Beauty & the Prince....

Blessed blessed New Year 2015... Year 2014 has been a wonderful year. Though this year I didn't make as many dolls compare to last year, but this year, I had the opportunity to collaborate with local designer and participate in STGCC. Besides that, I did a lot of personalized dolls compare to last year, challenging but FUN! Looking forward to year 2015. I believe it's going to be a better year. Thank you soooo much for your support... 

This will be the last post of 2014... Beauty & the Prince. Love this pair very very much... 

Will you marry me?

20th of Dec was an auspicious day to get hitched! Few lovely couples tied their knots on this day! And this is one of them.

A young charming gentleman wanted to surprise his beautiful bride with a pair of dolls... He wanted something different, something that captured her heart! This was what we have decided to make....

The groom on one-bended knee and holding a stalk of his bride's favorite flower, sunflower, with their rings tied to it. Asking.... "Will you marry me?"

His beautiful bride must be very touched when she received this gift... How sweet!

Royal Wedding Theme

Lovely Sheen ordered a pair of sitting dolls a year ago and then, she wanted a standing pair. She wanted something unique. something elegant and classy. We've brainstormed ideas of the new wedding dolls for quite sometimes, ended up took me a year to complete!! LOL! I think the longest pair I ever did. I'm glad it turns out fabulous!

Crocheted a Prince William wedding suit for the groom doll. The bride doll was dressed in a gown that looks almost similar to the one that Sheen has chosen for her pre wedding photoshoot...

Aren't they lovely?

So sorry to keep all of you waiting for new updates. Been so busy lately! I'll try my best to update the blog as often as possible. Please don't stop visiting my blog. :)

Beach Theme - 2nd Anniversary

I was rushing this pair last weekends. One of the pairs. I love personalizing dolls. So much fun! 

Jes wanted a pair of dolls to commemorate our 2nd anniversary in Maldives this week! Both husband and wife love snorkeling. So this is what I've made for them. I'm so happy that Jes loves it a lot. Both dolls have flown to Maldives with the lovely couple. 

Small wedding dolls in blue theme

Yay, I've came back from two holidays this month! Recharged! And have clearer mind of what I want to do for year 2015...

At the meantime, I'm rushing a few pairs of wedding dolls on hand... Kinda behind schedule and trying my very best to catch up! It's a good problem! Thanks for your support!
I've done this pair before I went for my Kota Kinabalu's family trip for Jo. This pair is our smaller version wedding dolls and fully crocheted. These dolls are measured approx. 12cm tall.

Don't you think they are sweet? I love the bride's gown... It's almost exactly the same colors combi, lighter blue top with darker blue bottom. Wish the couple; blessed & blissful marriage!

Wedding Dolls for Feona

Love stories of two beautiful people; There were two strangers who came from the same hometown. Both left home to study and work in another country at very young age for many many years. But, fate has brought these two strangers together when they decided to go back to their hometown due to commitments... And that's where another blissful new beginning starts.

Congrats to Feona and his fiance who will be getting married soon! I'm really happy for both of you. May God bless you with abundant love and joy!

Feona is not only my childhood friend but also my great supporter! She bought wedding dolls from me and had long for one. It's really a great joy to make this pair of dolls for her.

I've changed the hairdo style this time and I love it to the max! Recently, I have friends and supporters told me that there are some crocheters charge a pair of wedding dolls at very low price! LOL! My spies!! When they told me the price, I had a shock. I wonder what are they profiting from this business. Or are they just doing this for fun? Or do they get foreign talents to do it for them?

I'm really sad and disappointed because by doing this, it affects the value of handmade! Handmade is usually more expensive because it's labor intensive. A pair of wedding dolls, usually will take 2 to 3 FULL days (approx. 8 hrs) to complete.
              - 1.5 days to crochet all the parts
              - 0.5 day to assemble
              - 1 days to dress up the dolls
Excluding, design brainstorm & iteration, probably take another day. For me, also excluding the materials! The laces that I'm using are high quality laces from Japan and the good quality embellishments, such as Swarovski crystals are genuine where I get it from the certified Swarovski crystals suppliers. Probably another 5% - 10% of the price. So, tell me, am I over priced my handmade?!

Well, I can't possibly confront these crocheters. All I can do is to share with you my sentiments. If you are crocheters who were approached to make my dolls but at 50% cheaper, I care a lot for you cos my dolls are considered big with lots of customization. Don't look down on your value! Please think about what I've shared here.

However, I'm really grateful to those who really appreciate handmade. They are looking for quality and unique handmade,  these are the people whom I respect and will do my best to deliver it! Seeing your grins with sparkles in those eyes is my greatest accomplishment and satisfaction!

Peek-A-Boo! Happy Halloween!

Treat or Trick!! Happy Halloween to all. 

Thanks for downloading Goo.ee, our wizard ghost! For those who haven't, visit this link and download for free! You can also download from our Craftsy store. 

I'll be away for a short trip this Sunday, for almost a week! So looking forward to my vacation! Will update my blog about my trip next weekends. 

Happy 9th Year Anniversary

Angie is my former schoolmate. She likes the wedding dolls I've made and wanted one pair for her own collection. I was so excited and without hesitation, I also include her two lovely children though she only asked for a pair of wedding dolls. ;)

I have not seen her for many years. The last time I saw her was after graduating from high school, well, that was more than 17 years ago! Most of our friends left home to pursue their studies and then settled down with their loved ones overseas. Hence, we hardly see each other again. But thanks to social media, such as FACEBOOK, we are able to stay in touch.

Happy 9th year anniversary, Angie. May God bless you and your family with abundant love, happiness & good health!

Happy 9th year Anniversary

A blissful family portrait

Best Friends Forever....

Our best selling best friends forever dolls. The dolls are dressed in colorful poms poms. This is one of our best selling dolls. The doll is measured at 9cm. The dolls are really cute! I love their pom pom dress... 

This set of BFF dolls are made for SC and her BFF. They were in their favorite colors and I've made a small crown for each of them.

The three BFF

SC loves purple

PR loves red

HM loves pink

Previously, I've made another set of 3 for Dot and her BFFs. The dolls were differentiated by their favorite colors & hairdos. 

The 3 BFF

Dot loves Blue

NE loves Yellow

Jo loves Fusion Pink

Bei Bei in Angelic Kitty

SH showed me a little baby doll she bought from Taiwan, but the doll is made of plastic and quite big. She wanted a smaller version (approx. 9cm or smaller) so that she can hang it on her bag. The doll is in Kitty costume. 

I have to use thinner yarn in order to achieve the size. Hence, I've chosen Japanese cotton yarn that I got from my good friend, Betsy, founder of Knotty Bicsie. Her shop sells quite a wide range of yarns. 

I've managed to make it at approx. 7cm (height)! Isn't it CUTE! After looking at it, I decided to name it Bei Bei (贝贝), means little precious in Mandarin. Bei Bei is 100% crochet doll with plastic beads eyes. It has little curl on it's forehead.

Bei Bei measured at 7cm

Two cute Angel Wings

The size of Bei Bei on my palm.

Bei Bei hangs on SH's Long Champ bag

I'm so happy that SH loves it so much! Yay! Do you want to see more Bei Bei? 

Crochet Flowers Wedding Corsages

These are all the classic crochet flowers wedding corsages that I did for the past two years. I'm exploring new ideas and designs for wedding corsages. If you have any interesting ideas, feel free to share with me! ;) 

Calla lilies & roses seems to be their favorite combo! 

Calla Lilies & Roses in Fusion colors

Calla Lilies & Roses in Fusion colors

Calla Lilies & Roses in Fusion colors
Note: Photo courtesy from the lovely couple

Calla Lilies & Roses in White and Blue Colors Theme

Calla Lilies & Roses in White and Blue Colors Theme

Calla Lilies & Roses in Orange & Red Colors Theme

Calla Lilies & Roses in Orange & Red Colors Theme

Orchid Boutonniere 

Orchid Boutonniere 

Collaboration with local artist, Little Odd Forest

I had a fruitful meeting this afternoon with Lynda, founder of Little Odd Forest. More collaboration projects are coming our way! YAY!

Our collaboration projects with LOF. It started with cushion cover. Aprox. 20cm by 20cm cushion cover with crocheted animal flaps. We did the raccoon, which is the favorites and was sold almost immediately on the 1st day of STGCC 2013 (Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention 2013), fox and owl.

Available at Little Odd Forest online store

 

Due to demand for crocheted bag, a customer requested us to customize the crocheted flap for her messenger bag! Isn't it cute! 

Our next collaboration project was kiss lock crocheted purse. A very challenging project that took us quite sometime to finalize the yarns and the design. We did numerous prototypes just to get it right! Countless!! But at the end of the day, the accomplishment has given us great satisfaction! 

We did two animals for the kiss lock purse; Raccoon and Fox. Our plan was to launch it during STGCC 2014, however, Lynda had a soft launch to take in pre-orders. Guess what! The response was so overwhelmed that we sold almost all our purses and left only 4! 

Don't you think the purse is cute! Oops... They are not listed online yet. If you are keen, please drop us an email at  info[at]forestprints.com or julshandmade[at]gmail.com. 

I'm so excited on our next collaboration! All I can say is, challenging! But yet, something unique and oh!-so-cute-I-want-it product! Are you following our Facebook Fan Page? Stay tuned with us as we update on our FB page regularly! 

Little Odd Forest Facebook Fan Page 

Jullie's Handmade Facebook Fan Page 

Note: All designs and photos are produced and taken by Little Odd Forest. All right reserved. I love the clause that Lynda put on her website for violators: 

 All violators shall risk offending all mystical fantastical critters & eternal banishment from the forest.

Classic Wedding Dolls 2014

Few more wedding dolls to add into 2014 collections soon. These were some that we did this year. We put in a lot of effort in our wedding dolls; our hearts and souls... :) We want it to be perfect, hence we look into every details of the dolls. Elaine crochets most of the body parts and I design the dolls. Our designs are inspired by our lovely customers. Aren't they beautiful?

Our greatest joy and satisfaction is seeing that huge, bright grins from these lovely couples when they collected their dolls. 

Feel free to drop us an email at julshandmade[at]gmail.com for inquiry. Help us to share our dolls to spread our handmade.