Jan 31, 2011

Quilled E Monogram with Fringed Flowers



So I made a monogram for a friend who is turning 40 and requested a no gift policy – well, I'll still be able to say "I didn't buy anything." I wanted to show the flowers bursting forth in different stages of bloom. The "moat" which corrals the quilled flowers ends up hiding the quilled base from most angles; tilting the blossoms on their sides doesn't hurt either. I designed each flower pattern and cut them digitally on the Silhouette.


I’ve just discovered Moxie Fab World through a reader’s post of an intricately quilled heart, by Sweet Spot Cards. MFW have weekly challenges in their side bar, and I was pleased to find the right stuff in my stash for their “Pretty Pastels Color Challenge for Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week in the Moxie Fab World“, shown below:


Jan 26, 2011

DIY Soccer Jersey Placecard


Since blogging about the soccer themed place cards made for my nephew’s baptism, I’ve been asked about them numerous times. I used an electronic die cutter (Silhouette) to cut them out, but there’s no reason why it can’t be done by hand.

I’ve made a PDF with fillable name and number to print out. You can cut them by hand or use the SVG files on your electronic cutter (Cricut or Silhouette with Designer software).

Please credit my blog and I’d love it if you could comment with a link to your blog or a photo of how your project looks. Your enthusiasm keeps me inspired!


Jan 25, 2011

DIY Party Favor


Finally edited the remaining photos from our nephew’s soccer themed baptism. This is such an easy to make party favor. I remember savoring hickory smoked almonds on an airplane and the wedge shape has always stuck in my head because of it’s minimalism. It uses the least amount of paper, provides maximum amount of volume, yet requires the least amount of effort to make by hand. There are no tabs to cut as for boxes, the shape is very pleasing and unusual, and provides a nice surface for a message.

I bought my translucent vellum at Opus on Granville Island: .50/sheet (discount over 10 sheets), at 48lb. Other options I considered were:

  • DeSerres: $8.95 at 32 Text weight (too thin)
  • Avalon Stationary: .70/each, 80lb Cover weight (too thick)
  • Coast Paper Cash and Carry: minimum $25 (too much stock left over)

To make the party favor:

  1. Cut a sheet of 8.5″x11″ into quarters. Wrap the length around an empty toilet paper roll to help you line up the edges, and use double sided tape or glue to adhere the overlap.
  2. Pinch the top opening.
  3. Adhere one end of the tube.
  4. Pinch the other opening in a perpendicular direction.
  5. Fold over edge.
  6. Use a 1/8″ hole punch in the middle for a ribbon.
 


I've just discovered The DIY Club and hope readers there will enjoy this project. Check it out!



    Jan 19, 2011

    Hot off the press!


    It's been a pie-in-the-sky fantasy of mine to be published one day, and never imagined that pie could fall out into my lap. I was contacted last year by a scout at Quarto Publishing, UK, who found my quilling instructions on Etsy. Almost a year later, I gingerly pull out my advanced copy from the mail box.

    The process was long – not the quilling part, but the photography. My husband endured my endless frustrations with lighting, focus, and composition. We became Twister-masters, as he helped me shoot while both my hands were explaining the process of quilling. Literally could not have done it without him!

    Within the 4 spreads, I show how to make basic shapes and open petal flowers posted in this blog. I've not seen this technique in any other book so far. I was also challenged by Quarto to create a butterfly and am quite pleased with the final example.

    The book features many other esteemed paper artists (my work is sitting alongside Yulia Brodskaya's – wow!)  and will be available on Amazon by next month. ISBN 978-0-7624-4087-0

    Jan 12, 2011

    Die Cut Jersey Place Cards


    These place cards were cut in the shape of soccer jerseys, with each name and table number showing the guests their seating.

    A hazard of printing all the way to the cutting edge on coated card stock is powdered toner flaking off. A nice way to pick up all the toner is to wrap packaging tape around your hand with the sticky side out. Gently skim the surface of your paper, picking up the toner before it has a chance to coat the adhesive mat of your die cutter, thereby ruining future adhesion. Note to self: leave a white margin next time!

    If you’d like to cut these jerseys, here are links for a fillable PDF (yes, it'll look just like the font you see here), SVG, and DXF file.

    Jan 11, 2011

    Ice Salt Shaker

    Winter has come to Vancouver and instead of reaching into the plastic bag of salt (which is always in a threatening state of spilling because we’re too lazy to re-tie), I decided to poke holes in the lid of a a plastic container (held nuts) to make myself a large scale salt shaker. I was given an industrial strength hole puncher used in shipyards – it cut through the 1/8″ plastic lid like butter. Of course, I just had to customize it with my die cutter. Note: don’t leave it outside, as salt can solidify into a single block.