Gone swimming

DD started swimming few months back but it was only today that I thought to make a waterproof bag for her  to carry all her barang barang.
She has 2 boards, one for arms, one for feet, she says. Wet bag for her swimsuit (can't remember if I posted an entry on this), drawstring bag for change of clothes (nor this?) and .... aha! A plastic bag for her slippers. Hmmm, maybe I should make a waterproof shoe bag for her too? Alas, there isn't enough material for that 'cos this tote took up almost 1 yard of fabric. You can't tell from the pic but the handles are 4-ply so there's more fabric than meets the eye. I added a panel of pockets and reinforced the handles.
Have a blessed weekend!

And the bunny hopped away

Well, not really. DD claimed it.

Remember this Wilmington print of Bunny's Day Out? I centred one of the uber-cute pics of the bunnies on the cover of this journal. This is the first one that has the front flap overlapping so that the pic will not be obscured. I quilted it a bit, partially to frame the bunnies, partially to add some texturing detail. (Hmm, at this moment I just realised that I forgot to take a pic of the spine, but you can imagine it, ya?) Bright lime green gingham on the inside with alternating signatures of green and blue paper stitched to the spine using criss-cross longstitch. This time, I added beads to the page marker. The metal snaps were chosen by DD to 'blend' in with the picture.
Have a blessed rainy morning!

Green thumbs

More than a month ago, I chanced upon a very pretty garden at the foot of a HDB block in Choa Chu Kang. It was a public area but tended with TLC by a resident. It was evident that a lot of effort went into the maintenance of this place with the myriad of flowers and even a fruiting olive tree. After admiring and asking lots of questions, he let me pluck some seeds to bring back and told me to go back in a few months for the orange colour flowers that had yet to bloom.

DD planted them a few days after I came back with the seeds. We waited and waited. Nothing sprouted. We waited some more, nothing. One fine day, I decided to water more freuquently than usual and the seedlings came! This is the 9th and the latest.

 Made these 2 today, in between weeding the seedlings and other distractions.

This is all green. Green exterior, green lining, green stitching (well, at least the ones on the spine), green deliberately-mismatched metal snaps, green paper and green page marker. I machine quilted the cover for fun :-)

I think I have more than 4 colour combinations of this linen print. This is the pink version. An older post shows the green version. Maybe I'll make a series :-) Criss-cross longstitched six signatures of paper from sustainable forests.
Have a blessed day!

Settling for Less

Extracted from parentingbydesign.com

Num. 32:5: "If we have found favor in your eyes," they said, "let this land be given to your servants as our possessions. Do not make us cross the Jordan" (NIV).

When Moses divided the Promised Land among the twelve tribes of Israel, the Reubenites and Gadites weren't satisfied with their inheritance and asked Moses if they could possess the area east of the Jordan River instead. He reluctantly agreed as long as they promised to help the other tribes conquer the land.

After honoring their agreement to fight with their brothers, they did not live with the other Israelite tribes but returned to their land outside the borders of the Promised Land. In fact, they were so far from Israel's place of worship, they had to build their own altar just to remind their children they were Israelites!

As Christians, we may live "inside the Land" in some areas of our lives, but choose to live "outside the Land" in others. What areas of your life are you reluctant to surrender to God? Do you hold onto actions, habits, and attitudes that are outside the borders of godly behavior and make it difficult for others to identify you as a Christian?    

What areas of your life are you reluctant to surrender to God? 

Do you recognise this?

Last Sunday's newspapers came in a advertorial pocket showcasing LV's first floating store. Read more about it here. My first thought when I looked at it wasn't about how amazing this structure designed by award-winning architect Peter Marino (does this name sound familiar? Are you a Patricia Cornwell fan?) was. I was thinking, hey, I can make a notebook out of this. How should I place it. Should I have it landscape or portrait or ...?

This rainy morning, I finally had some time and decided I'd make 2 notebooks out of them. Single signature of paper from sustainable forests saddle-stitched with the knot on the inside. As I was deciding how to cut the covers, I decided to try something new this time and included pockets on the inside flaps.
I'm giving these away this Friday at noon. Either leave a comment here or in the chatbox or Like the pic on facebook.

Have a blessed day!

In a flurry

I'm still here.
Listening to the Chipmunks and Chipettes on youtube while I type this out. Lots of distractions so I've not been consistent recently in blog updates. These are some behind the scenes pics.

Bought this brown suede-like fabric from Arab Street because I like the texture. Used this as the prototype for DS' mouse pouch. Wonder if he'll prefer this instead. Fits my digital camera as well. DS wanted one for his mouse so that the tail won't be tangled up when he dumps it in his bag. Maybe I should make a larger one with 3 compartments, for the mouse, charger and earphones. Lots of wires running all over the place.

 Made these about a fortnight ago but didn't post pics. These are the WIPs. There are some more that have been completed and given away. Yup, it's fun to give away stuff...sometimes :-)
Can't decide whether to sell these at the KKH Bazaar in Oct. I should be working on clearing orders.

Found my Cascade yarn (50% superfine alpaca, 50% wool). The colour looks so washed out 'cos it's actually a rich grape colour. This will be another garter-stitched throw that will hopefully be completed by the time it gets colder towards the end of the year. I only have 10 skeins of this so it won't be as big as the orange one.
Have a blessed weekend!

Thank you....for having a heart!

We've been rather busy these September school holidays. It's been only a week but it seems much longer with the myriad of activities that saw us clocking in more than 150 mins of 'workout' a day. It's been tiring fun!
For all those whose orders are pending, my apologies! I'll get started on them from tomorrow evening and thank you so much for your patience :-)

Do you know what these are?
Singtel will donate $1 for every heart they get from the postal service. If you have the Today paper, check page 11 of 5Sep issue and page 9 of 6Sep issue. Cut the rectangle out and fold a heart according to the instructions and drop it off at the nearest postbox by 21Sep.
We had a fruitful time collecting these from our neighbours. Not only did a neighbour give us pulot hitam (sorry, no pic, I ate it before I realised). Others were amused by DD and her friend's script when asking for the papers. We had dogs and cats who came to the door before the owners too. I got the high score of 4 from 1 household though I don't know how she managed to get 3 copies of 5Sep and 1 of 6Sep.
Tiring but I think we'll do it again next year.
Personal request to Singtel: last year the heart was available 5 days in the week but this time there were only 2. Perhaps you could consider printing on 5 again?
Have a blessed day!

Phew...finally!

DD's half-done tote has been on my sewing table for months. She started out enthusiastically, planning and picking the fabrics, cutting them to size and sewing them together. She made the interior as well, with a fully lined pocket with 2 pen slips and a larger (huge!) one for things unknown.

DD has a green Daiso pouch that she puts her books and stuff in but I decided that I might as well take what she started and make it into something she would use. After all, it's been lying there for months.
This is an A4 size zipper pouch with pockets inside. I used 7oz interfacing so that there's lots of padding since she's gonna hug it. Used the last heart zip from Daiso. (Aside: wonder why Daiso doesn't sell these anymore :-( )
Have a blessed day!

Beware of imitations!

I first saw something like this months ago. Can't remember where though, either on the web or at one of those Korean stationery shops. I last saw something similar at a pushcart outside NTUC Bt Merah about a week ago. It was pastel pink/white plastic with metal snaps. Whoever thought of this is surely a fun person :-)

This is my version, no copyright infringement intended. Made from green quilting fabric from Australia and resin snaps. I interfaced it for a bit of structure. DD's new samosa :-)
Have a blessed day!

In a rush!

This is the final teacher's day pressie and I just completed it. What a last minute thing :-(

This teacher likes black and white so both the exterior and interior are these colours. Coordinating oxford prints imported from Korea. I machine-quilted the exterior for a change and it sure reminds me of an evening clutch. :-)
Have a blessed day!