Just a quick update...

I've started selling on Carousell! Just to clarify, the things in there are not going to be the same as my Etsy shop. I carve, sew, crochet, felt, and love beading, and my etsy shop is going to look very messy if I sell everything I make in the same website. So I've decided to split my goods into 2 - the classic and asian into my Etsy shop, the random and colourful into the Carousell shop.

In case you're wondering what's Carousell, here's a link for you to see how it looks like. But it's really a phone app that allows you to snap away and list the items, which makes it really easy for sellers to put their stuffs out there. Carousell is more of a huge marketplace where you can sell everything and anything you like, so if you're looking for handmade items you'll need to look under the "design and craft" section. Purchasing is not as easy and direct as Etsy though, and requires a lot of communication between buyer and seller. This is the slightly more inconvenient part.

And a quick update on the new crafts I've been making! I'm so thankful for the free afternoons these days.

For quicker (and shorter) versions of my craft updates, please search for the username baisimu and follow me on instagram!

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!

I'll be a full time crafter!

In a day's time.

Tomorrow is the submission of probably the final essay in my entire life, and as much as I am going to miss my uni life, I cannot wait for the period of idleness to begin!

Of course I'm not going to be completely idle. During this period of time I am going to catch up on all the things I've put on hold due to my final semester in school. There are loads of Chinese books piling up, (mostly books of 倪匡, a brilliant science fiction writer from Hongkong), piles of notes waiting to go into the recycling bin, and a messy bookshelf waiting to be sorted out! There are also painful resolutions, such as making it a point to work out twice a week. But most importantly, I'm going to make good use of this time to hand-make as much as I can. I miss sewing so so much.

I've bought quite a lot supplies online so I could expand my in-stocks, and I plan to have at least 120 items in my store by the end of May! I also intend to learn needle felting and bought this felting kit from Fairfolk on etsy.

I'll probably end up busier than when I was in school.

The thought of the freedom ahead makes me burst with excitement and bliss!

But meanwhile, I have about 2500 more words to go for this final essay. I'm going to miss school terribly, because it has been such a happy and memorable 4 years of my life. The friends I've made, the lectures I've attended, the professors who have been so extremely kind and nice to each and every one of us! And the things I've been learning have been so rewarding and inspiring, it's hard to leave it all behind, even if I know I'll eventually still do something that is Chinese related.

I am quite glad though, that the final paper of my uni life is on Chinese philosophy, something I've always loved. So I'll be going back to my essay for now. And the next time we meet, I'll be a full time crafter, no longer a student.

Till then!

Instagram.

Ever since I got an iPhone I've been hooked onto this app called Instagram, where people take pictures and share them. You could like or comment on the pictures, and follow a person if you happen to like all of the pictures in there!

I signed up for an account in the name of Baisimu, but most of the pictures are snap shots of my daily personal activities, or beautiful things I see along the way, wherever I'm heading.

Here are a few of my personal favourites:

A close-up picture of my antique Singer sewing machine! I use it to make all the sewn crafts in baisimu, which are all very sturdy and lasting :)

It keeps raining these days over here in Singapore.

This particular picture was taken in Punggol, during a LRT ride. I always try to stand at the ends of the train, just to look out of the window.

Mr Bean is the bane of my life! This little 3D puzzle costs $4.20, and is pretty useless. But it's too cute I just have to bring it home! I picked the ice cream one because the Ice cream Mr Bean looks greedy.

I particularly like this one, that is taken without any filter. I was having black tea with ripe fruits with wx just this morning :)

And after lunch, we decided to have coffee and the nearest starbuckets. I was wearing just t-shirt and shorts, and figured a simple tote bag like this would be best to bring along.

Are you addicted to instagram as well? Let me know! Leave behind your username if you don't mind. Search for the username "Baisimu" to see mine!

If you don't use the app but would like to see my pictures online, here they are.

Enjoy :)

Some shots around the house

若无闲事挂心头，
便是人间好时节。



虽然新年已经过了，但是我们家都懒得把装饰拿下来。不过新加坡一年四季都是春嘛，这样一直放着也很不错！

Of ice cream vendor and a barber by the street.

Happy Valentine's day!

Today we decided to have a touristy day around Singapore.

Ice cream vendor at Bugis street selling cups of assorted flavoured ice cream at a dollar each!

An old fashioned barber shop spoted at Joo Chiat.

Monday is great...

Because I've got no school! So the morning was spent at the market with gm, and a little shopping by myself. I bought a set of mini postcards, and on the way home I thought of a few ideas to do up the wall of my workspace! It was really quite random.

The pictures are lovely! I want to have a cup of coffee right away, out in the open under the morning sun, on a squarish little wooden table. And watch the people on the streets make their way to work.

And so this is how the wall of my work space now looks like. I made it by pasting little wooden cuboids on the wall using removable tapes, and impressed the "handmade" sign on them in brown ink. Then I used jute twine to connect the cuboids, and it is completed with the little postcards and wooden tags!

Ok I know the second row is a little ugly. It has a receipt from the post office and a to-do list. I thought since it's at my workspace I might as well make it useful!

Now i'm too busy admiring it to do work. :) Maybe it's coffee time!

Tales of the orient

This amazingly delicate treasury is curated by Kate, a lovely seller who makes cards and badges! (view her cute and cheery shop here) and she was kind enough to include my handprinted bookmark!

Please view the treasury and say something nice if you like it too!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c3fe303f5eb8eefc3b86321/tales-of-the-orient?index=26

Thank you, kate! :)

And since we're on the topic of Asian stuffs, I guess i shall just add in a picture that i haven't had the chance to blog about: My lovely tea pot set!

It was bought in China last year, chosen by a friend of mine who loves tea and drinks it everyday. We painstaking brought it back together with a lot of books that caused our luggage to be severely overweight. But now, sitting by the door enjoying tea with my grandma is one of the best things in life. :)

竹。

Did this in class today! wanted to try out something else besides chinese characters, so the previous week i did zodiac signs (pig and dragon) and today i did bamboo!

And just now while typing the title of this entry i realised the chinese word of "Bamboo" really does look like bamboo!

Perhaps I could make a set of note cards or gift tags using this seal. Wonder how they'll look like!

:)

Have been very slow with etsy listing these days because I have started work in a school here. It'll only last for 3 weeks, but during this period of time i probably won't have time to make a lot of new stuffs. But i'll try to do it after school, and see how things go after the attachment!

Happy wednesday!

I've gotten 25 likes on facebook few days back but there's a bug in facebook which wouldn't allow me to change the URL, but now it's been fixed and I finally have my own page! Yayy!

I think facebook is truly the easiest way to let people know about your latest updates. You could list a new item on etsy and it gets shown for only a few seconds, or blog about something that is very interesting but have no one to read about it. But if you post that on facebook, and you have about 816916382 followers, and imagine there are at least 10% who caught it on their newsfeed, then you'll get 8169163 views!

But i only have 29 people liking me on facebook so far, and 10% of it makes a grand total of 2.9 :(

So add me on facebook please! :)

Ok that's all about the facebook page thingy.

It's a very happy wednesday because I completed an alchemy order for a nice and friendly and patient customer today!

Here it is.

This is the first seal that required such detailed and intricate carving, that I had to be extra careful with it! The previous seals I made had only 1 or 2, maximum 3 characters on them. But this one has 4, and in 篆书 style! which definitely made it more challenging.

But one of the most important things i learnt from carving, would be that it doesn't have to be perfect. When i first started learning how to carve i was extremely careful! and at the end of it when my teacher saw it, he took it from me, deliberately carved out of line, and knocked off the corners of the stone!

The final look of the seal was so much better than when I tried to keep everything perfect.

这应该就叫做缺陷美吧。

Stationary Holder

I'm so excited about this new product! It's a squarish bucket-like stationary holder! I love the color combination of this holder - the clean and raw look of canvas with the brown stripes of the fabric. It feels so muji and zen!

The top part is folded down which makes the depth of the holder adjustable. So I made it real short and use it to keep my bookmarks instead! It has the perfect height to go into my drawer :)

I will be making more of these to list on etsy!

And a new one is listed on Etsy today! (updated June 30)

Handsewn handbag

Was experimenting with a new kind of bag besides tote, so I took out those fabric I got weeks ago from Joo chiat complex and started sewing!

The handle's made from a brown fabric bought from Arab street. I thought the fabrics at Joo Chiat complex were actually much cheaper! with better service too!

It's just big enough for a wallet, handphone, and other little items like keys. GM liked it so I gave this to her, and she could use it during her morning trips to the market! :)

I love sunday mornings

Made my first sale on etsy today! and it is a chinese seal with the word 'love' carved onto it. :) I can't wait for it to reach the buyer. The etsy community is so much fun! You get to post on forum, discuss about each other's shops and receive constructive comments about your own. Best of all you get to list your handmade items and sell them!

This blogshop will still be around though! Because some items are not worth it to list on etsy (there's a listing fee), so please do stick around! Especially during this month coz we're having a 50% storewide sale only for the items in www.baisimu.blogspot.com!

Went down to bras pasar today with D to source for materials at Art friend, because i'm experimenting with tote bags these days :) and we stopped by this little shop + cafe at the 3rd story. Cat Socrates. It sells books, note pads, photographs made into postcards, and so many other stuffs that you'll fall in love with! and they had a Polaroid exhibition today!

Oh by the way, since the main selling website will be over at www.baisimu.etsy.com, I've decided to turn this into a personal blog where I'll blog about my handicrafts. Like when I make my first sale, when I've successfully completed the very first tote bag which is good enough to be listed, etc etc... The items for sale which have originally been here will stay, so yes you can shop at this little blogshop! But just bear in mind that for new items and handicrafts of greater variety, you'll have to look over at Etsy :)