Project 366

Wondering what it could be?

I myself wondered what I want to do. Name was conceived for the project but what I had planned to execute was not that clear. Whether it will be 366 crafts or 366 days of crafts. Then I concluded that I will make at least one project a day, either in quilling or in silk thread or in news paper work or anything that I love to create as a craft. It could be for selling, or for gifting or for personal use. But I want to do atleast one project a day all through the 366 days of the next 2016. Hope I succeed in this venture. 

The group called Special Techniques

I started quilling only for one simple reason, I wanted to make dolls, and my dream is to fill my golu padis to fill with my own hand created dolls. I was and still am sure that I will not be able to do it with any kind of clay. But I can do with paper strips. Whenever and wherever I get opportunity to find quilling toy making tutorials, I will make sure, I am learning it. More than videos, pictures help me a lot to learn to make things the right way and when one wonderful gentle man in a group in FB announced that he is planning to teach making 3D dolls and asked people to contact him via his number, I jumped in and messaged him. He then added me to the whatsapp group called Special Techniques and lo my journey to learn a lot of things especially 3D figures started from there. It had been 3 months and with my teacher's permission, I will be sharing the projects that we all were taught one by one with pictures.

Not only that gentleman, but each and every one in that group is a wonderful artist by themselves and the way they teach others makes me feel at home and I definitely have learnt a lot of things from all there. 

One of the projects that I have learnt from the group.

The Quilling Crimper tool - An overview

The crimper tool is a device with two cogs and a handle, small and easy to carry in a pocket. This tool helps to make a wavy pattern in quilling strips that will give a unique style to your projects, be it 2D or 3D. When I purchased this tool, way back when I started quilling, ofcourse, I started collecting all the tools one by one seeing the net, I was making few 2D projects and decided to try making them using crimped strips. It definitely was fun making them and kids took turns in crimping the strips. It became a great holiday fun activity too.

Things to be noted while crimping:
5 mm strips get easily crimped, so do 7 mm.
If you donot keep the 10 mm strip properly a half of the strip is not crimped.
The 3 mm strips tend to get entangled in the cogs, so handle it carefully by holding one end of the strip.

Quilled Maragatha Lingam

After watching the movie Linga, when I was making 3d Shivalingams my husband suggested me to make a Maragatha Lingam which will be in green colour. It turned out really good.

MDF Ganesha painting

Painting using Ceramic Cone in MDF cut out is always a new experience. Gifted for a dear friend.

White pretty white

I was so stumped to see the end result of a white jhumka with white pearls which was made on the request of my daughter's friend. She wanted to wear it along with her white uniform. Tried it with a 10mm strip as she wanted a elongated top. Used just two strips of 10mm which gave me this result.  Attached a pearl on top and a pearl in the bottom.

Small sized fridge magnets

For a birthday party return gift of my son's class mate, I was asked to make small fridge magnets in different shapes. And here is the outcome of the same. Though a few are not so clear, the kids loved it as usual.

Ganesha in mdf cutout

I got two different designs of Ganesha cut out in MDF. One is a traditional design and the other a slightly different. I designed that cut out too using ceramic cone. It gave the look of the Ganeshas of Indonesia. But I liked the outcome though. Any ways Ganesha is Ganesha always for me in whatever shape he is in.

Rose Key chain

A bunch of roses always gives us a refreshing feel. Here is a bunch of pink rose which form a key chain.

Yellow Rose set

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose. But Rose need not just be only in Red or in Pink, there are yellow roses too and here is a set made of yellow roses with a single rose pendant for a cutie pie, whose favourite colour is yellow.

Peacock key chain

Making a peacock in any design is always exciting. And this peacock key chain was one of the first few key chains that I had made. Gifted it to a family friend when we visited them.

Silk Thread Bridal bangle

When I was asked to make a bridal bangle for an upcoming marriage this June, I was a bit apprehensive to do it as I had started doing them recently. But my friend who is the customer, encouraged me to go ahead and do it in the baby pink colour which is the colour of the saree of the bride. The outcome was awesome. To add more zest to it, I added a few shiny metal bangles too to it.

The full set contains of a total of 7 bangles each in every hand. The bangles are deocated with adhesive stone chains. The best part o these silk thread bangles are they can be customised in any colour.

Jhumka inside an elongated circle

I love to try a few contemplating designs. When I purchased my own border buddy, I was so thrilled to make thick outer circles, squares and triangles and to pinch them to make other shapes. The wood and red colour compliment each other and I was so excited to make a jhumka that is struck to an elongated circle. My friend's daughter fell in love with this design and she grabbed it without even saying another word. Some how I didnot get a chance to make another one of the same design. I made it with a stud too so that the stud could also be worn separately.

Black Kada with Stone Chain

Black Kada type bangle in 2.8 size with stone chain and golden thread decoration. This was gifted by a sister to younger sister. These bangles especially in black are always a big hit.

Black Kada with Pearl chain

When I started doing black kada type bangles, I was asked me to make them again and again. And here is one such black beauty kada with pearl chain and golden thread decoration. A simple design but will look grand when worn. Goes well with salwars as well as sarees. These bangles are normally worn in single hand and watch is worn in the other.

Tealight candle decorations with quilled Roses

Not just me but many people loved the quilled roses and thus I made quilled tea light candle decors with quilled roses. Arranging them in different patterns was quite an intersting and exciting job and I really fell in love with them.

But I realized that these rose tealight candles cannot be made as stand alone pieces so I had struck them to a base.

The roses in the above picture is decorated with glitter glue after sticking it to the base. This type of square arrangement definitely shows some space in between and the base is clearly visible. (It will be good if the base is painted).

The arrangement of colours are made to contemplate each other. The number of roses used are many as a close arrangement of them was planned. The centre base is made of 5 mm strips so that the tealight candle is placed on a bit level higher and the flame is also clearly visible.

This is made of 2 diferent sizes of strips the bigger roses are of 10mm and the smaller ones are made using 5 mm strips. The smaller roses are two tone strips. The leaves are made using combing technique.The decor on top of the roses and the centre portion is made using 3D cone.

The CD is decorated with 3D outliner colours to match the roses that are placed. The roses are made of dual tone strips and mettalic strips. All are 5 mm strips. 

Tea light Candle decoration in Quilling

One of the loveliest gifting or return gift option for festivals like Navarathri or Deepavali is quilled Tea light candle decoration. I just tried a simple design initially and was so happy with the outcome. The beauty part of these tea light candle decorations are they can be made either stand alone or can be placed on a waste or unused CD or on a square surface.

The stand alone pieces can also be used as a simple hanging or table decors. These can also be used to decorate Aarathi plates.

Both the designs shown below are made using 7 mm strips. And a loose teardrop shaped design was made. The centre portion is a thick circle made with the same 7 mm strip which was circled around a tealight candle so that it could fit in exactly.

Quilled Beetle bug

When I made the fly one of my friend suggested I try beetle bug too so tried making one of my childhood favourites buggy bug. The red strips gave an enormous look to the bug and I placed google eyes for the bug. Later I converted it to a key chain. The black dots on top are made using black 3d outliner. 

Black beauty in silk thread

Certain things definitely go viral and one among them is any accessory in black. Normally in Indian families that too in South Indian Tamil families, black is not considered an auspicious colour, but it attracts many women, and they prefer to have dresses and accessories in black. When I first made a black bangle in silk thread, I never knew that it will go this viral and will sell a few lot of such black sets. The speciality of black colour accessory is that it could be worn with any colour.

I am sharing the first silk thread black set that I made. This is not a kada type bangle but two big bangles. I have used black goti thread to wrap the bangle and golden single ply thread to make the decoration wrap around it.

Size: 2.6

The person who wanted this kind of bangle is some one who loves to be simple in attire. But when she wore it this def gave a majestic look.

Acrylic Rangoli

During my last visit to Pune, got a few plain Acrylic Rangoli sheets and then we, yes we me and kids started decorating one of them. After decorating them, we were so amazed and amused by the different kinds of arrangements we could make with those sheets.

Paper Flower bouquet

Flower bouquets are used to welcome guests during functions. The bouquets made using natural flowers tend to dry and whither easily. Here is something new and different which my daughter made to give to my friend who is also a teacher when she visited our home. The bouquet came out pretty well, and I never knew that she can be so creative.

Quilling using Vellum Strips

Vellum Strips are self shiny, they need not be varnished to give the desired shine. Though they are too good for 3D or 2D work, I did try making Jhumkas, especially 3 layered ones and a teddy bear using them. They did turn out pretty well. And as I said earlier, there was no need to give the shine. These strips are available in itsybitsy craft store. Only disadvantage I found is they are half the length of the normal strips.

The stud in this jhumka can be detatched and can be worn just alone or along with the jhumka. This jhumka makes a big impression when worn with a party wear or for Bharathanatyam dress. 

Designer paakku mattai plates

Pakku mattai plates are quite easy to paint, decorate and use. Find how to paint paakku mattai plate. A few more plates we painted and decorated are shown here. It was quite easy to work on them, when it comes to sticking stones or beads too.

Bottle Art in a combination of Jute thread and Quilling

After I started quilling a bit lot, I became a part of a whatsapp group which conducted contests every week and I participated in one such contest. Though it was me who was the member, the theme and the designs were conceived and executed by my kids more than me. The theme is baby bear waiting for Masha or Goldilocks. The pictures themselves explain the theme.

Money pouch using Golden Lace

Its a habit to gift money during functions, either to the hero/heroine of the day if its a marriage or the Upanayanam Boy or for the Vadhyars to give them Dakshanai. But instead of giving that openly, it could be given in some dazzling and jazzy pouches made of Stone laces. These laces are either Golden in Colour or Silver in Colour. (Heard that there are other colour laces too available but need to check in the market). These make a real good option to give money and can be made in 3 different sizes. One can keep money folded, the other for keeping Rs. 500 INR straight without folding and the third to keep Rs. 1000 without folding.

Quilled graduate girl

When we got the news of graduation of our niece, I decided to do something to gift her, and here is a miniature girl in her graduate dress. I will not say, I have made full justice in making this girl perfect, but I am sure it looks like a girl in her graduation dress.

Beaded Ear danglers

After making the beaded neck set with head pins and beads I tried out my hands in making ear danglers using the same method. They turned out to be really cute and I gifted them to my cousins who loved wearing them. Ofcourse the black one in this collection is for some one who loves black just like the way I love it.

All these can be recreated on request. Mail us for knowing the price and customization options.

Noddy my childhood favourite

Not just during my childhood even now if I get a chance I would like to read Noddy and get transformed into that world of toys. I can even now hear the jingle of Noddy's bell. I jumped up in joy when I saw a quilled image of Noddy and I tried to replicate it in my own way and was successful too. Here is my dear Noddy. He is smaller than my hand. Smiling and happy.

Beaded sets

I have always wanted to try beaded sets, though learnt beading from my mom in my childhood days, I have forgot the method of doing it right. But when I saw a particular design online, I wanted to try it out and I searched for the tutorial to do it which ofcourse I got it.

The set was made using headpins, and beads. Arranging it in zigzag way, this set went viral. My niece who saw the design wanted me to make her one in blue and white.

Fluorescent colours in quilling

Many a times the fluorescent colours gives a dazzling effect. When I got a chance to use them, I preferred using them in jhumkas and studs rather than in neck sets. The colours did change after varnishing. So decided that these colours are suitable only for artistic work like designs on envelops or other art work. Nevertheless there were people who grabbed those too.

Embossed painting by kids

Holidays are fun for kids but at the same time quite troublesome for parents. Got a few embossed painting kits for kids and made them paint in them. These kits contain a black canvas sheet with raw design in grey, brush and glass paints. But personally I felt that the paints and brush are not suitable for the same. So I got the kids acrylic colour and different brushes and asked them to paint it. After it dried ironed it at the back to give a puffed up look and the out come is definitely awesome.