finally after one sleepless night and a few extra hours, i have completely sewn the dress! i used the itti bitti dress pattern for the body, and create the skirt myself  (inspired by aida)i didnt wanted for the skirt to be so ‘kembang’ so  i did 2 ruffles instead of 3, and the 2nd layer of the skirt part  is sewn together with the 3rd layer along the top edge.

im  topstitch maniac , so i topstitched all along the body edge and also the hems to create a crispier finishing.

im all  impressed by myself with the result. n hubs too “sugoi ne mommy, sugoii ne” all over. cant wait to make more dresses n garments in the future!

btw this dress is a bday present for a lovely girl puteri maisarah. kak anisa , i hope u like it!

next project – a tunic for me. and a giveaway item maybe? hehe

tagged by kak neeza

btw i think this can be a good reference for mommy2bes too.

shopping for your coming bundle of joy  is truly a FUN experience . i can still remember myself dragging hubs ( n my big belly of coz)here n there in n out malls to hunt for our baby gadgets. its a totally different feeling compare to shopping for yourself. you cant help admiring everything in the shop, going ooohs n aaahss over the latest n advanced baby gears.

the shopping part is fun but dont forget the most important thing to do BEFORE you go out n shop till u drop – make a LIST for things that you need , or consider to buy  in advance.  baby gears can be expensive to buy all at once, so its better to make monthly trips if you re on a tight budget. this list is also important for you mommy to get straight to the things that you wanna buy rather than wasting your energy wandering around the malls, trying to remember what else that you wanted or needed to buy.

also dont forget to check every item that youve bought coz you dont want to  end up buying same thing in a different shopping trip, hehe.

the tag wasnt exactly about  shopping haha , just thot it can be a good info for you guys.

baby gears- whats worth n whats not.

baby gears that i think worth every ringgit  spent. (or received ngehngeh)
*items are in random orders

carseat- ours is Halford ( convertible -can use up till 3-4 years) . i hate the non-fabric cover though.  if you have n extra budget, go for mothercare ones or  combi

stroller- a must have when you go out in malls. heheh even if you wear the baby, you can use as a shopping cart instead LOL. i love our pliko switch soo much, we can switch the seat to be forward facing or rear facing easily depending on ayras MOOD of coz. but the downside of it is the weight .

ERGO - (gift) hands down the best ever baby gadget in the HOUSE! i can totally go shopping alone with ayra without any hassle. ayra always  sleeps easily when being carried hence selagi larat bawak extra kilo, selagi itu aku pusing mall. haha if only i live in US , i might buy another one for our  future baby! hahah .

if u have a tighter budget n  interested to buy a soft structure carrier (SSC) we also have those locally made ones like  littlepods, snuggbaby and jumpsacbaby! support malaysian mades!
oh cun nyaa memang cun barangan malaysiaaa♪ i freakin hate that advert song.

medela freestyle – oh my oh my the best human invention ever! i used my 1st ever bonus to buy this pump. n never regret it . my best friend indeed.

note- even if you dont have a budget to buy a freestyle – please invest in a good double electric pump especially if you only have like 10-15 minutes  to pump persession in the office. they double the output in less time compare to the manual ones.   (if youre planning to bf for as long as you can of coz. kang kata rugi je beli mahal2 last2 tak pakai pun. yer tak? )

not-so  worth buying . (receive takpe kekeke)

• walker - its not that necessary pun. kalau ada tu bagus la.  ours was a gift from my colleagues, and i only use it when khairul is not around, while im in the kitchen.  but we hardly use it. better let the baby on the ground , senang dia nak practice creeping/crawling/walking skills.

• nursing pillow – i would prefer if you buy the non-expensive one.or just use ure usual pillow instead . mine was around rm 40, bought during sales. pakai sekejap je during pantang. later when dah terror chewah, tak pakai dah. but we still use it as a pillow though. so not really a waste hehe

• playmats (gift)  ayra wasnt fond of this AT ALL nasib baik yg ni org bagi. i think  ill make/quilt  a big basic one with some embellishments for the next baby. just for him to lie around golek2 in the living room maybe. (berangan mode)

not a must, but good to have

• baby crib /baby cot . ours was a gift from my inlaws. i love the fact that the side panels are adjustable so we combined the cot with our kingsize bed and transforms  into SUPERKING size bed LOL. it prevents ayra from falling too. GOOD GOOD. buas gila dia tido nowadays.

• bumbo seater- senang nak bagi makan when the baby is small. good for backbones too.

• highchair - senang nak makan bersama2 @ the dining table.
• pouch sling – if i dont have the ergo, i might have put this on the 1st list. hehe its good to have a sling , even my father was amazed by the idea. ihave two pouch slings -one is a littlepods (gift) and another one is from hotslings. ( i love the hotslings more coz  of the slightly stretchy fabric (n cool print of coz) n maybe coz its in my current size  LOL.we both can only fit the littlepods until ayra was around 3 months haha. i used to carry ayra in it while doing chores in the house when hubs is not around. would love to try a ring sling with next baby.

baby gadgets that i wish to have (maybe next baby)

• rocker. ayra was a not rocker baby. she always refuse to lie down calmly so we assumed that we didnt need a rocker.  or maybe if we introduce it to her earlier she would have like it.manatau. (ni baby ke, maknye yg nak nih.. hehe.)

baby gadgets that i will not buy.

disclaimer*some of you might think differently, but please understand that this is only  from my personal opinion

• Swing. my mom totally oppose the idea of swing. and i should have thank for her influence in this matter, if not i might have resorted buying one when we had hard times putting ayra to sleep during pantang.  i find that most of my cousins who sleeps in swing, can only sleep in swing . get what i mean? my aunties have to bring back their  swings  to kampung everytime coz their baby wont sleep on the bed/mat. tak ke leceh?
• baby bjorn like carrier. coz i love my ergo!

im now contemplating on buying a push to walk walker- to buy or not to buy?

eh lupa, im tagging l4na, fedy, kak anis4 , nann00r ,mye n wafa4!

the informative ones, i dont.

Eating FRUITS

Dr Stephen Mak is a friend of mine at the BSF course. He told me he treats terminal ill cancer patients by “un-orthodox” way and many patients recovered. He explains to me before he is using solar energy to clear the illnesses of his patients.  He believes on natural healing in the body against illnesses. See the article below.   Thanks for the email on fruits and juices. It is one of the strategies to heal cancer. As of late, my success rate in curing cancer is about 80%. Cancer patients shouldn’t die. The cure for cancer is already found. It is whether you believe it or not? I am sorry for the hundreds of cancer patients who die under the conventional treatments.. Very few can live for 5 years under the convenctional treatments and most live for only about 2 to 3 years. The conventional treatments do not make any difference because most cancer patients also live for about 2 to 3 years without undergoing any treatment. It is difficult to cure those cancer patients  who have undergone chemo and radiotherapy as their cells are toxic and weak. When there is a relapse, the cancer will spread very fast as the resistance is poor. Thanks and God bless. Dr Stephen Mak EATING FRUIT…   It’s long but very informative ? We all think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it and just popping it into our mouths. It’s not as easy as you think. It’s important to know how and when to eat. ? What is the correct way of eating fruits? ? IT MEANS NOT EATING FRUITS AFTER YOUR MEALS! * FRUITS SHOULD BE EATEN ON AN EMPTY STOMACH. ? If you eat fruit like that, it will play a major role to detoxify your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities. ? FRUIT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD. Let’s say you eat two slices of bread and then a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it is prevented from doing so. ? In the meantime the whole meal rots and ferments and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil…. ? So please eat your fruits on an empty stomach or before your meals! You have heard people complaining — every time I eat watermelon I burp, when I eat durian my stomach bloats up, when I eat a banana I feel like running to the toilet, etc — actually all this will not arise if you eat the fruit on an empty stomach. The fruit mixes with the putrifying other food and produces gas and hence you will bloat! ? Graying hair , balding , nervous outburst , and dark circles under the eyes all these will NOT happen if you take fruits on an empty stomach. ? There is no such thing as some fruits, like orange and lemon are acidic, because all fruits become alkaline in our body, according to Dr. Herbert Shelton who did research on this matter. If you have mastered the correct way of eating fruits, you have the Secret of beauty, longevity, health, energy, happiness and normal weight. ? When you need to drink fruit juice – drink only fresh fruit juice, NOT from the cans. Don’t even drink juice that has been heated up. Don’t eat cooked fruits because you don’t get the nutrients at all. You only get to taste. Cooking destroys all the vitamins. ? But eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. If you should drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it. You can go on a 3-day fruit fast to cleanse your body. Just eat fruits and drink fruit juice throughout the 3 days and you will be surprised when your friends tell you how radiant you look! ? KIWI: Tiny but mighty. This is a good source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin E & fiber. Its vitamin C content is twice that of an orange. ? APPLE: An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low vitamin C content, it has antioxidants & flavonoids which enhances the activity of vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon cancer, heart attack & stroke. ? STRAWBERRY: Protective Fruit. Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits & protect the body from cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals. ? ORANGE : Sweetest medicine. Taking 2-4 oranges a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent & dissolve kidney stones as well as lessens the risk of colon cancer. ? WATERMELON: Coolest thirst quencher. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system. They are also a key source of lycopene — the cancer fighting oxidant. Other nutrients found in watermelon are vitamin C & Potassium. ? GUAVA & PAPAYA: Top awards for vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high vitamin C content. Guava is also rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation. Papaya is rich in carotene; this is good for your eyes. Drinking Cold water after a meal = Cancer! Can u believe this?? For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this ’sludge’ reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

i dug a bunch of my old clothes from Japan which i dont wear anymore n found some t-shirts from uniqlo which i really really love for the comfy knit  fabric.

i took one border shirt that was quite old (bought on my 1st year) there were holes here n there, i dont think ill be wearing it again. so i decided to use the body parts to make ayra a pair of room pants.

this is the easiest project ive ever made, i  took barely 10 minutes to finish it. you can find the tutorial all over the internet. but unfortunately i cut the waist part a bit short , they became a low-rise pants LOL. maybe ill alter them later.

we went to ikea AGAIN yesterday just to get the daim cake- gila i know but we both were craving for it the whole week, mmg redah jugak hujan. (plus we had to collect another one leg of the highchair – didnt realised that they were only 3 of them  until we got home last weekend *slaps forehead*)

aanyway. when i was qeueing for the food , i noticed the three people standing right infront of me were either bap*ks or mak*nyahs.  i have nothing against this people but iiyy one of them was truuuelly manly looking , boroi n wearing a super short skirt n ballet flats(!) the three of the was laughing really loud like -mengilai  drawing attentions from people around them. ish why la kan whyy. dah tau korang tu LAIN dari yg LAIN, please stop mencapub in public! thank god i dont have a speaking toddler around at that time, or ill have to find explanations for “mommy, tu laki ke ppuan?” no?

i hate myself for being judgemental n evthing  but please stop making me one!

happy bday munchkin!

 

come2 uni10 let me belanja nasi arab!

*hugs*

ive created a page for my sewing n craft projects. mana tau ada rezeki boleh venture in bussiness in the future. aminn

just click the yummymades button on top!

owhh imm soooo sleepy , thinkin of goin to bed with ayra now, so i post the pics first.

• this young lady of mine surely talks A LOT these days but still no ma’s or pa’s yet only the casual ‘adedede‘ (what is THAT?) -edited, we heard he saying a-ba two times last night! a-paa~~ macam cerita tamil pulak LOL
• owh btw dont raise ur voice @ her, she’ll shout back! gerunn gerunn ekeke
• finally showing some interest in food. alway try to reach the food that we eat.
• can cruise easily along the tv rack. eawahh ewahhhh. but still refuse to stand w/o support. terus duduk dia, malass.ekeke
• bisingggggnyeeelaaa. addededadedae alll the time.
• her fringe is quite long now, thinkin of cutting them off.
• laugh when she saw me laughing non-stop. hahaha.
• now can bye-bye! n tepuk amai2 of course. but only clap when we sing pok-pok-pok~~ (the bujang lapok song)
• sometimes gives a BIG SIGH,’ HAIIIHHH’   haha lawak freakin cute! macam org tua laa baby nii..
• her fat lump is getting more visible- shinpai danaa (weve already seek for doc advice, had to wait until she gets bigger to do any surgery, due to the difficult after-care.
• can panjat tangga olready. oowhh this is her recent most favourite thing to do when we are @ tok ummi’s .(maklum lah, where got stairs @ own home mehh)

mee wubb duckyy!

mommy im 9 olredi, i know what im DOIN!

i dont bersila like mommy, im a LADY with attitude.

okay Ayra lets go to bed. papa has marking to do. nite nite

sewing iss soooo addictive!

we went to ikea whole day yesterday to buy a highchair for Ayra n apparently ikea doesnt provide free plastic bags anymore (u have to buy @RM0.10 /RM0.20 kalau tak silap.) thank god we brought my flip and tumble and n old reusable shopping bag  along.

we ended up buying 2 of the highchair (another one to be put @ tok ummis home in p*jaya -kantoi selalu pi dinner kehkeh)

i found that the highchair is soo boring so i decided to make a slip cover for it using some deco fabrics (also bought from ikea) and the leftover pink fleece. hubs had to spend the afternoon in the office marking papers, and since ayra was sleeping soundly, i had the time all for myself so i cut the fabrics n started to sew immediately. the cover is really easy to make, just cut the fabric according to the shape of the chair, sew around the edge both cotton n fleece right side together, leaving an opening and flip it over. itll look better if i topstitch around the edge but i was too lazy n i wonder if the old singer can handle the thickness, so i only topstitched the opening part. hoho

the unisex cover -bak kata kak ira (well planned aa? ekeke)

she now loves watching tv in the new highchair (n cover! )

owh and i also sewn in two small handmade straps to the seat part to tie it to the chair.

 

hmm i wonder whats my will next project be?

Watermarking Photos (Batch)

a good tips n tricks from photoshop911.

now tinggal rajin n malas onlylah. hehe

 

Gene from Texas, using Photoshop CS with windows on a Dell M60 PC, writes in with:
[Quote:] How do I put a watermark on all photos in a folder? If I have several photos from a wedding, and I want to put a studio name watermark across all of the photos before I burn them to CD for the bride to look at.
———————–
This is a very frequent question, and we’re working on a pictorial tutorial of this but there are several others ahead of it. For now, there is the step-by-step…

The Watermark

Start with a pencil and a note pad. Make a note of any settings as you go along. This will be a big help once we generate the action and droplette.

Next, open a typical photo image you’ll be watermarking.

If you haven’t already set up a logo or symbol for watermarking that’s okay, we’ll simply use type. If you have a logo for watermarking, then use it instead of the type. For most photos you will want the watermark to work in both light and dark situations, yet still have an amount of transparency so it allows the photo to be viewed clearly. So, we’ll have to introduce some white and some black. Additionally, we recommend a sans serif font to reduce the visual complexity of the mark.

Click new layer
Type in the watermark info as you wish it to appear.
Rasterize the type
Run the Emboss Filter, adjust settings to suite
Set the layer blending mode to “Hard Light” to let the image show through

This sets up the file and its attributes.

Choose: File > File Info

Key in the information you want attached to the file. Enter author’s name, business name and insert your URL if you have one. For the sake of automation, don’t insert any information that is pertinent to this specific file — you want generic, company information only.

Be sure to enter the copyright notice (c) 2004 and your business name. Use the Copyright symbol key. Make sure you select the Copyright Status and set “Copyrighted Work”

Click Okay and the info is added to the file.

Flatten the file.

Recording the Action

Next we’ll record the action. Of course you kept notes of all the settings for the file, right?

Move that file window to the side and open the next file.

Open the Actions Palette (Window > Actions)
Click the “New Action” button (next to the trash can.)
Name the action and select the Function key you want to activate the action.
(In lieu of this, you can simply run the action from the Actions Palette, but the F-key will be much more convenient.)

Now, are you ready? Click the “Record” button and it will glow red.
This means you are in record mode.

Now, walk through each step you took before. (Got notes?)
Be sure to select the font, size, leading, etc., exactly as before.

When done, click the STOP button. (Black Square)

Open a new photo and test the action by clicking on the “Run” button.
Did it work? What did you leave out?

Once it’s perfect, it’s ready to go.

From this point on, any time you want a watermarked photo, just run this action.

Batch Watermarking

If you have a whole folder you want Watermarked, proceed to the File Menu and
choose Automate > Batch.

In the resulting dialog is divided into four sections: Play, Source, Destination and Errors.

In the Play section pull down “Action” and select the Action you just created.

In the Source section, click the ‘Choose’ button and highlight the folder of files you want watermarked. (Hopefully you copied the folder, and will actually be watermarking copies of your files!)

In the Destination section choose “Save and Close”
If you wish to move the newly copied files to a new folder, click Choose… and find the folder.

Are you ready? Click “OK” and sit back. Have coffee. When you get back, your files
will be watermarked.