May Love Abound

With this nativity, I wanted to capture the love that this family unit had. I often think of Joseph's gentle heart and complete faith. He loved the Christ child as if he were his own. He was the baby's and Mary's protector. How tender the feelings that were surely passed during quiet moments following the Saviour's birth.

Mary and Jesus

As I have created these nativities, I have pondered on my relationships with my own children and the tender moments I shared with them when they were infants. It has given me new insight into Mary's love for our Saviour. I tried to capture that precious moment between mother and infant in the following nativity, simple entitled, "Mary and Jesus".

Unto us a child is born...

Here is the third in my series of nativities for this year. Meg Crawford (a fellow quiller) helped me identify a really great perspective on this one. She said, " Joseph looks good. In this one he seems to be thinking about the future for all of them; in the others he seems focussed on caring for Mary and the Baby Jesus."

And His name shall be called Wonderful...

Here's the second in this year's series of nativities. I love this one especially for the tenderness Joseph is showing to Mary and baby Jesus. I also love how Jesus is grasping Mary's finger. I remember when my newborns did that and I just melted.

Keeping Christ in Christmas

It's that time of year again! I love Christmas. It's my favorite time of the year. This year I'm once again making nativities as gifts. This time, I will have four total when I'm all done. Here's the first completed one:

Baby Names

A couple of friends had new babies, so I created baby name plates unique for each one. Luckily, I got the chance to create for both a boy and a girl. The boy's name plaque has a sword, a shield (CTR=Choose The Right), and a helmet. This one measured 8"x10".The girl's one is more simple and feminine. I decoupaged the canvas with light pink roses and then placed her quilled name over it. This one measures 8"x24". I wish I were a better photographer because I think they both came out wonderfully, yet the pictures don't do them justice.

Fantasy Art - Faery Queen

I finished this at the end of the summer, just haven't published it on my blog. It's my own design and showcases my love for faeries and fantasy art. It measures 8"x10". The face is made using eight different shades of peach, apricot, pink, brown, and orange.

Fun with Cards

I had fun the other day teaching a friend and her daughter how to quill. Here's what we made:



It's hard to tell who are the novices and who's been quilling for a while here, huh? I told my friend that they were both naturals and she didn't believe me. I'm hoping to convince her that they both truly have talent and get them to quill with me again.

What do you think?

Flourish Phoenix

So after I created my phoenix, I was looking on the web at other phoenixes and came across this really beautiful tattoo design. It looked like filigree to me so I immediately thought that I wanted to quill it. Sometimes designs just speak to you - this one definitely did to me!

I thought it would look really nice if I used the same colors I did for my other phoenix - reds, oranges and yellow. I used red for the main coils (insides), then wrapped it with orange and then again with yellow. I like how it turned out. I just wish I were a better photographer so you could see more vividly the colors. The picture doesn't do the finished project justice. Oh well!

I promise this will be the last phoenix for a while. I have a few more phoenix designs I want to create one day, but I will file those away for now and create something different next. I'm ready for a new subject now that I have this beautiful piece finished.

Basic Quilling Instructions

I've been asked a few times if I'd ever consider creating videos with quilling instructions. I have considered it a time or two, but don't feel I'm really that technologically equipped to produce anything anyone could even view. My husband's not much better, so instead of making my out to be a fool, I'll provide you with links to other people's instructions and videos on quilling. Will that work for you? I'm sorry that I'm no good with technology. I'm just happy I know how to work a computer well enough to have a blog.


Paper Quilling Instructions:

http://www.handmade-craft-ideas.com/paper-quilling-instructions.html

From Ann Martin's Blog (allthingspaper):

http://www.allthingspaper.net/p/popular-posts.html

From Antonella's Blog (Quilling, Art, and Expression):

http://quilling.blogspot.com/2006/09/quilling-basics-getting-started.html

From Lake City Craft:

http://www.quilling.com/quillaquote.htm

From YouTube:

Basic Quilling Instructions given by Claire Sunok Choi

http://www.youtube.com/user/paper6262#p/u/15/m5ICwEBsvZM

How to fold paper roses by Claire Sunok Choi

http://www.youtube.com/user/paper6262#p/u/13/YCYsMvqB1Mw

Claire Sunok Choi has several videos on YouTube under the username paper6262. Many are quilling, but some are not. All are complimentary to quilling, so it's worth a look at her videos for sure!