Starters Guide: Premium quilling strips!!!

Hi folks,

 This is Dr.M V Pratyusha from Pratvam Progs. I am a dentist by profession and a love crafting in my free time, which now is mostly the weekends as my postgraduate studies is keeping me busy.

It was really great, when I was contacted by Itsy Bitsy to try their new premium quilling strips. I said “yes” instantaneously.

 Before I jump into reviewing the new premium range of quilling strips, let me tell you that I am big buyer of itsy bitsy quilling strips since they started the range and for my quilling strips stash they are my one stop solution. I loved the strips as they were made from real good quality paper. But the only problem with the normal strips range was that they were not of uniform quality i.e there were some strips that would be made from a higher GSM paper and some were made of lower GSM.

But yes improvement is constant and thus Itsy Bitsy has come up with their new range of premium quilling strips under the quilling essentials banner.

                              My first impressions of the Premium strips: Excellent quality which is uniform. The thickness of 80 GSM is maintained all through the range of strips. I love the colours. Even when kept in sunlight for a few days the colour didn’t fade. The strips that I received were of 11.25 inches of 1,2 and 3mm widths 50 strips in a pack. The length of 2 and 3mm strips has been increased and the quantity also has been increased in the present new packaging. The 1mm strips remain 11.25 inches in length though due to manufacturing constraints.

These strips can be used for quillography as well, after doubling up on the strip which is quite easy. Doubling up of the strips can be done by using Glue along the length of one strip and then placing the other strip on top of it and then pressing them. Left aside for 5mins, the strips can be used for typography.

I am sure you all will love the new range of strips. Why don’t you give it a try? You can order them online at www.itsybitsy.in or just walk in to a store nearby.

Here are a few sneak peak’s into the projects I made using the premium quality strips. Do come back to look at the finished projects.

Here’s thanking Itsy bitsy for trusting me and being patient with me J

Will be back with my projects soon :) 

Disclaimer- This is my personal opinion and is in no way influenced by anyone. Itsy bitsy sent samples for try out only. Unless stated, all photos are the work of Pratyusha and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. 

Itsy Bitsy at Commercial Street, Bangalore!!

Hi Folks!!! Today we have a special news to share with you all. Team ITSY BITSY is proud to announce its presence at one of the most happening places in Bangalore!!

Yes! We are talking about Commercial Street! Our latest store in Bangalore opened last Saturday at Commercial Street and what a lovely morning we had for our GRAND OPENING.  The store is situated near the entrance of the Commercial Street.  As usual, the inauguration ribbon was cut by one of our first customers at the store. It was a great start J

This is our 10^th store in Bangalore and 15^th in India. We have come far in 8 years, thanks to all the support extended by you, our customers. Like always, to celebrate our grand opening with you, we are offering superb deals and discounts and organizing free craft demos every weekend!

So come and check out our latest store at– did we say Commercial Street- and make the most of our grand opening sale!!

On Sunday the 24th, to mark the opening of our 10^th store in Bangalore, we offered a SPECIAL SURPRISE GIFT to every 10^th customer in all our other stores in Bangalore!!! Isn’t that awesome!!! Just look at the happy pics J

Address and Contact Details :

ITSY BITSY PVT LTD
#184 / 1 (old no 1),
Lower Ground floor (Eastern portion),
Commercial street,Shivaji Nagar,
Bangalore 560001
Ph no: 080 2559 2323
Mob: +91 97410 64499

Duplex Crepe Paper Rose Bouquet

Hi Friends, it’s Tuesday and we are back with another tutorial here on the Itsy Bitsy Blog. Summer is in full swing and it’s the time of roses. So here we are with a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a beautiful bouquet of roses. These flowers can be made with very limited number of supplies and will brighten up any room!

So let’s get started. Here is the list of supplies we used for making the flowers:

1. Duplex paper  in your choice of colour
2. Floral wire
3. Floral Tape
4. Green Handmade paper for leaves
5. 10-12mm beads

Note: You can also make these roses with crepe paper but you will get better results with Duplex crepe paper. Duplex paper is thicker than the regular crepe paper and has different colour tones on the two sides. This makes the duplex papers one of the most sought after paper to make realistic looking flowers. This paper has anywhere between 25 – 50% stretch making it possible to manipulate parts of it to give more realistic looking shapes to the petals.

Method:

Cut the duplex paper in heart shapes of roughly about 2”-2 ¼ “ dimensions. The hearts need to have somewhat flat base. These hearts will be used to make the petals of the roses

The easiest way to cut out hearts is to fold the paper, and trace half a heart (as shown) on the folded edge.

Cut out the heart shapes as shown. One flower will require about 8-9 hearts. Cut out as many heart shapes as you need.

Prepare all the heart cut outs by gently rolling the edges of the hearts as shown. The edges should be rolled away from the darker side of the paper and towards the lighter side. This is important for a realistic looking flower.

Take one of the hearts and wrap it around the folded floral wire.

Twist the paper as shown. This will form the centre of the flower.

Tightly wrap some floral tape at the base of the petal to keep it in place. Wrap a second petal in the similar way.

Keep adding more petals and wrap the base with floral tape.

After about 8-9 petals, your flower will look just like a rose bloom. Make as many roses you would like for your bouquet.

Thread a bead onto one end of a floral wire and fold back the end ( about  ½ “) as shown.

Wrap the bead completely with floral tape. This will make the rose buds.

Cut 3 pieces of floral tape in the shape shown here. Line them at the base of the bud to simulate sepals.

Tightly wrap some floral tape to keep the sepals in place. The rose bud is ready!

Cut some leaf shapes with the green handmade paper and wrap them about an inch below the base of the flowers using floral tape.

You can add leaves in this way to all the flowers or just some of them depending on how much foliage you want in your bouquet.

Start assembling the flower bunches by arranging them in a staggered fashion and twisting the stems together.

Wrap the stems with more floral tape. 

Your rose bunch is ready! Make as many such bunches as you want and in as many colours as you want. 

As you can see in the picture below, we made them in different colours and they looked so beautiful together that we did not have the heart to segregate them by colours!

The last but not the least step - Sit back and enjoy the beautiful roses! :)

Hope this tutorial has inspired you to try it out. Do leave your feedback in the comments below and send us pictures on our Facebook page if you try it.

Here’s a handy link for the supplies.

Link for Supplies:

Duplex paper:

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/flower-making/duplex-paper

Floral Tape:

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/scrapbooking/paper/12inch-x-12inch/natural-premium-12x12-des-19-1sheet-dcwv

Floral Wire:

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3000_3003

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/jewellery-making

Handmade Paper:

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/papers/handmade-papers

Cord Jewellery

Hi Folks! We are back with another exciting tutorial! Today we are going to make jewellery using satin cords or thin satin ribbons. You can also use cotton cords or leather cords in place of satin cords. Cords are a great choice to make multi-functional trendy pieces. While these are very easy to make and perfect for beginners, they look professionally finished.

Supplies:

1. 1.5mm Satin Ribbon
2. Tube beads/findings – 5 pcs
3. Cord ends – 1 pair
4. Spacer beads – 10 pcs
5. Jump Rings – 2 pcs
6. Lobster Clasp – 1 pc
7. F-6000 Adhesive
8. Pliers for opening jump rings

Caution: Whenever you are using F6000 adhesive, make sure to work in a well ventilated space.

Method:

Wrap the ribbon loosely around your wrist to measure the length of the bracelet. You can also use a tailor’s measuring tape. In this bracelet we started with about 17 cm long strands. Please note that this will be adjusted and trimmed later since we will also add the clasp which will add to the length of the bracelet. Cut 5 strands of the ribbon/cord of the required length.

Thread the strands with tube beads and spacer beads as shown above.

Apply F-6000 glue liberally inside a cord end (a quilling needle works great for this). Hold one end of all 5 strands evenly (so that the ends align). Dab them with little glue so that they will stay together.

Insert the cords inside the cord end. Wipe off any excess glue if it oozes out.

Please note that F-6000 adhesive takes 24 hours to cure fully. Once you have applied the glue, handle the bracelet gently while working on it.

Loosely measure the bracelet around your wrist again or measure it with measuring tape. Trim off the excess. E.g. for finished bracelet length of 17cm, trim all the strands evenly at about 15cm. (2cm will be adjusted when the jump rings and clasps are added)

Note: Length of the bracelet will differ based on your wrist size and preference for looseness or tightness.

Once again apply the F-6000 glue liberally inside the other cord end. Hold the other end of all 5 strands evenly and insert them inside the cord end.

Add a jump ring to one cord end and a jump ring and clasp to the other cord end.

You bracelet is complete. Let the adhesive cure for 24 hours before wearing it. If you prefer, you can also add some beads or charms to get a different look.

Or you could make a multi wrap bracelet which can also be worn as a necklace, like this 3-strand triple wrap bracelet!

You can wear it as it is or add charms or beads of your choice using jump rings.

These styles are just a couple of ideas. You can increase or decrease no. of wraps or cord colours to match an outfit, add more beads, charms, chains, alphabet beads or jewellery tags. You can easily personalize these and adapt them to your style! These will also make a superb handmade gift. J

Please let us know what you think of this tutorial in the comments below and do send us pictures on our Facebook page if you try it.

Happy crafting!

Link for Supplies:

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=0&keyword=Satin+Ribbons+1.5mm

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3900_3914

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3900_3916

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=0&keyword=lobster+clasp

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=0&keyword=bayonet+clasp

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/adhesives/strong-glues/f-6000-glue-25g-1pc-ib

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/jewellery-making/jump-rings

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=0&keyword=pliers

Stocking Cloth Flower Bouquet

Hello People! Hope you all had a great weekend! Today we are going to show you how to make a beautiful bouquet of flowers with Stocking Cloth. It's quite easy and perfect to use for home decor, parties and other special occasions! Let us collect the supplies.

Supplies Needed:

1. Stocking Cloth in your choice of colours.
2. Green Stocking Cloth (For leaves and buds)
3. Floral Wire
4. Floral Tape
5. Some Beads
6. A dowel of about 1-1.5” diameter or a cylindrical object (e.g. A small bottle)
7. A dowel of about 1/4”-1/2” (You can also use a pen or pencil)
8. Pollen/Stamen, seed beads, crystals etc. (optional)

Method:

Wrap one end of a floral wire around the dowel or the bottle and twist the two ends as shown in the images above.

You will have a petal shape wire loop. Wrap the stocking cloth around the wire loop as shown in the picture above.

Bunch the cloth at the base of the loop as shown, twist the loop a few times to keep the cloth in place and trim off the excess.

This will form a petal of the flower. Work the wire frame of the petal to make desired shape of the petal. 

Repeat the above steps to make as many petals you want in the flower. For leaves repeat the steps above using green stocking cloth. In this tutorial we are making three-petal flowers.

Hold three petals together and start wrapping the base of the petals with the floral tape (as shown above).

Adjust the petals to get the desired shape of the flower. Make as many flowers you want for your bouquet.

Take a floral wire and make a small loop at one end using the smaller dowel. This will make the buds.

Wrap the stocking cloth around the loop, bunch at the base and trim off the excess like we did for the petals. Start wrapping the floral tape tightly at the base of the bud.

Thread a bead at the end of a floral wire and twist the ends as shown.

Wrap the green stocking cloth around the bead and trim off excess. Tightly wrap the floral tape starting at the base of the bead. This will make the unopened bud.

Assemble the flowers, leaves and buds in a staggered arrangement, roughly in the following order from top to bottom – unopened bud, open buds, flowers and leaves. This will give you an arrangement as close to a natural inflorescence. Wrap the stems together with floral tape. Your flower bunch is ready!

 You can use this technique to make different kind of flowers. You can also glue pollen/stamens,  crystals or beads to the flower centre for a different look.

 Here are some more ideas to get you started:

Please let us know what you think of this tutorial and do send us pictures on our Facebook Page  if you try it.

Happy crafting!

Link for Supplies:

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/flower-making/stocking-cloth

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3000_3004

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/scrapbooking/paper/12inch-x-12inch/natural-premium-12x12-des-19-1sheet-dcwv

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3000_3003

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/scissors

http://www.itsybitsy.in/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3900_3928