Cosmo bag with Corduroy and many more

I’m recovering from a cough and fever this week, just in time to finish another Cosmo Bag. This bag is made with dark blue corduroy. I love the contrast against the pink handles. I’ve used my new labels for the first time on this bag. Here’s one on one of the side pockets.

My coughs is a relapse from my first bout about two weeks ago. It must be the weather. I was getting better then I had a case of food poisoning and I guess the vomiting might have aggravated the throat. It got infected and I had a mild fever to go along with that.  I saw the doctor last Wednesday and took some antibiotics and on my way to recovery :)

Here are a few things that I’ve not updated since the last post. I’m blessed to have families and friends who support my small enterprise. Here’s a bucket bag commissioned by my aunt. 

Here’s a couple of pillows commissioned by a friend who loves cats. These pillows have been long overdue. Though her request was simple, I didn’t want to just make pillows and pillow covers for her and inspiration took a while in coming. I got idea from Spotlight, Singapore catalogue and added ricracs and buttons for embellishements. Once in a while, working on a plain canvas and having the freedom to decorate it, is refreshing :) Thank you for the opportunity to harness my creativity :) That is also a blessing of its own.

I also made a few more chalk cloth party banners. Loving this.

Another overdue project: A pair of tea towels for another dear friend and a staunch supporter. I managed to present this to her over a lunch date which she generously footed the bill. On top of that, she even has a little token for my Arwen, a lipgloss for my diva little girl.

A twill tape to hang the tea towels.

Just before I got ill, I managed to bind off a simple knitted bodice for Arwen made from a yarn Azrai bought from Spotlight, Singapore in his recent trip there. I stumbled into applied i-cord finishing for the edges in youtube and wanted to try it myself. I thought it was a great idea and love the finishing too. I extended the applied i-cord into straps for the bodice. I’ve paired the bodice with Tanya Whelan’s fabric which I won from Zura Lovemelot’s giveaway a few years ago. It’s half a yard and just enough to make the skirt for this number.

I made the back narrower than the front. I saw this in one of my summer knit pattern books and it’s called racer back. A great idea to keep the straps from falling/slipping over the shoulder. I hate that.
Notice the M&M or Smarties necklace Arwen is modeling? It’s one of our finds in GM Klang. We went there to to check the place out.

White party shoes to make up the look. It’s like ballerina slippers doesn’t it and Arwen with her hair up like that does look like a little ballerina :)

I received my labels from Insang Pari. All 1000 wonderful pieces of them. I made them half fold with printing on both sides and seams on the top so it’s considered top fold? Head on over to Insang Pari if you’re interested to make your labels too.

A wonderful gift from a fabric lover to another :) Thank you Dr. Zeti :) I wonder what I can turn this into...

Last weekend, there was a get together at a friend’s shop in Alam Damai. We get to meet the gentlemen in our so-called ladies only group. The get-together was fun as usual with lots of laughter and food. The icing on the cake was the little souvenir; a pretty stork shaped scissors. Thank you Azmir and Azmin :) Thank you Nani and the gang for being a wonderful host for the gathering. Thank you for all the ladies for your friendship and your sharing of knowledge. You’ve enriched my life with your friendship and kept my sanity in check.

I am LUCKY

I woke up this morning and after the usual morning routine, I checked my Facebook (I’m somewhat of an addict) and saw a notification that a few of my friends liked my status update. It turned out to be a Pixoto update. Hey! Waddayaknow, my picture won the best of the day award in Pixoto! What a way to make the day :) I was on top of the world and that didn’t cost any money :) Here’s the screenshot of the notification on my wall:

Here’s the picture that won the award:

You can view it better in Flickr.

I submitted it on Friday, 16 March 2012 and it won the award for the day. How cool is that????

It’s been a while since I’ve been out of a photo shoot mission like this. I was even tempted to skip the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta this year even though it’s happening in my own backyard. That Friday, I woke up extra early and got my gear ready. I felt a bit feverish and my throat was scratchy. I swallowed a couple of aspirins and some cough mix, put my jacket on and left the house before the sun was out.

The crowd was already building up and the hot air balloon crew were getting ready to fill the balloons with hot air when I got there. I walked till the end of the area where all the balloons were supposed to take off and parked my self there. It was still early, the air was cool and I was in a good position.

Long story short, here’s what I got for the day:

Created with flickr slideshow.

Here’s coming to the point that prompted me to blog about this. When I uploaded my pictures onto Facebook, one person commented, “...lucky you have nice photos”. I read that with mixed feelings. What do you mean, “LUCKY”? How did “LUCK” played a role in this? I wanted to say something  in response to that and recalled a quote I read somewhere a long time ago:

LUCK is PREPARATION meets OPPORTUNITY

I like to think that I was LUCKY because I came prepared and met the golden opportunity of a fantastic weather to capture the hot air balloons getting airborne. I won’t be so lucky if I don’t have a camera with me, would I? So, Luck is by design... not accidental. 

I better sign off... I think my cough mix is doing the typing now. Have a great weekend or what’s left of it... School starts tomorrow and I have a whole load of ironing to do. 

An overdue post on Bazaar, Bazaar and Bazaar and a Gathering of Beautiful Women

I had the most hectic 3 weeks from my last blog post (17 February) to last weekend. The first, was my solo appearance at Little Red Market on 25th February 2012; my second bazaar for the year. The following week, I had another bazaar at JayaOne on 3rd March 2012 (bazaar #3) and Subang Parade on 4th March 2012 (bazaar #4). The following week after that, I had a gathering of my crafters' group on Facebook. So, here’s the breakdown of the series of events:

Bazaar #2: Little Red Market (25th February 2012)

It took place at one of the organizer’s residence in Jalan Beka, Bukit Damansara. Beautiful home turned into a quaint crafts market. I really have to go solo for this as the event clashed with Danial’s sports day. Azrai took care of the kids after helping me load my wares into the car. I’m on my own. Anxious and sweaty. I was really pleasantly surprised by the professional and warm conduct of the organizers, Melissa and Sally. They made me feel welcomed from the moment go and throughout the market hours.  Time flew as I was having a good time at the market :) Lots of beautiful items on sale on that day too and lots of visitors stopping at my booth and exchanged pleasantries. Here’s a write up at Little Red Market’s blog.

I didn’t have my camera with me that day as I gave it to Azrai to take pictures of Danial on his sports day. But here’s a great pool of pictures during the market day in Flickr:

Created with flickr slideshow.


Bazaar #3: Crafty Market at JayaOne (3rd March 2012)


After Little Red Market, I had only a week to replenish my items for Crafty Market. I didn’t make many as I was banking on selling my FQs and half yard bundles and some craft notions. This time around we, the craft vendors were dispersed among the other vendors throughout the markets. It has its pros and cons. More traffic no doubt but the question is whether is the right people stopping by our craft booth. I missed the old airy setup that we have on the lower ground near the water feature and the camaraderie of fellow crafters. It did feel a bit isolated.  Here’s a slideshow of the day. I took a few pictures of our booth (Sew Fabby and Made by Rozi Rahman) and got a photographer friend to go crazy with my camera.

Created with flickr slideshow.

Bazaar #4: I Love Bazaar at Subang Parade (4th March 2012)


The sale at Crafty Market went surprisingly well that I had to go back and make more items for the bazaar the next day. In less than 5 hours, I made 4 Multi purpose pouches, 3 diaper keepers and 4 girl colour baby bibs. Our booth was at the end of the world near Celebrity Fitness. It’s not just the location, but the crowd was generally slow that day. Business that day was like watching wet paint on the wall  dry. I guess you can’t expect to have a great bazaar every time. There’s bound to be some lousy ones along the journey. It just adds flavor to life. Here’s some photos:

The Gathering of Beautiful Women


I just managed to catch up my breath before preparing some lucky draw gift for a get together among my craft friends in a group on Facebook. I made 3 sets coasters (a set of 4) out of MDF boards found in Daiso and some scrap fabric and Mod Podge.

We had a great time. Took home a lot of lucky draw gifts not to mention yummy and cute doorgifts too. Friendship fostered on Facebook came to life and it’s like meeting with old buddies :) One of the best moments was when the main organizer won a grand item as a token of appreciation for her effort to put things together so that the gathering could take place. Here’s another slide show of the event that took place:

Created with flickr slideshow.

February bazaar: Little Red Market

Made by Rozi Rahman will be making it debut at Little Red Market happening on Saturday, 25th February 2012 at 32, Jalan Beka, Bukit Damansara. I’m so looking forward to this bazaar and I’ve been working on some items for sale on that day. Here are some I’ve prepared so far:

Pin cushions

Mug rugs. This is one that I just finished earlier today. Love scrappy crazy quilts

Laminated baby bibs

Chalk mats

Key fobs

Bag tags

DSLR Camera strap covers

Pacifier clips

and God knows what else I can churn out of my sewing machine. I have just over a week to go for the market. Oh, I’ll be making scrappy key chains too:

I sell this for RM3.00 a piece but FREE with any purchase. It’s available while stock last.

So, please come and show some love :)

You can follow Little Red Market at their Facebook page here.

DIY Dyed Buttons

I was in Jalan Pudu getting some craft supplies and bumped into the famous Zila Kasim of Zila Kasim  Quilt Shop. We went to another shop where they sell buttons and ribbons. Zila suggested that I dye some cute buttons and without thinking too much I bought the buttons and 3 dyes; Cerise, Madonna Blue and Emerald Green. Zila said use dark colours. The outcome is much better than the lighter ones.

So, as soon as I got home from my craft supply hunting and a short stop at Secret Market at MIA, Jalan Ampang, I got my old enamel pot out and boil some water, added the dye in and a dash of vinegar and salt. When the concoction is bubbling, i turn down the flame and toss the buttons in. I let is simmer for 10 minutes or so. Then, i drain the dye and put the buttons under a running tap until the water runs clear. Drain the excess water and dump them onto a clean towel to dry.

The top picture is a teddy shaped button and the one down here is a birdie shaped button in 3 colours. It’s so easy to make that I’m going to make some more :)

I’m selling these if any of you are interested at RM5 for a dozen pieces (12). It can be an assortment or in one colour. Send me an email if you are interested in these :) Check out my facebook page for more pictures of these buttons.

My eternal thanks to Zila Kasim for nudging me to do this. I’m hooked!

Scrappy Heart Mug Rug and a bit about photography

I made this scrappy heart mug rug last night. I love my scraps too much to throw them away and keep even the smallest piece that they got out of control. So in attempt to tame my unruly scraps, I made this quick scrap busting project last night and made another one this morning. It’s super fast. The blocks are 2.25” squares with 0.25” seam allowance. The mug rug finished approximately 9” wide by 7” height. 

Recently, in one of my Facebook craft group, there was a discussion about how a good photo makes an impact especially for online craft business. Needless to say, it’s the only form of communication to the potential buyers other than what other information that you provide in text form. 

I for one, pay a great deal for my photos. I’ve come a long way from photos taken from my handphone and uploaded here (yes, this same blog) to my current pictures. I learned a lot too. I love reading from blogs with great pictures, namely, lbg studio, Randomness by Petchy, Made by Rae, Made, and lots more. When i started blogging, I admired Maya and Zura Lovemelots for their photos, not just their crafts. I get inspired to make my pictures as good as theirs. Here are of my how tos on taking pictures:

Gone were the days that I took one shot and expect it to be a perfect shot. I took several shots at different angles. Don’t worry about shutter count. Most of us are using digital cameras now so, if you don’t like a shot, you can just delete it later. Here are some of my shots before I get to my favorite shot:

First shot: no flash. It was early in the morning. The sun is not out yet. The source of light is the florescent light on the opposite wall. 

With flash on. Too harsh

I tilted the flash on my GF2 so it bounced off the wall to create a warmer, more natural tone. 

Post editing is optional. Minor touch ups to straighten the picture, enhanced contrast, saturation, highlights and reduced shadows. I did this all in Iphoto. No fancy software. I only used Photoshop Elements 9.0 to add my watermark. I used to spend hours on editing alone but I’ve mellowed and followed my brother’s words of advice, ‘Simply photography, not simply photoshop’. Less is more.

I do believe post-editing is important. It’s like make up. You can do without but you’d look much better with a touch of lipgloss and some powder on your nose, don’t you agree?

My tips:

1. go for natural light as much as possible but if you can’t get any, don’t fret. work within your limitations. I shoot at all hours of the day, day or night. I work with artificial light. Don’t get intimidated with flash. Make it your friend. Work with it. Learn how to handle it, Bounce it off the wall or diffuse it. 

2. Composition and angle. I believe this is a learned art. You don’t have to be gifted to be able to take reasonable nice photos. Have fun with it. Experiment from different angles, different perspective. Don’t just take straight shots. You might be pleasantly surprised to see the results. Add props and different backgrounds to highlight your product. 

3. Post Editing. I think I’ve covered that.

4. It’s a learning process. Practice makes perfect. Keep on learning. Take out your camera and take pictures. Lots of them. Learn about your camera and what it can do. Don’t just go on Auto mode.

I’m in the mood for more of these mug rugs. I might just add a tutorial for it. Till then, take a break, have a KitKat  :)