Dip Dye Chair Legs

If you have been following me on Instagram, you'd have known that I'd picked up this awesome stool from the trash area underneath my void deck.

I can't believe someone would toss it out. Mainly because I've been thinking about getting one just like this.
Of course though, I can see why someone would. The legs have started to rot.

I didn't think it was that big a deal and thought it'll be a relatively easy fixer-upper. Already I knew in mind what I could do with it — dip dye its legs.
I've decided to document the process and make a simple DIY tutorial.

First things first. Materials you'll need aside from your beat up stool:

Masking tape, or painter's tape + spray paint colour of your choice.

Tape off areas where you don't want the paint to go on. Make sure you get nice straight lines where the legs are. This ensures you get a neat finish.
Everywhere else doesn't really matter so long as you've sealed it off proper.

On hindsight, we should have sanded down the areas where we'd wanted spray painted too. This would have allowed our paint to grip on the wood better.

Take your spraying outdoors. You don't want to be breathing in any fumes. 

Set up your spraying area with some tarp (or newspapers) to prevent the ruining of any walls or floors.

This was what we did. We'd created a setup at our corridor.

Not necessary, but we'd placed a board down from the stool's legs as a further surety we don't get paint on any bits we didn't want either.

Follow your can's instructions and paint as many coats needed. 

Leave your stool to dry and peel off the tape after.

 

Yay, you've just given your furniture new life! This stool is going into the corner of our studio as a plant stand. I think it looks super cute, like it has socks on. 

All we need to do now is to decide on a plant.

My New Pets

I've got Loki, my betta, a filtered tank the other day. I have had him for exactly 1 year now.

I thought to shower him with some good lovin'. Previously, he lived in a bowl.

I was finding it too tedious anyways to give it a good cleaning every week as the algae builds up quite quickly in there.
More so now that I'm 7 months pregnant, I really am not feeling like taking on this chore anymore.

Naturally, with a huge 36 cm tank for only one critter, I thought he might need some companions aside from Merry & Pippin — my jolly cute marimos.

So, I got him some shrimp friends! I have named them Tiny Colony.
Aside from being overly eager about meeting his new pals (he chowed down on some shimplets), Loki seems to like having folks around.

I've got 8 of them. They are so much fun to watch! They are constantly busy.

Reflections

I am stunned to think how I've been doing this for three years now. When I first started way back in 2012, I would never have thought I'll be here today. Surely, I have dreamt it, yes. Yet, I'd never have thought it'd come to a reality.

Me. This girl. With absolutely no education nor degree in arts (minus a short design elective on colours I took in poly and a metal smithing course, which I've yet to make use of), who's just sitting here at home alone working quietly away, reading up on everything and anything that tickles my fancy, then making it work via trial & errors. I would never have thought it possible for the dreams I had for my business: get featured on publications, teach workshops, be commissioned for illustrations, heck — just have anybody liking and wanting to buy the stuff I'm making!

With all of my heart I have tonnes of gratitude to pour forth. For friends and family who have believed in me when I didn't. For everyone who's joined me on this journey, refreshing me with your kind words through emails, FB & Instagram comments and supporting my small business.

Maybe my terms of success might be vastly different from yours, but whatever I've cooked up in this knobbin' of mine, with truthfully quite little of my own initiative, has amazingly come to pass.

When I try to look ahead into what this year might bring, I am very much excited and honestly filled with a bit of trepidation too. Should things go as predicted, we will be welcoming a little boy into our lives in a span of 3+ months. I do not know how to juggle motherhood in the mix, at least not yet. Still, I've always wanted to be a mama. I've constantly said this to anybody who'd asked: the whole reason why I've set my heart to do what I do is just so that I can be a stay-at-home-mum.

I have so many ideas floating in my brain for my business that worries me if I can do all that I'd planned. Will I have the time/energy/ability/finances now that a kid is on the way? are some questions that invade my cranium throughout the day. It's moments like these that I have to pull back and remind myself of my purpose. I am not here to amass stuff.

"Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labour over it in vain; unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain." More than anything, I'm in awe at how God has willed all these for me. I am most humbled by how much He cares. Whatever success I've had is absolutely from Him. There's nothing I can claim credit for; not my talents; not even my physical ability to create + make.

I have seen You in the sanctuary, I have seen Your power and glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

To say thank you, I'm having a 30% sale on selected styles and sizes on my Etsy. Use "YAY30" upon checkout to redeem it.

I am SO bad at maintaining my blog

Last year's resolution was to blog more. I failed. My last post was 6 months ago and so many things has happened since.

This year I want to blog more again too. Though I'm really not sure if I'm gonna keep up.

1. Let's start the very first post of 2015 with my catssistant, Lights, being cute.

2. I've gotten into doing lots more embroidery portraits and really enjoy coming up with them

3. This is my latest commission: a couple celebrating their wedding anniversary

4. Some new work that I'm in the midst of, think marbling + leather

5. If you've been following me on my Instagram or Facebook, you'd have found out I'm expecting our son, Eden, come either late April or early May!

6. So far I've made a pair of leather moccasins, a sleeveless onesie and just today, a pair of leggings for him

7. This is the first time I'm working with knit, so you can bet I'm pretty proud of myself with how things came out. Patterns employed are stamps I've carved years back. Thought to revisit them again. Am definitely starting a kids' line if anybody's curious.

8. Excited about the latest workshop I'll be conducting for the Purrzaar Market on 7th Feb, held at Within. Check http://www.within.sg for more info and sign up. Apparently we'll be working out in a beautiful courtyard. It's gonna be good.

Studio stills

It's a little bit more complicated than this, but let's just say I did some work for ACRE last week and got these Flensted mobiles as payment.
Two beautiful mobiles for making one of their clients a noren - pretty sweet deal if I should say so myself. 

I love the way they softly change and take on different shapes. Mesmerising to watch.

I thought to show you this side of my pretend studio too, since I hardly. This is my very first plant nook, before I'd decided to have another one nearer my sewing machines.

Current state of my machine table: Messy

Current state of my studio assistant: Slack/Cute

I'd also worked on an illustration commission for another wedding.
This time was something simpler;  thank you cards the couple wanted displayed on their reception table for guests to take home.

What thoughtful words and how cute of them to have stuck it on coloured popsicle sticks!

Propating Propagation

Making roast for dinner tonight and I have all these rosemary and thyme left over. So obviously, I'm propagating them. The clear glassed ones are gonna be kept in my pretend studio, while I'll leave the brown mugs in the kitchen. Will be exciting to see which ones develop roots first.

My first batch of rosemary propagation experiment reveals it takes close to 2 weeks for any roots to sprout. I've put three branches in, and only this one took root. Even then, as you can see, it has only slightly developed.

Earlier in the week I'd received the wedding invite I did illustrations for.
The illustration is for the front of the invite and it came out absolutely beautifully on print.

P.S. I'm taking illustration commissions!
If you would like for me to illustrate your wedding invites too (or whatever, really), just hit me up at hello(at)graciechai(dot)com

Still life

About work:

I embroidered a portrait of a couple who got married on Labour Day

 And dyed some silk yardage 

Then turned it into a custom dress 

I really like working with silk and feeling it against my skin as I sew.
I also really like dyeing yardage. It's the same method I'm doing, but results are unique every time.

 Here, keep me making more of these one of a kind dresses, guys

About plants I'm regenerating:

Carrot, Day 1
This was scrap from making stew last night. Just thought to give it a go. Greens are already growing, which is great.
I love fast growing plants. Sits well with my lack of patience.

Pineapple, Day 0
This is definitely on a whim. While running errands today, I came across a corridor garden and there was a pineapple plant with a tiny baby pineapple growing out of it.
Let's just say I was inspired and wanted one of my own.  

& Loki's little face watching me groove to MØ.
She's my new jam. Give her cover of Spice Girls' "Say You'll Be There" a listen.

Bloom

I'm so glad May is here, because April was a killer busy month for me.

With work finally caught up on I can pick up my list of never ending personal projects again. Yippy-hurrah.

One of the items on that list is to learn how to photograph properly. So far I've just been winging it. But I think it's high time I actually understood all the dials and buttons / aperture and shutter speed business.

So I worked out a pretty ace deal with this talented friend of mine. I'd teach him how to hem his pants and he'll impart me some of his mad photography skills. I have yet to fulfil my side of the trade, but that's not my fault. Alex is a busy bee. He's so busy I can't even hyperlink his website/portfolio on here to show you how good he is cause he's yet to set it up real sweet.



Another thing I've been doing lately too is something like plant hoarding. I am serious about transforming my pretend studio into some sort of a jungle. This anthurium is my newest. I've also gone about the house collecting all sorts of useless metal tins lying around and spraying them gold and copper, repurposing them into planters.



Besides going out to nurseries/flea markets to purchase them, I've started regenerating plant scraps from our meals' preparations. You know, to save money. So far, I've got some beautiful sweet potato plants and garlic shoots sprouting up. Gave propagating plants a shot too. Mint has been wonderfully easy to do so. Within a few days, roots sprout. Rosemary is testing my patience a little. And I think I'm having no luck with seeds Jian and I've been given as a wedding present. Planted basil and dill for two weeks now, but nothing has happened. Do seeds die?

Pretend Studio Life

1. This is what my workspace looks like, for those who ever were interested. It's a section off our bedroom, which I call my pretend studio. I've been filling it up with lots of plants lately.

2. Lights hang out with me quite a bit in my pretend studio. She's currently standing on the spot where I normally do my printing.

3. I bought a Siamese fighting fish to keep me company too recently. His name is Loki. He has a bigger bowl now and I've moved him from my plant shelf to my work desk (see first pic). I've even stuck a picture of Canada, which my friend has taken and given me on his trip, behind his bowl. It looks like he's swimming in the Green Lake. He's very happy in there blowing up a bubble nest.

4. This is Sybil. She's a prototype I made out of fabric scraps I'm left with. The wavy chevron dress is her favourite frock.

5. Lights and Sybil are buddies.