Seeing flowers everywhere

السّلام عليكم 

& peace be upon you 

Next month will be a busy month 

trying to get as many people as we can to participate in our project 

meeting the committee for finalizing an agreement to host the exhibition 

contacting entities for funding 

many things and many more that I may not have thought of .. 

But most importantly 

I'm seeing flowers everywhere :S 

I also remembered how crazy I got when I visited Japan last year 

I took many pictures of flowers .. 

and was so THRILLED .. to find Hydrangeas 

I love Hydrangeas 

and here's one I took 

and I'm working on making a quilled one 

I'm in love with hydrangeas 

Take care for now :) 

Ramadhan

السّلام عليكم 

& peace be upon you 

its the first day of Ramadhan 

and its been 10 years or so 

and I still remember my late grandmother 

her daily phone calls 

scolding me for not eating properly 

or reminding me to eat 

one of the reasons I picked my cell phones number 

is that it was easy for her to dial 

and haven't changed it since then 

I keep glancing at the phone set or looking at the homes phone 

I smile .. thinking that she'll call again 

there she is .. she's going to repeat the same thing 

and in a second 

I remember that she's no longer there 

I miss her so much 

she's the reason .. I am .. what I am 

I miss all our old ladies 

who used to call me Auntie 

Shaikh Zayed 

also passed away in Ramadhan 

my life changed with his death 

I wanted him to be around

I wanted him to witness my strength 

But everything has a reason

and I will always have them all in my heart 

May God rest their souls 

and bestow his mercy upon us all 

and grant us to meet them in heaven 

Ameen 

Royal Flower / Video Tutorial / الوردة الملكيّة

السّلام عليكم 

& Peace be upon you 

and here's how to make it :) 

Enjoy :) 

Amna

Featured Artist / Roxann Dragula

السّلام عليكم 

& peace be upon you 

I came to know about todays artist after my participation in the North American Quilling Guilds Annual Competition 2011

Met her on facebook and hope to meet her next year :) 

When I saw her winning artwork, at first I thought where is the quilling?

the entire thing turned out to be quilled :) 

oh well you will have to read and find out won't you?

It's Roxy :)

1) When did you start paper quilling ? and how did you know about it ?

I have been an artist just about all my life; I can't remember when I was not doing art even as a small child. I would do Quilling in small amounts here and there to add with my art over the past years but had no idea it was Quilling. For many years I had gotten away from my art due to many reasons and none of the reasons were good reasons. During late 2008 to 20010 and early 2011 I was unemployed during that time I started getting back into my art. I was doing some research on the web and started running across art that was being called Quilling. As I said before I had no idea what it was or how to do it but it looked like what I had been adding to my art. In late 2009 I ran across the NAQG and joined the guild in 2010 I also found the UK Quilling guild and became a member at that time. I am Quilling full time now when I'm not working and the rest is history, I will never stop doing my art ever again something that has been the love of my life 

2) Do you read books about quilling and other crafts? or what sources do you use mostly ? 

I have many Quilling book but to say that I have sat down and read them all, no I guess you can say I collect more Quilling books than I have read. I have my Quilling books as reference books that I use to stimulate my imagination. Being more of an abstract artist life it's self is my best source it provides me with a much larger source of inspiration. 

3) Describe yourself as an Artist , what other hobbies do you like and practice? what other forms of art do you like? how long have you been crafting in general ? 

I am more of an abstract artist I don't refer to myself as being a crafter. I truly believe there is a fine line between the craft of Quilling and the art of Quilling I prefer to be classified as a Quilling artist. I can do other art styles but I am better known for my abstract art. In the past I have done watercolor art and charcoal art and have thought about adding the two along with my Quilling. 

4) do you work or study? and does practicing hobbies affect any aspect of your life? 

When I started Quilling full time I had been unemployed for quite some time, but now that I am employed full time I have found that the responsibilities around our home have shifted. My husband loves my Quilling so much he has jumped in and takes over responsibilities when I am working on my projects. 

5) do you attend workshops or give workshops ? 

I do not attend workshops but will teach when asked. I have been asked to collaborate with Lucia Sinning's art class in Spain 2012. Lucia Sinning was the 2011 People's Choice Award winner at the 2011 NAQGCON. I am much honored to have been given this opportunity. I would love to find work teaching Quilling this would be a dream come true. 

6) You are one of the recent winners at one of the categories at NAQG Con 2011 please tell us something about the piece you created and how you came about it :) 

When I decided to enter the 2011 NAQGCON Quilling and Beyond competition I had no idea what I would make but I knew I would come up with something. I was sitting at the dinner table with my husband one evening talking over what I should do. My husband had given me several good ideas but I told him it had to be something that had that WOW factor to it. It had to be something that was electrifying. Just as I said it I looked at my husband and said that's it I'm going to add electricity to my Quilling. My husband replied you can't do that you will burn the house down. I told him relax I would not burn the house down and everything would be just fine. I had no Idea how to even start making this lamp but I knew that once I got it started it would all start coming to together. I started with the bottom it was insane making that large of a coil it took me several days just to coil the base. Trust me a large rubber band became my best friend. I would coil paper until I was tired and use the rubber band to hold it together until I returned to it. The large open rectangle ring coils were a little trickier to do. With a little help from some blocks of wood and a few failed attempts the body of the lamp took shape. To make the shad was more time consuming than trouble. 

7) How long have you been taking part at the NAQG?

I have been a member of the USA NAQG and the UK Quilling Guild since early 2010. 

8) have you gained any benefit from your art? what kind of benefit ?

The benefits I have gained from my Quilling are priceless and could never be duplicated or replaced. The benefits are the friends that I have gained literally all over the world some of whom I have met and some I will meet for the first time when I attend the UK 2012 conference. 

9) do you have a website or a blog that you would like to share with us? or how can our members get in contact with you 

I have a website that I'm working on to sell Quilling supplies I will let you know when it is open but for now you can get in touch with me by sending email to QuillingByRoxyD@Yahoo.com 

Note from Roxann:

My art card that was given to the artist Howard Solomon after visiting his museum was featured in Ann Martins blog All Things Paper. My Pink art card has been the front page of Quillers. 

Roxann almost never shows her work but she was kind & generous in allowing me to have all the pictures of her work.

You can view them here in this video :) 

Enjoy :) 

 Thank you so much Roxy *hugs* 

آمنه الفرض

Bela Shah - Featured Artist

Another great artists to be revealed 

this time multitalented 

it's our Bela Shah :) 

1) When did you start paper quilling ? and how did you know about it ? 

I started Paper Quilling around 2 years ago and I came to know thru a friend who taught me just a fringed flower and a leaf & then I took it from there. 

2) Do you read books about quilling and other crafts? or what sources do you use mostly ? 

I have never read a book on quilling or any other craft.

But I get inspiration from all the friends I have on facebook ..  also the internet at times..... 

 

3) Describe yourself as an Artist , what hobbies do you like and practice? what other forms of art do you like?

how long have you been crafting in general ?

What do I think about myself as an artist ...... well I wld love if you all answer that question. :-)

Well as a hobby I was always into paintings. I do pencil sketching, charcoal painting, oil , acrylics , warli , madhubani, kalamkari, miniature, glass painting etc.....So as far as art is concerned I love each and everything .. I would love to learn it any form .....

As far as crafting is concerned I love paper quilling & I also do iris folding & I have been crafting since 2 years..... 

4) do you work or study? and does practicing hobbies affect any aspect of your life?

I am working with a canadian firm at nite from home .. I teach art during the day time. Practicing hobby always gives me a satisfaction and Quilling is meditative to me coz of the repitative process.

whenever I'm doing any kind of artwork the outside world just doesn't exist. 

5) do you attend workshops or give workshops ? 

I teach art & conduct workshops. 

 

6) have you gained any benefit from your art? what kind of benefit ? 

The pleasure of creating something new & unique is just amazing.And as a teacher imparting the same knowledge to my kids and the smile on their face after creating something gives me a fulfillment.

And I would say my hobby is my profession so when I work it doesn't feel like i m working....

Isn't that simply amazing!!!!! 

7) do you have a website or a blog that you would like to share with us?

The link of my page on FB is HERE

My blog for quilled creations is HERE n Art work is http://bela-shah.blogspot.com/ 

My website address is HERE

8) Anything else you would like to share with the members or would like to add?

I would like to say that people who have any kind of art in them whether its dancing, singing, crafting, or artwork are blessed so just keep going on & on as it gives you a stress free time from your hectic lifestyle. 

Thank you so much Bela for your time ..

now .. Enjoy viewing her work in this video :)

Hope you enjoyed viewing Bela's work 

Have a great weekend :) 

The Malaysian Quilled Flower

السّلام عليكم 

& peace be upon you 

An interesting buzz at the Emirates Quilling Guild's facebook group 

yes .. quite interesting 

everyone is sharing their take on a particular technique 

and I am so loving it .. it's quite exciting to wake up every morning .. 

and look at all the new creations there :

you see our Malaysian quilling artists are "SO TALENTED" and so creative and just uhh so good at making this particular flower with a specific technique .. that I started referring to it as their flower 

hence .. Malaysian Flower .. it's easy and fancy to remember isn't it :) 

hummmph .. 

well 

Look at this video first 

so now ya know which technique I meant 

now where did that come from ?
Ummu Solehah Muhammad
She had the tutorial on her blog HERE

That's where I learned it from :)

Asma' Ahmad Bahari of Simple Rhymes 

she is super talented 

she shared with us the steps of making another great technique of making a flower 

of which I called the royal one .. 

because it simply looks ROYAL .. hahah 

checkout her blog HERE

here's some of her work in a video I made recently 

isn't she amazing :) 

and aren't they all amazing and talented artists ?
they sure are ...

Hope you had fun :) 

Amna 

Remaining parts of the video

السّلام عليكم 

& peace be upon you 

I know I know .. I only write when things are hectic or when I'm overloaded 

hahah yeah well .. better late than never right ?!!

these are the remaining 4 videos of the tags swap we had last month 

enjoy the amazing work of our talented friends :) 

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

and finally .. Part 5

Have a great weekend :)