Sunday 25 December 2016

My December Tag for Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2016


Happy Christmas! And a Merry New Year!

Though I wish 2017 don't come that soon, I know it's reaching really soon. The moment 2017 January is here, I'll be a year older in February. That's so freaking fast and I do hope I could refuse to grow up. And yes, I'm back in doing Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2016. I know I had gone missing in between, however I love to think it'd be fun to end this Christmas with the December tag.


So here is my take for the December tag...


I didn't have any shadowpress with me, unfortunately. So I gotta improvise and find alternatives. Rather, I did embossing over stamping instead using the Snowman blueprint framelits die set which is the only Merry Christmas stamp I have. 


I hope I had misted over the stencil more generously, it didn't really show up well. Perhaps it's also due to the design I had chosen. Nonetheless, I managed to get the tag done up in time for this Christmas.


I bought a few packs of trophy antlers last year and have yet to use any of them. Despite it's gonna make the tag look a bit bulky, I went ahead by placing it at the very top of the tag. The entire composition process was really fun to make and I do enjoy spending my Christmas morning doing up this tag. Totally immersed myself into the festive mood.


List of Supplies:

Saturday 24 December 2016

Mister Frosty - A Reindeer Music Box

Just a wink of an eye, it's already Christmas' eve! OMG! I felt as if I didn't have enough of last Christmas and this Christmas has already arrived. Perhaps I've been really busy lately, juggling between my part-time job and various Christmas projects, time flies particularly fast for me. Seriously I wish for Christmas everyday! 

Oh well, just in time for this Christmas, I had finally managed to alter a music box I bought from Innisfree (a Korean beauty store). Here it is, welcoming Mister Frosty... 


I've been into wintry mode for this season. To make my reindeer into a frosty snow deer, I used Tim Holtz's mini snowflakes throughout the entire music box and a couple of them as the saddle. For the stirrups, I strung 2 silvery snowflake charms and placed them over the seat. This is probably the most wintry saddle I had ever created for a reindeer.


Mister Frosty certainly need a comfy scarf. 



It's a functional music box and this is how it sounds like when wind. I had to remove this gadget before I could alter the whole box. And I decided to video this fun little thing. It is seriously LOUD and CLEAR! Pardon my excitement 'cos it has been a while I'm playing with such toy. 


Sooo... This is how it fits onto my petite hand. 


Hereby wishing everyone a Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!


Here is a list of supplies I used for this project:

Tuesday 20 December 2016

Deck the Halls!

Lately, I'm into something new, something I wanted to do since late last year - to learn how to wool felt. I bought myself a reindeer kit to get myself started, however I ended up hoarding it and didn't manage to attempt. In view of this upcoming holiday season, I thought it'd be a good time to clear my stash. And yes, I've finally attempted!!! If you guys have been following me on my Instagram, some of you probably have seen a couple of my wool felting posts. Took me some time to get a hang of it and I'm still learning to get hold of the technique correctly. 

Though the pictorial instructions on the kit seem relatively easy to follow, I faced difficulties in getting the reindeer in shape. Then I got to realize the kit is probably a little challenging for a pure beginner like me. I should have started on something more straightforward and simple before moving on to more difficult ones. But heck, Christmas is here and I couldn't wait to get the reindeer done. At the end of the day, after struggling through I manage to finish off this bugger...


Apparently I had made this reindeer a little smaller than what was expected. I'd think it looks good for its size and to make it more adorable, I made him hug a Christmas tree with a jingle bell. Too cute! Just for that I had to make something to house him. And I made a hall just for this reindeer, my virgin wool felt!! Can't think of a better way than to deck the halls!


I used one of the boxes from Tim Holtz's vignette boxes as the hall. Painted a layer of crimson red over and finished with a touch of gold paint at the edges to tone down the already rustic look of the box in order to cater for this holiday season. This would seems like the hall has been refurbished. Decking the halls with boughs of holly wasn't easy. Certainly I find Graphic 45 St. Nicholas paper collection the perfect choice for this project (I still love working with Graphic 45, undeniably). Together with all my previous Alpha Stamp Christmas stash and Petaloo pine corn picks, everything just fit well into the theme. I had indeed spent hours digging through my stash to find these holly-related elements. And finally I managed to get the look I want.


How can I miss the little reindeer? He gets to sit in a bed of vintage Christmas flower soft bed!!


Added branches at the sides with some holly leaves hanging down to complete the entire theme. I thought it'd be nice to add some creature in the midst of a landscape and there it is, I found a miniature deer charm!!



And so forth, this hall for the reindeer is just this small, handy enough to hold. I hope you guys have been spending some great fun time in decorating your halls for this Christmas. I had so much fun (from juicing my creative brain cells) in decking this small little hall.


Here is a list of Supplies I had used for this project:

Tuesday 6 December 2016

Magic Wonder - A Winter Faeries Fairy Box

For the past weeks while I was re-organizing my stuffs, I came across this half-done prepared (gessoed and texturized) filmstrip shadow box together with several primed fairies and flourishes hidden underneath my working desk on top of my craft mat. It was a long time overdue project; a project that I had planned and prepared way in advance supposedly to be completed in May for Gypsy Soul Lasercuts as a Guest Designer. However, things happened and almost all of my WIPs went into a halt instantly. Flipping through my notebook where I did all my project line-up scribbles, this is so much I had missed. 

Life shouldn't be full of resentments. For the very least, I had indeed a good long rest (mentally, physically and spiritually). I just need to get myself started somehow and those scribbles I had made months back is just what I need to rejuvenate my creative brain cells. Pardon me for the nag (I've a tendency to talk a little about my life) for life has been tough on me. The process of creation has always been a hibernating moment that will set me free from the real world. This has been one of the ways that I can be really be myself without any form of masquerade in order to maintain my inner sanity. So, I shall end my story here and present my completed project...

Presenting... 

A Winter Faeries Fairy Box, showcasing a little magic wonder for this Christmas!


My initial plan was to create some sort of gardening fairy scene but that's back in May; still stuck at the back of my head. Since Christmas is round the corner, I wonder why not doing up some wintry scenes? And yes I should. Since I've been hoarding a bottle of Aleene's True Snow for almost a year, it's time to try and use it. I transformed the filmstrip shadow box into a huge snow box that carries various miniature wintry scenes within the box, with a snowflake balcony on top. 


I planted 2 Christmas trees within the 1st and last box to keep it really simple. Unfortunately, I had quite a hard time trying to capture them within my camera due to the flourishes I placed on the outside. Sometimes the kind of work I do is just not camera friendly and you need to view them using your physical eyes. This is so much I could capture and I hope the pictures are not straining your eyes too much. If your eyes are really sharp enough to penetrate through the pixels of these pictures, you will get to notice some little magic I had added within the wintry scenes. I added some florescent glow-in-the-dark powder onto snow and trees! They do "light" up beautifully at night, subtly I should say.  Again, unfortunately I couldn't capture them 'cos the details are so hard to capture and only human eyes can view them.   


The entire media application, from creating the glittery snowy effect, building the snowflake balcony to building up the wintry scenes within took me close to a week to complete. It's the drying process in between that's taking up a lot of time as I was trying to garner the the kind of winter effect I want before I seal them with iridescent fine glitters. Oh yes! glitters! This was indeed a very glittery project and I used close to 3 different types of glitters throughout.


I decided to exalt one of the fairies to the centre of the box, in front of the frame of which she carries a sign - believe in the magic of Christmas


I built a mini glittery snowman and place him onto a pile of snow filled with tiny snowflakes.


And someone left an ice skate there as well...


Lots of snow, glitter and flakes at the back of the snowflake balcony! I'm afraid the picture is not doing much justice - the ultra fine details are just meant for the human eye. I found an ornate rectangle frame which I moulded out from a silicon mould which I was trying to test earlier this year. Oh well, it seems I needed some sort of wordings and I decided to affix some woody letterings onto it to complete the entire project. Finally the magic wonder was done!!!


A little different away from conventional Christmas projects I've done previously, but I do hope this can give a you guys a refreshing idea in how to create a piece as such. Give it a try, you never know Christmas is not more than just snowflakes and fairies!

Here is a list of supplies I have used for this project:

Thursday 24 November 2016

A Harvest Gnome - Give Thanks

It's Thanksgiving today; day of harvest and giving thanks! For this year thanksgiving and just in time for today, I made this very last minute Thanksgiving project - A harvest gnome using wine cock.


Please do not underestimate this little gnome for he knows how to give thanks in every situation. Life might not be as wonderful as we seem to be. For this harvest season, just Give Thanks and life will be grateful...




As little as he looks like, he's just small enough for me to hold him with my hand. He's just a handful big. 


 A stump of his harvest. Happy Thanksgiving!


Saturday 19 November 2016

Fairy Bright Star Ornaments

Christmas is coming!!! Yeah!!! Can't wait for it to come soon!!! Somehow or rather Christmas is a day which I always look forward to. Not 'cos of the year end long holiday that will reach a new year, it's more of a joy that I always embrace. This year has been a little tough on me, the joy of Christmas simply erase all those unhappiness away.

Bygones be bygones. Here I'm sharing a couple of altered star ornaments using Graphic 45 Raining Dogs & Cats and Once Upon A Springtime papers. These ornaments are diecuts from Tim Holtz Star Bright and Stacked Snowflakes dies. 


Who don't love fairies? I do adore them dearly.







Sunday 16 October 2016

Updates and What's Brewing

It has been nearly 6 months past since I updated on my blog here. Alas! Finally despite all the hurdles; trying to strike a balance in my life and finding peace, I managed to set aside some time to login and do some blogging and updates here.

Life has been rather difficult for me especially during the past 6 months where I decided to focus on my health and managing various issues in my life. Working as a part-time service crew selling sandwiches and coffee have certainly molded the way how I look at things, from a very different perspective. Humbly and without any prejudice, I got to appreciate the essence of what it takes to be serious about the job I'm holding onto. Even I'm just there clocking hours to get my hourly pay, inevitably very quickly I was part of the system where everyone is fighting and working so hard to earn a living, making ends meet. I was once highly paid, sitting comfortably in my office flying around the world to get businesses done, and those days where I worked as a waitress to pay off my tuition fee was over and done. Never did I expect nor see myself back to the similar situation again after 2 decades past. Should I lament or feel sad about it? I struggled and faced difficulties to readjust myself to the choice(s) I made. I've yet to throw the towel, since I've been very accepting and humble on the various circumstances I've been put into. For the very least, I'm still getting to enjoy the very fundamental liberty as a human being God has given - the freedom to live. I still have the freedom to make choices in my life.

There's always problems and issues in life that will never go away. It can be very tiring to keep thinking about them, hoping they will either resolve themselves or go away. Too much energy wasted and it can be emotionally draining if I kept focusing on my problems and not doing things I should be doing. Rather, I'd want to take all my problems with a pinch of salt and stay ignorant about it. Sometimes waiting can be one of the best solutions momentarily; impatience kills and make people irrational. However, waiting can be a painful process. In order to maintain my inner sanity and keep my creativity alive, and without any fear, I'm making a comeback, ready to create and share. This seems to be one of the constructive ways to channel my energy to the correct source without feeling so void and dejected about my various circumstances.

As a fresh start, with full of hope and excitement, I'm starting to clear some of my crafty stuffs, gradually organizing my social media, and getting back to some of my WIPs. I have also listed some of my past projects for sales in my Etsy store, in hope to earn some revenue. Do feel free to pop by my store and take a look. Any sales will be a form of encouragement and motivation for me to continue to create and share. To extend my appreciation, I'm offering a 10% discount with a minimum purchase of $20, simply enter "10OFF" during checkout.

This Poo Fairy can be purchased at my Etsy store here.

Taking what the Poo Fairy said, it's time to let go. We all know how it feels to be all bottled up; staying overly constipated is just unhealthy not to say on an emotionally level. Farting it off, the instant relief of gas out from your bowel will just make you feel great, your tummy will get smaller, you will also get to feel as if you are a few pounds lighter. Burden's off your tummy!

Oh well, please pardon my fart! =)

Tuesday 31 May 2016

My Farewell Entry for Graphic 45

Alas! Finally... Today on 31st May 2016 is my very last DT entry for Graphic 45. As of today, it's also my very last officially day to leave Graphic 45 as their DT member. My 2 years with them is finally (and sadly) come to an end. Though I may be able to reapply into their team again in the future, I don't actually see that happening any time soon. I wish I could if I ever had the opportunity and chance to do so. If this ever permits, I hope to see myself being on the team again.

I was pretty inactive this year and hardly have time to create new projects, including updating my blog (my blog is still snowing despite summer is here! Alright giving you guys some coolness here! LOL!). Part of it due to the various unsettling draggy situations in my life (for those who frequent my blog probably know what's happening). Another part of it is due to my health; my back started to give me serious problems early this year due to long hours of sitting for extended period of time. I craft, blog and work on my desk seated and I can stay seated for hours without walking around. As a scoliosis sufferer, sitting for too long for extended period of time is seriously a bad thing as the spine takes more than 180% of your weight while you are sitting. Though my curve was pretty mild, just by sitting for hours for the past 2 years had indeed progressed my curve further and I started to develop secondary curvature. It reached to a point that I need to get myself to work physically in an environment that I need to move myself around to release some of my back tension, which somewhere this early February I started to work as a part-time service crew in a F&B cafe serving coffee and sandwiches. Eventually I was on SpineCor bracing to correct and prevent any further progression. However, it will only work best when I'm moving around with the brace on, not sitting and lying down. Be'cos of this, I've to allocate at least 7hr daily to work in the cafe with the brace on for a period of 12-18 months. It's tiring and physically draining but as I noticed a slight improvement on my curvature, I know it's worth the effort. 

My marriage, my dad, my health etc are various issues which have been impeding me from creating consistently. As much as I would love to have all the time devoted in creating, I'm unable to given the fact (especially) my health is at risk which I seriously need to make a choice. I can't possibly create effectively with so many things going on even I've tons of ideas at the back of mind, awaiting to be produced. I wish for another me who can manage all these aspects of my life so that I can continue to create and inspire wholeheartedly. Very unfortunately, I'm a mere human with very limited ability. This is the real facade of life and I just have to juggle it well and learn how to manage them. 

So away from all these, here I'm sharing some of my favourite projects I've done for Graphic 45 while I was with them for the past 2 years on today's entry. Can't bear to leave and I wish I could stay longer...



PDF tutorials of these suitcases can be purchased in my Etsy store.


This piece can be purchased in my Etsy store here.

And here are some of my past projects that I'd love to showcase today however there're just simply too many to share so I decided to share a couple of them here on my blog instead.  







This piece can be purchased at my store here.




And here are all my obsessions with crates begins. Simply can't get enough of them that I had indeed created 3 projects out of it using the Home Sweet Home paper collection; another favourite collection of mine. One of them is a special tutorial I did for Graphic 45 which was recently being shared in their blog that I didn't manage to share it on my blog. But nevertheless, I still would love to share it here!




A PDF tutorial can be downloaded here.





Lastly, one of the previous Enchanted Forest garden project that I didn't manage to share on my blog as well as one new bathroom art project using Voyage Beneath the Sea paper collection that didn't get a chance to be shared on Graphic 45 blog. I should have included it as part of today's farewell's entry but it was too late to get it included. 











I wish I could have more time to elaborate more the above last 2 projects; how I get inspired and get them done out but it's getting a little too late right now and I need to rest my back. I still have outstanding projects to be completed and yet to be shared. Stay tuned and I hope after my crafting journey with Graphic 45, with more flexibility in terms of time I hope I should be able to produce more creative and quality works in the future.

I do read the comments over at the blog as well and I can't help to feel grateful for all the compliments and kind works g45ers have left for me. It's all these little encouragements that made my day and I wish I could have a daily dose of it to keep me going. As for now, I think it's inevitable to feel a little sad...