Remember my first try at hand stitched book binding? I found a scrap of (synthetic) suede at Carolina’s and I cut and glued it on to make a cover! YAY! It looks so prettyyyyyyyy ❤
I’m considering sealing the whole thing in some sort of varnish or glaze because the paper will be exposed to moisture if used as a pendant. But if I do that all the glorious photocopied text would be hidden. What do you think?
I’ll make more of these when I scrounge up more leather. ^___^
Last Thursday I had the singular chance (thanks to Karen) to attend a pre-launch of some new products by a furniture and interior design store I’ve been eyeing for quite a while: Heima.
If you haven’t noticed, I’m actually a Philippine-licensed Architect (hence, “Arkitek Sara”) and Interior Design student. I have a love for bright, clean, contemporary yet homey design which–top of my head–can be best exemplified by Scandinavian and mid-century modern American styles (i.e. my favorites). I’ve always wished there would be a store in the Philippines that would have the look and feel and design sensibilities of the (numerous) blogs and shops I’ve been following online and Heima perfectly fit the bill.
A lot of my time online has been devoured by two websites: Pinterest and Craftgawker. When I saw these incredibly awesome pendants, I knew I just HAD to try my hand at making one (or some), especially when I learned that it was priced at 50USD each. Grah.
After a bit of research, here’s my first attempt using some paper ripped from an old photocopied handout I was using as scratch paper. Since it was tiny, I made holes with a needle and used normal sewing thread to bind the signatures.
Isn’t it awesome? It was nighttime (which explains the grainy, blurry photos) and I didn’t have leather sheets on hand so I’ll have to save that part for another day.
Here’s the 2-part video tutorial I followed:
In between my sewing projects, I suddenly remembered I bought magnet tape at Saizen some time ago. I dug it up among the eraser stamp supplies and made this little thing
The magnet was really weak, though, and it wouldn’t stick to the refrigerator with anything more than a thin sheet of paper between. So I guess this’ll just be ornamental, not functional.
Tutorial on how to make this charming thing can be found here. I don’t have Mod Podge (it’s expensive and I’m a cheap-o) so I just used undiluted white glue.
I have a new [sort of] obsession: making stamps!
I’ve wanted to try this particular art form for some time now and upon discovering this lovely blog the other day, I wanted to try it. NOW.
Due to unexpected circumstances yesterday, I found myself with a huge chunk of time to waste so I went to SM North to look for supplies for making stamps. As I said, I’ve wanted to try it for some time so I’ve already researched on materials. I couldn’t find Linoleum blocks for making linocut prints (I don’t even know what they look like) so I settled on getting a sheet of rubber sole from Deovir whose website says that it’s a good alternative to linoleum.
Here’s my loot:
Today is Valentine’s day, a time when lovers express their undying love through giving gifts, flowers, chocolates, going out on dates, and such. I can’t do all that because the love of my life is [quite a number of] miles away, so I decide on making something I can take a picture of and send online to my love. There is also the matter of my daily doodles. For the past few weeks I’ve started drawing random stuff in a notebook I bought for the purpose of getting back in the drawing groove. I do at least one a day so I keep a regular pace. Hopefully by the end of this exercise I become a better artist, or at least back to the height of my skills like in 2006.
To hit two birds with one stone, I made something for the boyfriend and placed it in the doodle notebook! 
I’m fond of writing letters and cards to the boyfriend, but I usually end up writing way too much without proper composition. So now I really did some heavy editing and came up with…. two words: SUDDENLY, LOVE.
These two words speak so much about our relationship. It started out unexpectedly–at the wrong time, actually–yet love prevailed and here we are, almost four years together. Though the long distance is a challenge, love does not diminish. In fact, it grows ever stronger. Also, the song “Suddenly” from the movie Xanadu is one of our favorite songs to sing together, with him singing the girl parts while I sing the guy parts.
While I was painting the paper I used for my lantern, I got the idea that I could use something similar as gift wrappers. I had a few tubes of usable paint left over and a couple more sheets of blueprint, I figured I should do just that. I only had yellow, red, blue and green left over, which were incidentally appropriate Christmas-y colors. I also had two sheets of blueprint left.
For one of my classes, in preparation for the annual UP Lantern Parade, we were required to design and create prototype lanterns to be carried by each student of the college. I was assigned to make one that (supposedly) represents the Home Economics Education Department (HEED). After wracking my brain on a design, making a few failed attempts, searching the internets for inspiration (or, if I was lucky, a straightforward DIY), I found this lovely chandelier thing made out of toilet paper rolls (which I totally cannot find right now. Sorry!). That became the jump-off point to make my prototype which I call a “Beacon”.
Today, friends of my boyfriend and I are getting married. Since they’re going to move to China just one week after, it wasn’t wise to give them the usual homemaking presents. We got them gift cards instead so they could buy stuff they need for their trip. Of course I wouldn’t put it in just any envelope, would I? It needs packaging! Thus, the greeting card mod part 2 was born.
It started out as a really, really, really old greeting card I rummaged up from my stationery drawer. It only had “Good Luck” on the cover and “with best wishes” written inside. I had some spare envelopes lying around and I placed a tumbling kitty sticker in one corner.
Another semester rolled in, and for one class I’m in a group assigned to do a presentation about Chinese furniture. We’ve got the usual powerpoint down, but there’s always the need to make things more interesting. One of the things we usually do in group reports is have a game (with prizes, of course). It’s a fun way of asking questions about the presentation to check if the class learned anything. We’re using these paper fortune cookies with the questions inside.
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Next, which is totally unnecessary but quite cute to have, I made a garland of “Chinese lanterns” to hang across the top of the projector screen. The process is quite simple, really:
ang craftista 