would it be cool to live in a giant terrarium??

Sweet friends,
The rain storm had just passed. You do NOT believe how loud the thunders were and so scary lightnings!. And the wind!. I was praying hard that the wind would be gentle on the trees, I hate seeing them fell. And then my poor cats, ha ha. I don't think they are that brave :). Now, it is cool & nice. However, I did enjoy a sunny morning today. The light was stunning and I quickly grabbed my camera. Seeing these plants & trees make me feel like I'm living in a giant terrarium!. Semi terrarium. [the building has only two sides of large glass walls]. Funny, I blogged about making tiny terrariums just days ago. 

I'm sharing some photos from the food court, next to my apartment building. [which is why I never have to cook, you see. LOL]. It seems like I'm the only one who is so crazy of taking photos outdoors, around here!. Are they THAT busy? :). Or am I THAT nuts?. I hope they think I'm a journalist :).

A wild banana tree grows so close to the glass wall beside the West staircase.

Thick ground cover, overlooking the power plant. It is always shady in this part.

A papaya tree. No clue if it is female, or a male tree. I can't see the flowers.

Papaya tree close up.

This is the glass wall on the other side. See what I meant by living in terrarium? :).

A glimpse of my apartment building, on the right. Love the woody area behind it which I fondly called a forest. Yup, that is a coconut tree :).

Wild banana trees on the foreground. I saw someone cut up the leaves one year. Bet they were for some Indian banana leaf restaurants somewhere :).

When it rains so much, even the pavement is pretty with moss.

I don't know what these tiny plants are. I took home a piece for my window garden :).

So, that's it. Good job that you'd stayed this far :). I hope you'll have a great week. HUGS.

beautiful fabric finds

Sweet friends,

I went to the flea market this morning, looking for some floral fabrics. Can't be happier when I found these silk hankies and crocheted cottons. All of these for only RM$5.00! (RM = Malaysian Ringgit, that's about US$1.50). What a steal :). I need lots more for making fabric books, though.

Love the soft petals.

Cherry blossoms with gold centers.

I think these are some kind of fabric coasters or food covers.

Simple embroidery never fails to impress me :).

Wish I could crochet these scallops.

This one has stain on it, which make it extra special :).

I'm hoping to share more of my flea market finds with you in the coming weeks. A little gem every now and then. I used to be impulsive when I go junking, but now I'm training myself to be more selective and STICK to my budget! LOL. Until then, have a great weekend!. HUGS.

faux terrarium, oh so fun !

Dearest all,
any sign of warm weather yet? :). I enjoy tending my tiny, potted, windowsill garden lately. Added two more new plants and potting some veg seeds. [Wishing all the luck in the world for them to grow]. We have great weather lately, sunny mornings and afternoon rain showers. Perfect for gardening!.

Tiny, faux terrarium :). That's a quarter for scale.

Today, I like to share another fun & simple craft. I've been wanting to make a fairy garden :). And making this tiny terrarium is the beginning. There is nothing living in there, except a moss-covered pebble :).

Materials for building a faux terrarium. 

[Craft wires and moss-covered pebble are not shown in the picture].

Dried ferns. They'd been pressed under thick books & bricks for two weeks. 

I used a tiny pie tin as the base and tied it up to a small glass bottle with a craft wire. That way, they'd be sturdy and not wobbly. But first, I applied a generous amount of mod podge (or any PVC glue) to stick the ferns all over the bottle. Then dried thoroughly. I love the slight opague tint on the glass bottle from the glue.

Real ferns, roots and all.

I collected some moss-covered pebbles on my walk yesterday. They were for my garden, but I thought adding a tiny one into the glass bottle would be cool.

Tiny moss garden in a bottle.

Hope you can see the moss. If I had super powers, I would make me tiny enough to get in here and read a book for a while :). To be surrounded by giant ferns!.

Then, I stamped dragonflies all over the glass wall with brown Stazon. How fun that they're visiting :).

Stamped dragonflies.

 This is a perfect little gift for any garden lovers, plants collectors or just anyone who love curiosities :). Easy maintenance, no need to water at all. Well, maybe a little mist now and then for the moss :). A good idea to place it on your work table, it'll be handy should you need to look at something green :). In my case, I placed it next to my potted plants on the windowsill. Hope the fairies would find it, amusing :).

Fairy terrarium, amongst my potted plants.

So, be inspired with all things green this month!. If you need more ideas of botanical-related crafts, take a peek at my post here; Inspiration Botanical. Have a great week!. HUGS.

long live my old shoes

Sweet friends,
I just saved my old favorite shoes!. It has a very sweet, floral fabric in-soles, which I love. If you know how to decoupage, you could save a million things, I tell ya. Made me wondered why haven't I done this sooner??. 

Sad, sad shoes.

I saw on Pinterest, a funky altered shoes recently. Inspired, I set to work on my dear shoes :). Just a few coats of mod podge and a piece of decorative tissue paper, they become new again :). Took me a mere 15 minutes to do this.

Getting ready for the make over. 

And here's the after; grungy look.

They're back on business :).

I'm like a mad scientist now, looking for things to decoupage on, LOL. To save, I mean. I have yet to try them on, maybe I'll wear them tomorrow :). A walk to the Orchid Garden nearby. See if they can take the rain. Have anyone tried this with fabric??. Do share :). See you soon. HUGS.

inspiration : botanicals

Dearest friends,

I have been enjoying sunny mornings and wet rainy afternoons. lately. [Yes, I do love rain :)]. While on my morning walks, I love looking at the little plants, a variety of them! I just hope that I could draw them one day :). For now, some botanical inspiration will suffice :). The spring has sprung in many places and lots of pretty things to be made too :). Enjoy!. HUGS.

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the woods outside

Dearest friends,
I am working hard to ground myself lately, as you would notice in my last post. And I'm grateful for all the greenery around my apartment which we all could enjoy for the longest time. 

I'm sharing with you some joy I have seen just next to my apartment building. Some scenes I've never shared with you before;

Greens, every where I look.

Wild banana trees, ferns and some evergreens. Even the rocks are covered with moss, thanks to the high humidity in our area.

So friends, not all is lost. These are my idea of 'joy'. I LOVE the quiet, the soothing green which calms me. There is a little lane behind my apartment which leads to the main street. On weekdays, it can be busy with cars passing by. Despite that, we are blessed with birds songs every single day :).

I love this little bridge, nice reading nook I would think :).

My favorite view, never fails to make me smile every time I walk pass here :).

I'm working on some cool projects lately, will share as soon as I'm done. Till then, HUGS.