Last Post for the next 1 month

I guess, it's gonna be my last post before my TAX EXAM next week. 12 subjects in total, 3 subjects per week, well, that's make 4 weeks filled with rules and numbers. I'm afraid there won't be much time left to tat or blog **sigh**

About a month ago, my mom took a trip to Australia to visit my brother. Last week she came home. And look what my brother gave me

Look at all the sweets he gave me. He really spoilled me this time!

But the sweetest of all of this is....taaaaaa daaaaaaaa.....

Don't we just love this book?

So many fabulous designs, too bad I won't have much time to try them. Haaaa...another *****sigh***** LOL. But I manage to make "Large Cross". Can't show it now, for it's being pressed down under this pile!

Last night, when I put the cross into my magic pressing machine , I found, not one, not two, but THREE. Yes, three pieces of - I don't even remember where I put it- tatted bookmarks. Been there for quite some time I guess ^_^

Do you know that I went to economics school, majoring in Accounting? At the top of this pile is "Accountant's Bible". The GAAP = Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. It's a guideline for accoutant to make Financial statement, it's include standard, rules......eeeeeeeerrrrr. Let's be honest : I never really use the book, until I realize that this book is heavy enough to press my tat work!!! LOL. Therefore, to express my gratitude to this multifunction book, here it is

Here it is, the cover of Indonesian GAAP, posing with 3 well known patterns :

1. Flower bookmark, Pattern is being modified by Sabina Carden-Madden. Here is the pattern .

2. Christmas tree from Nancy Tracy. Click here to find the pattern.

3. Pattern from "Tatting Pattern and Design" by Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson

Last but not least, the weekly giveaway from Lady Shuttle Maker still continuing! (On the second thought, I'll be back next week and weeks after, to post another entry for next giveaway ^_^). Have you put your name on the bowl? Check on this link to see this generous giveaway.

Well, that's that for now. See you again in 4 weeks, 'till then, have a great days everbody ^_^

Back to Busy Life

After 10 days of retreat from office, datelines, courses, traffic jams, morning rushes...including internet connection...here I am, back to my uncomfortable office chair.

You might wonder, what have I done during the holiday? (Well, even if you don't, I'll tell you anyway LOL)

Me and my DH continue the "living room project". We installed the parquet floor (yes, measuring, cutting, installing and reinstalling for about FIVE times before we get them in line). Exhausted, and satisfied enough for what we've done, then my DH got tooooo lazy to finish the ends. So this is what we have : a nice living room, with unfinished floor. Haaaa..boys...!!!

Between slaving myself as servant who cleaned the house, did the laundry and cooked as well, I also tatted some pieces. I like to share one of them.

Christmas Tree pattern from Japanesse Book. Haaaa, believe me, the picture on the book is much more beautiful than mine...:( But I'm quite happy with my trees. It's quite a challenge for me to join the trees.

I also tried a pattern from Jon's latest book. And it's another whole story...I intend to tell the story complete with some pictures, including pictures from other tatters. Still waiting for permission from the image owners, after it's completed, I'll tell you on my next blog.

For today's lunch break, I think I'm gonna try Ellen Lai's Jolly Sun paperclip . But now, 3 hours before, had reports to be checked. Till next time, have a good day everybody! ^_^

A Day Before Holiday

Yiiiippppiiieee...It's almost holiday. Indonesia who has Moslem for major population, celebrates Ramadhan. Offices and schools, almost every activities closed during this celebration. For me, it's a free pass from work for a whole week ^_^

Last week, my best friend was going to UK to continue her study. And I thought I have to give her something to remember me of. Here's what I came out with

It's a sketch book, with color papers. I decorated the first page, planned to be the "fancy girly cover". But I gave up, really can't make anything fancy nor girly LOL. Second option is making mushrooms (because she loves any mushroom dishes). With my husband's sketches, I made 3 mushrooms, grass, and bflies.

I didn't tat anything new. But I'll have a whole week to spend on my lovely bean-bag chair. Hope can make something new. Till then, have a great day everybody. And Happy Ramadhan for all of you who celebrate it.

A NEW WALL ^_^

It's been 3 weeks? I can't believe it's been that long. Time flies faster than I thought. And for those 3 weeks, I didn't do much tatting. WHY?

Because the house was to dirty, I hardly found a clean spot to tat. WHY?

It's really a mess in my house, it's so difficult to clean it, with all the stuff on the floor. WHY?

Do I start to annoy you? The big secret is : I'm repainting my living room. Well, most of it was being done by the painters actually LOL.

The painters did the basic boring wall. Because I want to have a less boring wall, me and my husband (honestly, just the two of us) do a little creative thingy on one side (and FYI..it's going to be just ONE side of the room LOL). It takes about 20 hours to set it up, and another 2 days to have guts to open the tape ^_^

Enjoy the pictures :

Started by placing the mask tape, drew some circles, and cut it out

paint it (upps...the "melted" chocolate down there : my mistake ^_^)

Another paint here and there and wait until it dries, open the mask tape and taaa daaa....here what we have now

And the last picture, the man behind the wall, who's asking to be remain un-faced ^_^

Well, I do a little tat to, here and there, mostly at the office during lunch break. Just some old patterns,

A spiral bookmark

Lots and lots of Birds on the Wire paperclip

And the pretty shamrock paper clip By Ellen Lai

It's such a tiring yet an exciting week. And I hope you also have a nice day...

WE ARE NOT AFRAID

Indonesia has suffered from some bombing around Bali and Jakarta. I can't talk a lot about it, but it has created fear for everybody, not only local, but tourists as well. Terroris has a powerful weapon to spread fear and it might lead to degradation of a country.

The last bombing was happened on July 17th at Marriot Hotel Jakarta and Ritz Carlton, which only appart few minutes. It was shocking because we just had a Presidential Election just 2 weeks before. Even Manchester United cancelled their visit to Indonesia! What a shame...

Recently, a group of young people make a campaign, a movement called IndonesiaUnite . Like it's written on their website "Indonesia Unite is a movement. A stand point that Indonesia is united and have no fear". In a spirit of nationality and to celebrate our Independence Day on August 17th, this is what I came out with :

It's absolutely not the best ^_^ This is my first block tatting. Please forgive me for the mess. But hey...I'm not afraid...(to show it) LOL

I also made some phone dangle. I was very sleppy on one of my tax class, so I start to draw sketches, nothing original, I must saw the design somewhere. But I think it's quite easy to figure the DS count, so here they are

I try hard to create a "Happy ending" : something that doesn't need end-hiding. Do you have idea to make a better ending?

And of course more phone dangles from familiar pattern :

Pretty pretty design from Jon Yussof. Thank you Mak Cik Jon ^_^

Valerie square from Eliz Davis. Here's the lovely pattern.

That's all for now. Thank you for dropping by. Have a nice day to all.

Things You Won't Leave Without

There's an application PICK 5 at Facebook, you pick 5 things you won't leave your house without it.

Here's my top 5 :

1. My tatting bag

2. Wallet

3. Handphone

4. House Key

5. Hand Sanitizer

And what will happen if I don't bring one of those?

When I miss the last 3 things, it simply : "Uuups...forgot them..ah well...I'm gonna be fine"

Wallet is indeed important thing in my days. I got my money, and ID, driving license. Should bring them all the time. But if I left it, just cross my fingers, hope that there won't be any inspection whatsoever LOL

But when it come to forget about tatting bag : MISERABLE it is.

That's what happen today. A chaotic morning, running late to office, and no tat session during lunch break. Ouch!! What a gloomy day!

Few weeks ago I finished another cross, pattern by TeriDusenbury . Thanks for sharing the pattern Teri. She's such a talented person isn't she? I hope she's getting better soon.

It's going to be my new Biblemark ^_^

And a pattern from Japanesse book (sorry again to the author..I can't remember your name). Originally created to make a vest. But I can't manage big project, so I repeat the inside square patterns 4 times to make is as a coaster.

Made with olympus No. 40

Well, that's that for today. Back to work and hope that today is not so gloomy as I thought ^_^ And good day for all of you.

The Best Medicine

I'm not really sure about other culture. But in Indonesia, we simply expected to go to school, find a good work, get married and have children. For those who's not following that path, is punished with questions.

And for me the hardest part of being "childless couple" is dealing with questions : "When are you going to get a baby?" Huuf, is it really need to asked? It's not like we don't want it, right?

Lately, I realised, I'm not only being asked, but also given ALMOST ANYTHING to enhance our possibility.

From a modern supplement for me and for my husband :

I hope the label is quite clear, it's a line of honey, milk, vitamin E and B, omega 3, and other stuff I don't even know how to spell.

Chinesse herb

an unknown perscription

turn into an unknown ingridients

boiled into an un-delicious beverage

To a health stone, a set of necklace, bracelet and ankle bracelet.

It's kinda pretty though, so no problem at all with the jewelry LOL

It doesn't include the recommendation on some doctors, IUI treatments, hormon therapy, massage, accupunture and so on. Wow the list is getting longer.

After all questions and medicine, they told me for avoiding STRESS?!

They feed me with that!

What they don't know (but you girls already knew ^_^) that we have a best medicine :

Do you agree with me?

They are my best friends on my 3 hours waiting time at the doctor, the best stress reliever, the best reason to go all the way to singapore, it's just...the best of all.

Just drop by to say I miss you

This last two weeks, I worked on old pattern, or in Eborall's term : tatting in auto pilot, it's really automatic, I don't even remember what I've made ^_^

All I remember, I spend quite some time on sewing the ends. It's not my favorite step, so I tend to put them back on my treasure box, until I have a mood to sew them. And there, I was spending hours of sewing in the ends. Surprisingly, it's fun...to finally able to see the piece without any thread left over.

To think it for a while, I think I have made some from new pattern, I just don't have a chance to picture it. I'm taking tax class at night. Just right after office hour at 5, I'm rushing to my tax class until 8.30 pm. By the time I arrived at home at 9.30, I'm already too tired to do anything. Hope I can spend some time on this weekend to make new pattern and to give them a nice photo shoots.

I'm a bit uncomfortable to make a non-pictured blog. Feels like something is missing. But for now I really miss blogging. So, forgive me not able to share any picture. I just drop by to say I miss you ^_^

I Need to Share it

I'm in a great sadness. So sorry to share it to you, but I think I need to spill my mind and my feeling.

Remember my trip to Singapore 2 weeks ago? I was doing a procedure called IUI (Intra Uterine Insemination); some of you might familiar with this procedure. For those who don't know IUI, this is how it works :
I was taking medicine for several days to stimulate folicles in my ovarium, I also having some injections until I'm ovulate. After I'm ready; my husband has to produce his sperm, bring it to lab, and they will "washed" the sperm to get the best of it. After the sperm ready, those 'tadpoles' are injected to my uterus and then we just hope for the best.

It was quite a stressful experience; I have to see doctor everyday for about 10 days , I have to remember all the dose he gave me, I also have to face my fear with needle, and dealing with the 75% of failure. Everybody reminds me not to get so anxious and stress. But it's rather easier to speak, isn't it? So, I tried (hardly) to enjoy my 2 weeks in Singapore, pretended that I'm on holiday!

And yesterday, after 2 weeks of waiting for the result, I had to accept the fact that my first attemp of IUI is officially...FAILED! I had my period yesterday evening.

I'm the weak one, so I told my husband, and I just kept crying all night. I saw my husband so worried about me, he's afraid that I can't handle this. Though I know that he also quite sad, but he's so strong and keep calming me down, makes my mourning time lot easier.

That was last night, and I kinda make a deal to my self I can pity my self all night long ,but only for ONE night! Tomorrow is a new day. Well, I'll try my best. Today, I make decision for my next plan : I am taking a break, no pills, no injections, no med check, find some distraction, let go all the fears, have fun, and just keep believing in His path. Wish me luck !

HIBERNATION

Few weeks ago my husband asked me what is Hibernation? And I answered : That's what I'm going to do...Hibernate

2 weeks leave from office to plan on pregnancy in Singapore, gave me time to relax and to enjoy a forced holiday. And also a chance to tat more and to shop a lot ^_^

I can't wait to show my new toys I got from Singapore

The threads I bought at Daiso, Golden Dragon, and from Ellen Lai

Beads I bought at Art Friends at Takashimaya

And Some other stuff I bought at Golden Dragon in China Town

Golden dragon in China Town, is such a heaven for me LOL. Do you think I'm overreacted? No...it's quite a nice and complete store. Lot better than one I have in Bandung. It has more threads and shuttles and anything you need to get creative.

My main purpose in Singapore was to get my self a treatment in order to get pregnant. I spent quite some times at the airport, airplane, MRT, and doctor's waiting room. So...what's better than tatting to spend all the time I had? Since I don't remember many patterns, I have to make simple projects.

I love making hearts and I have plan to make more. Though my husband said that I should make them on several colors, but I think I'll use red, pink, and white colors only.



I just love this cross. It's easy to make and it looks lovely when we use the right color on it. Actually, this cross was my first love to tat ^_^






I also tried to imitate Jon's snowflake. I hope she doesn't mind. I instantly fall in love with this cute snowflake the moment she gave me one. And I started to count the stitches, and I managed to make the dark purple and sky blue snowflake. Not as pretty as Jon's, but I think that's enough for now.


And my last project was tatted scrunchy (do I spell it correctly?!@) And as you know, it takes a long long time to finish, so long so that I can't do any more project and until last night when it got pictured, still on progress ^_^

Many thanks to Ellen Lai, who spent some time with me. She's the one who took me to Golden Dragon, and invited me to her house to tat and stay for dinner. I've learn a lot about tatting and also a friendship in tatting. Thank you and I hope I can see you again someday.

That's that, my 2 weeks hibernation. I've enjoyed my time and I hope you all too...^_^

Busy Week

It's been a busy week and it's going to get busier at my office. I have to go out of town, lots and lots of paper to be check, books to read, report to make, and so on and so on. I barely have time to put my hand on the shuttle...

But at the end of last week, I did a little experiment in my kitchen. Guess what...I tried to make my own HDT, using a natural coloring, inspired by video I've seen at etatters. It's looked very simple, so I gave it a shot.

This is what I do...

Left picture : In Indonesia, we called it Suji Leaves. It's used to give green color to cake.
Right picture : I crush the leaves, take out the green color of it, and boil it with the thread for about 45 min.

So...How it's turn out you ask? Here it is...taaaa daaaaa.....drum roll please...

I compare the dyed thread with the with one on the ball. Can you see the green color? No? Me neither...hahaha...I totally fail it!!! ^_^

Something is missing...For my first try, I didn't use any (any...) chemical. Simply put salt in it. At last I think salt it's not enough, but I still carry on though...and so that's what happen to my poor steam thread

I have to gather more information about this natural HDT, and meanwhile I think I like to take a shortcut by using fabric coloring which is much simpler.

Happy Birthday...To Me ^_^

Yesterday was quite fun...for one reason : It was my birthday....^_^ So happy about it so I want to share the day.

It begin with a wake up call in the midnight : my husband has prepared a candle tea in the shape of 25 as in my age. It was dark, and all I can see is just the candle. Here's how it was looked :

after a fun blowing candle thing, another surprise is coming : A birthday Gift!! ^_^ This is what he gave me

A shuttle and a tatting book of course...Too bad I forgot to see the author name. I'll put it tomorrow.

It's quite a surprise that he bought me this book. It's expensive and few months ago I decided not to buy this book. But he remembered and buy it for me. And a shuttle? It's officially become my tenth shuttle ^_^

The rest of the day is simply the day...But not till the night. A family dinner on sea food stall and finally....well, I can call it a birthday gift from my father in law : FISH SPA TICKET hahaha...
For you who's never heard about it, well...here's some photos to sum up all the story :

Yup...I take a scary leap on a small tub full of Nibble Fish who will eat the dead skin cell of my feet. The picture in the left is my picture...while on the right was taken from internet for you to have a closer look. It's not hurt at all but surely tickle a lot and the feeling that something is biting and eating from your body...well..not really fun ^_^

another "bitting" picture from internet ^_^

Fun isn't it...That's my birthday...and now surely back to work...

See ya ^_^