Happy Holidays

Barbie takes a rest and J-doll takes the spotlight on Christmas day.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Dancing in Red

A little red dress is all it takes to dance the night away. Teaching how to crochet has not been my strongest suit but I hope sharing this piece I made for Barbie will spread the spirit of Christmas. The dress is made of two single and double crochet stitches using a fine mercerized cotton thread.

Concoction

I like the shape of pumpkins that's why I purposely included them in this Halloween-themed pictorial for Barbie and her friend. All clay art are made by me. Glass bottles have been bought from a local store.

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The night was young and Barbie had enough time to choose the best potion and pumpkin for her new craft. The pumpkins were all pretty as they were just harvested from her yard.

She wasn't alone that night. An apprentice stood by her side eagerly watching and learning every move.

At one point, she took her metal fish charm and stroked it for luck. Barbie poured some of the clear blue liquid on her pumpkin, held it high and cast a spell.

"This should be a nice fragrant make-up to add to my collection," Barbie said before she wrapped up the night. The witch smiled and looked forward to a beautiful tomorrow.

Shoes on Sale!

I've played with Barbies since I was 3 or 4 and thought it's nice playing with them again but in a different way. Miniature boxes/bags are done by me. All shoes were bought from random stores.

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The store was bland but when Barbie saw that "SALE" sign and could not resist. She walked in and found the black heels she's been eyeing for months.



It was time to replace her pink heels, she thought.





She tried them on without hesitation and thought it would be perfect. But then, she wasn't sure which occassion to wear it to.



Nonetheless, the black pair made it to her shopping bag and there goes several dollars off her bank account.

In Studio: Barbie

Barbie isn't the sweetest doll around. Plus Mattel hasn't always had the best reputation in public. I honestly don't know much about the politics revolved around here. Nonetheless, I find her as an affordable subject for my photo shoots.



Barbie has managed to work with two of the miniature crochet bags which I've mentioned briefly in my past post. I don't have an extra outfit for her so have to deal with her default fashion dress.





The studio isn't anything expensive and hi-tech. Magazines and the sun are enough for now. ;)

Scarf in Full Bloom

The scarf is finished. All I need is a pin to attach the flower. My emotions tell me its spring but it's actually very humid here and the temperature is around 27 degree Celcius as I'm writing this. This scarf will most probably be sleeping for months.



My stash palette is very neutral at the moment. The Japanese books make the beige and browns very interesting so that's why I'm digging this palette for now. My color taste has changed since then. I used to like pink a lot, hence my cyber nickname peenkfrik. It means pink freak. Ironically, I never had a lot of pink stuff.





I would love to go to the office bathroom with a fancy brown bag so I'm starting off with a round base for my toothbrush bag. I'll figure out the pattern later. I'm thinking stripes and lace. We'll find out.



There's red in my stash but it seems to be out of place. I still haven't thought of what to make out of it. The light bulb above my head tells me it's going to be a flower or a bag.

Scarf Progress and more about Japanese Yarns

I bought two Japanese yarns in Chinatown last weekend. One for the scarf I'm working on and another for a bag project which I have not started. The second skein should be enough to finish the project. Rainy days are forcing me to stay home on weekends and finish it up. The scarf is taking shape now so that should be a good thing.

Japanese yarns aren't really cheap. This one yarn is a "Darumaings" brand but there is only very little information about it in the internet. It also says "not dyed" so that gets me thinking it's a natural yarn though I can only guess it is made of cotton. The yarn I've used for the scarf is a "Sea Queen" brand and it's surely made of cotton but not sure what kind of blend since the package has a 70% and 30% rating. Sadly I cannot read Japanese. My best guess is 30% acrylic.

Over the last week, I realized how little information I know about yarns. I only learned last week the differences are between merino and the cashmere yarns. I have not bought any of these but I plan to. I should think of a good project to make because the yarn isn't cheap and I don't want it to be just another one of my unused stash.

I'm an addict for craft blogs and nice photography. I have starred so many blogs under my favorites but just need time to organize and put them into a neat blog list. Aside from the scarf, I have this drawing that I vowed to finish no matter how much time it will take me.

First Knit Out

This afternoon, I joined my first knit out here in Singapore and had a great time. Though my mouth was zipped almost the whole time, I enjoyed listening to the crafters' stories. I decided to start on a new project which is from a not entirely new idea or pattern - a scarf. I was working on a scarf as mentioned in my previous post but it didn't turn out well because my yarn was too thick for my needle. This time, I think I got it right and I'm inspired to finish this project and track it in Raverly.

So, today is day 1 and below is a birthday photo. It looks more like a Starbucks ad but I will upload another photo after I have more progress. The yarn I'm using is that Japanese cotton yarn from Chinatown which I talked about during my first Singapore yarn hunt. I'm not sure if there will be a second because this island seems too small. 

On another note, I miss selling my craft. A year ago, my friend and I displayed some jewelries at the local fair for the Sinulog event in Cebu. It was fun. The fact that there were so many booths selling jewelries too, the experience was more significant than the money I earned. I wished I could be there today with her at her booth.

Selling jewelries at my friend's Sinulog 2010 booth

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I hit the publish button past midnight so "Today" in this post is January 15, 2011.