Xmas Present Exchange Party 2014

So, after completed all the boys' toys i can think of (the cars & the airplanes), Constantine told me he wanted to give his friend Damien a Blue Bear...hm...

A bear? To a 9 year old boy? I seriously don't think he will appreciate it...:D

So, instead of a bear, I've decided to make a car keychain/bag charm instead...not the cars that I've made as those are too big to be a keychain/bag charm.

Here's what I made at the 11th hour, this is by far my most stressful project ever as I was also rushing for the backlogs I have for the Xmas Bazaar next week. This car took no longer than half an hour, but the cross stitch was the killer...the cross stitch & stitching took me more than 3 hours to complete!

Completed product:

The car with button wheels...:D

This is how it will look like on the backpack or school bag...:)

Pretty cool huh, i think it is much better than a blue bear for a boy...lol

Oh, this pattern is inspired from the original pattern, but not exactly the same as i motified the back part of the car...you can find the original pattern here: http://www.lookatwhatimade.net/crafts/yarn/crochet/free-crochet-patterns/tiny-crochet-car-crochet-pattern/

Hello Kitty, anyone?

BB Constantine got a bday invitation from his classmate, Audrey last Friday...

I've decided to hand make the bday present instead of buying off the shelf, as I always like things personalised...so, it is back to the computer, browsing for ideas of what to do...

I saw Audrey almost everytime when I send Constantine to school, talked to her few times...I noticed she has alot of Hello Kittys with her...the food container, hairclips/hairbands & she loves things pink as her beg & water tumbler also is pink...so I thought she must love Hello Kitty...

So, I decided to make Hello Kitty, but what to make? I only have 4 days to prepare the present as the party is following Wednesday...

Finally, after about 3 hours of browsing through images from the website, I came across 2 pictures that i like...1 for crochet & 1 for cross stitch...

Then, it is back to my threads & needles...

To be honest, this is the 1st time I'm doing Amigurumi, so was worried it won't turn out as nice...

After 3 hours of crocheting, all parts are done! Now, the most difficult part, sewing all parts together! And...Ta-da...

It is a size of my palm, so it is kinda mini...
For her eyes & nose, I don't feel comfortable sticking felt with glue, so I stitched on it instead. But the eyes looked kinda oversize...lol

Next, is the cross stitch...I first need to draw the outline of the picture...then, I searched for cute alphabet of Audrey's name...as I said, I want the present to be personalised...

This is the final product of the alphabet after selecting the rainbow colors of threads...

Then, it is the stitching of the rest of the image...took me about 2.5 nights to finish it...then send it to the tailor to help make it into a pillowcase...

Next, is the washing, drying & preparation of the bday card...
I prepared the washing & care instruction, for future reference...

For the bday card, I used black & white image of Hello Kitty, downloaded from the website & added in some text...
This is the original image...

This is the image after I added in the text & some flowers...

And, this is the final artwork...after I colored it...

And, it's ready to go! Hope Audrey likes it! :)