Never too late for blessings

Mum passed me one of her Chinese New Year cards to make into a box when she saw the boxes I made using 'Condo cards' that I get in the mail. The boxes I made in the past had a separate cover and bottom 'cos I used 2 cards. Since this is a greeting card, 'both' are joined so I decided to do a flip cover. Yes, I do waste a bit at the end of the cover but I still like the result. Hope Mum likes it too :-)

BTW, it's also possible to make such boxes with a single condo card. I made one the other day but didn't take a pic. To maximise as in have as little wastage of the card as possible, score both short ends first then estimate the middle portion rather than just fold the card in half. The cover's always shorter. Email me if you need further clarity.

Cheerios!

I am Chinese

My Thai friend saw this and exclaimed, "It's so Chinese!". But, of course, my dear.

This is Chinese knotting cord with Chinese cloisonne beads. All items were bought from shops in Chinatown and knotted by a Chinese (me!), LOL!

Have a blessed weekend!

Bought more string!

And we made these...

DD made this. She wanted two different greens for contrast and simple straight lines (no spirals). She made most of it herself, cutting the lengths, affixing the flower charm and knotting/beading. I helped with holding the two ends while she made the adjustable bits and then I cauterized the ends.

I have two blues, maybe I'll try to make a blue version of this?

DD calls these DNA bracelets 'cos of the spirals. One of them is spiraling in a different direction from the other two. Can you tell which? I also used a different connector method, choosing metal findings instead. Clamped connectors with lobster hook and chain. The chain is so that bracelet's wearable on slim or larger wrists. DS likes the gun metal clasps. I think I'll make some more with those :-)

Have a blessed day!

All knotted up

Once in a while, I chance upon 'stuff'. Thing was, I happened to see a Martha Stewart tutorial on this and pinned it, reserving this project for another day. Her project was a floor mat, using rope. I'm thinking the tie-up-the-sailing-boat type, as in thick rope.

Anyway, I found this cord while searching for my beading string. Didn't find the string but remembered the tutorial and decided to make one with the cord. I used another tutorial, by the way, with similar results. Haven't figured out how to tuck in the tails yet.

It took me less than 10 mins to knot this but more than an hour tugging and tugging it so that it'll be a snug fit. For a cord of 0.8cm cross-sectional diameter, I ended up with 10cm x 7cm product. Perhaps a coaster?

Monkey see, monkey do

LOL! DD's not a monkey.

I think her decision to make one of her own was influenced by the colour of the only Chinese knotting string I have nor the fact that I happen to have beads in two shades of green that happen to go with the string colour pretty well.

Have a blessed afternoon!

ps: I'll be at NUH tomorrow for the staff bazaar. First time there, hope I won't get lost. I'm there for Little Statement but am bringing just a teensy bit 'cos the table space is limited.

Micro-macrame

I had this chinese knotting string for years. I crocheted something out of it but didn't like it 'cos this string is tough. It's not pliable but the stitch definition is very good. Perhaps this is why it's meant for knotting.

Made this after watching a video online. I didn't have the right tools but I found a very convenient beading tray ... Ferrero Rocher T24 box. It has the right length and depth for this mini project. This could have been longer with more beads but I under-estimated and cut the string too early. I made a longer adjustable strap at the end though.

Shopping trip with DD

DD and I went shopping and look what we found!

Lots of flower-shaped buttons, a super slim snap lock (DD wants this on her next clutch), some metal findings for the braids that we've been making.

This is taking a long, long time

This is taking such a long time. I can't be buying groceries for the sake of the plastic wrapper, right? Where am I going to get enough plastic to finish this project. As it is, I already started collecting few months back and I only have this. Thing is, each piece is folded and the final area that shows up is 1/32 of the original area. Imagine, if I want an area 10cm x 10cm, I'll need 32 x 10cm x 10cm.

Oh well, I think the end result will be very rewarding.

Prototype: laminated newspaper pouch

Iron-on vinyl is very expensive here in Singapore. It's $39.95 for a 2-yard roll. It's much cheaper overseas but if you do the math for the shipping, it's not cheap either. I found a cheap alternative. The effects are not as great  but methinks it's quite ok for a first try :-)

Are you a fan of Baby Blues?

Sunny rain?

T'was raining just now when the sun was shining brightly. I didn't see any rainbows though.

Braid on the go

DD and I were braiding the past few days. These are really pretty braids that can be done so easily, with cardboard braiding disks. We braid while waiting for the bus or while on the bus. This is a cheap craft to try out. We used recycled cardboard and $2 threads from Daiso.

Have fun!

Happy Mothers' Day!

DS, DD and I had a fun morning making these out of perler beads. It's been a while since we bought this huge bottle of beads from IKEA (do they still sell these?) T'was well over 6 years ago for sure but the beads are still fine. Simple iron over wax paper to melt the beads and voila!

Mum likes purple, Sis likes blue and I like yellow.

Have a blessed weekend!

Postscript...
I think I got this crafting love from Mum. I remember Mum cutting up those huge calendars into isoceles triangles that we'd roll up using toothpicks into paper beads. There was also the time when Mum brought home a huge roll of paper and we cut it up and made books out of them with calendar covers. I was younger than 10 then. I also remember the time when Mum taught me how to sew the sleeve of my first dress. I'm not into clothes, not for now anyway. I've only made 2 dresses, I think.

*grin*

Afternote, DS finally made his space invader but since there's only 1 invader, I took it with the rest of the gang.

How's the weather today?

Took this pic this morning minutes before the howling winds brought the rain. This rain wasn't as heavy as the one couple nights back. It was so heavy then that I had the SMS flood alert.

Thank you, NEA, for the alerts.

Have a blessed day!

Last of its kind

I can't remember when I bought this yarn. I have 2 colours, this one is denim and the other is a milky white. Both came on cones with 4-5 inches of yarn off the cone. I've since made several bags (with or without handles) and now I'm down to the last one for the denim yarn.

I like cone yarns. I like it that it's easy to handle (no snags) with no ends to handle / weave in. I like the denim blue one a tad more than the milky white. Maybe 'cos white gets dirty more easily? Both have multiple plies twisted loosely so that there's still a softness even with half-double crochets like what I used here. My more recent bags have a single crochet top followed by a chain stitch all round the brim for added security.

I'm gonna miss this yarn but there're still lots more to distract me :-)

Have a blessed day!

Lay the table

Nope, this is not table cloth nor a changing mat and the right side up is actually the microfibre. The bright and pretty waterproof side is face down on the table. Why?

Sometimes I bring stuff out to craft, especially to the pool during DD's lesson. While the table is generally clean, I don't want to risk anything that might jeopardise this. Small items like beads won't roll off the table either. Two birds, one stone.

Have a blessed day!