Daisy stitch mini pocket notebook with butterfly motifs

This is the second time for me to do the daisy stitch mini pocket notebook. The first time was when my fellow crafter friend Asma' taught me how to do it during our craft gathering last February. But the one I did at that time was a little simpler than this new one because this new one wraps the pocket notebook and seal it with a string all around it.

It was a first time for me to use the curved needle too. Coincidentally I found it when I was shopping for beads at a craft shop. I couldn't resist buying it! I once saw a video tutorial on how to sew handbound books and the lady who was doing the demo was using this type of needle. It seemed easy for her to use it so that's why I had to give it a try and see how it works for myself. I love it. :)

Another different thing about it is how I decorated the cover of this mini pocket notebook. I simply used a thick cardstock for the cover which I normally would use to make cards with and I pasted on it as many paper monarch butterflies as I could all over it. I used the Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly craft punch for this design and once I pasted all of them on it, I sort of covered them up with mold paste. Then, to make it a little more interesting, I used 2-3 types of distress ink to give it colour and character.

I loved how it turned out the way it did. It was a really fun project. I use the mini pocket notebook to write about my new healthy diet. Everything about what food I can eat and what I should avoid. I can carry it with me anywhere I go and keep it as reference in case I need it when choosing what to eat. It's handy and pretty too! :)

Pink and blue flowers hand-bound book

Here's another one of the hand-bound books that I've made in November. When I made it I didn't have any plans on who I was giving it to or selling for that matter. I was just making it because I was so into making hand-bound books with beads. I just kept on making them non-stop. Plus because I needed to practice making them before I forget how to make them completely! Hahaha!

I really enjoyed making these books. The ones I've been making were made using quite a thin type of paper which is only 80gsm for the pages. I did try though making books using 120gsm paper and I love them! In fact, I think I love them more than the 80gsm type. Simply because I think they turned out looking better than the 80gsm ones. Plus it would be good for writing as well as sketching. But not for painting though. If it was for painting, then perhaps I need to use the watercolour type of paper for that purpose. 

Hand-bound books great as gifts. Functional too! I love giving people something that they can use. Maybe perhaps it's because I love getting gifts that I can use too. I mean, what's the point of having something pretty in the house and it just sits there without any purpose. I'm a practical person, and I love things that I can benefit from. I guess I was brought up that way. I should thank my Mom for that! :D

At last the book went to a very close friend whom I knew since I was primary school.....well....actually, she's a close friend of the family....she was the one who helped my Mom when my father passed away many many years ago....so she is quite dear to my heart. When her birthday came, I just had to give this book to her. She has never seen a book like this before. It really thrilled her to bits! She adored it very much. And that really made me very happy.

It doesn't take a lot to make people happy. Make the move and spread the love! :)

2014 Year End Blog Giveaway!

The time has finally come for me to do the last giveaway for this year. This time around, I have gathered more craft items to giveaway and it's more exciting too! I have here a complete set for quilling beginners, some colourful ribbons, colourful popsicle sticks, fancy stickers, templates, rubber stamps, craft punch, and two hand-bound books!! All this for one lucky winner!!

As usual, I don't make it difficult for anyone to enter my giveaway.....the rules are very very simple! Just follow the instructions below:

1. Everyone is eligible to enter this giveaway. I accept both local and international entries. But each person can only enter their name once.

2. You must promote this giveaway post at your site, either at blog or at your Facebook profile. Please make sure that you paste the photo and the link of this giveaway post at your site so that others can click and view the giveaway post here.

3. Copy the link of where you promoted this giveaway post and paste it at Mr Linky below so that I can check and view where you promoted my giveaway. Do write your real name at Mr Linky too.

4. Please click "LIKE" at my Facebook Page at the link HERE and do FOLLOW my blog too if you are a blogger. Don't forget to add me as your friend too on Facebook! Here's my link --> AZLINA ABDUL. Thanks a lot!!

So that's it! This giveaway starts today and ends at 12.00am on 15th of January 2015. The name of the winner will be announced a few days after that. Good luck everyone! And thank you so much for participating!!

Colourful hearts hand-bound book

I love making notebooks that has colourful combination of colours like this one. But it's not always easy to get a wrapping paper or pattern papers with many colours like this. I love this combination of colours.  If I'm lucky I'll be able to get one at the stationery shop, if not, I will have to settle with whatever designs they have. I used to make a notebook with similar colours like this but the heart design on the cover were a lot smaller compared to this one. I really loved it but I can't seem to get the same one anymore. 

I enjoy making these notebooks but I prefer not to decorate anything on them. Just leave it as it is. Let the owner of the book decorate it anyway they like it. I just focus on sewing them together. Which by the way is not as easy as you think! It's a lot of work! hehehe!! Only those who have done it before know and understand what I'm talking about. But the experience of sewing it is really worth the while.

For this book I used a different type of beads. It's plastic but it kinda looks like crystal to me....hahaha....who am I trying to kid?? But really....it does, doesn't it? Well......from a far it does! I love using this type of beads for this kinda binding technique. I have many different types of colours for the beads too in my collection. So, I thought it would be nice to use them for this book binding project. At least they are used for many different craft project instead of just for making beaded bookmarks.

This book is going all the way to New Mexico, USA.....I hope it arrives in good condition. But most of all I hope the receiver will love it as much as I do :).

English roses hand-bound book

I started sewing books again.....at first I almost forgot how to begin....the mind gets rusty after a while. I sewed quite a few books and all of them I sewed with beads on both sides of the book. It's a new way for me to sew them nowadays. Loving the new technique right now. :)

I figured out that this new way will save me a lot of glue as well as I need not glue the covers onto the signatures of the book, instead, I just sew them together with the signatures. Some might not like it that way, but I really do love the idea at the moment and that's how I plan on making them right now until I find other more interesting ways to do so in future.

This is just one of the books I made with beads on them.......will blog more on the other books I've made soon. For this particular book, I used plastic pearl beads as decorations. They seem to suit the English style roses wrapping paper that I bought. 

I prefer to make these half A4 sized hand-bound notebooks instead of larger ones. I love to make them and give them away as gifts to loved ones too :)

What I've been up to.... :)

It's been quite a while since I last blogged here. Been busy since the last post I made. So much so that I didn't even get much of a chance to blog about this card I got from a dear friend of mine, Sandi Staley, who  sent me this birthday card last September. What a lovely surprise it was to get another birthday card from her along with some other lovely gifts of craft supplies. It's always a pleasure to get a handmade card from her. I've always adored her handmade cards. They are simple but always have a style of their own. ^.^ I love how she decorated the card with pieces of a pattern paper which she cut evenly and glued together in a special way. It's actually a good way to use up pretty pattern papers.

For the past few weeks I was busy preparing for my aunt's wedding. I offered to do some beading on her wedding dress, scarf and veil. It definitely was a daunting task. It's the first time for me to do heavy bead work for someone. I didn't know what to expect and how to go about it at first, but I learned a lot from the experience. I hurt my fingers and eyes too....my body was sore all over during the process. I guess I won't be sewing any beads on any dress or scarf anytime soon! LOL! I will blog about it more on my other blog called Anilza Beads soon. I wouldn't want to do a specific post on it on this blog as it wouldn't be suitable. I do have a blog that's specifically for bead work, so that's where I'll talk more on it. But after all that hard work I felt so relieved and happy that it all went well and the beading turn out great. My aunt was very happy with my work....and that really made it all worth the while :).

I was also very much into a new hobby, which is weaving on a loom. I DIY my own loom and started weaving like crazy after getting inspired by so many weavers on Instagram. I was introduced to weaving on a loom way back when I was studying in ITM. I saw how my fellow colleagues weaved in school and also in our dormitory. It looked like fun! And it was fun once I started. The first one I made was not exactly the way I wanted it to be but it was a good try nonetheless. I've already started on my second one but I only get to do it whenever I have some free time. It's like therapy..... :) It makes me feel good!! ;)

Another new hobby I took up recently is making homemade soaps! This is something that I've been wanting to do for the longest time!! It's one of those things that one would put in one's bucket list. It was like a dream come true when I finally got to learn how to do it. I might create another blog just for me to talk about it and keep track of my experience with making my own homemade soaps. My first try at making homemade soaps was kinda sloppy! haha! But in time perhaps and with more experiments, perhaps it will look a lot better than the photo above. It's like a science project and art combined in one! Fun!

Been busy making my own slotted quilling tools as well and it is a lot of fun. Although it might not be as good as the standard slotted quilling tools, at least it serves the purpose. It has the same function and it will help quilling beginners start their new hobby with less burden in their pockets. I guess that's one of the main reasons why I made them in the beginning. To help quilling beginners get quilling tools that are affordable. I've been experimenting with the making of it and been asking for feedbacks on the tools from my customers too so that I can improve the product and I'm quite satisfied with the tool now. Hopefully I can improve on it more in future. :)

Making handmade cards and books are also on the list but I won't be publishing any photos of them here yet till they are ready to be exposed. A lot are still in progress and a lot of photos needs to be edited. Editing photos is one of those things that I am so lazy to do....hahaha.....but somebody has to do it! :D

Green theme quilled wedding signage

WS002

Alhamdulillah....thank you Allah for blessing me for the strength and energy to finish this project. I'm so thankful too to get a customer who is so patient and understanding. For her kind patience, I am able to finish this order in time before her wedding day which is coming soon this week.

I admit I am pretty late at completing this order, but still I'm glad I did it before the due date. You have no idea how I had to struggle to finish it. I haven't been quilling for more than 2 months and it was kinda awkward to start again. Felt a bit rusty hahaha.....but after a little practice I was ready again to start the project. 

This design for this wedding signage was actually inspired by one of my swing cards that I did this year. You can view it at the link HERE. My customer just loved the design so much and wanted me to use the same design for her wedding signage. 

The original design on the swing card, you can see that the leaves were made from die-cut patterns. So since she loves quilling so much, she wanted me to do the leaves using the quilling technique. I've never done something like that before....so it was fun to be able to try that. And I love the outcome :).

All in all, I'm really glad I did this project no matter how I felt. Not sure when I will be quilling again though....because I'll be busy after this with sewing beads project! hehehe! Yes....it's a little wedding project that I was entrusted to do for someone. Will do an update on it probably on my FB page.....will see how it goes. ;)

Here is a photo of my customer and her husband on their wedding day with the wedding signage I made....photo was taken by Zulhilmi Photoworks....click on the link to see their other beautiful wedding photos ;)

Card in a box #3

HB118B

You must be thinking.....hmmmmm.....this design looks familiar, right? Well, of course it does because it's the same design I made for my first card in a box card last month. The only difference is the colour of the box which I had to change because my customer wanted a card that is in a red and black combination.

Actually I didn't have a red and black pattern paper with a similar design of stars on it. So I had to create my own with the red and black paper. The stars were handcut and pasted on the card one by one. Slow process but at least I get to do a similar pattern as the original design.

I also ran out of the 3D pop up stickers. Huhhuhu!!! So sad about that. The shop never restock them. Searched every where in Alor Setar but couldn't find it. So if anyone were to order this card again, I would have to figure out a replacement for those 3D pop up stickers.

I really enjoyed making card in a box.....they are so much fun! Do check out the video I made of this card. You can see how it opens up. Thank you! ;)

I love you B...

V063

I got an order to make a card in a box design from a customer who wanted me to make it for her BF. I declined the order in the beginning because I have stopped taking customized handmade cards for a while due to lack of time in my schedule to make cards like that these days. I just want to concentrate on ready stock cards for a while. It's is also because ready stock cards are less stressful to make hehehe!

Anyways, since she agreed to give me the freedom to do it anyway I like it, I then decided to give it a try since she only wanted a simple design for her BF as both of them love simple designs....kinda sounds like me coz I love simple designs too hehehe!

I got some details from her......the wordings....his favourite colour and his less favourite....the dos and the don'ts.....and off I went to complete the card. I thought it would take a long time to make, but, the idea came quite quickly for this one, I just had to carry on with it until it's done. Somehow the red box reminded me of the pop corn box we get at the cinema and that gave me the idea to do the stripes. I have done stripes for quite a while! It used to be my favourite thing to do whenever I make cards. It was like my trademark. So it was fun to do it again for this design! Love it!

As I was thinking of ideas of how to write the wordings on the card. The idea came to me.....I realised I had those colourful glitters set and glue pen from Kreaxions which I bought so long ago. I immediate went to get them from my craft box and started experimenting on it. It took me some time to figure out how to use it....it can be a bit tricky!!! If not careful, the whole thing is ruined! Gotta have a steady hand to write with the glue pen....and gotta write it fast too before the glue dries up otherwise I won't be able to sprinkle the glitters on it....and it might not stick well if it is already dried up. After a few tries, I finally got it!! And I'm loving it! I should experiment more on this new technique next time.

I'm so glad that my customer loved the card so much, she just can't wait to show it to her BF soon. I hope he loves it too!! Have a look at the card in a box at the video below. See how it opens up and pops up all those hearts ;). 

My first Card in a box!

I was taking some time off from work the other day, because I've been working like crazy since January with not much time to rest and I started browsing for new type of cards to make and I suddenly thought of making a card in a box. Been dying to make one ever since I saw them on Pinterest some time ago.

Sometimes I just need some other diversions to keep the mood for cardmaking going and keep on going. Because I'm the type who gets bored easily. Since I've been making a lot of swing cards already, so it was high time I change things a bit to give me some excitement.

From the time I saw the designs of the card in a box in Pinterest, I always thought that it was difficult to make. I figured it was the most complicated card I've ever seen. And it never occurred to me that we can actually fold it flat and insert it in an envelope. But when I saw the video tutorial on YouTube, I was blown away by the trick! What a fancy trick it was! That was what got me into this so instantly. I just had to make one the minute I saw the video. :)

I bought some fancy birthday 3D Pop up stickers recently and thought of using them for my first card in a box experiment. The pattern paper were given to me by a good friend of mine, Sandi Staley. Gosh I have loads of scrap pattern papers from her to use up for my card experiments! hehehe! ^.^

 Compared to other types of cards, this particular one involves decorating on almost all parts of the card. So it's quite a lot of paper to paste here and there...a lot of decoration to do to make it attractive. And since it will have a 3D look once opened, you gotta think of how it will look 360 degrees...all angles. The challenge makes me more driven to complete the card.

HB118

Do check out the video I took of the card so you can see how it transforms from a flat card to a box with pop ups in the center! That would perhaps get you excited to create your own first card in a box soon! ;)