My first ever craft bazaar!

Yup! It was an exciting experience, albeit very tiring! *grin*

I joined my very first ever Craft Bazaar, organised by Azarine at Yee Button House at SS2, on Saturday, 6th September 2014. 

When Vivian first asked me if I’d be interested to join the bazaar, I immediately said YES! without giving it much thought. It was only like 2 weeks before the bazaar that I suddenly got all panicky when I realized that I don’t have much to sell and I was heavily travelling for work almost every week! I was even travelling right up to 2 days before the bazaar, coming home too tired to even pick up a needle!

There were also the weddings to attend at almost every weekend. So, how am I to work on the craft items to sell? 

I had plenty of WIPs (Work in Progress) which I started months ago but never fully completed any of them. I had started making Cross Body pouches, Little Missies, pincushions and other smalls, but they were all half done. 

So, 2 weeks before the bazaar, I forced myself to make a list of things I needed to make and complete for the bazaar. 

I came up with a quite a long list and it got me all nervous and anxious! LOL!

I was nervous because I don’t know what to expect. I was anxious because I wasn’t sure if I am ready for the bazaar. I am pretty much still very shy about selling my craft items publicly. But I told myself and hubby that I am just going to go ahead with the bazaar, at least to have some fun!

I was glad that my first ever bazaar was going to be held at an almost enclosed space where if I can’t get over my shyness, I can still hide in one of the rooms available at the shop! LOL! *wink* 

Anyway, in between heavy travelling for work, I managed to spend a few nights, late nights, I might add, before the bazaar to finish up all my craft items and to print labels and business cards as well as other things I think I would need for the bazaar. 

I wasn't sure what I would need to make and bring, and so I made plenty of assumptions. I kept telling myself that this is a learning process and I should not be expecting too much. 

Anyway, the day came, and despite planning to get there early so that I would have plenty of time to get the table, which I shared with Zarina, ready, I ended up getting there later than plan when my cat decided to spill his pooh bin that morning.

So we had to get that cleaned up first before we could have breakfast and I could make my way to SS2.

When I got there, Zarina had already set up her side of the table and Vivian was already halfway in getting her table ready.

I quickly set to work getting my side of the table ready, getting all hot and flustered in the process! LOL! 

I managed to get the table ready in the nick of time when the organizer announced that customers are starting to come in! 

I had my first customer an hour after the bazaar was opened to the public. She bought a pair of scissor pouch. My first sale!! Yippee!

Soon after that, my Cousin-in-law, Idah, dropped by. She has always been a strong supporter of my craft works and also a strong supporter of works by Artisans. 

She bought an Owl Sewing kit and a pouch which she said she was planning to gift it to her mum who does lovely cross stitch work. So sweet of her! So sweet of her too for coming over to lend me support! I really appreciate it, 

Idah, thank you so much for your support!

While I was entertaining Idah, hubby dropped by. Yes, another strong supporter of mine, always encouraging me to go for it! Thanks, Dia! Love ya! Hugs!

Both hubby and Idah stayed awhile. Idah went on to visit other stalls while hubby left to get some drinks.

Soon after, my mum, sister and niece dropped by. Despite getting lost finding their way to the shop, they made it!

My niece, Kuyana, is also a very talented and creative crafter. I think she is even more talented than me because she can come up with creative items just by looking at them in photographs.

In fact, after visiting my stall and the other stalls at the bazaar, she was so inspired that she went home and made herself a backpack using old jeans belonging to her ex-boyfriend. My mum said now my niece will always have her ex-boyfrined on her back! LOL!

My mum, sister and niece stayed awhile and my mum, after much hesitation and haggling (LOL! *wink*) finally bought a maroon cross body pouch from me!!

Thanks, Ma, for your support! It means so much to me to have you support me in this other venture of mine. I really appreciate your trouble coming, despite getting lost!

Thanks, Lin and Kuyana, for driving over and bringing Ma along. 

I may not have made that much sale that day although I had some people interested in my items. Zarina had a lot of inquiries for her HDTs though.

Since I had prepared myself for this eventuality, I wasn't too disappointed. I may not have made that much that day, but enough to cover my overheads, but I gained a lot of new friends, crafty friends who were more than willing to impart their knowledge and advice when they found out that this was my first ever bazaar.

I made a lot of connections to widen my networking into the craft community. I also gained lots of experience and exposure by joining the bazaar. It was a very good experience and I am looking forward to the next one sometime in November!

This time, I hope I will be far better prepared for it! LOL!

The rest of the day, while waiting for customers, I went around chatting up with the other stall owners/crafters.

There was this sweet guy, Ali, who was selling bags made by his mum, sent all the way from Sri Lanka. He is working as a Lawyer here in Malaysia.

And then there were two stalls selling everything owls.

I bought a owl keychain from this stall.

There was also a stall selling art T-shirts or something and a stall selling hand-painted postcards.

There was also a stall selling Juki sewing machines.

This is Faridah. A very friendly lady selling some soaps.

I just love all her bags!

Vivian has a table next to ours...

Here's me with Nicole, a very nice and helpful lady.

She gave me lots of tips and advice and gave us ideas on how to make our table look more interesting.

She gave us the idea to put up Zarina's quilted table runner as a background for our stall to make it more attractive.

Thanks, Nicole!

I just love Nicole's table! So vibrant and colourful! I bought a pair of chicken pincushions!

Here are the rest of the stalls selling all things crafty, just to give you an idea as to what were being sold.

Overall, it was an exciting day! I truly enjoyed myself!

I had some flustered moments when I had people inquiring about my stuff all at the same time! I got so anxious that I was sweating all over! LOL! *blush*

Thanks, Vivian, for inviting and suggesting me to join the bazaar. Thanks to Zarina for willing to share a table with novice me when she could have taken a whole table to herself!

Thanks to Azarine for organising the bazaar. I am looking forward to the next one. Hopefully I will be free to join the next one.

Thanks to cousin-in-law Idah, my sister Lin, my niece Kuyana and my mum for your support. 

Big hugs to hubby for his continuous understanding and support. Love ya! Muaah!

A Trip of a Lifetime - to the US and the UK (Part 10) – Stranded in New York

Gosh! The last time I wrote on the trip was on 22^nd May 2013!

There is still plenty to tell about the trip and there’s also the craft stash I acquired during the trip which my Stitching Friends are waiting for me to show off!

I have been so busy with work and life that it is getting harder and harder to find time to spend on another one of my passion and that is writing and blogging. 

I hope it is still not too late (stale) to continue where I left off, if not for anything else, but for my son to read in years to come.

In my last posting on the trip, on the 6^th day of my stay in the US, I mentioned that all flights out of New York, including my flight, had been cancelled due to unexpected severe weather condition within the next 24 hours.

I hardly slept that night. I had the Weather Channel on all night, so that even as I sleep (I am a light sleeper), I could hear the weather condition being reported continuously.

I prayed that the weather condition would improve in the next few hours or so, so that we may fly out of New York the next day as per our schedule.

However, as I stayed up for most part of the night, I could hear the snow storm coming in and could see the heavy snow fall through my hotel window.

By morning, it was almost certain that we were going to be spending another day in New York when the airport was closed for all incoming and outbound flights.

A colleague joked that we have been snowed in because someone had made a wish to visit Central Park but because he never got to make that wish to become a reality yet, he had wished for another day in New York to make that wish become true! LOL!

Anyway, back to the current situation and the crisis at hand, once it was determined that we won’t be able to make it for our scheduled 6.00pm flight out of New York, the next thing was trying to get the next available flight to London.

We spent the whole morning in the hotel lobby as frantic calls were made to our respective travel agents in Malaysia.

Mind you that we have a 12 hour time difference where it is night time in Malaysia as we struggled to get whatever possible flights out of New York.

Some of us were lucky when their travel agents stayed up late till 10pm to try to get us flights to London.  Some were not that lucky when their travel agents could not be contacted and they ended up having to make their own flight arrangements.

It was also quite a task trying to coordinate among the travel agents, us being so far away on the other side of the globe, as we tried to get all of us on the same flight to London to make it easy to make transport arrangements in London.

When that was not really possible as thousands of other passengers who were also snowed in like us scrambled to get whatever flights available out of New York, we decided that whatever flights we could get, we will just grab it.

As if struggling to get the next available flight to London was not bad enough, we also had a crisis with our lodging arrangements when the hotel where we had already stayed for 2 days wanted us to vacate our rooms to make way for new customers coming in.

It took a frantic long distance call to the Malaysian Embassy in Washington D.C. to assist us that finally managed to get our lodging issues resolved.

When it was all finally settled – the flights and the lodging, it was already close to 1.oopm! Only then did we all suddenly feel hungry! LOL!

Everyone went back to their rooms to change out of their travelling clothes and into something more comfortable for another day in New York.

At that point, it suddenly dawned on me – WE GET ANOTHER DAY IN NEW YORK? Wow! Does this mean that I will get an opportunity to visit a craft shop which I found out through Google is actually just within walking distance from the hotel?

Ok, ok, don’t get excited! We are not actually out of the crisis yet as the snow storm had not actually subsided. Even though we had our tickets booked for the flight out of New York for 6.00pm tomorrow evening, everything depended on the weather tomorrow and whether the airport will be opened for operations.

But for now, we just had to make the best of the situation, and first things first, we had to get something for lunch.

I followed my colleagues to lunch at a nearby halal restaurant.

After lunch, many wanted to take the opportunity to do more sightseeing despite the snow still falling heavily. Others wanted to do more shopping.

Me? I wanted to try to make way to the craft shop nearby, but, I thought that I’d follow my colleagues for a while to Macy to see what’s there as I did not get an opportunity to visit Macy before this.

I managed to get myself an extra blouse to wear for the extra day in New York.

After that, with the snow still falling heavily, and it even started to rain a bit, I made my way in search of the City Quilter, 5 blocks from the hotel.

Oooh! What I’d do without a GPS! I have always been bad with directions, but ever since I could get Google map on my hand phone, back home, I have been able to go to places on foot and by car where I would have never tried venturing before, for fear that I might get lost.

With the help of the GPS and Google Map, I have become more adventurous, and what more, when it comes to going in search of a craft shop! LOL!

It did not feel like it was a long walk as I took in the sights around me, still not believing that I am actually in New York!

After walking for about 30 minutes or so, I finally arrived at the City Quilter!

Gosh! Pinch me! I am here! I am here! I am in front of the shop that I could only see in the pages of my quilt magazines before this!

I excitedly entered the shop and was in awe of all the quilting and sewing stuff I see before me! I feel like grabbing and buying everything! LOL!

But alas, reality sank in, and I had to be practical. I have limited bag space and there was the weight of the luggage that I am limited to that I had to take into consideration.

It took a lot of will power to control myself not to go overboard when choosing out what I wanted to buy. I had to keep reminding myself to only get those things which are not easily available in Malaysia, too expensive to order and ship it to Malaysia, and uniquely New York.

Despite all the limitations and constraints I set myself, I actually managed to get quite a good haul. I think my Stitching Friends are going to be so envious of me! LOL!

After paying for my purchases, I managed to get the Sales Assistant to allow me to snap a photo in the shop. 

I told her that this photo will be a part of my blog journey in search of craft shops that will get my craft friends jealous! LOL! *wink* 

   

Sorry for the almost identical photo, but some reason, photos taken in vertical comes out in horizontal when I upload it to blogspot. 

I can't figure out how to resolve it. So, I decided to put 2 vertical photos together to force the photos to stay vertical.

Happy with my purchase, I made my way back to the hotel, with the snow still falling heavily, and rain coming out in full force too. 

I made a stop at a souvenir shop to buy some souvenirs to take home for friends and families.  

After a short rest to regain energy that was drained from all the excitement of the morning of trying to get tickets for the flight to London, reaffirming our extended stay at the hotel and finding my way to a craft shop, I started organising my things to pack up.

It was an art of packing to get everything compacted inside the bags and still be within the weight limit allowed, without having to pay excessively for excess luggage. 

I already knew that I’d be paying for excess luggage when I bought an extra luggage, but I wanted to be sure that I won’t be paying an exorbitant amount.

When that was done, it was already late evening and the snow was still falling heavily.  

I did my payers and prayed that the weather would improve over the next 24 hours so that we may make our next leg of our trip.

All night long, I had only the weather channel on. My brother messaged me suggesting that I go out and buy some food in preparation for maybe another long day in New York should the weather not improve.

I went out to the nearest convenience shop and bought myself these.....

I went to bed after having dinner of leftovers from the meal I had with my brother and his family.

It wasn’t such a restful night, as all night long, I kept listening up to the weather report to see if things would improve....  

End of Day 7 – 8^th February 2013 – an unintended extra day in New York.....  

NNC Mug Rug Exchange – Part 1

I am late again at updating my blog on this exchange. There were too many distractions, and I have so many things that I want to do, but so little time on my hands. Oh well! That's life!

Anyway, NNC had a Mug Rug Exchange early this year. It all started because a member posted a photo of a mug rug, and it got everyone crazy and wanting to do a mug rug too.

Margaret took the opportunity from the craze to organize a Mug Rug Exchange, but set the mailing out date to be in October 2011 as many were already tied up with other prior exchanges organised earlier.

However, as Margaret allowed those who finished their mug rugs early may send to their partners early, I got mine from Sally, my partner, in June. Our partners were a secret, so I was surprised when Sally passed her mug rug to me when she came over to my house last June.

I was speechless and in awe of what I saw upon opening the paper bag containing the mug rug and some tea bags.

Sally had made her mug rug using the log cabin design, and her workmanship is exquisite considering this was her first attempt at doing log cabins. What was more amazing was the size of the log cabin, which was really small, or, shall I say, minute, but Sally did an amazing job of it. I would never have guessed that it was her first attempt if she hadn’t said anything about it.

Even the back is lovely! I almost thought that it was also a patchwork piece until Sally told me it wasn’t. Such lovely work she did, you couldn’t even tell the difference.

Thanks Sally! You did a GREAT job! I love it!

As for the Mug Rugs I made, I wanted to personally hand over the mug rugs to my partners at the Bee which was held in July since I knew they would be attending the Bee. But, being the absent minded me, I forgot to bring it along. *sigh*

Now I would either have to mail them out or wait till the next Bee to be held most probably in October before I can blog about it here. So, in the mean, here’s a sneak peek………

Look out for Part 2 to see the whole mug rug piece……

Going all Dotty......

A few weeks back when I was diagnosed with having low blood pressure and vertigo, I was given a 2 day MC and told to go back home and sleep. The doctor suspected that the vertigo was due to my extreme lack of sleep.

On the first day of my MC, I slept after having breakfast with my hubby and son before they both left for work and school. In fact, I slept almost all day. I only woke up to make myself and hubby a bowl of Maggi Mee each as my hubby decided to come back home lunch time to see if I was OK. Thanks, Dia!

I slept again after he left for work. I did not wake up until 5.00pm. I got up feeling restless and with a need to do something. I was bored of watching TV. I don’t watch much TV even when I am well.

As I was not able to be on my feet due to the vertigo, I decided that I might be able to do some simple sewing as then I would be sitting down most of the time. I ended up doing a simple bag that took me only about 3 days to make.

When I showed it to my hubby, he commented that I must be really sick and seeing circles when I made the bag. He said that it showed on the bag what I was experiencing when I made it! LOL! How right he was! I didn’t realise that! LOL! I was, in fact, seeing circles and the room spiralled whenever I get up too fast or stood too long during the time that I was experiencing vertigo and hypotension. LOL!

I think the bag has a retro feel to it!

I think if I make this bag from a flowery fabric, it might give the bag a different feel to it. I might just try!

Anyway, I kind of like the look of this bag. It’s simple and not too fancy, and it’s a quick bag to make. It’s big and roomy. It measures 16in at its width and 10in in height not including the handles. It is 3in thick. It is padded, by the way, unlike most of my other bags that have the normal interfacing. It gives the bag more body, yet it is light.

Here's a look at how the inside looks like. I made the pocket to have an edging made from the front fabric of the bag.

The original design calls for a short handle to be placed, but as I could not find a suitable short handle to go with it, and so decided to add the wooden rings instead and make the handles from the same fabric I made the bag from.

I might be putting this bag up for custom order too, but, again, it will have to wait until after I finish my certification program in January 2012.

Bagged another one!

Remember the green and orange bag I blogged about a few weeks back which I made from a Japanese book I bought when in Penang?

Well, as it turned out, the book isn’t Japanese, but Chinese. My brother, Azan and friends at NNC pointed it point to me. My brother who knows a little bit of mandarin wondered how I managed to make my bags without knowing a word of what was written inside the book. *grin* Nothing is impossible when it comes to my crafts! LOL!

Anyway, my brother Azan, suggested that I ask my son, Aiman, who actually has had formal lessons in mandarin since he was 5, to help me to read the intructions. But, boys being boys, or, is that just Aiman, he’d rather be playing Angry Bird than help Mummy translate a Chinese craft book into English. *sigh*

Oh well, I managed to make a bag the last time with no help from him at all, and I think I did pretty OK. *grin*

Anyway, back to the present time, last weekend, I managed to complete another bag which I got the basic pattern from the same chinese book. I actually started on this bag first before I did the green and orange bag, but I had to stop when I could not find a suitable handle and also, I needed to find time to visit Kelvin to get a set of clasp for the front pocket – something I have never tried before.

Here’s the front of the bag with the pocket with the clasp I mentioned earlier.

Kelvin helped me to put the clasp on since I have never made a bag with this type of clasp before. It did not look too difficult to make, but it gave the bag that added value.

Here’s the side of the bag. I really like the design of this bag with this strip around the zippers, and it being brown in colour, Kelvin and some of his tudents who were attending classes there when I brought the bag in to put on the clasp thought that the brown fabric was made out of leather. It isn’t. It’s 100% American cotton. Cool, huh?

A view of the back showing the zippered pocket. .

It’s got another one inside the bag

By the way, the handles are from Sally. I bought them when I bought the handles for the green and orange bag. The handles suited the bag perfectly!

I initially thought that it would not suit the bag due to different brown tone to the strip around the zippers, but, when I put them together, I think it gave the bag another added value by adding more tones to the bag.

This bag measures 14in long by 9in high by 4in wide and is very roomy. I think it can even fit in an iPad. I know for sure it fits in my Sam (Samsung Galaxy Tab) comfortably.

If everything goes well, I hope to have this bag up for custom order at a price in the range of RM240.00 to RM280.00 depending on the fabric and handle design at my blogshop, Uniquely Aznique, by the end of year. I am sorry I can’t take in any orders earlier than December 2011 as I am currently taking up a certification program which will only complete in Janaury 2012. Only then will I be able to find time to make any bags. I will make an announcement here and at my blogshop when I am ready. Look out for it then.

In the mean time, look out for future postings too of future bag projects which I made from time to time when I can find the time in between my busy schedule (it’s like taking a break from the hectic work schedule and, as always, my crafts are very therapeutic. It calms me down, and helps lower my blood pressure and unpredictable temperaments. *smile*).

I have another bag already in the making as I write this which I started when I was experiencing vertigo and hypotension and not being able to stand up for long. I spent time sitting down and working on a simple bag instead. I will blog about that in another posting. Keep a look out for it! *wink*

Off to the Etsy Market!

Tini sent me a message on FB to let me know that she will be setting up a stall at the Empire Shopping Gallery on the 5th of March 2011.

In support of her business, and also, to check out what else are being sold, I made arrangements with Aiman’s art teacher to shift his class to the afternoon instead of at the usual morning slot, as the Craft Market only opens for business after 1.00pm.

However, as it turned out, my hubby decided to take Aiman to an open day in Dataran Merdeka in conjunction with ‘Hari Tentera Darat’.

When I got there at about 2.30pm, Margaret, Jackie and Jo were already there, busy shopping! LOL!

There were many stalls, and unlike the one they had at Jaya One sometime back where it was done outside, this time, they had it indoors at the Lex center, which was good as regardless of the weather, the market can go on.

At Jaya One, before I could even make my rounds, it started raining. I pity those who had opened up stalls then as I am sure they would have been worried that the rain would damage their handmade products.

I spent a long time there and truly enjoyed myself. I had so much fun that I lost track of time. Before I knew it, it was already 5.00pm!

I met up with our new NNC member, Sally, who was selling handmade bags, bag handles and very cute owl keychain pouches.

I wanted one in pink but she ran out of it, so I made an order not for one, but two owl keychain pouches! *grin*

Just look at all those bag handles! I want them all! LOL! But I managed to resist! But, will I be able to resist them later? *wink*

I featured Sally’s bags in my blog earlier when I visited her stall at the Etsy Market at Jaya One, but I did not know her then. She pointed it out to me that I have her bags featured in my blog! LOL! How embarrassing to have featured someone without you even knowing about it! LOL!

I hope I had helped promote your product, Sally. *smile*

I can’t remember the names of all those who had opened up stalls that day and from whom I had bought some things from them, but, I think the photos will be able to tell a lot already on who they are and what they were selling.

A picture paints a thousand words, so, I think I shall let the photos do the talking and I will interject when I see necessary to explain anything.

This is Kelly’s stall, but I can’t recall the name of her Etsy shop. I bought quite a number of things from her stall. I just love all her lovely pink fabrics!

At the Pupurin Stall, I also bought quite a lot of things (like, what’s new, huh? LOL!) .

At Love and Craft, I bought some lovely buttons.

Paul was there too to help Tini open up her stall.

I spent a lot of time chatting up with Tini and Paul, and ended up buying quite a lot too from her. LOL!

I just love this cupcake cotton but had to resist the temptation as I already have so many cottons in my stash (hah! The guilt finally crept it! LOL!)

Jo in front of Sally’s stall showing off her lovely matching handmade bags.

I came back home very pleased with myself, albeit feeling a little bit (just a little teeny weeny bit) guilty for buying again. *grin*

Who wouldn’t be feeling happy looking at the stash I bought at the Craft Market. LOL! *grin*

I think, if not for the fact that I only had RM100.00 on me; I would have ended up spending more. So, it must be a blessing in disguise to a certain extent! LOL!

Ok, time to go play with my stash! *grin*