Almost there..

Past few days have been a routine, its like i can tell what i will be doing at every hour, every day. Sometimes  patterns in life are good. Keeps you content and you just go along with the flow. Morning 8 till night 11(if i get lucky) are filled with motherly activities. Its this one hour in the morning and a few hours late at night which are totally ME time. I love the quietness, when there is no one wanting my attention and i can do as i please.

During one such hour i was looking for Instagram like apps for PC that i came upon this site. One word for it - AWESOME! You can just transform your pictures. And its free.

Take a look at this. The Before snap.

Transformed it into this -

A rare smile for the shutter bug.

 

Before this was just an almost finished rug.

Now, its a vintage heirloom :)

 

OK.This is how much i have completed. Ran out of the blue yarn so called an end to the body of the rug. Started the border in white. I have completed 1 round of it, need to do a few more rounds and finish it off with an edge. Something about a border, gives an entire new look to your rug.

 

As my little ones are still asleep, i am off to get that cup of coffee and my hook. 

Happy 'vintage' time :)

Wall Makeover

Cold + Rain + Broken Fridge + Crying infant + Screaming Toddler = A Gloomily mad Me!

Things got so depressing that even a crochet hook looked tiring. Then i decided. It was time. Time to get up, time to get out n time to buy something :) Shopping sometimes gives one the best solutions. It fills up those aimless hours one needs to pass. There is  no rain which can stop you from shopping. It also is the best workout. In fact there is something known as mall walking. I ll take this any day! Being in a foreign country with just kids for company (at least sunrise to sunset) - you do end up making malls and stores as one of your good friends.

One such good friend is the neighborly home store JUSCO. This departmental store literally has everything under the sun - from home furniture to kids clothing to food and craft items, kitchen appliances and even a hair salon. The also fits wallets of all sizes.Any day i am aimless or bored i just stride into JUSCO. It never disappoints me! There is always a sale or a fair going on, either its sweaters or kids toys or home decor items. Today was no different. They had a most amazing range of wall decors and stickers. Dint know which to pick and which to leave. Also it was the easiest way to cheer up the white walls in the living room.  Picked up a few and here are the clicks.

Little Miss helped me with this one. Loved it cos its all crooked and a bit messed up!

What can i say? Hope he grows up into a Pilot :)

 

On the hooky side, i am close to completion of the rug. Running out of the blue color yarn, so maybe would call it a day once i am through with 4 more waves and then start off the border. Hoping it would make it a 5 x 3 feet carpet.

She was all trying to help me get a good snap. Never was straight enough for her. Here she is trying to make it all in proper for my snap.

Here's hoping for a day of sunshine sans rain.

Write Click Scrapbook

One of the many joys of being a stay at home mom is you are there to physically see your little one reach all his/her milestone. You wouldn't be missing out on anything or wouldn't need to worry about missing out on anything.

I have always managed to capture my little one's precious moments. Its all clicked and sorted out on my computer. But when i want to have a look at just a few magical frames i never seem to get them! So this idea of making a scrapbook came to me when i was watching a show. This lovely lady here has 8 children and still has enough energy to get crafty and creative! Sometimes i am at my wit's end with just the two~~~..Anyways, coming back to this post, the little man is almost 8 months now, babbles a lot, tries to walk and it seemed like just yesterday he was this tiny teeny person, barely able to open his eyes :) Times does indeed fly...

But i have been a very lazy mom, there is absolutely no excuse for not keeping up his scrapbook to the mark. I need to buck up and write about his 7 months, need to need to need to...

 

The cover page.

Title : The wonder that is...Niramay -> NEED TO WRITE

 

 I came to know the sex when i was 19 weeks pregnant. Though initially we wanted to keep it a surprise, finally ended up telling our close ones that we were expecting a boy. A lovely boy:)

 

Still need to do the birth story page

The birth details page is done, but i NEED TO WRITE!

 

I never thought that ric-racs would look so lovely on a scrapbook!

Ahh well...I have still smiles to go before i am any way near to this book completion. Guess like parenting this is always gonna be a WIP. Wish me luck!

T-shirt Makeover - Part 2

Girl.
Pink.
Flowers.
Buttons.

As a full time mom now, the creative space has become my outlet. It is said that an idle mind is a devil's workshop. Well with me, there is no time at all! There are so many crafts i want to try, to experiment and to put into good use.Having a little princess is every crafty mom's dream come true. You can pour all you art where your heart belongs. And nothing gets better than this :)

So this is the second makeover DIY Project. The first one is here.
I wanted to try ribbon embroidery for this t-shirt. Also had a huge stash of ric-racs and decided to combine both of them for this piece.

The centre flower is actually a sun-flower pattern. I have done it in polka dotted ribbon. Looks like polka dots is in these days, i see them everywhere. On shoes, hats, caps, dresses, frocks, tops, socks..you name it and it is there. So here's my version of Polka dotted sunflower

This was a ric rac in shades of pink. Did a simple running stitch through the edges of light pink shade first. Pulled the thread, plugged in a button and sewed it on to the shirt.

Did the same thing but from the darker shade of pink this time for a different effect. Added the white flower and the wooden ones on request of my girl. Hey! Its her shirt, she can pick a few mismatched stuff right?

This sunflower really looks good, tho i feel a good deal of credit does go to the ribbon itself. It was just too beautiful not to be in my ribbon stash! Stitched on a few leaves using this pattern.

Here's the ta-Daah!!
Pink.
Flowers.
Buttons.

I really should get back to my rug/blanket now. Its looking at me and i am feeling very guilty that i have side-tracked it. But the shirt looks soo pretty now, waiting to see her in it!

T-shirt Makeover - Part 1

Sewing projects are fun. Mainly because they get done in a few hours and there are so many things you can do with a needle.I don't know know to use the machine, maybe will learn it one day. But for now, can manage with hand sewing itself. Picked up a few plain t-shirts from Mother Care for the Little Miss.

One aimless day, when i was browsing, i came across this DIY project. I knew i had to had to had to do it for her!

Cut out a 5hearts, made up a buttoned flower on the go. Used simple back stitch to attach four of the hearts in the front of the fabric. She was waiting on her toes for the heart t-shirt. It was all done in under an hour and here are the results.

 She has to make sure that mamma has had a good click.

..and the fifth heart is on the back of the t-shirt.

One happy hearty t-shirt. One happy girl and one happy me :)
Watch out for more t-shirt makeovers coming up.

Craft Shopping

Sham Shui Po is a craft lover's paradise. There are rows and rows of shops filled with beads, buttons, ribbons, flowers, bows and other amazing stuff. You get all these things at throw away prices. Buttons and beads are sold by their weight. What you can buy in the upmarket stores for $15 you can get the same(and better) ones here for about $1 or lesser. It is a whole sale market basically but most of the shops encourage retail buying too.

Here's a look at the ribbons I purchased. Have a few projects in mind, will keep it posted :)

They also have Ric-racs in all wonderful shades and multicolors too. Since my kids were playing with it, i have to untangled the mess and make a click.

What to leave and what to buy? Its a heady mix of all wonderful things.

 

There you go, my button stash! Love it. Makes me smile :)

Have a wonderful week ahead.

Is it Spring?

What a glorious day! I am so so glad to see the sun, smiling down upon all of us :) There is something special about Spring. New hopes, fresh starts, flowers and happiness and liveliness. No wonder any happy person has a 'spring' in his/her step. Spring is my favorite season! It holds the promise of good things to come. It is that time of the year when you have to take a walk in the park, have to run behind your toddlers at the waterfront, have to stop and smell the flowers.

Well, i am not sure if Spring has officially arrived here, but yes, I can feel it in my heart. Its singing..la traallaaa...It may not yet be the vernal equinox of March 20 or 21. Its still 2 days into the month, but hey I am singing!!


The kid's park from my window. A brighter view.

I had to take a few clicks today. These flowers just make me smile. Banker does have a good choice when it comes to selecting home, wives..err..wife..;)

Yellow..sunshine..

 Aren't they all so gorgeous?
Love it!

Full of vibrant energy .

Yellow, pink, red and green. Happiness, health, youth and life!

My personal favorite.

This blog is heavy on pictures. Well, i did manage to get some hooky done too. Posting the progress
of my rug. It has Mr. Smiley sitting on it.

Currently at row #48

The tools - yarn and my favorite hook.

Well, that's it for now. My toddler and me are off for our walk. Here's hoping for a song on everyone's lips and a spring in each of your step:)