Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas 2013 Giveaway Winners

Merry Christmas!!!

Let's choose the winners for the 5 giveaways :)

Giveaway #1 - Drawstring Bag in Owl Prints
1. Labelle
2. Alvinder
3. Sharon
4. Tracy
5. Juliah
Congratulations, Juliah!

Giveaway #2 - Rounded Base Pouch in Blue House Prints
1. Audrey
2. Labelle
3. Shawna
Yay, Shawna!

Giveaway #3 - Cardholder in Daisy Prints
1. Shi Qi
2. Juliah
Congrats, Shi Qi!


Giveaway #4 - Coasters in Triangle-Stamped Prints
1. Ileana
Haha - no need for Random Generator, Congrats, Ileana!

Giveaway #5 - Drawstring Bag
1. Sarah
2. Stefenie
3. Ileana
4. Cherie
5. Limin
Yay Sarah!!

Ok time to contact the winners!
love, n

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Personalized pouches

I finally had the time to work on some pouches for a few of my friends.
Bought some linen strap - I think it's meant for tote straps.. And put my stamp sets to use.
Love, n

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Drawstring bags

I enjoy making drawstring bags because the feeling of pulling the strings/ropes when it's done, and it works perfectly, is of... Great satisfaction.
Ok I probably don't really make much sense, but this is why I enjoy making things. I'm usually very focused when I'm sewing or creating something (unless, of course, I'm distracted by Sherlock, my latest addiction), I find myself zoning out to everything else. When it's done and it fits what I had in mind, I would want to show it off to Mum right away.
Anyhooo... These drawstring bags are ordered by a supportive customer. I consider myself extremely lucky to have these customers, always coming to me to get customized stuff, and thus, forcing me to experiment and try new things! It's very important because sometimes I do need some motivation and this works just fine for me :)
Love, n

Sunday, December 15, 2013

50 pouches = crazy me

It's been craaaaazzyyyy. 50 pouches sounded daunting when I accepted the order.. And it really is when doing it. I'm still short of 10 more and I'm kinda exhausted!
But this is a great experience for me, I do hope something like that drops in again!
Love, n

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Busy elf

Busy busy busy! This is my favorite season of the year, but it can get a little overwhelming sometimes.
Orders are coming in and I can't be happier :)
It makes me wish that I didn't have to go to my day job and stay home to work on those orders and my own set of gifts for friends and family.
Love, n

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Repeat purchases are the best compliments.

I have been working on a big order from a very supportive customer these few days. It's almost 2am and I have work tomorrow, and I have just finished her entire order, packed and ready to post! Feeling accomplished :)
I need to relook at my pricing for my products. I'm probably not making alot to cover my effort and time. It's tricky because every item is different, more or less. But most importantly, I want to keep it affordable with good quality.
Alright good night folks!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Etsyfinds: Coasters

I have been making lots of origami coasters for an order... so there's this slight coaster craze going on in my head. These are some of my Etsyfinds that I think are great!

 Etsy: decoylab
Etsy: Dimlim

I have a few more orders to work on!

love, n

Thursday, November 14, 2013

My very first favorite craft blog

is whipup.net
The writer, Kathleen, whom started a serious crafting passion in me, probably inspired so many others to go forward with their handmade stuff, has passed away in May. I found out about this last month - yes, I was abit slow... When I tried again this morning for their website, it's no longer there, but the Facebook page still is, although it's no longer being updated.
I remember whipup.net was always the first blog I would go to whenever I switch on the computer, and I learned quite a bit of crafting tricks from the tutorials.

I hope her children are coping fine.
I hope the people inspired by her will continue to work hard in what they love, and succeed in life, like she had.

love, n

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Collaboration with Le Petit Rêve by jingyi

I'm a huge supporter of handmade brands (go figure) - I'm joining forces with a dear friend, Jingyi, to push out a mini promotion for some of my biggest supporters over the past 2 years that I have been doing my craft. These people... very important people who have ordered from me, given me kind words of encouragement, mean alot to me. Without them, I may have given up on this some time ago. It is not easy to handle a full-time job that requires me (sometimes) to work OT, and to do this little business on my own.

So anyway, Jingyi's drawing/painting is fantastic. She's great at making cards (she sews too!!!) and I ordered some postcards from her to go out with the coasters I made to these very important people :)


I hope this puts a smile on the people who receive them :)

Anyhooo... I'm accepting pre-orders for Christmas!

Next up, trying out some kitchen accessories... think Oven Gloves, Half-Aprons... yeah?

love, n

Sunday, November 3, 2013

This is handmade. Imperfect but unique.

See the irregularities? This is handmade :) good thing I'm not a perfectionist. Which also means that there may be people out there who may not like it. But it's Ok :)

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Tiring but Fulfilling Saturday!

I have been cutting fabrics, sewing, unpicking threads, pricking myself since morning. But it's fulfilling because I finally finished the 2 big orders that were pending since last week :)

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Origami Lotus

A little warm up before I start working on a laptop sleeve order!
Love, n

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Furoshiki

Furoshiki is a type of traditional Japanese wrapping cloth that was used to transport anything - clothing, food, gifts and other goods. It is more popular now as gift-wrapping, and the more common thing I have seen so far is wine bottles! Very pretty way of gift-wrap!

How I started researching about this was a post by Fictive Fingers on their facebook. They are hosting an event this weekend, and you should totally check it out!


Source: kylin untitled

love, n

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Zigzag!

Ooooo... Guess who got herself a pair of pinking shears? :) :)
Love, n

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Felt craft

I was just browsing Pinterest for some inspirations on felt crafts as I was thinking of making some simple felt pins as part of the bridesmaids' outfits for my brother's wedding. I came across this beautiful bouquet - I love light grey and this color combination is fantastic!

Felt and Brooch Bouquet #wedding #bouquet #diy #handbouquet #handmade #pink #pearls #felt #brooch - http://pinterest.com/pin/3870349653185510/

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Doodling

A little stressed out at work, so I drew these little birds to accompany me.. Haha. Actually I saw something online and decided to give it a try. Maybe I can make a stamp out of this?
Love, n

Monday, September 9, 2013

Wall Art

I have been thinking of filling up this empty wall in my bedroom for a while now. I liked the minimalist look, but I think it's time for a change :)
Some interesting wall art I found...
DIY origami wall art from rue magazine
scraps to wall art 6
Pretty awesome, eh?
love, n

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Customized rubber-stamped items!

I'm having loads of fun with rubber stamping! I think up of some designs (or just blatantly copy off the web), carve out and stamp on every thing that I can find.
My sister wanted something that she saw on Etsy...
oops. I should have cropped a little here... *sheepish smile*

So then, I decided to give it a try, since it's just a simple Triangle stamp!

I bought some new colors!

 Ta da!!!

Looks great on coasters too! (This pair is in my Ready Made collection! $6/pair)

love, n


Japanese Fabrics

These are my fabrics from Japan!

love, n

Adding to Ready Made collection

Slowly getting ready for Christmas... :)

Origami Drawstring Bag! I really enjoy making this type of drawstring.
For this piece, the interior fabric is Pink with White Polka Dots.
$28!

The standard drawstring bag - I haven't made this in a while. Someone customized one recently, and I decided to make a couple more :)
This measures about 8" square, going for $15 (limited offer).

love, n

Friday, August 16, 2013

Leathercraft Workshop for Beginners

I came across Tyrwhitt General Company list of workshops the other day, and was delighted to find that they offer Leathercraft workshop! Without hesitation (even though it was $79 for just 2 hours to make a simple namecard holder), I signed up right away and attended in the next few days at Ion's B4 NOISE exhibition.

It's really not a location I would have preferred to attend a workshop at. It's noisy, and children come up next to you to look at what you're doing (not that I don't like kids, but it's really distracting when you have a really sharp penknife in your hand).

Colin led the whole workshop, although it was another guy doing the hands-on example. We were provided with a scrap of leather, a template on cardstock that wasn't very well-drawn (I ended up having to adjust to make it symmetrical) and necessary tools.

It was quite a big class - I understand that they don't normally do such a large class but because this is just a very simple workshop, they squeezed more people in, but to make up for it, they had quite a few staff always walking around to help us out.

The workshop started off with the usual dreaded awkward but-maybe-kinda-necessary ice-breaker with everyone introducing themselves. Then we dived into making the namecard holder. It's a very simple design, beautiful on its own. It also shows off my not-so-awesome knife skills. Haha! They also taught us stamping although I didn't stay around to try it out on my piece. I like it as it is. 

I was a little disappointed to know that stitching of leather will only be taught in the Intermediate level. I'm not sure if I'm ready to spend so much again...

I've always always always loved leathercraft, but what held me back all this time was that it's really quite impossible to buy scraps of leather in Singapore. Overseas shipping is kinda costly for me, so... And leathercraft has always intimidated me. Maybe I'll give it another go once I get my hands on some good leather scraps!

I wonder what's my next workshop... :)
love, n

Friday, July 19, 2013

Girl's Survival Kit

I love pouches. That's no secret, of course. I also believe that every girl needs an emergency kit in a pretty pouch wherever she goes. My little pouch's contents have saved quite a few friends to this date, and I'm always very proud of it! Haha =)

So what do I have in this trusty lil' pouch?
- Sanitary Pads/Tampons (SO important!)
- Mini nail-clipper
- Contact Lens storage case
- Contact Lens travel solution
- Wet wipes (sometimes)
- Travel perfume stick
- Eyeliner
- Lip Balm
- Pills! (painkillers, flu, motion-sickness)
- Band aids
- Alcohol Swab
- Hairbands

So... from my previous post, I have already admitted that I'm thinking of Christmas gifts already! And for my close friends, I'm most likely doing up mini girl's survival kits for them.

From TidyMom, her contents are similar to mine, plus spare house key, cough drops, nail file, tweezers and a cute pen!

From another blog, author Nicole says to have mini toothbrush/mouthwash, hand lotion, hand sanitizer, mini deodorant and tissue.

So for my girlfriends, since I'm going have to make quite a few (at least 8), I need to pick just a few for them to start off with.
- mini nail clipper
- band aids
- cute pen
- hair clip/bands
- contact lens solution travel size / nail file

Yup, I shall do that!
love, n


Monday, July 15, 2013

Santa Claus is comin... wait a minute...

I know it's crazy, but... I'm already thinking of Christmas!
It's my favorite time of the year (besides sweet April, of course, because that's my birth-month!), and also the most stressful month of the year.

I hope to do a Christmas collection, and maybe launch it in November so hopefully I get some orders in. I have been really slack in updating my works, and I have no better excuses but only to admit that I'm terrible at time management. AND! the most minimal amount of discipline. Haha!

I had a thematic gift-wrap last Christmas, check it out here:


And some ideas for this year's:



As you can see, I really like polka dots and pom poms ^^

Happy Monday! (nobody likes Mondays, but since we can't really escape it, let's have a more positive take on it.)
love, n

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Rubber Stamping Workshop

It's quite uncommon to have such workshops in Singapore. I get envious whenever I see fun workshops from overseas blogs. So when I found out that Fictive Fingers does workshops, I jumped at one almost immediately!
It's a 2-hour workshop at their new studio in Chinatown. I get to bring home 2 carving tools, 1 large rubber block, my stamped A3 paper and a strip of linen fabric, and of course my completed stamp.

 a hugeeeeee blackboard at the staircase landing. it's beautiful!

I did a sorta medium-sized stamp. I doodled the leaf just this morning, after looking at some craft blogs for inspiration.
 Using fabric paint on linen cloth... I'm hoping to explore this for my pouches and totes :)

Using stamp ink on paper...

I liked the workshop! It's great to meet and chat with a fellow crafter (Hani) who takes her work seriously. Fictive Fingers is involved in Handmade Movement Singapore, and I hope you can support them!
Check out their facebook!

love, n

Friday, May 24, 2013

Rounded pouch!

Rounded, just like apples!

I bought this apple-printed hankerchief when was in Guangzhou last year. Well, I don't use hankies, but the fabric was too pretty to resist.

I finally took it out today and decided to make a different style of pouch. I wanted to try pleated at the front, but it didn't quite work out. So I tried this way instead. I'm gonna give the pleated one another try next day.

I still have 3 other different fabrics to use... but this apple print is the nicest. My cousin saw it and immediately ordered from me :)
Do you like it too?

love, n

Sunday, May 19, 2013

What happens on Sundays


So this is me, on a Sunday, putting in some effort to making my Facebook Page look a little more decent than the big mess that it is now. My man made a small lightbox for me, which makes my photos look a tiny bit more professional.
Haha, I think this set up looks funny.
Anyway, I kinda have a big collection of fabrics AND they are all over my room... So this is gonna take a while. I have only just uploaded 11 new images to my Fabrics album and I gotta run to town to get some supplies for some orders!


All this time, Lipton accompanies me by sleeping on the most comfortable spot on my bed! It's a good thing that I've had a very well-rested night (12 hours, to be exact...) if not, just watching him would induce anyone to zzzzzzzzz...
It IS Sunday after all, and everyone is entitled to do whatever they like!

love, n