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Content included on this site is created and copyrighted by Barbara Rose. Feel free to use my original design DIY kits or tutorials for your personal projects or any of my published designs for inspiration for your own designs. If using photos or commentary found here, please give appropriate credit and a link back to creative.bcdenterprises.net

Archive

2013 Blog Entries

11/24/2013
Candles
Candles symbolize enlightenment, encouragement, direction, clarity, love, joy, warmth, serenity, security, reassurance. They are used to welcome people into our homes, remember those who have died (memorials), decorate our living spaces, and are a part of many religious, cultural and celebratory events. The prevalence and importance of candles in our lives probably comes from fire being a crucial element to human survival since ancient times.

It seemed impractical to me to use paper to enhance and beautify candles (fire burns paper, after all) - until an idea made its way into my head to use battery operated tea light candles. The quilling paper with the hand-applied gilded edge would be perfect for this, but the plain, white, plastic candle bases detracted from the beauty - so I covered the bases with glitter!

I started with autumn colors for a Thanksgiving display and followed quickly with designs and colors for other year-end events. Three designs and many colors produced a huge assortment of tea light candle "collars" including an intricately detailed poinsettia. Available in my Etsy shop, of course!

Barbaras Beautys Quilling
Barbaras Beautys Quilling

 

11/17/2013
More Angels		  

While replenishing my supply of angel-in-a-frame-of-circles ornaments (below), I added blue and rose frames to the green I had made previously. Different colors result in different looks, a nice variety.

Then I found the acrylic angels in the picture on the right and upgraded their appearance by adding gold glitter to the wings. An aura of gold-on-white quilling paper (nearly a whole pack!) makes this ornament absoluely heavenly!

All available in my Etsy shop or click on a picture to go directly to the listing.

11/8/2013
100!
Today, the one-hundredth item was purchased from my Etsy shop!

11/2/2013
Angels
New for this Christmas but special all year long, here are some quilled angels. Note that, like all angels, they come in all colors/ethnicities! In my Etsy shop now (click on the picture to go directly to the listing).

Barbaras Beautys Quilling

10/20/2013
October Pink
My long-time friend opened a salon and spa this year - it's a full-service business offering custom hair and nail services, skin care and make-up, hair and eyelash extensions, massage and bridal services. It's a family business, about as much as anything could be. My friend and her husband own and oversee it; 2 of their daughters - one a hairstylist, the other a nail technician - manage it; the 3rd daughter works part time as a receptionist and will soon work in the Aroma Espresso shop they're opening on the corner of the lot. The family designed and built both stores. Wow!

They asked me to create their web site! Check it out: Embellish Salon and Spa (it's still evolving but is mostly done).

This month, in support of Breast Cancer Awareness, they are holding a special event at the Salon and Spa to raise funds for a local foundation dedicated to helping patients in their area. I made a "buncha" pink earrings for the event.

9/15/2013
Fans and Circles
Here's a design based on a doily I crocheted - the circles look like rounds of chainstitch loops, and can't you just see the shell-stitch in those fans? The fans use a technique called husking. Very simple, soft and pretty in pastels but would work with bold colors, too. These are in my Etsy shop now (click on the picture to go directly to the listing).

Barbaras Beautys Quilling

8/31/2013
New Look For My Website
I started learning web site creation about 15 years ago. I say I started learning bacause, as with all things technological, coding for web sites is ever-changing, progressing to keep up with other technology. Web pages are no longer viewed only on PCs - people are wanting, more and more, to be able to view them on smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices. So over the summer I put my creative activities on hold [ ] and took another web design course. Much has changed in the last decade and my revamped web site reflects some of what I learned. Eventually, I'll even make it mobile-device-friendly.

7/26/2013
More Earrings With New Quilling Paper Colors
A couple more earring designs using the new orange edge on orange, magenta edge on magenta, and bronze edge on brown papers, this time in combinations. To the right: magenta and orange teardrops are nested together and wrapped up in bronze. Below: orange marquis form a radiant burst of color framed by bronze. Barbaras Beautys Quilling
Barbaras Beautys Quilling

7/6/2013
New Quilling Paper Colors
The hand-applied metallic edged paper, which has become my favorite for jewelry, now comes in 3 new colors: orange edge on orange paper, magenta edge on magenta paper and bronze edge on brown paper. Here are the first designs using it. Available in my Etsy shop, of course!

7/1/2013
Red, White and Blue

July's big holiday, here in the USA, is Independence Day, so I'm featuring red, white and blue items in my Etsy shop this month. New this year are my Stars and Stripes earrings, made from metallic edged red and blue paper, and non-edged white. The blue star in the center is made from 5 teardrops evenly spaced around a tight coil. The star is wrapped in a few rounds of red paper, followed by a few rounds of white and another few rounds of red. What could be more perfect for the 4th of July, Memorial Day, Flag Day, military folks and patriots?

4/7/2013
Shiny and Colorful
This quilling paper with hand applied metallic edge lends itself so well to jewelry. It catches the light and is so lightweight - you hardly know you're wearing jewelry! Here is a new design using teardrop and marquis shapes - one design with two looks, created by using different colors. Available from my Etsy shop.

3/25/2013
Red Hats
I have a friend who is a member of the Red Hat Society, a nation-wide organization founded in 1998 for "outgoing" women over the age of 50. Based on a poem by Jenny Joseph ("When I am an old woman I shall wear purple / With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me..."), they wear red hats and purple clothes to their meetings, events and outings.

My friend wanted a new pair of earrings to go with her "outfit" and I came up with a couple ideas. The pin (left picture below) is the result of making the prototype too large - wouldn't it look pretty decorating a red hat?

She loved them. You can have them, too, from my Etsy shop.

About Me

When I was 8 years old, I learned to crochet - a potholder out of yarn first, then a doily out of thread. I was mesmerized by the idea of creating something beautiful. And thus began my creative journey. Since then I have tried many crafts. Some were fads whose popularity (and availability of supplies) came and went. Many are traditional crafts and variations on them. All are self-taught. Among my favorites: crochet; counted cross-stitch; Christmas ornaments and decorations; and quilling, the most artistically satisfying of them all.

About Quilling

Quilling (paper filigree) is the art of rolling and shaping narrow strips of paper, and arranging them into designs. It dates back to 15th century Italy, in the monasteries where books were made (hand-written and -bound). In trimming the pages, nuns and monks used the "waste" strips to make coils and spirals into attractive designs, then decorated religious relics with them.

As with other art forms during the Renaissance, quilling spread throughout much of Europe and became a pastime of upper class ladies, who extended the decorating of objects to include boxes, baskets, cabinets and screens. With the invention of the paper-making machine in England in the early 19th century and the resulting wider availability of paper, quilling became a leisure time activity for women in Europe and America; they still hand-cut the paper into strips and sometimes used bird quills to roll the papers.

Its popularity declined around the turn of that century, but with improved tools, papers, colors, and precision paper-cutting machines, quilling was revived as a hobby in the mid 20th century and continues to have it's enthusiasts today in the 21st century.

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