DT Inspiration post for IQCG # 32

Hello Quillers!

The theme for this month's challenge at IQCG is dedicated to the flora community of our mother nature. Now, don't be alarmed! It simply means that November's theme for IQCG challenge # 32 is PLANTS!!!

When I was faced with challenge of which part of a plant to choose, I couldn't think of anything except flowers. Who doesn't like them? Who doesn't appreciate them? The presence of flowers triggers happy emotions, heightens feeling of life satisfaction and affects our emotions positively. Let it be any occasion, as simple as a romantic dinner for two or a huge gala celebration, we find flowers as most basic means of decorations in various walks of life. In fact, of all the parts of a plant, only flowers are the one which have their own language. Yes, that's true! Don't believe me? Google it yourself!

There is a language, little known,
Lovers claim it as their own.
Its symbols smile upon the land,
Wrought by nature's wondrous hand;
And in their silent beauty speaks,
Of life and joy, to those who seek
For Love Divine and sunny hours
In the language of the flowers.
-- The Language of Flowers, London, 1875

Since of all flowers, roses have most enticing and mystic beauty so for this month's theme's inspiration post I decided to make quilled roses of pink and white. Now here is the thing, I made the quilled roses and I was thinking about how to arrange them into a layout where I chanced upon what does the Language of Flowers say about pink and white roses. Pink combines the innocence of white and the passion of red with flair of femininity. White is associated almost exclusively with purity and new beginnings. So I thought why not make the layout for my quilled roses which will encompass elements of passion/romance, innocence, purity and new beginnings.

Recently I tried my hand at something new again - a Dream-catcher. All thanks to my friend who liked the concept so much that I made my first dream-catcher for him. In fact, he is the real motivating force for me to do this and so many other new things. Take a look at it.

          

So I thought a pink and white dream-catcher will catch the innocence, purity and romance of good dreams and the beauty of the concept behind a dream-catcher. The element of new beginning was symbolized by using a new layout, a Dreamcatcher, for my quilled pink and white roses. So here is my layout for the DT post for IQCG challenge # 32

 

In process of weaving the web The completed web

And finally here it is hanging over my bed for good, beautiful dreams.

Looking forward to see your entries for this challenge. You can create anything and everything but it should have the element of plants in it. Just make sure quilling is mandatory for your entry to be valid.

Click HERE to enter your creation in the challenge. Please make sure you follow the IQCG rules and individual challenge rules to make your entry valid. Looking forward for your participation.

Happy crafting!!

Cheers!

Summer time = Granny's place

Woah! The mercury is rising! It's that time of the year when Sun is most angry but all the kids are super-duper happy because of almost month-long vacation! It's that time of the year when we turn on our coolers and A.Cs, enjoy being lazy, crave for cool drinks and what nots!

The theme at IQCG for May month's challenge # 26 is so apt! It's Summer!! 

Couple of weeks ago, my wonderful colleague asked me to make a gift for her Granny's 90th birthday. They all lovingly call her "MAI". She told me that she will go and visit her as soon as summer vacations will start and will take her 6 year old son too to meet his this amazing great - granny on her birthday.

This made me remember how as kids we all used to eagerly wait for summer holidays to rush to our grandparent's house. I remembered how, before us, our parents used to feel the same when they were kids themselves. This is true even for kids of today's generation. Waiting for summer vacations to visit our Nani or Dadi's place is trend that will always be in vogue for kids of any and every generation.

So I decided to combine this month's Summer theme and MAI's birthday gift idea. This is what I have made for Mai. This artwork represents that 90-year old amazing MAI is the ROOT of my colleague's FAMILY TREE which bears fruits of loving family members of different personality, different colours but all belonging to the same family tree whose root is MAI!

This is my take on the challenge. This green tree also represents shady canopy of the trees of luscious mangoes - the king of fruits which famously are available during summers!

The challenge for you this month is to create a quilling project showcasing something that represents summertime. You can select anything related to summers, be it colours, shape, texture like beach, cooler or anything and everything that represents summer. Just make sure quilling is mandatory for your entry to be valid.

To know more about the challenge and to submit your entry, click HERE. Please make sure you follow the IQCG rules and individual challenge rules to make your entry valid.

Happy crafting!!

Cheers!

Quilled Shagun Envelope 01

Here comes the month of March with a promise full of blooms, fragrant air and new life all around. I mean, it's the spring time! With coming of March, with the new life blooming all around, with nature painting our surroundings with amazing blossoms it's time to blow a little magical dust of crafting on an old, discarded thing and turn it into a thing of beauty, giving it a new life!

The theme at IQCG for March month's Challenge # 24 is therefore, "RECYCLE OR UPCYCLE".

Here is my take on the challenge theme. I have upcycled an old, a little battered, plain shagun envelope with pearls and quilling. I had this idea of beautifying a shagun envelope with quilling for quite a while now. And this is what I have come up with.

I had a plain shagun envelope lying in my stash for quite some time now. I saw this envelope lying in the shop as a discard since it had some wear-and-tear (which you can easily make out in the pic below) and so no one would had bought it. However, it caught my eye instantly because of it's beautiful color combination and it's unique flap in shape of paisley. I have already told you about my love and fascination for paisleys here. So I got it from the shop almost for free as they wouldn't have any customer for it and I wanted it so much. 

 This month's theme gave me a perfect opportunity to combine two things for me simultaneously. One - my heart's desire to try to beautify a shagun envelope with quilling and second - using this lovely envelope somehow even though it had clearly visible damage.

Now it's time for you to pick up the pace and join our race to recycle/upcycle an old, discarded thing in your stash or at your place and give it a new, revamped case! Just make sure it should have quilling in it and should do justice to our challenge theme.

To know more about the challenge and to submit your entries for the same click HERE. Please make sure you follow the IQCG rules as well as the challenge rules to make your entry valid.

All the best!

DT Project 1: Pink Photoframe

It is such an honor to be chosen as Design Team Member of Indian Quilling Challenge Group for 2016!!! I am humbled. This is my maiden post as DT member at IQCG for the February Challenge # 23 - Anything Goes With Pink In It!!! 

Feel free to run your imagination wild with the possibility of what you can make. It can be anything. A card, layout, jwellery, 3D etc. Just that it should have quilling in it and abundant use of a lovely color pink to do justice to our challenge theme.

To know more about the challenge and to submit your entries for the same click HERE. Please make sure you follow the IQCG rules as well as the challenge rules to make your entry valid.

Here is my take on this challenge. An handmade photoframe with quilled decoration. 

I have made the photo-frame with cardboard and covered it with pink handmade paper with self design. For it's decoration, I have used two-tone quilling paper in pink to make big flowers. I have also quilled white flowers and buds to add a little contrast. Finally, to add some subtle glamour, I have used pearls as corner embellishments to complement the other two corners decorated with quilling. 

So get your creative juices flow in the rolls of paper. Wish you the best!

Cheers!

Stamping Project 1: Card using stamps!

Aah! The amazing feeling of trying something new for the first time.

My sister asked me a couple of days back to make a card for her brother-in-law Anant who is one of the sweetest guys I have ever met! He is a wonderful person. And I really loved making a card for him.

Now this was an opportunity for me to try my hand on something new which I have never tried before. Luckily, right that time I happened to see this challenge on Indian Craft Room Challenge and it inspired me to try making a CAS card. (For people like me who are not aware what CAS means, it means Clean-And-Simple a.k.a CAS)

So this is what I came up with. A CAS card using my brand new clear stamps from Itsy Bitsy. I had these stamps for some time now but yet did not get a chance to use them.

My sister Saumya absolutely loved this card and used the entire inside space to write a lovely message for Anant, wishing him luck with his new journey into the professional world!

I am a new member in ICR and this is my very first entry in it's challenge.

Cheers!

Quilling Project 11: 1st Wedding Anniversary Gift

It's been a long time since I was away from my blog. Frequent trips, innumerable train journeys and flights to meet my brother, extended family and my friends kept me busy. And, of course, travelling cross country between regions of drastic weather difference took  toll on my health too which rendered me inactive.

Now I am back and was actually busy since last couple of weeks on a project which my brother and his best buddy Priyadarshi asked me to make as 1st Wedding Anniversary gift for a lovely couple, both of whom happen to be my clients' [;-)] very close friends.

I got the opportunity to meet and know them while I was visiting my brother. They were there too, to visit him and rest of their band of friends. They both are amazing, fun-loving, talented and super awesome people! I had a gala time with them. So when my brother and his best buddy asked me to make something for the couple as their wedding anniversary gift, I couldn't help but agree to it.

Now it was easy choice to make something for them with paper quilling because it was their 1st ANNIVERSARY GIFT and the element representing 1st anniversary is PAPER!!! So I decided to make a quilling project with their names.

It still needs to be framed but apart from that it is complete.

I have used the technique of "Negative spacing" to highlight the names.

My fetish for Paisley is quite evident in this art! I just love paisley. It's unique shape, somehow, mesmerizes me a lot. Although I could never fathom the reason why.

I wanted the artwork to have a henna-like design so chose paisley, a prominent and frequently-used shape in henna. 

The size of the artwork is just a little bigger than A3 size. 

The choice of colours in this artwork represents how vibrant and lovely the couple is. Both unique individuals, with their own identities, who make a beautiful couple, complementing each other.

I hope they like the present!

I am entering it in IQCG DT call 2016..