DIY Wild West Birthday

Howdy and Yee-haw! Must be one of the most and well said words during the day! It's my nephew's Bob 6th birthday and cowboys and girls suddenly roaming all around the house. Can't believe how energetic 6th year olds could be. I designed the dessert table and all the printables used, I hope I did great, thank you for all the help from Bob's mom and her crews. She's baking all the cookies , the puddings, the smores, and the cupcakes, plus all the food we got to eat that day, have I mentioned that to you? Isn't she some kind of kitchen wonder?

Enough talking, I guess, enjoy the party!

If you think Bob's mom done a great job in mouth watery department.... You're in luck, she's accepting orders at the moment, contact her here.

The macaroon stand is also a paper printable, but to get it sturdy enough, I lined it with thick cardboard before assembling. Better than the idea of cutting through whole cardboard printable, arthritis alert!

See? It's now strong enough to hold a dozen macaroons.

Since we can't find many store bought cupcake stands that don't scream "girly", the cupcake stands is also part of DIY aspect of this party, it's basically a styrofoam lined with wrapping papers and embellished with thin rope and japanese washi tape along the edges. Lucky to have wood patterned wrapping papers around.

The photobooth and props are all DIY too! The moustaches are all felt and the rest are cardboard. Including the wanted poster, my, boys do love it! Baby G help me colored in the hats! What do you think of her job?

Here's some of the results... Can you spot Baby G around? If you were wondering what did we do with such noisy cowboys/girls, we did had some games to play, there were coin tossing to an old boot, shooting range, hitting horse pinata, and passing hat to old time favorite like "She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain". Why didn't I take pictures of those happy moments and props? It lasted only 5 minutes. Literally. And the props were too sad to be photographed. Mental note to self : take pictures BEFORE the party. During? Hire a photographer. Because you can't wrestle with one or two 6th years old while taking pictures.

So long, pardner! See you next time!

More Easter-iffic!

Another bad pun made the headlines. Sorry. Pun really intended because you gotta see what I mean and say (heck, shout) "Easter-iffic" with me.

I'm sure I had once or twice mention jinjerup here on my blog, she's just way too talented! And to celebrate Easter jinjerup teamed up with myowlbarn and share this with us! For Free! How cool is that? Go on take a hike to the owl's nest and indulge yourself in some easter-iffic favor bags. Don't forget to thank them and tell them I sent you. HA! No need to do the later one, but be polite and thank them :)

If you haven't download my own Easter-iffic go right here.

Do you want to create your own Easter-iffic things? GIVEAWAY still runs! go right through here!

Have a nice week!

Easter-iffic!!

Sorry for the bad pun, and in the title too! What was I thinking? Just as I promise you guys, free printable for Easter! They are tags, but you can use them for almost anything! Banners, cupcake toppers, scrapbook embellishments, stickers, even as confetti (just alter the print size into smaller size). Just make sure you do share your creation with the rest of us :D Happy Easter!

download

PLEASE respect my effort in making and designing the printable. Though I share it for free doesn't mean you have the right to sell, alter, and/or claim it as your own. Use it for personal use only, if your friends want a copy don't give them yours, give them the link to this post.

PLEASE do tell me if you found the printable elsewhere that violated my rights as the maker.

PLEASE share your real parties, modifications, creations, ideas, etc using the printable, you can send the link on this post or you can send the pics to my email.

THANK YOU.

Bunny Season

'Tis the season for a long ears and buck teethed, whiskered fellow. And some yellow chicks. God I love Easter. I'll promise you one free printable to celebrate, I hope I can manage to make one in my tight schedule (sorry readers, sorry Baby G). In the mean time you can always rely on Martha for some festive ideas. My favorite is the one pictured up there.

Yes, don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY if you haven't! Or if you had, you can still increase your chances by tweeting or sharing it on social network sites like FB. Good luck!

ps. I'm getting new followers but why haven't you guys entering? waiting for the near closing time luck? :D

Sew Fantastic

Truly an eye candy! Jillian Tamaki for Penguin Books. via black*eiffel.

Don't forget to enter my Giveaway! Close on April 22 open internationally!

Felt so Good: GIVEAWAY

Care to win one of this? Read on, ladies.

Yes, I'm giving away newly released Big Little FELT Universe by Jeanette Lim from Lark Crafts. The author, Jeanette Lim, lives in Singapore and is a felt artist extraordinaire. She is an Etsy star who has sold close to 9,000 patterns of her designs since she opened her shop in the fall of 2007. Like a wizard, she can easily transform everyday objects, and I mean ANY objects, into fluffy felt creations.

I'm a craft book addict and Japanese ones are on top of my ever growing collections. But to my surprise, Big Little FELT Universe DOES amazes me! It's everything you want from a Japanese craft book; accurate felt color definition, step by step photo tutorials, mostly actual size pattern (no resizing required!! YAY!), and of course basic methods and tips explained in less words and more pictures. I love the fact that it's in English, and unlike many Japanese craft books, the patterns are individually placed, even the big ones like cutting board template stands on their own. Well for a novice like me, that's one big help!

The book's patterns cover most of your children basic toys, like medicine kit, birthday cake kit, vegetable and cooking utensils, grill kit, camping kit, and even ones for the holiday (gingerbread house pattern! what more could you ask?). So I'm guessing if you have kids this might be an excellent source of day to day craft ideas.

And oh, by the way, I made this kiwi fruit from the pattern above. Sorry for the rough stitching and un-match colors... ( boo boo).. But I gotta test if the instructions and pattern work well, and yes, they work just fine for sewing idiots like me, it'll work excellent for you felt experts.


THE GIVEAWAY!

Enough babbling, so you want to win this book, right? Here goes..

How to win :

Please be a follower and simply comment below what felt pattern would you like to see next by Jeanette Lim? Could be a theme and/or an object. e.g Big Little FELT Universe offers everyday objects theme ranging from vegetables to computers... but how about fantasy theme next with unicorns and toad princes?

I will pick 1 winner with random. org. and the winner will be mailed by April 22, 2010 at 14.00 my time (same day 07.00 GMT). So please, be sure to leave your email. Giveaway opens internationally.

Want extra entries ?

Subscribe to this blog (put your email in the box on your right) 1 entry
Blog, tweet, facebook, etc the giveaway link 1 entry per link
Please put each extra entry in separate comment and write down your link too so I can check!

If you can't wait to have your own, you can purchase Big Little FELT Universe at Amazon or bookstores near you, available from March or April this year. Still can't wait to do a project? Well, Lark Crafts is generous to share one of cute patterns from the book. Make a sundae here.

Enjoy your felt!

Pink Anatomy

Don't you love this chart? I am currently obsessing!

via here

Pssst. I'm having a spring giveaway soon be sure to check back here often :)

"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...

Zine Crush

Have I mentioned that I'm a magazine addict? Though I can't deny that the existence of blogs and e-zines has significantly decreased my appetite for monthly subscription. Funny, even some big name magazines have an online version now. But sometimes good things can only be seen, felt, and touched in paper and prints. If you're an old dog like me (and in the mood to really feel the paper while you read, just curious, when is the last time YOU read from a real piece of paper theses days?), these are an array of lovely magazines out there, which stands tall against tsunamis of blogs. Go visit a stall and grab a chewing gum too while you're there.

hello, sandwich. pic from here

Marche (in Japanese) pic from here

Lula. pic from here.

seriously, Martha? Where would we be without you? pic from here.

Olive All Over

(this is going to be my shortest post introduction ever, behold!)

My current color crush: Olive. Swoon.

1. Satin Tunic from ZARA 2. Cushion cover from Turquoise Tumbleweed 3. Baby girl prewalker slippers from bonnienluebelle 4. Quilt from urbanoutfitters 5. print from jenskelley 6. Bag from Balenciaga Resort collection 2011, pic from here.

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. :)

Grateful

This is my first time to be featured on a real magazine! Yaay!! I missed the issue *sob* for I spend too much time reading blogs and for my short term memory loss ( I bought the wrong magazine, DOH!). Thank you Amesh, nonetheless, who has been such a patient pal along the way :).



p.s I know it's Katy Perry sporting cute headband with her famous California Girls get ups (doubt there are more than the headband and the ring) on the cover but I can assure you that this is not that kind of magazine. It's a young women's lifestyle magazine. Duh, how can you think my blog'd be feature on that kind of magazine?
p.s.s I'm still waiting for my own issue to come (I have it special ordered from the agent) but can't wait to share the news, Amesh provided the photo for me. Such joy!

All you need is

the always resourceful Martha's heart doilies

LOVE! Valentine's day closing in, everyone, and yes Happy Lunar New Year, it's the golden rabbit year, how lovely is that? Hope you will all have a great hop on to the next year. Rabbit? Hop? Get it? Sorry, bad pun. Anyhoooooo... I just love February because it's already unique, who gets 28 and sometimes 29 other than her? And basically I always am a hopeless romantic. Ah, L'amour, l'amour...(you had me at hello, anyone?) and all shades of pink happens to be one of my favorite color. What's not to LOVE about February? (and the weather is getting warmer too, isn't it?) Here's to celebrate the new month, a free card to download and give. Enjoy!

download

Do share your pics, love stories, and any lovey dovey things with this card. :)

Bento Paradise

Another newly found hobby since Baby G started pre-school. Bento-making. I wasn't into cooking until recently, seriously. I used to cook something that I could eat. That's it. No fancy recipe, decorations, ingredients.. just well cooked enough so I will not starve. But bento combining something that I really like (drawing) and something that I thought was boring... IT'S FUN! You should try, it's really addictive!


Here's my one and only customer.. curious much, darling? Bento sure does increase little ones' appetite too, I tried same food on a regular plate and a bento box. Which one do you think she'd eat?

New School

Baby G hits the pre-school this week! I'm a proud mama! I don't have any pictures because of the morning rush, school's policy of no camera allowed, and tiredness in the afternoon. This Baby G's new experience would also explain my constant disappearance from blogosphere also. *sob* promise I'd get back to you guys soon!

Anyhoo. Baby G's not in uniform yet, but I love drooling over these at nissen.