Thread catcher done!

I am pleased to show off *wink* my newly completed thread catcher! As usual, it has to be in pink, but this time, in combination with turqouise. Nice, huh? LOL! *wink*

Thanks again, Jo, for teaching me, and thanks, June for the pieces of carpet tiles for the platform piece.

Here is a photo of the thread catcher next to my faithful 15 year old SINGER sewing machine. I could not quilt the way Jo did her's as my machine is not equiped with the nice wavy stitch. I only have the basic straight and zig zag stitch and a few other stitches which I am unsure if it can be used for quilting. Oh well, bought it 15 years ago......it has been my faithful sewing friend......

Crocheting, stitching and sewing.....

Each time I look at the beautiful works of Faizon, it makes me want to crochet! LOL!

Faizon is a very talented lady and testament to that can be seen in all works at her blog. She does really very fine tatting and crochet work, and I can't help being in awe of her works each time I look at them. Each time I look at her works, it would inspire me to try out something new. *smile*

So, when I saw such lovely snowflake pieces during the recent NNC Anniversary Meet and also Anna's sweet set of coasters, I knew I had to do some crocheting to see if I can come up with the very same fine work. Of course, my work is a far cry from Faizon's very fine works, but still, it did not deter me from starting on a small crocheted doily.

This crochet piece will be my 'in front of TV' piece as I do not need to look at the chart that often. I have a piece for my travels - the CCN Ice Sundae, and a piece for stitching at home, but not in front of the TV, and that is my Drawn Thread (DT) Gameboard Sampler.

I think I pretty much got things planned for the next few weeks in terms of keeping my craft going. Only now, I want to try and fit in to do a few more bags, a pouch and maybe another thread catcher.

Yeap! I just learned how to do a thread catcher from Jo yesterday. I am so pleased with the results, but I can't put up photos of it yet until I have completed my pincushion as I plan to change the shape of the pincushion from rectangular as in Jo's original design to one in the shape of a square to suit my sitting platform. Keep a lookout for the posting with photos of my thread catcher, OK? *wink*

BTW, Jo, thanks for taking time to teach us (June and I) how to do the thread catcher. I sure appreciate it. Can we do more projects together in the future? *wink*

Cakes and buns, anyone?

Looks good to eat, huh? Or, are they simply too pretty to be eaten? *wink*

Well, they sure look real, but, unfortunately you can't eat them. They are actually sponge cakes. Ooopps! I mean cakes and bun made out of sponge or foam.

I got excited when I saw the 'cakes' and 'buns' at SSF Jalan TAR yesterday when I went in search of some craft items, and thought that they would make good pincushions. Now I don't know if I want to start poking my pins and needles in them in case my son mistakes them for real ones. *shudder!*

Maybe I shouldn't just leave them lying around then.......

Got a job?

You think you could consider offering it to Aiman? He wants a job! LOL! *grin*

Aiman wants to make money to buy himself a transformer toy. I told him I won't be buying him any more toys since his present toys are still good. If he still wants a new toy, he would have to earn it by coming up with the amount himself, and the amount is? RM49.90.

He spent almost all night last night trying to figure out how to come up with the amount, all the while looking longingly at the Toys'R Us catalogue that dropped into our mailbox last evening. He actually did not bother about what was showing on TV last night as he was engrossed in his thoughts to figure out a way to make money.

After a few hours, he went to our loose coin caddy and started counting. He had trouble initially counting because he kept losing his count as the amount got bigger. It was only when I showed him how to count by putting aside ringgit by ringgit did he finally figured out the amount in the caddy - a mere RM5.05. He sat there thinking before he disapperaed for while and came back with more 10sen and 1sen coins. When I asked him where he get the coins from, he said they were coins left on Tokmi's dressing table and my dressing table. *grin*

Next, he asked me if he could see my purse. I told him I am not giving him any money. He sat there thinking again and he was deep in thought, when he finally asked me how he can come up with the balance amount.

I told him he can earn it by doing things for mummy and abah, which is not part of his everyday chores. I am not about to teach him that he can make money by doing chores, because I do not want it to be a habit that he will only be willing to do his chores if he gets paid.

Aiman has always had trouble finishing his meals. On certain days it takes him close to an hour just to finish a simply meal of fish and chips or rice and it's accopaniment. So, I told him that from tomorrow (today) onwards, each time he finishes his meal before mummy and abah, I will give me 50sen. He went like, "ooohhh! That's RM1.50 a day!". LOL! *grin*

Still, that was not enough for him to make the RM49.90 he needed in the time that he wanted to buy the toy (he wants to buy the toy next week so that he can play with it with his cousins at Tokmama's house).

All of a sudden, as I was putting him to bed, he came with this brilliant idea to have a yard sale where he could sell his old toys so that he can buy the transformer. When I asked him who is going to buy his toys, he said that he can sell Barbie dolls to Rini and Kak Ida (his cousins). I told him that he has no Barbie doll! "Oopps!", he said! LOL!

He said never mind, tomorrow morning he will ask abah for a job. *grin*

Abah's job for him today? To look out for the old newspaper guy and sell off the old newspaper. If he succeeds, all monies from the sale will go half to his Yippee bank (piggy bank), and half will be added to his collection for the purchase of his transformer. I have heard the old newspaer guy twice already this morning but Aiman has been so engrossed in the catalogue that he has yet to realised that he had missed the guy.

BTW, he finished his meal way ahead of us today *grin*, so I gave him 50sen. I also gave him RM10.00 which was an overdue reward to him for completing 30 days of fasting during the month of Ramadhan. RM5.00 has gone into his Yippee bank, and the other RM5.00 has been added to his collection. That was the deal. He now has RM12.40. He needs another RM37.50. The story continues........

He is now downstairs still engrossed in the catalogue......

A productive week

No, I am not talking about last week, but the week before that - the week of Deepavali. The week that I took my son out on an all day outing.

It was a good break for me and the weekend had been quite a productive one for me. Apart from taking my son out on a all day outing, a stay at a hotel in town, I managed to complete two bags, 4 pincushions (1 was done before the Deepavali holidays), finished my small linen piece, almost nearing completion on a bookmark, worked a little on the DT SGB and started on another small-medium size project - CCN Ice Cream Sundae.

Yup! I finally completed my small line piece! I think I deserve a pat on the back for finally attempting to stitch on linen and completing it *wink* , thus joining the pack of linen stitchers, though I can't say I am a linen lover! LOL! Aida anytime, and evenweave on some occassions. Linen only when I really need to! LOL! *wink*

My eyes went bonkers on some nights when I was stitching this in the hotel room in Terengganu as the lighting in the hotel is definitely not condusive for stitching.

Anyway, I must once again thank Jean for gifting me the linen piece. I am sure it will not be the first and last time I will stitch on linen, though it won't be too often. It will definitely have to depend on the designs I choose and the purpose.

Back to my new project, I know I should finish my bookmark first before venturing on another project, but since I travel a lot, and the bookmark is almost completed, I needed a project that will sustain me on my travels and not bore me to death! LOL! The Country Cottage Ice-Cream Sundae (CCN ICS) is an easy project since there are no backstitching, and the size, though bigger than most of my travelling projects, isn't too big anyway. It is kind of longish - height wise. Only, I have to carry more threads as it calls for more colours. However, I like the colours of the CCN ICS. Stitching it is a joy so far.

This will probably remain as my travelling and lunch time stitching, as I hope to stitch more on my DT SGB when I am at home. I also want to try to do more pincushions. I hope Mel will put up her tutorials soon so that I can master the technic of the pincushions better. *smile*

On the bags, I finally can put up the photos now that I have finally hand delivered the bags to my mum and sis last Sunday, 18 November. I just hope they like it, if not love them! *wink*

The first bag in green and yellow is for my mum. I made it quite similar to the purple shopping bag I made for myself with a change in the position of the pocket and added a ribbon. I did not embellish the bag much because I needed to complete the bag in a hurry as I wanted to give it to my mum when she was in town last weekend. I wanted her to be able to take it shopping with her when she goes travelling. I hope it will serves its purpose in life and give my mum many hours of happy shopping time, filling the bag to the brim.

The second bag in black and white is for my sis. She, being a lawyer, had hinted that she wanted a black and white bag. I take it, that it is so that she can take it to court. I hope so. I hope that I had been able to fulfill her requirements. I hope the bag too will see many days in court to win cases. *wink* I hope you like it, sis!

By the way, both bags are reversible. The inside of the green and yellow bag is all yellow with a pocket too, while the black and white bag is all white on the inside, also with a single pocket.

Jackpot!

It sure feels like I had just hit the jackpot when I received this huge box in the mail two weeks back! LOL!

I was like going....."Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" LOL!

I just could not believe that this huge box arrived safely in my mailbox, knowing the reputation of Pos Malaysia, at the office, and I did not even know it was coming. All I know was to expect an envelope of stamped images for an image swap I was doing at the Stamping Addict Group.

I could not believe what was filled in the box! It was like as if I was receiving a birthday present. Yes, definitely a very belated birthday present!

Thank you so much, Mary Jean! You really made my day! No, make that my WHOLE WEEK! I kept going through the stash, I felt like bringing them to bed with me! LOL! Only I don't think my hubby would be too happy! LOL! *wink*

What a great show!

Move over Beyonce, welcome the talents of Sri KDU Primary School!

Yeah, in my humble opinion, it was not a loss at all to Malaysians when Beyonce decided not to perform in Malaysia recently, because she refused to adhere to Malaysia's dress code to cover up. If Gwen Stefani can make changes to her wardrobe, I can't see why Beyonce can't. If she can't make changes to her wardrobe so that she can perform in Malaysia in appreciation of her fans here in Malaysia, than she is not worth idolising, not that I was ever interested in her in the first place. I can't say if I know any of her songs. Maybe her songs just aren't my cup of tea, and neither are her dressings.

If you want to see talents that will keep you entertained for almost 3 hours, attend one of your kid's concerts, and you will not be disappointed. No revealing clothes, and yet, everyone had a great time! Sure, I might be biased, but, I can bet with you that you will have a great time too if you were there to see it for yourself.

We had a very entertaining time at Aiman's school concert recently, held, for some reason, right smack in the middle of the week, forcing me to take leave, despite having a very important meeting at work. Families always takes priority, and I wouldn't want to miss Aiman's concert for anything.



A short speech by the principal kicked off the concert at precisely 9.45 am. The hall was packed to the brim with proud parents eagerly awaiting their kids to perform, snapping photos non-stop. At the rate the cameras were flashing, you'd think you were at a concert of a great celebrity! LOL! And they were! At least to the proud parents. I shed a tear or two and had to swallow my saliva several times during the concert, especially during Aiman's Dikir Puteri, as I watched the kids perform, as I was overcomed with feelings of excitement and pride.

In my excitement to take as many photos of Aiman as possible for keepsake, I did not actually get to appreciate the Dikir Puteri in total, but my hubby managed to take a video of the performance which I watched again and again, each time, with more pride.

This Primary 3 boy did a break dance that got the whole hall clapping in excitement, almost bringing the roof down. Would Beyonce have been able to do this and still look cute? LOL! *wink*

An all day outing

Aiman has been complaining of boredom lately since finishing his final year exams more than 2 weeks ago. Nothing much has been taught in school since the exams. They are just doing worksheets to pass the time away and practising for their school concert (will report more on the concert in a later posting

So, during the recent Deepavali holiday, my hubby and I decided to take Aiman out on an all day outing in town. First, on Wednesday night, we checked into Royale Bintang Kuala Lumpur, so that we can stay up late and enjoy the night life along Jalan Bukit Bintang. We had wanted to check in even earlier after work, but, as always, last minute things tend to crop up, and I ended up having a meeting that ended late, and with piles of letters to clear, we only checked into the hotel close to 9.00pm.

Anyway, after dinner, we took a walk along Jalan Bukit Bintang, and I was amazed at how many small shops lined along the road were offering foot reflexology services. There were also many open air foot reflexology services offered - they just put up chairs and that's it!

My feet was killing me, but I was not comfortable with the open air concept, and the small shops did not look inviting, but scary, in fact, LOL!, and thus did not go for it, but my hubby did. Aiman and I decided to walk back to our hotel as he was eager to play with the new toy I had just bought him - a mechanical buffalo that moves and makes a mooing sound.

The next day, after breakfast, as Aiman and my hubby went swimming in the pool, I came down with my laptop and stitching things, and stayed by the poolside, reading my emails which I have not been able to do so for the past 3 days. I only manged a little stitching though, but I did managed to complete my linen piece! Hooray!

After checking out of the hotel, we went for lunch at Sushi King, where Aiman tried his hands at using the chopsticks. He managed OK for a first timer, but there was a time when it got him really frustrated that he decided to just poke the chopstick into the sushi! LOL! Smart boy! *wink*

Here's our spread of the ala-cart portion. We ate some other items too from the kaiten belt. Aiman had fun picking out his food from the belt and wouldn't stop. He was worried that the food would not come back to him once they passed him. LOL! *wink*

After lunch, I managed to make a quick visit to a cross stitch/craft shop at Sungai Wang Plaza, after getting very specific directions from Margaret. Thanks, Margaret! I just bought some zippers and laces for some projects I intend to do some day. After that, we headed on to Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC) as Aiman wanted to play at the water park. Alas, when we got there, the clouds turned dark, and Aiman only managed about a half hour of dipping in the wading pool.

In the mean time, I headed on to Kinokuniya's japanese craft section which has now moved from Isetan to within Kinokuniya itself. It is now a much larger section, but, I could not locate the craft books that I have been eyeing for months. Instead, I found some books on bag making and a book on small crochet laces. I bought them, of course! LOL!

The day ended with an early dinner before we headed home close to 8.00pm. I was tired, and so was my hubby, but the 7-year old boy was still as active as ever! LOL! He didn't sleep until close to 11.00 pm! Well, I'd rather have him active anytime, rather than sick. That would get me all worried and anxious.

It was a good break for me too and I think Aiman had a great time too, though he still simply just can't have enough of activities! LOL! We will just have to wait for the school holidays before we plan anything else.

BTW, Royale Bintang has a comfy chair just perfect for stitching! I might want to get one too, if only I could find a place to put it.......*grin*

A slice of cake, anyone?

I received a really sweet and lovely hostess gift from Mel that came in my favorite colour - PINK! The box is really sweet, and the things inside it were even sweeter! I just couldn't help looking at it, holding it and admiring the work put into it, and the talent that Mel has, to come up with such lovely items.

I especially like the slice of cake pincushion. It gave me inspiration to try to make one myself, and I did not do one, but 4 pincushions! LOL! I made two slice of cake pincushions, and, craving for more, I browsed the internet and chanced upon this site - http://medievalbeads.com/content/view/32/1/ - and I ended up making two more round/barrel like pincushions!

My hubby thought that they look like real cakes too! That must be a compliment, coming from him! LOL! *wink*

Now that is what I call pincushion crazy! *grin*

BTW, notice the red flower on the second cake slice pincushion? That's a yoyo flower I made after buying the template at Sakura Sewing shop in SS19, Subang Jaya recently.

Such lovely gifts!

I received so many lovely gifts during the NNC Anniversary Meet held recently, saying thank you is just simply not enough!

First and foremost, I received a lovely tatted bookmark from Faizon, a crocheted bookmark from Usha, a wrist pincushion from June, and an oblong hanging ornament from Margaret. I also received some very lovely hostess gifts from Usha (another crochet piece), a Dimensions piece from June, and some lovely DMC frames from Emily.

Mel gave me a really sweet pink set of hostess gifts in a pink box consisting of a pincuhsion and a small pouch/bag (will elaborate more on this lovely gift in a later posting), and I got 2 magazines from Lody.

For the Anniversary Gift Exchange, as luck would have it, I received 2 crocheted pieces from Usha to complete my earlier crocheted pieces I have been receiveing from Usha in several other exchanges done throughout the year. My house is now furnished with quite a few of Usha's lovely pieces! *smile* It's like a complete set, almost! Now to get some coasters from Usha to match! *wink*

Thank you, ladies, for all the lovely, lovely gifts! I love them all!

NNC is ONE!

Yes, NEEDLESnCraft (NNC) is one years old on 30th October 2007! To mark the anniversary of the formation of NNC, we decided to have a meet with the local members to celebrate, have fun, exchange gifts, eat and be merry. And we did just that!

Emily wrote, "here's wishing that we enjoy many more to come!"

Yes, Agree!

I think everyone had a great time going by all the laughter and noise that we made. Rose said that she can hear us from two houses away! LOL!

Rather than write the going ons at the meet and repeating what everyone has said, I decided to extract the piece written by Emily, as it pretty much describes everything that happened during the meet....

Quote:
Hi Everyone!

Wow, that was indeed a fabulous anniversary meetup! and here's wishing that we enjoy many more to come!

Thank you Nik for NNC and MW for the organisation and Jackie for helping out!

Hey hey, Diyana and I were the first to arrive, with Just Heavenly's Triple Expresso Brownies, Beef Rendang, Sotong Sambal and our exchange gifts! Nik had her place all ready for us and with Aiman and her DH out on a Boys Only day leaving us ladies the run of the house!

MW, JW, BJ, JC and Anna were next to arrive with delish Nasi Briyani (courtesy of MW), Banana Cake (BJ's), Carrot Cake (Anna's), Ipoh White Coffe (JC's). By now Nik's dining table is two thirds covered! Nik made Lontong ~ nasi impit, kuah lodeh, chocolate swissroll, kueh raya and iced Rose Syrup.

We were soon joined by Usha who brought loads of yummy Kesari, Josephine with jelly/pudding, June with 'homemade' yummmy yam cake, seafood pizza; Rose with dhall curry! Next to arrive was Faizon with macaroni and cheese - delish! Linda and Azie were last to pop by with more kueh raya!

We had a gorgeous time catching up on our various stitching activies, show and tell, Faizon even gave a quick tatting lesson to Anna and Usha! She also demonstrate needle tatting to the tatters amongst us! And as usual it was BJ and Nik posing for picture of their completed FOs ~ this time it was the LDSal! And hey there was Nik and my SHS pieces too!

We have a lovely draw for the exchange gifts! Wow there were loads of fantastic items made by each and every one of us! What can I say, talented bunch of ladies we are!

What a great time we had and I thoroughtly enjoyed myself and I am sure Diyana did too!

~Emily
Unquote

.....and now ahem ......my speech...*grin*

Thank you, everyone, for coming over to the meet. Thank you for all the lovely gifts and the gift exchg. Thank you too to all those who sent it their gifts for the gift excg from far away.

Thank you for all the delicious, not to mention high calory *wink*, food that you all brought. We ate and ate and ate, yet there were still plenty of food. That goes to show how much food there were. Take a look at the photo album and you will see all the yummy, weight gaining food! *grin*

A big big thank you to Margaret for working hard to organise the meet and making it a success. Do thank Jackie for me, Margaret, for helping out. You have got a great sister there!

Emily, please thank Diyana for me for helping out too. I hope she did not feel too left out when we started talking about all those things which we had discussed at the board before this, and the `naughty & cheeky' things we said. *wink* Don't want her to pick up our `bad behaviour'! LOL!

A personal thank you to Faizon for the tatted bookmark, Usha for the crocheted bookmark, and also for the crocheted hostess gift, June for the wrist pincushion and the hostess Dimensions piece, Margaret for the oblong pincushion, Emily for the lovely hostess DMC frames, and Mel for the pink set of hostess gifts. Thank you again to Usha for the lovely crochet pieces for the gift exhg. Thank you, Lody for the magazines. Photos of the gifts will be uploaded in a later posting.

Of course, a big HUGE thank you to each and every member here at the board who have given me all the support and encouragement, and made NNC possible. Thank you for making the group a fun place to be. May we have loads and loads of fun for a very long time to come. I hope to have many more meets with everyone, and many more anniversaries with everyone!

You all are GREAT! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Hugs! Hugs! Hugs!