Any Day

We had a gloomy weekend. My husband had lost a beloved cousin in a crash on recent Friday. We were unable to give a visit, only prayers and condolence from afar.

It made me think a lot, how life can be snatched away from us without warning. I think of how many things I want in this world, things I want to do and achieve. I think of my dislikes, things that give me lack of confidence, things that make me angry and bad memories. One day, none of them will matter. It is wrong to relate death with age and sickness only, as any day could be our last day.

Lino: The Next Level

I 'm looking for linoleum block but I don't know where to look for it locally. Why lino? Of course la for my stamp carving madness. Many times I almost purchase it online, but always, after considering the price in our currency...I think it become pretty unreasonable. I learnt that lino is being used in printmaking and lino is also an other name for vynil flooring mat, or what we locally call as "karpet getah (rubber carpet)". I blogged in one of my previous post, asking help from anyone who happen to know where to get the lino (I mean the lino block for stamp carving), and that was when Skin, a nice young lady came to my call.

The lino sample arrived at my office yesterday and the first thing I have in mind was, "A flooring lino!". It came in a sheet form, rather thin compared to what I expected, and it got this woven fiber backing~~~I am unsure, but the look of the backing almost convince me that, "It's a flooring lino!~~~It's a flooring lino~~~It's a flooring linooo..."*echoing*

It cracks and breaks like biskut lemau when folded. I showed it to my hubby, he also thinks it a vynil flooring mat!


But, I am optimistic, as always, hehe...so what if it's a flooring lino? Wouldn't it be nice if it can be used to make stamps? I made an easy, quick stamp design for testing-testing. It's up to how you interprete it, either it's a sister and her brother, or a mother and son... it's up to you. Initially the boy got his bicycle at the other side of the tree, but I was too lazy to carve the bicycle. Sorry boy, I have to take your bicycle away.

Carving the lino is an interesting new experience. It reminds me of scraping dried, hardened Milo powder from the tin.

It's difficult to get a nice proof because this lino stamp is stiff and too thin to be handled, so I mount it to a piece of wood. I like stamps made of eraser better, but maybe it's too early to judge. I have a feeling that this lino stamp can last longer than rubber stamps, and less vulnerable than erasers.

I'm happy with the results! Thank you very much Skin! Felt like I'm catching another level of my carving madness!

So, can anyone justify, is this material really a lino mat/flooring? I'm glad if it's not. Just let me know what you think.

I'm glad if it's "yes" too.

For the Hole in My Pocket

I won a bid in eBay yesterday, and I can't wait to receive my winning Colorbox Cat's Eye ink pads. The shipping alone costs me about MYR 45.00! I'm still wondering why I choose to buy ink pads instead of getting myself a good quality lino cutter. Winning the auction feels good but it burnt a big hole in my pocket! I am BROKE this Mother's Day...(ehem...this month too!).

My sister called yesterday asking for some sponsorship for Mother's Day. So if I manage to sell any rubberstamp this week, it would be for Mom. Another reason why I am broke this month is I booked air tickets and will be sponsoring my parents for holiday in August. They never board a plane their whole life and my dad is suffering from Rheumatism and Gout. I afraid if I wait another year, his walking difficulties would get worse. Actually I plan to buy a new pc or laptop, and a wacom tablet...but, I can wait.

Meanwhile, I know I have to get my ass from this chair and clear off my job list but then I was digging through last year's folder and found these!

Believe it or not, all above graphics are made using Microsoft Publisher and my click-click mouse. I receive quite a number of orders for home-bakery last year but none of these designs has been proposed to my customers. I stopped taking orders for business cards and stickers now...but i think the designs would turn out nice as rubberstamps!

Interested? Just email me!

Do You Know Her?

Perhaps you are wondering, who is the girl on top of Mangosteenkin's page? If you still don't know, she lives in a mangosteen fruit. No, not any ordinary mangosteen! Only the one that you find in this blog.

If you've been reading my blog since last year, maybe you know her.

Mangosteen Fairy is now 3D!

She is only at the size of a thumb, just as how I imagined her should be!

Her little wings are at rest!

She likes to hang out on top of the shelf in the living room, watching us watching TV, crafting and playing with the cat!

My First Fabric Keychain

This prototype (haha!) is hand-stitched and I really love the plushiness of it. I use fabric ink so it is safe to be washed everytime it got dirty. I will keep working on improvisation and I hope one day I can sell this stuff too!