Housekeeping (Part 2)

Ok, this should be the last of my posts for this week.  Sorry for the onslaught but I had one week's worth of blogging-in-my-brain to unload.

I like to end my posts with some housekeeping matters.  I am after all domesticated at heart.

With this craft hobby taking off, I find my house scattered with many projects-in-progress.  It is getting disorganised and messy.  So, I got  myself this tiered trolley.  

It's like those used by hairdressers.  I would organise my WIPs according to type and would trundle this trolley around the house, picking up the needle whenever my hands are free (even in the toilet!).

See, I even sleep with it by my side.  Should I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep, I don't waste time turning or tossing in bed.  I get on with my sewing.

 Ok, next week, I promise knitted dolls galore.  Many are in the works, some by me, others by my friends and colleagues.  And, and ... my aunty (who got the ball rolling in the 1st place) has even found me more volunteer knitters.  Another aunt who is really talented will also be joining us in bringing you more creations of joy.  In the meantime, I leave you with a peek of things to come...

Home Without Stitch

Now, I would like to take a break from writing about crafts to show you something I bought today.  There's still a home element involved, so it should be alright to include this post here, right?

When I was younger, I stayed with my grandma from time to time.  My grandma is super-organised and -neat.  Every morning, she would boil water and fill up a teapot not unlike what I've got above.  Her tea pot would be more colourful, has a raffia string securing the cap and a transparent rubber spout attached.  She would put this teapot on a tray together with some cups.  Throughout the day, she would pour herself, family members and guests water from this teapot.  This tradition has come to represent to me the warmth of home, where there is always drink for the thirsty and a shoulder for the weary (my grandma was on the stout side and I used to find great comfort putting my head on her bosom, my head bobbing whenever she chuckles at one thing or another I said).  Sigh, I miss my grandma.

Nowadays, our drink is straight from our water purifier or bottled water (my mom still pours boiled water into re-cycled ribena glass bottles, although even these are hard-to-come-by with the advent of disposable water bottles).  We no longer know what it is like to serve drinks to one another.  When people come to our house, out comes the packet drinks.  So, I decided to get myself this teapot set, as a reminder of the warmth and hospitality of home.

I also got myself another teapot set but that's a story for another day.

Lim's Art and Crafts is having their annual storewide 30%-off sale (35% for DBS cardholders), so I also got some crockery.

 

Don't you think this makes a great dish to serve up fish?  Even the size is just right.

I love both the shape and the prints on this bowl.

But at the end of the day, it's what goes into the bowl that really warms the heart.  Don't you think that this corn-and-carrot soup is perfect for this cool evening?

The Mushroom House

My mom and my sister also got swept along by my friends' and my crafting fun.  They decided to combine forces and produced  ... The Mushroom House...

My sister passed this box to me at church this morning.  I was amused by the box illustration, hand-drawn by none other than my 7-year-old niece.  By the way, she has been designated our stall manager.  Even at this tender age, she has the makings of a shrewd businesswoman, taking detailed notes of all our products, costing and pricing.  She has even designed some items for us to produce.  That little girl is a veritable slave-driver, I tell you.

I opened the box with trepidation - I have heard so much about their plans and have from time to time, caught glimpses of their work-in-progress.

  
What are these?

Ooooooo..... look at this cutey...

 

Yikes!  We have an invasion of the shrooms!  (Actually, some of us at the back are toadstools).  I like :) 


These are meant to be pin cushions but you can make them out to be anything you want.  

There's a sad story behind the making of these mushrooms, involving the sacrifice of one small boy.  You see, the mushrooms are supposed to be stuffed with cotton wool.  But my sister didn't have any at hand.  It then dawned on her that her son sleeps with this heart-shaped stuffed toy which is fluffy with ... you guess right, cotton wool! She hinted and sighed, and the little boy with a soft-heart-for-his-mother volunteered to sacrifice the arms of this toy.  My mom did some major surgery and cut off the arms of his toy and took out the cotton wool.  Now, everyone is happy.  The cotton wool was enough to stuff 5 shrooms.


Don't you love the embroidery?  They're so delicate.  My mom has many years of sewing and she is an expert in embroidery. 

And finally, here's a comparison for size:-

 

As you probably have noted, there are only 5 mushrooms in all and everyone of them is different.  So, if you love them, grab them while you can!

The Long Wallet

So far, everything we made has fabric which is either cute/vibrant or Jappy.  I know that there are the ultra-feminine amongst you who are dying for something pink, flowery and lacy...

Ok, get ready for some sugar over-load.  This is a long wallet made by E.  Again, it is ultra-slim and yet so totally expandable.

 

See, the many compartments inside?  This is for the super-organised person.  There's also another wallet-within-the-wallet for coins and other knick-knacks.  And again, we haven't forgotten the super-long zipper.  I told you, didn't I?  When we made our items, we always think about what is practical and believe me, the three of us combined would have enough experience owning bags, wallets and pouches to know what works and what doesn't. 

This wallet makes a particularly useful travel companion as the passport slips easily into it.  Again, here's the perspective angle again.

Just a warning, because this wallet is super-difficult to make (I think E took 2 whole weeks to make this one), there are only two pieces available.  But if you really like this, you can email us and we can custom-make one just for you.  And do you know that if it is custom-made, you can choose your own fabric too.

The Pouch

We really love fabric.  We believe that it is a very versatile material, not only in providing variety of prints but also, pouches or bags made out of fabric are expandable and pliable.  Take this new pouch which E made as an example:-

The pouch is actually very compact and fits easily into any handbag.  I made one for my sister a few years back and because it's well padded, she's been using it to keep her camera.  I put my make-up in mine and whenever it gets dirty, I just throw the pouch into the washing machine (see? versatility).

Unlike pouches you get from the mass market, we made the zipper on our pouch extra long.  This is because we know from experience how difficult it is to be ferreting in a bag with a small mouth.  Bleah, I hate those zipper cuts.

Sure looks cavernous, doesn't it?  I once packed all my chargers in it when traveling.  I really love the padding of the pouch.  Looking at the inside, you won't believe how small the pouch is when all zipped up.  So, here's something for your perspective:-

I know, I shouldn't use my dog as a model but I have run out of models.  I hope no one reports me for animal abuse.

The Eco-Bag

Not to be outdone, E has created an eco-bag.  

I know, eco-bags are so passe nowadays and everyone from the wet market ah-so to the chi-chi tai tai is carrying one.  But those free ones you get are so tacky - always in the gawdiest colors and with some brand or other printed on it.  The ones that you buy tend to be in some nylon or rough material and therefore more suitable for groceries than your expensive fashion purchases.

The eco-bag we have is made from 100% pure cotton, so it is washable, breathable and extremely expandable.  It also folds up to a compact size (believer me, it is much easier to fold than the current slew of eco-bags).

Ok, as for some perspective, here's E modeling her own bag:-

And because the bag is made from cotton fabric, there's a myriad of prints it can come in.  E has made some more of the bags in polka dots - how fun is that?

 

Thanks for all the feedback!

It has been a busy week for all of us.  The dog has given up waiting for anyone to play with her.

We've received a lot of feedback on our blog and our products, and in the process, we've learnt a lot.  Thank you for caring enough to share.  Some of you have asked about the prices of the items.  We're still tweaking the pricing so that the items are affordable and yet our costs are covered.  But if you want an indication, you can email us by clicking the envelope icon below.


In the meantime, here's an update on some of the items featured in the earlier blogs:-

Do you remember the reversible tote?  C made yet another.  That girl is a genius, I tell you.  Did you notice the little mushroom she has embellished the bag with?
Here's a closer look:-

Pretty, isn't it?

Just so that you get a feel of the size of the tote, I've sacrificed myself by modeling the tote.  Please ignore the messy house in the background.  Like I said, it has been a busy week and much else has been neglected.

 

 There's also another edition of the drawstring bag - this time without the handles and in another Japanese print fabric.

Don't you think the cats look adorable?  We've also got this with the red fabric outside and the cream inside.

We haven't just been making more of the same items, we've also come up with new items.  Read the next blog to find out what they are.