Thursday, December 27, 2007

treasure chest





Found a kit at Bunnings for a treasure chest and could not resist it. Kit included everything needed sans paint. Am currently putting it together and have had several swearing sessions already - girls were having a nap, so I don't feel too guilty :)

  1. The screws they provided in the kit were not properly marked - as in, which should go where. I know your average handiperson could soon figure it out, but it took me a little longer than it should have.
  2. Also, it wasn't stated how many screws there are, so if I have a few extra after putting it all together, should I be worried?
  3. The longest screws provided were not nearly long enough to hold the bottom to the sides. I found this the hard way when I tried to turn to the chest over to the other side to screw the pieces on - the first side came off the bottom piece. In the end, I had to glue them together before screwing them back together.
So now I've got the main body of the treasure chest together. I've decided to pause for a cause for the moment. I think I need to paint it first before further assembly. I wonder what colours would be nice? The girls room is red and white. I don't want a red and white chest as it would blend in. I guess brown and black are the natural choices, but I wonder if anyone else has a better idea?

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

boxing day





Christmas day came and went. The girls had a lot of fun at great-grandmother's place with all the other family. Sean managed to finish the bulk of the doll's house on christmas eve. It still needs a lot of work to make it 'livable' but the girls don't seem to mind.

I managed to sew the curtains, cushions and bean bag covers by christmas eve, phew! Although I'm going to have to take down the main one in the living room because there's too much white cutout fabric - it looks all rumpled and sad. The other three windows look fine. I would have preferred the white cutout fabric to have had a bigger cutout feature, though. It looks fine for smaller things like a skirt or dress, but for things like curtains, it seems a little dainty. I'll leave it for now, but secretly, inside, the quest continues ... :)

I love the way Emma's dress turned out. It was a fusion of the twirly skirt pattern and the halter dress pattern. The fabric combination worked out better than I had expected, so that was a big bonus.

Well, now that the holiday sewing is all done and dusted, I have to think about the new year. I have yet to come up with a solid, viable plan to approach some shops to sell my stuff. I quite like the idea of doing the markets, but they are too dependent on the weather. We wanted to go to the Noosa markets last Sunday but cancelled on account of all the rain. I definitely need some help but don't know whom to ask :(

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

let's roll


I manged to stamp the twill tape - arrived in the mail about two days ago - with the label and the result was .... satisfactory. I think it would have looked better if the tape was a little thinner. I'll have to remember that for next time. These pencil rolls turned out better than I expected; they are stiff enough to withstand daily use and pretty enough to encourage neatness - I hope!

bottle holders


Well, finally managed to get all the bottle holders finished. I couldn't think of a way to tidy up the ends of the drawstring cord. Initially I hot glued the ends to stop it fraying. This worked well, but it wasn't as neat or as pretty as I'd like it to be. It also hurt if you happened to flick it at anyone! Then I got my yo-yo makers in the mail and after trying them out, I decided to try them out on the cord ends. It turned out quite well. I thought it softened the look of the cord itself and it made the hot-glued ends less dangerous :) Can you see them nestled in-between the bottle holders?

Saturday, December 1, 2007

hold this bottle


One of the staples of my childhood in Singapore was a water bottle holder. I had plenty of them over the years. Now that the girls are old enough to go a-wandering on their own, I've decided to make a few for them. I've noticed that there aren't any - or more accurately, many - in the shops here in Australia. I've made this lot for the upcoming market and I hope they'll be well received. I'll sew the rest up tomorrow.

Friday, November 30, 2007

advent calendar



Yesterday I managed to finish sewing and then putting up my very first advent calender for the girls. I was inspired by pictures from another blog but ran out of time to do anything more elaborate than little drawstring bags. The girls have not yet figured out what the advent calendar is all about, but I'll wager a bet that by the time at least two weeks have passed - two weeks in which they get chocolate right after breakfast everyday - they'll understand it :)

Thursday, November 29, 2007

tag - you're it!


Managed to find a proper mount for the stamp today. I wanted to use instagrip as the mount, but they don't sell individual pieces and certainly not in the size I was after. Finally found a hard rubber stamp hiding amongst the huge piles of plastic erasers in the right size. Got some double-sided tape and Bob's your uncle :)

I've stamped the price tags but have yet to do the clothing labels and twill ribbons. The cotton tape I got previously is too narrow and the ones I've bought eBay have yet to arrive. I'll have to go get some wider cotton tape instead if they haven't arrived by mid-next week.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

bookclub and inkpad


Met up with my bookclub today. We had opted to read Kazuo Ishiguro's "Never Let Me Go" and only three of us had finished it. Quite disappointing as I really enjoyed the book and thought the writing was sublime. Had looked forward to discussing it, but was impossible due to numbers. Hopefully we will do better next time. This time around we've opted to read "Infidel".

On the way home, stopped by the local scrapbooking shop and got a VersaCraft Inkpad so I could make my labels and mini-lanyards. I wanted a black inkpad but they only had chocolate. I haven't tried it out properly yet as I need to mount the stamp first. Will try to do it this weekend and photograph the results.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

up and running








Well, after a few fits and starts, I've landed here in blog-land for my label - gigi*deedee*mimi.
The name was an inspiration from my older daughter. We came home from playgroup one day with an extra-large cookie cutter of a gingerbread man. I traced it out onto some cardstock and cut out three gingerbread children. I then made some paper dresses for them - the kind I used to play with when I was a little kid. We eventually named them Gigi, Deedee and Mimi. Hence the start of an idea for me.

After about six months of sewing, sewing and more sewing, I'm finally ready for a stall at a market. It's being held in Boondall at Nudgee College on December 9 - not too long now! It's a Baby and Kids market and most of the other stalls will have second-hand (branded) clothes and good condition pre-loved toys. I'm not sure what kind of reception my items will get at this particular market. However, my comrade-in-arms, Dani, has assured me that her boss is willing to stock any and all things that will not sell at her new baby shop in Ascot.

So wish me luck and enjoy the pictures of some of the items I've put up. Please excuse the bad photography, though!