water lily and other quilled flowers, which won a prize at our local village show.

My quilled pin brooch that was selected to represent Hampshire in this year's Women's Institute craft competition.

Another pin brooch created using tri-coloured 'twisted' P coils and metallic edged strips.

Digitally quilled shapes providing a 'ghostly' backdrop  for 'real' quilling.

'It's a shore thing' - my sculpture combining quilling with photography,  real sea shells and vortex coil 'rocks' - won first prize in the 'Quilling Plus' category of the Quilling Guild's Display of Work for 2011.

My spiral starburst on a twisted easel features 'twisted' wheatears and vortex coil blocks, and was awarded The Rose Bowl for innovation at the Quilling Guild's Display of Work for 2011 ... my proudest achievement ever!!

'Rainbow snowflake' - inspired by a piece that was originally created in glass.

My small tortoiseshell butterfly was inspired by an ornamental  flower bed, and is  made from folded roses and fringed flowers.

My own modern 'take' on the Victorian techniques of Mosaicon (a quilling kit sold in England in the 19th Century).

Twists and more twists using the 'beehive' technique.

I would like to thank all my wonderful online friends who have inspired me and left such encouraging comments here on Quilliance over the past twelve months. You really have helped me more than words can say. It's great to be part of such a vibrant and creative international quilling community, which has enriched my life beyond measure - and I'd like to wish every one of you a happy and healthy new year.