The May that was; Hong Kong Trip

I would like to say I’ve been busy but the honesty of the matter is I’ve been hit by a lazy bug when it comes to my blog updates. I guess the true culprit would be PROCRASTINATION and as things started to pile up, the P word just got bigger and bigger. 

OK, lets start. Going back in time to May 2012. I’ve decided to take a breather from bazaars for the whole month of April with the intention on working on Mother’s Day and Teacher’s Day promotion. That kept me quite busy when orders for my handbag organizers came in. Thank you Dr. Zeti Hussein and Teacher Ila Abdul for your orders. I hope your friends and colleagues enjoyed them as much as I had fun making them. 

Next Stop: Hong Kong

This is an unscheduled trip. Azrai was going for a trade exhibition and I asked if the kids and I could tag along. Long story short, we packed our bags and flew to Hong Kong on Arwen’s birthday. So it’s like a big 2 year old birthday present for Arwen; Celebrating it in Hong Kong Disneyland. Here’s some  pictures on our first day in Hong Kong at Avenue of Stars:

Day 2 in Hong Kong lead us to Hong Kong Memory Chest. I’ve been researching for a cutter just before we left for Hong Kong and had my mind set on Sizzix Big Shot. A quick check on the store locator in Sizzix website gave me an email address for HK Memory Chest and I send a quick email asking if they have one in stock. The reply came promptly from Angela and what luck, they are running a promotion for their birthday celebration. We went there and the very friendly and ever so helpful Erika showed us the Big Shot and a quick demo. I’m just sold not only because the price was right, but also the excellent customer service given by Erika. I just love spending time there. I wish I could have a studio like that. Check out the pictures, you’ll know what I mean :)

I have a quick video of Danial with the Big Shot :)

And since I’m already at it, here’s some more pictures of us in Hong Kong Disneyland:

The kids (and both Azrai and I) had a great time there despite of the heat. We stayed until the end where they had the firework display. The kids kept talking about it for weeks after we got home. I’m just happy that they have this beautiful memory of their childhood when they grow up :)

A race against time for Manizer Bazaar Attack!

I’m joining forces with SewFabby and taking part in this bazaar. I’m having a mild panic attack now trying to get things ready for it. Here are a few things I’m going to put out for sale at the booth this weekend.

DSLR Camera Strap Cover @ RM27.00 a piece

Designer Cotton Baby Bibs @ RM14.90 each

Designer Cotton Pacifier Clips @ RM9.90 each. Add RM2.00 for personalization with alphabet beads

Handbag Organizer #1

Handbag Organizer #2

Came and show some love :)

Another Giveaway

No reason to have another giveaway, I just feel like it. This time it’s on my Facebook page. It’s so easy, just go to my page: Made by Rozi Rahman on Facebook and look for this picture and leave a comment. The giveaway closes on 31 December 2011. Fancy winning a handbag organizer to welcome the new year? 

The prize is the one at the back, Geobloom from Sanctuary Collection by Patty Young. The one in front is already sold :) 

So many things to tell

A quick update. I made these beauties for Siti Hajjar, proud owner of Smokin’ Salma. She gave me October 14 as a deadline but at the same time invited us for Smokin’ Salma’s 1st anniversary on October 10, 2011. Since I’m already set to see her that monday, I rushed these handbag organizers and made all three in one day! That’s a personal record created!

Notice how my pictures are now seamless with the background. I’ve always wanted to do this and finally managed to do so just recently. Sheila of Nice Craft by Sheila Wahid gave a link in my favorite group on facebook, GMJ Club on how Jaja Craft editted her pictures in her blog; JajaKraft. I tried and tweaked it in my Photoshop. I checked out other tutorials on YouTube too and learned how to use the dodge tool. It worked out ok but the amount of time I spent to edit the pictures made me search for an easier solution. Then, Yatie Manan gave me the answer. She shared with me how she edited her pictures by using the Polygonal Lasso Tool to crop her pictures and layer it on a white background and add shadows to it. I tried it and simply love it! Now I can even touch up the pictures with the dodge tool. My eternal thanks to those who generously share their tips on how to edit pictures. 

OK, Back to my craft story. I made a few of these camera bag inserts too. Made adjustments on the steps to finish the inserts. I prefer to call it a camera cube. I like the neater finishing on the top edge compared to the top stitching I did on mine but this means I have to struggle and wrestle the foam through a small opening compared to the initial process. Still, that’s a small price to pay for the end result.

Last Sunday, October 16; I went to  GMJ Gathering in Shah Alam. It was a blast! Having a bunch of ladies with common interest under one roof. Even though it’s the first real life meeting for most of us, but we bond almost immediately. We instantly connect and talking and sharing like old friends. Crafting and sewing bridge the gap between us. It was a great fun. What was supposed to end at 12pm, lasted till much-much later for some of us (you ladies know who you are :)) Thank you Sheila for car pooling. 

And this is a picture of me with Jueleha Sakiman; my asrama mate. We were in Asrama Puteri Seremban. She went to Convent and I KGV. Imagine how cool it is for us to meet after 20 years. She’s still the same ever. Unlike me, I’ve expanded exponentially :P

Wednesday, October 19; I got these stuff I ordered on amazon.com. I actually just wanted the Micro four thirds puffer from Gary Fong but since I’m shopping, I added a snap pliers kit, eyelet pliers and printable fabric sheets. For the love of me, I have no idea what I’d do with them yet but I know when the time comes, all these will come in handy. 

Last night, I scrap busted and made these luggage tags to sell at Azzah’s booth in Etsy’s Craft Market this coming October 29 in JayaOne. Again, this is the birth of a combination of ideas. Below is the version 1.0 with the fabric strap. For the new version 1.1, I used elastic band for the strap. Yatie Manan, the tutorial diva in GMJ Club shared a link on scrap busting and I saw and adapted the elastic band idea to my luggage tag. This is the magic of putting your heads together with like-minded people; creativity mode grows exponentially too :)

More on the craft market, check out Azzah’s post in her blog here.  I better start cracking on my Saturday; Fabric hunting, birthday present shopping, birthday party and more items to make for the craft market. Have a great weekend folks!

When I’m in the mood-everything move smoothly

I received a few enquiries for handbag organizers a few weeks ago and recently finalized the choice of fabric, design and payment with the customers. The first one is my design made with Lovely by Sandy Gervais and a matching turqoise linen. I love the combination. I made this from scratch in one day after the client confirmed and transferred payment to my account. As standard procedure, I usually ask for 2-3 weeks grace period to make an item but since I’m in the mood for some sewing, things run smoothly. Even if I have to rip some seams, I take it in my stride. It’s part of the process :) How Z.E.N. is that?

I made another version of a handbag organizer which only has pockets and dividers inside to fit into a small handbag. This organizer is approximately 8.5”(L) x 4.5”(H) x 3” (D). My clients sent me a draft of how she wanted the organizer to be and the measurements. I have to figure out how to make the dividers and other compartments. It turned out quite neat too. I like this and will put it in the Product and Pricing page soon.

Then, another client asked for a passport holder that holds four passport. She asked for a combo that’s no longer available but I managed to salvage a few scraps and put together this passport holder for her. She wanted the names of her family members embroidered on it. I chose green thread. I hope she approves. This holder measures approximately 8” (H) x 9”(L) when opened and 8”(H) x 4.5” (L) when closed. It’s the first, I may want to tweak the design a bit more and perhaps add a closure as it did become a little bulky when all four passports went inside. I made this today. Again, everything went smoothly till the very end on the last name, half way, the machine stopped and the warning came out “bobbin thread is empty”. *sigh* I took a deep breath, unhook the hoop and replace the bobbin. Part of the process, part of the process... I keep telling myself :)

And oh, by the way, I made another Ilisa Back-Tie Bow Dress with some cotton fabric from a local textile shop (Kamdar) for a cousin who’s giving it to her grand-niece. She asked me to make one for her grand-niece quite a while back but I didn’t get around to doing it until recently. Part of the reason was I wanted to send her some clothpads so I figure I might as well stitch up a dress quickly and send them together. The Ilisa dress is so simple to make that I’m addicted to it. It was just another reason to make one :)

I think one of the reason I’m on a high key is from the support and encouragement of a few craft groups on Facebook; namely GMJ Club and Program 1H1P. I’m excited to share my interest and what knowledge I have in photography with the members as I believe in decent pictures for your blogs and online shops. No more pictures taken from handphone cameras. I shared a simple tip of making a DIY diffuser because a lot of them shy away from shooting with a flash. I showed them my DIY polystyrene cup and gave them links to make a DIY diffuser with a polystyrene plate

My GF2 with a DIY polystyrene cup diffuser. This picture was taken with Iphone

This is an example of a polystyrene plate DIY diffuser I found on the internet

Maybe I’ll do one blog entry for that later. :)  

Handbag Organizer ver 1.0 with Amy Butler’s Lotus Pond in Ivory

 Today, my girlfriends and I are going to celebrate Siti Hajjar Abdul Kader’s birthday. She’s the owner of Smokin’ Salma in Solaris Dutamas. She’s very much into handbags and everytime we go out on a girls’ date, she never wears the same handbag (unlike me, I’d go out with a diaper bag even when Arwen is not with me). I’ve seen hear wearing Cartier, Channel, Bottega and Dior. I’m sure she has more designer handbag in her collection. So, for her birthday, I made her a handbag organizer to make it convenient for her to change handbags.

I used my precious stash of Amy Butler’s Lotus Pond in Ivory and mixed it with green and grey linen. I’ve used this combination before for my lumbar pillows at home and liked it very much. It does look luxurious and can match the posh handbags in Hajjar’s collection. 

All the panels are lined with light interface and it could actually stand on it’s own. I’m very pleased with the result. It has in total of 13 pockets inside and outside. 

On the front outer panel; 4 pen/lipstick/mascara slot, one slim pocket. 

On the back outer panel; 2 slim pockets to fit handphone, handsfree set, notebook.

On both side panels: side pockets with elastic opening to keep sanitary gel bottle, keys, sunglasses

On the inside: 4 bellow pockets and a large compartment to keep purse, small organizer.

This handbag organizer measures approximately 8” (W) x 6”(H) x 3”(D). I think this should do to fit average medium size handbags. 

This isn’t my original design. As usual, I googled and viewed several handbag organizers in the web and put all the features that I like together to make this. Oh, and by the way, it’s reversible too so you can have two different looks from the same bag. Me and my never ending fascination to anything and everything reversible.

I have to go sort out my sewing room right now and find a bag to keep this present for Hajjar and give it to her later. I’m so looking forward for a fun girls’ day out today :)