Merry Christmas.....

An interesting and satisfying Christmas card making time...

Made three more smaller Christmas cards

 and a special Xmas card made in a jiffy (as usual).

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

Christmas cards

Here are some more Christmas cards I made. 

A wedding card.

Hi guys, I have been busy making few X-mas cards which I will upload in the next blog and also I had a special project of a wedding card for my best friend's daughter. 

I was confused about what to make and I searched the net and saw a wedding knot card made by Suganthi. Inspired, I tried a smaller version and a box cover for the card. I truly enjoyed doing this one.

Inspired by Neli

I am truly inspired by Nelika, an awesome Bulgarian quiller. I think all should visit her blog.

 http://nelika-neli.blogspot.in/

 She is gifted. The colors she uses are really fantastic. I am at loss for adjectives to describe her work. Here is a Thank You card I made yesterday, which is inspired by her work. 

Quilling tips

As I had mentioned in my previous blog, I learned all about quilling from the net. I made few cards which were given in person, so no worry about the paper getting quashed. But for cards which I had to send by post??? I had inquired a quiller about how she makes the papers stiff and she said she applied varnish.

So I got an aerosol spray which was good, but the application was messy. The flowers got stuck to the board and I had difficulty in dislodging them. So I tried picture varnish, this was pretty good but didn't give the glossy finish. I read about Touchwood varnish, and tried. Oh My! Did it give glossy finish? Yes! but the papers lost their natural color. White became yellowish... :(

Oh well! I thought I will try clear varnish, but alas! the papers became too transparent and the feel was not good. 
 

Applied clear varnish, but you can see the leaves are too stiff and sticking together.

 

 After all these trials, I feel Camel picture varnish or a nail top coat ( top coat??? Yeah, it is too good but gets dry too quickly that I have to work without a fan... Whew!) are the best. If it is a bigger area, like the bamboo vase, I could play with the aerosol spray. 

I also tried without varnish or top coat, with the birthday card I made for my son. But few swirls got quashed since I had to send it by courier. I still feel pretty bad cos I had made the card with lots of care. :(

I am going to try a coat with Fevicol for earrings. Hope it works out well.

A hectic November continues....

A birthday card and a couple of earrings I made for my son's friend.

 

Had a hectic trip to attend a marriage and back just before my husband's birthday. I had to do something special for him and here is what I came up with.

X-mas cards,

Christmas bells are ringing and I am on to making few cards..... 

To my dearest son....

This special day brings back
Memories of your childhood
Which I cherish fondly and
Makes me feel proud that
You are my son.

It's my son, Abhilash's B'day. I am taken back 25 years back, the day he was born, a bonny baby, and his childhood. Every mother wants her child to be best, and I too was the same. May be in that quest and desire I might have been harsh. I was a young mother and immature, so dearest son pardon me if I have given you some bad memories, my reprimand was all with good intention.

As a child, he was enthusiastic and eager to participate in all kind of activities, let it be an extempore or a fancy dress or recitation, he was always ready. Winning never mattered, but he won anyway in almost all. 

He has been a driving force behind my achievements. He gave me final push to master cycling at the age of  40, supported to work as a teacher, a big fan and driving force behind my quilling. 

A strong willed and enthusiastic young man, I am so proud that he is my son. I couldn't have asked for more, I just have three words - God Bless Him. Love You dearest.

A special card for him.....A flip card! My first one!

The front view

The flipped view

Back side of the card.

Quilled flowers on bamboo

I have been a bit busy lately, of course, quilling.  Here is what I did.

I had a piece of bamboo stem which, I felt, could be used as a Flower vase to hold dry flowers, and also it would give a natural and rustic look. I got it painted black, but didn't know how to decorate it. Once I started quilling, I thought why not decorate with quilled flowers and with black background, I could use bright colors. Here is the final flower vase. 

 

Something Special for Someone Special

Deepa....She is like my daughter but more like a friend. 

 She had got a puppy, whom she named Lassie, and seeing Lassie, my second son too wanted a dog. So we went for a German Shepherd, like Lassie.  I remember when I got the dog, Deeps, (that's what I call her lovingly),  carefully wrote down the do's and dont's of taking care of dog. She is a sweetheart and I wanted to gift something special for her b'day and here is what I came up with.

Here is the card I made for her.

My best friend ever.

I don’t want words to express….

I don’t need tears to shed……

I don’t need to ask for a smile…..

Or a hand to hold me…..

All I need is

To be your friend, forever!

Beautiful words on friendship... 

My dearest friend has been a a source of support, fun and a shoulder to cry on. We both had similar wavelength, be it music, sports or books. I remember we both had learned cycling after the age of 40!!!!! I cherish the time we spent playing badminton with other friends of ours.

Imagining wildest situation and laughing over it was a good refreshing medicine for us!!! Both of us enjoyed a good joke with heartiest laugh and we were known for our laughter. 

I am reminded of the times we spent together and I feel grateful that I have a marvelous friend. Though we are separated by distance we are just a phone call away. Thank you Lord, for giving me such a wonderful friend and all the memorable moments we had together.  

It was her birthday and I wanted to make a special card for her. 

a card in a jiffy....

A call from my loving husband.....an invitation for a wedding anniversary celebrations today night. It is the couple's first anniversary. He suggests that I make a card for them.... in few hours??? Well I had a few flowers made but I had not applied varnish. Luckily I had Camlin varnish which dries very quickly but you don't get the gloss. I set to work. My husband encourages my attempt in this craft work but always demands projects in a short time, that is a few hours!!! Here is what I came out with. I luv challenges!!!

I wanted to add a heart but one didn't look okay. I thought, marriage is union of two hearts. So I added two hearts. 

Hey! I read somewhere best time to take pictures of art work is in daylight, but what the hell! I start by afternoon and have to give it for dinner party. Whatever, hope the pictures are as good as under daylight...

A card made in a few hours....

Saturday a'noon. I just remembered that we had a small gathering as a farewell party to a junior in our organization. Damn!!! I had almost forgotten. I have been making cards for many occasions and how could I not think about one for Praveen too. ( The party was for him.) He had completed his Masters in Engineering in flying colors was transferred to another site. I sat down to work. I had few flowers made for another project. 
I couldn't apply varnish properly but came up with a simple but elegant card.

Daffodils......

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. 

William Wordsworth

I have always been fascinated by the poem 'Daffodils' by William Wordsworth. I could imagine the yellow daffodils swaying in the breeze in my mind when I was a child, though I had never seen a daffodil before. So when I searched the net I was surprised to see even white daffodils too. Here is my attempt to create them....

My Inspiration...

I have been bragging about my new found passion and my projects. Before I go any further I should mention my two greatest inspirations - 

Pritesh Dagur 
http://quillingmesoftlee.blogspot.in/

Suganthi
 http://papercraftss.blogspot.in/


I searched the net to know more about quilling and found that this art was more prevalent in Russia, Europe and America. I was awed by the these two Indian quillers whose works are awesome. The tutorial videos by Pritesh are informative and very easy to follow. 

A big Thank You to both...