Handmade Baby Cuffed Pants and....

I made a pair of baby cuffed pants out of T's old T-shirt, which he was about to toss out. It didn't take too long and I'm happy with the result.

I guess it's about time I share the news. We're having a little boy! :)

[Sydney] - MCA Zine Fest

I hope you are enjoying this Sydney series of posts so far. Today, I'll share with you one of my definite highlights of the trip. The MCA Zine Fest!! Part of the Sydney Writer's Festival, the zine fest was awesome! Even more so for me since I haven't witnessed one of such a scale! 

Held at the Museum of Contemporary Arts (MCA), there were some booths in the outdoor area and a huge space indoors. I loved the energy in there! There was so much appreciation and support for zines in that hall, from people of all ages. I mean, zine culture has been in existence for quite a long time. And whatever genre of zines you are into, you'll find it in there. I happily blew my cash, building up my zine collection. I also met my lovely friend, Anthea of Spoonful who had a super cute booth there!

 

 

 

Table where you could make your own zines.

Start them young!

After my pocket got quite empty, we checked out some of the cool exhibits in the MCA.

Pom Pom Making

I sometimes wander along the aisles of craft stores looking at the balls of attractive yarns in all sorts of colours and wished I could knit or crochet. Well, I can't. 

Recently, I found the perfect excuse to spend my money on 2 balls of yarn. I was going to make pom poms! I've been wanting to make pom poms for the sheer fun of it for the looooongest time but never got down to it. There was always another more urgent project/something I had to do for the shop etc. But I put my foot down this time and reminded myself that I needed to remember what it was like to craft for fun. For my own enjoyment. 

There are loads of tutorials you can find online on how to make pom poms. I went along with this one. Minimal fuss, minimal materials.

It's really simple and in ten minutes, I had my first handmade pom pom! If you want a fluffier pom pom, you can give it a brush to make it furry.

Speaking of pom poms, if you are old enough (like me), you may remember the craze back then of wearing ankle socks that came with a little pom pom attached at the back. Do you? :)

Simple Tutorial: Handmade Booklet

Last weekend, when T was snoozing away in the other room after a busy work week, I decided to do something crafty. I put on some light music and spent an enjoyable alone time with my craft supplies and a messy table. At the end of it, I had little booklet which I put together in a short amount of time! Tadaah!

Some of the basic materials I used were: papers of different colours/textures, MT tapes, printer, scissor, glue. 

Simple instructions:

- I decided on the number of pages I wanted and had the papers cut to size. 

- I folded the papers into two and ran them through my sewing machine.  

(Booklet done! All that's left is the fun part-- decorating it!)

- I had some patterns and images printed, trimmed and pasted on the cover.

- Don't forget to take out your MT stash and have fun with them.

Try it some time! Give the booklet to someone as a little present or fill the pages according to your own needs :)

April's Public Garden

I was at April's Public Garden over the weekend. Here are a few pictures of my little stall and some of the handmade items I brought with me. Thank you to everyone who came by and a big thank you to those who brought a Cookie Cutter item home with you! 

I will be adding some of the products you see here to my Etsy shop over the next few days. So, if you missed the market, you can still get them online!

Porcelain mug with my original designs.

rattle dolls *shake shake*

Cookie Cutter at April's Public Garden Market

It's been a while since I put up stall and I'm excited to say Cookie Cutter will be at the upcoming Public Garden market this weekend!

More good news: I'll be launching a few new products at the market. You'll see that I've further developed the line of products, whilst keeping to Cookie Cutter's whimsical and child-like designs that you are familiar with. 

I'm now excitedly prepping for the event. Hope you'll come by for a look! Here are the details (I've be tweeting and posting on FB my exact booth location on the actual days):

Sew-a-Cat-Tote Workshop

Last Saturday was my Sew-a-Cat-Tote workshop and I spent an afternoon with some lovely participants. I am proud to say that I had male participants in my sewing workshop! They were most sporting for coming along with their female counterparts. 

It was a small group of us so that I could see how each person was progressing. Overall, I thought we maintained a cozy atmosphere with light banter and it turned out well. I hope everyone had fun and took away an interest in sewing. Hope to see you guys again :)

Everyone hard at work.

The sweet group of people who were trapped with me in a room for 3 hours.

Thank you for coming!

Familiar?

Do these look familiar to you?

If you've been following Cookie Cutter for a while, theses are very likely to. Yes, they are like my Moustache George and Julie cushions. But guess what? THESE ARE NOT. They are rip-off versions of them, currently being retailed by a big company. 

A kind friend notified me after spotting them here 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=555900954427666&set=a.205277736156658.53321.197297016954730&type=1&theater 

I've emailed them to find out more and I certainly hope the matter can be resolved soon. 

I designed and made my first Moustache George and Julie cushions quite a few years ago. They've proven to be the popular products in my Etsy shop and I've continued to hand make them. They have also been featured in the local newspaper as well as numerous blogs.

I really hope that people come to support and respect the artistic creativity of small indie designers more. 

Envelope collages

I've been itching to do something crafty besides sewing and I'm glad I finally found a pocket of time to do so. Something that can be done in a short time, is easy and yet fun was what I was looking for. So I decided to do envelope collages! If you have a hour or less on a weekend afternoon but don't want to spend it in front of telly, try this! 

Here are some tools and materials I used which you may consider. For the paper scraps, anything you can get around the house will do. Varying textures will be great. Also snip/tear cute images you like. 

Voila! Finished product no. 1.

Finished envelope 2. 

An aside: See the bus ticket? We don't see them much around here anymore since we just tap our card when we board the bus. But smart aleck me forgot to travel with my card yesterday and had to dig my wallet for shillings. So, I heard the old familiar drop of coins and my ticket appeared! Decided to put it to use here :p 

Happy crafting!

Sew Searching - an exhibition

Hi folks, I mentioned previously that I have something up my sleeves and I'm excited to finally share this piece of news with you! Cookie Cutter will be having its first little solo exhibition-- "Sew Searching"!! 

(click to enlarge)

After months of working on it, we've finally begun the installation set up, and as we count down to the launch, I'm starting to fret all the big and small things-- what possible glitches there will be, what if no one turns up etc. Yes, worry wart, that's me. 

"Sew Searching" features Cookie Cutter's handmade plush toys and lifestyle products, and is curated by Yanda of donotdesign. In the face of cloned mails, machine regurgitated products and a prescribed route of convention, one treads a path fraught with challenges, when one does not want what many others do. This exhibition seeks to gather like-minded people to witness a journey of searching and the fruits of this search. It is an attempt to keep alive a creative community independent of huge corporations. We also hope to reshape how people consume and interpret handmade. 

Additionally, the exhibition features collaborations with 7 local creatives who share our cause. 

So please ,

spread the word

gather your friends and

come shun the mass market with us! 

I'll be there daily and I'll love for you to say hi :)

http://bit.ly/sewsearching

Updates

The past couple of weeks felt like a whirlwind, but in a good sort of way. If you follow Cookie Cutter's Facebook Page, you'll probably know why. I was involved in The Book Show, an exhibition on arts and craft inspired by books. I made a set of plushies inspired by Alice in Wonderland, met lots of people on the opening day and had lots of fun. The exhibition has moved to another venue. It's currently at Lomography Gallery Store Singapore. So if you haven't checked it out, you can do so. It runs till 18 Nov.

Thanks to the exhibition, my plushies and I made a little appearance in the local broadsheet and I found out about this while I was visiting my Japanese "hometown". I was thrilled to share the news with my wonderful friends whom I haven't seen for a while. The week or so in Japan was like an emotional roller-coaster, filled with the highs of meeting after such a long time and also the lows of goodbyes very soon after. But I'm still very happy to have seen them  as I believe new memories need to be made. 

So, I guess there will be a few Japan posts coming up soon! Happy Monday, folks!

The Book Show

Hi folks, if you are in Singapore, I would love for you to come to a group exhibition which I'm a part of! The last week or so saw me busy making plushies inspired by a book. I'm pretty happy with them and hope you'll come have a look! Of course, there'll also be works of fellow Singaporean artists for you to feast your eyes on. Everything at the exhibition is available for sale. Here's the FB event page.

I'll be at the opening which is on 24th October, at 7.30pm. Come say hi! 

NEW in SHOP! Superman Cat Plush

Superheros. As kids, who didn't dream of being them. Some of us still do. And one of the most iconic of these super beings has to be Superman. 

Here's a plush for those dreamy moments, or those times when we need to be reminded that there lives a superhero in all of us (despite not having to wear underwear on the outside).

Superman Cat Plush is now available in my Etsy shop. 100% handmade and original in design. Click on over to see more of him.

NEW! Sling Bag with Origami Crane

Have you heard of the Japanese legend that whoever folds a thousand cranes will be granted a wish? Well, I don't have a thousand of these creatures but I've one crane hand-embroidered on each of these sling bags. I've kept the design clean and simple. It comes with a removable and and adjustable leather strap. Now available in my Etsy shop :)

Silkscreen Tote Bag

Hi everyone, hope you are enjoying the Tokyo series so far? I'm interrupting it for today to share a new item in my shop. It's a silkscreen tote bag!

I printed each one individually by hand on a lightweight cotton tote. And they feature an original Cookie Cutter design. Yes, it's cute and quirky!

It's roomy enough for books and documents or as a shopping bag. AND, if you are a chips lover, or know of one, this is the perfect tote bag!

Currently available over here. Limited pieces only!

New Plush! Dog with Goatee

Another preppy dog plush in the shop! This one sports a well-groomed goatee! I took extra care with the little details, all which are hand-stitched. I hope you like his little outfit. See more of him here.

I was away in Tokyo for a bit last week and the week before. Yes, you guessed right! I'll be do doing a Tokyo series here again. Coming up real soon. I hope you're not tired of the travel posts :)

New! Dog Plush - Preppy with Mustache

Hi folks, meet the new plush in my little shop! Dog Plush - Preppy with Mustache. This dog wears a vest with hand-stitched details, tartan plaid trousers and completes his look with a felt bow tie. He and his clothing are made with a mix of quality Japanese cotton linen as well cotton fabric. His facial features are hand embroidered, including his well-maintained goatee.

You’ve never seen a plush as well-groomed! Suitable for blokes, gals and children. 

NEW! Book Cover-inspired Laptop Cases

I'm interrupting the ongoing [Melbourne series] on the blog to share with you the launch of some new items in my little shop! 

It used to be that being associated with school and books wasn't such a cool thing. But how times have changed. Preppy is the new cool! So go on, tell the world you love books (I do!) and do it through these handmade book cover-inspired laptop cases.

The front of the “book” is covered in rustic cotton linen, with the book title and author carefully embroidered. The back is covered in a cheerful polka dot/floral fabric. The inside of the case is lined and padded. These cases come in 2 sizes that fit the 13”/15” MacBook Pro and other laptops of the same size. The smaller case also fits the 13” MacBook White and 13” MacBook Air. There is also a little additional room to store your accessories/documents.

To further indulge, I went on to make another design with my favourite quote from Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. There are only 2 pieces for this design and they are only in 15".

 

All the laptop cases are now available here in my little shop. So go on, tell the world you are a book lover!

Cookie Cutter Pouch Making Workshop

Hi folks, did you have a good weekend? I did! And what a fruitful one it was. I conducted a sewing workshop yesterday afternoon. It was done in collaboration with the cool folks at Books Actually. 

The participants and I spent a lovely afternoon hand-sewing a cute pouch. The class was kept small so that each participant could receive some personal attention. Additionally, it allowed a cozy and relaxed atmosphere where everyone could sew, chit chat and get to know one another. All of us had a great time!

work in progress

ALMOST completed pouches!

my lovely workshop participants

Thank you to those of you who willingly spent an afternoon holed up in a room with me. I consider it a privilege to be able to share my passion and what I know about sewing with others. It is such a joy to know that someone else is now equipped with the basic know-how for her future sewing projects. 

I’m working towards a second session for this workshop as there were others who were interested but weren’t able to secure a place this time round. If you are keen in such a workshop, stick around here, my Facebook Page or join the mailing list for updates :)