hobbies – Fad I Had

Drawing – Whiteboard Art

May 21, 2017May 21, 2017 fadihad

In June 2016, I moved to a new room at work which has an entire whiteboard wall. For the first few weeks the wall was covered in work from the previous team and I wasn’t allowed to touch it. In those weeks my colleagues and I named the room ‘The Chic Suite’ and talked about how we would use the whiteboard wall. We wanted to bring a bit of fun and colour to the room, by drawing around each others bodies. The day we were told we could wipe that wall clean, we did.

One evening when everyone had gone home, I was packing up to leave when I turned and looked at the empty white wall. I decided to write ‘Welcome to The Chic Suite’ in the centre of the wall using different colours, so that when someone came into the room, it would be there right in front of them.

welcome to chic suite

The day after during lunchtime we started to draw around each others bodies. There were only four of us in the room at the time, so we had three of us to the left of the wall on one on the right, with the ‘Welcome to the Chic Suite’ in the middle. Tracing around each other was fun, though the traces were not accurate to our body shapes, one person had a big unnatural hand and another had an extremely slim leg. We just laughed at the figures we’d drawn and didn’t bother changing them as they were unique, like us! We decided to each be a Disney characters, so we had an Alice, Belle, Pocahontas and Aladdin and we all had fun drawing the outfits on each other. The Alice and Belle looked very similar in blue dresses, so to tell them apart, I thought I’d try and draw Lumière (the candle) next to Belle. I found a picture on Google using my phone, grabbed an orange whiteboard pen and started to draw. When I was finished I was really surprised how easy it was and how similar the drawing was to the original picture. I had a sudden urge to do more! So I took to google again to find an image of Meeko (raccoon) for Pocahontas and started drawing. When I’d finished drawing Meeko lunch was nearly over and I had to wait until the end of the day to carry on! That evening I added a Cheshire Cat, I found a picture of the cat lying on a tree branch and as Alice was on the far left of the wall, it was perfect!

I really had the bug for drawing now, so for the Aladdin (that was the fourth body trace on the right side of the wall), I added Abu (monkey) and the Genies lamp. I also drew Mini Mouse with the words ‘Walt Disney lives here’ underneath, as the wall was pretty much all Disney!

Here’s a picture of the wall (it’s the only one I have!) :

One evening I was curious to see what else I was able to draw and I called a friend to give me a challenge. She asked if I could do the famous drawing of Cosette from Les Misérables. Challenge accepted! The original drawing of Cosette consists of lines, so I started from the top and worked my way down copying every line as close as I could from the picture on my phone. Once I’d gotten to the end of Cosette’s face it had been over an hour and the ink in the pen was becoming faint. I was not leaving until it was finished, so I put the pen in an up right position for fifteen minutes, then continued. I finished the neck by just doing lines and not copying the original as my arm was getting achy. All that was left after that was the hair, which wouldn’t have taken that long to do but the ink was faint and it was past ten o’clock, again I didn’t bother looking at the original image and just drew from memory to get it done. Here it is:

Les mis

I added a drawing of Aladdin a week or so later, along with a body trace of our fifth team member. This was done underneath the ‘Welcome to the Chic Suite’ and in a sitting pose. This person soon became Esmeralda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, holding a tambourine and a potato (inside joke relating to the person). Sadly I don’t have a picture! But I have one of the Aladdin:

Aladdin

I’ve made a slideshow of some of the Disney drawings close up!

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At the beginning of December 2016, I wiped all the drawings off to start fresh. As it was the holiday season and I was feeling festive, I decided to do a Christmas morning! I grabbed a ruler and drew a window, which took me a couple of hours. The next evening I started the stone fireplace. On top of the fireplace I added Clogsworth, Chip and Mrs Potts all from Beauty and the Beast. Overall the Christmas morning took me about four nights to do. The three Disney characters were the only drawings where I had to look at a picture. For the rest of the Christmas morning, I just let my imagination do the work!

Whiteboard wall - christmas morning

I really enjoy drawing and I learned that it was something I never knew I would be good at. I found it very relaxing and for a first, I never got frustrated during any of the drawings. I will carry on drawing on the whiteboard wall, as all the drawings above have now been wiped off and I just need to find the time! When I do have the time, if you would like to challenge me to draw something, comment below and I’ll give it a go! 🙂

RATINGS

Difficulty scale – I can’t rate this for you but for me it was easy
Time taken – on going – For the Disney characters it was about 15 minutes each
Enjoyment – LOVE IT
Would I do it again? – YES, when I have the time..

Sewing Machine

Sewing Machine – Dress Making!

May 9, 2017May 9, 2017 fadihad

In July 2013, I purchased a Brother FS-40 sewing machine.

Sewing Machine

I had no idea how to use a sewing machine, so I watched a few videos on Youtube to learn the basic techniques of sewing using different stitches and positioning the fabric when sewing it together. But I still I had to read the manual that came with my sewing machine to understand how to use it properly! It only took me a few hours to practise with some scrap fabric that ended up with a broken needle!

As soon as I had learnt how to use my machine, I decided wanted to design a dress myself without using a sewing pattern. I watched a Youtube video on how to measure myself, so the dress would fit me. I grabbed a pencil and a pad, and started sketching a design for a dress. I wanted a floor length maxi style dress with a 1950’s sweetheart neckline and a halter neck strap. I jotted down my measurements and used tracing paper to make templates for each sections of the dress that I would be sewing, so that I could cut the fabric to size. At this stage I didn’t have the fabric for the dress so online I went! I’d never bought fabric before and I didn’t know at the time what fabric would be suitable for the design I had made. I found a beautiful silk fabric, that was a sky blue colour with a floral design and I ordered 3 metres. When the fabric arrived, it was so soft! But I had forgotten to take into account that I had designed the dress to slip on over my head and the silk fabric was not stretchy. I didn’t want the dress to have buttons or a zip, so I cut new templates out of the tracing paper to be a bit bigger than my measurements and purchased some elastic thread. I was now ready to start the dress!

I laid all the silk fabric on the floor and placed my templates on top of them. I then used white chalk to draw around the templates and cut the fabric. Once I had all the pieces cut to make my dress, I set up the sewing machine using the correct tension for the fabric I was using and loaded it with blue thread. I was now ready to start sewing.

I started sewing together the top half of the dress first, which comprised of four parts, see sketch below:

Sewing the pieces together was easy, apart from the sweetheart neckline, this was a challenge and took me three attempts to get a heart shape I was happy with! I then sewed the side pieces to it, along with the back piece and added the straps. I tried the top half on by putting it over my head and I was very happy that it fit me, but it was loose.

The bottom half of the dress was just one long piece of fabric, sewn together to make a cylinder shape. I hemmed the bottom of the dress so that the fabric wouldn’t fray and then pinned the bottom half of the dress to the top half. This was quite fiddly as it was the first time I was using the elastic thread but I soon realised I hadn’t changed the tension on my machine so the stitch was too tight, which meant I had to unpick the stitches I had just sewn. I’d learned from this mistake though by grabbing a spare piece of fabric and practising some lines using the elastic thread. It worked better with loose tension and I noticed that the lines had made the fabric become stretchy. This gave me an idea to put five lines on the back of the dress to make the top half more fitted. Once I had finished sewing the top and bottom of the dress together, and the elastic lines on the back. I was relived it fitted and that I’d now finished. I did notice that the elastic line I’d sewn across the back was not in the centre but I didn’t care as I was so happy I’d made a dress and I couldn’t wait to show it off!

Here’s the completed dress, with an added belt:

Over all the dress took me two weeks to complete, I’m not sure how many hours though as I was only doing it after work. I’ve worn this dress twice since making it. The first time I wore it was at work and half way through the day when I was walking around the office in a hurry, I realised I’d missed out something important when designing the dress. I’d cut the top half the same width as the top, which meant when I was walking the bottom was not wide enough for my stride, so I had to take small steps for the rest of the day! I did alter this once I got home though by making a slit on the one side of the dress that was knee high. The second time I wore the dress, walking was much more comfortable! 🙂

RATINGS

Difficulty scale – Medium
Time taken – 2 weeks
Enjoyment – but frustrating at times – always plan ahead!
Would I do it again? – YES, if I had the time

EOS - DIY Gemstone Makeover

EOS Lip Balm – DIY Gemstone Makeover

May 5, 2017May 4, 2017 fadihad

In March 2017, I purchased a pink £6 EOS lip balm. I love their round shape and the fact that I could customise and make it one of a kind. I went on Ebay and bought a thousand 10mm rose coloured gemstones and a thousand 8mm clear gemstones. I researched what the best glue to use was and I found Gemtac glue! It came in a small plastic bottle and it has a long metal nozzle on the top which was great for precision when gluing.

Once the gemstones arrived, I lay them all face up on the table so that they would be easy to pick up when I was ready to glue them. Before starting, I stared at my EOS deciding on how I wanted it to look and I decided to have the rose gemstones on the top half and the clear gemstones on the bottom half. I then began with the top half first and placed the first rose gemstone on the ‘O’ of the EOS logo at the very top. Then proceeded to do a spiral until I had completely covered the top half. Though if I were to do this again, I would start around the bottom edges instead of the top and not create a spiral. Only because when I reached the bottom it was uneven and I had to purchase smaller gemstones to cover the one side of the bottom top half.

For the bottom half of the EOS, I was using the clear gemstones and I decided to start on the edges and work my way around so that the stones were uniform. This way was also quicker! Then I finished the bottom half off with a strip of the rose coloured gemstones.

Once the whole EOS was covered in gemstones, I used a few of the clear stones to make a flower on the very top and then scattered a few more around the top half to make a polka dot pattern. I also have over half of the gemstones I bought leftover so that I can make more!

Here’s the finished product and I’ve had so many compliments when using it, which is very satisfying 🙂 EOS gem finished

The bonding of the Gemtac glue between the EOS and the gemstone is pretty strong too. Since completing this, I’ve used the lip balm everyday and thrown it around in my bag and I’ve not lost a single gemstone!

RATINGS

Difficulty scale – very easy
Time taken – 2 hours
Enjoyment –
Would I do it again? – definitely YES!

DIY - Disney Pixar 'UP' House

DIY – Disney Pixar ‘UP’ House – with sound controlled lights

May 2, 2017May 4, 2017 fadihad

In November 2015 I was browsing online when I came across this beauty:

DIY house

It looked very easy to make and from reviews online all I needed was some UHU glue and I was good to go. I ordered it from Ebay and it came 3 days later and as soon as I got home from work, I ripped open the box eager to get started!

This is what I got inside the box:

up box contents

I also bought a Stanley knife, sandpaper, scissors and a ruler.

After an hour of sorting out all the little pieces, I decided to read the manual! There was a lot to take in and I soon realised it was going to be a bit more fiddly than I initially thought.

I started by lightly sanding the edges of the wooden pieces for the house as this would help the glue bond better. Next I then cut out all the wall paper and flooring ready for the inside of the house and stuck them to the correct walls and floors.

After the pieces had dried, the manual then instructed me to do the windows and porch on the front of the house. This consisted of little wooden white squares, that were to be glued on the out side of each wall that had a hole for the window. The main window on the front of the house was more complex and took a very steady hand to put together as it was delicate. I did snap the bottom half but managed to glue it back together, without it being too noticeable! See… 🙂

Once the windows were fixed, it was time to glue the four walls onto the main flooring and let dry. When the walls dried I then attached the front porch to the house and the main window. As there are lights to be fitted, it was now time to fit them before the roof was placed on. The lights were easy to insert into the house, though the glue was very noticeable on the walls. The circuit for the lights contained two LED lights as the house has two rooms.

The next part was the furniture! This was the bit I was looking forward to the most, decorating! I must admit, the chairs were so small, that it was very hard to cover the small pieces with fabric. Cutting the little wooden legs took a few goes as they were either uneven or kept breaking in half! Yes, this was very frustrating and I gave up at this point. Though, it was them little legs that made me leave it unfinished on the shelf for 4 months, until I had the motivation to try again.

The other room in the house was the kitchen, The main feature in the kitchen for me is the chandelier, again fiddly, but worth it! Here’s the finished kitchen and living room below:

The roof was simple to assemble and required some sanding to create a fully joined peak at the top of the roof. Once I had glued the roof parts together and added the chimney, I then glued the LED light that’s in the kitchen to the roof, as the manual had instructed. The final piece to be made for the house was the balloons, I couldn’t understand the diagrams in the manual so I just made them up to how I thought they should be. The balloons are made of coloured beads, thin wire and a lot of glue! I used way more glue than I should have and some of the colours from the beads started to run! Ooops!

Now the house was complete and the lights were working, I had to cut a clear tube to be glued underneath the house so that I looks like it’s floating. I tipped 3 quarters of the gravel stones into the bottom of the glass ball and the rest was glued onto the underneath part of the grass. After I had put the grass under the house it was ready to be inserted into the glass ball. This was very easy as the hole is bigger than the house, so it slid straight in! The battery for the lights is then hidden in the stones. The last and final piece was the white picket fence, this of course was very simple to build, 4 strips of wood glued to make a square and then placed over the house.

Here’s the final pictures:

RATINGS

Difficulty scale – Hard
Time taken – 5 months (on and off)
Enjoyment – 🙂 Frustrating at times but pure satisfaction once finished!
Would I do it again? NO

Individual Eyelash Extensions

May 1, 2017May 4, 2017 fadihad

In December 2016 I decided that I wanted to become a fully trained eyelash technician, not because I wanted to earn some extra cash but because, well… why not?

I spoke to my niece, Jordan and asked her if she was up for doing the course as it meant we could practice on each other, and she agreed. We enrolled for the one day course in April 2017. A few days after we had booked the course I became curious to how the lashes were applied. I watched a few Youtube videos and soon learnt that two steady hands were required and having a weakness in my right hand, well, now it was a challenge that I couldn’t resist!

I was nervous on the morning of the course, in case I physically couldn’t do it and was wasting my money. Normally when I try new things, it’s at my pace and on my own, so I have no one to judge me. The course started at 10am and when Jordan and I arrived, we were joined by 20 other women, all eager to learn! A Scottish woman called Lisa was our trainer, she was very welcoming and made us all feel at ease. We were handed a booklet which contained all the information about the course and what we would learn. We spent about an hour going through each page of the booklet with Lisa and she was very thorough when explaining, answering all the questions everyone had. Once we knew the important bits and the basics, that’s when the fun started! We were each given an eyelash extension kit that contained all the equipment needed and a doll’s head. We gathered around Lisa’s doll and watched how she applied each lash. Once we were shown the technique, we then went to our dolls to practice.

I found applying the lashes on the doll very easy, the strip lash I was using to apply the individual lash to, was spacious between each strand and I didn’t need my right hand to separate the strip lashes. I practised separating the lashes with my right hand anyway and it was very slow. It took me 3 hours to apply the lashes onto the doll, but it was the same for everyone in the group. Here’s some pictures below:

Once we had finished on the dolls, Lisa asked for six volunteers to allow us all to apply 4 lashes to a real person. As soon as my turn came up, I was nervous. I sat down with my equipment, my right hand started shaking and I was worried I was going to poke the girl in the eye with my tweezers. I called Lisa over before I started as I was doubting myself and told her I wasn’t ready. She quickly assured me that the girl’s eyes were closed and I was not going to hurt her. I felt a bit stupid for panicking but took in a deep breath and starting separating the girl’s lashes with the tweezers, using my right hand. OK, I know said when I was using the doll it was easy but my god it’s not! Natural lashes come in different lengths, angles and layers! The lashes on the doll were one thin strip, human lashes are layered and it takes some time to find a healthy lash that is not at the end of it’s life cycle. It took me 15 minutes to find a lash, which then I had to hold my right hand steady enough so that the other lashes around it wouldn’t fall in between my tweezers. It was hard but I did it! I mastered one more lash after the first one. I was so nervous I couldn’t do the other two lashes.

When everyone had applied 4 lashes, Lisa then showed us how to remove the lashes individually on one of the girls that had volunteered. After we watched this, we were then given our certificates. Lisa told us to practice as much as we could before charging anyone for the lashes.

After the course had finished I went back to Jordan’s to do her eyelashes. I have to say it was much easier and more relaxing doing the eyelashes for someone you know. It took me 2 hours to put a few on Jordan’s lashes but I found that I can do it. Eventually with more practice it should take me no more than 2 hours to do a full set and that my dear friends is a new challenge on it’s own! Bring it on! 🙂

Here’s a picture of lashes I applied on Jordan:

Jordan Lashes

RATINGS

Difficulty scale – somewhat hard
Enjoyment – 😀
Would I do it again? – YES!

**UPDATE**

Since completing the course in April, I’ve done a further two sets of lashes on two different people.

Joanne Eyelashes — Time taken: 3 hours, 30 minutes

Introduction

An introduction to my ‘fads’

April 25, 2017May 4, 2017 fadihad

Learning and creating new things over the years has become something of an addiction to me. I love finding new things to do, I get a craving to buy everything required, then make it my mission to do it.

Throughout this blog you will see some of my past ‘fads’ and up coming new ones! I’m also going to rate each one with the following :

Difficulty scale
Time taken
Enjoyment
Would I do it again?

Why do I call it a ‘fad’, you ask? Well most of the time, once I’ve done it, I never do it again! Ironically, blogging is my new ‘fad’ and this post… well it may be my first and last!

If you have any ideas of what you think I should try, please let me know.