Birthday Challenge - Stamp No.14-18

Safety First!

Inspired by the safety signages I saw at the entrance of a construction site yesterday.

9 more stamps! Yeehaa!!

Buy Rock, Free Cat

Painted 8 years ago by an unknown artist with watercolor and some clear spray for finishing.

1000.

Calling once.

Calling twice...

Birthday Challenge : Stamp No.7 - 13

Happy Monday!

Sharing with you more stamps that I created on Friday and Saturday night.

7. Lolipop Plant

I was browsing through my messy sketchbook and saw some scribbles of lolipops. Suddenly, "TINGG!!". I got many emptied small pots, last time I used them to sow chilly, tomato and even strawberry on our balcony. Don't ask me about the strawberries, they never make more than 2 leaves while the chillies always gone before sun rise (because birds take breakfast earlier than us). Tomatoes? Don't ask me about the tomatoes. Now, let's plant some lolipop trees! This time, kill the ants first.

8 & 9 - Coffee Love

This kind of vintage pot reminds me of coffee, and coffee always reminds me of my mom. She makes the best coffee and let me share the secret *whispering*...."She put LOVE in the coffee"...shhh.

Cup and pot are carved separately so, they make two new stamps here.

10. Pot Plant

No coffee, no tea...it's sweet nectar inside. But I afraid this invention will force bee farms to be closed, and millions of bees will be unemployed.

11. In-vitro

Ahhha!...this one inspired by my final year project. We got hundreds of jars like this one in the lab. Gel is used instead of soil as the nutrient media. Each jar is labeled and when the culture is contaminated by any colony of fungus or bacteria, the plant will be disposed. In-vitro propagation is very sensitive and everything must be sterile. Each time we need to touch those bottles, we must wipe our hands with alcohol and burn the tips of each tools with bunsen burner. Oh! I miss the smell of ethanol and wearing my white coat again...Hm, for painting, maybe?

12. Love Terrarium

When I was 15, I made two terrariums using Horlicks bottle, planted with tiny plants I took from my mom's garden. I put it on the shelf of my room but I could hardly see the plants inside because the glass inner surface is heavily spoiled by water droplets. I guess photosynthesis managed to take place and the plants manage to survive for weeks (if not months). But, finally I threw them away. The bottles were hideous and they make my gloomy room looked even awful. No more attempts on terrarium again, until today.

13. Beansprout

The only reason I create this beansprout stamp is because, we had beansprout (taugeh) for lunch on Friday! Anyway, I love seedlings because they are such cute babies!

14 more stamps to go! Just leave comment in post labeled "birthday challenge" to win free personalized stamp from me. Winner will be selected randomly. If you notice, some stamps are already up for sale in my etsy shop!

Birthday Challenge

My carving tools and knives all started to rust because I haven't been carving for quite some time. With my birthday approaching the corner, I plan to have a little challenge with myself. The challenge is to design 27 new stamps inspired by all the common things around me; things that I like, own, dream, anything. I would like to share my random source of inspiration, and I will try my best to keep the progress updated in this blog.

I have been thinking about this challenge since last week, and for the past few days, I worked hard to come up with the first few batch of new stamps.

1. Fancy Box 1

Above is a doodle of a fancy small box, which I bought at Likas Mart Supermarket few years back while I was still studying at the local university. I only have RM11 or 12 in my pocket that time, but since I liked this box so much I bought it without hesitation, along with another artificial cactus, respectively cost RM6 and 4. I will try to snap a picture of the box later for you to view.

2. Fancy Box 2

Altered version of the original fancy box stamp. Does this one reminds you of Christmas?

3. Little Angle Lolipop

Some of you might have seen this illustration of little angel sitting on mushroom before. It is actually just a tiny doodle in my sketchbook. I color, scan and print it as bookmarks for my own use.

And this one, is the stamp version of the angel. I gave her some lace on the skirt, a crown and heart-shaped pendant!

4. Girl with Basket

This little girl with basket stamp, came from my sketchbook too. I was sitting with my hubby in front of the TV back from work, and think, "this girl would make a good stamp image"---and this was when the idea of birthday challege came to mind.

5. The Keeper

I love keys, and of all the keys dangling from the bunch I carry everyday in my bag...this one is my favourite. I love Thumbelina as a kid, and until today, whenever I see something that I like, I always imagine there's a small fairy sitting on it, smiling at me. What do you think of this one? Isn't she cute?

If you're asking why...

The round face, small nose and mouth is inspired by the gnome-like dolls belonged to me and my sister when we were kids. The doll's eyelids will shut when we lay it down. The one that belong to my sister got one eye damaged, because she pricked it down with her finger. Their eyes are simplified that way, to make carving easier.

6. Spinning Cup Thumbelina

I grew up in village, I never been to funfair until I was 17 and the only place I could see a giant cup like this was on TV. As a kid, my brain was really intrigued by the image of people sitting in giant cups. I thought, only Thumbelina can fit in all the cups we got in our kitchen, but if I can sit in a giant cup like that...I can be Tumbelina!

I only got the chance to sit on one at Genting Highland theme park a couple of years ago and like a kid I tried to make the cup spin faster and faster, with a smile on my face, thinking of my childhood memories.

Apart from that, this stamp also makes me feel like, "I want to drink tea!" Now! Now! Now!

Craft n Swap Suprise Gift...

...is mine!!! Muahahahahahaha!!....

Beautiful vellum stickers ~ Lots of love!
Silk flowers ~ Pretty!
Unique flatbacks ~ My fav!!! (I'm crazy over buttons)
And some plain cardstocks + envelopes which came along with these beautiful stuffs.
I'm sure they will be useful for my craft projects...thank you, Debbie!

If you are looking for scrapbooking or craft supplies online, be sure to browse Crafty Heart store. It's a local online store selling things at very reasonable price.

Rest n Rileks

I should be resting and getting enough sleep if I want to Rest n Rileks but before that, I would like to quote an SMS which has been forwarded to me on recent new year, "Remember, life is short, break the rules, forgive and forget quickly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably and never regret any thing that made you smile". Well, I don't really believe with breaking the rules as to live life to the fullest, but thank you so much Alice for the SMS, because it really gives my spirit a lift. Be spontanenous, just do what we like to do, and what make us and our love ones happy and get rid of all the unnecesary worries. Ok, I get it. Remind me this again, please. Because I am forgetful.

My second half of 2008 was so packed, and that I admit I am not so good in everything I do as sometimes I require more time to finish a task. But I still remember all the promises and commitments I made last year, and I shall continue the quest of realizing it. And speaking of the promises, I stayed up last night carving the stamp requested by Rizal since September last year. I was flattered that he trusted to me to select the best portion from his doodle to be integrated into the design. To be frank, I really don't know from which section to crop. I need to simplify the details to make it possible for me to carve, but I must also ensure the identity is retained. Plus, he wants the stamp to be fun and whimsical, and a butterfly as an addition.

You really put me on a challenge lah Rizal. I don't even have any basic knowledge or experience in design and everything I do just base on what I think I saw beautiful. I believe Rizal must have been busy as my request for confirmation has been pending since that September. I came up with another stamp design yesterday, but in the end choose to follow his earlier request. And the carving process is, scarry....maybe because Rizal is also a lecturer at Institut Kraf Negara...takot!!

Fewh...luckily, I made it (after missing many, many times of breath inhaling).

Stamp size 2.0cm (h) x 7.0 cm (w) <----sakit mata aku

Earlier tracing work and other design (trying to make the carving easier actually, hehe)

A and F

I took only one (sleepless) night to make F, but almost 2 weeks to finish A. They must have reached KL by today and I only spend MYR11.90 for their air ticket. Bye bye, A! Bye bye F!

Their badges? Oh, I made them using my quick handmade stamps (inspired by Ciyou's Christmas badges). A and F, respectively means Alysha and Fara (my stepdaughters living in KL). I manage to find the same sock pattern to replace the previous one and the old one will be given to ... "hey Free..it's yours!".

I tried to finish them before the school holiday ended, but I missed the deadline. I had a hard time stuffing the skinny-skinny tail and stitching the "simpson" mouth and ears. Anyhow, I think I did just great (angkat bakul). I plan to sew a vest or shirt, or coverall or scarf... but I think these stripy monkeys look just fine ... naked, right? Well, I lied. I just don't have enough time for more experiment.