Just Playing Around

The other day on a FB quilling group I belong to, someone asked 'what do you do with your quilled projects?'

I make mine to keep my hands busy and, of course, to sell. I have found that my ornaments and cards sell pretty well but the question got me thinking. What else can I make that might sell too?

I decided to scale down a few of my regular ornaments and make 'ornaments for houseplants'. So far I have one pattern for a hummingbird, two patterns for butterflies and one for dragonflies. They are made with 1/8" paper and sealed with a heavy coat of gloss medium. The wire is threaded through before sealing so it is pretty sturdy.

I find I have to pick unnatural colours so that the ornaments show up against the green of the plants. I mean really,  a mauve and pink hummingbird? Any way, I think they are cute and that they will make a nice addition to any houseplant or artificial arrangement. I hope others think the same - lol

Here is a comparison photo of the dragonflies although I really should have  a coin in the picture to give a really good idea of sizes. I will be making more of these designs and I think I will have to come up with a bee pattern too!

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A New Venture!

Last week one of my friends posted a video on Facebook and I just had to try it.  Have a look - Nail Polish Flowers

I didn't have coloured nail polish so I used some fluid acrylics to paint my flowers. For my first flowers I used a Sharpie to make the petals and just some white glue. I did buy some sparkle nail polish for the final touch.

Once they were done it was 'what now?' time. So I decided to make a little flower arrangement.

front

back

dragonfly closeup

My daughter, Susan, suggested that I could make dragonflies and butterflies with this method too - so I did! BTW, the little 'vase' is recycled from a garden solar light and the 'grasses' are made with quilling paper.

I wanted to see it I could make larger flowers, so I made a tube out of glue, tape and construction paper. The glue I used didn't work with the larger size petals and I had to do some experimenting to find something that worked. I ended up using some of my husband's WeldBond glue.

I enjoy making the flowers and experimenting making other shapes too but, I don't think that making arrangements is my thing. So, what to do with the decorations I do make? Add them to houseplants, of course!

Here is a picture of these with a white background so you can see them clearly.

I think I will have fun making more of these and I think they might sell - especially the insects as they would work well in dried flower arrangements too.

At any rate, it is another creative play for me and I like being busy and creative!