Sayings #1: Perfection is Boring, Imperfection is Fun!

/hihi Hello there...
Few weeks ago.. I saw this sentence writing: "Perfection is Boring, Imperfection is FUN!"
I cannot not agree to that saying!  =)
And I thought that it would be nice to share it on my blog and also at my Pinterest.
So I quickly wrote in down and finally today... I came out with this:

I wrote it down on a drawing paper with colour markers.

And then I took a photo of it using my Samsung NV4 digital camera, and I edited it with "MeiTu" software to add in the texture behind and the colour to have that old paper feeling. :)

What do you think about it? /please

Do share the image with others and 

Do comment if you agree on the saying and if you like what I did. :D

♥ Chloe Tsai

Why I blog?

Blog about your hobby? crafts? 

/sweat

Why blog about crafts? why blog about your hobby?

For me, it is both personal and complicated. (If you have read MadiganMade's Why I blog post, you may say that I'm copying her but I'm not. It is the truth and coincident that she and I have the same reason. Maybe all of us that blog about our hobby has the same reason. /nobigdeal )

For the personal part: 

I started this blog:

• To keep a journal about things I love to do, things I have created. I want to document my projects and my ideas. :)
• To motivate myself. As putting your projects or creations out there for people to see or read, sometimes you will received comments that really motivates you to do more. Other than that, when you look back to the things you have made, the satisfaction will motivates you to continue creating things that you like. 
• To share and learn from others. Well, currently I have no readers yet but of course I hope and wish that I'll be able to share my ideas or sharing links of other peoples' great ideas and we can get feedbacks and we can learn together.  
• Lastly, I think this last point is everyone's dream. :) It is to see if some day a hobby could turn into something more like maybe a shop or maybe workshop or bigger maybe a company. /blush 

For the complicated part:

The complicated part is that... 

I've always been a bit crafty since I don't know, since my kindergarden year? 

But few years back, I think around 2009, 

I started to browse online searching for ideas to make something for my darling boyfriend.

And I found so many amazing crafting videos in Youtube which then lead me to their websites.

I have found so so many.

Amazing crafters such as KWernerdesign, JenniferMcguireInk, etc. 

and companies such as TwoPeasInABucket, Papertrey Ink, HeroArts, etc.

Those blogs and companies somehow trigged me to wanting to open my own shop.

After reading there blogs, seeing them using all the incredible tools and products to create stuffs,

I just realise that, in the country I'm living now, we do Not have those tools and products and that just so annoy me!

And you know what?

I really went and contact all the popular brands company, and I really planned to start my own business.

I dreamed about selling all the products and also my creations. :D

But.... oh well..

$$ and time are always the problems. I'm still studying, I'm taking a quite heavy duty course which really require so much of my time. 

Other than that, I also didn't have the confidence in the things I made. I like/love what I made but I was not sure it was Good enough to sell.

so... /no I say no to my plan of opening my own shop. /please

Well, so... I calmed myself down and after all the theories/scolding/lecturing from my darling boyfriend, 

I decided to stop crazily day dreaming about it and do things step by step. :) 

So... I have stopped thinking about it, I still do sometimes, but not as crazy as before. :D

Now I'm only going to make gifts for my family and boyfriends and close friends. 

Sometimes I still day dream about owning a little shop. A little shop that sells crafts, crafting tools, all the products and decorations and maybe conducting workshops. :)

Right now the most important thing is to complete my studies first. Then.. maybe someday I will open that little shop. :D

In summary, I view this blog as a personal journal about crafts, creating, basically my hobby/the things I like to do. Just a simple blog to document what I create and the things that inspires me. Sharing ideas and sharing links. Hoping one day, this blog could be leading me to my dream shop. :)

For now, while I'm studying, I'll just follow this little blog, to where it may lead me to. :)

Feel free to come join me in this adventure of crafting life! :D

/bye

♥ Chloe Tsai

Welcome to Creations With Zodan! :)

Who is Zodan?  

What's with the Creations With Zodan?

/hmm

I am a 20-something year old studying girl who enjoys creating stuffs in my spare time.
I am now studying Bachelor of Engineering(Electrical and Electronic). :)
My name is Tsai Siew Zoo and my boyfriend gave me the name Chloe, I have been using it since then.

You might be wondering now, "your name is Chloe, then why Creations With Zodan?"
:D Zodan is actually the combination of my name and my boyfriend's name.
His name is Daniel. so we combine our name into..
Zoo + Daniel  = Zodan :D

Here are some interesting facts about me:

• I am an avid crafter. (I learnt the word avid from Madigan Made. I'm just like her, we have tried a little bit of this hobby and a little bit of that hobby. :) )  
• I like to create home-made things for my family and I super like to make things for my boyfriend. but I'm not very confident yet to do things for my friends. I just think that the things I created is not good enough. /nobigdeal
• I enjoy doing all sorts of hand-made things. From card making to sewing to baking to I don't know.. Sky is the limit right? :) I just enjoy doing anything I can do with my hands. :)
• I also like photography. Photos help you to capture the wonderful moments in life. But I have no money to buy a good camera yet... so.. well.. I'm saving hard. :D

I like to hand-made things because when it is completed, I feel satisfied. I feel like I have achieved something. Besides, if it is to give to my family members or my boyfriend, when they received it, the smiles on their face, that makes me very happy. :)

So.. yup. That's basically me. :D

You are always Welcome to follow my adventures in the crafting world, follow my adventures in learning. 

/bye

♥ Chloe Tsai

New Beginning? :)

Hi everyone...
Awhile back, I came across to a wonderful blog. The blog is titled "Madigan Made".
I have put the link, do go and check it out.
She is really creative and I really enjoy reading her blog. It is fun and informative. I like it.

However, while I'm reading it. I noticed that I haven't welcome you all to my blog and also I didn't introduce myself to you. :)
Madigan Made, she wrote an introduction about herself and also she wrote a post about "Why I blog". She said that those two posts are important, especially the "Why I Blog" post, which I very agree to.
It is because sometimes down the road, you will lost track and forgot why you first started this blog and reading that post back will somehow bring you back the mojo and inspiration again. :)
So, Now, I'm going to sit now in front of my laptop, listening to my favourite songs and start writing. :)

I'll upload the posts in a different post. So.. Stay tuned. :)

♥ Chloe Tsai

Card #1 : Father's Day 2011

Hi there... How are you today? :)

What did you do for your daddy last Sunday?

I made a card for my Daddy! 

Is a very simple card:

I got the idea of the wordings of Father at one of the pin on Pinterest.  So.. 

First of all, I typed the words in Microsoft Publisher. I used the font of Impact. 

then... I printed it out in A4 normal printer paper, layered it on the black colour paper and then I cut the letters out.

At this point, I really really really wish I own a Silhouette cutter. It definitely will ease the work of cutting the letters. sigh~ only if I have $$. 

Anyway....

After that, I layer the black colour paper on the patterned paper, I traced the word "FATHER" and cut it out. That's why the word FATHER is in white colour. :)

Finally, adhere everything together and on a white colour card based and... 

That was it! 

A very simple yet meaningful card for Father's Day. :)

Have a wonderful day~ 

 ♥ Chloe Tsai

Scrapbook Layout #1: Family

I made my first scrapbook layout for Mother's day 2011 and my dad's Birthday which celebrated last Sunday (8th May). :)
I know I'm so behind the time, I'm just too busy with assignments and tests and reports.. #_#
Without further ado, I present to you my First Scrapbook Layout!

I got inspired by this: http://melaniestanczyk-justbeingcreative.blogspot.com. Once i see her layout, i said to myself, why not? I wanted to create scrapbook page for so so long but i just never get my hand into it. This time, for my dad and mom, why not do a layout with my family members' photos? all-time photos. :) so... quickly, i took out a paper and start sketching and planning. :)

Then i thought that, with the photos only is going to look very plain. Therefore, to add in some interest to the layout, i created all the paper-pieced Chinese Horoscope of my family members individually. I first google search all the different cartoon-ish animal of Rabbit, Dog, Rooster, Rat and Horse. For the Rooster, Rat and Horse, i traced the image found on the internet with Adobe Illustrator and cut the different parts out. Whereas, for the Rabbit and Dog, I'm so lucky enough to find this videos on youtube teaching how to paper-pieced the rabbit and dog by using different punches. The link is as below:

rabbit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT3FyzrryTo&feature=related
doggy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezhgfTxjOlU&feature=related

Thank so much for the two videos. But... unfortunately, I don't have the money to buy the punches hence i draw the shapes in Microsoft Publisher and trace them in Adobe Illustrator and cut all of them using my brother's cutter machine. It look be about 2 days to finish all the little creatures. :) It was challenging because all the parts are so so so small. The finished paper-pieced bunny is only about 5cm. Cute huh? Although the little cute creatures took me long time to finish it but it is all worth it. They really make the layout interesting. :)

Next, i search all the shoe boxes which has full of photos in it, searching and searching for hours to find the perfect photos. I was searching for photos when us the kids are still very baby and when my parents are still young. :) I scanned them and print it out on glossy photo paper (as we only have one copy, doesn't want to destroy it. ^_^). The photos are in size of 4x6 inches.

Then... is Assembly time! :)

Some still photos of the details:

The title "FAMILY" is letter stickers i bought at a local stationary store.
For the message at the bottom of the layout, i typed my message in Microsoft PowerPoint, painted the text box in black with the font color of white and i print it out, cut it, and pop it up on the layout with the dimensional tape. :)

For the love shape, i freehand drawn the love on the designer papers. They are from the collection of The Green Stack by DCWV. Cut the love shape out and tie a bow and pop it up. Isn't it just make the message section more lovely? :) Love it~


 So... that's how my first scrapbook layout comes to life. I really enjoy doing it. I'm sure that I'll make another layout soon after i finish my final exam. :)
Hope you all enjoy it and have a nice day~


♥ Chloe Tsai @ Creations with Zodan