Target reached!

I finally have 120 items in my shop!

I was supposed to hit 120 by mid May, so this came a little late. But the target is reached, and it calls for a mini celebration! Yay!

Purchases are most definitely welcome though, I don't mind working harder to keep it at 120 if the number decreases from all the sales! Heh :D

Here's a new seal that I really like. Click to view!

Sneak peek!

I've made a few buckets and multi-purpose purses with the new ribbons that reached me not too long ago! will be uploading them on etsy soon!

The one in the last picture is already up. Check it out!

***

原本应是无所事事的日子，竟比上学更忙碌。忙着上巴刹，忙着手工制作，忙着在午餐与晚餐之间喝咖啡吃点心，忙着看书，忙着喝茶，忙着学煮菜，忙着打扫房间，忙着拍拖。

虽然偶尔还是会想念上课时那种思维的活跃，老师的冷笑话，以及与好朋友朝夕相处的日子；但是现在，也很享受。

两种截然不同的快乐，却都是快乐。因为活在当下。

Sometimes,

I fall in love with something instantly and just have to have it.

Like this measuring tape ribbon I got just a few days back in a small cafe. I couldn't wait to start making things with it, and the end product is what you see here - a mini bucket! And I liked the end result so much I thought, hey I could make a series of mini buckets with ribbons of different designs! So I searched on etsy and found these beautiful ones...

I can't wait to get my hands on them! And I'm so excited about this new project I just have to share it here. Even before I start to make the rest of the mini buckets!

Just one little problem though. Because they're so small (small enough to fit into a palm), I'm not quite sure what they can be used for apart from storing small stationaries and accessories. What other knick-knacks can go in there? If you have one of these what would you use it for? Please share because I would be interested to know! :) Also, is twelve dollars reasonable for this? I would really appreciate your honestly!

Here's another listing I've uploaded. In my previous post I wrote about being a full-time crafter in time to come. And the time is here! I'll try to list new items more regularly, and brainstorm new designs I can add to the shop! Meanwhile, I retook some photos for the older items, and hopefully they'll find someone lovely who appreciate them soon!

Check out this mini seal I made for fun. It is so small, I decided to just carve something simple and classic. I love the picture though it looks so dslr-ish and professionally taken! Hahaha ok getting too proud of myself. But really, I was using Canon ixy, my trusted digital camera of 3 years that I bought from Japan.

So far my days of being a full time crafter have been wonderful! I wake up in the morning, have breakfast and coffee and laze around watching tv, and get started on making things only after lunch. It's awesome.

So yes, please do drop by my online shop at www.baisimu.etsy.com more often! My target is to have 120 in my shop by mid May. See you!

A custom request

By my cousin who's getting it as a birthday present for a friend. I'm putting the pictures here since it won't go up on etsy, I can experiment with the photography!



Do you prefer this picture or the usual ones in my etsy shop? Let me know!

Sneak preview!

Neutral Niceties

I always get a pleasant surprise when I find out Baisimu's been featured in someone's treasury. Even more so if it appeals to me aesthetically! This one by FuturePrimitive definitely did :) I hope it'll make it to the fp!

And the lucky item that was featured...

Canvas coin purse in black!

(Click to view the listing)

Handmade envelops

Today we decided to make envelops out of muji paper to store pictures of a gathering that would be distributed to 25 people.
The envelops were completed with a Chinese seal impression that says "happiness".

25 sets of muji with jute twin.

Love。

Chinese seal, Love.



Love the colors in this! I just got an iphone from my sister recently and I can't get enough of all the fun things you could do with the photo-taking apps! This picture is taken from my etsy shop and edited using Instagram. Lovely, isn't it?

Parcels make my day.

Quite some time ago I found this shop through the featured seller article and was so impressed by the work I just had to buy something! And I did.

And it arrived this week! It was a good buy, the corners are magnetic so your items are safe in there, and it is very well made, out of a read book and real pages. You could even carry it around with your wallet and phone in it!

It's amazing

to see your own handmade item being featured on etsy's front page! Click to view the lovely treasury curated by Magalerie :)

Etsy How to: Packaging Bookmarks!

Occasionally outside a cafe you'll find a rack full of postcards, with a few that happen to be really cute! I used to have the habit of collecting those, and as they pile up I've been thinking of ways to use them differently, so they can function as something else when not used as a random postcard while writing to a friend!

And as a handmade crafts seller, I always have to come up with practical and effective ways to package the items. So quite some time ago I came up with a method to package the bookmarks! And today while I was at it I thought I would take a few pictures and share the process here.

:)

First you got to pick out the beautiful postcards! I usually try to choose those that match the colors of the particular bookmark.

And then I draw a line in the middle!

And cut it into half.

Punch two holes on top of the postcard,

And make a cut from the hole to the top of the postcard.

And the last step: Coil the bookmark around it, push it into a plastic bag and seal it!


I am very happy with the finished look! Plus the postcards will no longer be idling in my drawer :)

Random mumblings

I recently just completed a custom order for a lovely buyer on etsy, who had a very good idea of what she wanted. The seal is carved in 篆书(Zhuan'shu) style, a kind of writing that was used during the Han and Qin dynasty about 2000 years ago.

Chinese characters never fail to fascinate me. And I'm so grateful that writings from so long ago can still be seen now.

***

Christmas's coming! And apart from the other gifts for exchanging, this year I bought cute funny little badges from Beanforest for my sisters and little cousins!

They arrived very quickly, especially during this busy period! I can't wait to give them away!

The footnotes badge is for myself. Actually, citation is one of the things i hate most about essay writing! But it's something I have to overcome, thus the badge to constantly remind me that I like them! I'll try to, at least.

***

To end on a completely random note, I was looking through the local shops on etsy and thought that was a nice representation of Baisimu, so I took a screen shot out of it!

Local talents :)

I've recently joined the etsy teams to get to know more people in etsy, and the Singapore etsy team is one of the first few I've chosen to be a part of! It's nice to be in a community full of local talent, and it was a pleasant surprise to find out that I was featured in this beautiful treasury today!

Please click on the image to check out the wonderful items handmade by Singaporean crafters. :)

Winter's here,

And everyone's starting to keep a look out for some great stocking stuffers! Things are definitely easier when someone has curated a lovely treasury for you to choose from... :)

Click to view this lovely treasury by Verozeta!

Thank you notes

It's such a joy to receive a parcel that comes with a handwritten Thank you note! And a pretty little thank you note can really make my day. And I also love writing thank you notes to my buyers, and apart from the red chinese character 樂, I'm always sourcing for different cards and notes to write my message on.

And today when I passed by a shop full of cute, whimsical stuffs, I decided to stop by and take a look. It was full of sweet, pastel looking note pads and books! and look what I found to write my Thank you note on!

I bought 2 sets of this little note pads. The size is just right for a short Thank you message. I can't wait to include it in the next parcel I'm going to send out :)

Let me know what you think! :)

Two types of traditional Chinese seals

I've come up with a new way for the packaging of these bookmarks by recycling the postcards that I used to collect! And I stayed up till 2am yesterday to select the nicer designs, cut them into halves and wrap them in plastic. It was so much fun!

wow.

I woke up to 8 new sales today (and a couple of new conversations) and was wondering why! Usually on average it would be about one or two sales in a week, or nothing if I'm unlucky, but 8 overnight! That's a first!

So in one of the conversations, an interested buyer congratulated me on making the list! And I went to search around on etsy, and found out that I was featured in an Etsy blog post!

http://www.etsy.com/storque/spotlight/etsy-finds-eastern-horizons-10422/?ref=fp_blog_title

I'm so happy now! Off to packing and stuffs :) Bye!

front page of etsy!

I'm so thrilled! the canvas bookmark got featured in this lovely treasury curated by glitzgliter and made it to the front page of etsy!

See the treasury here :)

those little wooden tags...

I've finally stopped procrastinating and made those wooden tags into bookmarks! I've thought about earrings and all, ideas that people have suggested in the previous post. But at the moment they're not yet feasible with these wooden tags. So before they can be turned into wearable accessories, I'll have to source for more suitable materials first!

And I'm so glad to have found this supply seller on etsy! Her shop seems complete with everything you need to hand make jewelry with images! So I've purchased a few items and can't wait for them to reach me! So please keep a look out, I'm slowing increasing the range of products in my shop in the next few weeks! :)

Hand carved chinese seals and hand printed Crafts by Baisimu on etsy. Click to enter!