DIY: Fabric Bookmarks

by Ikhlas // 8 April, 2012 // 3 Comments

Got a little piece of fabric or lace lying around that you don’t know what to do with? Make it into a bookmark!

You could use the fabric on its own as a bookmark, but to give the fabric a bit more support and structure, I like to stick it to some scrapbook paper, also known as cardstock.

These are so easy to make and use materials you probably have lying around your home.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 pair of scissors
1 piece of fabric or lace, a length that would fit well into a book or journal
1 piece of cardstock or scrapbook paper, cut the same size as your fabric or lace
A tube of fabric glue

All you have to do is trim the piece of fabric so that there are no frayed edges and then apply some fabric glue to the back of it.

You can get fabric glue at any fabric glue, and it will probably come in many shapes and sizes.

You want to dab it close to the edges, but not to close because then it’ll bleed out. Also, be pretty spare in your application, since nobody likes a lumpy bookmark. Don’t forget to apply it in the middle too.

Then stick the fabric onto whatever paper you’ve chosen, patting it down to make sure the fabric is sticking to the paper. Feel free to dab a bit more glue to the edges if it’s not sticking as well as it should be.

Then cut around the fabric to get a neater finish. Mine had a few lumps in it, so I stuck it into a thick book for a few hours and it became all smooth.

And this is what the finished product looks like, front and back.

The best part of these is that you can coordinate your fabric with the paper you use on the back. I grabbed a non-matching colour and stuck it on, in my hurry, but you could pick a pretty patterned or simple paper to pick up the colours in the fabric or lace you’ve used.

These are as unique as you make them and make great gifts for friends and family.

Have a go and let me know how you get on! 🙂

Ikhlas

Review: Secrets of the Henna Girl

by Ikhlas // 7 April, 2012 // 6 Comments

Secrets of the Henna Girl Sixteen-year-old Zeba Khan is waiting for her exam results to come, when her parents decide on a family vacation to their home country of Pakistan. Zeba considers herself British, and visiting her parents’ home country isn’t exactly on her top vacation picks.

But to Pakistan she goes, to the blistering heat, where she finds out that her parents have decided she is to marry her cousin Asif, her father’s older brother’s son, who is in the military. Zeba becomes a scapegoat in a battle of family politics, as she is forced to sacrifice her dreams and desires for the welfare of her cousin, whose parents want out of the army.

But Zeba won’t go without a fight and does whatever she can to escape her parents plans… Continue reading →

Is it Friday yet?

by Ikhlas // 5 April, 2012 // 2 Comments

So technically its Thursday, but its kind of a Friday, since tomorrow the long weekend starts! Or rather tonight…

This week has been crazy busy for me, which might sound odd since I don’t exactly have a day job and to some people (like my brother), I don’t really do much all day. But I’ve been volunteering for an Islamic convention that’s going to be happening in May, and that’s been keeping me insanely busy. I volunteered to be the Hospitality Coordinator, and my schedule is full from now to the long weekend in May.

But I’m not complaining because I absolutely love being busy. I’m one of those weird people (hopefully more exist) who get a thrill of being busy, the busier the better. I thrive under stress and pressure (while complaining at the same time), and so looking at my full agenda pages makes me giddy with excitement, knowing that I have things to do! And better yet, these things have deadlines- double the fun!

Trusty readers, you’re probably laughing at me now, but I take this very seriously. I even had to bust out my favourite colour pens this past week (blue and pink ink pens, thank you for asking), because I just had. To. Write. It. All. Down.

After I was explaining my colour coding method to a friend last week, she asked me what my ‘personal stuff’ entailed, given that pink=personal. Lest you think I have some sort of exciting social life, or am out at night in a black leotard as a masked vigilante kicking butt (I wish!), pink is reserved for immensely pleasurable tasks like ‘clean room’ or ‘fold laundry’.

What else is new? Hmmm…

I’ve found that depending on how much I write and how the story is progressing, predicts the kind of mood I’ll be in. Since today was a good writing day, full of emotional growth and fun foreshadowing, I’m a bouncing ball of joy. But considering how fickle this writing thing is, I might be in tears tomorrow… Hopefully not! 🙂

Despite not having a proper job (since writing isn’t often considered a real job by many), I’m very strict with myself and don’t really allow myself to relax. I thrive under stress and the more I have to do, the happier I am. Writing doesn’t really feel like work to me either, since its something I love (except when it’s not working out!), so I go from weekday to weekend with the same schedule of volunteering, writing, cleaning, driving various family members around, helping around the house, as is every Pakistani girl’s job (^_^(, all the usual stuff.

But this weekend, I think I’ll allow myself to relax. I’ve even pencilled it into my planner! Hahahha.

I’ve got some baking plans, and thus some baking-related posts coming soon (you’re in for a treat, folks!), so that will be fun. Sugar always makes me happy 🙂

I’m also planning on re-watching some episodes of Downtown Abbey with my mom, since she hasn’t seen it yet (if you STILL don’t know what this is, we can’t even be friends anymore. Sorry, I’ll need to return that friendship bracelet). That is, if I don’t fall asleep first from exhaustion…

And of course, reading! No long weekend is complete without a big pile of books beside my bed that I plan on finishing before the weekend is done. Hehehe. 🙂

Currently, I’m reading A Need So Beautiful, which is ANOTHER angel YA story, but has a little bit of a twist. My review should be up in a few days.

I also picked up the following from the library:

Anyway, those are my plans! What are you doing this long weekend? 🙂

Ikhlas

New Facebook Page

by Ikhlas // 3 April, 2012 // No Comments

Hello friends 🙂

I just wanted to let you know that I’ve set up a new Facebook page, under the same name, The Whimsical Whims of Ikhlas Hussain. It’ll feature pictures, links, and other odds and ends that don’t really make sense to blog about. Stuff related to books, reviews, fashion, baking, writing, and everything else I ramble about here. 😀

You can also click on the Facebook icon on the right, and still find me on Twitter and Goodreads.

Thanks for reading my blog and following me!

🙂

Ikhlas

Review: The Alchemy of Forever

by Ikhlas // 2 April, 2012 // 2 Comments

Growing up in the 1300s, Seraphina quickly falls in love with the alchemist’s son, Cyrus, who saves her life in the middle of a dark alley one night when ruffians try to attack her. The price? All of eternity.

Cyrus injects her with an elixir, granting her the power to switch bodies when the body she occupies nears death, guaranteeing a never-ending life. But its only in the twenty-first century, does Sera plot her plan to escape Cyrus’s clutches and free herself from taking other people’s lives to sustain her own.

But Sera is faced with a difficult choice when she tries to save a young teen, Kailey Morgan, from a fatal car crash and ends up stealing her body. But this time things are different; Sera hasn’t been a teenager since her own time, and is finding her heart warmed by her new family and the boy next door. But Sera is far from safe, even as Kailey, as Cyrus grows closer to finding her…

Continue reading →

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