Inspire

Scuse the bodgy picture. Can't seem to get it to come out clear.

So, Project Educate were holding a craft contest where you had to try an artisan craft you've never done before. Half the challenge was finding something I've never tried. As a kid I delved into everything I could, and in high school I took every artisan elective available, so even ceramics and woodwork were out. Up until last year, I worked at Spotlight (a massive craft/habby/furnishings/etc store here in Australia) and was the only crafty person in the craft department. So everyone came to me with questions and it became my business to learn anything I didn't already know. When I say I'm a jack of all trades, master of none, I really mean it.

So I had to get really specific. Then, when browsing Pinterest, I saw a quilling piece and it dawned on me that I've never tried that before. I caught the flu and had some time off Uni, so I thought I could knock this project off on one of my sick days. Two weeks later, I finally finished it.

This took so ridiculously long to finish, and I'm still not entirely sure it doesn't need to be filled in a little more. But it's due today so I'll stop obsessing.

I wanted to do a rainbow monogram, but instead of it just being the same shaped pieces filling the space, I also wanted each colour to have its own theme or "thing". I tried a huge range of different techniques because I wanted it to be so full of detail that there's something new everywhere you look.

I chose the word "inspire" both because this contest inspired me to try something I have never tried before, and also because I wanted it to have the dual purpose of providing motivation for us around the house once it was done.

I'm a kinaesthetic learner, so I didn't really follow any tutorials. I googled a few images and got the basic gist of it and just dove in. That doesn't really help you guys at all, but it is so easy to pick up if you guys want to try this I'm sure there are dozens of tutes out there to help.

The piece measures 60x20cm. I had no quilling tools and my local craft store didn't sell them, so I cut strips of paper out of card stock and used a needle that I cut the top of the eye off to twist the strands. For a quilling comb, I found an old nit comb in that bathroom that served a similar purpose. For shaping things like the blossoms and bodies of the butterfly, I used some of my fondant tools.

WIP here: [link]