Beautiful Green Cheongsam

2008.01.05 Kaeru Cheongsam 1, originally uploaded by waselreins.

I love this cheongsam! And not just because it's green. :p
waselreins made this herself, along with plenty other clothes, you gotta see the rest of it.

Back view:

2008.01.05 Kaeru Cheongsam 3, originally uploaded by waselreins.

My Real Pet Turtle

It was hard to make them stay in a pose. This was a picture of them a loooong time ago. Way before I have a blog. They're so much bigger now. Which makes it harder to take pictures of them.

The biggest one is Shelly. To her left Bobby, then Stoney, and leftmost is Pebbles.

My Latest Felt Creation! A Light Green Seahorse

Cute right!!!
I experimented on the head. At the spur of the moment, decided I don't want to stitch every single triangle. So I bypass it all! Turns out damn fine. So proud of the result.
Another of what my bf drew for me btw.

First Story Attempt

Greemo the little green mouse has a pink frosted donut.

Then her friend Pintle the pink turtle came to visit Greemo's green peanut home.

Then came G the green turtle with her son B.

Hi Pintle! Hi G!

The good friends sat together and talk about the how cute the pink donut is.

Then it's time for Pintle and G to go home! The Big T came to pick them up.

Now Greemo is left all alone.

But oh, here comes Acro the dog!

Oh no! Acro has taken Greemo's pink donut!

Acro is playing with the pink donut.

Acro is just kidding. Now he returns the pink donut to Greemo.

The End.

My First Ever Felt Creations

This is my room door. I know, perhaps I should wash them first before taking pictures but I'm just too lazy. In fact, I've only washed them once since I had them.

Made the top one when I was about ... 12? I was staying at my aunt's in Pekanbaru, Riau. She's the absolute crafter. I got most of what I know (and my materials ;p) from her. If you can see closely, my stitches were nice and even already. LOL!
I always thought it's good to have healthy respect and pride in our own work.

The one with the T-Shirts was given by some other aunt. She bought it somewhere I don't know where.

This I LOVE YOU hanging was also made when I was in Pekanbaru. Really proud of it. These things lasts a long time too. So don't hesitate to get some ;p esp from me!

Google Reader and Goodreads

I just found out this glorious thing called Google Reader. Now it is so much easier for me to keep track to changes and additions to blogs that I like. I don't have to check out every single one, whether the owner has updated it already or not, or deciding which one to see today. I can just open one page and it's all there.
The second one is this www.goodreads.com. It's a reader community where we can add our reviews about the books you've read, the books you are currently reading, and the books you are going to read. Join it if you want, and if you do, look for me. :)

Origami & Japanese Restaurant

Yesterday I ate at a Japanese Restaurant nearby my office. They have these little origami(s) at each table and I particularly like this frog. It can jump when you press the frog's behind.
I took so long to decide what to eat. Not only because I love every Japanese food, but mostly because it's so expensive! I was looking for what is affordable and in the end, I decided upon Nyamen. Just a thin noodle with shoyu and a few leaves of vegetables. Even that, I paid Rp 30.ooo,- for the whole thing. Including 10% tax n 5% service charge.

Strengthened My Resolve

Yesterday, yet another thing happens that makes me even more certain to buy that motorcycle.
I was crossing the street, and this stupid idiot came rushing towards me, almost knocking me down. Fortunately, he stopped just in time, right in front of my face.
A lesson for me too, for when I have my own, I have to be careful not to run into anybody.

So now, nothing you say will make me change my mind.

Pattern Tracer Alternative

This is what I usually use to trace my patterns onto the felt. It is "fine", which means I can rely on it for details. But the downside is, I got to take a long time to snip off the black edges from the felt after I cut the pattern out.

This is what I thought of as an alternative to the drawing pen. (I feel so foolish, why it takes me such a long time to realise this. I even looked for disappearing ink pens.) It has all the colour I need, it is washable, and even if I don't, it won't show too obviously from the sides. The downside: the tip is too wide for details and I end up cutting too much extra out of the cloth.

The other alternative: Stabilo colour pens. There's a whole spectrum of them and the tip is 0,4 wide. But they're so expensive. I gotta think twice before collecting all the colours I need. I mean, I can buy a box of the above markers with the price of one of these.

Iseng2 beli. Padahal lagi kere.

I saw this yesterday in front of the supermarket I went to. I knew at once that I want it.
It was the last of the green ones, the rest are brown. You can wind them up and they'll run for a short distance.

For people out there, if you've never been to Indonesia before, this is what we call a Bajaj (read: ba-chai). It is loud, it is noisy, and most of all, it vibrates. Not advisable for long distances.

I know this is silly, but this thing makes me happy. I've been wanting a miniature for the longest time and now finally I have one. The paint is bad, the plastic not smooth, but it's mine and I love it.
(I've been wanting those miniature shopping carts we often see in supermarkets too. I'll definitely buy one someday.)

I Have Decided.

This morning on the way to the office, when I was sitting in the bus, I decided that I'm definitely going to buy that motorcycle I posted last month.
I mean, I've totally had enough of public transportation and if a few of the girls in my campus can do it, I can too. The last straw was 2 days ago. I took the wrong route out of my office, I went left instead of right and I end up waiting for half an hour for the next bus to come my way. (This is hard to explain in detail, so I won't.)
The sky was already dark, and when the bus stopped near where I alight, I fell down the steps.
I still got the bruises now. But what hurt most was my pride.
I just don't wanna be at the mercy of those blasted sickening ugly dirty buses anymore.
Anyway, if I got my own transport, I can go wherever I like, whenever I like. TMBooksmart mau punya berapa toko pun silahkan deh. Gak takut. Mau muter2 ke mana aja, tinggal berangkat. Mantap.
One more thing, if I have my own transport, I can definitely start to accept English students again. I can teach after office hours, and I'll definitely need the money to pay off the motorcycle. It'll be so so so much easier for me to go back and forth office-campus-home-TMBooksmarts etc.

So yea, I've decided. If anybody has any objections, speak now, or forever hold your peace.

The Great Detective Kiyoshiro Yumemizu 4

Komik memang bisa menyenangkan hati. Kemaren baru beli 2 lagi. Lanjutan seri komik Great Detective n Yotsuba. Semalem baru sempet baca yg detektif sih. Mantap banget deh. Bener2 beda dari seri cerita2 detektif biasanya. Gak ada yang mati! Selain itu, tiap seri isinya cuma satu cerita dan langsung habis. Jadi gak kesel2an dan nunggu2an sampe seri yang berikutnya keluar.
Gak sabar nih pengen baca Yotsuba. Ntar malem kali baru sempet. Tapi mau bikin questionaire skripsi dulu sih...

Btw, ternyata kemarin itu ultah ke-3 nya sepupuku yang paling kecil. Hepi Bday ya!

Jadi ceritanya gini, pas siang2 itu, cowoku telpon, ngajakin lunch bareng, sekalian dia on the way pulang dari kampus. Abis dari lunch, aku langsung dianterin ke TMBooksmart yang di Gading. Nah pas di sana, aku di-sms sama tanteku sekitar jam 3-an. Dia nanya aku pulang jam brapa, dia lagi di Mal Gading, mau nyusul nggak. Kubilang jam 5 baru selesai, masi lama. Jam 4-an aku balik ke HO, soalnya tasku masih di situ. Trus jam 5-an tiba2 aku ditelpon tanteku, katanya mau dijemput nggak, sekalian pulang. Kubilang, ya mau donk. Ya udah, untung ada sepupuku yang udah ku pernah kasi tau kantorku di mana. Abis dijemput, kita jemput tanteku yang lain lagi di ITC Cempaka Mas. (Ada 3 tante-ku yang buka toko di Cempaka Mas: Satu jualan baju anak2, satu baju tidur n baju hamil, satu baju fashion cewek.) Baru di mobil itu ku dikasi tau kalo ada sepupuku yang lagi ulang tahun. Di Cempaka Mas kita beli makanan di Solaria, trus rame2 ke rumah Ama (nenek) ku. Kita makan2 gitu deh, seperti biasa kalo ada yg ultah.

Btw, kok kayaknya ceritaku membosankan ya? Kayaknya aku emang nggak cocok jadi factual story teller, hehehe. Maklum deh.

Aftermath of 4 days of Holidays...

Hi there! I hope you enjoyed my recent blogs, I made those pictures during the long holidays from last Thursday till Sunday. Not quite a productive weekend though, I mean, only 3 accomplishments in 4 days? Gotta admit, I caved in to some gaming cravings during half of those days. :D
I'm not a creative person actually. I make those things purely for personal satisfaction. In fact, I'm a perfectionist with some crafting tendency. Weird combination huh? That's why I'm a pattern collector. I'm not confident enough to make my own patterns, aside from the fact that I can't draw...

Tutorial No. 2: Making a Knot at the end of your Thread

Hi friends... I notice that there are a lot of people out there who struggle when making a knot for hand sewing. I thought it's not fair that I'm having such an easy time while others not, so here I am sharing this knot-making to you. I've known this ever since forever, so I must have learnt it from my mom. Hopefully it will be useful for you as it does for me. Apologies for the bad pictures, I'm not a good photographer, not making it easier that I'm doing it with one hand too. :D
Please clarify with me if there's anything confusing. Enjoy!


1. Get your thread and needle ready.

Siapkan jarum dan benangnya.


2. Put the tip of your thread on your left index finger and press it down with the needle.

Letakkan ujung benang di ujung jari telunjuk kiri dan tekan dengan jarumnya.


3. Loop the thread around your needle.

Lingkari jarum dengan benang.

4. Loop some more. The more loops, the bigger the knot. Usually I do 5. Not too big, not too small. Just the right size.

Tambah lagi seperti di gambar. Semakin banyak, semakin besar hasilnya. Biasanya aku bikin 5.

5. Press the loops together.

Padatkan menjadi satu.

6. Press it with your thumb.

Tekan dengan jempol.

7. Pull the needle out of your thumb in the direction of the arrow. Make sure you keep your left fingers pressed together on the knot.

Tarik jarum searah panah di gambar.

8. Pull all the way.

Tarik sampai habis.

9. Done! You have a neat knot at the end of your thread.

Selesai!

Go on... You know you want it...

Original Strawberry Donut

With extra icing.

It's glow in the dark icing!

Sorry people, I tried to take a picture of the glow in the dark icing but to no avail. The camera just can't do it. The glow is too faint to be able to be captured, and fades too fast too.

This is the closest I can get with minimum light:

(I love how the hole is exactly the same size as my laptop power button. Do you?)

Now I Can Bring My Pet Turtle Everywhere!

These are some pictures of the turtle I made from felt/flanel:

You have to agree that it's too cute to behold.