DIY - Vintage Inspired Art

I don't know when did I start liking vintage things - but I do know that my collection is growing more and more each time.  For sure, my mom's antique gallery-like house has the biggest influence on my artistic expressions/collections, if I might say so ...

Oops, wrong house! Heh heh .. :P

It so happen that I didn't marry a billionaire (which is okay by me) - even if I couldn't buy expensive artworks - the solution is actually very simple. 

I make my own art.

Yeah, you  could do that, too - for yourself and for others, even. :)

For me, there's nothing more artfully satisfying whenever I succeeded in turning an empty 'canvas' (or even a packet of white cement) into something beautiful, something that I could appreciate and cherish ...

{aaawwww ... starting to get mushy here! Some one please get me a swimming pool!!!}

Let's start with some of my personal favorites!

My first choice would be this little garden statue - she was born from a mold that I purchased directly from England.  Isn't she a real beauty?  I just love every details on her.

An english garden mini statue - white cement

And here are some  of the collages/artwork that I had done in the past few months ...

in remembrance of my cat, Tigerlily
(been missing since last month) :'(

Two commissioned scrapbook-influenced profile logos that I did for an FB friend

This one was the first vintage logo I made for BBC

Some of my friends had asked me where did I get those honest to goodness, gorgeous vintage graphics ... did I buy them online, googled them, etc. But the answer is a big 

'nope'. 

You could get all the vintage graphics you want for FREE!

Don't believe me? 

Check out the Graphics Fairy. 

It's a very special, special blog managed by Karen - God bless her soul! :)

You could 'process' these images with your favorite program, even a Microsoft Powerpoint would do.  Well, if you're good at Photoshop, that's even better.

You could even make some money selling your art, check out Etsy.com or even Ebay.

So, start creating people!  Your art is waiting for ya ..

My next post will be another DIY - Turning Trash into Treasure ep. 2, stay tuned!

DIY - Mad About (Wooden) Buttons

A couple of days ago I put up 100 pcs of 18mm heart floral buttons for sale at Blessedly Blissful CraftStore, and sure enough, they got 'adopted' pretty quickly by our customers. 

But the funny thing was, most had no idea what to do with them (yet!) :) 

bigger 3mm floral wood buttons

Soooo, hopefully this post could provide some simple ideas on what to do with these little cuties, and their bigger cousins {of course! :P}. 

You could:

1.  apply it on your plushie, it sure would make a pretty accessory to your soft toy collection

before

after
{now Ellie has a heart! well, two hearts really, as another heart is placed on her other side ;) is it me or does Ellie seem to be smiling now? awwww .. how cute!} 

2. apply it on a hair clip (with the help of mr. glue gun) - you can add extra ribbons, yarn or even glue on smaller buttons on it (in the case of the bigger wooden buttons - which are also on sale at BBC).

3. add a magnet to the backside of the button - and VOILA! Your very own beautiful fridge or message board magnet(s)! Imagine if you have different sizes and kinds of these buttons decorating your fridge/board, oh wow! -- absolute eye candy!

4. put it on a rink shank (and use it as a ring) or assemble it into a necklace - awesome!

This one is for illustration purposes only

Pretty easy, right?

So, go get your stuff, have fun and happy crafting! ^^

The Angry Birds Experience *_*

THE GOOD NEWS

Just last week I got an order for 60 pcs of 'Angry Birds' keyrings as birthday goodie bag filler from my favorite customer - yay! Officially the first big order for BBC! ^_^   

{well, maybe not much for a wedding souvenir supplier, but for a single fighter like me, this was quite a BIG job plus I hadn't done this before, heh heh}

And sure enough ... I was pushed almost to my limit since I had to divide my time between doing the motherly and wifey chores, caring for my 4 children (including a 2 year old little miss want to know it all plus a nosy brat of a cat), and meeting the deadline for the birds.

Deadline ... Ooo, what a scary word .. and this is my closest brush with Mr. Deadline :)

THE DOs AND THE DON'Ts

I know that this will not be pretty, but I had to admit that I did procrastinate in the beginning {ouch!}. 

I shouldn't have done it - cuz if I hadn't, I would have more time to sleep, less crankiness in the morning, well, you know ... the whole package that comes with them. Worse, there were several times that I panicked - like when the pickup guy was supposed to arrive in 3 hours and I haven't even started on the last batch (the bomb bird). Oh dear!

But then I remembered seeing this saying at Shabby Blogs so I repeated it several times in my head:

After taking a few deep breaths, I finally calmed myself and carried on ...

and finished all 50 birds and 10 pigs! Tadaaaa! What a RELIEF!!

 

My moral of the story: 

Rule no. 1:  NEVER ... with all capitals ... PROCRASTINATE! 'Cuz if you combine it with DEADLINE and your other RESPONSIBILITIES, they don't mix well together ... :P

Rule no. 2:  DON'T PANIC, you may make mistakes when you do. I did attached two keychains on the birds' butts, not the heads, lol!!  So, remember to always 'Keep calm and carry on ...'

Rule no. 3: WORK WITH A SYSTEM, i.e: when working on big orders like these, cut all the basic patterns first.  This will make it easier (and faster) to assemble later. It may be a little boring at the beginning but you'll appreciate it later.

Well, I think that's a wrap, hope you all enjoy reading this post :)

Happy crafting! ^_^

Have Faith in What You Do ...

At first I was pessimistic, who would buy the stuff I made? Would people like them?  I saw many mass-produced crafts that got a lot of orders especially those of the wedding souvenir kinds whilst mine are mostly limited editions (hey, I only got two hands! ^o^)
But then, during one of her visits, my Mom told me not to worry too much and have faith in what I do ... Sooo, finally I put up some stuffs for sale at Blessedly Blissful Craftstore and  .. VOILA!
People are buying MY stuffs!
I almost fainted ... *O*
Therefore, I would like to thank Sew Stories, Sis Lila Imelda Sari, Sis Annie Hong, Sis Heni Wu, Sis Benang ManiQ, Sis Rina Darwayanti, and Sis Yulia Purnamawati for being my first customers! ((Big Cyber Hugs!)) ^_^