Heart to Heart Part 2

Here's 3 quick mini cards I did yesterday using my favourite heart-pins.
For sending love, friendship or simply to brighten up someone's day.

"The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart."

~Helen Keller~

Sheon

Photobook: Heart to Heart

Hello there!
It's been raining this ENTIRE Saturday in usually sunny Singapore! Must be a spillover of the floods plaguing our friends in Jakarta, Indonesia. Certainly not the best time to be shopping along Orchard Road (prone to floods too!)
But the cool weather sure makes for a perfect day to finish up a crafting project and chill out on the couch with a warm cup of tea (confession: I dozed off for a good 20 minutes :)

Here's a look at what I customised for A, a photobook gift for her boyfriend.
I left the inside pages mostly blank so she can insert photos of their special moments or pen down her thoughts. The cover and pages are held together by ribbon ties so more pages can be easily added.

Sweet? Found your inspiration for Valentine Day's yet?
Drop me a line soon if you want something done up in time for a loved one or a dear friend.
Have a good week ahead!

Sheon

Upsizing Crochet

Hi there,

It's been a busy year so far (yes! it's barely begun!)....

It was great to hear from E who ordered some crochet flowers done in fine cotton thread (like those in this blog post). She loved the little flowers and suggested that they be made in a much larger size.

For those of us who love craft, I'm sure you'd agree that 'upsizing'requires a different approach in each craft genre. For crochet, simply 'multiplying' the 'numbers' in the crochet pattern won't do the trick. One might need to re-write a pattern just to get it in a larger size. Thankfully,  there's also an easier way:

The wonderful thing about crochet is that if you just change the yarn type and crochet hook size, you can 'upsize' or 'downsize' any pattern you like! (Much easier than re-writing the pattern!)


I did some 'trial runs' and thought I'd share with you the results of my 'experiments':

The SAME yarn type and pattern was used for all 3 flowers. A 2.5 mm crochet hook gave the smallest flower. Changing the hook size to 4.0 mm resulted in the larger red flower. To really upsize without changing yarn type, just crochet with 2 strands of the yarn at the same time using a larger sized hook (eg. 5.5 mm) -- that gave the purple large flower.

Have fun experimenting!

Serena

One Word for 2013

A happy and blessed new year to one and all! How has 2013 been for you so far?

I ended 2012 in a bit of a frazzled state - trying to recover from a bout of cold, unpacking after the family trips, getting the boys sorted out for school, doing some spring cleaning around the house and preparing some documents for work all at the same time. Didn't help that everyone else seemed to be skirting the edges of the chaos, leaving it for me to resolve! 

I felt like I was emerging from a four week break more overwhelmed and tired than when I started...so needless to say, I was rather short with those around me and not particularly upbeat about 2013.

Then I read this book:

The authors share how they discovered the solution to living empowered lives instead of being frustrated by "failed resolutions and unrealized goals" as so many do despite their best intentions at the start of each year. They each adopted ONE Word that became their "driving force" for the year. This simplicity and focus enabled them to stay on course and served as constant reminder of their commitment to transform or grow a particular aspect of their lives. 

Discovering this word involves a 3-step process: Look In (spend time listening to ourselves and what our heart is telling us so we can discover our area of need), Look Up (listen to and allow God to guide us towards this word), Look Out (step outside our comfort zone and find opportunities to live out our word).

Sounded compelling yet easy enough so I decided to give it a try. 

Once I started giving it some thought, a steady flow of words came to mind quite readily... "care", 'heart", "joy", "patience" (I need loads of this!!) But none really resonated. In the quiet of one sleepless night, a word popped into my heart and it is here to stay.

"Witness": to see, attest to, person who gives testimony of what he's seen or experienced

Something I need to do so much more of...

When I feel out of sorts and discouraged, I only need to look around to see the great things God has done in my life and the wonderful people He has surrounded me with. Even little events in the everyday are worth witnessing - they bear testimony to the His grace and daily providence. 

Beyond this, the word poses a decidedly unnerving personal challenge - how convincing am I as a spiritual witness in my relationships with family, friends and colleagues? Do my actions and words bear witness to God's work in my life? Am I living out His word and commandments in ways that display compassion and empathy for others? 

I am trying to put my word into action, albeit slowly and not always successfully...

When I feel the compulsion to yell at my boys or utter an unkind word to hubby, I remind myself of the impact of my actions. I try to be a worthy witness to God's Love and temper my grumpiness with gentleness, or at the very least, with calmly and softly spoken words.  

What other use He may have for me in 2013, remains to be seen.

View at dawn while on a cruise holiday around Malaysia. 

Sheon