Welcome to Knotty Bicsie!: April 2009

Knotty Bicsie Goes MAAD

It's the 1st weekend of the month again & Knotty Bicsie is going MAAD again! :)

KBCC #13 - Easter Swop & Needle Felting

For the 1st time, KBCC finally shifts back to "home-based" - Knotty Bicsie Studio! We had a good turn up & even a special guest who was virtually with us for the 1st 15min.

Ee Wei, we all miss u A LOT! All your fabulous crafting buddies wish you were back from chilly Edmonton to sunny Singapore for all KBCC sessions! It was real sweet of you to sms to say hi to everyone. :)

Last Saturday we did Needle Felting. A few of our crafters never even heard about this before last Saturday! So I would say everyone did something new & literally had fun (& stress ;P) poking away...

Special thanx to a GREAT FRIEND, Ayako, who volunteered to be my assistant that day. Peiling & ShuaiXun were indeed in good hands. Arigato, Ayako! :)

Something that we've all been waiting for since last month - Easter Swop! I made this cute little Easter Bunny Sling Bag for my partner, Peiling. Well, I noticed she was making a rabbit plush for our previous KBCC & guess that she likes rabbit. So I'm sure she'll love this gift :)

In return, my partner, Moses, made a pretty "Easter Humpty Dumpty" that even smells sweet! To make EVERYONE jealous, Yuliana & Richard both made an extra gift for me as well! So many presents, felt like X'mas! Thanx, Moses, Yuliana & Richard! Haha... :D

Click here to read more...

Meet Funky Knitter, Roz

"Betsy, you've been GREAT! Never could I imagine that I can actually knit something but you really have guided me through the whole process very, very patiently. I first came to you in Dec 2008 to knit a present for my special other but somewhere along the way, some personal problems cropped up & I decided to stop knitting. You've been very encouraging & it was thanks to you that I decided to pick up knitting again (with GUSTO this time!) and knit a winter scarf.

Lessons at your home studio are, in a sense, relaxing and therapeutic. It's like going to a gal friend's place to chit chat over balls of yarn to do knitting! To me, you are not just a teacher but also a friend. So, yes, my FIRST knitting mission is already complete and the best part is?

I'm not stopping here. Mission No 2 is already on the wayyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Betsy!!!!!!!!!!!!"

- Roz Rusli, 24th April 2009

More Booties Order

These are for 1 true HUGE Knotty Fan who keeps coming back for more!

Verlin, thanx for ALWAYS making my day! Also, thanx for all your special requests. The designs are all BEAUTIFUL! I had lotsa fun making them :)

Exciting 2009!

2009 turns out to be busy busy for Knotty Bicsie. Besides our usual bazaars, workshops & online sales, there have been quite a handful of very interesting collaborations with various groups of people. In fact, collaboration schedule are lined up all the way till October already! Sure looking forward to each & every one of them! To start off, I'm sure you remember Fashion Designer, Rayson Tan? Remember our quirky bow tie project? Well, I sure had lotsa fun playing with colours for this collaboration. ;) Currently I'm working with a fashion student, Jadie, on her final year runway show. I'm working on an Avant-garde knitwear for one of her male models. How exciting! Look out for more updates in June ;) There are few other collaborations, which I'll only "brag" about after I get some nice photos to show here :P hehe...

Well, besides these "new ventures", YOU, my dear Knotty Fans, never fail to make my day with fun requests & very kind compliments :) Following are few that I've been working on for the past 2 weeks.

ps: Jullie, Thanx for your help! :)

First Crochet Workshop @MAAD!

For the 1st time, I'm conducting introductory crochet workshop @MAAD! Cosy small group per session only. So hurry & email betsy@knottybicsie.com.sg to register now! :)

SMILE, & the world SMILES :)))

Just wanna share the following article I came across in Martha Stewart's "Living" magazine...

"Happiness is contagious, according to researchers James H. Fowler of the University of Califonia - San Diego & Nicholas A. Christakis of Harvard Medical School. Best of all, it spreads far. Fowler describes their recent research & its implications.

How do you "catch" happiness?

Happiness, like flu, spreads through social networks. If your friends are happy, you're more likely to be happy. When something good happens to someone, the resulting happiness radiates outward like ripples on a pond. We traced the effect out to three degrees of separation - not just friends of a friend but their friends, as well. That means even strangers influence your happiness.

Should we cultivate happy friends?

The more generous thing to do is cultivate your own happiness. Now that I know my mood affects not just my wife but her friends & their friends, & not just my son but his friends & beyond, I listen to some of my favourite songs on the way home from work to boost my mood. We're all connected in ways we never imagined before."

- Reported by Petra Guglielmetti & Peter Jaret

I always believe we can be & should be committed to be a happy person for ourselves & everyone around us, especially our love ones, who mean so much to us. How about you? Are you ready to join me today? Why not start with a SMILE... :)

KBCC #12 - Plushies Party

KBCC's 1st Anniversary on 28th March was a hit! It was so crowded, Moses, Ed & I have to give up our seats & chance to make our own plushies! :P Moses, thank you so so much for helping in the teaching!

We started our session with some "flashback", going through past KBCC photos & activities... O boy, sure brought back lotsa fond memories. The funniest gotta be the time when we braved the rain & continue our crafting at Botanical Garden! Haha... must've created a scene!

Then the session at Hougang Central Mall in conjunction with the Singapore Arts Street was indeed colourful & fun.

One of the most therapeutic session gotta be our painting session! This was also the month when Jullie gave birth to Little Prince Joel :)

Then came KBCC #12 - Plushies Party when everyone successfully created the cutest monster we can imagine! A few KBCC crafters were even awed by the fact that they can actually sew! haha... Well done, KBCC!!!

I'm sure there'll be many more cheerful kodak moments to add on to our KBCC album...

28th March 2009 KBCC turns ONE @Pauseability, time to say farewell to Pauseability... Moses, thank you so much for your hospitality & tolerance to our messy "craft-crumps" :P Pauseability had been a cosy home for KBCC for the past year. Thank you so much! We will miss Pauseabilty....

From April onwards, KBCC will shift to my home studio @Admiralty Drive. With the passion & enthusiasm of all KBCC Crafters, I'm sure KBCC will go a long long way... I always feel I'm very lucky to have all these wonderfully happy & generous crafters as part of KBCC, making KBCC such a vibrant & brilliant month "rendezvous" for all! ;)

Here's what 1 KBCC crafter wrote to me:

"Dear Betsy, I want to thank you for organizing KBCC... I enjoy the sessions & the people very much... ... I have been to a few such gathering before, but never find it comfortable with people there until I went to KBCC, I meet with friendly people... who want to share their knowledge, I feel so welcome... ... I like KBCC, it's family oriented :D... ..." - Yuliana Tjioe, 30th March 2009

As most of you know, KBCC is run based on the principle of "not-for-profit", & our goal is to make crafting a modern way of life for everyone. With each participants paying a mere $10/session, we provide all materials for the new craft we are learning, & we even try to throw in some delicacy for every session. (Tell u a little "secret", we are always strangely hungry after we complete our craft! haha...) So if you enjoy handicraft, have been unknowingly drawn to our blog, what are you waiting for?? Send an email to Betsy (bicsie@gmail.com) now & be part of the KBCC Family! Cya at our next session!