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Martha Stewart Craft Paint and Tools (by Plaid)

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Hope you have had a wonderful Mother’s Day… Are you ready for something new in Craft Passion? Yup, the Martha Stewart’s Craft Decorative Paint series (products by Plaid). A new craft materials that I wanted to try out when I first saw it in the market.

I knew Plaid launched this paint line in Q3/Q4 2011, a paint line and its accessories that every crafter would dream to own a set or at least a few bottles of them. Well, I am not that lucky to have the products delivered to my house from USA during the introduction period, but lucky enough to chance upon them in a craft shop in my country, Malaysia. As a good excuse to buy some thing for myself during Mother’s Day, I swept almost each of everything the shop has for the Martha Stewart craft decorative paint and its tools & accessories (too bad they ran out of stock for some I really wanted to buy). Check out the full range of what Plaid has to offer for the Martha Stewart’s series, here.

Wow…. I am still feel excited to be able to buy them locally, as I can do so many DIY projects besides the usual craft I did (should I grow more hands at the mean time?). If you have been close to me, probably you heard me telling that I bought a condominium on the island, that’s even excites me, with these paints, I think I can do so many thing for the new home… just hope I can get the key as soon as possible to start my dream home design and decoration Please scroll down to see my top 50′s project selection found among the fabulous craft bloggers. As you may notice, these paints are also good for embellishing fabrics, T-shirts and fiber… basically almost any surface. If I have these before hand, I should have used them for this, this and this. Never too late, I have great ideas to use them for some new tutorials. So…. STAY TUNED!!!!

WHERE TO BUY:

Shop & Workshop
Papier (M) Sdn Bhd
Lot 161, 1st Floor, The Curve, Mutiara Damansara, Malaysia.
Contact: 03-7725 4815
Website: http://papierlove.com
Blog: http://papierlove.blogspot.com/

If you would like to know where to get these fantastic paint line outside USA, visit Plaid‘s International Distributor list, here.

50 Inspiring DIY Projects to Make:

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Traditional Cellophane / Glass Paper Lantern

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Handmade Cellophane / Glass Paper Lantern is a sunset industry due to the tediousness and the skill needed to produce it. Not many youngsters are interested to learn and inherit the skill because it can’t make them a living. If I am able to find this special cellophane again, I will make a tutorial to show you how to make a traditional cellophane lantern.

Do you remember the Pagoda lantern I made 2 years ago… gosh!!! Can’t believe that it has been 2 years!!! I am still using it on every Mooncake Festival. Browse through the above album and you will find some creative lanterns I found in my local town ship.

Happy Mid Autumn Festival!!!

Red Round Lantern hanging high up by the roadside

I was overjoyed and thought that I should take some photos to show & tell. So…. here are the steps on how the ice cream potong is served the traditional way.

Hubby and I each ordered one and we both chose red azuki bean flavor.

The “uncle” took out a block of ice cream wrapped with plastic from the insulated tank. Cut it into a few pieces of rectangular shaped ice cream potong (by the way, “potong” means cut in Malay).

He inserted the wooden skewer into the ice cream potong. He told us that his fingers were crooked due to everyday’s “ice poking” and not many people can stand the pain. {Think}… it is like poking skewer into the stone hard popsicle, may be just a little softer than ice cube.

Peel off the plastic wrapper and serve before it melts in the warm weather here.

The yellow color ice cream potong is sweet corn flavor.

The red azuki bean and my half finish ice cream potong. As sweet as my old time memory, but, I still think that my red azuki bean popsicle recipe has the creamier taste and has more beans in it

It is only RM1.00 each (about US$0.36), and you should known the reason why……

Coming up next…… Chinese traditional cellophane lantern.

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This snowman is so cute, and I am going to make something similar soon.

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Well well well… I know I have not been updating my blog for more than a week. I was away with my family to our neighboring country, Singapore, for 5 days. Good excuse for being sluggish during this holiday season huh~ But, I brought back something for you… some Christmas decoration photos that I stumbled upon…. In fact, I snapped a lot, but picked only the best 10 to share here, hope they inspired you in one way or another.

Around this time of the year, many Asians would come to Singapore for the year end holiday. Singapore is one of my favorite countries too, foremost, I love their cleanliness. We spent some good time exploring the country and enjoying the Christmas atmosphere there. They have the best Christmas decoration in South East Asia, and, after Hong Kong in Asia.

Bring my memory back to my good old childhood days…. shopping in Singapore was our family’s year end activity when the currency exchange was so much better. We bought latest and trendy clothes to be wore during Chinese New Year which normally falls on February. My mum would buy her kitchen utensils and my dad bought his electrical appliances. We traveled into the country with half loaded trunk but came out with the vehicle so heavy that the base of the body would knock on the bump when crossing it Staying at my aunt’s house, playing with cousins, having McDonald or A&W for almost every meal, shop till the mall is closed, getting into the automatic car wash system… everything here was so excited in those days!!!! Wish that I could make some pieces of nice memories for my kids to keep too.

Oh my goodness, I was being spotlighted by “How Does She?“!!!! I feel like walking on air….. Why? Read it here!
Thank you, Alison , for this honor LOVE IT!!!

About “How Does She?“….

Shelley Missy and Alison started HowDoesShe.com because they were always asking each other, “How Does She do this, or How Does She do that”? They are trying to figure that out so their blog is dedicated to figuring out …just “How Does She” ?… How Does She craft? recycle? love her family? They love learning from others because while none of us are perfect, we all seem to be striving to become better. Better mothers, better wives, better women.

So, who are they actually?

Here are a little about each of them:

*Shelley is a spunky mother of three and an interior design guru who manages to flirt with her husband while balancing twin babies, a toddler, and her coupon binder.

*Missy is a mother of three (with one on the way) who holds a degree in English and in ticking people off. She is also very talented at taking professional pictures…take a look, you will agree!

*Alison is a mother of four, a craft genius, and a bossy business savvy extraordinaire{{Shelly and Missy wrote that…I think they were trying to find a nice way to call me bossy}} who tries to find ways to make puke all over the carpet funny.

Go and browse through their site and you will drown yourself in their beautiful photos and tutorials and of course all the good stuffs to make a better us….

Just some highlights to make you all droll….

*************************************************************************************************************

Alison recycled 2×4 wood block scraps into pretty decor -  stack-able photo / note holder

more on 2×4 block’s ideas, click  this & this….

Shelley showed how to make this adorable Napkin Dresser. Aren’t they cute?

Here is one for the St. Patrick’s day holiday:
Missy & her kids used girl scout boxes to make trap for catching leprechauns.

And this one, a perfect method to display your child’s art into an ART!!!
“Alison, I should have found this earlier to keep and show my daughter’s virgin artworks.”

Haven’t got enough? Pop over to “How Does She?” for more

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Be My Valentine - Piggy Pillow

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A few months ago, I received happy news from my childhood best friend that she was expecting twins (a girl and a boy). I was so excited over the good news that I decided to make 2 little gifts for the arrival of these 2 little angels. They were born end of last year and I visited them while my friend was still in a confinement center to recuperate from the child birth via C-section. This pair of piggy pillows became the welcoming gifts to these cute little pair of bundle of joys **kiss kiss**

The pillow is about 30cm x 24cm (12″ x 9.5″). I used pre-washed towels to sew them and made sure they were free from chemicals. I layered a high thread count fabric under the towels so that the poly-fill won’t escape out between the fibers.

To those who ever tried their hand on 3D plush or stuffed animal designing would probably understand what I have gone through with this project. It was truly a challenging process to come out with these two little piggies. I tried to use the free downloadable software I found in the web, but it was not as user friendly as it claims. I gave up on the software subsequently after an hour of trying. By referring to a few books, I rather sketched my own simple pattern than using this look-easy-but-not-easy to use software. There were lots of uncertainties as this was my first stuffed animal design, I kept on asking myself:  “will they look nice”, “will they look funny”, “what if they turn out ugly?” etc….. those self-create skepticism really left me with 2 nights of cold sweats. Did I said 2 nights? Or yeah, I spent 2 whole nights sewing them. The blue piggy took the longest as it was a first cum test piece, pink piggy is a lot easier as it is just a repetitive of what I have done, minus the mistake from which I have learned. Well, what can I say after completing them…. I fell in love with this pair of “Be My Valentine – Piggy Pillow”… I will make another pair for my kids and this time I will share the pattern and more photos with you as well…. coming soon!!!

Happy Valentines – Everyday is valentines if you have “Love” in your heart!!!

Update: The tutorial and pattern are ready, click here to go there.

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Bareback Halter Knit Top For Little Girl

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Update: Free pattern is available here!

Finally, I completed the top for my daughter, Nicole. Although I didn’t finish it in time for her birthday, I finished it just in time for her birthday party that we are throwing for her and her brother, Ian. Since the both of them were born in the month of September but 5 years apart, we decided to have a double birthday party.

She was so happy and excited about it that she couldn’t wait to wear it and asked to put it on early in the morning… her birthday party was in the evening though! She said she is going to wear it the whole day until the party ends…. I took her to the poolside for some nice photos of her wearing it. I just did Lasik on Friday so my vision is not 100%  perfect, glad to have my Canon DSLR, as it makes snapping photos easy and pretty, otherwise, I don’t think I can have any well focused photos to put up here LOL…
I am going to write this pattern but it will take a while for me to finish it as I am a novice in written pattern. I just want to make sure that I didn’t miss out any important steps in my pattern. I will post it up as soon as I finish it… may be just in time for your Spring and Summer Hopefully I am not “late” again for the pattern!!!

Some snap shots of them enjoying their birthday party. It is kind of difficult to get them to post beautifully in 1 photo somehow…. Nicole was still wearing the knit top I made for her.

And, before the party began, they got all wet in a small temporary swimming pool we set-up for them in our garden.

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The Story Of 2 Hedgehogs In The Park

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I really am in “spiky” fever these few days after making the Triangle Fold Coaster. I transformed those “spikies” into 2 hedgehog purses, which I have named Bluno and Reddy. They measure only about 10cm x 9cm. Bluno is a male hedgehog and Reddy is a female. They met each other in the park on one sunny morning, and this is how their story begins….. click “Next” below the photo to view the full storyboard of their meet-up.

Photographing them was not an easy task as compared with my previous crafts. I normally take indoor photos but this time it’s different. I need to pray for a bright day, cloudy is still acceptable but not rain. Then I have to lie down on the grass of my garden to snap some nice photos of them from low level angle. After taking 50 shots or so, my knees, elbows and body were all stained by grass and dirt . Well, at least I can shower and wash off the dirt, but the worst part is that my neck and shoulders were achy from all the  postures I am not usually in, in order to snap them from the ground. Could this be because I did not warm up enough or is it my age ? I salute those wildlife photographers who spend so much time and patience taking those jaw-dropping snapshots and video that we watch in National Geography.

I downloaded the hedgehog pattern from LollyChops (I am a big fan of Lolly) a few months ago and kept in my craft “library” since I know that it will inspire me to come up with something that is my own…. My granny’s rug rag gave me the inspiration in this design way before I published the rug rag post in my blog. I took out the pattern and started to modify it into a purse. Determining how to arrange the triangle is a little time-consuming for me as the dimension is not symmetrical, a little trial and error here and there. I am so glad I finally completed Bluno, and gosh, I couldn’t stop since then, so I made another one, Reddy More to come????

Well…. am I going to continue with the unfinished story of them….. shhhh it is a secret!!!! Subscribe to my feed or email and you wont miss out my latest post

Special thanks to Sumay who assisted me in narrating the story.

This type of rag rug has been a part of my life since childhood as both my late grannies used to make it and distribute to all their kids, aka, my parents, aunts and uncles. The rug shown in the picture above was not done by my grannies nor me. I bought it from the market. I wasn’t lucky enough to own one from them as they passed away many years before I had my own family. The one in my mum’s house which was made by my granny is already mangled  beyond recognition…. but my mum is still using it because it was handmade by her beloved late mother. If I am not mistaken, it should be more than 10 years old or even 20 years!!!! This type of rag rug is very good for absorbing water and trapping dirt eg. sand between the folds, yet easy to clean and it is durable.  My mum loves to step on it while doing her cooking. It keeps her feet away from the greasy and cold kitchen tile flooring and it also helps absorbing spilled water on the floor fast and neat… Yeah, for Chinese, it is always greasy and steamy when it comes to cooking!

I don’t know what’s the name for this rug…. can anyone tell me? I used to call it “Granny’s Rag Rug” but what is its common name? Vintage Rug With Folded Triangle? I have been google-search it but still can’t find what is the exact name…. If you know it please tell me by leaving a comment down there…. THANKS!!!!
Traditionally, the tiny “spikes” are supposed to be folded into triangle, but somehow the one I bought turn out to be “rectangle”. Be it triangle or rectangle, the “spikes” were then being machine sewn onto a piece of fabric base, starting from the outer row working inward to the center. Wonder whose feet is it in the photo? It is Nicole’s, my lovely daughter. She came back from school and saw this colorful rug on the floor. She loves it so much and doesn’t want to take her feet off it She’s even begging me to take photos of her with it. There she is, imitating that she is the lioness, “ROARING… errrr” at me!

This is only the piece I bought from the market. How will she react if I made one???? I can bet she will use it as a blanket if I made it big enough to cover her body in bed. By the way, she likes to stroke the soft corners of her little pillow while falling asleep, so I think she will like this tiny soft ” spike” for her to stroke to dreamland I will make one, 1 day and pass down to her when I collect enough fabric scraps from my project’s leftover…. Or will someone feel so kind to sponsor some to me so that I can implement this plan faster? It needs quite an amount of fabric to make though.

Hopefully I can make as many rag rug as I  can to all my kids and grandchildren, the same way as what my grannies did. One day, they will still continue to call it Granny’s Rag Rug when I am gone!!!!

Continue from Part 1…..

I have a confession to make, that I have been peculiar about weaving since childhood, don’t know why, but the interlacing between the warp and the weft threads is so harmonious that they hold each other into places, this is what I like about it. When ever I was at Little Penang Street Market,  I would stand beside this foot-treadle floor loom and watch this lady demonstrating the weaving process. When she asked me if I wanted to have a try, I shied away, sigh! I was worried that my hand, foot and eye coordination is so bad that I made a mess…. ha ha ha…. but I regreted immediately after I turned her offer down. Next visit, I would definately have a try on it, I promised.

The woven threads can be used to make into various products, key-chain, book mark, doll, vest, table runner, scarf, creative decoration like the rooster head in the photo and many more….

You are going to be amazed by the creativity of this guy. Watching his hand twisting and turning the aluminium wire by using only a pair of long-nose plier. Look at the 3 little robots and all those tricycles he had made, I totally agreed that creativity is only limited by his imagination.

This will be related to my next vital goal, to set up a stall there and promote my handmade, especially in bags. So….. I have to survey what has been around in the market and what can I offer to make a different.  So far, I have seen lots of tote and recycled bags hanging around, kind of a hmmmm….. normal!!!  I think I should be able to make an exceptional shine if I were to “parade” all my bag’s creations there…. ha ha ha!!!! Agree with me?

Not only handmade, there are some stalls selling antiques and collectibles.  Among them, I like the tricycle the most, astonished by its detailing in the craftmanship – just look at the wheel and the chain, not to mention the metal carving on the passenger cart, the craftmanship is just stunning. Worth the value to collect!!!!

Looking for some nice and one of the kind glass decorations, search no more, just come to Little Penang Street Market, a place where you can buy handmade of various crafts. Glass painting in this stall is pretty and special, you can never find one of these in any department store, they are simply…. AWESOME!!!

Here is another special stall I found and would like to share with you. This stall is selling wreckages salvated from the rubble of abandoned heritage buildings and ganished them into some meaningful piece of decorations in the form of memorial plates. They were very old roof tiles collected from some dumping sites where the owners refurbished their historic buildings. Since George Town , the capital of a former British settlement of Penang, were being listed as Unesco Heritage Site in 2008, we are glad that the government is paying lots of attention in maintaining and preserving those previously inconspicuous architecture.

Honestly speaking, there are too many crafts and stalls to cover in just 2 posts. If you have a chance, come and visit Little Penang Street Market which is happening at every last Sunday of the month, I am sure you will be delighted with the crafts displayed and sold here.