Quilled Silhouette Self Portrait

My Quilling journey continues so apologies if you're tired of Quilling projects but I'm on a roll! Pun intended. 

I've been doing completely filled Quilling where you don't leave any (or not a lot of) open space and wanted to play with doing only a partial image quilled. I decided to do a "self portrait" which was a royalty free image I found online that was close enough to what a silhouette of me would look like. I googled "Black woman silhouette" and this one popped up. Since I usually wear my hair in a big pony or bun, it was perfect. I chose a palette of silver/grey , yellow and white. 

This is my new "favorite project ever" and my photography doesn't do it justice. I'm really happy with the project but not so much the photos. Sigh. 

Supplies: 

• Grey 12x12 Scrapbook Paper
• Yellow, White, Grey Quilling papers (Juya available on Amazon)
• Silver Vellum Paper (had in my stash and cut my own quilling strips)
• Black 12x12 Cardstock
• Quilling Tool
• Glue (Aleene's Turbo Tacky and Elmer's)
• Tweezers 
• 12x12 Shadow Box Frame (Michaels 2 for $29.99)

I uploaded the image into Cricut Design Space and cut it from black cardstock on my Cricut Explore Air 2. I wasn't originally going to offset it but once I cut it and it was sitting on my desk like that, once again...welcome to how my brain works! 

I set the negative aside, made a bunch of tight and loose coils ( just like my big hair!) and some teardrop shapes as shown. Then I just played with laying them out on the image until I had a plan. 

I laid it next to the negative again to make sure that's still what I wanted to do and it was. Glued down the negative to the grey background paper and then glued the Quilled image in place. 

I used the teardrop shapes as a kind of crown and the silver vellum coils as a kind of necklace. Finised with a swirled flourish using all the colors from the project. You can see I took pics before the glue dried, but it dries clear! 

To finish, I framed using a 12x12 display case frame (Michaels). 

Was able to get a little better picture outside before my canine assistant had a chance to topple it! 

Swirls & Swirls : Paint Pouring and Quilling

Sharing a gift I made for the friend who started me on this Quilling obsession. We've been friends since the 7th grade and since I've recently retired, you can figure out that's a loooonnng time! She also just became a Grandma this weekend! Age is a state of mind though right? So despite over 60 years of marriage between us, we're still in HS, going to our favorite pizza place and ice cream parlor. 

Where I'm heavily into neutrals, she's heavily into colors. The paint pour I did was in honor of the peacock feathers and jewel tones that were part of her wedding colors. Swirls of turquoise, greens and purples. Did I mention she made her own wedding dress and each of our bridesmaids dresses then fast forward to her daughter's wedding 2 years ago and she made her dress? She's amazing. 

I did this piece on a wood cradle board which is one of my favorite surfaces on which to paint pour.

For the Quilling piece, I once again turned to embroidery hoops as my "frame" which have become my go to as you'll see in some upcoming projects! I went with shades of purple and dark brown which coordinated with the paint pour colors.

And being a cardmaker and a paperholic at heart, I made a card to send along with:

I went with Jewel Tones that coordinated, using a Jewel Tone paper stack by Craftsmart and a bicycle themed sheet from another Craftsmart paper stack, In Bloom. I am hopeless when it comes to Michaels either buy one get two free or 70% off on these stacks. Hopeless.

I Quilled the butterfly in coordinating colors.

Supplies Used: 

• Craftsmart Acrylic Paints (Michaels)
• Wood Cradle Board ( Blick Art)
• Embroidery Hoop
• Juya Quilling Papers (available on Amazon)
• Misc Coordinating Paper
• Aleene's Turbo Tacky Glue ( Walmart) 

BFF Open House...She's Late Edition

Hi all! Sorry I'm late...chalk it up to Retirement brain and actually forgetting the day! So, we'll go w/out features this week and pick them up next week OK?! Thanks for understanding.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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BFF Open House

Happy Friday Eve all! Tomorrow is Friday right? Having completed my first month of retirement, I can see how people lose track of the days! Not complaining though! Hope you all survived another week safely and creatively. I am having so much fun continuing to explore all of the possibilities of Quilling. My most recent project is here: Quilled Monogram . Now, let's see what you've been up to this week! 

Hannah from Handmade  Weekly shared something that's timely for me : Candle Making for Beginners. We love candles but they get expensive so I've been thinking about making my own. 

Lisa from Condo Blues shared how to re-purpose aluminum cans into pendants that can go on a necklace. There are so many drinks out that come in pretty cans, the possibilities are endless !

With so many of us still hunkering down at home, Summer camping may not be on the calendar this year but The House on Silverado has a wonderful idea for a camping dinner ( I think this qualifies as "glamping" ) at home including Toasted S'Mores Martinis for dessert. 

Finally, Cindy's Online Recipe Box is back with one of my favorite combinations: Chocolate and Coconut in her Almond Joy Cupcakes! Oh yes please!

Alright, let's see what you've been up to this week! 

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Quilled Monogram in Black and White

My love of and adventures in Quilling continue. The more I do, the more I want to do! Apologies for the photo quality. Between it being overcast and the fact that the dog accidentally broke my main camera lens and I'm having to use my distance lens and it's hit or miss...frustrating b/c this may be my favorite project ever! 

Supplies: 

• Cardstock for outlining monogram and matting
• Scrapbook paper for matting
• 12x12 shadow box frame
• Quilling paper
• Glue
• Quilling tool 

Choose a font to use. I used one called "Acherone". I printed out then traced w/ my lightbox onto white cardstock. I cut 1/4 inch width pieces of cardstock and then glued the strips around the letter to form my outline. Once the whole letter was outlined, I added a middle strip for more definition.

I decided it didn't matter if my pencil marks showed because I could just fill in those areas with quilled coils. 

I made coils, swirls and teardrops and just kept filling in the frame at random until I was happy. Once done, I added a few swirled coils as shown. 

I trimmed the paper the monogram was glued to, and then  matted that w/ black cardstock. Then I chose a black and white piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper and framed using a shadow box frame (Michaels...they come in multiple sizes in packs of 2, $29.99 regular price but I bought mine when they were 50% off). 

BFF Open House

Happy Friday Eve all! Not sure what went sideways w/ last week's party other than I tried putting it up under the new Blogger and some things worked and others didn't. So...doing this one under the old Blogger. Hope you've all had a peaceful week and are staying safe and masked up!

Liz from Howling At The Moon shared this beautiful crocheted Neo Herringbone Bag. Who can't ue an extra reusable bag! Pattern at link. 

Unique Creations by Anita shared a way to transform a "seen better days" plastic statue to look like granite, complete w/some tricks to patch it up if needed. I'm thinking ahead to Halloween and a great way to transform some pieces into a more sophisticated Gothic look. 

Christine from The DIY Dreamer shared a beautiful bracelet that her daughter Gabrielle made as part of the gifts she's making for family members. I love the colors she chose and the way it turned out. Looks like the creative apple didn't fall far from the tree !

Finally, July will always be "Harry Potter" month for me. Each year, I look forward to the wonderful creations so many makers come up with to celebrate. These Butterbeer Cupcakes from Marilyn's Treats are no exception! 

Now, let's see what you've all been up to this week and thanks for coming! 

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Quilled Butterfly Card

My adventures in my new obsession continue so expect to see a few posts. I wanted to incorporate quilling into my card making so played around and made this butterfly for a Thank You card I needed to make. 

Supplies: 

• Cardstock and Scrapbook Papers for Card
• Quilling Paper and Tool
• Glue
• Quilling Board

The quilling board came in the kit my girlfriend gave me and it really helpful for ensuring consistent shapes and sizes. You make your coils and then drop inside the shape and use your fingers to help form the shape,  I chose paper strips that coordinated with the colors of the polka dot paper I used. 

To make the Butterfly Wings, I started with the orange and yellow papers shown inside, former the teardrop shapes and then just went around them with the other colors to build up the shapes. 

To make the antennae and the middle ( I have no idea what this part of a butterfly is called) I folder two black strips in half, then curled the tops to make antennae. Tightly coiled the green coils and wrapped the black strips around and glued down to the card. 

Once all my wing pieces were assembled, I glued to the front of the card as shown. Paractice makes perfect and this isn't 100% but I'm pleased with it for a first try. 

I had a question on my last Quilling post about how to actually make the coils and shapes. I think this video is really helpful :