A breath of fresh air

First of all, sorry for the long overdue posts. There's something wrong with the laptop the whole of last week, so I have to rely on the house's desktop to go online. But it was hard to put a blog entry as usual since all my photos are stored in my laptop and I couldn't even reach them. And when the problem finally settled (got my laptop running again yeay!), the Internet went haywire for a couple of days. So all the hustles finally being settled today so I'm back to my usual self! Yeay! You see, I can't live without my laptop and this past week without it felt like a part of me being taken away. Hehe. But at least the lappy got to rest for a week, right!

Let's go back to today's entry.

I've recently sent the frame to its rightful owner, so I'm finally able to post this online. :) This is my 2nd try at calliagraphy, and I thought it was much better than my first try. It looks neat, and has that wood feel to it.

It's very strong and sturdy, even though I just used mounting board and exacto knife for the design. The hardest part was during the measurement process, as calculations always tire me out! Told you I'm not good with numbers!

The process itself wasn't that tedious, but this time I pay more attention on the corners (those are the most difficult parts of the design. I painted everything in few layers of  red poster colour, and let it dry. I later coated it with few layers of mod podge, to seal everything (so it would last longer, and didn't collect much dust). I'm loving mod podge so much now and have been using it on most of my projects :)

And only after everything dried, I pasted the design on a thick white paper and frame it. And I'm loving the final outcome. It looked way better than my first try, right? :)

Fathiah, thank you for giving me the opportunity to explore on calligraphy, and I've enjoyed making this for you!

Thy name is Konn!

"Thy name is Konn.." I told him.
"Why Konn?"
"Just because." I said.
"Okay. Then Konn it is."

Isn't he an obedient piece of paper? Konn was born after Irie, but it took a while before finally being featured on Miyyah@Kertas.

I love everything about Konn. He's bubbly, he's dreamy, a neat freak, a claustrophobic and such a cutie. And he flaps his bulky hands every time he walks down the stairs. As if he has wings. Such a fool! Such an adorable fool with a little bowtie!

Since Konn has been a very obedient and loyal companion, I awarded him with magnet on his back (not shown in pics as they were taken ages ago!), so instead of being kept in the darkest alley in the embellishment box, I let him free and he finally chose to stay on the magnetic board at the living room, where he now proudly stands guard.

Isn't it nice to have Konn who's always by your side, to stand guard and to protect you, but expects nothing in return?

p/s: I seriously need to pick up on my social life!

Fasten things together

So many things to do, so little time!

These are some of the flowers and butterflies in my collections (told you I've made tons before), and since my paper clips collection are thinning down, I thought I should make some, and here they are.

It's good to have pre-made embellishments like the flowers and the butterflies, as it took me less than 5 minutes to glue them down on the paper clips.

Back in those days of quilled flower craze, I love to mix and match two colours for a flower, and ended up with some multi-colours flowers! (And the polka-dot butterfly reminded me of chicken pox haha)

On other note, my to do list just added up to another page from before, and I've officially started to get a bit panicky of not being able to settle everything on time. I still have few emails to reply, few orders to do, few trips to go, few itineraries to prepare, few resumes to send and a graduation to attend. Perhaps it's time to scream and grab a chunk of my hair now.

I have to stop taking bulk orders for now as I'm fully booked up until July. But I'd still entertain small, individual orders, if you're interested. To those whose emails I still owe a reply to, hang in there okay, need to sort everything first, and I will get to you back ASAP!

Rhythm of the falling rain

It's raining outside! *happily skipping to the window*

I love rain. I always do. And I love to listen to the rhythm of the falling rain. The tippy tap sounds when it hits the umbrella. The soft rhythmic beats when it touches the window pane. And I wish I could always dance with all the raindrops too.

Oh, listen to the falling rain
Pitter pater, pitter pater
Oh, oh, oh, listen to the falling rain
Pitter pater, pitter pater.

For every rain that fall today, here's to hoping for more flowers to grow! :)

Kiss from a rose.

No, it's not just a rose. It's a bunch of roses. But I love the song, and it fits the theme, so be it. :P And I think everyone should watch this:



I can't even read music notes, but I honestly think he's one amazing guitar prodigy. And his guitar rendition of Kiss From a Rose is simply amazing. He goes by the name Jung Sun Ha and he's just 14! (The above was an old vid). Try watching his other videos and you'll be amazed too. And the fact that he's Korean excites me more (haha - I have a very, very soft spot with anything Korean LOL)

Now let's go back to the card. Hehe. Remember the Another Paper Flower tutorial? Well, these flowers were from the tutorial and had been lying around ever since. So I decided to clear out some compartments from my paper embellishment box and decided to use the flowers on a card.

I still need to improve on my use of other embellishments, because I know ribbons and sparkles and stickers and laces etc are not really my thing (so did pattern papers), so I would normally limit their usage on my crafts to the minimum. I always envy those who could use these and make some gorgeous cards/ arts, since I still struggle to use mine. :P Hey, there's still room for improvement, right? Hehe.

I love these blooming flowers. And just because I'm feeling rather blue today, here's another video from Jung Sun Ha - Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head. Yes, I'm a sucker for oldies, and I love raindrops.

Candies, anyone?

I have no idea why this little head of mine keep on visualizing gumdrops, marshmallows, taffies, lollipops, jellybeans and so many other types of candies lately. And with the pastel-ish craze that I'm going through right now... I thought this card could give me toothache.

Yes, this card looks nothing like gumdrops or marshmallows or taffies or lollipops or jellybeans. At first sight, I thought it was some purple monsters with rainbow contact lenses. On second though, it must be one of those weird, shy plants in my Wonderland, which pollens froze up at the sight of humans LOL!

Let's go back to the card before I start mumbling nonsense again. Ha. Regardless of what it is, or what it represents, I always thought this card gives out a very strong candy vibe. It must have tasted like those candies listed above too. Sweet, sour and bittery at times.

Take one, and have a taste. What does it taste like?

The Pastel Palette

It's going to be a very pastel-ish week at Miyyah@Kertas. So you're warned!

I've been using the whole pastel palette for the past few days, and I keep on getting addicted to the colours! The softness of blue, the sweetness of pink, the lightness of yellow... all colours look sugary sweet and it does bring out the girlish side in me LOL!

This dreamy ol' tree is exactly the way I envisioned it to be. I've always wanted to have a tree with colourful branches and leaves. Grab a branch, and you'll never know what kind of sweet little things the tree will give you.

The blue swirls and branches are the ones that produce bubble gums, the pink ones belong to marshmallows, the orange and yellow branches have the taste of icy lemonade, and the purple ones produce lollipops!

Wouldn't it be nice, to have such tree growing in your backyard?

Butterfly for the Depressed

Yeay! I finally made my first butterfly for 2010! It's been a while since I last got tired of butterflies (and flowers LOL) and switched to other things. So when I finally learned the alternate side loop quilling - which is the simpler version of husking technique (using hands to loop the paper strips instead of using husking board), I gave it a try and finally made my looping butterfly hehe.

I actually made this one huge butterfly in January, but had to wait for the right card to paste it. I finally found this gorgeous purple cardstock, and thought it suited the butterfly perfectly. As usual, I leave few spaces at the bottom of the card so I could add on some words depending on the occasion later.

Somehow, I'd like to think that this card would be a perfect gift for those in dire state of emotions. It may serve as a good reminder that everyone is beautiful, in his/her own way.

Do you know anyone in such mood, who would be happy to receive this card from a stranger?

The Blue Diet

I've been reading about colours and personalities lately and came across few interesting facts about the colour blue.

Do you know that blue is one of the most popular colour in the world, but it is also the least appetizing. Some weight loss programmes suggest that you eat your food off on blue plates. Have no idea how it supposed to contribute to losing weight though. I don't have problems eating from my blue plates hehe.

Blue has also been said as the colour of calmness and serenity, and that people could be more productive in blue rooms compared to other coloured places.

I wanted something repetitive and could execute such effects towards my card. And I'm loving the cursive tone of these shades of blue. It does give me a sense of relaxation, and exclusivity.

Can you see the little blue explosions at the end of each line? They remind me of fireworks. And sparks.

I do hope you'll enjoy the card as much as I do.  Till next time then.

Wonderland.

That's what this card reminds me of. Wonderland.

It's the bright and colourful Wonderland, where flowers hum Ne yo songs, and the rabbits play the cellos. The flower petals change colours every 29.4 seconds and the leaves sleep in daytime.  The rivers are all in bright orange and there are red benches on every corner. The zebras can dance and the squirrels can whistle. And the fountains are made of chocolate a'la Charlie's factory.
 
I'm an imaginative kind of person, and I could go on creating stories and fairy tales in my head for ages, complete with the prequals and the sequals. I've thought of becoming a writer once (ha!), simply because I love stories, and fairy tales. During those years when I first learned ABCs, some of the books that my parents bought me include compilations of Malaysian folklore and tales, and I remember knowing every inch of the books by heart. And I remember when I was in 8, I turned a 60 word essay homework on animals into a whole page short story about giraffe's family, complete with drawn pictures of the giraffes.

These flowers are mutations of daffodils, roses and cacti and go by the name Pink Narcissa. They can only live near crystal clear lakes. A warning though - they have no relations to Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter (lol!). There was a legend going on in this Wonderland, that the heritage line of Pink Narcissa came from a known Greek legend, which is known as Narcissus.

My first encounter with Shakespeare was when I was 12. I beg my parents to buy me the whole set of Shakespeare's work (children's version) which were translated in Malay - that include Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet etc. I memorized all the stories by heart too. I wish I could spend my whole time reading stories, I said to myself.

The legendary Narcissus was a man blessed with good, handsome looks but despite that, he's also known as a very, very cocky young man. Women of all ages fell for him but he cruelly rejected them all. One day he walked by a pool of water, and saw his own reflection in it. And it was said that he fell in love with his own reflection. Legend had it that the poor Narcissus couldn't leave that pool of water, as  he wasn't able to leave the beauty of his own reflection. It being a myth, Narcissus was said to die there, and was later transformed into flower, and continued gazing it's own image in the water.

I got my wish years after, and spent four amazing years learning and studying the beauty of literature. But of course, there were still times where I had to literally drag myself to read about American History and British Monarchy, memorizing Julius Caesar and Rubayyat Umar Khayyam by heart, understanding the brain-cracking literary theories etc... so who ever said learning literature is easy should really give it a try.

 
And that was how Pink Narcissa got their name from. And they still stand proudly by the lake, but this time, they're not only looking into their own reflections, but the whole reflections of the bright Wonderland.

Classy Old Brown

I've been neglecting card-makings for a while now, as  I've been concentrating on other types of paper-crafts. I've slowly replenished my paper stock so hopefully, I could squeeze some time to start making cards again.

 
This one was made a while back, and I couldn't find the right wording for the card, so as always, I just leave it blank. So mind me, if the card looks a bit.... unfinished. I will fill in the blank spot once I've decided to whom I should give the card to.. :P

Yes, the card looks vaguely similar in colour choice to the one I made for my cousin's merisik ceremony. Frankly, I made this card first, and the box followed suit about a week after.

I'm still experimenting on different designs that could be made from this simple quilling paper scrolls. So far I've made a lot of abstract designs, some architectural-inspired designs, flowers and even borders. There are so many more to explore, and experiment, so again, do mind me if I'm a wee bit excited and keep on recycling and reforming the paper scrolls. :P

Have a great weekend, and till next week then.

[off to cut some pink papers..].

Delicious books

I wish I'm still in in school, when autographs were very popular, so I could use one of these for others to write. I wish I still have to attend lectures, and would proudly use one of these for note-takings. I wish I've started working full time, so I could show these off to my colleagues (or perhaps, students? heh!). Why is that the idea of finally giving it a try at bookbinding only occured when I have neither of those? Maybe I could use them as my idea book, for sketches and designs I plan to do for my crafts. They've been everywhere these days - I wrote on scrap papers, books, small notes etc.. need to start combining them all and put them in one. proper. book.

I have to admit, I'm always crazy about books, and always envy those delicious-looking books in multiple colours on the shelves at bookstores. But I've always stop short of buying them, putting a thought at the back of my head - I'll learn bookbinding, and I'll bind books with beautiful covers like these! (and ended up buying those boring looking writing pads in bulk haha). Well, the truth is, I said that ever since high school, but never actually had the guts or the ways of fulfilling that very wish.

Not until last week. When I googled around for something totally un-craft related but ended up on craft websites anyway (why is that always happened to me?! :P) hehe. At first I thought I'll give Japanese bookbinding a try, because it seems simple enough. And so I did. And finally, when tutorials of coptic binding were shovered upon my Window screen (they kept on appearing, regardless how many times I tried to ignore), I decided to give it a try. It sure looks complicated at first, but after hours of trying (almost 4 hours!), I finally made my very first coptic-stitched book. Yeay!

Then I got addicted and started to make more books, and instead of spending hours per book, I spend less than 2 hours to make one. I can even speed up on the stitching part yeay! Unlike Japanese bookbinding where you have to make creases in order to write in the book, coptic binding allows the book to open flat. It shows off the fine spines of the books, which I totally love, and  it gives you plenty of ideas on how to improve your binding skills. You can show off your stitching skills too, though it's not really that nice in my case :P

And the way you stationed the holes for the stitching also play the role of varying the stitching design. And different threads used for stitching will also give different effects to the whole look too. I'm currently using white nylon fishing thread, but can't wait to try other colours as well :)

And as you can see, I tried making the signatures (the folded sheets grouped together) in different colours as well, and the result was amazing!

I already have few ideas and techniques on how to improve - and I simply can't wait to get started.  :P