Recycled Mini Embroidery Hoop

Once a friend asked if I could make another "Love to Sew" bag, but instead of sewing, she'd like the theme to be about embroidery.

I thought, there won't be much different with sewing theme, the only significant thing is the embroidery hoop. It has to be mini, as the same size as miniature things used in doll house.

I came up with the idea of making one, using recycled objects, which were mineral bottle cap's rings.

To make one, we need:

1. Two mineral bottle cap's rings (the ones left on the bottle's neck). They're made of plastic. You can use toilet paper cardboard tube cut into rings too, but I want my bag to be washable and we all know cardboard will be ruined if mixed with water.

2. A scrap of fabric.

3. Sticky tape and a good glue. I use E6000, because it was proven to stick well on plastic.

Here we go (apologize for the poor quality of the pictures though :P) ...

1. One of the bottle cap ring will be the inner hoop, while the other will be the outer. Cut the one intended to be the inner hoop, so it will be fitted the outer one.

One of my favorite documentary :)

Signe Channel is one of my favorite.

Especially the below episode. At 2:50 shown a lady, 75 years old of age, who braids. Iadore & admire her so much. Insha Allah, if my age can reach 75, I want to do interesting & creative thing like her :)

In general, these documentary series charge my crafting spirit.

My mind wonders...if only I could join those Chanel team...the pressure, the rush...so exciting!

Calyx (ribbon embroidery) for Idys

Ibu Pia and I are bff, we help, support each other all the time.
Her residence is not really far from mine, so it's just natural if we see each other almost every day.
She's the owner of Idys and we just love to talk about craft and our children all day, lol.

For the Inacraft 2011, she asked me to design some simple ribbon embroideries to be done by the Sukaraja women for Idys and of course I'm happy to do it.

I didn't manage to take pictures of all of the creations, but below are some of them:

- Various tissue box covers


- Mukena

The Sukaraja Club

As written in my previous blog, the less fortunate women of Sukaraja, Lampung, had been participating in one of Rumah Zakat programmes, which is a free workshop, intended to empower them.

But Rumah Zakat didn't stop there. They talked to ibu Pia of Idys and I on how to generate extra income for the Sukaraja women. What a coincidence! Ibu Pia and I had a "human resources crisis", we need extra hands to assist us on our productions for Inacraft 2011 and it's easier for us to work together with the Sukaraja women because we trained them our self, we can "shape" their quality of work to meet our standards. We provided materials, designs, commissions, etc and they were given freedom to choose any part of work they'd like to take. So we discussed it further with Rumah Zakat and the women of Sukaraja and they agreed to collaborate with us.

From more than 24 women who attended our free workshop, only few of them who are willing and happy to join us in our productions. Others are simply too busy with their daily life, they have babies, etc. So let me introduce you to the talented women of Sukaraja and some of their creations, achieved after intense trainings with us these several weeks:

Giveaway @Pojok Utak-Atik

Pojok Utak-Atik is currently giving away some fabulous prizes.
I'm eyeing this one, because it's cute, whimsical, rarely found and perfect for generally any projects:



Actually there are more pretty things to be won. Just visit Pojok Utak-Atik for further details ;)

A Sneak Peek (Inacraft 2011) :)

Yep, this is a sneak peek of Primula & Calyx products which will be brought to the Inacraft 2011 event.

Though there are not many I made these days (with relocation, this coming re-relocation, orders and my son's final exams), these products are just a few that I managed to take picture of, the rest are still in the making.

One of the Primula's minaudieres

Some of the kids jersey hijabs (and some of them have already sold :))

One of the screen printed cotton hijab-pin sets.
See it here for more.

For the cotton hijab & pin set, actually I made another ones but they have all sold out already, alhamdulillah :)

Hope you'll enjoy it and wish you can come to the booths and enjoy the event :)

Calyx and Primula @ INACRAFT 2011

THE 13th INACRAFT
( Jakarta International Handicraft Trade Fair 2011 )
Venue : All Halls, Jakarta Convention Center

Insya Allah, Calyx and a few of Primula products can be seen at the above event.
Calyx can be found at Idys booth, no. 41 at Plenary Hall.
Primula (minaudieres) can be found at mbak Enno's booth , no. 37 at Plenary Hall.
Unfortunately, I myself can't be present on those days, but hope you'll come and enjoy the event :)

Sweet Surprise on April 7th

It's another over due post again, this time because I've been busy doing orders and preparing for Inacraft 2011, aside from my tween just finished the school exams and thought he can rule the lappy before another exams next week, sigh...

Anyway, it was on April 7th. Early in the morning I left a message on Skype for hubby, to say "Happy Anniversary". Yep, it was our 15th anniversary. Hubby replied, thanking me for being there for him all this time and said a surprise is coming.

Later that morning, people from the hotel came, brought something in the box for me. Remembering my hubby's message, I thought, that's the surprise my hubby was talking about and the hotel people confirmed it.

I opened it after they left and what's inside brought tears to my eyes. This is what I saw:

Now tell me, how can I eat that chocolate topping with those sweet words on it?

Happily together :)

Remember Gigi?

Now, Gigi would like to introduce you to her friends, Tom the cute tooth, Patty the tooth paste and last but not least, Brad the tooth brush.

They really are Gigi's good friends, they meet at least twice a day or every time Gigi's owner finish her meals. Every meeting is the merry one, they dance, they chat, always makes Gigi happy :)

Gigi and friends on cotton hijab scarf

Gigi and friends swinging on hijab's pin.

I made this Gigi cotton hijab scarf in three colors; white, baby pink and fuchsia.
It's my design, screen printed on cotton scarf.
I made only 3 sets of Gigi hijab scarf and pin.
Alhamdulillah, they're all sold, two of them were happened to be bought by dentists