The Studio... well sort of :)

I had mentioned that I revamped my room.. to get the whole craft room/studio thing happening. I thought I'd share a bit of my everyday work space and well, pretty much what I spend 90% of my day working with. So MashaAllah MashaAllah, I present my whimsical space..

This is only a part of it, I haven't featured my work table or the two supply cabinets that hold my paints and envelopes :) Hope you all enjoy this. :D

Starting with my stackable drawers...

This one holds the inks I use everyday with my stamping and crafting.

Some of these are chalk inks, some are pigment inks. Chalk inks are more opaque and quick to dry. Pigment inks are more 'wet' and take longer to dry.. they're good to blend with and stuff. :)

I use Martha Stewart's as well as the Colorbox Cat eye's.

In this drawer, I basically threw in everything 'metal'

All my little metal embellishments and charms, some eyelets and other pieces reside here. 

You see little vials there that I use in my projects too :)

This is my tool box if you would like to call it that. 

I keep my staples, my blades, my scoring tool, my glue sticks, my gluey tape, sharpener, eraser, etc... my round cutter and cutting board blades also live here.

This is a stack on my shelf for craft bin orders that are all packed up waiting for pick up :)

I had these baskets lying around. I didn't like their bamboo color amidst all the black and brown furniture in my room. So to neaten the space, I spray painted them and added these labels. So once orders are back from the printers, I pack them up, and toss them into these baskets :)

Makes things a little easier.

This one's for all the courier orders.

These are all 12x12 scrapbooks, mine, my sisters, family.. etc. My very first scrapbook, I actually took apart and it's sitting in my closet :P

Albums :)

Still have a whole cabinet full of them.

The strawberry box houses all my pigments used during screen printing, the tubs contain base medium, also used for screen printing. The stacks you see are my notepads, I had bought them with the intent of making cute notepads for my exhibition. The exhibition doesn't seem to be taking form but I will inshaAllah be crafting notepads for you all soon :)

That is one VERY important basket...

It houses ALL my sticker embellishments, they all stand and I go through them like a filing system. The front is florals, then there's everyday, then there's family, followed by baby, then romance/love/wedding, then birthday... 

Holders for pens, pencils, pointers, scissors, cutters...

These are my flowers, buttons and other embellishments. They're used with almost every project so I need them right where I can see them. They're sorted by color.. 

Purples and Pinks, Blues, Greens, Reds, Browns-Rusts, Yellow, Orange... Black and so on. These little jars are yellow, because they're for Firefly ;) these are from the local market. Those Flowers in the back are by Prima :) 

I use these book rings a LOT with my chipboard albums. I had a few packs of them, ended tossing them all in here :) They include Tim Holtz, 7Gypsies as well as some funky colorful ones I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

These little storage containers, I had bought four of em, thinking I'll organize my photos with em. That didn't happen. Instead I put all my rhinestones and crystals in here :) One in every color :D

This other box holds 'Pieces' by Basic Grey, they're great as paper and card tags to embellish and use with your projects. They're super pretty and have different shapes too. Makes your projects all the more interesting :)

That little paint can was the cutest thing I ever saw. I bought five of em in different colors  to store my little knick knacks... This pink one sits out on the shelf because I need it everyday. It has a whole bunch of brads in it. Due to luggage issues, I opened all my brads and kept em in here for travel... it worked out perfect. There are hundreds of em in here.

From animals, to flowers.. to pearls to gems. The brad bucket :)

This is my newfound best friend.. and we've been together for almost 8 months MashaAllah. 

This is what I use to emboss and die cut at home :) 

You need its cutting pads and multi purpose platform to use it.

Those are my dies stacked up in boxes,

The green box has all my embossing folders and my smaller dies :)

Umm, if you guessed if those are paper stacks you're spot on :)

The left is all 6x6, the middle tower going crooked are the 4.5 by 6.5 stacks. In between are some envelopes.. then embossing powder, my indian ink and my glueeeee. :) You probably don't see UHU here, because it leaves a white crust when it dries, this glue when wet is white, and dries on clear. It's awesome for my projects because everything is SO tiny, it's sometimes hard to be neat. Towards the right are my 8x8 paper stacks.

Some more little containers, holding embellishments, punched paper, the basket you see has all my adhesive.. tapes! of all kinds... the pink polka dots are another lot of inkpads I use, and if I don't, my baby sister finds herself playing around with em :) the two clear packets are my larger punches. The purple thingy is a mini paper trimmer. I don't use this everyday, I use a cricut one. 

This little box here is adorable beyond words. I love Smurfs! :D

This is what it stores inside :) more punches. These I use for different things, some are for decorative corners, some are shapes. The ones I use the most are the round punches and the scalloped ones, they're the ones lying mirror to each other.

The two shapes for these.

I pulled the basket out to show you the glimmer mists... These are dang pricey, but I had that little whim to just have em and try them. Found them on pretty good deals... so went all out. They're all sparkly and can do wonders once you get the hang of them. :)

Moving onto the next set of stacking drawers...

Here's the ribbon. There's spools of plain satin ribbon, it's local. It's great for binding and simple bows. The rest is.. you know. From my trips to craft stores abroad. I used to have these in a smaller drawer all neat but it's not possible when you pull them out and use em like crazy.. hence the mess!

Here's my fabric.. I keep my mesh and net in here along with velvet I use for my notebooks :)

This drawer keeps my organza ribbon as well as pillow boxes ready for emergencies.. we get a lot of those at Firefly by the way. Makes wrapping easy. :) They're sorted  by color... those at the back are my note cards for little notes and thank yous :)

This drawer has some more embellishments, brads, stickers... flowers.

a random shot.

I had this box sitting at home and it was the only thing big enough to keep all my stamps!

These include background stamps, texture stamps, characters, wood blocks.. acrylic blocks, etc...

Adirondack inks.. they're by Ranger. These are dye inks, take a bit to dry so they're great for stamping as well as inking for textures.

You can't really see the colors here, but I've got them in pastels and brights. The white ink pad is my resist ink.. it's basically clear and meant for embossing :)

These inks are called Archival as they're will not fade or cause damage to your projects with time.. I have them in earthy tones. From what I've learnt, they're waterproof.

These, some of you may recognize. These are the metal wordings I use on my tagbooks.

This box here has some of my less used ink pads. :) Some of em are still packed... some I use now and then.

This box has some old stamps that I don't use as much, the box beneath has sketch pencils and coloring pencils :)

Well, that is my 12x12 paper. I haven't gotten to making my stacker shelves yet... because the woodwork guy asks TOO much for it! -_-; so till I craft my own with some hot glue, I've stacked em here. Some are new paper stacks, some I've had for almost 5 years... I use em as I go. It's helpful because you can always pull out things to mix and match.. and piece together.

I have some by DCWV, K&Company, My Mind's Eye among a few... I have a couple of A4 stacks by Prima as well. 90% of my paper is vintage :P Can you guess why?

Alhamdulillah, this is what I've kinda saved up and shopped for over the last few years particularly. All these items are used almost everyday. Note: HUNT out the best bargains you can. If you get deals online, go for them. But be smart at the checkout, sometimes you end up paying the original price with shipping and taxes. :)

PS: this isn't one of those things you do in one trip, it takes you time to understand what you like working with, what you use more, and what your taste is. :)

The no color project. Class 1. Part One

Heyya :)

Excited to have the next lesson today, it's basically working with what you have and making it sparkle. All the items here, you MUST look for in the house. No shopping :P

- white sheet of paper minimum 4x4 inch size
- off white sheet of paper minimum 4x4  inch size
- old sheet of paper *you know you OLD books have em* can be as small as an inch :)
- newspaper you'll just need 2x2 inches of this
- off white/white thread... a spool of it will work
- cotton balls or cotton waste

you're of course need your adhesive such as a glue stick, tape and UHU :)

The ten embellishment project... Class 1 Part Four

Okay, so I had to come with a new post for our final bit because I couldn't upload anymore photos :(

This is our final post for this brief class.

  

The Bands... our finishing touches?

The patterned paper with the bands and boxes. If you feel you need a little extra something to jazz up your page, perhaps a border, or another element within the background, let's try these bands.

I trimmed my paper... and tried this.. it seems like too much is happening with the two black ornamented designs and black band at the bottom.

This one's slightly better, with a bolder black, again the idea of too many black things as compared to one, that holds your attention. :)

I don't like my things cut all neat and tidy... I have to have an aged and grunged look :) 

Of course, you may have a different view. 

Our Layout :)

Do you feel this was easy? :) Wasn't it? Just takes a bit of time and effort... and a wee bit of thought and creativity :D

If you feel like the posts have helped you, and are ready to present your layout, why not share it?

You can treat the isle, with an old ink pad by just running it over the edges.. you can even use an old dried out marker, go over the isle at the corners in circles... I'll teach you all this in our next few classes :) 

I made a few alterations to mine, by treating the nude base. To make it more like a finished piece... I have a collection of stamps I love to bits, and I love printmaking, so incorporated them within the backdrop. They have all been stamped with a bronze ink pad to give it that muted look over the nude base. 

The stamps I used:

• a grunge bubble wrap by KaiserCraft *the bubble/dots you see*
• Pappilion by Tim Holtz *the butterflies...*
• grid-like texture by  KaiserCraft *the grid diffused at the bottom*
• a tiny text in vintage writing by Prima *the top right corner* LOVE this.

I smudged my ink pad across the edges... to give it that aged feel :) 

So, what do you guys think?

You may be wondering why it's called the '10' embellishment project.

Here's why :)

• 3 large flowers
• 3 small rosettes
• 1 button
• 1 metal find
• mesh/net
• isle

Congratulations on your first ten embellishment project :) Things will seem a LOT easier for you from now on :D

The ten embellishment project... Class 1 Part Three.

So, I had input from a few of you about materials :) I've mentioned in Part One under comments about the availability of material... if you have questions at any step, I'd be most obliged to happily assist you with them :)

Here is the continuation of our first class...

Just to recap, we've gone over material. We've gone over embellishments, I've also spoken about why I chose what I did with a few tips and pointers on how to pick out your embellishments.

Selecting our Isle
You may have noticed in my projects, there's a focal point. I'll refer to it as the isle. It's the area within the layout that is dense with layering or embellishment and holds your primary focus. It grasps your eye, be it because of something extraordinary placed there, or because it's just the area on the layout that has something to draw your focus to.

Here's how we select our isle. You may note, that I pulled out one base, and 2 printed papers.
The reason for two, is to see which one may work better with your base.


What you need to do with your patterned paper. Take an area that interests you. Cut out a small square window to see what you like better, like a view finder so to speak. The area that I felt was interesting, I cut and cropped it out in different shapes.

You can do a rectangle, a circle, a scallop, flourishes, a square... a flower. Anything. :) You're going to build upon this.

I took out two shapes with each pattern, just to have variety to choose from.

Though the patterns are the same, the different shapes make a great impact on how they appear to the eye. Do you see the difference?

Next, think of where you want your isle.. is it the center of the page? Do you want it on a corner, it could be anywhere... for starters, let's stay away from symmetry :) Also... placing things 3/4th or 1/4th the way make an interesting composition.

I decided, I want mine, not in the center, but between the center and top.. toward the right. So I began placing my isle basis, to see which I liked better. :)

The shapes and pattern do have an overall impact. I selected the heavily patterned flourish for my layout, simply because it didn't merge with the nude/beige base I was working with. The swirls blend in and don't hold attention as much as the flourish does. If I were to go with the square, I'd give it a black border, just to define it a little :)

Adding our Florals...

Once I had my isle in place, I took out the flowers. Please note, you are not going to stick any thing til the very end, you're going to move things around a million times to get the look you want :)

I like starting with my largest flower, and layering it with a smaller one. Here I began with my neutral one.

Played around and placed the next one.

then the other. If you remember, in part one, I mentioned why I have one black flower instead of two. The black is stark and stands out. This way your eye goes to one place, instead of hopping between two :)

Creating a little interest there. 

I didn't like the green leaves, I pulled them off. I do that a LOT with my rosettes :P

seeing if this works...

That about does it, we can introduce our mesh. You can either lay it flat under your flowers like a strip or band..

OR you can fold it over and make it like a little ribbon...

OUR button...

Add in your little button :)

5 Metal finds...

So you're wondering, how are we using all five of our metal finds? Here's the fun part :D

We're not. We are using only ONE of them, but we will see how each of the five looks before we decide on finalizing our layout. :)

I felt the little key could have a little home there in the flower...

Tried the button, it wasn't really going so much...

That kinda looks cute :)

The Tim Holtz pin just doesn't cut it...

That just might work.. simple yet present :)

Next Post.. 

Bands, Boxes.. and our final look :)

The ten embellishment project... Class 1 Part Two.

Alright, I'm back :) Did you all collect the things you needed? Here's what I've got.

Here's all of it. I picked out a beige/nude, gold and black theme to work with. The first paper is a neutral beige. The middle two are the patterned papers. One is heavy in design, the other a little lighter. The last is a printed cardstock with the bands we can cut up and use. On the right are my 6 florals. I would have loved to use crochet flowers but I don't have any right now. My button's there on top. My mesh below. And of course.. the 5 metal pieces. I found em in my stash :)

Now, these papers are from my paper stash, and are 4.5x6.5 in size. I am considering this as a layout for my tagbook, so will be trimming down the beige base cardstock to 4x6.5 inches, as that is the canvas I work on. If you want to use this exercise for say a card or a collage, you can opt to have a 4x6 or 5x7 base to work on. :)

a closer look.

the beige base.

the patterned ones.. they're in foil I think.

the coordinating bands.

Two of the flowers are neutrals, one is darker. The darker piece will always stand out more.. and will be stark  in appearance.. which is why I opted for one black. The other two lighter :) The three little rosettes are all black, with such a small size, beige or neutral would not show, hence the minis in black. 

Please note that you can cut out floral shapes from your chart paper and use those. You don't need fancy embellishments to make your work look awesome. Trust me, you'll find out my little jugaars on the way ;) The ideal size for the larger ones is 1 inch and 1 1/2 inch. If you  go bigger, it may become difficult using them in your layout...

a very simple clear button. You can find nicer ones in the market :) It's 1/2 inch wide.

These are about an inch max, 1/2 -3/4th...

my five metal pieces. One is a button, one is a little Eifel Tower, a key, a safety pin, and I had those Tim Holtz ones.. don't worry about your items. Anything metal can do wonders :) the buttons and the safety pin are local by the way.

your best friend during crafting.. especially if you're into the whole vintage and shabby chic look. It is super inexpensive and easily available from your local florist or craft shop :) Just say, bhai ek gaz dedo. :p They have them in a variety of colors and styles. I'm staying with this one for this project :)

SO.. what did you all find? I want to seeeee. :) Maybe I can help narrow things down or suggest more options :) If you've taken up this class, share a facebook photo with a snap of all your goodies as I did above. No no, you don't need to photograph each piece, one collective image will do :) 

Stay tuned for part Three :) that's where we do the layout.

PS: I know some of you are thinking is she crazy, I thought this is supposed to be 'easy'. Trust me :) starting you all on this is going to make future projects SUPER easy. :D

The ten embellishment project... Class 1 Part One.

Heyya!

I'm not sure how many of you remember but I was supposed to hold scrapper sessions after Ramadan last year... it didn't shape out with all the rains and the distress in the city... and then came thesis.. and well.. You get the idea. :)

SO, after MANY requests from all of you, I am very excited about doing classes online via the Firefly Girl blog :) once I get the hang of things I'll try posting videos to help further :) So, if you'd like to be a part of our class, all you have to do is leave your name at the bottom of this page. Every time we have a class, you will be required to photograph your materials or finished project.. you can do it on Facebook. Upload the photo in an album which will be visible to everyone :) Do not share private or personal photos in that album. Safety and privacy is super important when being online. :)

Without any further delay, let's begin :)

Many of you have requested help on how to piece together layouts, before we can do so, here's your first part of the lesson, you will have to go treasure hunting to find the materials you need for this layout class!

Basic Supplies:
You will need these with every class. Special requirements will be mentioned :)


- everyday scissors  *needs to be nice with cutting, don't use a blunt one*
- adhesive, UHU glue in the tube. Smaller size for beginners.
- adhesive, tape.. scotch tape will do
- adhesive, glue stick. Can be UHU, Scotch or any other make
- a paper cutter *only use if you've got patience and are not afraid of the blade!
- a cutting mat or glass top to cut over with the cutter
- an old board or heavy weight paper to craft on *this is so we don't ruin surfaces through out the house*
- a pencil *to make markings now and then
- a scale.. preferably steel edge

The treasure hunt:
The items you collect here will be used in crafting your first layout :)


-a neutral colored chart paper or card stock, computer paper is too light weight... go for a brown, beige, black or off white. WHITE is too stark.
- a printed pattern that is not so busy... can be crafting paper, gift wrapping paper, a leftover packaging, etc.. This should have the color you're using as a base, ie if you're crafting with beige, it should have a touch of beige. You will be cutting this out.

- a heavily printed pattern... slightly dense as compared to the one above. Again you will need to find one that matches your base color. You will be cutting this out.

- a pattern in bands. We see a lot of gift wrapping paper which comes in rows and bands of designs. These are perfect as strips to ornament with :)

- 3 large embellishment flowers. These can be fabric, crochet or even paper :) Size should be between 1.5 and 2 inches. Again, pick colors that will go with your theme.

- 3 small embellishment flowers. These can all be one color. Best option is little rosettes or the little gem flowers you get here and there

- a 1x4 inch piece of mesh, net, organza, or any other fabric you wish to incorporate in your little layout

- a button. could be as tiny.. but no bigger than half an inch. :) I'd opt for a plastic or acrylic one. No metallic ones here.

- 5 mini metal things... can be a screw, a safety pin, a metallic button, a charm, an old key, a coin, broken jewelry. Possibilities are endless.. you will need to find 5 of them...

That's the list for now :)
Gather these and stay tuned for part two :) We will begin our crafting :D

why hello... where were you holiday?

Hey everybody.. emails are being replied to.. I think I have 10 or 15 left.. I just made it back into town yesterday.. so I'm back to work between my jetlagged state.

As funny as it sounds, one month away didn't really feel like being away, I really send kudos to individuals who can take a total vacation from what they do.. in my case, I can't. :) Some order mishaps like following me around the globe, and of course, page queries and comments too. With my brother not around, things didn't quite go according to plan with reprocessing. Our home is full of guests.. and our Shaykh is visiting. I have been sick on and off the last ten days because of all my traveling.

Alhamdulillah, the trip was AMAZING... I got to see SO much! I will share details of that in the next post. :)

As for Firefly, I feel the changes are only beginning... there will be a lot more to adjust to in the coming few months, inshaAllah there is an Umrah trip due for me after nearly 4 years of skipping out due to uni... I really need to go out there and Thank Allah Kareem for His kindness towards me and granting me success. A little after that, yes.. it's the big W word.. Wedding... *butterflies*

HEY! that does not mean Firefly will end... it just means it's going to have new inspiration, from a new place, a new life inshaAllah... That's also the reason why I have NOT started work or agreed to commit my time anywhere... I feel it would be unfair and improper to start work, take multiple breaks and then move away. I've come across great firms and organizations in my trip, so will inshaAllah approach them after I move... excited about that. :D

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who wrote to me during the holiday, not to ask about orders, but just because. It means so much to have so many people care... And then there are some... I'm still learning from. I used to get in trouble with family while abroad because I would worry more about my Firefly customers than actually enjoying my holiday... no matter what you do, you will still leave some unsatisfied. It's funny enough that individuals take their time in deciding what they need, how they want to pay, when they want to pay... and then expect everything to be magically placed and perfect in an instant.. and some, oh gosh, Natasha, I'm sorry... this is for you, I praise her and Cundas who have been so patient... I'm back now.. and we are getting this sorted. :) Mohaira, you as well. x

Blessed to be doing what I love. Everyone asks if I shopped for my wedding, I reply saying nope.. I went to museums and brought back scrapcrap (my brother came up with that one). Room is a disaster, trying to get it craftinized.. I emptied my suitcases and now the room is a trail of papercrafting, stamping, and embellishing material. My mum surprised me by giving the room a fab make over.. so I have all the more reasons to make it look AWESOME with all the wonderful things I've acquired. Alhamdulillah, I'm set to have a craft room :D

Some special people say I look happier being back.. fresher. Of course I am! I back with my Hayaati Hijabi and of course, my Firefly!