The Adventure of Fabric Hunters

I don't always blog my fabric-shopping activity, so when I do, it means it was quite an adventure.

First of all, jadi pecandu angkot (mengutip istilah mba Sarie) memang memiliki lebih banyak kerugian daripada keuntungan. Apalagi kalau kita harus jalan kaki naik turun angkot siang bolong dibulan puasa.

Petualangan pertama dimulai di toko Muria Jaya di Jalan Kyai Zainal Zaksa. Toko yang satu ini lumayan lengkap dan murah bahan-bahan kerajinan tangannya, jadi walaupun jaraknya ke pasar besar tempat kami (aku dan Tata) berburu kain-kain katun lumayan jauh kalau ditempuh berjalan kaki, dan terlalu deket kalo harus naik angkot, tetap saja toko ini layak dijadikan tujuan pertama.

Selesai urusan di toko Muria Jaya, kami bergerak menuju toko Damai Baru yang menjual bahan kulit imitasi. Sayangnya setelah mengubek-ubek gelondongan-gelondongan kulit imitasi berwarna warni, bahan yang kami cari ga ketemu alias out of stock. Doeeeeeng! Daripada keluar dengan tangan hampa, jadilah kami berkompromi dan membeli bahan yang warna dan teksturnya paling mendekati dengan yang kami cari.

Tujuan ketiga adalah Pasar Besar Matahari. Waktu sudah menunjukkan pukul setengah sebelas lebih ketika kami sampai disana jadi kami langsung memaksimalkan waktu yang ada untuk menemukan kain2 katun cantik diantara gunungan-gunungan kain di tiap toko kain. It was the most fun part for us, actually. Jadinya lupa diri dan baru move on ke tujuan lain (yang masih lumayan banyak) setelah hampir jam 12.

Dari pasar besar kami jalan lagi mampir ke toko plastik untuk beli plastik kemasan buat La Conchita bags dan paperbags untuk acara charity besok (sayangnya paperbagsnya ga dapet yang cocok huhuhuhu). Untungnya urusan disitu ga lama, karena kami harus segera ke post ke-5, toko kain Citra untuk membeli furing kaos (karena di toko kain pasar besar ga ada satupun yang jual furing kaos pemirsa!).

Seperti biasa, kalo masuk ke toko kain ga mungkin cuma 5 menit. Akhirnya kami tergoda liat macam2 kain dan sayapun khilaf membeli 4 meter kain katun diamond untuk belajar membuat mukena sendiri buat hari raya nanti. (terima kasih kepada mba Rita Fitriati Nurlambang atas motivasi dan inspirasinya :p).

Pas giliran bayar ke kasir, ada kaca gede yang amatlah sayang untuk disia-siakan. Akhirnya kamipun iseng-iseng berfoto didepan kasir.
 

 foto yang langsung menuai banyak kontroversi setelah dipasang sbg DP BBM *sigh*

 Selesai foto langsung aja deh kita mau keluar ke Citra Renda utk beli renda-renda mukena dan pasmina, eh.. mendadak dipanggil sama mba kasir dan beberapa pembeli yang antri mau bayar. Ternyata pemirsa, kita lupa belom ambil kain sama kembaliannya loooooh! Aduh tengsiiiiin.... Gara-gara sibuk foto sampe lupa dunia #tepokjidat.

Ya udahlah ya ga usah dibahas lebih lanjut lagi, abis dari Citra Renda jalanlah kita ke daerah Kauman (kalo ga salah) untuk cari paperbags yang tadi ga didapetin di toko plastik sebelumnya. Pada titik ini si Tata udah beberapa kali menyebut-nyebut soal es teler dan gado-gado Warna Warni yang mana sangat menggoda iman di siang yang lumayan panas terik ini sodara-sodara!

Untungnya tempat tujuan kami tinggal satu saja: Superstar di Jalan Semeru untuk menge-print sticker paperbag. Jadi setelah jalan lagi sedikit buat nyetop angkot LDG, sempit-sempitan di jalan karena pas berbarengan dengan jam pulang sejolah, dan hampir kebablas ke arah jalan bromo karena sibuk sendiri didalam angkot, sampailah kami di dalam ruangan Superstar yang lumayan sejuk dan Alhamdulillah cukup sepi jadi enak buat selonjoran.

Sambil nunggu antrian (lagi-lagi Tata nunjuk-nunjuk ke air minum kemasan gratis yang disediakan disana. Damn!) kami putuskan untuk membagi hasil buruan hari ini disitu. Ga lupa fotoin sepatu baru yang sedang dipake (handmade by Kristik Cross Stitch) buat di posting di FB nanti.

Apakah petualangan kami hari ini berakhir dengan happy ending brothers and sisters? Unfortunately no, karena kami harus berjuang cari angkot yang ga penuh (ga berhasil, kami harus tetep desek-desekan diantara anak-anak sekolah dan kantong-kantong belanjaan di dalam mikrolet), oper angkot dan harus nunggu supirnya ngetem (gosh how I hate this part), dan setelah angkot akhirnya jalan, ga nyampe 500 meter jalanan sepanjang Rampal-Sawojajar macet padat merayap! Damn double damn!

Terhitung kita perjalanan dari Superstar sampe rumah memakan waktu kurang lebih 2 jam. What a day! Untungnya kami berdua bisa mempertahankan iman untuk terus berpuasa ga peduli bibir udah pecah-pecah dan lidah udah keriput kekurangan cairan. Buka puasa has never been this relieving hehehe...

My IC's July Craft Challenge Contribution

Bulan kemarin aku dan Tata melewatkan IC Challenge karena kami berdua sibuk dengan proyek-proyek La Conchita. Bulan ini, rasanya sayang sekali kalo lagi-lagi melewatkan tanpa ikut andil dalam IC Challenge yang bertema Sky (Everything in The Sky).

Ga perlu terlalu lama berpikir untuk challenge kali ini. Kebetulan ada 4 pasang circle handle yang belum juga dipake di proyek La Conchita karena aku dan Tata sama-sama belom tahu cara bikinnya, hehehehe.. ^_^v

Kebetulan beberapa waktu yang lalu nemu owl bag tutorial dari Pinterest, dengan beberapa modifikasi dan peyesuaian, akhirnya jadilah si O'ow Owl Circle Handle Bag ini yang aku buat untuk pertama kalinya.

Lumayan menantang juga bikinnya disela-sela deadline kerjaan, tapi setelah lihat hasilnya, rasa capek langsung hilang (berganti nyesel kenapa itu paruhnya si O'ow miring??? huhuhuhuhuhuhu )

Mungkin suatu saat akan lebih disempurnakan lagi supaya lebih rapi dan fungsional.. Untuk saat ini, aku simpan untuk kenang-kenangan dulu aja deh ya.. :D

Crafty Man of My Dream

My husband is not crafty at all. Even as mechanical engineer, he rarely uses his skill to create mechanical things. This fact makes me have a secret mission to bring out the “crafty men” inside of him.

Unfortunately, since craftiness is often associated with women hobbies, my efforts don’t have too much result for now. He often messed up with my mass projects just because he thought he can make it in an express way. He simply doesn’t have the motivation or interest to create things with his bare hands. I don’t know why, this makes me get even more challenged to find “Manly Crafty Projects” for him.

This is how I came into this supermegafoxyawesomehot blog, ManMadeDIY.com. 

Chris Gardner, the man behind this blog is a brilliant writer and maker who believes that sewing machines and tablesaws alike belong in the workshop. How awesome is that?

The blog contains valuable information, tips and tricks, DIY projects, and many other interesting things.

I even use this article to make some assessments before I buy my first sewing machine

 How To: Buy and Use Your First Sewing Machine

He posted useful and often fascinating tutorials such as this bizzare knitting project

up to boyish projects like this magnetic silly putty and seed bomb.

How To: Make DIY Magentic Silly Putty

How To: Make a Seed Bomb

He also shows how to create various interesting home decors projects such as this Wooden Nintendo Controller Coffee Table which can actually works, and also this rad Tree Branch Coat Rack.

DIY Idea: Make a Tree Branch Coat Rack

Handmade Wooden Nintendo Controller Coffee Table

And when you think that’s enough to make you fall in love to his manly craftiness, check out this romantic custom art tutorial he made.

He’s literally the crafty man of my dream. Now let me find a way to make my husband get attracted to his projects so his long hibernated craftiness can be awakened all at once. 

CraftFrenzy

I have ever said that crafting helps to keep my sanity

Now I take back my words, I think I'm enjoying suffering from Craft Frenzy now. All I think is making new crafts everyday.

The problem is, this situation makes me unable to focus on my main duties. Familiar problem, anyone?

meanwhile, here is another wallet I made several weeks ago.. 

I was so obsessed to make better wallet, but I start to seriously think I need a sewing machine to help me get more productive.

I want this sewing machine, but I doubt it's available here in Indonesia..

So if you have any recommendation on (preferable) low priced portable sewing machine, please do contact me :-|

The ABC's of Me...

I know I haven't made a lot of blogger friends right now, but I sure hope there will be a lot more to come in the future. This is why, I make this post just to help you guys, who happen to stumbled upon my blog, to know me better. Hopefully, we can find some similarities to start new friendship.
I would also love to read your ABCs, and finding out interesting things in your life.

So let's roll and be friends :)

A. Age: 26 (per December 2011)

B. Bed size: King size since I share it with my husband and baby, but I prefer a smaller one when there are just the two of us ;) 

manda, little panda, panda

C. Chore you dislike: "house" chores hehehe.. I'm bad in cleaning my own room, so you can imagine the rest... I don"t have any problem with doing the dishes though..

DIY Wire Christmas Trees / Buat Sendiri Pohon Natal dari Kawat

I'm not celebrating Christmas, but December 25th is happen to be my birth day..

This is why; all things related to Christmas often brings warm feeling to me and Christmas tree is one of my favorite elements often found during my birth month. 

Here are some DIY Christmas Trees that I would love to try out whenever I have a reason to make one. I was thinking about creating number 1 for one of my friend, but then I remember that she is not talking to me right now *sigh* #mendadak galau

So just check out these eye candies and found the tutorial below each picture.

1. Laced Wire Christmas Tree 

Renate from DreamHomeDecorating.Com made a creative guest post in one of my favorite blogs, Ucreate. Find the tutorial here.

2. Primitive Christmas Tree

Susan from Homeroad made this Primitive Christmas Tree (as she preferred to call this beautiful wire Christmas tree) complete with the tutorial here.

3. Wired Garland Christmas Tree

Kailyn from Kailyn's Bit Of Sunshine (her blog full of interesting artworks by the way) was featured in Briton Loves It and made this whimsical Christmas tree tutorial here (with Roof Flashing Luminary tutorial bonus!).

4. Aluminum Wire Christmas Tree

Party Ideas by Mardi Gras Outlet shared their great DIY Christmas Tree tutorial here.

I especially picked those wire Christmas trees tutorials because they are simple and considerably cheaper than the other Christmas trees ideas. Of course there are many other better ideas can be found out there so don't be hesitated to share them at the comment section.

Happy holiday everyone!

Last Week Project: Handmade Fabric Wallet

There are many reasons on why people do handicraft, and one of my reasons is to keep my sanity. I even have an album in my facebook entitled "Craft for Sanity" to display some of my craft-works. It is true that making things from scratch works like a therapy to me.

It helps me stay calm and stable no matter how crazy my work load and life problems demand me. So without further ado, here is my last week therapy result..

 Handmade Fabric Wallet

I literally hand-sewn each element of the wallet and enjoying the slow process even tough in the end my thumb gets numb (hey, that rhymes!) 

There is a special girl of my brother in law who inspires me to make this wallet so I think I will send her this "baby" as a birthday gift. I hope she will like it.

It is not perfect just like my other craft-works, but I believe the flaws make my crafts becomes more personal.

I do hope that someday I'll be able to achieve perfection, but maybe I'll have to buy a sewing machine first before getting close to this target. (my birthday is in this December 25th, by the way, just in case you're wondering :P)

This is my first attempt of handmade fabric wallet and I can't wait to make a lot more. Just need some good reasons to start being crafty and escaping from my job's load again ;)

Handmade Softbook for Baby

 Baby Softbook

Rafa sekarang setiap bangun tidur langsung berguling dan tengkurap sambil liat-liat sekeliling. 

Seringnya, yang dia lihat dikamar cuma seprei alas bobonya yang berpola bunga-bunga. So I think it will be great to make something for him to stare at while learning on new things. 

I'm gonna make a softbook for my baby :)

Handmade Felt Baby Shoes

Sudah lama saya ingin membuat sesuatu untuk Rafa.. Setelah browsing sana sini, akhirnya saya putuskan untuk mencoba buat sepatu dari kain flannel.

Sebagai referensi, saya memakai tutorial sekaligus pola/pattern dari sini.

Pembuatannya cukup mudah, cuma dibutuhkan sedikit ketelatenan, dan sepatu flannel ini bisa selesai kurang dari 3 jam.

 Handmade Felt Baby Shoes/Booties

Berikut alat dan bahannya:

(sekali lagi, pola dan tutorial bisa dilihat di sini)

Felt Pouch for Cell Phones

Hari Minggu kemarin saya sedang in the mood of being productive..

jadi inilah yang saya buat kemarin :)

Felt Pouch for Cell Phones/Dompet flannel untuk Handphone

Semua alat dan bahannya sudah tersedia di rumah. Kain flannel/felt, velcrow, benang sulam + jarum, gunting, dan hiasan Hello Kitty yang saya comot dari dompet jaman ABG saya yang sudah lama ga kepake (selamat tinggal kenangan masa mudaaa....)

Dan inilah tahap-tahap pembuatannya: