Felt in Love

I just discovered felt. Pretty late. Amazing material, isn't it? And the perfect texture to practice my so called sewing skills, hello, please, learn to sew a button first, deario. Felt is not easy to get wrinkly, or stretch up, or fray, it's jut perfect, though some lower quality felt tend to be furry.

Made this flower brooch/hairpin/whatever, I haven't put anything in the back according to this tutorial by A Hoot and Holler, amazing tut. Instead of rounded petals I shaped it more and used 3 sized petals to made 3 flowers and tiered them, I ran out of pompoms too, so I just lazily rolled a leftover felt around to its center. Sssssh, novice. Go learn sew a button!

Pom Pom Delight

Lovely pompoms from Oncewed...(view the tutorial too)..Spring is coming and pom poms are the only things I had in mind...


I'm thinking of getting a plain ballerina flat and decorate them like these babies. Attachable pompoms! How adorable and practical too!

How to make your own pom pom, the easiest step by step guide from Oncewed.

ps. I was lamenting of how the new post editor was killing me and everyone keep assuring me that I only need to get used to it. It turns out that the new editor somehow doesn't work properly in my computer, though I have been using the newest version of Firefox. For me, it was just a messy box with no toolbar icon or whatsoever, when it appears nice looking and user friendly to the rest of the world... so...I'm using the good old editor now...

I want to be a Korean

For craving about these at the moment..

Buy them?

B is for..

..bunting and C is for crafting your own bunting. Who doesn't love bunting? They simply upgrade a nice humble room into party mode. Much like sequin dresses do to mothers, only better and way easy on the cost. Here's a tutorial for the simplest bunting for the simplest and most practical craft heads (like me). Enjoy.

Thanks to happythingsforkids.

Halloweenie dress-up printable : accross the blog.

You have the girl dollie, and the boy counterpart. But have you had the dog? This is what I call a lovely coincidence, Amy of LivingLocurto made the dog Halloween dress up printable way before mine came out, and if you already have both of mine, Amy's doggie dress up would be a very nice addition to the family!! And please don't stop there, Amy has dozen of printables and ideas for Halloween, do browse a little more!

If you're thinking of ways to make the printables live longer to (at least) next Halloween (or is it until this year's Halloween?) Amanda of funny days with mommy and maddie has the keys to immortalized the paper printables. Magnets and a cookie tray. I know!! How can I think of this before?! Look for her instructions here.

*update* Now that Amanda has printed the boy version, her little Maddie sure loves cross-dressing them. Bwahahaaha, take it easy, people, she's just a kid and I think it looks cute!


And it seems that Amanda's idea is perfectly suited to Kim's Molly. Look how serious her face is! (notice the Halloween placemats? It's so cute!)

Visit Learning Vicariously and you may never run out of activity for a toodler, seriously, I think Emily is a certified pre-school art teacher, reading her blog is like an endless fun toddler's dream! (And of course, one of the activity includes the magnetic paper doll by me :))

JustPouch used the Halloween pattern for candy bags inside this Halloween treats!

*update* Here are some of the most creative ladies of the blogosphere's more neat ideas :

• pocacosas' intending to use the dress up dolls for placemats at the kids table for Halloween! Make sure they don't bring their own scissors if you want the placemats still in one piece before dinner's served. :)
• Have a feltboard around in your home? Glue sandpaper to the back of the printables and there you go, play with your feltbouard, as suggested by Cynthia.

*update* You can also find the printable links at these wonderful places, thank you, everyone! If you have linked and I'm a total moron who miss you out, please do remind me again. :)
oneprettything
littlelizardking
ohdeedoh
ikatbag
kid stuff world
at home with kim vallee
craftgossip's indie craft
youareingoodcompany
small for big

See, what else have you created this Halloween related to the dollie printables? I'll keep this post updated with things I found accross the blogosphere, just give me a head up!

Practical Gift Bow How-to

I always love everything practical, because I'm a last minute person. That means I never spend half an hour, or more, to decorate my gifts. But what's a gift of box without a bow, eh? For you lazy crafters, like me, here's a cheat sheet.

First of all, like all good recipe, we start from the ingredients. Measure your 0.5" (standard) ribbon for around 8", twice, so you have two of them. I am using a blank white paper for this tutorial for easy viewing, but any ribbon will do, as long as they are not to silky. Gift wrapping ribbon works best, and that also reminds me, any scrap gift wrapping papers would do just fine. Find a 0.25" ribbon, or measure your first ribbon/paper and cute them half vertically, and make two of 8" each. You'll have 2 big ribbons and 2 thinner ones. You will also need a double sided tape (or any glue) and an office stapler nearby.

"Sandwich" the thinner ones among the big ones. Make sure they stay in the middle.

It's a good idea to make the snake's tongue end now. (this is optional)

Glue your ribbon sandwich at the top only (around 0.5" from the top), make sure all ribbons, thick and thin, are secured at the top.

Now this is the tricky part, staple the thick ribbon together, at around the red part I'm showing here. No precise measurement necessary, just remember not to staple along the thin ribbons inside, make the two of them stay in the middle.

See the red lines? There's where your staples go.

Yep, stapled it diagonally, at around 45 degree, downward, upward, downward, upward. Once again, don't staple the thin ribbons inside (you'll know why soon)

OK, now place your hand on the last staple, hold still, but not too tight, and pull down both thin ribbons with your other hands, automatically your staple will go upwards. See? Are you making the bump like shown here? Keep pulling.

Pull it until the top and you can't go no more. Voila. It's looking good, we're almost there.

Spread the remaining thick ribbons and now you got yourself a bow. Easy, no?

What do you do with the thin ribbon, you ask? Well, tie it around your gifts, your daughter's head, or simply curl it (with the back of scissors). Hint: You can always alter the length of your bows according to your needs.

I keep a lot of un-pulled practical bows around my house. I mean I love putting an effort to decorate a gift but there's always the time when a 1 minute bow might be needed. I hope this is helpful.

Fabric Covered Buttons

Aren't they the sweetest? While I was browsing at Etsy today, I found this wonderful shop that offers fabric covered buttons, and only them, seriously. BlueManatee Button specialized on one thing and one thing only to be craved about. Well, the owner seems to have another shops selling craft supplies, gifts, and even tutorials, but the button shop is one very special dedication, I must say. Just take a peek at these babies, and oh, I love the fairy tale set.

They're not expensive either!! Well, if you're a big cheapskate or have an abundant pile of scrap fabrics lying around, you can always rely on our favorite bloggers for your own DIY fabric covered buttons.

from the always resourceful HowAboutOrange.

from the entertaining crafter, Lollychops.

from (hey, have you checked out her hand carved stamps?) CraftPudding.

Happy button covering.

All About Rice Babbies.

No, I'm not encouraging you to be a cannibal eating rice with babies (uugh) nor I'll be talking about farming, because I believe that's not my expertise either. But I do enjoy rice in my every meal as much as I enjoy ...dolls! Yep, that's what I'm talking about. Rice Babies is a name of a blog and an etsy shop of Kellie, an art teacher by day, doll maker by night, and a 24/7 mom of two boys. What? Do the boys play with pretty dolls? Relax, ladies, she has a lot of nieces and other customers, so her boys are doing just fine with dinasours and superheroes.

Kellie started out the business by, being an art teacher, she saw plenty of blond hair with blue eyes images coming up now and then from the hands of litte girls who don't possess those quality. (As a matter of fact, my mother in law just bought Baby G a doll that looks like Sherly Temple, and I let her play with it, so this issue knows no boundaries! I even experienced this!) Kellie then determines to have all girls growing up seeing more of themselves, so she started to make custom dolls under the name of Rice Babies. She's so nice to let me bother her with (silly) questions, so I'll let you know her and Rice Babies better. Here go..

If you have to choose (say, I put a really sharp knife on your most expensive fabric), which one will it be, being a full time mom, a doll-maker or a teacher?
I would have to choose being a full time mom over anything, because with my kids I am actually all three mom, teacher and they help me stay creative. My kids inspire me to create and also to be the best me I can be everyday.


What is the best part of being a mom-trepreneur?
The best part of having your own business is having creative control and also flexible working hours.

What's the most challenging thing you have to face in this business?
The most challenging obstacle I face, is the same reason I made my dolls, there weren't enough choices for Asian dolls. My market is small and so it can be hard to reach people looking for what I offer. I have made dolls for halfies and a few other non Asian dolls, and its always fun, but I would like people to know my dark haired beauties are out there.

How do you juggle your time and thoughts between your princes and doll-making?
I juggle everything by putting my kids first, when they are happy and healthy, I have more time to create. I daydream and sketch ALL the time. I sew and design as I lay in bed at night, if I need to I get up and make it when all are asleep. Like most moms, I am a so called "mid night crafter", when the kids are asleep, I get to sew, and design.

As a child, what doll do you spend a lot of time with?
As a child, I had a prized doll, a My Friend Mandy, I recently saw one one the Wee Wonderfuls site.


What's the most funny/embarrassing moment as an art teacher?
One of the funniest moments as an art teacher was a day when I was teaching my students to make dino bones out of clay. It was close to end of school so all the kids were excited and talking a lot. I told them to raise their hands but I wouldn't answer any question until after the demo. I answered the question of a boy who had his hand up for the longest. He said, "how come sometimes when you talk , you sound like a cowgirl?" I laughed, and replied , "because I am originally from Texas".

What's the best reaction you have ever received from satisfied customer?
So far I have been touched by all my reactions, but a comment one lady made, was the point where I decided that however slowly, people will find my dolls when they need them. She said "I would have loved to have had a doll I could play with that looked like me as a child. Not dressed in a kimono or cheongsam, either, just a little girl doll wearing every day clothes that happened to be Asian or half Asian like me."
It was an awesome feeling.

I agree with the cheongsam thing, it's a really big misunderstanding, really. So, thank you Kellie for your time and passion!! I hope more Rice Babies are in the hands of tiny little girls of any races anywhere in the world. Want on yourself? Your welcome to take a look around the shop!

Baby G's Invitation sent out!

Finally!


The material used are heavy stock paper to print the invitation, double sided, and pink colored tissue paper for the envelope. I'm not very good in writing a process, so I hope you'll get the equation helpful.


This is what I made with the tissue paper leftover. Full tutorial here. The party itself will be held on Sunday, so I'll be back with more photos. Busy, busy, busy.

PS. My brother has just welcomed the newest member of the family, exactly 1 year apart from Baby G. I am so full of joy!

Woodland Embroidery!

Finally created! Let's stand up for Amy!! Dearest Amy has embroidered the pattern (remember it? My first embroidery pattern!) for her Granny (God bless you, Amy! ..and Amy's Granny, you are so lucky to have her as a granddaughter!).


Amy's work is obviously not a work of a beginner, no? I am really honored that she chose my pattern for her skill, she's great!! And look at that tiny leaves on the tree!! Such detail! I wouldn't have done that even if I can embroider. So, do any of you have been inspired lately? Send your creations to me, it will make my day and suddenly there will be rainbows on my backyard! Seriously!

Thanks again, Amy!

Sprinkle some..

...Momfetti!! Such cute name for a blog, no (confetti, get it?)? And her real name is a real blast, Tuppence!! How dear is that? I wish I were named Tuppence now! sigh. OK, back on the real post topic, dear Tuppence has made a wonderful creation with my deerio-shroomio pattern (remember it?). It's a snickerdoodles-sized take-home bag (wow, that's a mouthful, try to say it 5 times, fast!). Look how cute it is.

And that's not all, I'm really glad she emailed me, otherwise I wouldn't find her precious wonderful blog filled with sewing and craft tutorials, pretty daily photographs of her family (and her neurotic cat), and much more! But I do wish she will post the tutorial of deerio bag up there for everyone to follow, *wink*.. Not the seamstress/crafter type but you crave for her sewn goodness? Yep, she has an Etsy shop, ooh, thank God for Etsy.

As if that's not great enough, she's having a giveaway right now until 11th of August (eep, quickly now)! Yes, Giveaway! Go on, win a diaper clutch (non-mommies can keep it until they need it or just simply give them to any moms you know) and tell her I sent you, that increase the chance of winning....er, kidding, just say hi for me, will you?

Tabby Cat Embroidery Pattern

..embroidery pattern is back once again, to bribe you my dear readers for my long absent. Forgive me, but my excuse for that will be on my next post to come. So in the mean time,.. I haven't learned how to embroider myself (lazy thing), but I did manage to learn a few embroidery lingo, thanks to Helen of orangeyoulucky, otherwise I won't have a clue what a Satin Stitch is (and while you visit Helen grab her bunny embroidery pattern as well!).

So here's a pattern of Tabby the cat, under the rain. Oh, I love raindrops, and I love cats too, though I'm more of a dog person. I also give you Tabby in color, for your color reference. For the dress and the umbrella, you can do a full back stitch to fill it with color, or do a straight stitch to give Tabby a striped dress, or better, you can use a fabric applique to create her dress and umbrella. Do as your creativity guides you!

for larger/print size file head here.

If you have any questions you are always free to ask... someone who is an expert in embroidery, not me!! Hahaha! Just kidding, you can ask me, and if I can't answer yours, I'll ask to an embroidery expert I know. Please share your creations, lovelies!

*update* There is a report about the link being infected by a virus. I'm contacting the file hosting admin but haven't got any reply yet. If you encounter similar problem, please let me know. For the mean time, I'm suggesting you to view it on full size and save rather than downloading it. I'm soooo sorry for the inconvenience. (But if you had downloaded and found no virus, please let me know too!)

Cuteness Invasion!

I love dolls. I am not ashamed to say it and I say it again: I love dolls. I grew up with lots of Barbies (No, I didn't cut their hair or pull their legs off, not that I'm not "creative" or simply mean, I just hate to see my toys ruined, I used to save my allowance buying them, why would I want to wreck them?) Carebears, and MyLittlePonies, but now I'm more into limited handmade dolls. They have more unique design and the whole look you won't find on the racks of mega toyshops everywhere.

Of course, as a kid, there's a stiff competition of "Have you had the latest Transformer/Barbie/Ben10/etc toys?" in the playground, and I swear by my pants, it's not easy not to be carried away. Suddenly your own esthetic is determined by your so-called playmates, and not having the latest trendiest toys is automatically getting wipe out of their friend list. Not to mention the daily advertisements intake and cartoon networks alike.

So, if I had the chance to be a kid again today, I'll invest on handmade, down to earth, friendly looking kind of dolls. Heck, even if I were a granny today, I buy one to keep me company. And talk about handmade dolls, meet my new friend beecah! Crafter extraordinaire and *drumroll* excellent doll maker! C'mon look at these lovelies! You don't have to be a kid to fall in love with these beauties aren't you? Interested? Read more to find out about beecah!

Hello, beecah!

When was the first time you interested in making dolls?
I only started making dolls last year, before that I was sewing anything else I could get my hands on, especially quilts and bags, making toys and dolls seemed to be a natural progression. Ever since I was a little kid, I have always been making, drawing, inventing, rearranging… always using my hands and my imagination.

What inspires you the most?
Everything and anything, but I really love children’s illustrations, especially Golden Books from the 1950s and 60s… I love the style of illustration!



Got a personal favorite and least favorite among your creations?
I seem to fall in love with each of the toys as I’m finishing them off, I’m quite fussy, so if I don’t like them, I generally pull them apart and change whatever it is that I don’t like about them, and if they can’t be salvaged, I cut them up and reuse the fabric. I really hate looking at ugly creations!
Two of my favourites are Ginger, a 7-eyed monster that I made at the beginning of the year, and Wendy, a squishy, red t-shirt material girl that I just gave away as part of The Toy Society project.
I love Ginger because she’s one of the first dolls that I really let my imagination run wild with, she has tiger stripped legs, and I think she’s a bit of a cutie for a monster. I love Wendy because she’s so simple, cuddly and loveable looking, and she was made in an excited flurry of imagination late at night.

If you're not making dolls, what would you do now?
I have no idea. I am trained as a photographer, but I seem to have lost my passion there…

Did you play with dolls as a child? What doll was it?
Yes! I was obsessed… my favourites were my Baby Alive, which I got for my 5th birthday, and a porcelain doll named Sanya that I still have at my parents house.

Do you have a doll that you carry along from childhood days?
I gave up most of my dolls when I was 11, in a bid to be a little more grown up! But I gave them to a little girl in my street and she loved them just as much as I did, so I don’t regret doing that. I still have a very special old teddy-bear named Jessica—who was my Mum’s, and who hangs out in the craft room with me.

What is your current dream doll?
Anything by Hillary at Wee Wonderfuls… her dolls are amazing!
Anything by Louise Bagnall, I love her style so much!
Anything by Allison Berry, she has a simple, funky style that makes me so jealous!

Do you suffer from occasional artist's block? Any tips for conquering it?
Sometimes. But I just try to go with the flow, and not force anything. Sometimes just sitting down and drawing gives me a bunch of new ideas, and the internet is great for inspiration, I spend hours on Flickr looking at other people’s amazing creations and styles! It fills me with positivity about my own ideas.

Thank you beecah!! All the best wishes for you and your little guys/girls!

Can't get enough of beecah? Visit her blog BlinkingFlights!