Miniature Quilled Christmas Tree

I participated in an Embellish Me With Quilling Blog Hop a while ago, and to my surprise I won the Miniature Quilled Christmas Tree by Tracey at QuillyNilly!

I've been eagerly waiting for it ever since before Christmas, and it just arrived today! The postman had thrown it over the gate into our front garden and I was more than a little annoyed. I mean, what if it had rained or got damaged? 

When my mum handed it to me, I was so excited I squealed and started ripping the cellotape from the box straightaway. And it was just as exquisite as I thought it would be. 

My favorite part of all : the adorable little presents beneath the tree! They're so tiny and cute, especially that little fringed flower on the red present. Tracey, I really don't know how you work with such teeny tiny strips and yet still manage to keep the whole thing so neat and beautiful! If I were doing it there'd be glue stains all over I'm sure.

(I simply must draw your attention to the little details Tracey included : the glitter on the presents and the star, the 3D glitter baubles on the tree).

Probably due to the postman's carelessness (grrr), the tree was tilting forward and the star was falling off. Thank goodness I had some 3D glue on hand and used some to keep the tree and star upright.

This is Tracey's business card, and below is a handwritten note from her. Love the pastel colours and her cursive writing! 

When I first started using Etsy, Tracey helped me out a lot in giving tips on pricing, photos and marketing (which really helped a lot - Etsy can be pretty intimidating for new sellers!). She quills lovely stuff, and although her blog isn't updated very often, when it is updated, I always enjoy looking at her newest brightly coloured creations. 

And now I'm so proud I actually own a Quilly Nilly original!

Quilled flowers and coffee cups

Here are some cards I made over the festive season but didn't have the time to share :

This was a birthday card for a friend. SO glad her name had 2 "I"s, otherwise the letters wouldn't have been able to fit in one card!

Complete with quilled steam and handles, these dear little coffee cups were requested as a Christmas greeting from a loyal daughter to her parents.

The flowers are all dimensional - one of my favourite techniques.

This card can be used as a Valentine's Day or wedding anniversary card as well. Or maybe wedding invitations? 

College starts tomorrow. I can feel the dread sinking in already. Goodbye, holidays.

Subway brochure origami rose

Subway is really cranking up on the sales promo, what with a free calendar for every customer (complete with 12 coupons, one for each month of 2011) and brightly coloured brochures with the menu and yummy looking pictures.

Our family had lunch there a few days ago, and being me, I simply couldn't leave that piece of paper alone. 

In about 5 minutes, the Subway brochure had turned into this :

In case you couldn't tell, that's a rose.

And here is the torn brochure. No. 11 looks yummy. Turkey breast! 

Maybe I'll make a bouquet one of these days, if I have the time. And enough Subway brochures.

Of all things paper and more!

When I first started crafting, one of the first blogs I came across was Ann's blog, and it was simply amazing. There were paper ornaments, paper jewellery, paper handbound books, paper everything! And of course, quilling, which has to be a category all by itself. There are so many talented quillers which she has featured, and Ann herself is a brilliant quiller. Check out the Twitter Fail Whale that she quilled!

And below is the original Twitter Whale :

Amazing, isn't she? Ann's blog was also partly one of the things that made me want to try out quilling and see if I could produce works of art like that one day. Imagine my excitement when I saw that she had actually commented on one of my blog posts!

And guess what? Ann is having a giveaway! She's giving away a card she made herself, and an issue of Cardmaker Magazine, which is the only American magazine that features quilling in every issue and always has tutorials on a nice variety of techniques.

To participate, click here to learn more!

Even if you don't win, once you get started on Ann's blog, you won't be able to stop reading!

Good luck!

Valentine's Day

Went a little crazy making Valentine's Day cards these past few days, and the above one was a design I've had in my head for quite some time. The heart spirals twice before ending in a larger heart.

A simpler card here =) more more more hearts.

Can be used for Valentine's, wedding anniversaries, mother's day, boyfriend's birthday, etc.

To all my dear readers :

May all of us have an eventful and fulfilling 2011 =)

Sparkly spinning skater

I saw a spinning card tutorial on one of my favourite pop up card blogs, Cornerstone Cards and Pyrography, and decided to give it a try.

I've got glitter all over my table, my computer and my hands now (my friend even said there was a sparkle on my face!) but the skater is so pretty I don't feel like strangling someone anymore =)

The skater gives a little twirl the minute you open the card, as shown in the video below.

I don't know why the purple looks so dark here. The real card is more purpley, like in the first picture.

I could do this with anything that looks pretty spinning. Maybe a cupid for Valentine's, a snowflake, or a pink ballerina next!