Journey back to nature: Yarn Wrapped Twig

Exploring the nature's material for crafting or perhaps decor. White branches are pretty appealing and yarn wrapped branches too. A really simple DIY, look for the perfect branch, wash it, dry it, paint it and wrap it.

I made a simple tutorial video. I hope you enjoy this tutorial. :)

A Walk Nearby

Went for a short walk around the neighborhood in the evening thinking that I should get some exercise. We have this little hill just about a few minutes walk away, which I adore. I can see this little hill from my windows and there were times when tiny little people would climb up the hill to chill, fly kite or do some photography. There was even once when someone carried a couch and left it on top of the hill. LOL It is gone now of course.

At first I thought I would walk around the hill and check out the location but I couldn't resist the temptation to climb it and check out the view. This is the 2nd time I've been on it, it was at night during the 1st time when it was super moon and I wanted to check if I would get a good view of the moon but it just looked normal from the hill. XD

It was nice to be up there, alone. There were joggers jogging around the hill but I was the only one on the hill. Weirdo. Fun to see the swallows be flying so close, as you can see the little black dots in the photo below. :) Singing to the song that I was listening to, probably nobody can hear me, I hope! O.O

 

Some rows of this grass were spared from the lawn mower machine. Standing tall like the man-made cranes and stadium lights at the back. :)

Picked up some branches from below a tree for some project. As much as I love the nature but I don't like bugs or dirt, so I was fighting myself when I picked them up, checking if I'd bring some insects back home. I've washed them and drying them out now. :) I still hope I didn't bring anything back. Hahaha...

I hope I'll walk more, get some exercise going so that I can stay healthy. :)

Photography Recap of Last Week

Simple recap of the things that happened a week ago with some photos. We baked some carrot with orange zest muffins that turned out dry and hard because I left it in the oven a tad too long. :P Why we made carrot muffins? Because I want to plant some carrot top plants. LOL What a reason! We don't eat carrot that much to gather enough tops. XD

This is what I am talking about. The carrot top plant, I'm hoping to have some more green plants in the kitchen and carrot top plant is said to bloom white flowers. We shall see if I can manage to get it to grow pass this stage, not really a green thumb... This is day 5 by the way. :) The carrot I bought didn't have any green stems on top so these little green shots are new. This top will not grow into another carrot from the websites I read so I'm only looking forward for green leaves and flowers if possible. :D

Enjoyed our double cheese burgers on Sunday via Mcdelivery. Lazy lazy.

I mugs ask you a question

If you do a search for Sharpie mug you will get tons of results of tutorials. When I was browsing through Pinterest I came across it and I was thrilled! Also I just bought some Sharpie marker lately and also some white ceramic mugs from Ikea. Why not draw some mustaches on the mugs? It would be cute! At least as display because I wasn't too sure if it is gonna stay on the mug but we'll have it as display for now. ;D

According to this very clear guide by DIYopolis and many other guides (I read many different posts, I've lost track) Some cleaning should be done to the mug's surface with rubbing alcohol to remove any oil residue from my hands (If I touch my oily face then I touch the mug, the marker is not going to get cured on the mug.) After cleaning, it would be easier to trace the mustache on as I'm making multiple mugs. After which I set them in the oven, set it to 180 degrees celsius and bake for 30 mins. I left the mugs inside the oven when it's heating to 180. When the baking is done, the mugs were left inside the oven until it cools down.

It sounded easy ya? Not! In DIYopolis's guide it is said that results differs from mug to mug because of their glaze so my hope wasn't high. I did a simple soft wash with detergent and the drawing came off. Not totally but the most outside coat came off.

I did more research and oil-based markers surfaced as well as porcelain markers. I went for the oil-based marker that is more common. Removed the mustache from one of the mugs with rubbing alcohol and lighter fluid (which is great for removing price tag stickers)

Picture above is Sharpie marker, the mustache has this brownish tint and a little faded. It smudges a little when I wipe my thumb across. I've also tried baking this mug twice as suggested by other crafters. But maybe the Sharpie marker don't go too well with this mug.

This picture above has the mustache drawn with ZIG's Painty oil-based marker. It is thicker since it's oil-based and it stays on the surface a lot better. I did a wash routine with detergent by hand like I usually do, some outer coat faded but it is not noticeable and unable to photograph. It doesn't smudge when I pass the drawing with my thumb.

Nevertheless, they make really cute display in our kitchen, we are very pleased with it.

My verdict to this hand drawn mug project:

• Normal Sharpie doesn't work for this Ikea mug.
• ZIG Painty oil-based marker works pretty well.
• I would love to try with porcelain pen but have yet to find out where I can get it.
• Perhaps it is the mug but I don't have other mugs to try on. XD
• Might be the oven's temperature and baking time, should experiment it more.
• I want to make more! Time to visit Ikea again.

Both markers are not stated non-toxic so if you are making one I wouldn't suggest to draw anything inside the mug or wherever the food or lips will get in contact. :) I would love to use mine sometime but I won't be using the Sharpie marker one and I would drink on the opposite side of the mustache. ^^

Traditional weighing scale in black

The traditional weighing scale went black in our home. ^^ Found it in a second hand store in very good condition, probably unused so I wouldn't say it's old. Hehe But this type of weighing scale is the standard type that has been around for a long time. Even though the original paint was in good condition and the color is kind of nice but we prefer it black! Why not just spray it?

It turned out really nice after it went to the dark side. XD It contained some retro Beebee crackers and Chupachups during our housewarming.

We placed it on a shoe cabinet next to our main door and it was often thought as a fengshui item. LOL Or guests would just stare at it for quite a long time.

I am glad that we took the path of spraying/painting our own stuff because more than often those things that caught our eyes don't come in the color we want, so if there is any way we can change the color we will do it. :DDDDD Thanks to Ikea's lamp shade that got this "habit" started.

DIY Clipboard Display Wall

There is never enough storage for my yarn.

I present to you our play and work room with the Clipboard Display Wall. One side of it at least, we are not quite done with the other side of the room. Recently J put up the clipboards display that we saw on Pinterest. I love sticking stuff on the wall but it damages the paint work over time so this is a great idea for me who loves to switch displays frequently.

Command Medium Picture Hanging Strip for each clipboard
Read more at http://web.stagram.com/p/567123617893922151_789940#x0QiBKWUaMKSS26y.99

Command Medium Picture Hanging Strip for each clipboard
Read more at http://web.stagram.com/p/567123617893922151_789940#x0QiBKWUaMKSS26y.99

Command Medium Picture Hanging Strip for each clipboard
Read more at http://web.stagram.com/p/567123617893922151_789940#x0QiBKWUaMKSS26y.99

Command Medium Picture Hanging Strip for each clipboard
Read more at http://web.stagram.com/p/567123617893922151_789940#x0QiBKWUaMKSS26y.99

Command Medium Picture Hanging Strip for each clipboard
Read more at http://web.stagram.com/p/567123617893922151_789940#x0QiBKWUaMKSS26y.99

Command Medium Picture Hanging Strip for each clipboard
Read more at http://web.stagram.com/p/567123617893922151_789940#x0QiBKWUaMKSS26y.99

Command Medium Picture Hanging Strip for each clipboard
Read more at http://web.stagram.com/p/567123617893922151_789940#x0QiBKWUaMKSS26y.99

3M Command Medium Picture Hanging Strip for each clipboard
Read more at http://web.stagram.com/p/567123617893922151_789940#AOuDGrXBepu6t63S.99

3M Command Medium Picture Hanging Strip for each clipboard
Read more at http://web.stagram.com/p/567123617893922151_789940#AOuDGrXBepu6t63S.99

3M Command Medium Picture Hanging Strip for each clipboard
Read more at http://web.stagram.com/p/567123617893922151_789940#AOuDGrXBepu6t63S.99

 Domo kun made it up on the clipboard hehe and a tribute to Pinterest! Another picture of this wall.

We had been thinking what should we do with this piece of huge wall. There are tons of stuff we can do with it. Perhaps something non that permanent that we can change the displays on and off with whatever we like. Pinterest is where I browse for inspiration daily. Even if I only had 10 mins in a day or before I sleep, I would get in there and look around. Then I found the clipboard display ideas and showed it to J. It is perfect! 

Removable velcro hanging strips by 3M Command.
J measuring meticulously for the spacing of the clipboards ^^

We used one 3M Command Medium Picture Hanging Strip for each clipboard and secure the bottom of the clipboard with a little bit of white tack as the wind is pretty strong at our place when the windows are open.

This clipboard display idea is perfect if you have kids who love to draw! (Here I'm the kid LOL) You can always update the board with their latest drawings and with the help of the 3M hanging strips it shouldn't cause a lot of damage to your wall. But still beware of paint chipping if too much force is applied when removing the clipboard. This is an inexpensive project and you can also decorate the clipboards with beautiful masking tapes or wrapping paper. :)

 Looking for the "perfect" for us wasn't easy. The stationary shop that we went to only had 8 of this particular design and being the picky sort, we can't settle on any other types of clipboard anymore. So for now we settled on 8 boards first. My plan was to have 12 boards or even 14 boards so that they are much closer together. It is not too bad to have 8 boards after all though, it is not that cluttered. ^^

INSPIRATIONS:

• Love how neat it is in the left picture.
• Great idea to have a elastic band around the clipboard to secure the picture from flying if it's windy and also include smaller pictures at the bottom part of the board in the middle picture.
• Nice mixture of colors with the wall!

The Play & Work Space

Our Play Room 

I thought I'd post about this space first and slowly move out to the other parts of our home. :) This is where we game, relax, get inspired, create, craft, DIY, sew, crochet, work, stressed out, relax again, photography yada yada :D

Can I say that I love our desks? A bit shameless haha.. The structure is constructed with the typical storage rack system that we Singaporeans (Most) are familiar with if you have a household shelter aka storeroom in your home. This idea is not be new but we are glad that we managed to get this idea done up. It suits the style and our needs and the length, width and height are very customizable. ^^

 A quick initial fail sketch (lol) of our table for the storage rack boss.

We need a storage rack for our household shelter as well and I kept all these dusty leaflets that were left on our door when the BTO is completed in a plastic bag and went through them one by one, calling to ask if they take custom design for the table structure. Most of them declined the request for they only have standard sized racks, claiming that customize racks are very troublesome. At least we found one that is willing to customize to our needs. Hooray!

Before engaging the storage rack service, we ordered 2 pieces of 2 x 7ft white laminated plywood top from a factory. Upon confirming our table top, we immediately booked the time slot for the storage rack and table structure.

 There are a lot of ready made sizes table top but ours are longer than usual so we had to have it custom made.

Worked together with the storage rack builders to determine where the legs of the table should be so that it will not obstruct our sitting arrangement. They kept reminding us not to lean on the table top where there is no support (like the middle part of the table along the window) and we understand their concern and will definitely take note. :) They are very friendly and easy to work with.

The completed look after the installation with our dining chair. :D Oh... look how empty and spacious the room is in this picture. Hahaha XD

At first we thought will 14ft of desk space too much for us? At least we get to have our own computer space but after settling down and using the room for half a year we feel that it just right, and with a Mac in the middle it is no longer that spacious anymore LOL

We are still working on this room, in need of storage units for the never ending craft materials, yarns, model building tools, cameras and many more stuff. XD

Aren't these metal cabinets beautiful? I think they suit our place a lot! But that might make our 5x5 Expedit a little out of place. O.o KIV KIV!

Mika Cheesecake

We bought a cheesecake from Mika yesterday in City Square. It is really light, not too big also, my brother, sister-in-law and us finished it after dinner. :D Sunday treat~

Industrial Style Food Mall in Johor Bahru Malaysia

One thing nice about living in the northern part of Singapore is that we can just take a bus to the custom and poof! We are in Malaysia, Johor Bahru! We enjoy the food there and the exchange rate to be honest. Although things are getting a little more expensive over the years but it is still a nice short afternoon getaway.

Our main purpose today was to buy monthly contact lenses for J. :D The last time when we came to City Square was during June/July before our wedding, we came to City Square to look for my wedding shoes but the mall was having a major facelift so we didn't really enjoy the shopping much. After a year we are back and although there are some parts of the mall that is still under construction, most of the shops are back and they seemed to have added a new wing.

Ever since our home renovation which we were very hands on. Not that we mixed the cement and lay the tiles but in the design wise, we had been paying a lot of attention to shop interiors and I must say there are some really nice Industrial/raw styles out there. They may be too much for a home but they are really inspiring. Like the newly open JEM in Singapore, a lot of shops adapt industrial shelves, displays and so does restaurants/food court. Super yummy!

Alright, let's move to the photo above. It's the Dapurkita Food Mall in City Square! I was blown away with the style and little details they uses in the food mall. :DDDDDDDDDDDDDD

 Firstly, there are a lot of quotes on the cement screed walls within the food mall. Every where I turn there are different quotes.

Eat like your life depends on it. LOL Inspiring no? Gotta love the tables, chairs and benches. <3 The natural lighting there was awesome, food photography will be a breeze. :D Thought we didn't eat at these food mall because we had KFC before we discover this place.

Eat well travel often and Love can wait hunger can't. Hehe :D

We used subway tiles for our kitchen backsplash but they are much bigger. We wanted to use these 3x6inch tiles but our contractor/ID couldn't find them and our own resource was limited since we are first time home owners and we don't work in related field. So we settled on the bigger subway tiles, not that they are not ideal, I still love my kitchen's backsplash but I wonder how it would look like with these smaller tiles. :)

The brilliant signboard in the food mall. Alphabets cut out of metal sheets and lights installed within. They are really raw and beauty in my eyes. I don't really know if photography is allowed there but I quickly snapped some pics with my phone just for the record.

Although I really like industrial style but our home style only consist of bits and pieces of industrial essences because I have love for other styles as well. I don't really know how to describe my home style of I guess it is our style. XD I hope to show some photos of our home soon. We are still lacking some parts of the home to be properly photographed. Lol Even though we live here but there are only so much energy and time to do proper shooting. ("proper" means I have to clean up my work space and maybe dust the place a little LOL)

Apart from the eye candy in the food mall, we did a little shopping in the Popular bookstore where we found out that it is generally a tad cheaper than Singapore (stationary wise. I don't know about books) and Our Popular membership applies in Malaysia too, so besides being cheaper we still enjoy 10% discount for non nett items.

I grabbed some Sharpies and the PLUS Repositionable Glue Tape and a Malaysia Home and Decor magazine, just to see what they write about in Malaysia version and I like what I read inside. Magazine is Nett priced.

Overall it's fun and my feet hurts! Heading to bed now! Will write more soon.

Good night,
E

Cross Granny Squares Table Cloth For Ikea PS 2012 Coffee Table

We were really happy that Ikea PS series came just in time when we were furnishing our home about starting of this year, since our home has a touch of industrial theme, metal furniture is a big welcome to our shopping list!

IKEA PS 2012 Coffee Table White

Half year has gone by and we thought maybe it's time we cover the surface of the table since the remote controls slide on it day in day out. As I was wondering what we should cover it with, the Cross Blanket by Pia Wallen came across my mind.

via Story North

 

This is my first time making multiple granny squares and combining them into a bigger piece. At first I thought I could make some black and white squares to form the cross but the design is too big for the a small piece and I'm a little too lazy to combine tiny squares together. In the end I created this Cross pattern in the middle of the granny square and I am really glad it came out right.

I used a total of 45 squares for the table cloth and some more rows to fill up the sides. The fitting were done as I crochet so there were a lot of undo-ing and redo-ing which was kind of texting near the end. It was so near yet so far. I also learnt my lesson to block the squares before I combine them as I had some trouble blocking the whole piece after combining them. It's all good now though. :)

I'm on the way to make an inverted version. Perhaps next time I will attempt a blanket or I might want to buy the Pia Wallen's Blanket! It is in my wishlist!

A little too early?

Hohoho~ A nice mug box from last year's Christmas, I should have punched some eyelets in it a long time ago to hold my yarns. I am glad I kept the box, I am trying hard not to hoard stuff so that it won't clutter up at home. I'm still at my table cloth project, 30 plus more granny squares more to go!

A quickie

I've started a Facebook page to showcase my drawings and many other things but I am currently unable to set the username for the page due to some error and I have to try again later. I will update the link to the page later. ^^

Miwa Summer Time

Summer colors, Miwa is sure in the mood for summer. She's an old original character that I made years ago, a Kuchisake Onna, slitted mouth woman. I have to say, splattering of paint is fun when it gets on the paper. LOL

Beautiful Tomie (Fanart)

I love the works of Agnes Cecile, she does really pretty painting and I enjoyed watching her paintings on Youtube. This painting of Tomie is greatly inspired by her. Tomie is a horror manga character of Junji Ito who is my all time favorite horror manga artist. Tomie is the girl who is very enchanting and beautiful, many men who met her will kill her in the most horrible ways but she keeps coming back alive and multiplies if they have cut her up. A beautiful monster.

Urban Sketching

I attended my first ever SketchWalk with Urban Sketchers Singapore at Queenstown, it was an amazing experience to see how people sketch and paint such beautiful art pieces. Although it won't consider to be my first time doing sketching outside but the idea of Urban Sketching is new to me.

Perspective drawing has always been my weak point and I hope to improve it together with my observation skill through doing Urban Sketching. Went to the library to grab these books :D As well as look at the IheARTwoodlands exhibition in the library that showcased my husband's and my photographs. ^^

 Really choppy sketch I did this morning while waiting to board the coach to arrive for our Sentosa trip.

Summer Paper Cut

We moved into our new home during Chinese New Year period and bought a spring "paper cut" (it's laser cut) decoration for our main door. We thought we could continue with this display when spring is over, we will change to the next season and the next even though there's no 4 seasons in Singapore. Also to break the habit of a lot of locals who likes to keep their CNY decor throughout the year. Haha

It's been a few weeks according to our lunar calendar that it's Summer and decided to sit down and some out with a design. Since we don't have a printer yet, I went to the nearest mall to print the graphic out and also get a large piece of red card. The pain of my index finger is worthy. LOL

Will prepare for Autumn and Winter after some time. ^^

Oh and I love our new and big cutting mat! XD

Calligraphy practice

Dug out my old manga pen holder, G-nib, yellowed manga paper and grabbed a bottle of chinese ink from the stationary store when I bought the pencil gribs in my previous post. Started my journey of calligraphy practice...

Since I've been into Game of Thrones for awhile now and it is more interesting to do some practice writing with the quotes from the TV show. I did a simple alphabets practice before this though, I didn't know how the strokes go and some alphabets are really hard to get it's shape right. Like the capital R, S and W for this style. (Do they call it style of font type?) I love the letter P and D.

I am never satisfied with my handwriting and they always change depending on how I write and none of them are pretty. LOL I hope that practicing calligraphy will help me strengthen my handwriting and discipline myself. Speaking about that, I should really practice more with the set of alphabets than writing quotes only. Heh