Giveaway coming soon!!

Is there any better way to celebrate new year with an awesome Giveaway? I'm giving away babalisme X Papercrane London stationery set  worth IDR 300.000,- or about USD 30.00. Today I'm going to give you a little sneak peak of what you'll win. The set consists of 2 variants of 20 cards, 10 for each design, 20 hangtags also in 2 designs, 20 envelopes, beautifully lined and ready to use, lots of london themed individual stickers to seal your envelope or selfish-ly keep to yourself (I won't judge ^_^), and a string of red twine.

You'll win yourself a brand new sealed box, this one is mine, as you can see from my personalized name. Don't worry you won't receive yours with my name on it ^_^  

Please do tell me, do you like giveaways? And what method of entry do you like best? by Rafflecopter? Facebook or other social media? 

Babalisme Collaboration with Papercrane is Here! (and there's a giveaway going on)

Drum roll and trumpet fanfare please. This is my first collaboration project with a packaging shop and getting my first stationery set officially printed and packaged and distributed as one serious and legit product!!! Thank you so much Papercrane! I'm so excited I sound like a 5 year old. Also it features my (and hopefully your) favorite theme : the woodland theme!!!!! It's sold right here  for IDR 275.000 or about 24.00 USD. It's a small amount considering the set will include 20 cards, 20 hangtags, 20 envelope lined with babalisme's exclusive woodland pattern, with a bundle of natural colored twine (perfectly fit for the theme), and of course, bonus stickers. It's also very limited!! You have to hurry to get yours now! 

All illustrations are handpainted by, yours truly, ahem, me, with watercolor. Papercrane did such a good job printing the illustrations that you'd feel like it's a real watercolor on paper. I guess it's their paper choice, but really, the things is, you won't notice it's printed. See what I mean? here? 

AND YESSS!!! THERE IS A GIVEAWAY HAPPENING! Sorry for all caps. I'm just too excited. It's hosted by the lovely ladies at living loving and all you have to do is answer one simple question at living loving's instagram page. The winner will win one package with her name (or favorite quote or whatever she pleases) custom printed on the stationery set. Sounds good? You betcha, because it's normally sold blank, un-personalized. The contest ends at Feb 28th. 

I haven't got the chance to get my hands on the real package. So all pictures here are taken from Papercrane. :D Thank you Papercrane! Sorry for pictures snatching! 

The 9th Workshop in a Box : World of Books

Just in case you've been "being Patrick" (living literally under the rock, get it? :D)  for the past 2 years, let me tell you this; everything you love and obsess about is now inside a box. It's been a craze everywhere, maybe the most noticeable is the beauty and make up box subscription, but almost everything is now can be found in a box. The premise is simple. It's mostly boiled down to : 1. you choose a box subscription and pay online, 2. they will customized your box to your personal preferences, 3. The box delivered to your doorstep each month. The best part is, of course, what's inside will all be a big surprise to you.Indonesians may be familiar with Beauty Treats, a box filled with, duh, beauty, make up, and skincare things. But, really, I have read there are baby and kids's clothing, food, even sport and health, gardening, and  pet products in a box. Well, who doesn't love surprises?

Crafters, rejoice. There. IS. Definitely. CRAFT boxesWorkshop in a Box (WAIB)!! This is also a pretty late introduction since, yes, as you may have realized there is a number 9 on my blog post title. Wow, Ning. *rolls eyes*

The box! 

My illustration of a French librarian lady-that has a nice ring to it- graze the box cover! Yay! 

Indonesian crafters, specially, let me introduce you to Workshop in a Box! (WAIB)

Anyho, WAIB was founded by two lovely ladies of the blogs dreamesh and liaspace, Amesh and Lia, respectively. Hold your horses, crafters, these boxes are not available for monthly subscription yet, but they offer more exciting alternative. Instead of delivering the box to your house, they hold a workshop and put up live tutorial/ craft class known as workshop, hence the name. The ladies themselves get their hands dirty teaching. How awesome is that? The downside is, you have to live in Jakarta. The good side is, YES you can still order WAIB previous boxes on their fanpage. The tutorial will be stored in a CD.

Pretty much everything you will receive! book making supllies! 

This is not the #9 workshop session. I steal this picture from dreamesh's blog post of #5 WAIB. 

I got mine this way too, and if a craft beginner like me could follow the instruction, your chance are high.
Babalisme is also proudly collaborated on this box and their first one! So, keep an eye of my printables from time to time in your WAIB box!

And some pop up elements to make your own vintage French inspired pop up card.

"Oh Dear..

..H&M, why wouldn't you open up a store in Indonesia? We have Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Armani, Balenciaga, Versace, and tons of Zara outlets, but why not you? -sincerely, small budget fashionista"

LOL, I just having fun sketching H&M online shop collection. With my daughter's new crayons. Gotta test them thoroughly, now that I'm a good mother. Working just fine, dear. *toss crayons to Baby G*

** note to worried parents : I didn't actually toss the crayons to Baby G, I handed it over nice and slow, and I made sure she didn't chew them. They're toxic free, but you know...

Things I love about sketching...

it doesn't require too much effort
it doesn't require too much time (yet can be done ANY time!)
it doesn't require too much fancy tools (pen and paper will do)
it doesn't have to be solely on paper either!
it doesn't require any proper desks nor tables (or software)
it doesn't require any skills (like sewing, doh! still practicing myself on that one)

if it doesn't turn up well, you can always sketch some more.

and it's soooo much fun, it's highly addictive. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Some sketches I did this week. :)

Belated Spring Wishlist

Found this drawing on my journal, dated February 2010, quite shameful I have to admit that not even one thing on that list I have acquired yet. I'll prolong the list until summer, I think.

Hello, Blogosphere!

Seriously, why does baby has to be sick on national holidays? The reason of my prolonged absent was of course, Baby G needed my full attention again, she had diarrhea, lost of appetite, and fever. I felt extremely worried and exhausted at the same time. I am currently suffering a flu. sigh. so...

What national holiday, you asked? It's Ied 'ul Fitr day!! I'm not a moslem so I can't give you any trustworthy information about the origin of the celebration but I'm sure Wiki can. :) It's huge in Indonesia (where the majority of the people are moslems), almost like Christmas and Thanksgiving rolled into one.

I don't know much about the philosophy, but like all non-Christians living in US and other Chrsitian inhabited countries, I do know a lot about the culture and the festivities. You can't
ignore all those gorgeous Christmas decorations and songs and foods, can you? Same here, I'm carried away too. Basically it's about the joy of loving and forgiving. So people, after the annually fasting duty (yes, they do fast the whole month before!!) naturally reunite with their families and loved ones, asking for forgiveness and forgive those who may have hurt them all year round. But none was done without good food, merry singing, and gifts. Sound familiar? We're not that different at all, aren't we? :)

Yes, that Ied card is free to download and print, give it to someone you know celebrating (although a little bit late). I just think that veiled moslem girls look a lot like matryoshkas.

I'm easily pleased.

I just bought this wooden paper clips and my whole life seems brighter in an instant. Am I dumb or plain too easy to please? Actually, I've got nothing to post today, instead, I do have something to tell you. I'm very sorry if some links didn't work yesterday, I don't have the clue how that happened either. Hopefully all download links will be working today too. And remember my Easter printable, the one with a bunny waving? It was once here only on Easter month, but due to popularity, I am reviving the poor bunny lad. You can always go back in time in Blogger, but here's the link, in case you're not on a rush. And it's forever on the web now.


So, anyway, if those clips can make my day, just imagine what your comments do to me. :)

Merry Matryoshkas!

Matryoshka. I spend hours typing that word. Is it right now?

Without further ado...remember the matrysohka pattern I showed you earlier? You don't?? How dare you!! ... You know I'm kidding, you can always go back in time in blogs, so head here if you do forget. I was in a blogger swap, and one of my swap item was previewed there. Since the swap is over, I decide to share with all of you who were not in the swap, my merry matryoshkas gift tag set.

download

Enjoy everyone, and don't forget to share back what you've enjoyed. You don't have to have a blog and post about it, just a simple Flickr upload, or email me the photo will make my day. :)

Have a nice weekend.

*update* From now on all my printables will stay forever on the net! Tell me which of my previous printables you're craving about (just click freebies on the category on your right hand side) and I will share them again, eternally!

Weekend Embroidery

Got nothing to do this weekend and still no plans in your agenda (...boy, do I envy you!)?
For embroidery enthusiast, may I present you, my first embroidery pattern. Of course, keep in mind that I don't embroider myself, so when you're stitching up and down and find an obstacle which could be my fault, please give me feedbacks and criticism. Don't hesitate to use your meanest, harshest words in complaining, I really look forward to provide better pattern here.

Just click on the image, it'll sure take you to the biggest view, save, and print. If you need color reference, you can always look at this one, but you're welcome to alter it in anyway you like. If you feel like selling your tea towels/bags/clothing/socks/etc that containing the embroidery, you are most welcome, but please don't sell the pattern itself, it's free! If you are not satisfied with this pattern and on the lookout to something better, you can always check Penguin&Fish and doe-c-doe daily. Don't forget to let me know about your finished products and the inputs too!

Little Forest Friends

I have reached 100th post~~no, not this one, apparently, this post is the 102th. How come I missed it?! Aaargh! I should celebrate!! (maybe this is why celebrate rhymes with late, you always celebrate late, no? You don't? Just me? Ok..then..umm...)
I'm kidding about the whole celebration, I'm not going to throw a huge party or anything. Nothing's special about 100th post, I think, there's a long long way to go for this blog, hopefully, I can be a better friend, better listener (or in this case, reader), and of course, write better posts and take/make better pictures.

But, to leave you all my sweet readers occupied and not bored with this post, I make a new picture of little forest friends playing. I am thinking of making an embroidery pattern, if you like, out of this pic, but I can't embroider myself, so I don't know if this pic can work as a pattern. If you're an embroidery expert please, please, tell me of how can I make this pic into a better pattern. Is it fine, or should I narrow the lines, etc? Give me your inputs, lovelies!

Happy Mother's Day

I didn't know when international mother's day celebrated on, I just found out that it was on every second Sunday of May. Phew. I thought I was to late. So here's my gift to all daughters/sons everywhere, download the card, print it, and give it to your dear mothers.

Here are some trivia about Mother's day (according to Wiki, not me!):

• Only Indonesia (that's where I'm at!) celebrate Mother's Day on Dec 22.
• Close enough, is Panama, on Dec 8.
• Father's day is recognized first, Mother's day was made to complement it.
• (funny, in Indonesia we don't celebrate Father's day, poor daddies..:))
• There is a Mother's Day International Association!!! (wonder what they're doing on other 364 days?)

So enjoy your printable and have a great weekend with your mom!

Swap Sneak Peek.

..could be gift tags set, letter set, sticker set, or a box? mmm.. what should I make of this? Today is the last day to join the swap, I didn't manage to find a lot of friends in the swap.. oh, well, there's always be next time..

(Chubby matryoshkas and baby, drawn by drawing pen, edited in photoshop)

Joining a Swap

This is my first time so I get a little excited, umm...ok a lot. I'm joining Printable Paper Goods Swap, so I am swapping printable goods over the internet with every person who joins the swap. Everything is in pdf, no shipping cost necessary! See anything you like up there? They are all printable goodies in pdf files and are ready to be sent away for my swap partners! But they are not all. See this mother's day card I made? It's going to be included too as one of the items in my printable file package!



The list of items of my printable package (so far) :

• "Loving Bee" letter set.
• "Green Bloom" envelope set w/ stickers.
• "Poodle in Blue" note paper.
• "Retro" mini greeting card set (in 'happy birthday' and 'blank').
• "Kitten's Mother's Day" card.
• ...and many more (some are secret to the end, some will be revealed in blog in a few days)

If you want to join, it's easy. Head over to Swapbot, register if you haven't been a member yet, and join! Super easy! You will be assign to 3 swap mates (randomly pick, I assume), and you'll send them a package of (minimum) 4 printables to all your mates (you can send the same package to three of them, and obviously you get 3 different designs, yaaay!). The swap deadline is May 26, so be sure you'll be ready before the deadline. Last day to enter the swap is April 28!

Please join, people!

Earth Day Pledge!

I don't think I care for the earth enough, the evidence is clear, I am spending my entire day in front of the computer instead of planting trees or recycling my trash. I am trying to be more care though. I try to use less plastic bags, if I do, I use biodegradable ones. I try to spend less time in the shower. I switch off unnecessary lights and other electronic appliances. I charge my cell if I really need too (believe it or not I used to let the phone attached to the charger all day!! Hang me to die with those charger cords!).

To help you people saving the earth while living your daily life, I know you're trying as much as I do, even more, maybe, here's a quick pledge page for you to print. It's a good activity to share with the kids too, add some more doodles and drawings, and put it on the fridge to look at everyday.

Happy Earth day, everyone!

Click on the image for larger view, or to download bigger file, head here.

Back from Vacation..

This is my first ever vacation after, say a year or so.. I was very excited, I got the baby with me but not the laptop. I was away from computer and internet related things for a week! That's good news for my husband.

I was so irritated about the fact that my Easter printable here is taken off by the pdf-share web hosting before its limited time (30 days) without any cautions or what so ever. I have received a lot of emails asking about the matter, and I am truly apologized for those of you who can't download it anymore. I contacted and asked the web about it, and I got an automated reply stating that I violate their rules by uploading more than 5 files in a month or sharing a file containing illegal material or signing up twice or using a fake name etc, which of course I didn't feel ever do. I hate it when they replying with automated content, why don't they just point my mistake and ask me to correct it, personally. A list of wrong doings I have never done is just so confusing and it didn't solve my problem.

If you have a pdf-share web hosting that you use (preferrably free and the files can be shared in a long time ;) ) and would like to recomend to me, please do. I really need it to post more printables and projects (yaaay!). I think I'm quitting from my web hosting.

I know Easter's already past, but if you really need the tags, you are welcome to contact me by email and I'll send the pdf files to you. Ooops, ...I almost forget but Happy Easter everyone.

Quick Post

Sorry for another quick post, but my brother just got in a hospital for dengue fever. It's very common in tropical weather, and it's deadly if it's not treated immediately. You can google or wiki it, but here's a brief description (unprofessional, by me). It's a virus, breaking down your immune system, causing sever muscle and joint pains, headache, and (duh) fever. How you get it? The virus is well breed in one particular mosquito species' saliva called the Aedes aegepty (I don't know if I'm spelling it right) and when it bites you, the virus is transmitted from its saliva to your blood, voila, you get the fever. Nice.



So of I go to the hospital now, and I'll leave you with something to do while I'm away. The instruction is in Bahasa Indonesia but I am sure you all are clever enough to do what you have got to do. Print and enjoy. Please do show me your finished artwork.

This Weekend...

I'll just stay at home and read some books I haven't got a chance to read for long time. It's raining too. Looks like it's going to rain all day. *sigh*

Oh, looks like Terry the Tiger cub is doing the same thing as I am! Feel free to take him home with you. I think Terry looks good as a recipe card, a kid's book label, or a lunch bag's label. Did I mention how Terry loves his stripy sweater?

Grab, print, reproduce, and share. Happy weekend, everyone!

While taking a break..

..from extra cute things and cotton candy color, I met Lulu. She said she's going to bite me if I didn't post her on my blog. She's still cute, in some way, and the most important thing, she's a little naughty and crave for attentions. So, here she is.

Happy Weekend, everyone! You can print, share, or use this illustration as a card, e-cards, etc when you feel a little like Lulu.

Happy Weekend

..from Chubby Shroom and son.

Feel free to grab, print, send, ..anything to the Shrooms. Just link back to me, I'll check how they are doing at your home.