i also heart this one. it's a sweets shop. imagine having to make all the tiny sweets that go into those boxes!


and this lovely lovely doll shop. oh joy! you actually get to paint the faces on the dolls ;-)

 

today i received my creative swap loot from Jo of Wits and Nuts ;-)

 

woot! what a loot! it contained a shirt (just the right size!), some date chocolates, cooking bookmarks (i can't wait to use these), a card, a phone sleeve she crocheted herself (i have never been able to make my stitches so straight!), and a cross word puzzle book ;-)

i hurriedly tried the phone sleeve on my nokia and its a perfect fit! kaya lang i had an ultra-bobo moment when i wanted to take a picture of it (with my camera phone) and started looking around for my phone, which was in the phone sleeve in my hand (headdesk).

 

 
this is jo's advanced bday gift to me ;-) thanks fellow cancerian! ;-) heehee. its the coolest little crossword book i've ever come across! i just love crosswords! heehee. now, i don't have to cut out the crosswords from the japan times (i hate lugging around full newspapers)! i just lurv it!
thanks so much jo!

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interested in joining the creative swap?
check out our swaps here or send an email to gandarynako (at) yahoo (dot) com
 

i've been on a bag-roll (i have to stop coining corny phrases) for the past few weeks. i first experimented with a series of flat knot bags, one of which i sent to via a  prize for having won the creative swap giveaway ;-)

i envisioned something a bit chunkier for my 2 creative swap partners, so i came up with this flat-bottomed knot bag. instead of having only 2 panels, this one had 4 + the square base. man, this was my first time to make something so complicated! hahaha! the concept of the knot bag is that it's to be a wristlet---something you can take out of your big bag, stuff your wallet and phone in, and take to lunch. however, this larger version is something minimalists can use for gimmicks. i tried it and it's roomy enough to accommodate a wallet, a mobile, keys, tissue, and a small makeup kit. odeevah! may test run pa ako! hahaha!

 
 this one was made of a nice purple fabric with gold leaf motifs all over. i used black cloth for the lining. although i used my sewing machine to piece all the panels together, i had to hand-stitch the inner and outer panels closed.

 
for my second swap partner: a girly, lacey symphony in black, white, and beige. i love the fabric i used for the outer cover; the beige lace detail is actually embossed ;-)

 
this was actually version 1.0. it's made of beige cloth with gold designs, and lined in green. hahhaha! notice that there's some sort of knot at one end? i mistakenly made the handle a bit too big and had to find a way to trim it down so that the bag would fall nicely. it added a nice effect to the whole thing, if i may say so myself ;-) this was a gift to my friend raqs ;-)

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these went out early last week, but since they're both international shipping, it'd take about 2 weeks before my partners get them. sigh. ;-) i hope they like them. heehee.

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for more information on the Creative Swap, email me at gandarynako (at) yahoo (dot) com

 

 

 and the winner is... (tantananantantantantan!!!)


its Via!!! congratulations!!! ;-)

 
in addition to the re-ment miniatures i posted here, via will be receiving a japanese knot bag (my first attempt---be kind), as well as some other goodies.

Thanks once again to everyone who joined the contest!
Hugs!

 

 

to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the creative swap, i'm going to have a small contest ;-)
the mechanics are really simple; all you have to do is write a comment on a creative swap post. one comment = one entry. i'll be taking note of everything; the selection will be done via randomizer, and i will announce the results on 1 june 2009 ;-)

so what's at stake?
for starters, the cute re-ment minature above. i bought one for a friend's daughter and could not resist getting one for myself.
that, plus some yummy goodies, a card, and a japanese knot bag (which i made last weekend)---so it'll be like receiving your very own creative swap package ;-)
hope you can join us!


heehee. just to show you how teeny the stuff really is ;-) 

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for more info on the creative swap, view this thread

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interested in joining the next round (august-september)?
email me for details at gandarynako (at) yahoo (dot) com
 

lo and behold, it was the postman bearing a gaily-wrapped creative swap package from dear odette! ;-)


i hurriedly opened the package up and was happily surprised to see that it bore more wrapped packages. heehee. i so love opening stuff ;-)

 

the first package contained a small purse odette made. i just love it! i hurriedly stuffed my emergency kit and planner into it. it was a perfect fit! and the green accents on the purse looks lovely with my new bag ;-) i also love love the moo business card odette attached---sooo professional!

the purse contained even more surprises! para bagang matryoshka doll (aka babushka doll or russian nesting dolls) ---a treasure within a treasure! it contained notecards, postcards, and gift cards, plus a lovely postcard from odette ;-)

the second package revealed a lovely set of beads in red. i can't wait to string them up!


juls, who i know is reading this post at his office cubicle, is probably drooling over these chocolates ;-) heehee. we'll have them for dessert later baby ;-)

thank you so much for the lovely package odette!
like what you see? head on over to odette's etsy shop!

 

i got my creative swap loot a few weeks ago ;-) i had two partners for this round, but one got understandably delayed. the one above is from peachy of ittyadi. love love the nice card she made for me and i can't wait to use the stamps and the chutney she enclosed. thanks peachy! ;-)



the second one i received was sort of a surprise ;-) this was from sinta of knittering, a partner i had last year. thanks muchly sinta for the nice purse! heehee. i still cannot figure out how to sew zippers, so i thought this one was tops ;-) love the beads, the cards (she illustrated them herself!), and the tea! thanks sinta!

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looking forward to the may/june swap! ;-)

For more information on the Creative Swap, please view this thread

Note: To join the next round of the creative swap, send an email with your name and blog link to gandarynako (at) yahoo (dot) com so that I can send you more details

 

This is what I've been busy with lately---preparing stuff for the Creative Swap. For this round, I made 2 shirts. Well to be more specific, I bought the shirts and decorated them. Heehee. It was nice because I felt like I was in highschool again, armed with an array of Tulip paints to jazz up a shirt. Aminin! Did you guys do that too?


I decorated the first shirt with a sakura motif---spring naman e ;-) I loved how it turned out, with all the delicate swirls.



for the second one, i used bronze paint to come up with this Mayan/Catholic inspired design. Juls wanted this when he saw it. I had to promise to make him one ;-)

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