the winners!

happy monday everyone! thank you so much for the enthusiasm, encouragement and the sweet comments! so here are the winners for our first giveaway:

comment # 12: kristen from knotted nest
comment # 4: leanna
comment #17:celine from bonjour celine


congratulations ladies! please email me with your mailing addresses!

this was a lot of fun...maybe we'll do another one. hehe.
have a great day!

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11/365: lethal scissors

i did some sewing today. for the first time in ages. i don't even remember the last time i sewed something, so much so i had to i had to remind myself how to thread the machine!
in the background are the butter biscuits that virginie sent me. i am trying to eat them slowly and only allow myself one package a day, but sometimes it's a little hard to muster some self-control.
i hope you all had a great day, friends!

ps: your comments are all great. you guys are great!

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the night-in kit

because A's birthday lands very close to christmas, i wanted to give her something christmas-themed and something that was just for her. thus, the night-in kit. it first started with the idea of giving her a hershey's smores maker (to have some semblance of summer during the winter, and a good reminder of her family camping trips), but i wanted it to be more personal. from there i decided to add popping kernels and popcorn powder into the mix and a $10 gift card to blockbuster. this way, she and neil can have a nice night in, a solution to a cold winter night.
you can't really see it, but to seal the bag of popcorn kernels, i used those "admit one" ticket rolls and stapled them on. i thought the crochet trim against the cellophane makes them look like snowflakes! i'm using the same boxes and cello bags and avery labels from my cookie mail to create the kit. i couldn't fully close the box (the stack of graham crackers was too tall), so i punched out holes with a tiny puncher and strung it shut with twine. i bought the crackers and chocolates from the bulk store. to make smores-ing manageable, i used chocolate and white chocolate wafers.
i enjoyed making it so much that i decided to make more to give away as christmas presents. but these don't have to be for christmas alone. change up the color schemes and even some of the contents. it's so versatile but still homemade and personal at the same time.

i hope this inspires you for your next gifting project!

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blue & red party

how is everyone?
this weekend i threw my little sister a birthday party.
so much fun.

sorry for the pic, it was really cloudy that day. my little sister helped me out with the bunting and painted on the letters. i used bias binding to string the triangles together.


i labelled their cups so that my sister could do the seating arrangement (harhar, imagine that) and so that they can re-use them.

i decided to make it a pizza party at the last minute.

which meant sewing 9 aprons at the last minute. their aprons were part of the party favors and they looked adorable in them.

that's my little sister in the middle, with the cute bow.




the basement was a makeshift movie theatre.


i turned the basement kitchen into a concession stand. i placed cotton candy into individual bags, popped some microwave popcorn and transferred them into those cute red and white popcorn bags.

party favors. the boys got the blue (this cool yoyo+disposable camera), girls got red (pretty notebook+disposable camera). i also cut out thank you cards from heavy cardstock and used clothespins to attach it to the bags.

and that is all. she's turning 13 in a few years. hopefully she'll still let me throw parties.

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hello :)

in point form:
- i am home!
- i've been home since last monday. harhar.
- i finished my box of laduree macarons. sob.
- they were a bit crunchy. but that's what you get for waiting till the last minute.
- i think may is my month because i can cross off a lot of things in my "to do list" which includes: paris, public speaking and seeing elton john this saturday!
- i gave a 15 minute speech to 150 people and it was warmly received. :)
- can i tell you how nervous and scared i was?!?!
- but it was not so bad once i started speaking. it's really in the beginning. just like the scariest part of your rollercoaster ride is just before you drop. hmmm...kinda like love. haha.
- i think i will make it a point to go to wonderland this year. i haven't gone in ages.
- can i tell you how much i love taylor swift?
- there i said it.
- i think writing when you are partially (and just partially) inebriated makes for good reading
- no, i'm not partially inebriated right now. i don't drunk-blog.
- or drunk-anything for that matter.
- "la timidité est mon ennemi" - that is my french teacher's motto in our french conversation class
- oooohhh, i will scan the paris polaroids soon. :)
- paris, i miss you.
- but toronto i still love you.
- friends, let's go out.
- how are you all?

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there's nothing better than leftover pie and ice cream.
i should really stop wolfing it down.

i finally made a new banner (the last one was from fall! completely forgot to do a winter one).
the banner took forever to do (looks so simple too!) but mac doesn't have a paint program, unlike its windows counterpart. so i downloaded gimp. it's sort of like photoshop. after three hours of google queries and playing around, i have finally gotten it. i'm sure there's more to it than just resizing and cropping images, but i don't think i'll go further than that.

i started working on the mini zipped pouches for TRENDS' makeup event this saturday.
i felt so clumsy with the sewing machine...understandable, after a two-month hiatus. never again! i managed to produce two samples, both of which i can't use for TRENDS. the dimensions of one were too disproportionate. and as for the other pouch, i gave it to my sister who liked the fabric.

harhar. and my altoid tin collection is growing.

i hope everyone had a bearable monday!

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on crochet trim, potholders and before sunset.

i made a few things.

this is heavily influenced by anabela. i love it because it's simple, compact and it fits the essential items.

this is for a little girl named jennifer. i made her another tote a long time ago.

i'm proud of myself because i actually lined it the correct and proper way. :)

i also like the straps. :) i normally take the messy way out by making something similar to bias tapes (except thicker) and just top stitching it. this time, i used karyn's crafty contraption: heavy string, bobbin as a weight, safety pin to pull the entire thing inside out.

this is a picture of the unfinished potholder that i made for my friend leslie. (inspired by karyn's beautiful potholders!) he likes to make cheesecake when he's stressed. i also made him a simple full apron (not pictured) out of cotton twill, and i used blue thread so that you can see a nice outline of blue.

and that is all is all. i'm dying to buy fabric, after seeing all the nice new fabrics that karyn has at the store!

***

my dad borrowed some parisian and french tours on dvd over the weekend.
i won't ever watch one again.
i'm afraid i might get disillusioned. although a lot of people say that i will absolutely love it.
soi have decided to just watch movies that are set in paris.
today's movie is before sunset. i wish they'd make another sequel. except i don't know how they'll call it. before dusk? hardeeharhar.
this movie has significant meaning because i was watching this movie around the time i was slowly falling for john. in the movie so much importance is placed in those rare connections you make with people. and what can happen if you just let it slip by.
i'm so glad i didn't.

i hope everyone had a good weekend! :)
mighty snowy in toronto. i built a fort with my little sister in the backyard today. hopefully it lasts for a while. we did very well, if i do say so myself.

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lovely brown paper & other things

they didn't include "brown paper packages" in "these are a few of my favorite things" for nothing.

there's something so lovely about brown/kraft paper. it's basically a blank canvas - you can dress it up with different kinds of ornaments without making it tacky.
this post was sort of inspired by karyn, who is truly the master crafter. she has written about brown paper packages. instead of using tape, she opted for stitches and scrap of fabric. i am most definitely going to take my queue from her!

being influenced by amazing crafters of the blog world, i decided to use kraft paper and fabric for all of my presents this year.

these mugs with the ceramic spoons are quite in. i included christmas hot chocolate mixes/christmas teas and lindor balls.

because of the consecutive snowstorms and lack of well-ventilated areas in my house, i couldn't do snap coin purses (silicon gel is very potent!). so i made mini make up kits and travel kits. i've filled them with travel-sized toothpastes, shampoos, toothbrushes, soaps, etc.

my good friend raiya baked lots of cookies to give away as presents. in exchange for some and to have some hang out time with her, i volunteered to package up the cookies (they were very yummy by the way!) for her. with her help cutting out the fabric, they were all done in less than an hour!

these tags were lasercut by karyn at the workroom. these papers are by amy butler. the mini clothesline pins were from etsy.

these little pompoms, which i call snowflakes (perhaps in the summer they can pass for flowers. hardeehar). this was inspired by melissa who had an entire post on gift wrapping ideas. my brother helped me make all of these!

went on a little splurge at michael's. the red/white thread? twine? i found at the paper place on queen street.

i wrapped the travel kits and the makeup kits with brown paper and used some pretty parisian gift wrapping paper i got from deserres. i used little brown envelopes to hold the shipping tags i used as gift tags.

blank brown paper bags are not so plain anymore. i placed the mugs in these bags.

i had wanted to wrap the lasercut greeting cards in fabric envelopes, but because i didn't have enough time, i wrapped them in kraft paper too. i made the tags out of card scraps, punched a hole in it so that the stamped christmas ornament will peek through. i've also rounded out the edges.

and that is all. for the first time i enjoyed wrapping up my presents...i think it was because everything was made from scratch. and i have you all very talented people to thank for! :)
i am so excited for valentine's day...it'll be the perfect time to put to use everything i've learned during the christmas season.

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snap coin purse and other things

hello hello and happy december everyone!
the world is white with snow. so lovely.

it's been quite a busy week at work.
the analyst luncheon that i've been planning for a month has finally come to fruition. it was held at canoe, this restaurant that i've always wanted to go to ever since i saw a chef at large episode on it. i never thought i'd be able to go (because it is so pricey!), but the boss asked me to come. i wanted to jump for joy! harhar. friday night was the corporate christmas party. i gave the hairdresser a bit of a hard time (i was a bit demanding, and well my hair is too short to put up, but she managed to do it!) and got my makeup done (for free!!!) at the dior table at the bay.

anyhoo, i finally got to making my first snap coin purse at home.
note to self: follow instructions, especially when it says to apply glue in a well-ventilated area.
i am so dizzy from the smell right now.
i have the window secretly open...if les parents find out, they'll have a little fit.

it was easier to make this time, and it took me perhaps 45 minutes to do (as opposed to the 2 1/1 hours from before!) and no seam ripping at all! :) harhar.
i used the same fabric as karyn's coin purse...i couldn't resist! this is part of a kris kringle exchange that i will be doing with my friends on wednesday night. i am going to include an f21 or h&m gift card inside.

how is everyone? i hope you are all enjoying the excitement and anticipation of christmas! :)

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etc, etc.

i used karyn's laser *cutter (thanks karyn!) (the most amazing thing in the world!) at the workroom over the weekend to make these and used my puncher to round out the edges. short and simple is always the best, and i am planning to give them away (including envelopes and these sweet circle labels made out of kraft paper) as christmas presents. i'm still trying to decide how to package them - kraft paper or fabric envelopes? hm.

other things i'm planning to make (as in, things that i can make with minimal mistakes, hardeeharhar):
- zippered pouches
- snap coin purses
- fabric covered push pins (i bought little tins from etsy to package these!)

i also started work on my homasote board! finalement! i still have to staple it onto the board and mount it, but i don't think it's bad at all! they came out nice and straight! :)

this picture makes me want to have a quilt.

i wanted linen, but used canvas instead. it was really cheap so i bought lots.

and in other non-crafty news:
- tomorrow i'm going to a toastmasters meeting with my best friend. it's about time, especially with all the teaching and TRENDS events that i have to do.
- friday is the grand fete! i'm getting my hair and makeup did. harhar. i've decided to wear my dress from zara. it needs to be taken in though. argh.
- lots of holiday parties to attend and kris kringles to participate in!
- i'm off work on the 19th to get ready for the little holiday party i'm throwing! stuffed mushrooms is in the menu. i would like to emulate this loveliness. there will also be gingerbread house decorating.


now if the weather would only cooperate...it's still raining. where are you snow?

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crafty space #4

happy thursday!
i'm sure that most of you who love to craft and make things have been to alicia paulson's blog. can i tell you how in love i am with:
- the things that she makes
- her photos
- her lifestyle
and how i am very, very much in love with her studio?

i chanced upon her blog probably two years ago, waaaay before i started making things. and ever since then i have been drooling over (ack, not a pretty picture, but you get the idea) her lovely space. alicia kindly gave me permission to share some of her pictures from here.

notice the audrey hepburn picture! :)
yummy, yummy, yummy.

i love the doors, the brightness of the space, its whimsiness, the color of the walls, and how it leads to the garden.

sigh. one day, mel. one day. when my crafting gets pretty serious.

but for now, i'm satisfied with my desk in my room.

what do you love or not like about your working space? it doesn't necessarily have to be for crafting. it could be your homework/study/etc space too :) i'd love to know! :)

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