So I had a little bit of time despite being busy with office work, a new design project that cropped up. But to work on my miniature would take too much of my time, and I needed some creative inspiration – I started felting a new character.
Look at all that wool!
I opened up the latest wool purchase to use and was amazed at the quantity. My eyes bugged out, and my heart soared! So much wool, I’m in seventh heaven because now, I don’t have to worry about not having enough of the base color. I can even use all this off-white wool as the innards of a shape and add color to the outer layer. Cool!
And so, as planned with this approach, my latest character, a tortoise, was felted with the off-white wool for the overall shape, and the green color wool added for the shell. It’s another cutie pie to my growing list of cutie pies.
My latest online shopping purchase is not my usual DIY miniature kit but wool for felting! As there are already several miniatures waiting for me, I decided there was no need to hoard any more sets.
The need for consistency
This change in purchasing pattern is because felting requires one color in abundance as the base. Case in point – recently, I made so many Miffy characters that had different base colors, from white and off-white to pink – I needed to be more consistent. Hence this latest purchase. It looks like felting is giving my crafting miniatures a run for its money here.
DIY project number 23 was moving along well until Mom came over to stay recently. She was very fascinated with all my earlier felted characters.
So I deviated from crafting miniatures to show her the felting process, and she was very impressed with my ability.
My felted Miffy family
From there onwards, I decided to continue felting and made more Miffy rabbits. This change turned out well as these characters fit nicely as students for the school setup of DIY project number 23!
DIY project number 23
Funny how things can fall into place nicely. Once all these ‘students’ are ready, I guess the school has to be done up quickly for the back-to-school in-person learning.
My clever hack to salvage my broken umbrella arm was not so practical after all! The straw held up only when the umbrella was not in use.
When I did use my umbrella during my golf game, the sharp edge of the metal arm cut through the straw and compromised the strength. In the end, the hack fell apart. Oh well.
So, instead of repeating the same hack and facing the same issue, I cut away the two protruding metal pieces for safety reasons. The longer metal piece was almost poking my head when I used the umbrella.
With this modification, my umbrella now has a second lease in life. I hope this time, it will last a little longer than the initial hack. Otherwise, I’d have to replace my golf umbrella.
Wiring work is never fun when it comes to crafting miniatures. I am on the last stretch of DIY project number 23 and facing the wiring work for the lights. Even though I have almost two years under my belt doing this activity, wiring work and handling fabrics are still two big banes for me.
And this project’s fabrics, being felt and leather, are quite a task to handle! There are four bag packs that I have to do as this kit is about going back to school. This task looks even more challenging than making pillows, sofas, or bed quilts!
I have to be brave to face this; otherwise, DIY project number 23 will be incomplete and left sitting to collect dust.
Somehow I don’t feel the holiday spirits of the Lunar New Year even though we are at Day Seven of the 15 days-long celebrations. We are not visiting anyone, nor are we having guests over.
Better to stay safe at this point because yesterday, the Covid-19 cases spiked up to 10,089, a five digits figure again after a few months below this threshold. Not a good sign.
It is back to work today for all three of us, although I have to admit it’s slow for us. I most likely will spend time working on my miniatures to pass the time.
We came home on the second day of the Lunar New Year. And what a journey it was. So unlike the trip when we went, this return trip was so much more pleasant and unexpected.
There was hardly any traffic build-up along the way and smooth sailing all the way home. Another record of sorts as we made it home in five and a half hours with just two stops only. As far as I can remember, we never made it home in this time frame. Usually, it would take between seven to nine hours. And there was once we did it in ten hours.
It is nice to be back and chill at home. I’m not even working on my miniatures. For once, doing nothing at home feels great! Visits to family or friends are minimal, if not none. There’s now the Omicron, and we are being extra careful not to go out unnecessarily.
The Lunar New Year is next week, my goodness! There are a lot of last-minute preparations to usher in the Year of the Tiger. Like shopping for new clothes, for instance!
The last two years, with the pandemic and lockdowns, we were homebound and did not venture out to the malls at all. There were grocery runs to our local grocer nearby, and basically, essentials but not indulgent shopping.
During the MCO phases, online shopping was my go-to if I wanted to buy non-essential things. And even then, it was mostly to buy my miniature sets and carving tools. But no clothes.
So over the weekend, we took the opportunity to go on a shopping spree to buy new clothes as it is the last weekend to shop. With no more restrictions on interstate travel, it will be a traffic nightmare next weekend when city-dwellers begin the exodus for Reunion Dinners with the family and loved ones afar.
I, for one, who usually buy golf clothes, suddenly find myself buying Chinese New Year clothes. I bought not one but two Cheong Sam outfits! It must be the festivity in the air or the sudden freedom to be able to go out and try clothes on.
My two lovely and elegant outfits
For someone who does not wear or buy dresses often, the purchases were an incredible feat by my standards. Well, lockdowns change people and their outlook in life, I suppose. I look forward to wearing the outfits to welcome the Year of the Tiger with good vibes and have a roaring celebration, pun intended.
DIY project number 23 is moving on at a good pace. I had the weekend off from golf and had time to sit down to work on it. But I fear this pace will be interrupted because Chinese New Year is just around the corner!
And there is much to prepare before we usher in the Year of the Tiger. Nonetheless, I’ll try to squeeze in as much time as possible on my project. Hopefully, during the Lunar New Year holiday, there is time for me to continue with it as we anticipate minimal visiting or going out.
Perhaps I should set a deadline to complete it instead of just going with the flow and mood.
Towards the end of last year, I was not in the mood to craft miniatures and took a break from this activity. I was playing a lot more golf and ended up taking a much longer break than intended. Besides the circumstances, I was side-tracked with felting which was less time-consuming but equally enjoyable.
But now, I am ready to indulge in crafting miniatures again and have started on DIY project number 23. Yes, number twenty-three, but the first for 2022. That’s a lot of miniature sets I completed in the past two years during the lockdowns we had when the pandemic disrupted lives and created new routines.
DIY project #23 kicks off!
This latest set is a classroom setting, different from what I have done thus far but apt to kick off the new year as schools are reopening again under strict SOP after two years of disruption.
I hope I will not take too long to complete the set. It should be fun.
Angieneering 
Remarks