Freebie Friday: Totoros

One of my favourite animation studios would be Ghilbi studio - and though many will favor Totoro from that studio as one of the best, I personally love Ponyo...this isn't saying that I don't like Totoro, I just think Ponyo is super cute and it being a different version of the Little Mermaid rates it higher in favor for me. Maybe its because Ponyo was the first movie I saw and first love is hard to replace.  HAVING SAID THAT , I could never pick a favourite from that studio...it definitely makes some adorable movies that grabs your heart strings like a new born baby.

ANYWAYS.
I only watched Totoro for the first time sometime late 2013(yeah I know its pretty bad) and of course fell immediately in love with these imaginary creatures. That CAT bus?! OMG. and the kid?! urgh! so cute....so of course I was on a mission to expose everyone who didn't know anything about the studio to its awesomeness. Last November sometime, a dear friend of mine was "force exposed" to Totoro and fell madly in love and demanded that I crochet her a little Totoro for "forcing" Totoro on her and to improve my crochet skills. I had some gray and pink and red yarn left over from a failed cat cave endeavor (my cats didn't grasp the concept) and thought why not?
As you can see, Totoro doesn't look great in pink and googly eyes are just not becoming...but it is recognizibly Totoro and the recipient was thrilled so that worked out. :D

Since then , I have collected many Totoro patterns, made freely available by generosity of very talented people. There are tons more but here are some of my favorite patterns.  I've tried most and the large set of 3 I am currently in the process of THINKING about attempt again as the first turned into a dud :S and you know that thing about first impressions? its true, I love this pattern to pieces but I have yet gotten over the initial fail (he has tiny lazy eyes and his fluffy belly is not even and, oh the list goes on...!  maybe 2016 will be better time for this, now that I have a few more projects under my belt...I tried to make this after only making a couple of projects and I had no idea that not all yarns were created equal).
 This is the only picture of the previously mentioned failure. Even so, look how FLIPPING ADORABLE it is!!!I still can't get over how PERFECT this looks with the teeny white one sitting on the leaf on the giant one...<3
I think its such a GREAT design  that captures the "details" of each creatures so well - and I really will try it again. The lady who came up with this (Lucy Ravenscar) also has a free patterns section filled with cute little designs, generously shared on her blog here.
2016, LESSSSSS DOOOOO DIIIIISSS!!!!!

This EASY BREEZY & super adorable Totoro is what I should have started with...but I didn't. This is shared by Mei at Amigurumei. She has a growing list of Free patterns on her blog as well, and they are really easy breezy. I made a Molang and Purin not long after and it turned out just ADORABLE...apparently, they're bunnies... ?






Laast but not least.... this fabulous pattern set from Sharon Ojala. I love this Cat bus... its the nicest one (in my humble opinion) out there so far and it LOOKS simple to do. LOVE it more because Totoro and the gang doesn't fit in it :D
I DID attempt the Blue Totoro shown here, but I don't seem to have a picture to share - and it really shouldn't be shared.... I was JUST trying to see if I can make this - so I used what I had which was gray and PINK with googly eyes. Which turned out rather hideous but, the pattern is super easy to follow. There is also a Grey Totoro I haven't tried, but its supposed to be smaller than the blue one(because after my attempt at the blue one, my ego exploded and I went charging headlong in to making the giant set by Lucy - so the failure with that set was a good wake up call in some ways ,lol deflated my ego quite a bit).

Well that's all folks! I hope you do give it a go and let me know how it goes! till next time,

Happy hookin'!!!!

Freebie Friday : Crochet apples and cherries

Back in Novemember 2014 I saw a cute crochet ghost ornament that grabbed all my heart strings and pulled it. It looked easy enough and my ego as a crafty gal was sky high having "successfully" made a cushion (it was supposed to be a cat cave really, but they didn't grasp that concept well). I was soon pressed to admit I had no idea what was going on when it came to amigurumi and humbly chose something super easy to make first - Cherries. Well, that wasn't my intention actually - I was looking for HOW to start crocheting and this cherry caught my eye on Youtube as it was one of thes shortest videos and I wasn't really into making FLAT appliques.

 I made A LOT of cute cherries that day (10) and I was starting to get comfortable with how crocheting worked. It was super easy to make and so ADORABLE.  The practical side of me said, "what will you do with this? will it just be a dust collector?" and I felt instantly bad even though it made me so happy to look at these little cherries. Then, just like a sign from up above this little meme came into my life and made it all better !!!

Yes, happiness IS useful - in fact, most useful thing ever.

So after I conquered cherries, I decided to try something BIGGER....an APPLE.
I don't have this apple I made anymore - I made this apple with a friend and her sister napped it before I can take a picture to show it.  Its another super duper easy project - and absolutely adorable. Unfortunately though, I didn't write down where I got them from in the tip-in pages of my agenda so I couldn't give credit to one this pattern came from. I used a 3mm hook (size E i think?) and light weight yarn I think - this yarn had lost its label so I bought it , which is why I couldn't say but its similar to my other lightweight yarns. it makes for a cute key chain! you can click HERE for pdf version for download, if you prefer.

3D apple key chain

·         lightweight yarn of your choice for apple

·         light weight yarn for leaf

·         2.5 or 3mm hook

·         key chain parts

Stiches used:

Sc = single crochet

dec = decrease

mc = magic circle 

Notes: when it says 2sc this means 2 sc in the same stitch, when the number comes AFTER, it means the amount of crochet in consecutive stiches. For example, sc2 means sc in each of the next two stitches.

rnd 1:                 mc 6st                                         (6)

Rnd2:                 inc around                                (12)

Rnd 3:                sc , inc around                         (18)

Rnd 4:                sc 2, inc around                      (24)

Rnd 5:                sc around                                  (24)

Rnd 6:                sc 3, inc around                      (30)

Rnd 7 -8:           sc around                                  (30)

Rnd 9:                sc 4, inc around                      (36)

Rnd 10 - 12:     sc around                                  (36)

Rnd 13:             sc 5, inc around                      (42)

Rnd 14:             sc around                                  (42)

Rnd 15:             sc 4 , dec around                      (36)

Rnd 16:             sc 3, dec around                      (30)

Rnd 17:             sc 2, dec around                      (24)

Rnd 18:             sc, dec around                        (18)

Rnd 19:             dec around                               (12)

F/O

Pull the yarn from the top to the bottom centre to make indent to give apple a shape, secure it with a few knots and  trim.

Leaf:

1: chain 5, sc into 2nd stich from the hook

2: hdc, dc,hdc 2

3: stem - ch2 , hdc 2

4: dc, hdc, sc

f/o and attach to apple.

OPTIONAL: attach key rings at the tip of the stem.

There once was a Youtube video on making an apple - I think that's where this came from - but I can't seem to find it now :( I hope the pattern is easy to understand and hope you enjoy!! This would be my first attempt at writing a pattern so let me know if I'm missing anything :S Of course,  feel free to share this pattern and what you made via my other social networks on FB or, instagram at shyni_moonlightings.

till next time!!!

Love always,

Shines

Goodbye DLP T_T it was good while it lasted.

YEAP, I fell off the blogging bandwagon...again. I think I'm just going to stop counting the many times I fall of this bandwagon and focus on the fact that I manage to come back to it pretty consistently....yes, there IS indeed a silver lining to every situation lol.

Anyhow, my crochet obsession has gone full blown - and as soon as I started to think that my "giant stash" of yarn was going down (instead of 2 giant bags, I can fit everything into ONE giant garbage bag), Michael's started their week long yarn sale.  SPEEEEAKING OF MICHAEL'S.... you know, this store was nowhere near my work or residence - or I never managed to find one. I knew one existed about an hour bus ride away and that was just too far for me to bother with. However now that I started crocheting and getting sorta serious about my arts and crafts hobby, a Michael's is in every corner I turn! one opened downtown Toronto, and there is TWO near my work, right on my way from and to work.  Although the selection in this store leaves lots to be desired as it is a smaller store, it still makes me happy to gander after the work day is over. The good part of this is, that its strengthening my spending control - since the store is so accessible now, I don't buy everything  I want at once for current and future projects I may engage in. WHICH is gggggRRRREEEAT!

ANYWAY...sorry rambled off there... lol

Earlier this year ,I had a whirlwind affair with Documented Life Project. This is a fantastic project - uses one book for 3 purposes ( I LOVE IT)and was a fabulous way to get started on the artistic journey.  I saw some from 2014 and the prompts were thought provoking and the artworks by others were just fantastic fun to look at. So I had a go this year. Although I thought it very commercial that they decided to endorse Dylusions art journal and abandon the 3-in-one book idea that originally made it popular, the weekly prompts REALLY spoke to me and related 100% to my life at the time and I was madly in love with it.   But then some point - I think mid May - I found that the prompts were not as...thought provoking. They were posted late, and I dunno - it felt like it was starting to get half-hearted. I couldn't relate to any of the prompts (which was odd cuz it was travel themed and I had just come back from travelling) and I stopped entirely by July.
I also slowly started to realize that I need to separate my journals from planners. It worked for me when I was just trying to get back into journaling and being creative; but as the juices start flow regularly, I found that I was spending more time being artsy in my planner vs. planning in my planner and I was starting to need more real estate for my creativity and stopped planning in my planner altogether  :O .  After some thought and with good dose of hesitation, I separated my planner from my creatives - I guess its true that you should never mix business with pleasure as one WILL overtake the other.  I still think this is a great project to get your juices flowing and will probably fall back to it (well ,the idea anyway, its too commercial now for me) whenever I feel its dwindling, but for now I need to say good bye to it.

The thing is, I still had tons of tip-in pages stuck to my planner....and on it I had started to write down some of the crochet patterns I wanted to try out that seemed to be within my skill level (waste not want not) - I actually now have a giant binderful of these patterns shared by generous souls on the internet XD.  Some I've tried successfully, some I have not and I really should because they are uber cute and should not be wasted. Anyhow, I thought I would start sharing these on line with my two cents as I struggle to make these, starting next week.

I have SO MANY free things I found online that I feel should be shared - so  I am going to start a Freebie Friday blog to share them  *YAY*. I'm going to start with crochet patterns because, as I say, I have a giant 3" binderful of patterns I really must try and sort through and I want to make a commitment to sharing/blogging. So along with Freebie Friday, I'm going to do a Crafty Update posts- which will just show what I'm working on now. Hopefully by committing to these two things I can follow through in my commitment to share more what I know  and help others find their creative (cuz everyone has it) and what I'm up to (and not fall of the bandwagon again LOL).  Till next time,

Love Always,
Shines.

Getting ready for the holidays.

So....I have to confess. I THINK I am addicted to crochet; I've been hesitant to say so because I only started doing this since last...November-ish time which isn't that long ago and I thought I was in the honeymoon stage in this relationship...but I DO THINK I am addicted because any chance my hands are free, my brain thinks " OOOUU!! let's do a round on <whatever I'm working on>" and this thought passes me when I'm waiting for the train, bus, sipping coffee, appointments....after work, before sleep...whenever and wherever. I even have a little travel ziplock baggie that goes everywhere with me.  Now that I travel extensively to work, this addiction has become more evident.

WHICH IS FINE BY ME.

I do my journaling at home and crochet on the go....which to me, feel like I'm in therapy all the time and I seem to be happier so I can't even complain. On top of it all, my once endless project list is getting shorter, which is also a cause for celebration :) as it allows me to add more projects such as this cute nativity set. IS THIS NOT THE CUTEST THING EVER!  I really must STOP  tinkering with it....and making little additions but the MORE I look at it the MORE stuff I want to add ...thankfully, every addition has only enhanced it - but I am so afraid that if I keep adding, it will eventually be ruined...but I can't stop adding embellishments.

This was made for a someone who recently found herself in God; I am so happy for her because she seems so much happier and more at peace - and while I don't know this person all that well nor agree with organized religion, I think the event of finding inner peace (via whatever method) should be celebrated - and I thought this would be a lovely little xmas gift to celebrate this event.

While I have yet embarked in pattern making (mostly because that scares me and there are so many free ones I want to make first I don't know if I ever will), this set can actually be found on Ravelry and on Pebie's blog which is FULL of the cutest things. She really makes these patterns with lots of love - its so organized in multiple languages which, is SUPER TIME CONSUMING (another reason I'm prolly not going to write patterns...I'm a maker ).  She has the entire scene patterned out - with the ox, donkey, the family, the sages....and OMG that baby Jesus is cute beyond words. No I didn't make everyone because I didn't have the colors that could substitute.  The pattern is easy to follow and the project is so quick I really enjoyed these patterns. ANYWAY.

Although I didn't have all the colors used (they aren't even in the same weight yarn really)but I feel like it turned out pretty well. I didn't end up putting in the eyes mostly because I sewed the head to the body THINKING that I had eyes in but, didn't...lmao. The final size - is about 3.5" - Joseph is this height and he is the tallest. My Maria's cloak is also longer (reaches her bodice) and I added some stray yarn in the basket and gave it a base so everyone can stand together. I REALLY want to try to make the whole set one of these days. Definitely for next year, I am going to make the entire set.

What I think I'm going to do is make a bunch of Xmas themed things  - December isn't that far away and neither is winter....and this little quickie totally made me want to make more Christmas things... I'll let you know how I do with that!

Update: I couldn't stop myself in the details....and added more stuff...here you see version 1-3 lol.

Throwback Thurday: Book O' Doodles

ALRIGHT. So this isn't really a throwback....its more like Oh My Lanta, what did I do!!! WHAT HAPPENED!!! LET ME FIX THIS QUICK kinda moment.

In the recent past I accidentally deleted my Youtube account - well, half intentionally because my playlists were getting out of control and I wasn't really doing anything with it besides hoarding videos about EVERYTHING so I might as well start a fresh. Since I didn't do anything with Youtube on regular basis, I totally forgot about the two videos I had on there, both I really was rather fond of making - and I wouldn't have noticed had someone not asked me about the missing videos ....!! I managed to find one of two - my favourite thankfully.

This was awesome fun.
 In 2012, I discovered bunch of talented people that gave new meaning (at least for me) to doodling and I was uber inspired and HAD TO TRY IT SOMEWHERE..... smallish in case it turns out badly. I had a tiny 3.5 x 5" ish Moleskine planner a thoughtful friend had gifted me that I didn't know what to do with(it was just such small space), and tried my hand at copying some of the awesome artworks, mostly from Maykel Nunes. This took sooo much longer and so much more work than I thought it would!! It is true what they say; the best way to learn , is to try to copy the work of one you admire.

Although I don't think doodling is quite for me - this was an excellent experiment and I love having a little record of discovering doodle art!!!

Stuck. between a rock, pointy thing and a hard place.

Well. it certainly pours when it rains...although, in my case it seems to be pouring all the time. I am so glad that August has ended finally and a new month has started - I hope this month is better than its predecessor.

I've become unemployed - and broke a personal record and was "let go" from 2 jobs in a single month! I can't barely count the times I've ever actually been let go, let alone twice in a month and that was certainly a shocker. The first was a corporate gig and I honestly think this poor man made a bad hiring mistake. I was his first helping hand to be hired - and he wanted me to overrule the 3 offices he had - more of a vice president than the "office manager/receptionist" position he had listed. I didn't have any of the required licensing or field experience as a broker and I think he thought that can be compensated via schooling - but really, experience can't be bought as we know - so we parted rather amicably even though this screwed up all of my plans.  Luckily, I got a part-time gig in a tiny gift shop I've been frequenting and then was promptly removed after training due to politics and some undue jealousy issues.... One I managed to befriend said I was overqualified and many of the staff felt that I would be the natural successor to management position ,which everyone was sort of hoping to get but not with me there. *boo*

I was told once that you should not hit to ground running in every job you do because if you outshine them all from the start they will turn and kick you out - you need to be smart about it - I'm clearly not a bright person when it comes to this sort of thing.... :(

My ego and esteem took a pretty hard hit and now I am, defeated.  I have made enough lemonades with the buckets of lemons poured onto me to last me several life times.
I wonder if I would have been better off to have stayed at a job that made me feel most unwanted but gave me a steady income than risk it all for something that seemed better.

I have spent so much time making everyone else rich for a small cut of the profit and while I wish I had my own, I am too much of a chicken to start anything of my own,  and I haven't a clue what I would do....and how would I fund myself during those first years?

 I just want to do what many take for granted; have a steady income and finally start a family with someone that loves me....and the opportunity has finally come knocking but I am not able to take it...

Why?

Because while I managed to find someone that loves me he's not in the same country and has hellova complicated history.  Communication is a barrier we can probably overcome with time but seeing that we're not even in the same country, living together and trying things out first isn't even an option....
I have good mind to pack it up and live there for a little while but what would I do to survive?  I have nothing but debt holding me here but it is enough to lock me down here...
Maybe that's an excuse? maybe I am just to selfish and scared to give up what little I have here, go there for a few months to try it out only to find that it doesn't work  than have to come back and try to restart myself from nothing again. I HATE RESTARTING , that is all I seem to have been doing.
I wish I had an answer....or someone to soundboard this off of...:(

Bookbinding is taking over ...no not really.

Alright, I AM ON A ROOOOOOOLLLL here, with bookbinding.
I have watched too many Youtube videos now to NOT continue to make my own little journals to not only use up even MORE piles of stuff I have, but to try out some funky ideas I've seen people do!

I STILL have NO room for new craft supplies....AT ALL. But the 3 little boxes full of paper is now void of all paper sheets and have been filled with tags and other goodies to go IN the books instead which provides slight more room on my shelf.  I don't have a firm goal or anything as to when I can get more supplies but currently my gut says I have too much stuff I don't use and I should really refrain from getting more stuff that I'm prolly not going to use for a long long time.

I have also discovered, that I don't think I'm a stamper...or maybe I'm just doing it wrong? I love to write, cut, glue, draw, stencil but stamping doesn't seem to yet have found a spot in my heart. I'm surprised that I even like stenciling? but apparently this is a fact.

I had made a few "naked" books - books with minimal decor so that the recipient can use it to explore their creative side and with lots of space to write. I ramble a lot and use journals for writing mostly - so I made some journals that is mainly for writing but with some decors so should you be moved to doodle or be creative, you can without feeling the pressure of the BLANK WHITE PAGE.

I've also started making the journal/planner book thing I intend to use for year 2016, using up more of my paper stash - I've been watching how people are frantic about Midoris, faudoris, Hobonichi etc. and I'm not 100% convinced? I LOOOOOVE my $3 planner from the dollar store that has the yearly, monthly and weekly set up the way I wanted....but I am super intrigued by this "grid paper planning" business ....and guess what? I found 3 packs of grid paper in my stash and decided to make  some books....I've not quite worked out how I'm going to use this so as soon as I do, I will do a video of it.

 I also started making my Book of 2015 already; I know that sounds funny but last year, I didn't get around to putting a BOOK OF 2014 until end of the year and THAT WAS A PAIN.  I mean, all it is the cover - a place to house all my "art bits" from the year but it seems to always take the longest.... I actually think I have miscalculated the thickness of the cover but we shall see and I will certainly do a flip of it for sure in the new year. I am actually super happy with how the cover turned out but we will see what happens - there is ALWAYS something with covers -_-

Anyhow, that was all for the day :)

Take care,
Love always,
Shines.