It's the middle of the year and it's time to prepare papercrafts for my Christmas Craft Party. Last year had been successful and this year, I'm ticking off boxes of products to be made available to sell. I'm not even half-way through but I'm trying to experiment about some projects.
There is no specific date yet but it will be sometime in November 2009. It will be fun! :)
Christmas Craft Party
Thank You, President Cory
President Corazon C. Aquino
(25 January 1933 - 1 August 2009)
Woman
Wife
Mother
President
Hero
Seems like not long ago when I met her.
(The video is a Studio23 tribute)
Incomparable Achievement
I may have done a few things in my life that I'm proud of but nothing, NOTHING, could ever compare to being able to teach my two nieces to read and comprehend. Proudest moment of my life was when I heard them read their first word.
Crocheted Flowers
The crocheted flower on this card is glued over a hand-cut butterfly shape I copied from the green one on the first row here. Not an exact shape, but I like how it turned out. :)
Funny how things change, though. I used to read Sweet Dreams pocketbooks during Home Ec class, and my embroidery and crochet projects were done by my mother. Well, I may start them for a bit, then she would finish them. I was that bad about these domestic-y things. I still am in a lot of ways. And what do I do now? I hand-stitch on paper and make crocheted flowers for my cards and scrapbook pages.
A few weeks ago, I was practising my crocheting skills (because there happened to be a crochet hook and a ball of string I both use for completely different reasons) which is just alright as it is, but there's one thing about it that I despise a lot: counting. I started this because I saw a card with crocheted flower and I thought, that looks so nice! At first, I didn't count my chains so I ended up with a variety of .... er... designs, if you can call it that. Shoved them into a drawer and forgot all about it. Then after a couple of months, I'd really wanted some of those on my niece's 7th birthday album that I'm working on so I decided to have a go at it again and... breathe.... count! Yay! I got to kindergarten, at last! So, below are a few of the flowers I did.
Now, don't expect anything more complicated than this. This is as complicated as I could get. :)
If you know me and you know my attitude towards crocheting, you'd think I would just buy ready-made stuff to remedy my want. But the thing is, I'm easily bored about these things, and I've known that since I was a kid. Therefore, I know that if I buy a package of them and wouldn't be able to use them in one go, I know that I won't use the leftovers anymore in other projects. Besides, I really, really don't want lots of unused things in my stash. I have an extremely small space and I don't want to cram it. It's already crammed as it is.
Same thing with alpha stickers or rub-ons. It's either I cut the letters out if I want dimension, or print what I want to say from the computer, or just write it by hand. It's more economical and besides, what do I do with the leftover Zs? If you prefer the stickers or rub-ons or stamps, it's ok because they are alright too. This is just a personal choice. I don't mind those extra time doing them because it's fun. It's creative fun!
June Update: Mulberry Paper
I love mulberry paper. It's thin. It's textured. And can be adhered very, very easily if a bit messy. But that's ok! I make sure that the surface to be adhered to is painted with white acrylic first so the softness of the color shows. These utility and patient card boxes for a dentist/friend are wrapped in light yellow and lavender mulberry paper, which are similar to her clinic's color scheme.
I tried cutting out paper flowers out of them too, and it turned out gorgeous. I love it. I think I'm going to experiment on different shapes and layers of flowers and butterflies in various colors. These are a couple of thank you cards for my friends, Linda and Katja, who are two of the most generous people I know. Love you, ladies! I'll send them out when I could get out. :)
Most Annoying Questions
1. When are you going to have a boyfriend (or girlfriend)? If you're single.
2. When are you getting married? If you're in a relationship.
3. When are you going to have a baby? If you're married and have no kids.
4. Why don't you have kids already? You're not getting any younger. If you're married for a few years and have no kids.
Well, it's none of your business. If ever you have any compulsion to ask any of the above questions, stop yourself because they are NEVER welcome.
It may be well-intentioned but still... DON'T. Just don't.
I want this... I mean, really, really want this....
(This photo is obviously not mine, but I hope one day I'll get to take a photo of my own copy.)
It's the Journal of Impossible Things by Prof. John Smith from 1913.
It's a journal full of drawings and thoughts about the Doctor from Prof. Smith's dreams, and it feels nostalgic, quaint, sad and full of memories. And for someone like me who does things with my hands including handmade journals, this is very, very appealing.
I'd love to have this. I mean, really.
