Crafty Swap - From Me to Ms Ajjah

I managed! In the nick of time & decided not to keep it a secret. I made lovely Ms. Ajjah an itty bitty fabric basket and a pretty huge pincushion yeay!

I love this little project. I realised that I truly missed sewing just because and not something for sale. It's fun and really comforting. The fabric is my first attempt of the popular Pink Penguin tute. I don't know why I did not make one earlier, it's such an easy project and I like the result. The handles turned out a tad too long and the lining is a little large too. But I still think its pretty and I'm glad I chose to make this. I plan to make more for myself. It's great to have beside my sewing machine, filled with thread cutter, needles and just about any sewing paraphernalia that could fit into it. Major love!

The pincushion is a last minute whip up. It's larger than anticipated, you could stick A LOT of pins on that lol. And I made those covered buttons, another first time for me.

So, these babies are on the way to you Ajjah. I hope you like 'em :)

I know mine is on the way from Aim, will blog about it once its here, can't wait!

I hope everyone in the swap is having fun too, would love to see the projects blogged about. I am back to more sewing to finish up on orders. Till later, stay beautiful girly girl! :)

Meet Our New Baby...

Ok this pic makes me look HUGE!

My girls love animals particularly cats. I had one when I was younger but have not adopted any ever since I got married. So when Aisha begged & begged for a kitten I told her okay if she improves her grades. Figured our new home is large enough for a kitten to grow and we now have a small yard for her to run free.  And man...she hit the books like no other & actually did just that. 

So, I kept my words and scoured petfinder.my to adopt a kitten. When I searched there was one Persian cat on offer and like hundreds are interested to adopt. My heart ache for all the scrawny looking domestic kittens waiting...they stand a slimmer chance. So I told my girls - we are going to adopt a kucing kampung (domestic short hair) because it's harder for them to get adoted by a loving family. The girls agreed.

We went all the way to Balakong to adopt her. She was just a tiny 2 months old, a castaway...meet our new baby - Princess Gaga!

Oh how regal I am...look at me all posh and stylin'...

Yep, the cat in Aisha's drawing is a portrait of her beloved kitten, GAGA lol...This one is a delight. She's so active and cheeky and naughty and the girls just adore her. Completely litter trained, saves me lots of headache. Nowadays she's so attached to the girls, she'll cry if they are not around. The vet says she's healthy, she eats a lot and thriving well. One thing for sure, the sewing studio is off limits to her!

Having Gaga teaches my girl responsibilities. And I could see how the love and tenderness they feel for the pet is shaping them to be more caring and loving. I think this is a good decision for the family (thank you hubby for going along with this even when I know you're not really fond of a furry pet *hugs*).

A start of another busy week, til later ladies, have a wonderful day! :)

Aisha's Art

I swear I am not going to whine about my studies today. I bet you’re bored to death reading about it over & over, sorry! J

Picture taken April 2010

Remember in this random post, there's a photo of my girl Aisha holding her drawing?

She is really into art & drawing, but as of today, we have not sent her to any drawing/art classes. Reason is either we can’t afford it or the one we can always clashes with her other classes. But I never stopped encouraging her. I bought her the supplies and books and taught her to just draw either based on what she sees or what she imagines.

I told her, life itself is art. The only limit is your imagination…fly free and just draw and color to your heart desire, be inspired and in return, inspire others.

So here are a few of her drawings I manage to capture. I keep telling myself to frame them…am gonna make another Ikea trip soon for their affordable frames...

What do you think? Some of these were drawn when she was younger (8 to 9 years old). Her favourite medium at the moment is oil pastel because of its vibrant colors. Personally I love them all, but then again, I’m permanently biased  :D

I am seriously thinking of setting up a personal gallery blog for her art & crafty stuff (she is also into sewing now I'll blog about it in another post). We might lose track of what she created in her younger years and I think having her collection in digital form is a great way to preserve her work & the memories. Will do that soon :)

The animals in the drawings are Aisha’s recent works. She learnt how to draw those using a great book by our local, hugely talented illustrator – Emila Yusof. The book, titled Seni Lukisan Haiwan Bersama Kak Emila, costs less than RM10 and such a great buy for my Aisha.

Little Hanan of course wanna be part of the action too!

Before I go, how’s the progress of your Swap project ladies?

I managed to cut & sewed mine and around 50% ready now. Can’t wait to get it done and send it to my lovely partner Ms Ajjah!

Get the sew on girls, thank you for reading and happy crafting! J

Some Sewing....

Hye there lovelies...how's life? I hope its not as topsy turvy as mine...so crazy rite now in the house, as I scramble to keep everything and everyone together. I am definitely feeling the heat now and oh God, please give me strength to brave this semester out *pray hard*

So, to lift my spirit up a bit, took sometime to put together these tiles. Mind you, that Some Sewing in the title should be Some Sewing from Ages Ago or something lol...it's hard for me to finish even one project in a day this last few days. A few stitches a day is already a huge accomplishment. But, since sewing destresses (is that even a word?) me, I still sneaked it in either late at night or very early in the morning. It keeps me happy AND motivated.

The above is a simple A-line sleeveless top I made for my niece baby Widad. My sis in law placed an order months ago & I still owe her one more outfit. The lovebirds fabric in black is now rare, that was my last half yard. Notice how the ties are at the shoulders? Something different, major LOVE! The pattern is modified from Cucito (Japanese pattern).

This one is a sweet, simple pinafore type dress. I used snap buttons on the shoulder (Kak Azidah if you're reading this *hugs* to you! ;) ). The fabric is the sweetest shade of pink, Monaluna dots and Art Gallery swirly combo. This pinny is roomy, great for layering with a t-shirt underneath.

I am off to study for 2 more papers, the midterm exam is scheduled this Friday & next Wednesday. My marketing exam did not go well so I need to buck up for these two. Sigh...I hate exams, really I do...

Let me leave you on a cheerful note though. Yesterday, my little Hanan asked me on the way out...

Hanan    : "Mummy tak nak gi Pos Laju Laju terrrr??"
Me         : "Huh?"
Hanan   : "Mummy...tak nak gi Pos LAJU LAJU terrr??"
Me        : "Pos Laju Laju??? Hahahahaha!!!!"
(I have no idea how to translate this to English, it's too literal but funny to me. It's about Hanan thinking that me using express posting/shipping means it runs really fast or something like that :D )


Her comments made my day...everytime! My girls are the very reason I am hanging on, tight.
Till later ladies, stay beautiful :)

Inspiration - Blush & Lush

My first etsy treasury...my favourite color...love how it exudes romance in pure femininity..blissly inspired...

dutchpearl $25.00	TCaponePhoto $30.00	ArtCityFrames $24.99	clairelafaye $1400.00
pomtree $3.40	PrettyBabyBowt... $10.95	underabluesky $15.00	pinkquartzmine... $5.95
clairelafaye $525.00	DayView $10.00	GIGIENRI $5.00	northbrooklynd... $56.00
eclu $48.00	plumprettysuga... $68.00	sewlola $25.00	AcuteDesigns $16.00

Bubble Skirt and A Pause

Hello lovelies, how are you today? Beautiful as always I hope :)

I can't get any sewing done this week as I have an upcoming Marketing Management mid-term exam this Thursday. The worst thing is, earlier on Tuesday, I have to present our (virtual) company's business plan to potential investors for funding. Oh, did I mention that I have already setup a business to run in my experiential business training? It's a trading business, we're running it in a group. I was elected CEO and now having a tough time preparing all the financial forecasts! But I am learning, and I could feel myself absorbing everything like a hungry sponge. I am thriving on pure adrenaline here, bring it on!

Ok, back to sewing. I mentioned in previous post I made a skirt for Hanan, which was weeks ago. Well, it's a design I've wanted to try for quite sometime and when my girls begged for skirts I took time out to sew a quick one for the little miss. It's a bubble skirt! The fabric is an arty Bird on Limb from Bari J's Art Journal collection. Super beautiful print, and I have this thing for prints that looks like painting. The pattern is from Nat & Jenny on etsy. I have one caution if you are attempting anything bubbly soon, pay attention to the fabric print direction! You don't want to learn the hard way like I did, had to rip some major seams there when I realized the print went upside down lol...

This bubble skirt has a dropped yoke, so it falls a little below the knees and I think it's so cute on a toddler. Lil Hanan was of course very happy, been wearing this skirt every other day now. It's heartwarming to see my little girl asking for mommy made clothing to wear every time after her bath. I'm one happy momma (and a busy one too lol).

So, I will get back to serious studying business now.  Already scheduled to continue sewing after the exam as I am down to a few last custom orders for the year. Thank you for reading friends, have a crafty, happy weekend! *hugs*

Pondok Craft Charity Drive

I just had to squeeze in a few hours to sew up some of these zipper pouches for the back to school charity project organised by Kak Ayu over at Pondok Craft. Zipper pouch is the perfect project for me as I could quickly sew them up, one or two every morning before I leave for class. And a great way to use up my ever growing fabric scraps.

I hope these would brighten up the days of the boys and girls at the orphanage. Wish I could hug each one of them, sending these with thoughts of love and prayers for them.

Meanwhile, I have sent an email to all the participants who signed up for the Crafty Swap, all 30 of you. Thank you so much for joining, I can't wait to see all your wonderful creations. So ladies, let's get sewing! :)

My Sweet Aisha Tuns 10!

My darling angel, you turn 10 today.

And look at you, my sweet, sweet love...slowly blooming in front of my eyes, into a beautiful young lady. When I first saw you 10 years ago, I knew you're beautiful, but to see you today, takes my breath away, everytime...

Right now, you (are).... :

....the sweetest girl next door...you have a shy & quiet demeanor, very different from mommy & your vivacious little sister. It's obvious you're taking after Abah, your beloved father :)

....also very sensitive...your eyes swell up in tears whenever mummy or abah give you a pep talk, but you usually try to hide it from me...

....the one your little sister looks up to. The very source of her envy as, being seven years apart, little Hanan obviously wants to be like the wise, big girl, kakak Aisha...

....in the first class at school, as you have been since Standard 1.

....very into crafty stuff - you love felt sewing, art & drawing, handmade greeting cards for your friends, origami, you name it.

....showing interests of being an entrepreneur.  One day, after gifting a handmade felt brooch to your friend, you came home asking my permission to sew more. It turned out your friends placed order of 5 more brooches!

....love reading. Anything from simple Mr Men series, The Magic Kitten to Enid Blyton.

....attend Cambridge Young Learners English language class, once a week

....don't like to wear dresses. Only top/tunic with pants/jeans/leggings or baju kurung. And you're ready to wear tudung soon, bless you...

....still hugs and kisses mummy & abah all the time :)

Aisha Alia, you are the reason I am here, striving, determined to be someone you could turn to when you need me. We've gone through so much together my darling, thank you for staying by my side for the last 10 years and I am hoping for hundreds more years to come. My prayers for your eternal happiness and meaningful life ahead.

Happy birthday sayang...mummy and abah love you so much *hugs & kisses*

Sew & Share Crafty Swap

Ok, the last 3 days was kraaay-zeeeey....!! I'll spare you the details lol, let's just move on :)

Now, time to have some fun! Ladies, as promised, come join me in a crafty swap! The rules are simple :

Sew something up, send it to your partner. Easy, peasy. It doesn't have to be elaborate stuff. A small project is enough. The aim here is to encourage us to sew & a chance to socialize among the many wonderful lady crafters. If you have a blog, please make an entry about the item you received from fellow sewist plus some pictures of the item(s).

To join, simply comment below with your email address. I will contact you to inform who your partner is & you can proceed to get to know your partner and get the address detail by emailing her.

Since my main passion is sewing & fabrics, please only sewing projects from fabrics (not felt etc) for this swap ya? It can also involve embroidery if you like. I'd love to see your creativity at play :)

For this debut swap, I'm restricting it to the local participants. Let me see how it goes & perhaps  I will up the excitement ante by making this an International swap in the next round.

So ladies, grab that button, pop it in your blog, link it to this post and spread the love! I will be in the swap too, already excited of the project I'm gonna sew up. Entry is open until 9th of December, and you have until the end of December to sew something up and mail it to your partner.

Let the game BEGINS!  :D

Nota kaki : Penyertaan dibuka sehingga 9hb Disember. Saya akan email semua peserta yang beri komen di entry ini dan maklumkan siapa pasangan swap anda. Kemudian boleh mula menjahit dan pos kepada pasangan anda paling lewat 31 Disember 2010.

Tiada tema khusus. Boleh jahit apa sahaja asalkan berasaskan fabrik (bukan felt, kertas etc). 

Nasihat saya, berkenalan dengan pasangan anda, lawati blog dia sekiranya ada, untuk dapat sedikit idea apakah minat/kecerendungan pasangan anda. 

Contoh : Sekiranya pasangan anda tu single jangan le jait baju baby pulak hehe....paling simple dan selamat jaitlah barangan untuk rumah atau bilik jahitan. Pilih projek yang mudah dan boleh cepat siap. Be creative! :)