Cherry Blossom: Sakura

Have been busy making this Cherry blossom which is also known as Sakura. But once it was done I just didn't get the time to upload it on the blog. And today that I have time, thought I must not let go of the opportunity to wish everyone with best wishes for the new year. Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Close-up of the bird

 

Fresh light on the Sakura

One would think of the Cherry blossom as a reflection of Japanese culture and you would wonder why Cherry blossom for Chinese New Year. 
Well, there is a connection, Sakura does naturally grow in China. And the two most famous cherry blossom parks in China reflect Japan's donation during the first half of the 20th century ( Longwangtang Cherry Blossom Park & Wuhan University).
If you happen to visit China during spring, think about attending the Cherry Blossoms Festival. 


PS: An adaption from Inna's Cherry blossom

Recycled Pen holder Ideas

When I was in Glasgow doing my PhD, I had come across some homemade pen holder ideas. I had loads on my hit list then and I had made one of them. I thought I must share some ideas with you all too.

Below is the photo of the one I did using a magazine and some coloured card stock. I used a cola plastic bottle and cut it into the appropriate size I wanted (this is about 10cm in height). Then I made some tight rolls out of magazine papers of different sizes and stuck them on the bottle and let it dry. Later I painted it with some acrylic colours. In the mean time, I made quilling roses of different colours and punched some leaves.

How to make quilling roses? (here is a tutorial). Finally the roses and leaves were glued on the holder.

Pen holder made from paper

On the bright side...

Other pen holders on my list-

Recycle a phone book/ pharma catalog into a unique pen holder.
http://www.chicaandjo.com/2009/02/24/recycle-phone-book-into-pen-organizer/

Recycle some pencils and stick them together and paint them white or any colour for that matter.
http://www.thisnext.com/item/9049E372/7F5D8AFA/Take-Note-Desk-Accessories

PS: I am glad that this pen holder was instantly liked by my then flatmate, Diana who just loved the way it looked and thus I gifted it to her once it was done. :)) Hope you can gift your near and dear ones too.

Simple Quilled Flowers with A Paper Frame

I have created a simple arrangement of quilled flowers this time :).

Simple Quilled Flowers

I have used 3mm wide strips for the dark green leaves and 1mm for the light green ones. And 1cm strips for the fringed flowers. The fringe is very dense and an adaptation from the original which can be learnt here (Fringed flowers).

This work isn't an exception !!! But what I enjoyed and learnt the most was to make your own paper frame. To frame this picture, I used a thick card stock. Step-by-step instructions for a frame like this can be found in "How to make a simple paper frame". 

Size of the finished picture is about 27 x 18cm.

Inna's creations was the blog that has inspired me too much to get into quilling. One should for sure peep into her site to see her creations.

I like the finished project, hope you guys like it too!

Ciao

3-D Quilled Lady

Hello folks,

              Hope you had a lovely holiday season and Happy New Year to all of you. It's my Mum's birthday today and I thought I must do something special.
So here is starting the blog in the new year on an auspicious day.... This is for you Maa!

As you all may have realized I am into making 3D quilled miniatures these days. After a bunch of bell flowers and hyacinths, I decided to put my hands on something larger and more full of life.

Let me introduce to you a new character in my collection of three-dimensional quilled miniatures. This is 'Rosy lips' touring the world (that name was just made up, but I like it) :).

Rosy Lips!!!

Visiting Liberty!!

At the London Eye...

Oh! In Paris

For the dress, I used green & purple 3mm strips. To make the dress attractive, I also required 1mm (self cut) strips of green and purple. And finally a punched flower with a bead to give it a zing :). 

The hair is made of black/brown narrow strips (1mm) cut along in different sizes and curled. 

I even made her a contemporary hat since she was touring the world, using red and off white 1mm strips.

For the face, I had a pink (3mm) strip, coiled tightly, measuring approx. 60cms. And finally, used fibre-tip pen to draw the facial features and cut out her rosy lips!!

Now for some serious quilling, I will be treating myself to this book Three-Dimensional Quilling: Making Characters from Amazon recommended by Inna Dorman (http://increations.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html).

See you soon with some more arty stuff!!!

PS: She is about 7cms in height. And something for you to NOTE if at all you are inspired in making one. After you have quilled the face, paste the lips and facial features appropriately. You can see her nostril (the quilled center) are not aligned, something I didn't think about.