we survived our first crafting lessons!

yes! we both survived our first crafting lessons together - me teaching & kk learning sewing basics. and for memory sake, i made her pose with the 'signboard' which reads : "i survived my first crafting lesson 9pm -2am".

will blog more about this later...

mini broke down again

my mini suffered from punctured tyre again. this time, its another mini, on a wet rainy gloomy friday morning. wat a bummer :(

was on my way zipping around quickly through the traffic when i heard a beep sound and then saw this sign huge (!) on my dashboard. sigh.. this cant be a good thing but optimistic me tried to ignore it. hoping optimistically for it to go away by itself! i am a fool. it doesnt work that way ! ahhahaahah i am just deluding myself, as usual.

after 5 minutes of driving and hoping that the sign will miraculously go away, i gave up. i stopped by the roadside and went down to inspect the tyres in the rain. cant seem to spot any problem. nevertheless, bro told me to bring to the nearest tyre shop for a checkup. the technician took one look and spotted the slightly deflated tyre and went ahead to repair it.

the whole procedure was very fast. took less than 10 minutes. in a nutshell, he merely located the 'tear', poked in a mushroom shaped rubber tubing, pulled it out to stopper the tear, sprayed some magic liquid (i say magic cuz i dunno wat's it) then its good to go. he said my tyre's a run flat tyre type,and there's no need to change new tyres. After his healing touch, it shd be able to last a long time without changing new tyres.

and the best part!??! its free! he's not charging me for the repair!! wah.. i must be looking really pretty this morning *puke puke* but as a rough guide (in case anyone out there reading this post runs into similar situations), such quick repair solutions usually costs about $10 only.

and so all ends well. i just need to reset the digital display on my dashboard so that the (!) dont appear anymore. :DD

cedarian goodies

they say - once a cedarian, always a cedarian. hmm..saying tat gives me goosepimples actually. cant say i've got strong loyalty to my alma mater (is tat how u use it in context?) but when kk asked me if i wanna to buy cedar-related goodies, i jumped at it. despite the fact that i dun like or keep soft toys and it will likely end up in some corner of the store room collecting dust.

anyway, i bought a towel, a bear with uniform and a bear in pe kit.

and for decency sake, the bear wore undies! cute they way they pay attention to this detail,

used, used and overused

i made these some time back.. omg! almost 3 years ago. anyway i gave one to kk and gave another to sabrina.

was delighted to know when kk told me she loved it and was using it but the delight turned into"ewww feeling" when she showed me earlier this week that she IS still using it 2years down the road....yes! the craftsmanship is soo good that its still useable till now but but but... couldnt resist it and had to take a picture of the current state of pouch.

maybe the picture above aint that bad yet. so i put another one beside it for comparison. the little flowers strips used to be in white or slight yellow tinge , it has now turned into a consistent shade of greyish-ness.

kk said the square size's perfect for her little knick knacks. and she cant bear to throw it away cuz its still use-able.

and so i decided - kk, if you are reading this, i love it that you love my handcrafted goodies. But all good things must come to an end. I am going to make a new one for you this weekend and force you to change out of it and throw it away or wash it!!

Round bendy purse

ooo...i made this round bendy purse - patchwork with lace!its so prettily sweet and the shape's really unique. made it on sunday night while watching one of those 80's movie on cable. only thing - what can it be used for or fit nicely?

did a close up view of the patchwork. love the texture of the fabrics especially the white one and the lace. it all blends so nicely. thanks to brother for 'approving' the combination again! :D

handmade pretty tote bag

After failed attempts at pouches earlier this week, i decided to stop crafting pouches for the moment. Wanna try something different - a bag, a coaster etc. So here's my freshly crafted tote bag. Haven crafted this kinda bag in a long while. The last time i did something similar was in August 2008 . Its in similar shape except this time, its smaller. Its really sweet looking!

It measures about 22cm by 20cm (LxB) and that's about a stretched out palm size. It aint too big but it is very roomy. I think this makes a good lunch bag for office ladies (OL) to bring out. I've put in some commonly used items for illustration. It comfortably fits my small metal clasp purse, tissue paper, handphone, umbrella and my kawaii small camera. :D

And the interior is pretty enough to use inside out too as there are no raw edges. Have also sewn a small pocket with lace.

So sweet looking i can melt.. hahahah. I think i will do a few more with different fabrics.

handmade coasters

lately, i got into the habit of using coasters. likely cuz of influence from ms k.. she has pretty coasters at home. so i bought some plus ms k's mother-in-law did some for ms k's new place and gave me some.. haha ok ok.... i took them myself, she did not give it to me.

perhaps i should have started using coasters long time back. look at all the cup stains on my table. i think it has to be a mix of me not wiping my table properly and lousy ikea table quality. anyway, the stains are here to stay for as long as i use this table.

and so , i made some coasters over the weekend. bought this piece of fabric with large squares of prints in japan 2 years ago but never got around to using it. now, it comes in handy for this coasters for its regular shape and ideal size (about 13cm by 13cm). i have used linen for the base (not shown in picture).

And since there are four different prints on the fabric, i made a set of 4 which looks like this! pretty!

next time, i will make some patchwork coasters :D

peek into my bag today!

My bag's usually in a mess despite all the pouches/compartments i have. I never seem to be able to keep stuffs in the respective pouches properly. Haw used to look thru my bag and helped me pack my stuffs and it irked her that its so messy. She's a 'compartmentalization freak'.

Anyway, today in office, as i was rummaging thru my bag looking for some stuffs, i realised - hey.. i actually do segregate my stuffs into pouches, just not in the neat & conscious way. So i neaten up my stuffs and took a picture of it. It will probably remain this neat for today only. and i also realised - i am the greatest fan of "handmade by yiwan" goodies cuz all my pouches are handmade! *roll eyes* i have to be cuz i crafted them myself :P here's what is in my bag ...

out of those pouches above, 3 of them are new crafts items for this week! picture below shows 2 different version of pouches i was trying to create - both are of commercially common shape & size. i normally dont craft such items cuz its i feel there's nothing special about these and some of those commercially produced ones are even better. anyway, i have custom order from brother's girlfriend fren and she gave me specific measurements and so i am trying it out. love the kawaii look & cheerful colors but maybe i have to accesorize it for a more complete and unique touch. The first pouch has a rectangle base and its stiff enough to stand on its own. As for the second one, its a flat pouch with rounded edges.

The round metal clasp pouch below is a craft gone wrong! :( the entire feel & look came out way below expectations. its not symmentrical, the shape's not pretty and it looks like a wreck. the only thing pretty about this is the fabrics used but what a waste of good fabric :*(

anyway, weekend's here! happy weekend to whoever's reading this! :D

Cheese from Russia!

Ms G gave me some cheese which came all the way from russia. Eating them bring back fond memories of my russian days. The first time i tried this type of cheese was in some restaurant eating russian food and having ice cold beer! Yumz! This type of cheese goes very well with beer & vodka! I didnt believe it was cheese initially - Its stringy in texture (somewhat like those dried octupus) , very salty and has a smoky taste & smell. Its totally unlike what I am used to having in this part of the world.

It would be too induglent and lonely to have beer in the afternoon, so I made myself a cuppa tea and had my fill of cheese! :D

(the cheese dont look too appetising in the pictures but it sure it!)

Thanks Ms G! :D

More large clasp purses

Ok. Finally done after a week long of crafting. Here are sneaks of the large clasp purses - all pretty 10 of them.

Here's a closer look of the kawaii range for the kid in you.

And here's the flora raange for the feminine side of you

and these dont belong to the above ranges :P. First time i am using iron-on patch for craft. Have bought this kawaii elephant iron on patchy during my last japan trip quite some time back and finally got to use it. its matchy with denim.

For prettier pictures including the interior, check out the shoppe :D

Pretty Patchwork Ironing Board Cover

Had been busy crafting the large metal clasp purses the whole of last week and finally finished all 10 of them on Sunday. Now that those have been completed, that leaves me free this week to do some housekeeping crafting.

Been thinking of doing a patchwork ironing board for quite some time but never got around to doing it. So here goes - first i need to sort thru the fabric scraps to take out the colors & suitable sizes. Have been saving up/accumulating these fabric scraps for my patchworking mood to catch on.

After choosingthe fabrics, I drew out squares measuring 8cm by 8cm and cutting them out. Luckily younger bro was around to help do the cutting, and that helped saved alot of time :D

Then laying them out randomly.

And when the arrangement's ok, I started sewing them together. The old boring ironing board cover's in the background and the new wip cover is in foreground. I had added fusible interfacing too in order to make the patchwork fabric more sturdy.

In order to make the cover fit the ironing board, i could either use an elastic band or string to tie up the ends. In my case, I used string cuz i have no elastic band. So, first, i had to sew bias tape round the raw edges to neaten it, then draw a string thru.

And here's the back view with neaten edges, fitted snugly.

And here's the final product! My very own pretty & colorful patchwork ironing board cover, just the way i like it :D OOO.. and not forgetting the very pretty pink vintage-like iron! :D

Birdcage Transformed!

When i saw this @ Ms G's shoppe, i wanted to get it but dint know what to do with it. Didnt want just another ornament in my room cuz its already cluttered with them. But its really pretty aint it ? :D

Then, one day, i suddenly got a bright idea! i could modify it into a bedside lamp! :D But i had no electrical know-how to do such things. So its crafty dad to the rescue again. I told him about my idea and he said "yes! so easy to do!". And with that, i went ahead to buy the birdcage and he went ahead to buy the 'tools' - light bulb, wire, switch and plug! And here's it, the modified birdcage bedside lamp!

I still need to modify it a bit - need to add a piece of waxed tracing paper type on the inside to shield from the direct glare of the light bulb. And it wil be perfect! :D

New & Useful Large Metal Clasp Purse

I have really been very productive at crafting lately. Its particularly motivating to know that pple like my crafts & my workmanship. A big thank you to all those who have bought my crafts - hope you enjoy using it as much as i do and find it as useful :D

Anyway, no doubt the car park coupon/cheque book holders are popular, I think i need to craft something new. So here's it - large metal clasp purse in newsprint prints. I have an affection for prints with words / newspaper like - its pretty. This large metal clasp purse measures about 20cm (length) by 12cm (height). Aint it pretty?!?! :DD

I think its a fantastically sized for any use/any occasion. Have taken pictures of how it can be used for. This gives a good feel of what it can fit :D

I will use it as a makeup pouch.

And if you like to carry paper & pen around, its a good bag organiser for those knick knacks.

or you can use it as one big clutch purse to fit dollar notes nicely (flat out without folding), cards, and tissue paper etc. It can be the 'money bag' for office ladies to bring out during lunch.

And another very good use - a pencil case! Zipper, boxy pencil cases are common. I havent seen a metal clasp pencil case before. Its special and it stands out from the norm. I tried fiting in a scientific calculator (those which secondary school kids use), erasers, pens, scissors and its still roomy for more.

Work-in-progress Garden Shed

Mummy's been bugging dad to get a garden shed for almost a year already. We have outgrew the current store room and there's not enough storage space already. We were looking for something that looks like the one below.

We went to a few places to source for it and its all pretty expensive and dad's not willing to pay that amount of money. So crafty dad got to work again - decided to build himself his own handmade shed ! :D Here's it - work-in-progress. Cant wait for it to be finished.

he even 'designed' the interior to have built-in shelves.

Revamped Room!

Revamped my room abit lately. Been thinking of decoarting the wall with stuffs 'cuz plain white is too boring. So, got crafty dad to help out again with drilling and hammering.

And here's it! My new wall!!!! :D My crafting/working table.

and the part of the wall where my bed lies. Its made up of paper posters using Ikea wooden frames & fabrics in wooden frames and wooden letters.

(Wanted to take better pictures but then... am too lazy)

Must Have Clutch Purses!

Must have! At least in my own opinion la. I blogged about this earlier. And now, here are the extra five which i crafted for the shoppe. Get them while u can! its limited edition! :P

I actually took some close up pics of these but Ms G took some very pretty ones. So i just 'lifted' from her and here they are! And as i was writing this entry, the blue vintage rose clutch was just sold! Wah... so happy! Thanks for buying! :D

Matchy Trio - Custom Order

Custom order in very pretty floral prints! Ms G told me one of her customers wanted three different type of purses in the same floral prints. She preferred a brighter ,more cheerful print. Had deliberated a bit on what bias tape to use and finally settled on the red checkered one . And so here's it - handmade with love.. :D its so pretty ! all three of them - so matchy matchy. Thanks for buying and appreciating my crafts! :D