Rainbow beads slotted quilling tool

I'm getting the hang of making these slotted quilling tools now.....so far, it's been quite thrilling :). Especially the part of arranging the different colours of beads inside the plastic tube. This one was a request from a customer of mine. She showed me the different colours of beads that she would love for her quilling tool and I was very happy to do it for her.

Hope to make more in future with other colour combinations. ;)

Do check out the video below to view how to use this slotted quilling tool :)

My own DIY slotted quilling tool

Just a few days ago I was thinking of making my own slotted quilling tools. At first it was just for fun....(as if I didn't have enough quilling tools in my collection already! hehehehehe).....yes I have plenty of different designs of slotted quilling tools but the curiosity to find out how to make a slotted quilling tool just wouldn't go away . I made some using some old pens and a needle like the photo you see below.

But then, the obsession to make better ones came. Of course the minute that thought came to mind, I had to think of ways of doing it and I came up with the design that you see at the first two photos above. As you can see, the handle of the tool is plastic and it is filled with gold and silver glitters. I just love the effect! 

I even made some using beads like the ones below. I simply had fun making them! I used all the beads that I have in my collection. I haven't been using them for a long time and I thought it would be cool to try it out for the slotted quilling tool.

So what do you think? ;)

Green theme hand-bound book

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Making hand-bound books was never something that I consider easy to do. It takes a lot of effort and patience. Those who have tried it would be able to relate to what I'm saying. The same goes to this book I made recently. I had to make the same book twice before I got it right.

It's an A5 size hand-bound book, with Kettle stitch binding. Kettle stitch binding are cool...I love how they end up looking like ribbon bows or some say butterflies. I used 165gsm acid free paper for this sketch book and there are about 50 plus pages inside the book. It comes with an attached beaded bookbook too....I love arranging the beads to the bookmark. Reminded me of the beaded bookmarks that I used to make so long ago.

Just sewing the pages together is just half the story.....decorating the cover is another. But once it's all done, there is this kind of satisfaction that's so hard to explain. Furthermore, I find myself so attached to the book, I somehow refuse to let it go. But of course eventually I have to...huhuhu.....

The person who ordered this book is the same person who ordered the green theme floral swing card. That explains why the book has a combination of green colours as well. I guess my customer just love that colour so much.

Once the pattern paper for the book cover was chosen, I had a difficult time deciding on how to decorate the book. My customer wanted me to put some quilled roses on it. But putting just 3 pieces of them like she requested on the cover would look so bare. So I put more and I was happy with the results.

This is the first time I'm using a few die-cut Flourish design on the cover in this arrangement. I only wanted to put 2 in the beginning....but ended up putting 4 of them and arranging them to look like a frame. I had fun making those die-cut quilled roses again. If you would like to learn how to make them, you can check out the video below:

Green flora theme swing card

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Hmmm where do I begin? I guess it's been a while since you last saw any new handmade card designs from me....the last one was probably the swap card I made for a fellow crafter last month. I've been busy making hand-bound books instead of making handmade cards. It felt a little difficult to start creating cards again because I left the arena for quite awhile to concentrate on other projects that involves mass producing craft materials for sale. Well, I've put that one aside for now so that I can concentrate on making cards again. I miss creating cards....I really do.

My customer gave me the freedom to design the card anyway I like except that there were a few conditions which was she wanted the card to have some quilling designs on it and she would prefer the card to have a green theme. So green it is!! It's 90 percent green and 10 percent, a combination of brown, gold, beige and yellowish tones.

It's been awhile since I last made any quilled flower like the ones you see on the card. I adore it very much. I hope to make a video tutorial on how to make them soon. Because I am afraid if I don't, then one day I might forget how to make it altogether! hehe! When I wanted to make them for the card, I had a hard time remembering how to start! Thank God I remembered it in the end after a few trials. ;)

Oh ya....not forgetting those ladybugs! They are so much fun to make. So cute. I will do a video tutorial on that as well this year. Gosh, so many video tutorials that I wanna make. Hopefully I can do them well :).

Oh! And another thing I would like to mention is those die-cut leaves.....oh how I love them so.....it's actually one of the three leaf patterns from a die-cut I recently bought when I went for the craft gathering. It's so worth it. It's a bit difficult to use but I can't help but love the design. So it didn't matter much to me. I'll learn to deal with it in time. 

I made a simple design for the wordings on the front of the card.....not much designs there....just arrangements of alphabets and liquid pearls on paper that was layered with distress ink. I love sewing on the paper to give it a more special touch.....that's why I also did the same for the paper that was meant for writing wishes inside the card. I really love that one. A special stencil that I bought to get that special shape....inking the lines and sewing around it in the end. It was fun to do!

All in all, this was a fun card to make, especially since it is a swing card. You can never feel bored with a swing card. ;)

Have a look at how the card swings in motion in the video below:

Plain black sketch book

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I received some gorgeous black gold pearl shell wrapping papers from WholePort some time ago and was waiting for the right project to use them until one day I got an order from a customer who wanted to order a hand-bound book with a plain black covers. 

It suddenly hit me that I had this black gold pearl shell paper in my collection and it was perfect for this project because the gold shine on the paper really suits the colour of the thread that I was going to use for the book. Yes, coincidentally my customer wanted the thread to be gold in colour.  

I simply love the paper so much....it's quite thick....looks like leather but it's not.....it's just paper....really love it!

You can check out where to buy the the black wrapping paper for the covers at the link here : Black Gold Pearl Shell wrapping paper

This book I made does not have that many pages in it.....just about 50 pages of  acid free 165gsm drawing paper that would be suitable for sketching, colouring and etc. Which is exactly what my customer wanted. She adores it and so do I ;).