Santa Claus is coming to town!!

Check out this COOL SITE!!
It has got tutorials to teach you how to fold these little cuties.

Crochet Pattern-A-Day Calendar 2006

There's this fair at one corner Takashimaya shopping center selling all sorts of calendars.  I was surprised to find that they have lots of Pattern-A-Day calendars.  They have it for knitting, crocheting, origami, paper cutting and lots more. I was so spoilt for choice, that I had wanted to buy them all, so I can learn a few new patterns each day.  I stood at the stall for more than 30 mins and finally decided on the crochet calendar.  Actually, I was sort of expecting more than what I find inside.  Yeah, I was a bit disappointed in this.

Manicure of the week

So this is the color of the week.  I had wanted to paint blue color, but decided that it is too scary a color.  So I decided to have this sheer mauve color.  I painted some glitters on the tips, in a diagonal shape.  Reason being that glitters are very difficult to remove, so I don't want to paint the whole nail with it.  I'm sure I'll have a hard time when it's time to remove.  But the beauty of glitters is that it makes our nail polish stay longer, which is why I only painted the tips.

Ceci est la manucure francaise

This is French Manicure! Done by me, does it look professional enough? But sadly, French manicure never last, the tips always chip off so fast.

Psst... Did you noticed that I've got square nails? Yes, I love square nails, I've been having it for years. I dunno why, but I only love them when it's filed by myself. The manucurist did it for me once, and I hated it. Probably the "angle" is not right?

By the way, I never like going for manicure. In the 1st place, I don't need it, cos I can paint my nails pretty well. I just need the cuticle removing and things like that. I just hate sitting there doign nothing. Same goes for sitting in the salon while perming/coloring your hair. But salon is not that bad, cos u get to play games on handphone, or sms other pple.

Christmas Ornament Swap from Craftsters

Here's what I received from the Christmas Ornament Swap

From Pibbgirl
I didn't know that the white color beads can glow in the dark!!! I hang all the ornaments on the knob of my drawers and was very surprised to see the glow. What a pleasant surprise!


From Girlwonder
I love the snowflakes


From Lv2ScrpBk
This is the 1st ornament that I've received. I just love everything about it.


From Jennickell
Christmas tree ornament on a christmas tree! Interesting... I love the sequins (or whatever you call that). It makes the tree so nice.


From Kmsmaverick
Snowman!! My fav!


From Kirbay831
A ball in christmas colors.

One more outstanding... Can't wait to receive it!!!

What can you make out of a pair of old jeans?

Mum's doing spring cleaning and we've loads of old clothes to be sold to "Karang Guni Man". I've managed to dig out some nice fabrics for my crafting - of cos, it's only bags & pouches at this point of time, cos my skill is that limited.

Being inspired by Dorothy's clutch, I wanted to try one with a more casual look so I can use it for on weekdays when I go out for lunch. I would want to reserved Dorothy's nice clutch for more fun outings. I found a pair of blue stone-washed kinda jeans and started cutting out the size. And I have my interfacing, and talking about interfacing... I know that I'm supposed to iron on the interfacing onto the jeans, but it just refuse to stick to the jeans, no matter how hard I iron. So, I ended up with 3 pcs of fabric for my clutch and needless to say, my clutch is now without backbone.

The mini battery-operated sewing machine decided to gang up with the interfacing and gave me more problems. I only managed to sew the outer layer onto the zip and it started giving me problems. The thread kept getting stuck in the fabric, the needle refuse to move and get stuck in the fabric... blah blah blah. I spent the whole afternoon trying to fix the sewing machine but it still didn't work. In the end, I gave up and waited till my dad came back from work to fix the problem (he was a sewing machine salesman many many yrs back). After he fixed it up, I started sewing again on Sunday. After a few stitches, the needle got stuck in the fabric and refuse to move again. I fix it up, then the thread broke halfway and all sort of problem came along again, like yesterday. And guess what? The needle became crooked this time - I dunno what I did to it!!!

Well, in the end, I did the most of the sewing by hand and managed to complete it. What a problematic project.

I used a pale yellow zipper to match the stars of my monkey lining. Can you see the monkey peeping out of my clutch?


The clutch looks sort of boring and plain without any embellishment. I crocheted some clover edging using multi-colored pastel cotton thread. I think it matches the zipper as well.


More details... I was supposed to sew the lace on the denim fabric before I sew up the lining. And forgetful as I am, I sew up the lining without realising that. I was too lazy to re-do it again, cos I'm not a big fan of hand sewing anyway. So I 'cheated' and sew the edges into the sides of the clutch. There are little gaps and I just tied the lace to the thread. That also mean that if I get tired of this lace later, I can simply untie it and add in other laces. Not bad an idea huh!


And here's the final product. I couldn't seem to be able to capture the colors of the crocheted lace. I still think that this looks a bit plain. I wish I'm more creative to make it more interesting. Well, I'll settle for this for the time being, till I can come up with something.

Fun Printed Satin Fabric

Ok, I can't withstand the temptation and went to Spotlight again last night.  Here are the few that I like.  I was contemplating between the monkey and the frog fabric.  I chose the monkey one in the end.  I love the fabric and the feel of it.  Imagine and instantly thought of sewing some casual shorts (to wear at home).  But...  I don't even have a pattern and can't really sew.  Now what shall I do now?

To make things more challenging, I was even thinking of sewing a pajamas (short sleeves with drawstring shorts, or with rubberband on top) with this LV lookalike cherry fabric for mum's bday present in Dec.  Now, tell me if I am really that ambitious??

Another swap item!

Another swap item!  This is privately arranged between princess_me (from Craftster) and myself. 

This is the Snowbaby that I sent Princess_me.


Here's what I got in return!  Candy colored crochet hooks!!

Those hooks that I find here are pretty boring.  Most of them are in boring silver color.  I'm sure these will motivate me to work on more new projects!!

Interfacing... This is me!!

I finally get to see what interfacing look like.  Well, this is actually not new to me.  I've seen these before, just that I do not know its name and actual function.  I knew some pple use this on collars and shirts (where you have the button hole).  Now I need to figure out how to use it.  I heard that it hardens when we iron it to fabric.  This is interesting.  But...  which side do I iron on?  The waxy or the furry side?

I saw printed satin fabics which are very cute.  Instantly, I thought of sewing pajamas pants/shorts out of them.  Am I being too ambitious?  I can hardly sew...  Should I take the risk to do it by trial and error?

 

Christmas Ornament Swap from Craftsters

I've already sent out my ornaments, hope the receivers will like it. I can't post photos till they receive it. In the meantime, do watch out this space for pics.

Interfacing

Dorothy gave me this address at Queen St where she buys interfacing. I'm not too sure how interfacing looks like, all I know is that it's like this plasticky thingy which we stick or sew with the fabric to make bags studier. I was so inspired by the clutch that Dorothy sent me that I went over to Bugis to check out this shop.

Firstly, I didn't know where is Queen St. Dorothy mentioned that it's the building behind Bugis Village. I bravely went to explore the area. After I cross the road, I bought a cup of mango freeze, thinking that it's gonna be a long walk, and I factor in some time that I will get lost while locating this building.

It's not so bad after all. I finally got to know where Queen St is. And this building... It's so old, the shop is right on top of the foodcourt... It reminds me of the old People's Park Hawker Center. I'm surprised to find that there's an escalator at one corner. I took the escalator up and found that most shops are closed. I was hoping hard that this shop is open, just for me... To my dismay, it was closed too.

Well, I'm meeting Silvia to Spotlight tonight, hope that I can find some interfacing there. I just can't wait to try to sew my very own clutch. I desperately need one for weekdays, when I go out to lunch. My current lunch bags are all so ugly, and I hate carrying my handbag out cos I carry a big bag most of the time. I need something more chic to match my new hairstyle.

And, did I mentioned that some kind soul has volunteered to send me some fabrics from the Unconditional Swap in Nov? I just can't wait for the goodies to arrive!

Look What I've Got!!

I participated in this Singapore Swap from Craftsters, and I 've to know a fellow craftster, Dottydot, who can sew very well.  We've exchanged item and here's what I've got.  I love everything about this clutch.  The color, the workmanship, the fabric, the combination, and everything single thing about it!

The strap, made with the same fabric as the lining.


Fabulous lining


Overall look

Computer Earrings

I finally have a little time and some supplies to make a few earrings!








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More pics that I've cut out, but I do not have enough earring hooks...  I need to go get some real soon.  These are really addictive.