“A little boost to my Artist aspiration” – My table Easel

Today I give myself a little boost to feed my artist fantasy – an easel. I had been looking at all forms and shapes of easel glad to have finally found one that fit my needs in terms of budget and practicality, surprisingly this one has no brand or its not branded, made-in-China. The price is about Singapore $65 and I got a little bonus in the form of a small discount as it was the display unit as well as the last unit in stock.

I like the compact and carry-on feature. It is made of wood so it is quite heavy to lug around, probably great for indoor but may be a challenge for the outdoor like if I am thinking to attempt a long match into the woods…so if that day comes I am sure to share my little adventure with you.

Photo of my work space and how I manage  oil pastel crumb control.

Here is an idea to use disposable plastic table cloth to protect the table top and floor area as the oil pastel crumb does fall onto the wrong places and smear at the worst places too.

I believe in taking some time to enjoy moment to yourself to do something just for fun or get lost in the fleeting moment of fantasy to be who you dream you like to be…for me I dream to be an Artist. Thanks for reading and I wish your beautiful dreams come true too.

 

The Chief (Art Doll)

It gives me great joy to share my doll creation titled “The Chief”

This doll is exhibited at FFAA Prairies Show (Canada)

from 4 May to 28 Nov 2014

Show venue and details:

Enterprise Square Galleries

10230 – Jasper Ave. Edmonton

May 4 – August 31, 2014

Opening reception and prize presentation May 4, 7 PM

PageMaster Artstream Centre

11340 120 St. Edmonton

Sept 1 – Sept 30, 2014

Dow Centennial Centre Gallery

8700 – 84 ST, Fort Saskatchewan

October 2 – November 28, 2014

Oct 2, 7:00 PM

 

Visit Focus on Fibre Art Association at

http://www.focusonfibrearts.org

Spring Time (Door Hang)

I created this door signage with oil pastels. I bought the canvas ready mounted from a Art supply store. I love the seasons although I am staying in a tropical country but my soul would wander into the northern hemisphere.

Paint it like a Pro!

A picture is worth 1000 words…..

Since I love sewing and painting I started the idea of making small art quilts to fill my walls. They are easy to maintain (can be washed) and keep too.

I think the combination of colours and fabrics can really bring attention to the center piece. Each piece is just fun to make and I hope you get around to do something you like too.

“Starry Night in the Church” – Fabric paint : painting and sponge stamping.

“Some Days you are a Tree, some Days you are a Dog” – Fabric paints stamping with sponge (the tree)

“Spring time in a Farm” – Acrylic paints on fabric

“Misty Mountains” – Fabric paints (spray-on) to create the mist, free-motion quilting on sewing machine for the clouds.

Using Plastic Mesh Bag Frame to give your Bag “Structure”

Another alternative crafting technique to consider if you like to make your bag with some form of structure or shape. I use plastic mesh Bag frame to make this bag, the flap of the bag I use magnetic fastener. These plastic mesh can be found under the knitting section of a craft store or online stores (type “plastic mesh frame for bag”).

Sometimes I like a bag to have some form and be able to “stand” on its own, using fuseable or iron-on interface is one alternative but it does create bubbles or air pockets over time on the surface of the fabric. Using too heavy weight inserts is no-no for my home sewing machine.

Bobbin Winder

Stretch your dollar! My sewing machine bobbin winder needs repair so instead of spending a lot of money, time and effort to lugged the heavy machine to the shop for repair I found an alternative solution :-

I bought this at Spotlight Singapore for a little less than SDG $50, you can source it from some online sites too. This little gadget works and I am contented 🙂

 

 

Different Materials to Dress up your Bag!

Recently I have been experimenting with different materials to dress up my bag creations as the bag designs are fairly simple so a center piece of embellishment seem to do the trick. Of course considerable time and effort goes into shopping and even at times sourcing for them and takes makes it even more worth the while. I believe there has to be “fun” in work too.

The latest materials embellishment I have tried are : Feathers, Chinese Knotted Buttons, Sea Shells.

So the next time when some fancy material catches your eye just buy them first and keep them in your stash until the creative bug bites you.

I have posted here some of my latest creations for an idea of what you could do next….enjoy.

Fabric Gift Wrap – Experiment using Fabric to wrap

Hamper Wrap using Fabric

I created this hamper-wrap using fabric. The idea is inspired and adapted from “Furoshi” which is a Japanese form of fabric wrapping or carrying cloth using beautiful silk square fabric.

For this hamper wrap I had actually used my leftover fabric from some other projects. The general idea is to cover the basket with fabric as it contains three glass jars. The main idea is to tie knots to anchor or secure the base of the item to wrap (in this case it is the basket), additional fabrics are knot again to serve as handles,  some creative masters even make folds or pleats from the ‘excess’ fabric which serve as decoration. As this hamper is to be given for Christmas, I have added some Christmas frills to the mood.

If you like fabric and have excess of it, this is one great idea to use as fabric is extremely easy to use and even save money, I had use cotton fabric here.

However if you like to take it one level up you can even sew up two square fabrics of different colours as any knot or tie makes a visual treat when viewed from different angle.  Maybe if you are feeling very generous, purchasing a silk scarf as a wrap to your gift item is not wasted as the scarf is recycled or meant to be.

Have loads of fun experimenting with fabric wrap and Merry Christmas to you in advance 🙂

Food Jars Fabric Covers

I love cooking (besides crafting) and my fascination with food packaging like food jars decoration always attract or distract my attention. There are tons of beautiful images and great idea on the internet but I guess there is still a little room for a few more ideas.  Save the environment by using recycled food jars from jam or sauces.

Materials needed : Glass Container with lid, rubber band, ribbons, wire-tie and even optional items like spoons

Here are some of photos  to share that I have “dress-up” for giveaway.

Pickled Green Chilli with Lemon Grass Condiment

For this food jar packaging I have added some frills like wooden spoon and ribbon to the fabric cover. As the pickle contain vinegar I had to match it with non-metal spoon, these small wooden spoon look rather rustic and they are not expensive. I bought them at Lim’s Art and Craft (Singapore) for $1.60 each.

Acar or Pickled Salad Condiment

This food jar packaging is rather basic, fabric cover and wired-furry tie. The colours are co-ordinated to match the colour of my condiment.

Well hope this give you another general money-saving and home-made idea for gifts, it is not how much the value of the item matters but the thoughts and prettiness that counts.

Sewing Machine Cover or Cosy

Finally a cover for my beloved sewing machine.

I have been looking at all the beautiful and wonderful sewing machine covers out there; from images on the internet to even quilt shops that I had visited. The images struck on mind for ages, I guess I am going crazy but my sewing machine does talk to me too.  She  would asked me “when am I going to sew something in return of all the hard work and beautiful projects she had completed for me?” So today I’ve made this gift to reward my beloved tool that has been the centre of my happiness in terms of sewing joy and creations.

Simple Assembly and Sewing Concept – 1 panel or flap, sew 2 joints and sew 2 corners from the joints

From what I have observed and partly had set me back was the “complications” in sewing a cover, just too many prices of fabric panels to assemble and joining of seams. As I am rather hard pressed for time I was thinking long and hard how to make it easy to assemble and sew. I did this cover in one sitting or an evening, about 4 hours plus sewing time.

My cover actually consist of only one piece / panel, fold the panel to half then sew the side of each seam. To achieve the “box” top just fold the corners (of the joined seam), draw a straight line across the corner and sew on the line. Trim off the corner after that, turn the cover wrong side and out and “walla” !

Centre Fabric as Main Attraction / Focus

My main attraction of the cover is a piece of furnishing fabric sample I saved since years ago, I only have one piece of one design as it was bought from a furnishing shop that I happened to chanced upon while doing some other errands for the day. As I had bought some items from the store I took the chance to ask the lady who was dismantling a fabric sample book whether she could sell me two pieces. I bought it at $1 dollar! The fabric is so beautiful but there are some minor defects in terms of “runaway” threads on the surface which makes it unsuitable to make as a item for sale or swap.

Hope you like this fun idea of adding some “design” to your sewing craft room and dressing up your sewing machine. The manufacturer’s cover is always so plain and just boring, having some variety is the spice of life!

My First Sashiko Project – Sofa Cushion Top Covers

Final Entry : 8 August 2010

I’ve finally decided to finish my first Sashiko project. The backing material is ready-made-quilt-backing material I bought from Spotlight. Hope you like it too.

Updated Entry : 12 August 2009

I’ve finally decided to finish my first Sashiko project. The backing material is ready-made-quilt-backing material I bought from Spotlight. Traditional Sashiko are done in blue colour material but mine is done is brown (as I did not have blue material) so hope you like the new idea too.

Done. Finally completed after a four-month journey. I am happy now.

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Updated Entry : 3 July 2009

Design modification : This is the other panel ‘scale down’ from the original one which was a ‘three-panel design’; reason being the stitches and joints are uneven (not close enough to be ‘Sashiko’-standard). My other half just suggested it could probably be a pillow case and  wouldn’t it be sweet if it is a set of two pillowcase of similar style. My first thought wato sew it into a kitchen towel.

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Updated Entry : 29 Jun 2009

Design modification : I have decided to ‘scale down’ the design to one panel instead of the original one which was a ‘three-panel design’; reason being the stitches and joints are uneven (not close enough to be ‘Sashiko’-standard).

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Updated Entry : 16 Jun 2009

Actually the title should read as “Sashiko wannabe”. My stitches are uneven and some lines join when they meet. I try very hard to concentrate but at the back of my mind there are so many images ‘wooshing’ past. This is ‘running stitch’ at the simplest form yet I cannot manage it!
Did you see the cartoon ‘Kung Fu Panda’; if you did you will understand how I feel…I am desperate to learn Sashiko yet I am so clumsy in my moves. If this project is for an exam I’ll go beg my mom to finish my project but my mom is 82 years old now instead she’ll beg me to leave her alone! 😦
…and Thank you for reading my ranting.

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First Entry : 29 May 2009

This is my first Sashiko project “work in progress” stage that consists of embroidery pattern, craft supplies and reference books.

Pattern idea : The pattern is my own concept, idea is inspired from the Sashiko reference books that I had borrowed from the public library.

Pattern drawing method: The entire pattern is drawn directly onto the fabric (not traced from anywhere). The visual highlight is three circles and each different motif in each circle, the motifs are drawn from a stencil plate. I draw the gird lines using long rulers (I  used two rulers to get a 90 degree angle, I tried this method for gauging and drawing the horizontal and vertical gird lines, it is long-ruler used for dressmaking). To draw circles, I used my dessert bowl.

Fabric : I cannot find a suitable “indigo” coloured fabric. I am also not willing to spend on fabric because I am too new to the craft. Cotton fabrics I came across was either too light-weight and tighty weave. I chose this fabric for the colour, weight and rather loose weave; actually I found it among my mother’s stash.

Portability: I used a two-plastic box container set to organize my needles, needle threader, thimbles and thread because I have plans to do the stitching whenever I am with time to spare. Maybe I should get a sewing basket.

I am ready to start since I have a vision or concept of how this finished project should look, but I did not give myself any deadline as I wish to do this in my own pace.

Hope the general idea to start something is useful in any way especially if you like me face limited time and resources for proper tools for grid line drawing or pattern tracing materials to work on.