Lovebirds + Natto-chan

Wondering why I didn't update on crafting for a while? Well, it's because I haven't done much of it. ^-^" Sure, I was finishing up yet another custom order. In spite of that, I should have plenty of time left to craft.

I'm beginning to worry that this will again turn out to be like the previous sem break. I had too much time and too little ideas then. If it is to repeat, I just hope it will not last long...

It's really annoying that ideas strike when I'm trying to keep myself alive during my study break. And then I'm left dried up for hols. T-T I'm so fed up with this cycle.

Well, that aside, I tried making a cuff bracelet yesterday.

{ ♥ Lovebirds ♥ }

The underside is not that presentable. I folded the seams and sewed them near the edge (as can be seen on the front). But the seams are actually about 1.5cm wide, so they have a bit of flap in the middle. I thought of using red thread to sew through the middle, for both seams on both sides, but then decided against it. That might just ruin the perfect birdy pic. I dont' know whether you can make sense of what I'm trying to say here. ^-^"

And here's a kawaii glass pendant :

{ ♥ Natto-chan! ♥ }

I actually made this for the custom order I'm working on. Turned out it's not what the girl wanted. T-T I must say this custom order is by far the most difficult one. But what to do? The customer's always right *rolls eyes*. Ooops. Hope she doesn't read my blog? :P Well actually, I would have made another similar one anyway, even if she did like it. This one's just too cute for words. *lick*

*** I'm in need of more inspiration.

Wheeeee~~!!!

I'm so relieved that I've passed Semester 4!!!

Now, I can enjoy the rest of hols to the fullest.

I can make stuff make stuff make stuff~!

I actually typed this entry yesterday night. But when I posted, got error with blogger. I so sien ledy. T-T

I've managed to finally work with Spalshup. ^-^" Actually, I think this new header is hideous. T-T The more I edited the thing, the uglier it became. Gah! I think it's because of the borders of the photos. The ones between each photo is just too obvious - they stand out too much. Gah! Well, I guess we'll have to put up with it until I get to create a better one.

These few days, I've been switching between onlining, watching Couple or Trouble, and finishing up another custom order. Though they're certainly a welcome change to my Paypal, custom orders do take a lot of time. T-T Nevertheless, I find that the more I make, the better I get with certain pieces. :)

Hah.... I shall laze about for a bit, for now. :P

Nautical Pin Brooch + Graphics Help?

Nothing much to show today. Just something I made last night - an anchor cross-stitch, which I've sewn onto a faux black leather circle, cut from an unused bag.

I've also listed the Rainbow Bright Embellished Felt Necklace on Etsy. Check it out HERE.

{Added the dark green felt square, which wasn't there before}

You may have noticed some changes to my blog layout. The old navigation bar looks a bit crowded and all the elements jumbled up, so I thought of adding a third column on the left, to make that 2 side bars. The left for blog-proper - archeives, labels, contact and such. The right for crafty + kawaii links and stuff.

I've yet to make a header. It's hard to create something I want when I don't have a proper photoshop software *alasan lah tu - memang tak tau gune photoshop pun kalo ade :P*. So far, all my graphics were done with PhotoImpression (which comes with my Canon camera) and HP Photosmart Premier. I'm craving to try photoshop 'brushes'.

I searched for free online photoshop software, and found Splashup. I jumped for joy. There's a brush tool! But after almost an hour of trying it out, I began to get irritated. I just can't seem to make the brush tool work. T-T Clicked on the 'brush' icon and selected the pattern I wanted (5-point star), then tried clicking on the layer - nothing happened. Click and drag. Nothing.

Am very pissed off now. T-T

Has anyone tried Splashup? Help? Please? ^-^"

I'll be grateful too, if you have any suggestions for free photoshop downloads or such.

Teng-kyu. ^3^

Oh Deer... + Keys and Venetian-like Motif

The weekend spent in Sarikei was not unfruitful, in terms of crafting. I brought along some cross-stitch fabric, and embroidery threads.

Cross-stitch was one of the first crafts that I took up, and it was during my secondary school days. I started out too big - I wanted to do an A4-sized flower bouquet, which had almost every square filled. It was so complicated that I abondoned it after only covering a quarter. ^-^" I guess I wasn't ready to take crafting seriously back then.

Back to what I made the other day.

{ Deer stitch on recycled faux black leather }

This deer pattern was from Cotton Time, a Japanese craft magazine. It didn't include the black outline. I thought the outline would make it more striking. I guess it looks ok, but perhaps the original would have been better. There's sponge between the fabric and leather, so the circle is slightly raised. I wanted to make this into a pin brooch in the first place. But then, it turned out so big that I doubt anyone would want to wear it. ^-^" So, it's just being a 'piece of craft' at the moment. :P Maybe I'll attach a string and make it into an ornament. :P

{ Skeleton key + Venetian-like motif mini pillows}

These two patterns were from the same magazine (Cotton Time). I like the motif (on the right). It'll look good on a bag or pouch. :) Both pillows have a silver string attached, though not shown in the photo, so that they can be hung like ornaments.

'What's with the fake flowers in the photo?' --> Well, these were scavanged from some of the bouquets my parents got from events, dinners and such. There's an idea to incorporate them into something I'm planning to make.

Rainbow Funk Necklace Reborn --> Rainbow BRIGHT~

Ooops... Holidays should see my blog with more posts. Instead, I went missing for the past 2 days. Was dragged by my parents to go to the little town - again! No internet, no TV, nothing to do, except cabut rumput! Ahh!

Eheh... Actually, it wasn't that bad la. I just like to complain. *bleh*

Before the trip, I actually finished up a necklace I'd wanted to try making. This is another version of Rainbow Funk Necklace. The latter consists of embellished felt squares with a pin attached to the back of each, and these are all pinned onto a back zip-turned-necklace.

{ ♥Rainbow Bright♥ }

This one here has the felt squares linked by antique silver jumprings. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. :) It's really sparkly and eye-catching, though it doesn't quite show in the photos. T-T

{ Oh. Purin-san loves rainbows too~ }

Since my lil sis is not at home, I have no one to model the necklace. I can't possibly ask my mum. She'll whack me and say - You got nothing better to do ha? ^-^" Ahaha... So, I was forced to the last resort - I modelled it meself la.

{ I shy la~ }

Even if you're not familiar with jewelry-making, I'm sure you have no doubts that if one wants to market it well, a necklace needs to be worn on a slim, fair and beautiful neck. Neither of these are near suitable for describing mine. T-T I have a fat pouch, if you'd noticed. 0_o Gah! The consequences of wolfing down cheesecakes and chocolates all these years. -_-" I really should exert some self-control already. And I've been saying this for the past how many years already. -_-"

Will probably list this on Etsy later. :)

Purin + Doughnuts + Enormous Purin

Oh... These few days, I've been lazing about at home. Watching korean drama series. Flipping through those boring channels on Astro. :P And starting making stuff with felt again.

Received a custom order on Etsy to make doughnuts and purins (puddings). Though they look simple, but I spent quite some time to get them done. ^-^"

{Little purin + doughnuts}

Oh, and the customer requested a large puring plush. It's not that big, but as I've never made anything this big, I found it a challenge. Not in a bad way - it was more like a learning experience. But to get the correct measurements, and the amount of sewing it went through - fuuu.... ^-^"

{Ginormous purin-san ♥}

I finally got those polyester fiber fill usually used in pillows and toys. :) A l-a-r-g-e bag of it (I think 1 kilo) costed RM14.90. :) I think it'll last me for the rest of my crafting life. XD Well.... if not, then maybe for the next few years or so.

So, the 'gigantic' purin plush is soft and squeeshay.... XD I love to squeeeeeze eet.

{I had nothing better to do. Hence the camwhoring without showing my face, with purin-san.}

{Oh purin-san. How I wish you were edible.}

{Le purin. Eeet eez mine.}

Back Home! + Feb '08 Sampler!

Halo halo! I'm finally back home in Sibu! :D

Woke up at 4.30 this morning. Did some last-minute stuffing about my luggage, and preparing the Vista apartment for a month's rest. Took the cab at 6, and arrived at KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) at around 6.40. My flight was due at 8.15. I'm always anxious when I take the plane, even though it's MAS. I have this need to be at the airport at least one hour before the departure time.

Normally, I take AirAsia. But this time, my dad redeemed his Enrich points for my flight tickets. When I stepped into Gate B6's waiting area, I felt a bit strange. There were too few people, although there's only a few minutes left till boarding. But then again, since AirAsia's bloom, I guess MAS has been struggling to keep up it's previous score of customers.

I entered the Airbus A330 (or some number like that). The flight was from KL to Kuching. There were just too few people. I've never been on a plane with so few passangers. It felt really strange. Yet I enjoyed the freedom of reclining my seat as far as it'd go, without worrying about the person at the back, because there were none for about 4 rows to my back, and a hell lot of rows to my front. And my seat was numbered '40K'. There were a total of 44 rows. Each row's got 8 seats.

{You see what I mean? This is when everyone's in already. -_-" It seemed like I owned the plane! XD}

{Woohoo! I shoulda danced down the aisle to the front. And back. And again on the other side. :P}

At first I thought the plane was for Enrich members only. But I thought it over again, and concluded that shouldn't be the case. MAS would go bankrupt if lidat. Siau eh meh? 20 people in an Airbus? 0_o

Oh! And I got the pack breakfast. :P I kept it for my lunch as I ate before I left for the airport.

{Croissant + salmon tart + packet of biscuits + strawberry yoghurt drink}

And to take advantage of the people-less-ness, I contented myself with some picture-takingks. :P

{The sky was like nothing I've seen before... *dreams*}

{Aw... You puffy wushi mushi itty bitty teenee weenee little clouds~}

Arrived in Kuching at about 10 something. Had to get the other ticket - Kuching-->Sibu. That left me about 6 hours to wait at the airport - the flight was due at 3.55pm. T-T I prepared for that - I had my laptop with me, and brought along a few korean movies my friend lent me. So, passed 4 hours without much boredom. :P The rest of the time passed while Iread The Subtle Knife.

I got reached Sibu at about 4.30pm. My parents were there to pick me up. :) I felt a twinge of sorrow for them, because all us siblings are away from home. But nevermind, at least I'm back to keep them company for one month.

As expected, I found a package from The Sampler. It contained goodies from February's Sampler.

{The whole schwagg - packaged}

{My favs - decoupaged necklace from Wasabi Brooklyn, and zombie pins from re-conceived.com. I think I struck jackpot with Wasabi Brooklyn. :D}

{Absolutely love this LippSchitt from The Lote Tree. Smells like cookies, caramel and freshly baked cake. Mmm... =9}

Am happy to be home, though it is very obviously missing my lil sis. The house is so quiet that I wish nothing more than to have her back here.

Later tonight, I'm going down to Sarikei with my parents. Have to help clear the rumput-rampai and lalangs from our house there. *bleh*

Going home tomorrow ~

I started packing yesterday night. For most people - students I mean - when they go back to their hometowns during semester break, they'll probably just bring some clothes and some other things that they want to bring back.

But in my case, I'm shifting my shop stock and crafting supplies to and fro each time. That's why my luggage always almost go over the limit. -_-" This time, the load will be much more - wire findings, pliers, polymer clay, glass pieces and goodness knows what else. -_-"

{The dining table at Vista, which has become my polymer clay worktable + computer table}

Oh. And that's not a bottle of beer or soju, in case you're wondering. -_-" That's turpentine, for cleaning the glass piece where I work my polymer clay, and to clean fingers. The hell it smells. -_-" But it's an excellent cleaning and mixing agent.

{My normal study table is now happily free of books and notes. Now piled with gajimajigs.}

Yes, my study table is situated in the center of the room. I don't know why, but I don't like it against walls. Maybe it's because of the poor lighting in my room. In the center, the light is best la. Somemore if put near the window, cannot study at all one la. Can feel dust particles flying at my face one. -_-"

{I have too much junk. Just can't bear throwing away those tissue boxes...}

By tomorrow night, hopefully I'll be safely home already in Sibu.

See you then. :)

JSR #22 : Koeda Choco Aki aji (Morinaga) + Kinikonoyama Kinako Burnt Sugar? (Meiji)

I stayed home today. Plan nak pi MidValley tak jadi. Something happened, and I don't wanna be emo here. Suffice to say that I'm trying my best not to think about it.

So then, let's take a look at what I brought back from KLCC yesterday.

Koeda Choco Aki aji (Morinaga)

Price : RM7+

Weight : *Can't see - not clearly printed* 4 sticks in 12 individual packages

Found : Isetan KLCC

These are chocolate sticks with teenee rice crackers in them. The proportion of rice crackers to chocolate is just right - not to dry with too much crackers nor too chocolatey sweet with chocolate. The crackers are nicely crunchy - tak masuk angin langsung *very good!*.

There are different information on plants printed on the packages. Got Acorn, Lotus, Sunflower, Hydrangea, Narcissus, Horsetail, and lastly original Koeda Chocolate. I suppose those are information about each plant, though I'm not too sure. As ever, I only reti makan je.

{Bright sunny orange. Exactly what I need on this lousy day. T-T}

{See how short the sticks are. But still enough to fill your taste buds.}

{♥Nahm nahm nahm... ♥}

Kinikonoyama Kinako Burnt Sugar? (Meiji)

Price : RM7+

Weight : 59g

Found : Isetan KLCC

I suppose these are burnt-sugar flavoured. I'm not too sure, but there's a hint of brown sugar, bitterness of burnt sugar, and quite a strong taste of the Chinese ' -- guo' *I can't remember the name - it's a type of dried fruit used in traditional medicine, given as a tea for cough and sore throat*. It's pleasantly milky too. :P

I went swimming again this morning. I love it when the water's clean - when it's just been changed. I love it when the tiny pool is not crowded. I love it when it's only me, and two kids and their aunty. I love it when I swim till I out of breath and the whole icy pool becomes warm. I love it when the morning sun shines through and lit up the whole pool. I love it when I baring on the water surface, with my legs hooked to the pool side, and gaze up at the borderless blue sky with puffs of white clouds idly passing by.

It's been a long, long time since I enjoyed such a peaceful moment. What... 2 years? 3 maybe? Well, I needed that today.

Japanology at KLCC ♥

Ohoho.... Today, I went to KLCC - again! - with yokie - again! *Bleh* Ahaha..... First, we went to Kinokuniya to look at some kawaii and japanese magazines and books. Then I bought the last two books of Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy. The Golden Compass was quite interesting. :) But I've yet to catch the movie.

So anyways, after that, we went for makan at Genki Sushi. I've never eaten at any Japanese outlets in KL before. Eaten sushi and bento in KL, yes - mostly pre-packed ones from Jusco or Isetan.

{These were some of the things we ate. Total of 11 plates I think, plus a plate of konnyaku jelly.}

The prices go according to the plate colour. Yellow RM2, green RM4 and blue RM6. First time I actually tried raw salmon. *Gulp* Er.... It's ok ok only. If you really concentrate, you can actually taste a bit of its fishiness. D: But I suppose better Japanese restaurants make better raw Japanese dishes. :P

{I was rather excited to see the conveyer belt :D}

And then, we went to Parkson - as usual - to look at the Sanrio stuff there.

{It's like a Hello Kitty nightmare! Ahh! Too much Hello Kitty!}

{Got other things too - Cinnamoroll, My Melody & Kuromi, recently just released in Malaysia SugarBunnies *I want this*}

{Makes you drool, but the price tag will make you puke. That's why we went to look only. :P}

Then I went a bit over with my camera.

{ yokie : I wan dees *chews le eares* }

{ Le kawaii hairbande XD }

Went and checked out the re-ment miniatures. They're just so teenee and cute.... *chomps*

{Re-ment sets displayed in a glass case}

After that we walked around, and then went to Isetan's supermarket. We had a look at the bakery too. :P

{I felt like robbing the bakery.}

{*drools*}

Oh, and we bought cupcakes from the promotional area. They were selling quite a number of desserts, including Japanese green tea tiramisu (RM18.90 for a big tub!), strawberry cream pudding, different flavoured waffles, chocolate fondant, cupcakes and so on. We bought 2 cupcakes each for total of RM20. They damn big leh!

{Hazelnut + Chocolate = ♥LOVE!♥}

Enjoyed my day out. :P Next stop - MidValley. *muahahahaha!*

More Kawaii~neh!'s Sugarlicious High Tea Plates! :D

Ha.... These I made yesterday night, while waiting for a few parts of a korean drama series to load from mysoju.com. Will probably list them on Etsy soon. :) Meanwhile, enjoy the eyecandy. :P

Mushroom + ♥ Kawaii~neh!'s Sugar Honey Cookieland + Sugarlicious High Tea Plate ♥

Wu-ahhh..... I'm very pleased today. :P Actually, I was supposed to go out with some friends. But the laziness in me made it a stay-at-home first day of the hols. -_-"

Anyways. Why am I pleased? I got to play with Fimo for the whole day! Experimenting with mixing of different colours, trying out several styles and textures for those mini yummies I planned to make the last few weeks. :)

{♥ Kawaii~neh!'s Sugar Honey Cookieland! Again! ♥}

You can actually see some glistenings in a few places. That's super glue. I tried a different baking technique this time. Baked the cookie base till half done first, then pile on the goodies and bake till done. I saw one of the sites saying that this will help the pieces stick better. Apparently, it didn't help with some of the pieces being placed in positions just slightly touching the base. T-T Aiyah... Had to use super glue lo. Looks a bit messy ya.

The last two pieces I made, they turned out absolutely fine, with baking everything at one go. I think I'll stick to that.

The next piece, I tried a different style. I was thinking what other sweets I could make. Then I just simply make la. Who knew chin-chai also can whip up something nice? :P

{♥ Kawaii~neh!'s Sugarlicious High Tea Plate! ♥}

Wanted to make layer cakes and petit fours. But I kind of lack the imagination of how to make such intricately detailed things. T-T

{ ♥Nahm nahm nahm...♥ }

Oh, and yesterday, went swimming for the second time at Vista's swimming pool. With a couple of friends. :P I didn't know swimming at night can be such a refreshing thing. I normally swim in the hot sun, because can see more clearly in the pool ma. Yup, I still like swimming in the hot sun, especially when the sun is directly shinning into the pool. Wah.... Nice!

Then when I's home, I tried making a mushroom.

{ ♥Kawaii~neh! Kinoko!♥ }

{ ^3^ ♥}

{ It's currently hanging from my phone :) }