A prototype

I have this grand idea for a painting/quilling/calligraphy piece that's been bouncing around in my mind for a week now at least.   I haven't ordered the quilling paper for it yet because I'm not altogether sure how it will work out.  The plan now is to do a smaller piece to start with and see how it comes together. 
For that I need a short, simple saying that has something to do with flowers.  I know there are probably some websites out there that have those sorts of things but how do you search?  
Anyhoo, I'll get started on this next week and will post pics of the process.  Until then, I'll keep making some small quilled flowers and leaves so I'll have plenty to put on the piece once the paint is dry. 

Inspiration

I've received a few letters from some calligraphy friends and take a lot of inspiration from their styles.   I needed to get something in the mail to mom and love to introduce little things from their addresses. 
For this envie, I used Dr. Martin's Bleedproof white, a favorite among many calligraphers.  The paper is inexpensive cardstock from Michaels, cut and folded with the Enveloper.   I'm also trying to add additional flourishing too my capitals, bit by bit.   Hopefully as I get more comfortable with moving my pen further from the basic shape I can one day do some really fancy stuff.   I added some little gold streaks and gold dots with Finetec over and around the majascules of mom's name---which bled a bit so have to be careful about that in the future.
It's not a lot of bling but like I said, I prefer to take it slow and see what works.   It's very easy to get carried away then you'll have an unreadable mess.   And you don't want your beautiful envies to get in the dead letter bin!

My first hand-fringed flowers

I'm not sure yet how I will add this to a calligraphed piece but I feel comfortable with how this first attempt at a fringed flower turned out.   As info, I didn't use any official quilling paper for the petals.  I bought a pack of colored paper in primary colors from Walmart and cut some strips to 3/8s of an inch.  It worked out well I think and is a perfect, inexpensive way to practice.  I can use what's left for other projects so that's a win-win IMO. 
I'll cut some strips for shamrocks tomorrow just so I have enough for the time being.  A crappy economy forces you to think differently about things at times.  Besides, what did quillers do prior to the mass manufacture of quilling papers?  Kickin' it old school...that's me!

Time to think about St. Paddy's day cards

Now that Valentine's Day is behind me, the next big holiday is St. Patrick's Day.   I've been thinking of ways to combine quilling and calligraphy on some cards and have a few ideas.  I worked on one briefly today.  Didn't have much time to do a whole lot and I'm almost out of green paper anyway. 

For my first card I wanted to do a simple pot o' gold with some interesting glitter I found at Michaels. 
Gold lettering on a light green card with a simple black pot.   The second card I did a darker green background but the gold still doesn't show up as much as I'd like.  

The gold is the Finetec watercolors carried by both Paper and Ink Arts and John Neal Books.

I like the look but feel too much of the exploding gold glitter stuck to the glue pen streaks.  Makes it clumpier than I'd like but wouldn't it be nice to have that much gold????  

Another idea for a card has tiny shamrocks coming out of the pot interspersed with dots of gold.   Got to order more paper first.  :)

Update on the Versatip

In a previous post, I mentioned a new Dremel tool that I felt would be good to have as it has some useful attachments and it's cordless.   Alas...it's not meant to be.  This tool will only be available overseas.  Weird huh?   I contacted Dremel for more info and was told that the butane was the issue.  I guess people can walk around with butane lighters all day long but butane for a craft tool?   Government can't trust us with that!.  I'm not sure what they cost in the UK but they not only have their prices but also the value added tax which adds 20% to a commodity.  That will probably make it too expensive to order, especially once shipping is factored in. 
Sad huh?   Looked like a cool thing to have in our kits.

Dremel...

More issues.  I'll be glad when everything's ironed out and I can feel comfortable about writing on glass.   After reading the manuals and little pieced of paper companies stick inside tools--with all their warnings about this and that--I actually am scared to touch the darn thing.   Pieces flying off, keep hair pulled back, and no one mentioned the darn thing needs to dangle vertically for there to be no danger of the pieces coming unscrewed and flying off!!!    On the inside of the flex shaft packaging they have a tool holder that clamps on to the side of a table, reminds me of those things for IV bags.

There's a teensy problem though...you can't find them in the US anymore.  Or really anywhere else.   Found that bit of info out after finally calling Dremel when searches wouldn't turn up anything.   It didn't sell well so they discontinued it.  I can understand that, especially in this economy.   There are some cheaper after market ones to be found on eBay and Amazon but some of the reviews weren't good.   Dremel told me to search again in the UK and I might have luck with someone who will ship one here.   I did eventually find a source and my payment info went through.  I'm not hopeful for some reason.  I fully expect an email tomorrow saying they don't ship to the US.  :*(   
If I have to get one of the cheap ones I will but with all the other issues and safety concerns with this thing, I don't want the tool holding my tool to be flimsy!!!
To continue....

Some days you don't get beans done...

The stencil project didn't turn out as we'd hoped.  My experience with stencils is they are a hard plastic film, if you want to call it that, which you place over the wall, level it off, tape it down, then paint.  The stencil for Carmela's logo was this sticky, and very thin, film that was a bear to put on the wall.  
We get it up there, level it off, start removing the backing and one side caves to the other, sticking them both together.  The film was so delicate that trying to pull them apart just stretched the logo.  Carmela is working on another option but her grand opening is on Saturday.   What a nightmare!  The problem here is many walls in Florida, whether commercial or residential, have this orange peel texture.  That is not conducive to any type of lettering which is why I thought the stencil would be a good option.  I'm open to ideas.
Now...for something that may be on my wish list in the future.   Dremel has this cordless gadget that appears to only be available across the pond at the moment but promises to be an interesting addition to my other gadgets.   It's called the Versatip and it's butane powered.   It sounds like something that would be an asset for papercrafters. 

Portability of equipment is a big thing IMO and anything that can do many tasks efficiently and without cords is a plus. 

EEEEEEEEEEKKKKK Picked up my Dremel today!

I have two big things pressing on my time tomorrow (Monday) so I doubt I'll get to take my Dremel out and play a bit, but I will this week.  :)   I'm so excited about trying my hand at engraving.  I have a lot of things in the hopper later this week too but I am definitely going to sling some ink.  It's been too long and I'm itching to play with the Pebeo again.
I need to wrap up that stencil project though and will post a picture when I'm done.  

Does imagining count?

We make a big deal out of actual practice but what role does our imagination or letting ideas percolate in our brains play prior to even letting the pen or brush hit the paper?   I think a lot really.   I need an actual task to get some good practice in but what's going on upstairs in the time prior to sitting at the desk?  The mental gymnastics I do in the days or weeks before I get stated--especially after learning a new skill.  
For the last few days I've been thinking about St. Patrick's Day cards and designs that will combine calligraphy and quilling.   Then a bit of inspiration that was born out of a phrase we heard on House Hunters International.   It translated to something like "bit by bit a bird builds its nest".  
So...here's the idea.   A large sheet of hot press watercolor paper with shades of blue above--about 2/3s of the page, and the remaining third will be greens.  This is to represent the sky and a field in the distance.   I'll then probably need to seal the the paper with a spray so it'll take ink after when I write the phrase in French.  Once this is dry, I'll do a quilled grapevine with leaves and a bunch with a sitting on the nest on the branch, at a right angle on the lower right side.   I can see it in my mind now.  It's fabulous of course.  If only reality can equal what my mind wants it'll be a masterpiece!!  LOL  
But Snappy needs to slow down and do some actual planning outside of my head.  Especially with the the watercolor paint and ink situation.  So next week I'll take a scrap of hot press paper, slap some watercolor paint on it, let that dry and after covering half of it to prevent the spray from getting on the surface, spray with Kamar.  I want to do that to see if the sealer is really necessary and what it may do to the surface of the paper.  
If my test is successful, I'll make a full-sized sketch and proceed from there.   Could be interesting.
In the meantime, I'll order some quilling paper in shades of green and start my wearin' o' the green cards.  

Didn't do doodly squat today

And that reallly vexes me.  Not like I didn't take my little quilling kit with me with the hopes that I would get a few green open hearts done.  But nooooooooo....it was not to be.   The only thing truly productive I did was get my V-day cards in the mail.  
Sometime early next week I'll help a friend of a friend with a large stencil in her new shop.  That should be fun.   I hope it'll turn out well.  I didn't realize how huge the stencil she had made was/is.  It's not really calligraphy but everything provides a chance for learning so who knows? 
So next week, I'll turn my attention to St. Paddy's Day projects.   I have some ideas for cards that I'm itching to begin work on.   I think I'll take tomorrow off from blogging.  Hubby wants to go to Universal which will be fun but I won't get any practice in tomorrow. 
So...until I can hit a lick with some calligraphy, quilling, or engraving, I'll leave you with this cute picture from this website.

Cute huh?