Quilled Orchids and More

Here is a series of quilling project I've done over the course of the last few months. My latest piece de la resistance is a pot of orchids I made for a friend's Easter gift. I eagerly used the pattern and ideas of Alli Bartkowski in her new book Quilled Flowers: A Garden of 35 Paper Projects. And I tweaked it a little, too. The coffee mug in the photo is for scale.




Detail of the flowers:





Here's a posey I made with Alli's original pattern for the orchid bloom:







In keeping with the Easter theme, here's a bunny:

and what I call the GoonyBird (based on a card I saw on Stephanie's Designs blog by someone named Anita):

I started to make a 3D snowflake out of 3/8" paper, but it began to droop terribly. I stopped with only this much, but the droop turned into a pleasing effect:

A little angel based on something I saw at Aquamarine Crafts blog:

A very dark blue snowflake that looks black based on a design by Stephanie Sanchez - I saw the pattern on Ann Martin's allthingspaper blog:

A colorful butterfly emulating one by Celia Louie of Crafting Creatures:

Dragonfly like ones I saw at Quilled Inspirations:

Here is a string of fish I made for some friends who own a restaurant in Germany well known for its local catches. I based the designs on those of my quilling guru Ann Martin of the All Things Paper blog:

A flower thingy based on something I saw by Charlotte Canup on The Art of Quilling blog:

A bunch of grapes based on some I saw at Elizabeth's Creations Studio - these make great gifties for wine lovers:

I love the way this Monarch turned out. It's based on one I saw on Inna's Creations blog. I will probably never make another. It was so detailed and had so many teeny, tiny parts. I added a tail of folded roses to bring attention to it.

I made this as a Mother's Day gift. The recipient used it for a corsage for the afternoon!

I dig this peacock based on a card I saw on Inna's Creations blog:

Another design I borrowed from Ann Martin. She designed this pear tree for a holiday card:

 

A weird scrolly thing:

Please note that I troll Internet images for ideas and designs to use. I try to attribute the source where I can, but I don't always remember where I got them. I thank the makers nonetheless! There are so many talented quillers out there. Do your own image search just for a pleasant pasttime the next time you have a few minutes. I hope you've enjoyed my creations!

Quilling in Europe

I have found that bringing my quilling supplies to Europe was one of the smartest things I could have done. Since I've had to rely on many, many people for places to stay, rides, translating, apartment hunting, and on and on and on til I just don't wanna think about it, I have made little quilled presents for many of my benefactors. They really seem to love them!

Here are a few of my creations:

Since the springtime was so, so beautiful here in Germany, I made a little spring scene for my hostess Hilde:

And remember my folded paper roses I made back in February? I used them to make a monogrammed card for Hilde, too:

This angel I made for Hilde's niece who gave me an acutely needed Internet connection, printouts, and a ride:

My host, Hilde's husband Adi, recieved this little owl monogram card:

Then, Hilde went so wild over a little snowflake I made her that I made her a large one:

Here's the silhouette of it hanging in her window. I love the negative image:

Then, Hilde's daughter Sonja made a special effort so I could use her internet connection, so I made her a trio of snowflakes using the color scheme of her beautiful dining room. This is the largest of the trio and was done in bronze:

I'm especiallly proud of this second snowflake, done in metallic black, because it's my first original snowflake design!

And this teeny little thing is done in black:

Now that I was on a roll, I made this original design for Hilde's brother who gave me more than one ride to town so I could work. He's a football fanatic (soccer to you Americans) and he seemed to really like this. It's about the size of a quarter:

I did this intricate cross for Hilde who is devoutly Catholic. She adores it! It's possibly the most beautiful thing I've quilled so far.

Finally, I made this little chachtke for Hilde for a Sunday dinner invitation:

The next post will be a tutorial for making a Kusudama ball out of some flyers for a photography exhibit. Check back soon for that.

Quilled Angel of My Own Design

In return for some fantastic hospitality, I designed this quilling project I call "Robby's Angel" for a super girl in Tennessee. She collects angels and, since I couldn't find a pattern I liked, I decided to create one myself.



Here it is with something that gives it a sense of the delicacy of size quilling has:



And I know this isn't quilled, but I'm so proud of this bloom on my orchid that greeted me this morning! I grew it myself - or at least helped it along.