I'm accredited!

Yay, I'm now an accredited quiller with the UK quilling guild! (Find out more about the accreditation scheme here).

Words fail to describe how delighted I was when I received the confirmation email from Genevieve (the accreditation officer) few days ago. I told a friend of mine - 'it feels very much like when one's research manuscript is being accepted for publication by a reputable journal'. I'm not exaggerating, I certainly felt so.

Close up of my quilling piece - chrysanthemums 

This year is my forth year being a member of the UK Quilling Guild. Since I teach and demo the art of quilling to our local community, I thought of challenging myself a step further. Thus I applied to attempt for the basic accreditation scheme November last year. Shortly after that, I received a few documents from the accreditation officer which include a letter stating my candidate number (to be used throughout the assessment as a precaution for anonymity), a note on accreditation criteria, a grid for quilling techniques sampler and quilling terminology sheets for reference. As I'm living away from the UK, all communications were done online. It was really convenient and prompt.

Since then I kept my head down, working on my basic techniques (for part A), and also trying to come out with something original as I planned to submit only a piece of quilling work to fulfill the requirements of part B. An accreditation candidate is not allowed to discuss the accreditation attempt on social media or with other guild committees except for the accreditation officer, to make sure that anonymity is maintained throughout the process.

Part A - sampler

I began working on Part A sometime around February this year. I did it intentionally slow, tackling one category at a time so it took me 1-2 weeks to complete something which one could normally complete in few hours. For part B, it took me several weeks to research and explore ideas before finally deciding on the theme that I wanted to work on - The Four Gentlemen Among Flowers. Once I had the theme decided, the entire quilling process became more structured, as I had things to focus on eg. to study the features of the plants, to think of which techniques to apply, and the arrangement of the work etc.

The four gentlemen among flowers - chrysanthemums, orchid, plum blossoms, bamboo

Then something unexpected happened. I am actually expecting my second child and I experienced early contractions during my 2nd trimester earlier in March and there was a concern of preterm labour. So I was advised to rest and was on hormone for months. I only started working on the project in mid April, beginning with sketch, then doing the actual quilling. I worked on the project bit by bit everyday as I couldn't sit for long hours. At one point I was concerned that I might not be able to complete the work to post them to UK in time (they had to arrive by 31st May) that I was seriously considering postponing my accreditation attempt. But through perseverance and some good luck, I managed to complete everything and posted them out on time.

close up - orchid

Personally, I feel that the idea development and writing down of the working notes are the most challenging tasks for me as I don't usually record down how I do my quilling pieces. The requirement is that another quiller should be able to reproduce the work just by reading the working notes.

Frankly speaking, I really enjoyed the whole accreditation process. The feeling of focusing whole heartedly and working hard on something that you love doing, and later being recognized technically by more experienced quillers (the guild) is truly satisfying. Apart from that, I found the score sheet and feedback comments from accessors (that came back with the confirmation email) truly valuable especially for a self-taught quiller like me. They provide useful insights/ advises on how to improve one's techniques further and what to work on there after. I appreciate their effort in scrutinizing each shapes and quilling pieces in close details in a very professional way.

close up - plum blossoms & bamboo

It is indeed a pleasant 'gift' just in time as I'm about to give birth next month. My baby has been actively 'involved' in the entire process - kicking hard when I was quilling. Who knows he will become a quiller in future too!

Last but not least, I thank the quilling guild for the effort in running this accreditation scheme, and also to Genevieve the accreditation officer for her help throughout my accreditation process. Though I couldn't make it to receive my certificate in person this time but I do hope I would be able to attend the guild's annual display and meeting in UK someday.

P/S: A note to anyone who plans to attempt  accreditation in the near future is to pay extra attention to the packaging/wrapping of the quilling pieces that will be sent by post/mail. Choose very sturdy materials that could provide good protection to your work or you'll risk part of your work arrived crushed/ damaged like in my case. Luckily the accessors took this into consideration but still it's best not to risk as it would affect the assessment itself.