Craft Haul 2014

Heya peeps!

So i went craft shopping over the weekend and had the best fun in days! I decided to update my craft supplies and here I am with this multitude of goodies  in just about $40!

After much search to find craft punches in Pakistan which I could actually see and hold in my hand, punch and check before buying. I finally found them at #ParasArtFever (It's one of the major art and craft supply stores in Karachi). I never knew Paras had an underground but i finally went in its basement for the very first time and wasn't prepared for the craft beauty before me! So, I bought four punches. They are not of any particular brand but they were a good buy.

I bought an intricate corner punch ($5), a flower cutout ($6), a floral fantasy punch ($6) and a border punch ($4). Not only do they punch, they also emboss! So that's $21. Almost the price of ONE punch from a branded store in the US!

I also searched the local craft market and found some more goodies. I bought a Hana-Ami Floral Loom. It's original price (if you buy from #Clover's) is $18 while I bought mine for just $8!

It comes in this compact box and has six different looms! The flower you see in the picture above was my second attempt on the loom.

And here is my first attempt at floral looming! Yaaay!

I also bought a Pom-pom maker which is available at clovers for about $11 and I bought mine for $8. It comes with a set of 4 diameters and makes wonderful pom-poms. Just as good as an expensive pom-pom maker tool. 

Then I bought some knick-knacks as I needed new color pencils so I bought watercolor pencils as well (winks), some water colors, some glass paints, some block-printing stamps, some ribbon and popsicle sticks.

Happy crafting y'all!

I WILL BE...

It's been long..The expo was on 15th December and Alhumdulillah, it was a great success. It is only through the power of Allah that I accomplished this feat. That's right, folks! The butterfly is out of her cocoon! It is now time to fly high! Hehehe! A little too optimistic.

Oh, well. Life is a drag sometimes. There are many problems, many hurdles and rocks in the path but we have to cross it. We have to get to the other side. Most importantly, we have to learn how to survive. My survival is through doing what I love doing. That is my motto. If you love what you do, you will always stay satisfied. Secondly, never, NEVER keep a guilty conscience. That is the only way to live in peace. In any case, ramblings may go on and on but lessons learned are lessons learned. You learn from your mistakes. You really do. And learning from the experience is what makes you a stronger person.

Then comes the decision to start my blog. Why did I start it? I can barely keep up with it. When I started, I thought, a post per week. But then, life got in the way. Things started spiraling out of control. Words unspoken hit hard. Words spoken hit harder. Shit flew around but then I learnt how to shield myself. I found solace, peace, in a place I never knew I could find. I resorted to my Lord, my Allah. It is He who gave me the patience, the perseverance, for He would never burden us more than we can handle. Therefore, I found peace in His words and His praises. That, and my crafting. These combined sent me to a world of my own. A world where there are colors and rainbows, rain and sunshine, glitter and paint, pen and paper, patterns and shapes! Thus, I started this blog. I don't know how many people read this, or if they read, do they like it? Everything is a big risk and brings a big, fat, glaring question mark. But it's alright. I'd still do it because it gives me peace. It comforts me. May be there is some one out there, listening, empathizing. And that brings me comfort to know that my story is not going unheard.

Everything happens for a reason. May be this is the reason for me. May be Allah wants me to be strong, for my future. And with His Grace, I will be.

T-shirt Jewelry? Yes Please!

Have a favorite t-shirt that's worn out? Don't want to throw it away? Don't worry! Heres a great way to upcycle your old t-shirts and guess what? No one will know! Wear your favorite t-shirt as a necklace or bracelet. Heres one I made for my little cousin:

and we made a matching bracelet too!

Here's what you need:

• your favorite t-shirt of course
• a needle and matching thread
• glue (UHU or fabric glue)
• Scissors

For the necklace strings, take your t-shirt and cut off the bottom hem. But wait! Do NOT throw it away! (Hem upcycle tutorial soon) Cut off 1-inch strips. The more strips, the thicker the necklace so cut away...snip snip. Now that you have your strips, hold the two ends and stretch your arms as wide as you can. You will notice a tubular string forming. This will form your necklace.Add as many strings as you want, depending on the thickness you want and stitch all the ends together. To neaten the necklace, cut out a rectangular piece of t-shirt and wrap around the stitched edges. Stitch this in place. Now, to cover this, we will make an elegant t-shirt flower.

To make the flower, take your t-shirt (contrasting color preferred) and cut out 5-petal flowers. We will need nine such flowers.

Next, take a flower and fold it in half.

 

Then fold it in half again. you will end up with something like this. 

Place a dot of glue in the center of the fold near the pointed edge. Do this for eight of the flower petals. Next, cut out a small circle from the fabric and place four of the petals (pointed edges approximately in the center of the circle).

Start the second layer by placing a petal on top of the center of two petals as shown:

For the centre of the flower, take a petal and fold it in half.

Then roll it up and glue the edge.

Hold it to the center of the flower. Since it will be longer than the height of the rest of the petals when you hold them up, we will need to cut the bottom of the center to get the correct height.

Then, stick it to the center of the flower.

Now, to form your flower, apply glue dots to each petal on the top layer.

Next, grab the layer of petals and pinch towards the center.

You will end up with a pretty flower!

Attach it to the rectangular piece and you are done!

Let me know of any queries =)