art – Stiletto Supermom

November 17, 2022November 18, 2022

Life’s Keychains and Zipper Pulls

It’s funny how simple solutions are right in front of me. I have a few totes and bags I don’t use for one reason: I can’t find and access the zipper.

I have been leaving the zippers open on my bags for years. I didn’t really think about it, but it defeats the purpose of securing my things in said bag. Since I’ve been getting back into crocheting, I decided to come up with a solution. I have been making these adorable little amigurumi toys. My family, friends and I are just loving these adorable little buddies. I thought about my sons bags and how they too have issues finding that tiny zipper. A lot of people have issues with disabilities, including me on tough MS days, so finding zippers like this tends to be overlooked.

This zipper pull and keychain with this cute little Grogu inspired little guy stole my heart and is friend adored and young sons approved.

Sometimes the simplest fixes are literally at your fingertips! I have dedicated a whole different blog and website for my handmade things from baby clothing to toys. It has been nostalgic because I used to sew costumes, toys, clothing, quilts; knit and crochet..etc. I have been reinspired and motivated to do everything I love.

It is still in a tiny baby stage but I have been working on it at a leisurely pace. No rush, no pressure just a nice DIY type of place. This world has been operating too fast so I wanted to find my peace on the internet.

I have been wearing a lot of hats lately and putting a lot less pressure on myself which I highly recommend. Adulthood can be really fast and furious so if we don’t find our peace, we will lose ourselves. Take up a hobby, exercise or just sit down, chill and exhale. You are an adult and you’ve been through a lot. You are worth it!

If you like DIY and textile art check out my other website. It’s under construction even as I write this. Thanks guys and have a fantastic day!

Check out my new website 👇

https://allofthethingshandcrafted.com/

October 27, 2022

Try New Things!

Hello my friends!

It is officially Fall and I am unusually energized. I decided to design and create one-of-a-kind dolls for play and display. I have been a doll maker for more than 20 years. I know how to knit, crochet, sew, felt.. I like trying all kinds of art mediums. I crocheted this Harry Potter inspired doll and handfelted his Sorting Hat. He is now in safe hands with his “Mom”.

I used to make costumes and stuffed animals for my children and I forgot how much joy it gives me to create things with no boundaries nor time restrictions. I have friends that are so unbelievably talented in so many things. I have a friend that fully redecorates the rooms in her home every season and Holiday. It’s like a showroom everything is stunning! I have a friend that sculpts lifelike babies in miniature and human size. These baby dolls look so real, I am in awe of how fast her magic hands are. I have a friend who enrolls her children in almost every extracurricular activity they want to try and she drives them everywhere, she’s a real life supermom! These women are my heroes. They all work so hard and they are the most beautiful people I have the honour of having in my life.

For my next chapter, I will share, with you, all the things I have learned about arts and crafts. Winter is on the way so my goal is to introduce some new hobbies and ideas for you to pass the time. There are so many beautiful projects I want to try and my art studio is fully stocked!

And… Let us begin…

April 30, 2020April 29, 2020

Life in Quarantine 2020: Staying Inspired

Spring Classics Collection

I’m sure that we are all getting anxious wanting to go outside at the first sign of spring. In my place in the world, I’m still skeptical. That being said, I’ve been finding creative ways to keep my children and myself busy indoors. I received my birthday/Mother’s Day presents early ( a pasta maker and juicer kitchennaid attachments and a Nespresso machine ) so I’ve been enjoying them tremendously. So far I have made linguini, spaghetti on the first round and homemade ramen noodles. I must say that homemade ramen is WAY better than the prepackaged dehydrated kind.

On my other hobbies and pursuits, I’ve been learning lots about ball jointed doll making. I have yet to design and create my own so that is next on the list of things to self teach.

rabbit amigurumi doll

Doll making still has my heart and I have furthered even better ways to get my dolls out to so many more people that use them for therapy and to simply make them smile. My son found all the family photo albums including some scrapbook ideas I had in storage. We had fun looking through them so we decided to work on that project this week. As much as this lockdown has disrupted our lives it has also allowed me to stay in the present. I now know exactly where my scrapbook items are and there is no excuse for me not to complete them. I think it will be fun for my youngest to actually get familiar of what a physical photograph is.

scrapbook on white textile

The most challenging thing for me to do lately is to remain inspired. To shake things up I found a couple iBooks to read. It’s nice to read on the socials, texting, messaging.. but it is nice to take a break from the pace of the social media world and read a book that has more focus and direction. lol as much as I love chatting with my online world, having a direction feels a lot more calming on my brain lately. People are getting emotional so I’m trying to remain as positive as I can.

It’s easy to get sucked into the fears and panic of those that surround you but the most important thing is to be there for them. Transition is hard for all of us.

I hope you are all having a peaceful week.

More to come be happy and be grateful always…

Much love,

P.S. Checkout my Pinterest recipe boards, I’ve tried and will be trying some recipes and activities from some pretty amazingly creative people on there. Also checkout my YouTube Channel where I’ll take you on my adventures too!

December 28, 2018

Productively Positive

I must say I’m uber proud of myself! Not only have I had so much success with my event planning, but I have been sticking to my schedule by uploading and posting on time with my doll channel. I have an amazingly strong team behind me full of energy and positivity!

My Creative Director has left me gobsmacked with her ideas and proactivity, I feel truly blessed. We had some early bumps in the road with some hits and misses with my team, but we finally have our footing and the right people who are ready for 2019!

It’s an amazing feeling to see my ideas and goals come to fruition. As an entrepreneur I admit I was afraid that my vision was misunderstood. My advice to those preparing to run a business is to hold on to that vision until the right people come into your life. I held on for the right time and boom I’ve had nothing but positive results and I’m now surrounded with strong professionals that are self motivated and love what we do.

In this sea of competition, I believe that many people lose sight of what really matters. When dollars and cents are involved it can clash with the pure love of the art. I’ve seen many people blur the two things and end up in competition with each other. Well, my fellow indie artists, the only challenge you should ever accept is the one with yourself. Art is interpretive some will love your work some will like others’ work don’t let that discourage you! There are billions of people on this earth you will find your “people” you will find your niche.

I find it very sad when I see people envious or jealous. Those are 2 horrible traits to have, let those things go! They serve no purpose but destruction of relationships and contribute to the destruction of your soul. Steer clear of poisonous people and their venom and never second guess yourself. Sometimes the most venom comes in the form of a friend, a coworker and even a family member, you will rise above and you will recover. Trust your instincts, you know, that voice in your head or that knot in your stomach even the warnings of others. I love the saying “listen to what people tell you about themselves because they’re right” not sure if that was Dr. Phil, lol, be aware that you do have a choice to ignore, deny or accept those warnings to be true. I admit to ignoring those warnings in my past and sure enough the outcome was not a good one.

Going into 2019 with a heart full of happiness and a plan is the only way I choose to start this year off right. I hope you all find your footing and wish you a positive and productive new year!

IAC Doll Show

October 22, 2018November 7, 2018

So many things

I had such a fun weekend and I’m so happy that the stresses of the world melted away. I ordered more supplies, worked on some fine details and now I feel more prepared for all my future projects. As a bonus, I got to meet up with some great friends and we ended the weekend with sharing some great laughs and stories.

All in all life is awesome!

Bring on the new week!

Life with Stiletto: So many things

September 26, 2018November 7, 2018

A Little Retro

Summer is slowly starting to say its final goodbyes. I still have the windows open and it’s almost October! It’s inevitable the snow is on its way and I will soon have to do my traditional “hibernation”.

Last week, I had a lovely meeting with my colleague and was feeling so good about it I literally got inspired. If you’re anything like me, you will know that fabric stores, crafts, handmade artwork are my weaknesses. Knitting, crocheting, sewing and more recently felting have been great outlets for me to express myself. So, after my meeting I popped over to Fabricland and I wandered throughout the store touching fabric and looking in all the tiny corners for hidden gems. As you are aware, I am an art doll maker so of course my whole intention was to possibly sew a baby quilt or something. Then I found this amazing fabric and I knew exactly what I had to do with it.

I found it on the bottom shelf tucked in behind some other unrelated fabric. Not only is this my favourite I Love Lucy episode, the colours are gorgeous retro shades. I immediately thought about making an apron for my doll painting and other crafts. I gathered my focal fabric and some cute complimentary and contrast fabrics to give it a modern day/vintage look.

I found this chocolate brown fabric with delicate fine lines and flowers for the main apron, a dusty rose and white polka dotted fabric to compliment the main colour, then I added 1 full panel pocket and 2 smaller pockets on the front. I made sure I had room to carry my cellphone, pens, scissors and other notions.

I made my own pattern by copying the shape of my rooting apron. I started with the centre pocket with the base of 4 blocks of the focal fabric measuring 14 x 14 inches. I cut out 2 blocks of the focal fabric and put them over the bottom 2 blocks of the square piece. I finished the top edges of the pockets with white bias tape, I stitched between the 2 blocks to separate them into 2 smaller pockets. After cutting out the shape of the apron I attached the middle pockets. I kept the pocket looking like it was thrown together for that vintage homemade feel. For the straps, I took the dusty rose and white polka dot fabric and cut 4 x 3 inch strips, folded and sewed them right sides together lengthwise, turned the 4 pieces inside out, pressed and attached 2 pieces at the top of the apron for the neck tie and 2 pieces on either side of the waist of the apron. I also made the straps longer so I could wrap them around my waist and tie a bow at the front under the pocket. I finished all the edges around the apron, pressed the seams and taa daa! A fresh apron ready to get dirty!

I may do a video tutorial in the future for those that are interested in this quick little project. More sewing projects coming up soon!

Hope you all had a fantastic day!

January 27, 2018January 27, 2018

Bullet journals & Heffalumps

2017 ended with a lot of promise and a lot of planning and like every year previously, I have to start with a new planner. Now I have always had a journal where I would write out random thoughts, short stories, poems, ideas, etc. but I noticed that over time and as I found myself disciplining my thoughts more to tailor towards my goals, I found that my journals were feeling more like a “security blanket”. I was reading back through my writing and it was becoming more random and sadly I was even writing less frequently. I can freely admit this was most likely due to depression from fighting SJS, but I also feel that my writing instruments were getting a little outdated and boring. I came across the one bullet journal video and then before you know it I ended up watching a string of youtube videos for the entire day. I did some research on some different dot paper notebooks, art pens, art markers.. I placed my Amazon order, stalked it and waited impatiently for my new bullet journal adventure to begin.

Yes, I am a gadget girl and I do use my iPhone calendar for appointments, alarms etc. but guys, there just isn’t anything in this world that can ever compare to the power and magic of the pen to paper. I am and always will be a writer they are my favourite tools in the world. Since I’ve been using the bullet journal system, while adding some creative touches of my own, I’ve managed to be a lot more productive and inspired in my artwork as well. I kept my creative energy flowing and decided to move into a new studio with bigger space and amazing lighting.

Since I’ve been doing some much needed redecorating, I decided to include some of my art dolls into my room decor. Now, reborn doll collecting is a fairly new so displaying them is left in actual baby furniture, etc there are no stands for them. So I found a pillow in the shape of an elephant. I was so excited to find it because who doesn’t want a heffalump pillow?!

It’s definitely the right time for big moves!

August 8, 2017

Action and Progress

You know those corny sayings that seem to clog the internet, you know, the ones where they are supposed to inspire you or uplift you? I read those quotes and I find one common thread between them all and that is the moment I was reading them, I should have been moving on and taking the next step towards my goal. As positive as they are, these are things we should be telling ourselves on a daily basis. I’m a strong believer in self preservation for the sake of the quality of life that you really want.

I was doing research, making appointments, drafting plans… and I stopped myself and smiled. In all my adulthood, 2017 has been the best I have had yet. I used to do things here and there, not out of things I had to do but for things I felt I needed to do. Going with the flow and letting go of this invisible control we all think we have.

Today, I started to notice how all the things I’ve been doing up to this point have come to fruition. I used to get stressed out when I didn’t know what was going to happen after working so hard. Now, I find myself smiling more and knowing that this whole journey was preparing me for something bigger than just what I love to do. I’m on my way to fulfill that mission I gave to myself.

My new addiction… The art of letting go…

August 4, 2017August 4, 2017

Over already?!

It's the Civic Holiday weekend and it feels like the summer months passed by so fast! I blame most of this on the weirdest weather I've seen in years! It would rain so hard it sounded like hail against my windows, thunderstorms at least once a week followed by extreme heat where I could hardly breathe. Although, I'd rather have this weather than the upcoming winter months.

The back-to-school supplies and clothing are in all the stores, I can almost hear my bank account cry for my school shopping days that are just around the corner. It will be an emotional school year for me as my last little pterodactyl will be leaving the nest to go to school. So far, he knows his numbers up to 10 and backwards, but he refuses to sing the alphabet song lol. Thanks to the iPad he does know what the letters are, but he just doesn't like the song. I'm guessing that he thinks the song is dumb, he rolls his eyes every time I ask him to sing it.

Lately, my days are filled with doll orders and event planning. It's a truly exciting time for me. I have found what I love in all aspects of my life from the kids, social life and now my artistry. They often say that when your personal life is good everything else around is chaos. I am living proof that the saying is NOT true. We all need to find the balance in our own lives or things get harder and harder to do. It's like the universe makes some things in our lives difficult in order to accept something better in our lives. "Out with the old, in with the new" has a deeper meaning than we think. This whole year has unraveled many important life choices for me. My family relationships have been stronger now than ever, financial security is finally here, reuniting with my childhood best friend, maintaining deeper relationships with my friends from all over my online world and forming new amazing friendships who have cleared my mind and settled my soul.

Yes, you can have it all, yes abundance is attainable. If you want these things, you have to release everything that you know is holding you back. It will seem so difficult to let go, but it will be worth it and those difficult moments you are experiencing right now, will be in your distant past. Right when you're about to give up hope is when you have to gather up as much strength as you have to get through the rough moments. You will see your end goals, not when YOU want to see it, but when you're ready to accept it.

June 3, 2017June 3, 2017

Stiletto Vlogs 06/03/17 Farmer’s Market

This is one of my favourite things to do in my surroundings. We have a fabulous fresh Farmer’s Market close by and I just love it. Fresh fruits and veggies, meats, baked goods and the sound of vendors yelling out their upcoming sales is like music to my ears. I even had a chance to look through all the furniture that I will be decorating my house with.

I stocked up in meats, bought some amazingly fresh butter and raspberry cream tarts and smoked mackerel. OMG I love this so much, it could be my childhood upbringing when my parents other family friends would get together have potluck dinners, there was always BBQd fish somewhere among the sea of Filipino foods. I decided that I want to share that same kind of traditions with my children.

I hope you enjoy the video of the travel to the Farmer’s Market!

More to come..