Craft Tools/Supplies of the Day : Candle Jars for Sale

I want to raise money for postage for my Dress A Girl Australia charity work so am selling a few of my candelina candle jars and travel tins at below cost. These items are not only good for candlemaking but they can be used for gift packaging. 

Click on the image above to see more details on these candle jars. If you know of anyone who would like to make a purchase of these items, please spread the word or send them the link. Thank you.

The things I did on the last week of the year 2015

Want to share with you the things I made in the last week of the year 2014 and on the first day of the new year 2015. I was in the mood to make things for my house, my nephew and my two nieces one of whom is getting married in a week. And on new year's day because I was not doing anything I sewed 3 dresses and one pair of shorts.

The first thing I did was these two birds for my niece who is getting married soon. They wanted to decorate their wedding cake with birds and have their names written on it. The birds are made of kraft cardstock.

And because of these two wedding cake birds, I was inspired to make more birds out of felt this time and it is hanging in the entry to the bedrooms of my house.

Then I remembered my four-year-old nephew Ewan who likes wearing superhero costumes so I decided to make him a superhero cape with his name on it. I made sure I finished it in a day (as sometimes I lose my momentum) so I can give it to him during our family new year's eve dinner.

And for my other niece who wanted to have new pjs, I made two pjs for her. Bought the fabric materials from Spotlight who was on sale after Christmas at $2.95 per metre and are 100% cotton. And now am wishing I bought more of these materials to make into dresses in the future.

And here are the 3 dresses and one pair of boys shorts I made on the first day of the new year 2015. The dress with sleeves and the pair of shorts are going to be included in the Dress Sponsorship Program I am currently running to raise money for the Dress A Girl Australia well to provide clean water for the people of Kalagi Uganda. The other two dresses with fabric materials donated by the Millhouse Collections will be allocated for future distribution in 2015. 

If you know of anyone who would like to make a difference in the new year 2015, please mention my Dress for Sponsorship program. They are especially great for people who do not sew. Please help spread the word around. Thank you.

And now for the next item on the agenda is design and print a reunion t-shirt which I am looking forward to attending in Feb in Las Vegas. 

My Fabric yoyo spanish dancer

I try as much as possible not to get really stressed out but sometimes it just cannot be avoided. To relax myself I do not think of any kind of work nor do I think of my charity work which I do during my spare time instead I craft. My creativity seems to be at its best when I try to de-stress. And inspired by my recent trip to Peru where I had an adventure of a lifetime (did the Inca Trail Hike for 4 days and 3 nights with family) I created this Fabric yoyo spanish dancer. It took me 2 days to figure out how to connect the fabric yoyos I have stashed in a plastic bag for almost 2 years now to create this doll and am very amused and loving the result. 

It stands 16cms tall and has wiggly eyes. Using Shiva paintsticks I created her nose and smiling lips. I am thinking of creating a spanish dancer with a skirt and a male spanish dancer in the near future.

[Traveler's Journal] - Flashback - 07/2014 - Peru - Peru - Inca Trek - Peru

While I was packing my clothes for the Macchu Picchu Inca Trek in Peru, I realized that I actually packed 4 pairs of shoes. One pair was the hiking shoes for the actual trek. I had a pair of sandals to wear to rest my feet after the trek.  I had a pair of walking rubber shoes comfortable enough to wear when we go visit other sites in Lima, Cusco and Santiago when I do a stopover on my way back to Sydney and a pair of casual leather shoes. At least I only had to pack 3 of them as I will be wearing one pair during flights.

When we do the trek I will only be wearing the hiking shoes and no other shoes will be in my bag. The rest will be left behind in my luggage.

I created a Windowed Pouch

After one month of not being able to do any kind of crafting (they were busy days the past 4 weeks) I finally found the time again to make use of my creativity. I did this pouch with a heart-shaped window. Was not really sure what to put inside as I wanted to make a small doll with a blanket etc but since I have not done it yet I decided to put some of my snack foods from the cabinet. Does not look too bad either except that the heart-shape needs an improvement.

I think this will make good presents for Christmas. And if I use a non-Christmas fabric once the contents are gone, you can use it to store your small treasures. 

[Traveler's Journal] - Flashback - 07/2014 - Peru - Peru Inca Trek - Once in a Lifetime Adventure

The past few months I have been busy preparing myself and family for an upcoming 'once in a lifetime' adventure in Peru. We will be doing the 4-days-3 nights Inca Trek to Machu Picchu. Our weekends have been spent practicing via bushwalking, going uphill and downhill just to keep ourselves fit and ready for the 42kms walk in July and was told we have to do a total of about 10,000 steps going uphill. We created a Bushwalking Club. We did a lot of bushwalking around the Blue Mountains Area and Royal National Parks and experienced unbelievable sights and sceneries which we probably would'nt have the chance to see if not for our weekly bushwalking. Check out my articles (articles written before this article) where I highlighted where we went and the pictures taken while doing the walk. This is the trail we will be following during the 4D/3N Inca trek and we can no longer hold on to our excitement

Aside from our weekend bushwalking practices, we have also started to collect the things we need to bring in our trip. We were advised of the minimum requirement of what things to bring especially when you are trekking such as first aid kits, clothes and for sleeping. One important thing to consider is the weight of the items we will be bringing as we will be carrying these items ourselves while hiking and/or climbing. I would not want to bring heavy stuff. 

So far these are what I think are the items I would need for a comfortable hike. I also have my rainjacket which I can squeeze into my backpack if it does not rain. I still am waiting for my walking poles which I just ordered a couple of days ago.

And these are the first aid items - a first aid kit, plasters for blisters, sunscreen, insect repellents, panadol in case we have a headache and imodium for stomach problems. It is better to be prepared as there will not be any small stores along the way. We have to bring what we think we will need during the trek and fingers crossed it will be a smooth trek.

I have ordered some dry quick pants and t-shirts and waiting for them to arrive. Hopefully they would fit.