A quickie farewell prezzie ...

Mu gave us a very short notice that he was departing for the UK so the shortage of time made it impossible for us to get a nice little momento for him. A brainstorm between MC and I resulted in this little book that I came up with consisting of photos that MC managed to source for me. I completed this little present in two nights - most of the time was spent sticking double-sided tape and that was no fun at all; next time best to stick to glue.

I always believe that sometimes gifts don't have to be expensive to be appreciated, and most of the time, things that come from the heart are the ones that will be treasured the most. This 48-page notebook only cost RM3, photos were printed with my photo printer, and coloured papers, washi tape, ribbon and bits and pieces of alphabets are from my stash of scrapbook materials. The minibook is filled with pictures of the times we've all spent together, little caricatures of (my interpretation of) all of us (I assume artistic license) and some empty spots for everyone to write their little message to Mu. It goes to show that things done with a little bit of creativity, passion and patience will always have wonderful results.

It all began when our paths crossed at a party two years ago and we all bonded over food, drinks, and dogs. And yes, we do bond over lots and lots of alcohol and food, as the pictures all show.

My caricature 1: The gym rat a.k.a. Mel. Because she really does spend LOTS and LOTS of time at the gym.

My caricature 2: The dog whisperer a.k.a. Dave. For some reason, I thought of Cesar Milan when I was drawing Dave.

My caricature 3: The sweethearts a.k.a. HL and Jean. One cycles a lot and the other likes lots of pretty things. And when I think of them, I can imagine them being like this!

My caricature 4: The drug peddler a.k.a. YL. Pharmacists don't have a specific uniform identity so the closest I can think of is, is being fed medicine. I had to specifically specify that this wasn't a nurse :p

My caricature 5: The super shuttler a.k.a. Jerry, because it always feels like he's superman with badminton racquets! And no, those are not fly swatters :p

My caricature 6: The vampiress wannabe a.k.a. Jen, because she's obsessed over vampires, the Vampire Diaries and Ian Somerhalder. And everyone knows it. My little vampire has a Dracula's costume, and to be more fun, I added in a devil's horn headband and a pitchfork. But in actual fact, Jen actually has a halo above her head.

My caricature 7: The masterchef a.k.a. MC. What would we all do without MC's fabulous cooking? This guy can seriously cook anything and everything!

My caricature 8: The black dog man a.k.a. WS. No that isn't Harry Potter. "Black Dog" is what we call Guinness Stout in our hokkien lingo, so I thought that made a more cooler name. WS is the only person I know who appreciates yucky stout! *shudder*

My caricature 9: The baker girl a.k.a. yours truly. Because yes, I do like baking cakes a lot. :)

And here's the lucky recipient with the minibook (after it had been passed around the table for everyone to scribble their messages on). Hopefully you like the prezzie, Mu, and yes, we'll definitely miss you lots!

Home is where the heart is ...

A babysitting evening turned into a spur of the moment arts and crafts session, which resulted in a birthday present for the SIL. I managed to dig out some chipboard shaped like little cottages and this idea of "Home Is Where the Heart Is" popped into my head. Scrummaging photos of the family and the family dogs and printing them out, and voila, this is what I have:

Here's my co-scrapper posing with the little house.
What a productive babysitting session this has been :p

Nicole's handbag ...

I just realized that I've been on a craft hiatus for much longer than I realized. My niece, Nicole, is turning 7 in a few days and it was somewhat of a wake-up call for me to wake up and start fussing around with paper once again.

You see, I have four nieces. Through the few years, I've made each of them a birthday minibook and Nicole is the only one left without a minibook to her name. I wouldn't be a fair aunty if I procrastinated.
So for this birthday, I had somewhat of an inspiration that came in the form of a handbag. This afternoon, I made myself sit down and get started while watching a replay of American Idol on the telly. My minibook folds up into a handbag-like structure (the two flaps are fastened using velcro) and the ribbons look a little like handbag straps.

The minibook opens up to an introductory page filled with a few of my favourite pictures of Nicole from my photo collection. She is definitely one very lucky girl indeed.

An accordion-style page unfolds with more pictures of my little niece through her 7 years. Doesn't she get prettier and prettier with each passing year? I certainly think so!

Lovey-dovey strikes back ...

Months ago I gave T my word that I'd work on a little minibook for him as he's planning to propose to his girlfriend. I did my planning long ahead of time, collected all the required material and kind of procrastinated after that. Ask me months ago, I would have said that making something lovey-dovey seemed quite impossible.
But a promise is a promise, especially when it involves someone's future happiness.

I made myself sit down and complete the book. And funny enough, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and my minibook turned out quite alright. I guess this proves that I still have faith in happily ever after and that I'm not so cynical about love after all.

The cover has a picture of the lovely girl who is so special to the guy.

Page 1 tells a story of how a long-distance relationship survived through the many years.

Page 2; I like the thought of a couple in a relationship being two different entities (you & me) but still are a unit (us). And yes, Nessie did a good job taking these pictures :)

Page 3; T is a really romantic guy. I made him come up with a number of reasons why he loves his girl, and he came up with a wonderful list. So wonderful that it made my cynical heart give a sigh.

And finally the proposal. I like that T involves the important people in his life to help execute his big plan. I, however, do not understand the Zorro outfit, but hey, whatever rocks your boat man! :)

And yes, she said YES! :)

Minibook for Adele ...

My niece A just turned 7 a week ago and I promised her a special present besides the present that I already gave her on her actual birthday. The thing with little kids is that it's risky making them handmade gifts because they could possibly spoil it within a week. So not worth my effort, but I decided that my little A was old enough to be responsible and cherish her little minibook. And here's what I made for her.

The cover comprises of a flap that is snapped to the cover by a velcro strip.

Little A is a girly girl, who like all girls, love the colour pink and all that glitters.

I have a thing for nostalgia and pictures that illustrate the passage of time. This is similar to what I made for MissyK's wedding gift last year. Little A's story begins in 2003, and yes, that was me 7 years ago :p I chose a picture from each year, all in sepia tones except for the most recent one. 

I added a picture of all my nieces sitting pretty on the sofa, and of course there needs to be the prerequisite picture of yours truly and the birthday girl. :)
The flap opens into an accordion style page filled with pictures of the birthday girl and everybody who attended her birthday party last week.

The final page shows the birthday girl and her birthday cake.

October inspirations ...

I enjoy making little things for my friends. I honestly think that it is more meaningful to make something with a little time and effort than to go shopping to get a present even though it is sometimes much easier to do the latter.

I was into the minibook craze last year and I made this for my buddy C. I didn't have any pictures of us together since she moved so far away, so I snitched some pictures from her Facebook album :p This minibook was pretty simple and not too bad for one of my earlier attempts.
And since we're both born in the year of the monkey, I used monkeys as my main theme. You'll see why.

The cover:

Monkeys sending greetings across the miles from Malaysia to New York.

Birthdays are always special. I really like the artsy picture that I snitched from C's facebook profile. :p

Sending happy everythings, from one monkey to another.

The end:

When I was little, I used to love unwrapping presents just to find that there were more layers of papers to unwrap. I wanted to create a similar effect for this card. I got started on this project one weekend this October. It literally took me an entire day and a night to complete, but I must say that I really love the outcome and I'm glad that C is the lucky recipient. I haven't made cards like this before so not too bad for my first attempt.

I went a little overboard on the pink but by the time I realized it, I was too far gone to change my colour scheme. It's definitely very girly, just the way I like it.

The cover:

Flip open the cover and you will find this. There is a continuance to the statements on each page.

Today refers to the date on the calendar.

And here's what's happening on that special date.

Some words from the 'wise'  (although technically I'm only two weeks older than she is) :p

Of course, what birthday would it be without one making any wishes ...

And finally, let's party on!

One is always never too old to do goofy stuff. And that's a fact! :)

The prerequisite birthday cake, although for some weird reason, it turned out to look more like a wedding cake instead! :p