Of Ramadan, Thesis and Crafting

First of all, I hope it's not too late to wish all my Muslim readers Happy Ramadan Kareem. Let's take the opportunity to keep our hearts close to Allah and may our fasting be accepted in full barakah. Amin.

I've been very busy this Ramadan as my thesis due date is approaching in 2 weeks' time. There are still few things to finalize so I spend most of my time at the Postgrad workroom, thus even limiting my time online. I really wanted to submit before the allocated time so my supervisor would have ample time to check, and I would have enough time to do the corrections. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to works and stuff, so this thesis HAS to be PERFECT. So I'm putting everything I have in the thesis. So I really hope it'll turn out well. Wish me luck, k!


So it was really lucky that I've done few crafting few weeks back, but not having the time to post them here. So here goes another card, done with another simple quilling technique, and also using the handmade embossed prima flowers. You can read on how to go about doing the flowers in my tutorial here.


I've been browsing on a few quilling blogs that give great ideas on what else to do beside flowers and butterflies, and I already have some ideas on what I'd do next. But due to the time constrains I have to make do with what I have, and polish my skills in the quilled flowers department first before stepping up to another level. :)


Once I'm done with the long-overdue thesis, I'll work something up. Promise! :)

I'm getting addicted to quilling, and I started to ignore lots of other types of crafts I used to do. Hehe. Blame it on the paper shredder. When you put the shredder beside the laptop and starts seeing things online, things keep on getting out of hand.

*Need to restrain myself until after my thesis completed by end of the month* (repeat chants pls)

I just want to share this simple card, also made out of the quilling addiction, and designed after basic quilling flowers that everybody should do if they're interested in quiling.


The strips of papers were not made from the shredder, but were done using the paper cutter. I told myself that in order for me to start using the shredder to shred more papers, I need to finish off the 'old shredded paper stock' hehehe. I still have a few strips left, but most of the 'old' strips were used up. And here's one of the examples.

The slim basket/vase was handwoven - tricky at start, but it was better after a while. Oh, btw I start using glue stic to attach the ends of the papers. Unlike the normal sticky wet glue, the stic is easier to handle, and dries very fast. And it hardly leaves any mark on the quilled paper.

So give it a try! (It's so hard to find fellow Malaysians who are into quilling, so I'm promoting quilling on full scale now :P)

My First Bouquet

When I first graduated (there will be a 2nd and 3rd time InsyaAllah) back in 2002, I never got any bouquet of flowers like others normally did. All I get was a small bear wearing a graduation cap and carrying a heart-shape balloon.

My sisters said they looked everywhere for flowers, but unfortunately, all were sold out. It was a convocation fiesta after all - everybody wanted flowers. I'm not really into flowers, but of course you would want to hold something in your hand when you take the photos on one of the best days in your life. Oh well, I'll make sure everyone brings a bouquet each for my next graduation then. :P

Back to my post then.


Ever since I started quilling, I've always wanted to do bouquets of flowers but always ended up doing something else (and it made me think of graduation too). This is the first time I made a small bouquet of flowers -that carries only three flowers hahaha. It's still experimental, as it's my first time doing the flower arrangement.


The flowers were made made ages ago, and been lying in my box for quite sometimes. So I finally had the chance to experiment them together. And please ignore the uneven width of the strips (for the flowers. That's what you get if you freely cut papers into quilling strips without using any ruler. The leaves were made using strips that were cut using the paper cutter. Will show you the result of the strips cut using the paper shredder later. :)


Now I know quilled flowers can be addictive too, huh. I'll try referring to real bouquets of flowers for my next project. :)

FOUND!

I'm starting a new Found! section. :) Found! will focus on craft tools and ideas that can be found anywhere, and came with drop dead prices. I'm a craft addict, and yet, I'm very calculative when it comes to buying some 'spensive crafts. So I would usually look for the craft substitutes that would work the same, but with cheaper value. I love window shopping (who doesn't) and sometimes you could really find some items that comes with very good value!

For example, I bought my first quilling tool at RM15, at a local craft shop. I later found out that the same type of tool was sold at an art shop for RM15 - for two! And the ink pads that are usually sold at craft shops for RM9.90 to RM15.00 per box - I found similar pads (but not branded) at only RM3.50 per box!

Okay, will tell about the other founds later. For this entry, I would love to share my latest found - Paper Shredder. You have no idea how long I've been looking for that perfect paper shredder - not to big, portable, shreds papers of good sizes for my quilling etc. I've searched almost all bookstores and stationery shops that I could find, and the cheapest was sold at RM99.90 - and that was only for limited time. It's huge in size, and the shredded papers were not really good for quilling purposes (6mm per shredded piece).

Ever since I started quilling, I've never bought any specially-made quilling papers that can easily be found at craft shops. I cut my own papers, and I recently bought a paper cutter (at only RM39.90!) so the task was getting easier. Getting a paper shredder would make all my hard word paid off easily. So when I found this paper shredder on sale yesterday, I got really excited and could not stop grinning inside the shop.


It's very light, portable, and the shredded piece is 3mm - which is PERFECT for my quilling! I could simply plug in the usb port to my computer and tadaa.. the shredder is ready.


And guess how much this shredder cost? It's sold at only RM29.00! The A4 size shredder (with similar lightness but a bit bigger in size) was sold at RM39.00. I took the smaller one coz I don't really care about the sizes, what I do care is the shredded pieces hehe.

Can't wait to start using the new machine!!

Oh, it also comes with this instruction - which I thought was quite hilarious haha.


After all, it was made in China. :)

Found at: IT Hyperstore, now at Ground Floor, Cineleisure Damansara.
Sold at: RM29.00 (mini shredder) and RM39.00 (bigger shredder for A4 size paper)

The Green Experiment

Did I mention that I lost my big yummy pencil case at school? Was so frustrated over the loss as the case contained lots and LOTS and LOTS of multi-coloured pens and pencils, and the worst part was that my quilling tool was also inside the case. Together with my few other craft tools. Sad, isn't it?

So what should you do when you're frustrated? Buy MORE craft tools haha. Which I did. So I went to Art Friend at Mid Valley and splurge some cash on TWO new quilling tools (one traditional quilling tool and another one is slip quilling tool), a set of embossing tools (come in 4 different point sizes) and a pink paper cutter cum paper creaser (which cost @ RM39.90!). The paper cutter/ creaser was the cheapest that I found so far so if you're interested, drop by Art Friend. Will talk more about craft items found later in other entries k.

So when I reached home, this was the first card that I made using the items bought at Art Friend.


Yes, green is and will always be my favourite colour - just in case you're wondering :P. For this card, I use the new quilling tool, and experimented with other items for the bigger rolls of the papers - pencils and paper glue matched the needed rolls perfectly.



Since now I have the cool-looking paper cutter/creaser, it was really fun cutting through strips of papers for my quilling. I no longer have to free-handedly cut the papers using scissors (which always resulted uneven sides). I still need more practice in perfecting the width of the strips, but at least most of them are now cut in straight lines hehe. (Told you I'm lazy, ain't I?!)



Hope you love the card as much as I do. It has officially took over the top spot of my favourite cards list right now. :)