DIY Galaxy Print Watch Strap

 About TIME I put up another post!!!

See that watch below? It's one of my favourites (i love watches!!!) The row of stars you see is actually the seconds hand, so it keeps going around the face of the watch! {Insert giddy-kiddy excitement here - I'm clearly a 13-year-old} And obviously I'm never gonna let go of this watch.

It's had 3 strap replacements so far. The original strap was purple, and then i chose white for the replacements. Soon came time to change the strap again,but this time i wanted something different. So with all the galaxy tutorials going around like this and by the way omghaveyouseenthis? , I was inspired to try a new DIY!
 
The supplies needed are simple. Acrylic paint and brushes of your choice. I used a sponge brush to lay out the black background. I could have used a black strap instead, but since I am lazy already had this, I decided to go with it and was pretty pleased with the final outcome.

Oh and if you can't remove the strap, make sure to mask the parts you don't want paint on!

Mise-en-place, people!

Black base

It's key to use a dry brush for the clouds and use a bouncy (?) stippling effect, check out the first video tutorial I linked to at the start of this post.

Bounce, people, bounce!

The funnest part of course is adding the stars :) spray away to your heart's content (i don't think too much is a bad thing here)!

Are we done here!? Only TIME will tell! :P

Glorioussssnesssss!!!

Show-off time!! Sidenote: GIFs are the best!!!

I suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea to seal with some clear varnish, Since using my watch happily the past few days I can see some wear and tear... I don't mind though, I can do a touch-up anyTIME!

Until next TIME!
:D

Everybody loves Macrame bracelets. aka the Josephine knot tutorial at last!

Macrame bracelets. They've been 'having their moment' for a while now, haven't they? I love them too. There's just something about them that's so effortlessly...charming... You can wear them so many ways; they look great on their own, stacked or worn with metal jewellery, watches, etc. Since this post is clearly my most popular one, i've decided to make a tutorial for it. perhaps redundant...since there are tutorials everywhere, but i hope this helps someone somewhere (let me know!)

We will be using 2 different coloured cords here for the tutorial's sake. Plus it looks cool. I picked lavender and coral (yep, used the same ones in the original post too).

 So now you should have 4 strands of cord to work with, 2 of each colour. Of course, a pair will be treated as a single cord and i shall name them left cord and right cord!

Once you do a couple of them, it's easy-peasy!

 By the way that part makes me think of this:

image courtesy of

Oops,got a little distracted! No, let's try again...

See, you've completed 1) and 2) taking the right cord under the left cord tail. From there, you are basically going to again 3) go over the top bit of the left cord
4) under the loop
5) over the right cord (over itself)
6) under the loop again.

Your right cord should travelling in a downward diagnol direction sort-of?? And you're weaving it in a sequence:
1)over
2)under
3)over
4)under
5)over
6)under

Did you get it?? This isn't easy to explain in words, so you might have to try a few times!

But honestly, it makes me think of this! yum!

pretzelllllls

 Distracted again!

Anyway, if you've got this sort of interchange-pretzel-heart-shape-thing going, then we're good! Slowly tighten the knot by pulling on the tail ends.
Note: Things will get fiddly.

May I proudly present, the Josephine knot! Woohoo!

Moving on, We will go through the whole thing again, but mirrored for the right cord.

The interchange-pretzel-heart-shape-thing stage

Fiddle me this, fiddle me that...

Repeat until desired length. I stopped at 5" since I'm going to finish it with a sliding knot. Trim away the excess (which if long enough can be used for the sliding knot!)

Sliding knot time

One thing i found out the hard way (with the original bracelets) was that the knots would frequently tighten themselves, so although it's painstaking to do, I would recommend dotting the knots here and there with the teeniest bit of glue.

And there you have it!!

Now go make yourselves some! And share your thoughts and pics with me! I wonder why I'm feeling hungry??
:D

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From Blah to Bippity Boppity Boo

I have this basic business card case that obviously does what it's supposed to do. However the heat of summer has been getting to me and therefore it became subject to one of my mini-experiments in re-covering....

BEFORE!

AFTER!!!!

Tada! Oh the wonders of cute fabric!! More happy than ever to use this thing now! 

DIY Satin Top

Although I aspire to be well-dressed most of the time, I don't quite reach that mark as often as I'd like. It's usually because a) things get messy and b) I get messy. While I  can't really say I have a 'style', I can say I'm getting pickier about the clothes I wear. Was it just me or did anyone else notice that the winter sales have more summery sleeveless clothes instead of winter wear? Maybe I'm just getting (c)old and cranky.
Anyway, my point is that sometimes, a girl just wants to look classy. But sometimes, desired classy clothes are kinda pricey. So why not risk a little bit of cash and time and make something nice to wear?

I started with a t-shirt with a simple design, since I decided to use satin (barely needs ironing, woohoo!!!). Folding the t-shirt in half, I laid it on paper to trace out the pattern. 

Please do not use your lens cap as a weight next time!

While tracing, I deviated slightly from the waist hem, since it's a just wee bit  *ahem* snug around me belly....

In retrospect, I should have gone out a bit more...

The pattern traced out:

Substitute lens cap with glow-in-the-dark fake pebbles...far cooler!

 Since the back and front of the top are similar, I made a copy of this pattern and slightly lowered the neckline...

dangerously low! not!

Yay! Pattern done! Now it's cutting time!

Love this colour palette :)

about an inch seam allowance....

get momentarily distracted mesmerized by cuff in the same colour scheme....coooool!

So once you've cut the front and back pieces, it's time to sew them together. I went with a french seam because i thought it'd be easier and neater...sort of...So place your 2 pieces right sides together and sew with an 1/8" seam.

go slow!

 Start with the 2 shoulder seams and then the 2 side seams...
 

Follow the (imaginary) yellow lines...

 

 After trimming the seam, turn the top wrong side out and sew a 1/4" seam along the same places 

a little wonky, but that's normal (for me)

After this, turn in the sleeve edges to a length you like and hem. Do the same with the waist hem and you're done! 

Anyone seen my champagne glass?

Now flaunt that top! Strike a pose! Bask in classy-ness (?) to heart's delight!

Cheerio!

Cellphone case

I'm someone who really prefers having her hands free.  But I'm also someone who (ideally) needs to be prepared for anything and therefore have everything-on-hand. Somehow at the same time the fashion industry thinks that women have a complete dislike for USEFUL pockets. Thus, one requires a bag of some sort to carry stuff that maybe doesn't really need to be carried around anyway. But sometimes, I'm just hanging out at the bakery outside my house and I feel quite foolish to carry a bag to a place that's 5 steps away from my house. Modern girl troubles, right???

So, this week I decided to make a phone case for myself. If you're wondering why I can't just keep my phone in my pockets, I actually can, but it's really uncomfortable, ok?? Once, I left it in my back pocket, forgot about it, and went for a ride on my bike....Really lucky that it didn't fall out!
Initially, I thought I would find a pattern online, but with me being me, I decided to wing it. It didn't go too badly, fortunately, but I think I'm gonna call this one Prototype A. 

It simply has a pocket which holds the phone, and a little tab which I can hook to my belt loop (though now I have to go find one of those cool mini carabiner thingees. How awesome are those?!) I never stitch neatly but this time made an effort to stitch straight along the edge (looks like I need more practice), plus I will probably use a heavier interfacing next time. I also landed up making the case a bit too snug, but at least I'm sure that my phone will not fall out!

The most frustrating thing now is that I still have to keep it in my pocket till I get the carabiner thingee. An almost futile project!

Till my next idea!

Let's get reacquainted, shall we?

Hello hello hello!

I'd kept away from the blog for a long while due to personal reasons. Now, however, i feel i am ready to get back into crafting and blogging too. For a start I'm writing down what I would like to do this year.

1. Sell some of the stuff i make. For now, it's more likely going to be jewellery due to time and space constraints. I'll probably start with selling online and get to craft fairs much later on. I really have no clue about numbers; how many do i make, etc...so it's something that I will figure out along the way.

2. Sketch more (almost daily?) and try out art journalling. I really admire those who do it, and always makes me wish I could create something that beautiful too.

In terms of personal projects, I would really like to do 1 a week, but I know this isn't always possible because work sometimes eats up a lot of my time. Plus I also like to space out every now and then... :) Anyway, I will probably fare better if I write down my ideas. You know how sometimes when you  have a free time slot come up suddenly, you're either completely  blank or completely overwhelmed about what to do with it? At the very least, a written list will help me when I think that I can't think of anything.

Right, so hopefully I'll be back soon... Have a great year and experiment with crafts or for that matter, anything you like as much as you can! 

Swim - Illustration Friday

This is a mixed media sketch for this week's Illustration Friday topic - "Swim"

From not being able to swim at all a few years ago, to being able to say "Swimming relaxes me" is pretty awesome when i think about it! 

Easier-than-ever-to-sew maxi-skirt!

So you read the title and think 2 things: 
1) "So many hyphens!"
2) "A maxi skirt is already easy to sew, so what's she talking about?"

So I say,
1) "Hyphens forever!"
2) "By using a wrap-around skirt!!"

Presenting Exhibit 'A'

Is she gonna perform a magic trick? Disappearing act?
Is she wearing any pants??

This, my friend, is a wrap-around skirt from circa 1999...(oh 90s trends how I love-hate thee). To make a short story short, fab print, lousy functionality. Still, I wore a few of them back then.

So you say: "Now what?"
So I say: "Sew the 2 vertical open ends together - don't have to worry about finishing the seams since it's already done!"

Pin &sew

I keep talking: "Then you'll have a cylinder, so fold and sew down the waistband (accommodating the width of elastic you need to use and leaving an opening to insert the same). Insert elastic."

Elastic ready to go!

I continue: "Sew close elastic opening and wear immediately."
So then you say "That's cool!"

Hey wasn't there a different watch in the first pic?

And I say: "That's a wrap!" Get it???Get it???
Adieu till my next blog :D

Random Random Things and Craft Things - 2

Some more photos of random craft projects...

Handmade paper card + sketchpens (and a bit of cutting and sticking)....

...Then, leftover lace + thread + bag

equals bag makeover! .....

..... and finally, tin can + wine crate lid + white acrylic paint =

a cute little porch light by the front door :)