Farewell Notebook Gifts

Remember these cross stitched pieces I did a while ago and posted them whenever they were done? Yes, in just 1 day, I managed to attach them to notebooks.

I cut a hole in the notebook, taking care to ensure it is centralised. I then attached the cross stitched piece behind the cover. Next, I cut a frame (2cm wide all round), colours chosen by Billie. I also cut a piece of transparency of the same size as the frame. Then the transparency goes over the pic, followed by the frame. I used the transparency to preserve the cleanliness of the stitched piece, and the best "glass/transparent frame" I can get is the transparency.

Behind the cover, I attached a piece of white cardstock over the entire cover so as to cover the cross stitched piece.

Now, I just hope that Billie's teachers will love them.

Altered Notebooks

Can you remember the altered notebooks I did for the fleamarket last year? The post is here. At that time, I call it redecorated. Then I realised there are many names for it including altered, modified.

This time round, I was tasked to do 30 of such notebooks. And, here's the results.

I would say the stamped pics are better in this round. I just got the Tim Holtz Distress Markers from Maple Treehouse and tried colouring. The results - GREAT! Am still an amateur and am working hard to make sure that my colouring gets better.

These notebooks are 8.00 x 10.25 cm. I did not replace the cover. Instead, I have it doubly-covered before I paste the coloured stamped pic.

And if anyone is interested, pls leave a comment for your orders. The price is $1.00 per book and if you get 3, you will get 1 FREE! This is good for both children and adults - affordable, cute and practical.

And there will be a "Handmade for you" stamp at the back cover of the book.

If you think card making is EASY, pls think again.

We see lots of beautiful cards on eBay, Etsy, Flickr, and many other sites. They don't look difficult to do, except for some really complicated ones. Well, think again. I'm one of those idiots who cannot come up with beautiful designs.

Before I do my cards, I will try to inspire myself by looking into the magazines. Ahhh.... put the stamped design on this card, then attach a ribbon and put all these on a background. Simple! But when I start to proceed to work on it, I'll be looking at my stamped image, then start to rummage around and see which background to use - printed or plain. Then, should I have it portrait or landscape. Then, where should the stamped image lie? Mmmm.... will it look good straight or should I tilt it. Also, will it look good if I mount it before attaching the entire mount onto the card? Ok... which colour should I use, etc. Then, what words should I use? How to mount these words? Straight onto the card or mount them first. Does the card look empty now? How to make it nicer? And so on, and so forth.

With all these, I usually spend an hour on a card. So, when you next see a card up for sale, pls don't say, "This card is so simple and yet it's so expensive." Reason is the card maker has lots of decisions to make in bringing out a beautiful piece of art.

Mmmmm..... stitching is easier. At least you don't have to come up with the design. But the process is longer. Try both and you will see what I mean.

Another Cross Stitched Notebook

Did this Monty and Binky cross stitch again, but this time attached to a notebook. The previous one that was done up in a card have been sold.

The rose was copied from a wrapping paper and I pierced the outline.

Suzy's Zoo - Gift to Billie's Friend

Did this Suzy's Zoo cross stitch a while ago (last year). Finally found a good cause for it. Comes in handy as a notebook for a friend, especially when the words are "Forget Me Not". Billie gave it to her school friend yesterday.

A Little Something for my Teacher on this Belated Teacher's Day

My Teacher loves cats so I thought I make this for her.

Mmmm..... I think I like the stitching but need lots of improvement on the decoration on the notebook ** Sigh **.  I hope she will like it.

This design is from the Summer Fun by Margaret Sherry. I love her designs. This is not that easy to stitch, especially the roses. Wait till you get to the backstitch. But I still enjoy them all.

I stitched it on 16ct which makes the stitching more difficult to accomplish. One thing for sure is if you stitch her designs on 28ct or 32ct (over 2 squares or 4 squares - cannot remember which is the correct term), it'd be easier as her design uses many 3/4 stitches and the backstitches are usually done at the centre of the square or the side.

Nevertheless, I can never get tired of stitching her beautiful designs.

To Spend or Not to Spend? That is the Question.

Just got my cheque from Global Test Market which is around S$60. This is the 3rd cheque I got from them by doing surveys. So, am thinking if I should spend on craft treasures at Maple TreeHouse or not.

I have not been making cards for a very long time so it's not like I will be making any card soon. Also I have accumulated many stamps and there is no reason for me to get more stamps which I'm not using at the moment. As for other treasures like cardstock, markers, etc, I already have quite a number.

BUT the prices at Maple TreeHouse is SO G-O-O-D. Furthermore, I should pamper myself, right?

So, the reason of pampering myself beats any other reason. Therefore, I shall BUY! Yay!

Another Commission Stitching Project Completed!

This time round, it's a rush-rush job. All because of my idiotic ego. With 15,600 plus stitches, I had the audacity to deliver within 15 days! That will be around 1000 stitches a day and that is half the time I take to complete the other photo cross stitch piece previously in Feb.

This should not be a problem, especially with my speed of 110 stitches per half hour. Simple division shows that I would need to put in 4.5 hours daily. But I forgot the following show-stoppers.

• This is a pic converted from a photo. Therefore there will be 65 colours in it (on the average). How many large blocks of the same colour will you get in one pic? Sad to say, you can use your fingers on 1 hand to count. My speed is based on a block with the same colour, so no ending and starting of floss during that same half-hour. But in this piece, it will take an average of 5 times more to complete 110 stitches.

• You need time to get used to the symbols-colour-coordination in the chart. And some of the symbols are rather close eg. "T" and "T", "[" and "]", "(" and ")", etc. Glad that there is "/" but no "\". So, cross stitch designers, pls try not to distress the cross stitchers with such mistakes.

• Cross stitching is detailed work. Do you think you can work 4.5 hours straight and still look straight after that? There must be some rest after every hour, if not half hour. But if you are stitching shades of green, then you can still see fine after more than an hour.

I managed to get another 4 extra days to complete the work and I managed to complete it then. Phew!

Am glad I finished this work within the shortest of time (believe there are better and speedier stitchers out there) but in the process I have lost time with my family, my sleep and the worst is it kills my interest at cross stitching. Guess I will have to put my needle away for a little while.

Also, due to insufficient time, my stitching is less satisfactory and as such, I don't get that "satisfied" feeling I get whenever I finish a project.

If there is such a project in future, I will definitely not make the same mistake again. I will make sure I have enough time to do the work. So I will base on 400 stitches a day. Must remember that.

Fleamarket and Updates

Joined a fleamarket recently and well, did make some income to cover the rental. I was selling mostly stuff you don't find in fleamarkets. Afterall, fleamarket is one where you sell second-hand goods. However, this definition has somewhat shifted. You can now call it craft/fleamarket. Yep, I was selling crafts like small notebooks (in pic), marking clips (in pic), handmade cards, peel-off stickers, etc.

These small notebooks are not handmade, but they are redecorated. I covered the cover with coloured paper and just add in stamped figures, cut-outs, etc. I only sold 20 on that day. Well, at least I did sell some of them!

These are marking clips from Japan. They are kawaii ("cute" in Japanese). These are preferably be used as paperclips instead of bookmarks as they are made of metal and may cut the paper (you bookmark a page but you use paperclip to hold more than a piece of paper). Also, not for children under 7 (this is a kiasu parent - "kiasu" is someone who doesn't want to lose out).

I also advertise cross stitching, tatting and card making services on that day too. My friend saw the tatted cross bookmark and am working on it for her.

Other than that, I don't have any other orders. Sad but am still glad that there are people who stop by at my stall and look at my stuff. To all these people (customers and potential customers), I thank you. Am sorry I'm not a good salesperson as I don't talk much but hope that the products are satisfactory to you.

Currently am working on a photo cross stitch for a customer. The piece is half completed so I'm finishing it. I underestimated the time so I have to work doubly hard to finish the piece on time and without compromising on the quality of my work. Seems like I never learn my lesson in estimation **Sigh**.

I Finally Finished it! Yay!

I finally finished the commission stitching, after 49 days, twice the amount of time I thought I would need. It's a  pic from a stitch-a-photo, 135 x 180 stitches in 65 colours.

Wow! That is a challenge! I initially thought. As I was working on it, it is More than a Challenge! Apart from 3 blocks that are in a solid colour, the rest are usually individual or 2 to 5 stitches all over the place! Can you imagine me changing the needle every now and then, not to mention, threading every now and then. Well, at least I'm using 6 needles so less work.

Towards the end of the project, I realised I have swopped 2 colours, so I have to backtrack and remove those 2 colours **Groan**. See, mistakes still happen even when I keep track of the colours in the needles on the pin cushion.

Never mind that. I'm just glad I've finished it. It looks great. Wish I can post a pic here but because it's a stitch-a-photo, so it's rather personal.

So, I have quite a lot of stuff to catch up with. Organising my stuff, helping out my girl with her work (ie. if she lets me), lots of reading, stitching, sewing and puzzles too!

Tatted Lacy Bookmark

This is the 2nd project in my tatting class. Being new to tatting, I made a few mistakes and had to unpick **groan**. I'm glad everything turned out well in the end, especially the tassel.

It was curly and after blocking, it looks good. I have given it to Billie, and hope she likes it.