Large Layered Fabric Flowers - Bouquet Batch

One of the first fabric flowers I made was a layered singed flower. I made a few of these in white, peach, and red and they came out beautifully that I made another set for the CHA collection. Then I concentrated on different designs.

Until such day that I needed to create another set of layered fabric flowers for two of my fabric bouquet projects last year. Since I'm new to fabric bouquets without really knowing the number of flowers that can be used, I produced more than what was needed - there were a few extra pieces left with me. Not knowing what to do with them, I asked my friend to try selling them. To my surprise, they were sold out even before I shipped it to her! Which makes me think of including this type of flowers on my next release.

So what's the difference from the first batch and my bouquet batch?

The first few batches only used 1 kind of fabric. The sizes offered were 1.5 and 2.5 inches in diameter. They were smaller but just right for my client's craft projects.

The bouquet batch, on the other hand, were bigger. They measure 3 to 3.5 inches in diameter and I used different kinds and shade of fabrics -- lace, organza, chiffon, etc. They also look fluffier because they have more layers than the first batch.

Now, I'm set to make a new batch of flowers for my next release, I'm definitely going to focus on large layered poppies in different colors. I'm planning on shades of blue, purple, and yellow.

Can't wait to get my hands on the fabrics for this project!

Layered Fabric Flowers {Pink}

Layered Fabric Flowers {Cream}

Layered Fabric Flowers {Gold}

Layered Fabric Flowers {Cappuccino}

Layered Fabric Flowers {Chocolate}

Say Hello to my Cocoiro Pens!

On my short visit to Manila, I asked my friend to meet me up at SM Aura because I wanted to check out two stores there - Living Well and Scribe Writing Essentials. If you're a crafter or calligrapher you know very well that these stores are heaven.

I visited Living Well once when I was still in Manila. It was a really nice store, especially if you're a scrapper - they have tons of materials for scrapbooking! No pens back then, though. So imagine how excited I am when I recently found out that they do now carry some brands of brush pens AND Webster's Pages planners!

Scribe, on the other hand, didn't really caught my attention at first - calligraphy nibs and inks were not my "cup of tea" before. It is only now, where I'm living far from the city, that I rediscovered my love for hand lettering that makes me think of Scribe all the time. 

If my love for lettering were only rekindled while I was still in Manila, I could've brought some before we transferred here. *grin*

So after spending almost 2 hours of coming back and forth from these two stores, I finally have my own ZIG Kuretake Cocoiro Letter Pens. 

I bought all of them at Living Well. Scribe also has Cocoiros, but I found most of the colors I want from Living Well. If only I could get all the colors of the letter pen body, I'll get them all. But I have to constantly remind myself to just get what I REALLY want and need. I still have to be reasonable when buying or else I would end up hoarding! Lol!

So here goes my Cocoiro Team! All from Living Well, SM Aura.

from left - right

ZIG Cocoiro Letter Pen Body {Shell Pink} - Php74.00

ZIG Cocoiro Letter Pen Body {Hoarfrost White} - Php74.00

ZIG Cocoiro Letter Pen Body {Duckegg Blue} - Php74.00

ZIG Cocoiro Letter Pen Refill {Brush in Black} - Php175.00

ZIG Cocoiro Letter Pen Refill {Extra Fine in Sepia} - Php143.00

Total: Php540.00

Zig Cocoiro Letter Pen Body

Shell Pink • Hoarfrost White • Duckegg Blue

Cocoiro body in Duckegg Blue and refill in Extra Fine Sepia

Zig Cocoiro Letter Pen Refills in Extra Fine Sepia & Brush Black

So beautiful! 

Given a chance again to buy more letter pen body, I'd like to have Warm Chestnut and Jet Black to add to the team, plus some refills for each body of course. Hopefully, I'll get to complete my Cocoiro Team someday - 5 beautiful colors of letter pen body with really nice refills. *wink* 

Chill Friday

 This cat is expecting her little kitties anytime soon. ^_^

Testing the Waters with Fabric Bouquet

This is the first fabric bouquet project I've ever been a part of. Me and my friend made a shot of making one for her sister's wedding. It's our first project together and our first time to make one. As agreed, aside from the requested hair piece, I'll make the fabric flowers for the bouquet and she will put all the pieces together. But because of the excitement, I joined the fun.

What I did was I made a flower that somehow resembles Tulip. The colors of the fabric were a mix of cream, pink, and lavender - the bride's choice of colors. I added some sparkly accent on the center of the flower. The handle was wrapped with jute string and the bouquet was surrounded with pink tulle and some lace under. 

Overall, we were amazed how this DIY bouquet came out. We never knew that with simple materials, some creativity, and a dash of imagination we were able to create something that would be a part of a lifetime memory. 

And because of this, I began my fabric bouquet journey. 

Little Girl on Her 5th! ♥

Today is my daughter's 5th birthday and we are so proud of all her achievements at such an early age. 

Her celebration, this time, is a bit different from her previous birthdays. Since she's in school already, she requested to celebrate her birthday with her classmates. She specifically wanted to blow candles on her birthday cake, have some ice cream and eats snacks with her friends.

And we obliged. *smile*

Now that she's 5, she can really appreciate and truly enjoy such celebrations. She knows it's her day and she's been excited the whole time!

She's been doing a Birthday countdown, every day!

Every time she wakes up or even at any random time, she would always ask me, "Mommy, how many days before my birthday?!" And she really squeaks when I say it's getting nearer. Until one day, she's the one who's already reminding me how near her birthday is. Lol! Kids!

After her celebration in school, we had one surprise for her. From the school, we went a different way that is very familiar to her. She was already wondering and asking if we're going to swim. And no, I didn't answer. Instead, I continued changing her uniform to a swimwear. Until she realized and got really really excited! Lol! She loves the water, she just loves the pool. Hopefully, we could get her to attend swimming lessons so she could fully enjoy the waters. Now, that needs to be taken cared of, it's a bit hard to find swimming lessons here in Bohol.

Then after our swim, we went home and took some rest - well for her that is because I cooked dinner! *grin*

The day ended with sumptuous dinner over at my half-sister's place. It was really fun, especially the part where she opened her gifts! There's a lot of cheering going on!

Happy Birthday, my dear CL! Thank you for continuously giving us laughs with your wild and crazy antics, surprising us with your witty talks, for melting our hearts with your sweet gestures and I love yous, for being smart, and for being such a good girl.

I love you, my Little Girl!

♥♥♥ 

Nia&Bella's 1st Batch of Poppies

Doing these fabric flowers was a hit and miss affair for me. The hardest part in creating fabric flowers are determining the measurements, the thickness, and the perfect fabric to use to get the possible outcome you've been targeting. 

Being a first timer back then, I was determined to master my craft through trials and errors. of course, to achieve my goal there were a lot of fabrics burned and wasted. But nevertheless, the time and effort were all well spent because I have already figured out the right "ingredient" for my craft. 

One of the examples of my trials were these small organza flowers. Really, organzas are the hardest fabric to work with and the longest that I've learned to work with because they easily melt! If you're not that good in controlling the burning, nothing will be left from your material. And because of this, I don't advise to use organza for small flowers. 

   

This, on the other hand, I used a white ribbon and cut out small pieces to form this fabric flower. However, it looked flat. I wanted a fabric flower that somehow looked real. So I didn't continue on making and using the same ribbon/fabric again. 

Now, this peach fluffy fabric flower was a success. However, I didn't recreate the center because it was very time-consuming to make. Instead, I used different types of beads for the center detail. The use of faux pearls, crystal beads, and semi-precious stones accentuates the fabric flowers and made them more beautiful. And because they turned out perfect, this became an all-time favorite in my shop and sold out fast. I even had a huge version of these used in my 1st fabric bouquet.