Sketchbook to Buy: XL Aquarelle from Canson

When I studied architecture in college, I used some types of papers: Padalarang paper for pencil sketches (it's called Padalarang paper because the paper factory is located in Padalarang), Manila paper for ink sketches, and Concord or Canson paper for watercolor drawings. I love Canson the most but it's more expensive than the rest. We used to bought a pack consists of 4 sheets of A3. 

Some time ago I spotted an art supplies store "Artemedia" at Festival Citylink, Bandung. They sell some kinds of sketchbooks so I decided to buy one of the most expensive sketchbooks I've ever bought in my life, XL AQUARELLE from Canson. 

The sketchbook costs Rp 102.000 (A4) and Rp 172.000 (A3). Each has 30 sheets of 140 lb paper, so it's thick enough to make watercolor drawings.

I love the texture of the paper and it's also nice for pencil & colored pencil drawings.

So, I love it. Even it's more expensive than my previous ones, it makes drawing more fun because I can try various art medium without damaging the paper.

Where to get it: http://www.artemedia-hidayat.com/seller.shtml

Software to Install: Mosanick

Yesterday I installed Mosanick on my computer. It's a software to make photo mosaic, it's free, and the result is great. What a package. The only problem is the program suddenly closed when I put too many pics in the database. But it's okay, you don't need to put that many pictures anyway.

It's really simple. You can make a big photo from (a LOOOT of) smaller ones just by clicking your mouse 3 times. The software will do all the magic.

Cha Seung Won

Zoom in to see the magic. Zoom in like your life depends on it.

It's fun, easy to use, and it's free. Try it now!

Doodling on Samsung Galaxy Note 2

So I know Galaxy Note 2 is not something new, and even Galaxy Note 3 is coming soon, but I just bought it last week because my Blackberry was broken. And because BBM will be available for android too, I decided to buy Galaxy Note 2. Galaxy Note 2 has S Pen and large screen, that's why I prefer it to Galaxy S4.

For the sake of my job, I looked for drawing application for my phone, and after some googling I decided to download several (of-course-free) apps, trying them all, and I fell in love with SketchBook X.

I supposed to use this drawing app to make my work as an architect and designer easier, but I ended up making these...

Anyway I really love my new phone and please look forward for more doodles later ~

Go Green and Red (part 2)

After my first experience growing indoor plant, I bought another cute growing kit several days ago. Because the last time my tomato plant grew really big and tall, I needed to change the pot and put it outside. So it was no longer an indoor plant...

And sadly, after giving birth (?) to some cute baby tomatoes, the mother (?) died.

Learning from that experience, I decided to buy something simpler... and I bought ryegrass. Well, honestly I LOVE the london bus planter so I didn't really think much before buying it. Actually I bought two and gave one to my friend.

My ryegrass actually grows faster than I expected. And it's so cute.

5 days old ryegrass

If you want to grow yours too, you can find it at ACE Hardware (Indonesia) for less than Rp 40000. There are other options too.. although I think this one is the cutest~ kkkk.

It's really nice to see something green in your your when you open your eyes in the morning!

DIY Project #3: Amigurumi

Easter is coming! I learn to make amigurumi (Japanese crocheted stuffed toy), and for my first one, I decided to make this cute bunny!

Making amigurumi is not difficult. You only need to know these simple stitches: chain stitch (ch), single crochet stitch (sc), slip stitch (for the end of each row), increase & decrease (inc & dec) in single crochet (sc).

Even though the stiches are simple, amigurumi is pretty small, so you need to be careful in order not to miss any stitches. You can turn this doll into a keychain or phone charm, it also makes a cute gift.

You can find a lot of free amigurumi patterns online, and I’ll also share mine in this post. First, these are some things you need to make this bunny:

• White yarn 
• 1.6 mm crochet hook (no. 1), or larger if you want to make larger doll
• Needle 
• Black & white embroidery floss 
• 2 black beads for the eyes 
• Red colored pencil to make the cheek red
• Fiberfill 
• Dog slicker brush, to make the bunny fuzzy (optional). This can help you cover some messy stitches ;) 

Now, let's make each part of the bunny!

Head:
R1: 2 ch, 6 sc in second ch from hook
R2: 2 sc in each stitch around
R3: 1 sc , 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R4: 2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R5: 3 sc, 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R6: 4 sc, 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R7: 5 sc, 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R8: 6 sc, 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R9-13: sc around, you can add several rows to make the head longer
R14: 1 dec, 6 sc, repeat 6 times
R15: 1 dec, 5 sc, repeat 6 times
R16: 1 dec, 4 sc, repeat 6 times
R17: 1 dec, 3 sc, repeat 6 times

This is the time to brush the head if you want to make a fuzzy bunny.

Attach the eyes and embroider the nose. Stuff fiberfill into the head.

R18: 1 dec, 2 sc, repeat 6 times

R19: 1 dec, 1 sc, repeat 6 times

Continue to stuff the head.
R20: 6 dec

Ears (make 2):

R1: Ch 2, 7sc in second ch from hook.
R2: sc around
R3: 2sc in first stitch, 6sc
R4: 2sc in first stitch, 7sc
R5: 2sc in first stitch, 8sc
R6: 2sc in first stitch, 9sc
R7: 2sc in first stitch, 10sc
R8-13:sc around
R14: 1 dec, 10 sc
R15: 1 dec, 9 sc
R16-...:sc around until desired length
Brush your ears and attach to the head.

Body:
R1: 2 ch, 6 sc in second ch from hook
R2: 2 sc in each stitch around
R3: 1 sc , 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R4: 2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch, repeat 6 times
R5-9: sc around, you can add several rows to make the head longer
Brush and stuff the fiberfill
R10: 1 dec, 2 sc, repeat 6 times
Continue to stuff the body.
R11: 1 dec, 1 sc, repeat 6 times
R12: 6 dec 

Arms (make 2):
R1: Ch 2, 7sc in second ch from hook.
R2: sc around
R3: 2sc in first stitch, 6sc
R4: 2sc in first stitch, 7sc
R5: 2sc in first stitch, 8sc
R6-8: sc around
R9: 1 dec, 9 sc
R10: 1 dec, 8 sc
R11-...: sc around until desired length. 

Brush and stuff. Attach to the part where the body meets the head.

Legs (make 2):
R1: Ch 2, 6 sc in second ch from hook.
R2: 2 sc in each sc around.
R3: 2 sc, 1 sc inc, in each sc around
R4-6: sc around
R7-...: 1 dec, 1 sc, repeat 6 times, until desired length
Brush and stuff the legs, attach to bottom of body.

Tail: make a small pom-pom and attach to the back of the body.

Sew all part together. Adore your bunny and take some pictures ^^

Good luck!

DIY Project #2: Dog Shirt

Several days ago I welcomed a new dog into my life. Say Hello to JCo, my cute Pomeranian!

His previous owner trimmed his hair. He seems cold, so I tried to make a shirt for him. What do you think?

Making a shirt for your dog is very easy and it takes only about an hour. I didn’t use sewing machine. If you do, I’m sure it’ll be done faster. I’m not really good at sewing, but simple stitches work just fine for this.

I was lazy to measure JCo first, so the shirt is a little too big. If you want to make this, don’t forget to measure your dog first and then scale the pattern.

Good luck!

(Patterns are adapted from here)

*Update: Hello again! I've grown my fur! ^^

Handmade Accessories

One thing I promised myself to do this year is to start a small business. I was not sure what I was going to sell, but I love everything labelled “handmade”, so I finally decide to sell handmade accessories.

If you’re a fan of the hit drama Cheongdamdong Alice, I’m sure you know these handmade bracelet and phone strap. Han Se Kyung (Moon Geun Young) made those, gave the bracelet for Cha Seung Joo (Park Si Hoo) and used the phone strap herself.

My friend and I make accessories similar to those in the drama. These are what some bracelets we've made...

Bracelet & phone strap from Cheongdamdong Alice

~ of course with some modification (a little touch of Paris? kekeke)

I really hope people will love our products! Visit our Facebook page here.

DIY Project #1: Hand Painted Mug

About two weeks ago I made a “things-to-do-in-2013” list. I made it to keep me motivated because I’ve been bored with my routine lately. One of the things to do this year is to make 5 things from my “things-to-make” list (Yes, I made a lot of lists). I have saved some picture and DIY projects from a lot of awesome blogs around the world and promised myself to make them when I have the time.

The difficult thing about living in my city is there are a lot of things I need but unavailable. Luckily last week my friend went to Singapore so I asked him to help me buy some things I need.

Actually I wanted to buy a porcelain marker, but he couldn’t find it. It turned out that thing is not only hard to find in Bandung but also in Singapore. But he found this “Uni Super Ink Marker”, which is a permanent marker, and it’s written there: “Writes on all kinds of surface. For use on: fabric, craft tape, plastic, glass, metal, paper, etc.” Close enough. And it's pretty cheap: 1.95 SGD.

And then using this marker, I made a hand painted mug...

Unfortunately, the ink was not permanent on porcelain. I tried to scratch it and the ink came off. I painted it again and put it on my desk…

I think baking the mug for some time in the oven will make the ink more permanent, I should try it soon~ I'll let you know the result! But if you want to make yours I suggest you to use a porcelain marker from Pebeo.

Life Lately

Because of the black and white paintings I made, I made some money. Not a lot, but still, I’m so happy. Long story short, I made some paintings for my friends and then they used them as their BBM profile pictures, and their friends asked them where they can get the paintings. This is so sudden and I still feel excited, because it’s actually just a hobby and I don’t think I’m really good at it, but people seem to like it.

 And if you read my previous posts, I have a good news about my tomato plant, but I’m gonna let the picture tell you ^^

Cute, right? I think I’m going to cut it open and replant the seeds. I’ve bought some pots but still need to gather encouragement to dig and collect the soil because the last time I did it, it was a daytime nightmare (or a daymare? I think it’s not a word). I found monsters, or brave people may call them one big cockroach-look-alike family. No, I didn’t take a pic.

Oh, also, I buy some things from ASMAMA, a Korean online shopping site. It’s creepily cute, isn’t it? There are four colors of them, and I have 3 close girlfriends, so each of us uses one.

Talking about my girlfriends, they just got back from Singapore after watching F1 and the after-race music concert, and they bought me a cake from a store called Juucheim. It’s actually from Japan but the cake is German origin known as Baumkuchen.

I forgot to take a picture of the cake, but I took one of the cute biscuit that was included in the cake box. It doesn’t look like a biscuit, I even thought it was a magnet or a cute eraser. It tasted pretty good actually, but the red and white candy-like thing tastes so sweet I decided not to eat it (I do funny things when I’m sugar high). The good news is they use nature pigment for the biscuit. It says “Blue Spirulina, Red Lac, Brown Cacao Tamarind, Yellow Curcumin, Orange Paprika” on the ingredients label. It also says “Made in Vietnam”.

So I ate German origin cake from Japan origin store which opens in Singapore with a Vietnam origin biscuit. How cool is that?