taking a tiny break from work.. finally

Gosh... it has been more than 2 weeks since I last signed in to my blog. My work is finally coming to a conclusion, at least for the time being. School holidays are going to start for me soon and I should have about 3 weeks to myself. Will be indulging in my crafts full time then =) I have also just received my shipment of new spellbinder dies and sizzix dies. I am waiting for my new Epic Six to arrive so that I may start some embossing and die cutting projects.


Though I was rather busy with work, I did manage to complete a few projects along the way. I have yet to take any photos of those though. I did manage to snap a few photos of door hangers I made for an earlier bazaar yesterday so I shall share the photos here. The door hangers were made by sticking two sheets of thick cardstock measuring about 3.75 inches by 8.25 inches. I then used attached a sheet of designer paper to one side of the door hanger and cut out the circle using a nestibilities die. I decorated the door hangers with cut out stamped flowers. I meant to sell these at a bazaar where customers could choose to customise the door hangers with a name that is stamped on one side of the door hanger.

I just bought new Whipper Snapper stamps and I will probably make some cards this weekend before I have to leave for a trip for work. I shall be back after a week and then have a week to finish up my work before I go for a short holiday =)

Finally finished stamping and embossing my marbled bookmarks

The last week has just been so hectic at work. I am still trying to meet deadlines but managed to find a little time each day to finish the cutting, stamping and embossing the stamped sentiment. I am so pleased with the end result. I ended up using the leftover strip of paper from my marbled papers for another 100 bookmarks. I managed to laminate the long strips of paper mounted on stiff cardstock today. Will post the photo tomorrow.


I tried to get photos of the stamped marbled papers but the lighting wasn't bright enough for a good shot. The second photo shows most of the stamped pieces spread out on the big round table I was working on. I still had a stack left after covering the table for the shot. =)

I sprayed the papers after they dried from the marbling process with homemade glimmer sprays. I used a mixture of gum arabic, rubbing alcohol and water to make the base of the spray. For the metallic element of the spray, I used a variety of pigments - mica and loose eyeshadows. The mica particles are larger and show up better compared to the loose metallic eyeshadows. I still need to play around with the proportion of gum arabic to the alcohol and water mixture. Some of the glittery particles still rub off when I handled the papers. 

This photo shows how the marbled paper looks like it was done using the glimmer papers. What a cool effect. I will definitely be experimenting more with coloured mica pigments. So far, I have mainly experimented with the metallic ones - silver, gold and copper.

Here's a close up of the paper with the glimmer and heat embossed details. I started the assembly of the bookmarks today. Ran out of adhesives and had to go to the shop for more in the evening. I shall have to finish the assembly by tomorrow though, as I intend to have them ready the day after. I still have to punch holes, set eyelets and tie yarn or ribbon through the bookmarks. 


I have also completed a set of cards with very cute bear images that I coloured a few weeks ago. Will post the photos once I decide on the sentiment to go with the cards.

Bookmark with Marbled paper

I have finally decided (somewhat =p) that my bookmark will have one side decorated with marbled papers and a stamped quotation. I have yet to decide what the other side will look like though. I was considering stamping a bear or a cute hedgehog from penny black on the back and colour the image. If I do that, there will be about 200 images to colour. That would take up quite some time, which I sorely lack. I am a little behind time on my work schedule and hopefully I can finish making all the marbled papers I need. I figured I will need about 70 sheets of the papers to cut into 200 bookmarks.

The size of the bookmark is bugging me somewhat. I would like it to be a quarter of an inch slimmer but that would mean stamping very close to the edge of the paper. I hate fiddling with the stamp positioner for 200 pieces of stamping, so it might be a hit and miss for some sheets unless I come up with some bright ideas on how to stamp right where I want with a very narrow margin. Anyone with suggestions?

Marbling Papers

I did marbling yesterday - lots of it!! I have a new stack of marbling papers and have just decided what to do with them. I plan to make bookmarks for all my students along with a crochet phone charm for their graduation gift this year. I will post pictures of that once I have a sample of it done. I have about a week or two to get that done. I will need a total of about 150 pieces made. It will probably have to be a simple design since I am still swamped with work.


I took a few photos of the marbling papers I made and decided to share them here. I am more or less a newbie at this, with no prior instruction. I am not in the area where there are marbling artists teaching classes so I have fumbled around for instructions online and found some sites that are helpful. I love the look of each marbled piece, how they are all unique. 


The papers look rather wrinkled as they warp slightly when they dry and I have yet to have time to iron them flat before cutting them down to size for my projects.

The next two are part of my attempts to do floral designs. I still suck at it pretty much. The flowers look distorted and the leaves and stem look like plants that will only grow on another planet. I am thinking that the marbling base may not be thick enough for the manipulation. Will be trying a thicker formula next time. =)

The last 3 pictures show paper coasters that I marbled. I like the look of the paints on the coasters. They warped slightly during the drying process. Guess I will have to flatten them out under heavy books. I am thinking of making more of them for sale at a craft bazaar. Do you think they will sell?

I am hoping to complete the sample design by tomorrow before I mass produce all 150 pieces of the bookmark. I have a feeling I won't be sleeping much this weekend.

More Booties =)

I just finished another 3 pairs of booties. I like the simple look of the baby ballet slippers, as well as the dainty look of the one with the flowers on top. The tiny sneakers are just too cute. I may make one or more of these for my friend whose baby girl is due in Dec. 

It would be great if the shop owner and I could come to an agreement and have me start supplying her store with the handmade baby booties. I love making them and using up my stash of yarn. I have too much yarn. At least a quarter of my crafting space is taken up by boxes and bags of yarn. I have yarn from most of my travels. I actually bought more than 4kg of yarn from Budapest last Dec. I had the intention of dyeing my own yarn and bought unbleached cotton yarn cones. They are now kept in a bag, waiting for the day when I have time to wind them into balls or skeins before dyeing them in my favourite colours. =)

Booties =)

I was approached at last week's bazaar by a lady who is opening a shop selling baby items. She is planning to stock handmade baby items and asked if I was willing to do up a few samples of crochet booties. This is one I just completed after she sent the pattern over. It is such a darling design. I shall search for more suitable yarn and make a couple more pairs in other colours.

My Second Play with my Tombows

This is my second play with my Tombows. My first image was on thicker watercolour paper at my friend's place. The image has been mounted onto a card and sold at a fundraiser two weeks ago. I don't have a picture of it. I think the quality of the paper makes a huge difference in the final result of the colouring. This image that I stamped today on heavy cartridge paper just doesn't look at bright or smooth after I coloured and blended using a mixture of the blender pen or the waterbrush.

The paper seemed to be much weaker than the watercolour paper I used previously. I guess that is to be expected, even though the weight of the heavy cartridge paper is heavier at 200gsm, compared to the weight of the watercolour paper at 190gsm. I am guessing the finishing on the surface of the paper affects the blending of the colours. 


The sky and grass are sponged using memento inks in Summer Sky, Green Sprout and Pear Tart. I made the 'clouds' using the edge of a punched scallop. I shall experiment a little more using other brands and weights of the watercolour papers for the best match with the markers. I love how they blended in my first image but the paper is the priciest I have ever bought so far. i hope I can find a more inexpensive alternative.