Checkin' In, Quilled Flakes, and Stevan Dohanos

Just checkin' in.  It's been a busy week...plus it's been a "full moon" week (those of you who work in an emergency room or work with children know exactly what I'm talking about *wink*). 
My evenings have been spent quietly quilling snowflakes, and doing laundry.

Here are some of the flakes I've been working on.  Some of them I did in October.

 

Hobby Lobby had some little hot fix crystals that are meant to be ironed onto clothing. But I've found they can easily be glued onto the flakes to add a bit of "bling" and sparkle to a few of them.

 

I've been listening to a station on my computer that plays Traditional Country Classics from the 1940s--1970s.  Here is the LINK if you'd like to take a listen.

I like it because they really do play the oldies such as Hank Snow, Hank Williams and Marty Robbins.  It's neat to think that these songs could be the songs my grandparents listened to when they were my age.  There were a lot of sad songs...cheatin' songs, and songs about lovin' another, etc.  But there were some funny ones too! 

Like this one from Roger Miller called "Dang Me"

                                      

"Roses are red, violets are purple, sugar is sweet and so is maple syrple"....Dude must have been smokin' some wacky tobacky when he wrote that one.  Haha. 

 

Wanted to take a bit of time to share a bit of art by Stevan Dohanos.  Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Stevan Dohanos.  He painted 123 covers for the Saturday Evening Post and many paintings for different companies and advertisements.  He was born in Lorain, Ohio.

Here are just a few of his Saturday Evening Post Covers that I enjoy looking at. 

This one is a gal and her friends in the middle of a bridal shower.  Don't even get me started on how they just aren't the same as they used to be....now-a-days the bride seems to have most everything she needs before she even has a ring.  But I love that she received a set of 4 Pyrex mixing bowls!

 

This one from 1944 is entitled "Penny Candy".  It's a cute one and reminds me of the little grocery store we had in Epping. 

This one, from 1952,  is one of my absolute favorites.  Going outside to fetch the laundry is something so everyday, so mundane and yet in this painting it is so interesting.  I like the shadows made by the late afternoon or evening sun, I like the woman's scarf and the fact that even though it is cold, she's wearing a dress (Women back then usually did).  I like the yellow glow from the window, although I can't tell if it is the glow of light or just the color of the curtain's lining. 

This one speaks volumes!  Look at the calendar it is June 1945 and just after victory in Europe.  The picture of the hands holding up a loaf of bread hint at a future of prosperity.  No more rationing!!  The baker looks like this is just one of many wedding cakes he's made this year...just look at those arm muscles, he's iced a few cakes, I'd say.  The cake topper gives us the hint that this cake is for a soldier and his bride.  The future looks bright again.

 

Well, that's all for today.  Until another day,

Have a Happy Vintage Day! 



Quilling

What is this quilling nonsense that Jennifer is up to these days?
Well, according to Wikipedia...

"Quilling or paper filigree is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs."

"During the Renaissance, French and Italian nuns and monks used quilling to decorate book covers and religious items. The paper most commonly used was strips of paper trimmed from the gilded edges of books. These gilded paper strips were then rolled to create the quilled shapes. Quilling often imitated the original ironwork of the day."

That's pretty much the jist of it in a nutshell.
Here's another tid-bit of Wikipedia wisdom that I found quite comical.

"In the 18th century, quilling became popular in Europe where gentle ladies of quality ("ladies of leisure") practiced the art. It was one of the few things ladies could do that was thought not too taxing for their minds or gentle dispositions. Quilling also spread to the Americas and there are a few examples from Colonial times."

Poor ladies...they couldn't do anything "too taxing".  How boring life must have been for them.  I imagine there weren't too many ways to express themselves.
The picture above is from the blog Women in American History (link below).  It's an interesting site with many pictures and text to peruse.
http://b-womeninamericanhistory18.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html

When I first started quilling I thought it was only flowers, small animals and maybe a little train car or two.  Boy was I wrong!  Quilling can be so beautiful!

Yulia Brodskaya is my all time favorite quiller.  Here is her website. http://www.artyulia.com/index.php/Illustration 
If you visit her site, be sure to check our the "News" link.  Here, one can see all of the illustrations Brodskaya has done for different companies and magazines through the years!
And check out this beautiful wedding invitation designed by Spark Stationery.  You can see more at  http://www.letterpresslove.com/

Quilling is one of my many hobbies.  I'm not great at it, but through practice I feel I'm improving through the years.  Usually, the quilling bug takes hold around November and I start making snowflakes for Christmas season.  The snowflake ornaments are given away as gifts to my friends and family.
Last year I did not quill.
This year I am making up for it.

Last weekend, darling daughter had a sleepover, the perfect opportunity for me to do some late night quilling!  I quilled for 5 hours straight! (Well, there were a couple of snack breaks in there). I listen to the Pride and Prejudice Soundtrack from the 2005 film.  (I don't know why.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQgnEvQX3eM

Colored quilling paper!

Some placecards I was attempting in 2010.



This is the basic beginning of most of my flakes.

I bought this really neat little box at a scrapbooker's garage sale.  I don't know where it came from originally, or what company sold them, but it works great for storing quilling supplies.  It is long, so is perfect for storing the long loops of quilling paper.  The drawers are also removable!

This is my quilling kit.

The top drawer is shallow and undivided, the perfect place to store flakes-in-progress, scissors, and paper strips.

The bottom drawer is full of little, removable boxes.  These are perfect for storing small pieces of quilled work.  The small plastic jars are from JoAnn Fabrics jewelery department.
The only thing this box doesn't hold is my bottle of glue.

A flake in progress.

Blizzard.

The beauty of quilling is that little projects like these snowflakes are so easy, with a little practice, ANYONE can do them! 

Until another day,
Have a Crafty Day!

Colorful Quilling

This isn't exactly quilling, but these ornaments use the same quilling tool and basic idea of twirled paper.  Sorry the first photo is blurry.  The paper is regular weight paper from the office section at Walmart.   The strips are about 1/8 wide and 5" long.  They twirl easily using a quilling tool, but one could just use their fingers. The ends are secured with a tiny dot of glue.  Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

We have snow on the ground!  Makes me want to run outside, gather up some friends and play fox-n-geese.  That was a favorite on the playground of Epping Public School. 

Advent and Playlist is Working

The playlist is working!  It was a case of Occam's razor, I was making things more difficult than needed, while the solution was so simple and right in front of me!  The playlist joins the blog just in time for the season of Advent, so I've included Mannheim Steamroller's version of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel", one of my favorite Advent hymns.

Yestarday, I dug out my quilling supplies and created a couple of snowflakes.  It was a relaxing way to spend a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.  I will experiment with more patterns this week.  There are some beautiful and intricate patterns on the web, but I hate to copy them, so I just start with something basic and use my imagination as I go. 

Just a bit of history on quilling from Wikipedia:  "During the Renaissance, French and Italian nuns and monks used quilling to decorate book covers and religious items.  The paper most commonly used was strips of paper trimmed from the gilded edges of books."