Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Lined Paper Tee from Maybe Matilda

Do you guys know about Maybe Matilda? Rachel of Maybe Matilda has a lot of cool stuff and this is her second project that I'm trying out.

Click here to go to Maybe Matilda for the tutorial.
Rachel used paint but for my project I used this:


... Pentel's Fabric Fun  Pastel Dye Sticks (by the way, this is NOT a sponsored post... I just happened to pick these up from the book store a month ago). These are like your regular oil pastel but after applying to the fabric and ironing, it will not come off when you wash it.

My daughter has this old onesie that she rarely uses because she doesn't like onesies anymore. It's also size 12m... but at 22 months, it still fits Andrea.


First step is to make this onesie into a t-shirt. I simply cut off the bottom and cut the sleeves and sewed a zigzag stitch along the edges. Too lazy to hem :)

And then I used a ruler as a guide as I drew my blue lines.


One thing about these pastel sticks... they can be a little messy to use. I had to draw slowly to make sure I don't smudge. And the lines I made are probably not as straight's as Rachel's when she used paint.

After the blue lines, I drew red lines between the blue lines to make it look like the paper on notebooks being used by kindergarten and first grade students here. And then I drew the vertical line.


Rachel suggested embroidering or stamping your child's name on to the shirt. Great idea right? I decided to embroider since I think Andrea will outgrow this shirt soon and we might end up giving the shirt away. I can simply remove the stitches so that another little girl can use it. 


Cute! Can't wait to have Andrea try it!


I am linking to the following parties:
Link Party at Tea Rose Home | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Creative Juice at Momnivore's Dilemma | Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks | It's a Party at A Creative Princess | Show and Share at Southern Lovely | DIY Diva Thursday at Mine for the Making | Catch a Glimpse at A Glimpse Inside | Commercial Break Thursday at Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom | Think Pink Sunday at Flamingo Toes | Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime | Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming | Not Baad Sunday at Lamb Around | Craft-O-Maniac Monday at Craft-O-Maniac | Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T. | Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple | A Round Tuit at Creating My Way to Success | Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do | A Marvelous Mess at Marvelously Messy | Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Made By You Monday at Skip to My Lou | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Ta-Da Tuesday at Mommy by Day Crafter by Night | Handmade Tuesdays at Lady Bug Blessings | Tuesday Party at Running with Glitter | Tuesday To Do Party at The Blackberry Vine | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | Tuesday Confessional at Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy | Cure for Common Monday at Lines Across My Face |

Creating Success Around the World with Ea of Popkin Art

Welcome to 
Creating Success Around the World
The worldwide blog hop tour that introduces you to creative people from all corners of the world.

Click here to learn more.
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My guest today is a kababayan (i.e. countryman). She is Ea from Popkin Garb and she is also from the Philippines, like me :)


[Janelle]: Welcome to Creating Success Around the World, Ea! It's so nice to have someone from my part of the world with me today. Can you tell us about yourself and our country?
Hello! I am Ea hailing from the Philippines. I’m juggling motherhood, a full-time day job, and creating artwork and hand printed clothes at the same time. I’m also a novice at being green. The Philippines is an amazing country with a very diverse culture, succulent food and very talented people.


Good move on going green. It's something we should all be thinking about. And you sound busy, but it's good that you can make time to devote to making things. So what kind of things do you like making?
I draw on shirts and bags, all of which are hand-printed by me so each print is unique. I also do ACEOs (Art Cards, Editions and Originals), which started with the Femme Collection featuring women from history, myths, and legends. Right now, I am re-acquainting myself with crochet and needlework to complement my shirts and bags.


Your drawings are beautiful! I admire people who can draw or paint because it's something I was never good at (can't draw actually). So what inspires your art? Why do you create?
I'm mostly inspired by the books I read, most of which are fantasy. Also by nature, but more on animals, which I have a huge heart for (by the way, portion of my sales are donated to PAWS). Then there's my son, he keeps me young and imaginative :) I create because I will go crazy if I didn’t! I have been drawing ever since I can remember, and taking it out of my system would literally result to me breaking down. Drawing is my pick-me-upper, my stress reliever especially in my 9.5 hour workday. It calms me and makes me happy.



I feel you about needing something to relieve the stress from work. With all the effort that goes into making these items, do you sell them?
At first, I just created some prints on shirts for fun. Then I got hooked and thought about selling them for added income. I have an Etsy store, PopkinGarb, and a blog of the same name on Blogspot. 


How is this venture going so far?
I have made a few sales locally, but none on Etsy yet.

You said you have been drawing for a long time. During all this time, what lessons have you learned?
I can say that there is no easy way in crafting. If you’re serious about it, you really have to learn the basics, then work your way from there. Also, copying is a definite no-no. You can be inspired by another’s work but it just wouldn’t be fair for the original creator if you just copy their work.



I know a lot of people will agree with you there. At this point, can you say that you have already achieved success?
Success, for me, is getting or achieving your wanted results, if not better, in a manner that would not do harm to others. Everyone has different goals and standards, and at the end of the day you’d always want to reach it. My vision of success is for others to recognize my talent. I think I’m slowly but steadily working my way to it.

You are definitely going towards it since you seem to be dedicated to your art and working hard to get there. So what can we expect from PopkinGarb in the future? Any plans?
I’m currently researching for more projects to carry out, one of them re-painting my water bottle. For PopkinGarb, I’ll be adding more assortment like canvas pouches, onesies for babies, ladies shirts, and prints for my ACEOs. Now, on to more research! 

I would love to see that water bottle when you're done. I think it's a great way to personalize an otherwise generic item. Thanks so much again for sparing some time for us today Ea!  


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If you want to see more of Ea's work, you can visit her at PopkinGarb.

Be sure to check out the other interviews from my co-hosts:
Asia - Me! :)


And now, it's your turn! Join our blog hop by linking your blog to our link party below! After linking, make sure you visit a few other links because that's what this hop is all about :)

Do you want your to be interviewed and featured here? If I see your link below, you just might be! I am always looking for talented bloggers from Asia for my next interview feature. Leave your link and hope to meet you soon!






Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Shoes Refashion - Creating multiple looks with one pair of shoes

Remember my shoe refashion from a few months back? I wanted to have different looks for one pair of shoes. Recently, a local shoe brand started selling flats with embellishments that are attached to the shoe using Velcro. This allows you to change the embellishments, and they also sell different types of embellishments for their shoes which are mostly just fabric flowers. It’s a concept that’s right up my alley and it’s so easy to DIY too. And I have an old pair of flats that’s perfect for the project.


I’ve had these shoes for more than a year. I loved the beaded pompom on the shoes when I bought it but since then, this style has become pretty common and I started seeing it everywhere. For some reason, that made me lose interest in the shoes and I stopped wearing it. The shoes are usable, however. Those pompoms just have to go. So off they go.


Next step is to attach Velcro. You will need:
  • A strip of Velcro. Choose a color that will match or go well with your shoes.
  • Felt circles or squares that matches the color of your Velcro.
  • Super glue. I was thinking of using hot glue but this attachment will see a lot of stress and pulling and I wasn’t sure if hot glue will hold. So I decided to use super glue.

STEP 1: Attach one side of your Velcro the felt. Since my Velcro wasn’t wide enough for my felt circle, I attached 2 strips.

STEP 2: Cut the excess Velcro around your felt circle or square.

STEP 3: Apply glue to the other side of the felt and attach it to your shoes.

STEP 4: Make your embellishments. For this project, I made black satin flowers using my Satin and Tulle Flower tutorial. There are a lot of tutorials for flowers or other embellishment you can use. Another idea is to make 2 small Pearl Bows. I plan to make that next.

STEP 5: Attach the opposite side of the Velcro (opposite from the one you attached to the shoes) to the back of your embellishment.

STEP 6: Attach the embellishment to the shoes.

And there you have it. I'm loving this new look! You can get different looks from just one pair of shoes by making different types of embellishment and switching it to fit your look or your mood for the day.

Check out the other looks I made for this pair: Shoes Refashion - Part 2

I am linking to the following parties:
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Creative Juice at Momnivore's Dilemma | Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks | Make It To Wear It at The Train to Crazy | It's a Party at A Creative Princess | Show and Share at Southern Lovely | DIY Diva Thursday at Mine for the Making | Catch a Glimpse at A Glimpse Inside | Commercial Break Thursday at Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom |

Monday, August 29, 2011

Meet Ada

Ada is a woodland fairy, inspired by Tinker Bell, and made using the Babushka Doll template I posted a while back.

I used felt so I didn't add seam allowances to the pattern. And then I free-handed her dress, made her a small belt, and added wings. 

I stitched some design to the wings before I attached it... though the design got a little messed up when I sewed all parts together.


Like Stella, I finished Ada a while back and she's all wrapped, tagged and ready to be dropped soon! Ada is going to be the last "friend" I will introduce to you for a while because I ran out of stuffing and I currently have no idea where to find more :-/ I found the pack of stuffing I've been using last year, Christmas time, at the Christmas decor section at a bookstore because some people shred it and put on Christmas trees and other decor to make it look like snow. I bought 2 packs and I've used up all of them. I need to find polyester stuffing first before I can make more toys :(

I am linking to the following parties:
Link Party at Tea Rose Home | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Creative Juice at Momnivore's Dilemma | Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks | It's a Party at A Creative Princess | Show and Share at Southern Lovely | Think Pink Sunday at Flamingo Toes | Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime | Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming | Not Baad Sunday at Lamb Around | Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple | A Round Tuit at Creating My Way to Success | Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do | A Marvelous Mess at Marvelously Messy | Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Made By You Monday at Skip to My Lou | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Ta-Da Tuesday at Mommy by Day Crafter by Night | Handmade Tuesdays at Lady Bug Blessings | Tuesday Party at Running with Glitter | Tuesday To Do Party at The Blackberry Vine | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | Tuesday Confessional at Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy |

Friday, August 26, 2011

My Thoughts on Language

Last June, my niece started pre-school in a Montessori school located at one of the more affluent neighborhoods near our house. I chose that school because it made a good impression on me and that's where I plan to send Andrea next year. My mom, my sister and I want them to go to the same school. My mom went with my niece that first day and after class, my mom called me to tell me that ALL kids in that school speaks English only. No one can speak in Filipino except my niece.

That made me think twice... thrice... several times... about whether I want to send my daughter to an environment like that. Most parents here teach their kids English first. I understand the need to learn English. English is the language most used to teach in our schools here. And when you enter the corporate workforce, command of the English language is a must with everything going global nowadays. English is a language we eventually learn. But we (my family at least) use Filipino at home. Filipino is our national language and as Filipinos, I strongly believe that we should know our own language.

For a while now, speaking English here has become a sign of belonging to the "upper class". And sometimes, this comes with arrogance that is really irritating. It has become  "cool" for Filipinos to not know or worse, speak bad Filipino, and be more fluent in English. And it's sad, and annoying really, when you hear some Filipinos try to fake being bad at the Filipino language to try to appear cool. Yes, seriously, some people do that... and when you are a native Filipino speaker, you can tell. When babies are born, parents speak to their babies in English only. I have heard that in some homes, speaking in Filipino is not allowed. I do not judge those parents. They have their reasons. I just think it's sad that the new generation will never get to know the language that is part of  our identity as a people. That is not how I want to raise my daughter.

Every year in August, we celebrate Buwan ng Wika (Language Month) here in the Philippines. In schools they usually have a program where children dress up in traditional Philippine costumes and recite poems or sing songs in Filipino. How ironic is it that just a few days ago, this article came out in one of the biggest newspapers here:

--do not click the link though--
--article deleted already--

I just wanted to share the original link but after getting several feedback from a lot of outraged people, the newspaper decided to pull the article. I was able to get a screenshot to share with my husband before they pulled it though. 

--double click image for larger view--
--double click image for larger view--

Or you can send me an email if you want a document copy to read better.

Though some of what was said about Filipino is true (i.e. Filipino being its own system, with its own grammar, semantics, sounds, even symbols. But more significantly, it was its own way of reading, writing, and thinking. There are ideas and concepts unique to Filipino that can never be translated into another.), the general tone of the article feels wrong and elitist. My initial impression was that here is someone who wants people to think of him as elite because he speaks English. But I have read the article over and over and I give the author the benefit of the doubt. As one of my friends said in Twitter, he might be trying to elicit change in how we use and view our language. Was he trying to be sarcastic? Probably. He might not just have been able to get his message across very clearly. Benefit of the doubt. Reading the article's conclusion made my temper flare a bit again... but benefit of the doubt.

Contrary to what the author says, we don't just use Filipino because we are "forced to relate with the tinderas (Janelle: people who sell food or other small items on the street or from small neighborhood stores) and the manongs (Janelle: technically a term of respect for an older male in Bisaya, another major dialect used commonly in southern Philippines, but is also a term that has gained popularity as a generic name used to call drivers, especially public transport drivers when you don't know their names) and the katulongs (Janelle: maids, housekeepers) of this world. If we wanted to communicate to these people — or otherwise avoid being mugged on the jeepney". Or because it is the language "used to speak with my cousins and uncles and grandparents in the province". It's not merely a "street language". It's the language I use to communicate with my daughter. I call her Anak, the Filipino term for offspring derived from the Malaysian language, I think. When I want to thank someone, I say Salamat or Salamat po, Filipino for "Thank you". I add "po" at the end of my sentences as a sign of respect when I speak to my elders. Instead of "Mommy" and "Daddy", some of my friends call their parents "Nanay" and "Tatay". I talk to my friends in Filipino, and it's much more fun sharing stories this way than using English.
I do not deny the importance of the English language in our daily lives as Filipinos. We read books in English. We watch TV shows and movies in English. More reference materials are available in English than in any other language. I work for a transnational company and in the course of my work every day, I talk to my officemates located in Taiwan or Ireland or Japan or the US. We use English. As I'm sure all companies who are trying to go global. So there is truth in the author's statement that Filipino is not the "language of the classroom and the laboratory, nor the language of the boardroom, the court room, or the operating room". But this should not diminish our respect for our native language.

This last part is what must have struck a chord with a lot of the people who read this:

"I may be disconnected from my being Filipino, but with a tongue of privilege I will always have my connections. So I have my education to thank for making English my mother language."

"Tongue of privilege"... what does that even mean? And this too, "language of the learned". Too elitist. Too snobbish. And with his "tongue of privilege", he will always have his connections... to what I wonder?

Friday Photos - Ritual Dance


This carving hangs from a wall in one of the common areas of the Boracay Regency Resort. I'm not sure about the origin of this wall art but my husband and I found it interesting because of the intricate detail. It looks like some tribal women doing a ritual dance.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Old Jeans to Bag

Remember my Old Jeans to Skirt project?
 

The jeans I used for this skirt was a little tight and after months of hoping that I will lose weight (without really doing anything) so that I can finally wear it... I just decided to take my seam ripper to remove the fabric I added and attach it to another pair ofjeanc that's I've cut. One that actually fit.

(edited August 30, 2011 to add photo)
Yey! I can wear it now! :)
So that left me with this:
 

What to do? What to do? Hmmm...

I know! A bag! I've seen a few projects that turned old jeans into bags before and I've always wanted to try it. 

However, this part I was left with was a little small. I decided to add more fabric at the bottom to make it bigger. And here is what I came up with.


I used the same color thread to attach the bottom and stitched 2 lines to match the rest of the jeans.

 
Stitches aren't very straight, I know. Tsk, tsk, tsk...

I used a zipper for the first time too!

Stitches were a little wonky but after I was done, I didn't want to rip the stitches to fix it anymore. Most important thing for me was that it opens and closes... since it does, I'm good :)

I had a difficult time attaching the lining. I think this part took the most time. I wanted the stitches to fall under the waistband of the jeans so they won't be so obvious. And I was attaching the zipper the same time I was attaching the lining. I can't describe what I was doing very well. And this was the point I decided to give up on trying to prepare a tutorial (yes, I was trying to prepare a tutorial for you guys..  maybe next time when I've had more practice). I had to rip the stitches several times and do it over. But after several tries... and several hours of work (like around 6 hours total of just trying to attach the lining)... I was done. Hooray!


I used red fabric because initially, I was planning to use the handles from an old bag I already have. Those handles were red synthetic leather. However, upon close checking, some parts of those handles were already cracking so I decided not to use them. Instead I used these:

You know how some bags come with 2 detachable hanDles One short and one long? My mom has a bunch those from old bags she doesn't even have anymore. She gave me a plastic bag full of them and I found a short black one. I simply attached them to the belt loop (I had to Google to find out that those are called, haha! I just realized I didn't know... we call them "sinturera" here in the Philippines and I think that's a Spanish term. You get a piece of trivia today :).

For the other handle, I used an old thin black belt. I attached metal rings on the 2 belt loops in front and slipped one end of the belt, folded the belt around the chain link and used needle and black thread to sew the 2 layers of the black belt together to secure it. After that, I measured the length of belt I needed to match the other handle, cut off the excess, and did the same on the other end.


The belt I used is a little narrower than the handle on the other end but you can't really notice the difference. I also thought about making handles out of the same fabric I used for the bottom of the bag but I thought that using synthetic leather on the handles will make the bag look just a little bit less home made :)

Here's how it looks from the  back:


I love that my bag has a lot of pockets from the front and back pockets of the jeans. And you can see the spots where I removed the jeans tag and former position of the belt loops before I adjusted their position.

Happy with the result and I'm glad that's over. Sewing with denim isn't one of my favorite things, I discovered :)

I am linking up to the following parties:
Sew Cute Tuesday at Creative Itch | Sugar & Spice at Seven Thirty Three | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs | Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims | Hoo's Got Talent at Night Owl Crafting | Thrifty Thursday at Saved By Love Creations | A Crafty Soiree at Katie's Nesting Spot | Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Creative Juice at Momnivore's Dilemma | Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks | Link Party at Tea Rose Home | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Show and Share at Southern Lovely | DIY Diva Thursday at Mine for the Making | Catch a Glimpse at A Glimpse Inside | Commercial Break Thursday at Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom | Think Pink Sunday at Flamingo Toes | Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime | Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming | Not Baad Sunday at Lamb Around | Craft-O-Maniac Monday at Craft-O-Maniac | Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T. | Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple | A Round Tuit at Creating My Way to Success | Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do | A Marvelous Mess at Marvelously Messy | Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Made By You Monday at Skip to My Lou | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Ta-Da Tuesday at Mommy by Day Crafter by Night | Take-A-Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts | Handmade Tuesdays at Lady Bug Blessings | Tuesday Party at Running with Glitter | Tuesday To Do Party at The Blackberry Vine | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | Tuesday Confessional at Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy | Shabby Shares Saturday Link Party at Rustic Crafts |

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Blog hop now open!

Hey guys! The Creating Success Around the World blog hop link party is now open. 

I scheduled the post to go live at 6AM my time (GMT +8) and was only able to check now and see that the link party is not working. Already fixed with Jill's help. Link link link! :) Hope to see you there!

Creating Success Around the World with Daffy of Daffy's Dream

Welcome to 
Creating Success Around the World
The worldwide blog hop tour that introduces you to creative people from all corners of the world.

Click here to learn more.
-oo0oo-

Today I am introducing you to Daffy from Daffy's Dream. Daffy is one of the creative ladies who linked up to our blog hop a few weeks ago. Daffy comes to us from India.


[Janelle]: Hello Daffy! It's good to have you here with us today! And thanks so much for linking up to our blog hop. It's always great to meet talented people there. Please tell us about yourself and your country.
[Daffy]: Hi, my name is Priya. My blog name Daffysdream is derived from my nickname Daffy. My wonderful husband calls me Daffodil (short & sweet ‘Daffy’). I’m a mamma to one little adorable boy and a wife to very understanding husband. 
 

My country INDIA is a beautiful country with a glorious heritage and rich custom. India being the largest democracy in the world with a civilization more than five thousand years old and boasts of multiple cultural origins. India is known for Unity in Diversity.  Though we speak different languages, follow different cultures, customs and traditions yet we are all Indians. To live peacefully has been our motto and this motto has helped us to achieve independence.

I think it's sweet that your husband has a special nickname for you. And the way you described India to us tells me you are very proud of it. India seems like a good place to nurture one's creativity. I have seen several talented Indians like you online and you all make beautiful things. Can you tell us about the things you make and feature on your blog?
Well, my first love is designing and making handbags.  But my creativity doesn’t stop in just one field. I believe creativity is a form of expression of your dreams, of your self.  I love sewing, craft for kids, Do-it-yourself projects, jewel making, recycle and up cycling, refashioning...  Basically, in a nutshell, my blog is everything what I’m into.


You have a lot going on in your blog! I've been there a few times and you do have a lot of cool stuff. What inspires your creations?
Sewing and crafting is in our blood and heritage.  My husband, mother, grandmother, sisters, brother, aunt, uncle most of the people in our family sew and craft. I started my blog initially to record my own sewing and craft projects. I was surprised by positive response about my blog from friends and family.  Now I find this blog as a great media to share my creativity.  I love to share my work in tutorial so everyone can make.


And thank you for that! We all love us some good tutorials. I think that Penguin Backpack (top right photo) is so cute. Thanks for sharing the pattern and tutorial for that. So do you sell any of the items you make?
Yes! I sell my handmade handbag on my eBay store (Within India – domestic customers) and Etsy store (International customer).


How are your online stores doing?
I found my eBay local store is doing good sale. My Etsy store is yet to make any sale, which I'm confident will do soon.

That's good to hear that you are doing well locally. Can you share with us some mistakes you have made with your crafting and what lessons you have learned?
As I said earlier I started sewing when I was a little girl.  I had made lot of mistake during the process of learning. I believe in appreciating the mistake what they are and learn lesson in a hard way. My great lesson would be to go for what your heart say; don’t be afraid of mistake. Mistakes are not an option. Your ideas are born from your mistake you make and lesson you learn during the process. Unless and until you try to make something, you never know what you can.

That's a great lesson to share with everyone, Daffy. I agree with you about mistakes and how we learn from them. At this point, how do you define success? And can you say that you have achieved it yet?
For me Success is a journey not a destination. I believe in these famous quotes by our Father of Nation - Mahatma Gandhi:

Your beliefs become your thoughts.
Your thoughts become your words.
Your words become your actions.
Your actions become your habits.
Your habits become your values.
Your values become your destiny.

The hard work I have put would never fail.  At the end I’m confident it will be worth it. In my case, my value towards my family and friends are true.  And the sacrifice I make by getting up early in the morning or sleeping late. At the end it is worth by making good sale and great blog.

I'm sure your views on success will inspire a lot of people. So what other dreams are there for Daffy's Dream?
Currently I’m working on few e-book sewing pattern which will be listed on Etsy store soon. I working on fine tuning my blog to look professional. I would love to have studio for my creative work and teach people to explore their creative side.

We all wish you well as you work towards making all those dreams into a reality! And thanks so much again for joining us here today, Daffy!


-oo0oo-

If you want to see more of Daffy's work, you can visit her at Daffy's Dream.

Be sure to check out the other interviews from my co-hosts:
Asia - Me! :)



And now, it's your turn! Join our blog hop by linking your blog to our link party below! After linking, make sure you visit a few other links because that's what this hop is all about :)

Do you want your to be interviewed and featured here? If I see your link below, you just might be! I am always looking for talented bloggers from Asia for my next interview feature. I'm sure my other co-hosts from other regions are too. Leave your link and hope to meet you soon!




Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Errr... I'm calling this a UFO

You might have noticed the lack of project posts. Well... at least someone did. Last Friday I received a very sweet email from PC of Meijo's Joy asking how I was and that she hoped everything was ok since she hasn't seen me around blogland lately. I was so touched by her email :) 

One of our many before bedtime photos. 
So as I told PC, everything is ok here. No worries. My daughter is just going through an "I-want-mommy-only" phase. She doesn't want her nanny.... she doesn't want her Daddy... she just wants Mommy. It's really cute and adorable but that also means I can no longer "escape" to my sewing/craft room for a couple of hours on weekends. I tried around 2 weeks ago, when she took her nap, but when she opened her eyes and saw that Mommy wasn't there by her side, she gave the most heart-wrenching cry of despair that had me running back to her. Evenings are like this too. I would put her to bed and wait until I'm sure she's sleeping and leave the room, like I used to do before. But lately, she seems to sense when I leave because a few minutes after, I'd look up from my sewing machine and I see her the doorway with a cute little frown and a scolding "Mommy!".

I won't even tell you what it's like every time she's already awake in the morning and I have to leave for work. It makes mg feelktoo guilty.

So if you have kids... do tell me... do they outgrow this stage on their own? Or do I have to do something to make her like Daddy the same way so he can share some of the load (like load... literally... when we're at the mall or anywhere outside  and she's tired and doesn't want her stroller, I have the sole privilege of carrying all 27lbs of her for hours).

Ok now that that's out... let's go back to my... errr... UFO - Un-Finished Object. A few weeks ago, I posted a few dresses I like for Andrea that I saw at the mall.

That dress on the lower right... no that's not my UFO. That dress I bought. Yeah, shame on me for buying and not personally making one for my daughter. I really was planning to make one but looking at the dress more, I realized a couple of things: I don't know how to make a collar and I don't know how to make a tie. And at my skill level, those seem like a lot of pieces I have to sew together and I was sure I won't be able to make one as nice. So back to the mall I went, ecstatic when I found the dress still available, and bought it. And last weekend, Andrea got to wear it. She looks like such an adorable school-girl wannabe!

Photo was taken while we were walking back to our car from a kids party we attended. It was already dark and I was only sing;my phone.

Let's go back to my inspiration photo and my UFO. That peasant dress on the upper left... that's the inspiration for my UFO. And I didn't make it for my daughter... this UFO is for me! ;) 


I made it shorter because I was planning to wear it with jeans. I don't wear dresses or skirts much. I soon realized this project was a little too ambitious for me. I didn't have a pattern... I drew one from scratch using my measurements. And I wasn't following a tutorial. I was completely winging it. I knew a shapeless top will not work for me I decided to add a band under the chest.  And I didn't want the sleeves to gather so much.


Here's a detailed look at the neckline and the bib. I should have made the bib part longer. And I should have ironed it before I took a close-up photo. My bad.


And here's the details of the sleeves. Here is where it becomes a UFO. I was trying to copy my inspiration dress so I used the same white fabric on the sleeves that I used for the bib. After I finished though, I think it would look better (and more like something I can wear) if I just use the same fabric I used on the dress for the sleeves too. So right now, I'm working up the willpower to get that seam ripper and rip those sleeves off and put on a new one.

I tried it on and the band below the chest is a little loose. I am still thinking if I want to rip that out too and adjust it. Or go the lazy-me way and leave it as is and just use a wide belt.

Will I be able to wear this in public? I actually already did. When we went to the mall last weekend. I figured, with all those people around, no one looks at you closely anyway so might as well :)

Hope you all had a great weekend and don't forget to check back again tomorrow for our Creating Success Around the World blog hop!







Hope to see you there! :)

I am linking up to the following parties:
Made by You Monday at Skip To My Lou | Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings | Tuesday Party at Running with Glitter | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | Pink Hippo Party at Pinkapotamus | Sew Cute Tuesday at Creative Itch | Make It to Wear It Thursday at The Train to Crazy |