VINTAGE

Labels: - Friday, October 23, 2009



Was that already a full month since I last blogged?
 Gosh ... (mouth open in disbelief.)


...


Time flies real quick.
Can we petition for the day to be more than 24 hours? 
 Just can't get everything done in a day.
I'm sorry I've been away from blogging for a long time.    
One of the reasons is my chores, of course, as a wife and mother. 
 But I don't want to blame that for my blogging incapacity
 though it's a valid reason.  
The main reason is, I have been renovating my blog.  


Do you notice the difference?  I have a new layout and header. 
 I feel really good about putting them in my blog because at first, I couldn't.  
I didn't know what I was doing wrong.  I stopped. 
Then after a few days I gave it another go.  
I read that it failed to transfer to my blog 
because of the XML file blah blah blah. 
 Whatever! 
But, by golly,  I found a way round it and eureka!
 It's quite an accomplishment for me -- a technologically inept individual!
 Hah!  
To follow are the widgets that I'm planning to add.  
Well, one at a time, Rosette. 
One at a time.
My blog is still pretty much a WIP. 
Work in progress. 
But it's quite readable, at the least.  
Just ignore some labels like the FAQ (as if you have a question for me!), 
and the other thingies at the top. Haven't quite figured out how to work them.
 I tried deleting them altogether but no can do.  
I have to change the HTML style sheet for that. 
 And HTML language is quite difficult to figure out 
if one doesn't have training. 
But I managed to delete the credits at the bottom. 
 It took me some time and a lot of "trial and error" 
before I was able to delete those lines. 
Sorry to the author/maker of this blogger template.  
I had to delete the credits. 
 It was in the way of the comments of my readers.  


And the right side bars "Links" and "Meta". Don't take notice of them too.  
I'll sort it out later.  
Well, in my last post, I promised to include in my next blog photos of 
vintage crochet magazines
 that my mother-in-law, Ester, gave me. 
Thank you Mother!
So here it is.



Do you notice that the price of this magazine is only 10 cents? 
 This was published in the 1950's.  
So that explains this impossible price.



Another 10 cents!



And another!



Yet another!



Guess what? Another another!



Ooh! I particularly like this one.  The projects here are so lovely.  
Though I haven't tried making one in this. 
And oh, yes, this is yet another.



Not another.  This one's thicker, like a booklet.  
I also like this one because it has diagrams.
So if you find it difficult to follow the patterns in words, 
you can always check the diagrams.



I like this one too.  I've actually made some motifs, 
if not whole projects from this booklet.



Just look at the way the years have gotten to this book jacket.  
The book that this jacket covers is the one in the bunch 
that I actually use a lot.



This one is so brittle that I was afraid to touch the pages.
Come to think of it, all of them are actually brittle. 
Helloooo! 1950's? How can they not be?
But this one's the worst.  
But I was able to "laminate" it with wide clear adhesive tapes. 
Every page. 
 Well, at least, at the edges 
where the crumbling away usually is at its worst.
But one disadvantage of using adhesive tape is 
the paper turns yellow where the adhesive touches the paper.
Oh well, you can't have it all.


So friends, there you have it. 
The crochet treasures that I've inherited.
(Eat your hearts out, crochet fanatics!)
They have been very useful to me 
especially when I was just starting to crochet.  
My mom (biological mom, that is) taught me the basics.  
But bookish that I am, 
I taught myself further through these books and magazines.
These items above are truly treasures.
TRULY VINTAGE.  



DOILIES

Labels: , - Friday, September 25, 2009


Hello there!
We're on the verge of my favorite time of the year, when the nights are long and the days are short. And in just a few more weeks -- Christmas! I mention this because I'm starting to crochet coasters for my son's Christmas gifts to his teachers.  Better start early.  These coasters may not be much but if I were to receive them, I'd value them more than the store bought presents because I know, they were made with extraordinary skills, patience and love. Of course, I don't mind receiving store bought gifts.  It's actually the thought that counts.  But handmade ones are truly special. 
These coasters that I'm making are actually based on patterns of doilies in very old magazines and books that my mother-in-law gave me.  They are so old that they are turning brittle so I'm very careful handling them.  Maybe I'll feature these old magazines and books ( published in the 50's) next time.  
I've made "hair doilies" based on these old magazine patterns.  If you are one of those who already took a peek at my Flickr photostream then you've already heard about this. I don't know if there is such a term as hair doily.  I coined it myself.  I made a small doily, then stuck it in my hair with a hair stick and voila! -- a hair doily.  My mother and I made a batch of these to sell in the "tiangge" (local fair) more than two years ago.  These are the leftovers.

Hair doilies with beaded centers.  The original pattern used only one color for the whole thing. I designed it to be monochromatic too but in different shades to add depth and texture.
Now for the stick, I scoured Divisoria for this.  The usual hairsticks that I found were too long for the doilies.  I gave up and bought a few ones that I liked with the intention of cutting them to just the right size.  Here is the sticks's original size.  You can see it with the doily on my baby's hair.

It looks so awkward on Baby Raya but, oh, so cute!  See that yummy looking nape? It's good for kissing, take my word for it!  But to get to the business at hand, how to cut that hair stick?
The stick was easy enough to cut with a wire cutter (stick is hollow).  Then I took out the screw inserted in the bead, stuck it inside the cut hollow stick and pinched the stick with the wire cutter. The pinch held the screw securely in place. Here is the result.


Sorry for the blur.  Haven't figured out yet closeup shots with my camera when I took this. 
And here's the shot with the doily and stick together.  




I mentioned on my first blog that the son is always bringing my camera to school.  One of her girl classmates saw  this photo in the camera.  She was interested in this particular doily and was asking how much I would sell it.  Well, as always, I was flattered that someone would want to buy one of my crafts. It so happened that another classmate wanted to buy the brown one. So I priced them. (Student and friend price, mind you.) Then I packaged them in organza pouches. Quite a bonus really, these pretty pouches.  I so love packaging things from gifts to merchandise.  It gives the item being packaged a unique and polished look about it.  I then said goodbye to them and the doilies and the sticks and sent them off to their new owners.     

Doilies packaged and all set to go. I packaged the blue doily in light blue organza pouch with a faux pearl at each end of the drawstring.

 For the brown one, I used a maroon pouch. 
The following is a photo of the Hair Doily with Beaded Hair Stick in action. 

                                 
Hair doily worn by my niece Danna, who patiently posed and waited for me to finish my amateur attempts at being a photographer.  She's turning 9 next month.
And here's a closeup shot.

                                     
That's all for now friends.  Thanks for dropping by.  Hope you can do so again on my next post. You can also check me out on Flickr: 
 http:// www.flickr.com/photos/artycraftysettie/
Till then . . .  :~)


GIGGLY

- Saturday, September 19, 2009



Hi!
Just want you all to know that I'm still here. :~)
It's been more than a very long week since I blogged.  What a crazy week that was!

    Learned to pose for the camera very early on.



    Yeah! This music rocks!



    Giggly and proud of her two front teeth.  Her only ones at this time.


The baby has been sick since Saturday. No colds nor cough.  Just fever... and a whole lot of fussiness.  The past days has been a guessing game, trying to figure out what she wanted.  She just cried so easily and it was so difficult to make her stop. One time, in the hope that she would stop crying, I brought her to the garden, the rooftop, the living room, outside on the street, and to almost every corner of the house!  Yes, sometimes she would be contented to just sit with me. But after a while, there goes the crying again.  After four days, her temperature was back to normal, thank God. But sadly, the fussiness was still there.  Then, three days ago, red rashes appeared on her forehead.  We brought her to the pediatrician and our suspicion was confirmed. Roseola!  Or red measles.  "Tigdas hangin" in the vernacular.  It's nothing to worry about.  Almost all children contract the disease, at least at one point in their childhood. Dr. Mary Antonette Pablo allayed our fears.  She gave our little angel medication and some supplements.  Dr. Pablo has been very helpful.  Thank you, Doc! Baby is a whole lot better now.
Yes, the fever has gone. And the rashes are slowly disappearing.  But the crankiness stayed.  I have been very patient with my baby.  Of course, I love my daughter so much.  But sometimes, it's getting to be so stressful! Sigh!  I can't wait for my baby to get back to her usual cheery self.  To cheer me up, and to remind me that she will snap out of her cranky mood soon, I've posted photos of her giggly smile.  
Sorry, people.  No crafts today. Time is a commodity that I don't have enough of these past few days. Today's blog is just "Heart-y Stress-y Settie". But next time, I promise another arty crafty blog!
:~) Till then . . .


PILOT

Labels: , - Wednesday, September 9, 2009



Hello! Welcome to my arty crafty blog! At last, I am posting something. I've created this blog almost a month ago. I have also attempted to post before, about half a dozen times. But I deleted all of them because I could not make the computer do what I wanted it to do. Sometimes, the laptop and I don't go along well. The travails of a mom who is not so adept in technology . . .
Anyway, first of all, I would like to thank Lisa Lam of U-handbag for inspiring me to finally create a blog of my own. I've been meaning to make one for a long time but there were just so many reasons not to. She "pushed" me to do it without knowing it. She doesn't know me but I'm an avid follower of her U-handblog. I find her talented, funny and down-to-earth. And her blog is so entertaining and informative. She is so generous with her knowledge and skills. But most of all, I like her because she is somehow the "crafty business" woman that I want to be someday. Alright, I confess. I'm already a fan. She doesn't know that I'm writing about her here. I'll eventually tell her. If you want to check her blog out, click here.
For my first post, I'm showing you a simple crochet project I've made a couple of years ago. It is one of the easiest ones I've made so far. Here it is.


Crocheted Fuchsia Flower Stud Earrings


I have made a few of these and sold it at the yearly "tiangge" (a sort of commununity fair) in our area. And yes, pink is my favorite color. (As if you need telling.) I will try to post some more of the leftovers earrings. Unfortunately, the truly intricate and beautiful ones were not properly documented (photographed) before they were sold. Someone even bought 5 assorted pairs all at the same time. And an Italian lady went specifically to the "tiangge" looking for the crocheted earrings I was making. I think she bought 2 pairs. According to her, she heard from someone that pretty crocheted earrings were being sold in the area. Quite flattering really. (Blush, blush). Hopefully, I can make more of them so I can post them. Luckily, I was able to make a note of most of the patterns. They were my own designs. But some were free form. It is unlikely that I would be able to repeat the exact design.


Here is how I packaged the stud ones.



Earrings on colored fossilized leaf that I laminated to make it strong. I bought fossilized leaves of different colors at the trade fair at Mega Mall a few years back. Notice the hole on the leaf? That was where I inserted the hook to display these items.
Actually, one of the reasons why it took me a long time to post is that the close up images I took of my crafts were unfocused, thus, blurred. See how technologically inept I am? And I dared not touch my husband's Nikon D80. I don't know what he'll do to me if I break it. File for annulment? Joke! It was only this afternoon that I was able to figure out my camera (after reading the manual). Hah! Bless manufacturers for manuals! I was so excited that I felt I should now start posting once and for all. My own camera is just a lowly Canon Power Shot A650. But it serves its purpose and for now, I'm satisfied. I just can't use it as often as I want to because the son is bringing it to school almost everyday. He's in Grade 7 and very busy documenting for their yearbook. He's always nagging us to have the jurassic Kodak Easy Share fixed so he won't borrow from me anymore. But I, or even my husband, can't bring it to the service center in Makati. And they're closed on Saturdays. So for now, we have to share. Sweet!
Speaking of my son, he always urges me to join the "tiangge" again. He misses the activity and the "smell" of it. And how we sometimes sleep inside our tents on some nights. But i guess what he really misses are the breakfasts we had delivered by McDonald's or Jollibee, (hahaha!) eaten outside our tent while viewing the expanse of dewy green grass under the shade of the great acacia trees and savoring the cold, foggy morning air. Hmmmm... Yeah, who wouldn't miss those? I, myself, am already missing those just by thinking about it.


But it seems I won't be setting up that tent yet this year. And maybe neither next year. My 1-year-old is demanding most of my time. Not to mention that I'm still breastfeeding full time. For now, I'm planning on tapping the virtual market while my "old school" shop is still on hold. But I still have a lot of things to prepare before I can set up an online shop. I'll get there.



Bye for now!

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