skip the pinks and all the sweetness

Here's a valentine to unleash your lovers passion. Lately, I have been working with rich and juicy jewel tones, animal prints, and black. This one is in the last batch of valentines to the tea house this year.

Valentines at the Tea House

Valentines are now available at the Porcelain Rose Tea House. A new assortment every Tueasday till Valentine's Day. Get yours for your someone special.

ArTrails call for artists

It's that time of year again. ArTrails is looking for artists to add to the tour in September. The jury process starts by downloading the application on their website. Check the side panel for the link. I have been in it for three years and I am hoping for a 4th. I hope I will be at the Stillwater estates again this year. Come join the fun! The process is very easy and the committee work is more of a social event.

Paper Retreat

Class sample: Bird Cage
I used the Martha Stewart edger for the bottom band.
I cut the strips from cardstock with the Martha Strewart fringe scissors.

Ornament Exchange

This year was great fun. here is the ornament I made for the exchange.

Paper Retreat Date Set

I will be teaching at the Scrap Happy Paper Retreat starting Friday night February 11 2011 the cost is $45 but includes a couple meals and lots of prizes. Loads of fun classes are offered and don't forget the free make and takes session Saturday night. Sign up now because it always gets booked up quick. for more info check the Scrap Happy link on the side panel.

close up

Here is a close up of the different ornaments we did.

star

Here is the close up of the star. I did the points of the star. Melinda did the middle for both sides. We put it together at the last moment after working on our parts without seeing one another's work. You can see the stars I made and the birds I did in this pic too. 11 birds and 8 stars.

won a ribbon

Mike and I went to the Festival of Trees display this weekend. We saw all the great trees and wreaths but came around to the tree I helped put together to find it had won a ribbon!

Best Craftsmanship

Very pleased.

Festival of Trees

I have partnered with my friend Melinda to put together a tree for the Festival of Trees. Held at the Great Wolf Lodge Grand Mound, over thanksgiving weekend, this charity auction benefits Providence Centralia Hospital. Melinda made the origami and I made 3-D quilled birds and some woven stars. We joined our talents to top the tree with a star featuring both paper arts. Check out the link to see the trees and maybe even bid on one.

Classes in November at Scrap Happy

Check Scrap Happy link at the side of the page. A snowflake on Thursday the 11th and a comb angel on Tuesday the 16th. Visit the shop to see class samples. Seating is limited so reserve your seat now.

Christmas inventory at the Tea House

I will have Christmas inventory at the Porcelian Rose starting this weekend! Mostly ornaments for now but check back often for more new treasures for that special someone on your list.

ARTrails Gala Tonight

Check the link to Artrails for time and place. There will be plenty of music, food and art all for your pleasure. Meet the artists and pick up your tour guide then vote on your favorite piece. Looks like it will be a good weekend to jump in the car and take in the tour. Pick your favorite studios and watch artists at work. Many of the items on my blog will be for sale. Hope to see you along the trail.

side view

paper shoe

Marie Antoinette would have loved this shoe but this one is made of paper. The blue "lace" is paper and the front tongue is quilled with pearl papers and yes even the peacock feather is quilled. The edge treatment for the feather is a combination of verdigris and platinum ink to give a natural iridescent shimmer. I found the buttons, lace and strung glass beads. In the upper picture you can just see the glass heal made fron a mini box knob. you can watch a video and download a template to make your own shoe...Thanks Terri!

high price of framing

This struggle has been going on for some time. Do I use a cheap frame so the customer is paying for the quilling not the frame? This does not present a professional product and your quilling, no matter how beautiful, is bound to suffer. That takes us back to a proper frame and a large expense for the customer. Unless you have personally priced the cost of framing, you can not see why art can be so expensive..."it's only paper" I heard one lady say while looking at my work.
What to do? I buy A7+ card blanks. This is slightly larger than 5X7 (standard size frame) I don't put any text on the front of my cards and on the back I have a label that reads: "suitable for framing" You pay for only the quilling and you can frame it any way you like. You end up with a price on your cards that your work deserves and knowing that your art is not viewed as "disposable" makes me happy. So make those beautiful cards and charge a proper price but be sure to use a high end card sleeve and include a business card too.

Thoughts of Autumn

Have you ever got carried away and have your design blossom into an overblown creation? Well that's what happened here. It was to be a simple tag but now it will require a shadow box frame. Oh well maybe simple just wasn't on my mind. Anyway enjoy.

Location set for Artrails

I will be at the Still Water Estates in Centralia for Artrails this year. Several other artist will be there too. The third and fourth weekend in September. I will have framed pieces, Christmas ornaments, 3-D work such as boxes and journals, and cards. I will also be doing quilling demonstrations all day on all four days. Check the side panel for more info.

Christmas in July?

It has begun. I am working on Christmas items both for Artrails and the tea shop. Have you started your Christmas cards?
This is an ornament about 5 inches in diameter. It has no backing so the back of it had to be as neat and clean as the front. There are ASL, Wheatear, marquise, teardrop, tight coil, V scroll, and heart scroll. There are five shades of red and just as many shades of green. I used both 1/8 and 1/16 inch wide strips. The candle is fill work.

Visit to Victoria

Just got back from visiting with the Victoria Canada quilling group. What a great group. Claire Choi demonstrated her mums and carnations then showed us how to make one of her beautiful butterflies. I also got to Visit the Sooke Regional Museum and see Jenny Matthews show.