this was a WIP

…but it is now a pre-school bookbag for my nephew who just turned four.

but the bag was not as good-looking as the WIP photo, so there you are.

SOSWIP

just a little WIP for a freelance job i’m doing. for free, mind you, which is a big no-no , but it was kind of a favour for Tim. plus, at least if i’m not getting paid then i don’t put extreme pressure on myself. which, in a way, makes it very enjoyable to undertake.

p.s. i only just noticed how, if you are viewing the URL of a Flickr image (not the Flickr image page if you know what i mean), then Flickr makes the image into a little favicon. cute.

more sweet gifts… but this time it’s me giving.

in an ideal world, we'd all give handmade, eco-friendly, recyclable presents to everyone for Christmas. sadly this is the real world, but i kinda like it here. anyway, i'm doing my bit by purchasing gifts from such lovely places as eBay (yay for cutting out the middle man) and Better World Books (the socially responsible answer to Amazon).

i'm also making two gifts. just two. and one of them is only half handmade, really. but that's okay! it is all good and made with love. so here's a sneak peek. i'm very excited, because there's just something so special about having someone unwrap something which you yourself conceived and made with your own hands.

1. something fun for nephew #1.
2. something simple (but special) for baby niece/nephew (due in just three weeks! eeee!)

getting my illo on (another little wip)

WIP on a monday

WIP is nice, right? it means you’re getting somewhere. it means something is in progress, that you’ve got something to turn to when you need to make.

i’ve revealed the finished project already, but i like this shot. who ever thought that pink, purple, orange and calico would go so nicely?

Two Street Corners

so. my first sewing project in a long, long time. i don’t want to think about how long, but i’m guessing around two months (!!!). i feel horribly out of practise.

it’s a little thank you gift for a friend because she loaned me the first season of Grey’s Anatomy DVDs. (and by the way, why are there only nine episodes? way too short!)

today i hope to get some things done.
some:
sewing
resting
writing
shopping
and making of good decisions.

Winging it.

my latest WIP. another gift, another tote. what you can’t see is the horriblly skewiff way i have sewn on the front pocket. and i can’t find my Quick Unpick. so this little WIP will have to wait til the weekend or until i can get my hands on an unpicker. sigh!

and here’s a birdy in a nest!

in other news, i like to browse Kinokuniya on my lunch breaks. after a sushi lunch date with my husband today, i checked out some wonderful books on food/cooking.
my favourites of the moment:
+ this funny book by Amy Sedaris
+ Breakfast Lunch Tea (oh Phaidon!)
+ 3 Ways With… by Ross Dobson (awesome pop art syling)

i heart books. the end.

Blue Monday

patterns: my new love. you know how life runs in themes, and you find yourself being lead towards a lesson or a realisation? well my latest lesson is about patterns. i can’t write much more because i’ll fall into a big heap of a mess of unstructured thought, but suffice to say i’m having a great time exploring this new form of expression.

encouraged by the lovely Lara Cameron of Kirinote, i’m leaning how to produce patterns that are a bit more technically sound than my previous Photoshop-copy-and-paste method. in the process i’m re-acquainting myself with Illustrator. i’ve never had the patience for Illustrator before but i’m now seeing its many merits when it comes to symbols and vector shapes!

ok. bed time. Tim beat me in [First To 100] Scrabble again and i’m not talking to him. just kidding. but really, i can’t believe The Boy Who Doesn’t Read keeps beating me, the bookworm daughter of a librarian! not fair!

Decent Days and Nights

1. gift wip
2. knit wip

yes i am learning to knit! after a couple of traumatic lessons from my younger sister and a good family friend, i think i’ve finally got the hang of it. at this stage i can only knit (purling confuses me) but i have successfully completed five rows of 31 stitches each. hurrah!

also wip related: a corner of my home.

this weekend will wonderful (they always are these days):
satay tonight with my husband (our favourite)
a jog tomorrow morning
afternoon tea picnic with my family and their friends
birthday dinner for my mum
jazz in the park on sunday afternoon

happy friday everyone.

The Hardest Part

last week i spent two nights cutting up all the gift wrapping paper from our wedding presents into A4 sized sheets (roughly). Tim works late shifts sometimes so i get to put on My Music and get into a crafty zone.

i’m excited about all the possibilities of these stacks of papers, but i’m also at a loss at where to start. why is starting always the hardest part?