The Creative Muslimah

"What if my daughter is afraid of her?"

2012-02-23T21:54:00.000+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and hey, dear readers!
A sister* posted this very powerful and inspiring article on a forum today, and I just HAD to share it with all of you. Have any of you ever experienced a confusion about muslim women wearing the face-veil (niqaab)? Ever thought that those women who covered their faces where uneducated, oppressed, and has no rights?
That's what this Canadian non-religious feminist woman thought so, until she sent her 10-month-old daughter to what seemed to be the perfect daycare, but where the carer just happened to be a Muslim, who covered her face in public. Was this a good or bad thing?

If you've got time, please do read this article/story by following the link, or by reading it below with an open mind and heart!

Read the article/story here:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/What+daughter+afraid/6187246/story.html#ixzz1nDySgbde

‘What if my daughter is afraid of her?’

I used to glare at niqab-wearing women on the street, but then I opened my heart and mind – to a wonderful daycare provider

Not too long ago, if I saw a woman walking down the street with her face covered by a niqab, I would feel it was my duty to glare. As a non-religious feminist, I had decided that a woman who covers her face is oppressed – that she is uneducated, and that her husband is making her cover up because he’s crazy and/or jealous.
OK, I’m exaggerating a little, but you get the point.
And yet until two months ago, I didn’t even really know a single Muslim. I went to high school in an Ottawa suburb, where I was baptized a Catholic so that I could qualify for schooling in the Catholic school system, which was considered better than the more open public system.
We had one year of religious education that gave us a glimpse of world religions. But I’m pretty sure my education about Islam came mainly from CNN, or Fox. I went to university in a small town in Ontario. I didn’t meet any Muslims there, either.
My real education about Islam came very recently, courtesy of a Montreal daycare.
Last December, I was seeking daycare for my daughter. At only 10 months old, she was still very dependent on her parents, and we wanted to find a place that would nurture her – rock her to sleep if need be, warm up my expressed breast milk and even be open to using our cloth diapers.
I punched our address into the magarderie.ca database, and the first one that came up was a 30-second walk from where we would be moving in a matter of weeks. The daycare provider, Sophie, had outlined her views on discipline, praise, healthy foods and the child-centred approach of Montessori. She was someone I felt I could get along with.
I phoned her and we talked for an hour, laughing and chatting and eventually deciding on a time to meet. She shared a great many of the values that my partner and I do. She was also highly educated, trained as a civil engineer.
Before we said goodbye, she added, “Oh, just so you know, I’m Muslim.”
I said I didn’t care, because I didn’t.
She assured me that her daycare didn’t teach religion. Cool.
But then she told me that when she’s in public, she covers her face.
She said the last time she didn’t warn a family over the phone that she wears the niqab, they walked into the meeting and then walked straight out.
I said I didn’t care, but when we got off the phone, I realized I did care. The first thing I thought was, “What if my daughter is afraid of her?”
My family drove over to meet Sophie, her husband and son.
She came to the door, dressed in black from head to toe.
It was the first time I had been in the same room as a woman wearing the niqab.
I felt nervous.
But my daughter didn’t flinch.
The daycare was cozy; most of the toys were made of natural materials. There were lots of books, a reading corner and a birdwatching area. Books on Montessori activities lined the shelves. Nothing was battery-operated; there was no television.
It was perfect.
We spoke for a bit, all together in the room before Sophie’s husband put a hand on my fiancé’s back and they went downstairs to see the other half of the daycare. Once the guys left, Sophie took off the niqab.

I could feel my heart and my mind open at that very moment.
My daughter has been going to this daycare for more than two months now, and we are very happy with the care she is given.
When they are inside with the children, the daycare providers (the majority of whom are Muslim) are mostly dressed in plain clothes – jeans and a sweater, long hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. These women do not cover their faces in the presence of children, women or close family.
My daughter isn’t afraid of any of the women who take care of her, whether they have their faces covered or not. On the contrary, she reaches out to them for a hug every morning. To my daughter, the women who work at the daycare are simply the women who hold her when she’s sad, wipe blueberries off her face, clean her snotty nose and change her cloth diapers.
My daughter isn’t growing up with the same ideas about Muslim women that I did.
I’m glad she’s learning something in daycare.
So am I.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/What+daughter+afraid/6187246/story.html#ixzz1nEy8m69X

I hope you enjoyed reading the article/story of this truthful woman, and that you've possibly gotten a new perspective on things. :)

Yours sincerely,
The Creative Muslimah

*For those of you who don't know, muslims call other muslims for their brothers and sisters, because we treat each other as a family. So we are brothers and sisters in faith. As for non-muslims, we see them as our brothers and sisters in humanity! :)

My first Photoshop projects!

2012-02-23T19:56:00.000+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and hi!

For ages now, I've been quite intrigued by Adobe Photoshop, and all the art that I've come across, which was made using Photoshop. But then I thought, "that looks too hard... Must've taken ages!", and "Oh, photoshop has got sooo many functions, I'll never be able to find my way through it all!", and blah blah blah. I mean, it's quite awesome, isn't it?? But man, it's gotta be hard!

Then, two days ago, I thought "STOP IT! Go, and try out photoshop."
So I did. :)
Here are the INCREDIBLEY amateur projects I've made so far (over the past three days, that is. I made one each day.) I made all of them by following a specific tutorial, except for the last one. I thought I might try out the things I'd learnt from the previous tutorials to create something new and intuitive. :)

This was my FIRST EVER Photoshop project :)

And here is the one I made today :)

I hope to keep practising, inshaAllah. Who knows? I may actually become good at it! SLowly, but surely, insha'Allah. :)

Do you use photoshop? What was your first project like? Do any of you know any really nice, easy, simple, yet beautiful photoshop tutorials for beginners? Please do share!

FiamanAllah!
Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Hey YOU! Creative Person! This is for you...

2012-02-23T16:24:00.000+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and peace out, y'all...

Here's a nice, little reminder for all those creative people out there, who JUST DON'T THINK THEY'RE GOOD ENOUGH! Or that their creations aren't just how they want them to be.. Watch this, if you're one of those!

All credit due to the amazing Ira Glass.

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

The beautiful evening sky...

2012-02-13T17:19:00.001+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and peace!

SubhanAllah, look at the beautiful sky! A beautiful blessing from Allah, the Most Magnificent! <3

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Tutorial: Polymer clay almond slices!

2012-02-11T10:07:00.000+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and peace!

I know, I know. It's kinda hard to tell the difference between the real almonds and the polymer clay ones in the above picture, isn't it???
Well, I thought you might need some help with that. So I made this picture to help you out:

OK. OK, jokes aside. :)
Here's a really simple tutorial on how to make look-alike almond slices out of polymer clay!
This is so easy, it's almost unfair, but hey! These are great for polymer clay cake decoration and such! I must admit, I haven't used mine yet, but I will be using them, inshaAllah! And of course, I'll be sharing my results! :)

So, on to the tutorial:

YOU WILL NEED:

- Skin-colored and ecru FIMO CLAY. I heard that "champagne"- Fimo or "Tan"-Sculpey clay should be fine too.
- Brown and yellow chalk pastel
- A blade
- A soft and pointy paint brush

Click the picture to enlarge.

There you go! As simple as that! A few viewers were asking how you can use chalk pastels with polymer clay. I just bought a simple set of 12 colors a few weeks ago, and they work wonders! At first, I thought that the chalk wouldn't stay on the clay after baking, and that'd I'd have to varnish it all if I wanted to keep the chalk on, but it stayed right on! *smiles*

Enjoy your weekend! I'm off of school for winter holiday, so I hope to keep you all updated, inshaAllah!
FiamanAllah!

Yours sincerely,
The Creative Muslimah

morning snow?

2012-02-05T08:10:00.001+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and peace!

So, I wake up to say my morning prayer (fajr), look out the window, and see that EVERYTHING IS COVERED IN SNOW. SUBHANALLAH, I didn't even notice a thing....... It's probably been snowing all night. We are seriously stuck in our own worlds, and we have no idea of what's going on outside until we actually draw back the curtains and take a look :)

Please excuse the bad quality! FiamanAllah

Yours sincerely,

The Creative muslimah

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New in!

2012-02-02T17:18:00.001+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and peace, readers!

Just bought these nice three colors on polymer clay; orange, ruby red, and emerald :)

P.s. a follower asked how I am planning on using the soft chalks from my last post with polymer clay, so tune in to find out how you can incorporate colorful soft chalks with polymer clay! :)

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easy button earstud tutorial

2012-01-27T18:35:00.001+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakahtuhu and peace to all of you :)

Here is an uuuultra easy tutorial on how to make a simple pair of earstuds out of a pair of buttons that you really like.

You will need:

- two buttons of your choice

- two earstuds

- cutting pliers

- super glue

All you need to do is cut the back part of the button off so that it has a flat back, and glue these to the ear studs :) that's it!

Yours sincerely,

The Creative muslimah

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Soft pastels for polymer clay

2012-01-27T18:17:00.001+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and peace, dear readers!

So.. finally, after a long, long time, I got my hands on a set of 12 soft color pastels for fimo/polymer clay! It's so nice, because for buying these, I experimented with eye shadow and chalk, and none of them worked well, especially the eye shadow attempt was a failure, a complete disaster! I'm so excited to use them, tihih :)

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

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DIY wall art inspiration

2012-01-13T18:30:00.000+01:00

Salaam and peace, sweet readers. ^_____^

Don't we all just have that cold, empty, "naked" wall somewhere in our home, just dying to be covered up with something??

Well... I know I have.. So I've been searchin' the web for a little inspiration, and goodness me, it's just so hard to choose, mashaAllah! There are just SO many creative people out there who make wonderful things, and here are a few that caught my eye:

http://designdazzle.blogspot.com/2011/08/diy-art-for-kids-rooms.html

http://www.bhg.com/decorating/home-accessories/wall-art/art-for-walls/#page=9

http://www.cozycottagecute.com/2010/08/diy-butterfly-collage-wall-art.html

http://www.shelterness.com/diy-wall-art-made-of-toilet-paper-rolls/pictures/4551/

http://www.loveelycia.com/

http://manmadediy.com/chris/posts/1180-diy-idea-rainbow-melted-crayon-art

http://mangomommycrafts.blogspot.com/2011/06/diy-paper-medallion-under-5.html

http://collegelifediy.tumblr.com/post/8177081665/via-inspiration-origami-cranes

Aren't they just aesthetic??
Will let you guys know what I end up doing to the wall in my room, inshaAllah. ^__^

What would YOU like to cover your empty wall with? Got any ideas? Links? Pictures? Videos? Anything? Please do share by writing a comment below! *__*

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

My latest jewelry creations :)

2012-01-05T17:00:00.002+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and greetings of peace :)
Please do enjoy some pictures of my LATEST jewelry creations. :)

Tihihi

A charm bracelet which my mum asked me to make for her friend :) If you want to make one yourself, follow my previous tutorial on how to make an upcycled bracelet, it's the exact same method, 'cept I added more beads. :)

A new style macramé bracelet! All I did was add beads to one string, and jump ring charms on the other string while doing the normal flat stitch macramé knot. :) You can see that on the adjustable lock in the background. :)

I finally made a new wire pendant! I made this for my sweet reverted muslimah friend as an Eid present. :)

I saw these really cute teardrop earrings made out of metal, and thought, hey? why not make some out of polymer clay! So i did!! :)

Aaaaand last but not least, I made these cute stud earrings... :) Out of polymer clay, naturally. :)

Man, do I LOVE workin' with polymer clay. I think you can make just about everything with the help of these :)

Do you have any creations you've made out of polymer clay you'd like to share??? Send them to thecreativemuslimah (at) hotmail (dot) com, and I'll post them here, inshaAllah!

Looking forward to hearing from you all. ^____^

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Polymer clay blackberry studs tutorial

2011-12-27T22:59:00.000+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and peace to all my awesome readers. :)

Here's an ultra quick and easy tutorial on how to make cute blackberry (or raspberry, just in red) studs out of fimo/polymer clay!

You will need:

- Black polymer clay (or red, for raspberries)
- Green polymer clay
- toothpick
- Ear studs
- Super glue
- glace/nail polish (optional)

Make lots and LOTS of tiny black balls out of the black clay, with a diameter of about 0.5 - 1 millimeter. Of course, if you'd like a bigger blackberry for a pendant, key chain, or so, you'd have to make larger ones. :)
Shape all the balls into a blackberry shape like the picture above. Just stick them together the right places until it forms a V or U shape.

Do the same as in the previous step, just build upon your base until you've added as many tiny black balls as you feel are appropriate. I used about 30 small black balls for one blackberry.

Cut out a tiny "star" shaped leaf out of the green clay, and put it on top of the blackberry. Make small lines for each leaf with the toothpick. Make a small stalk out of the green clay, and it should look a little like the above picture! Voila!

Make one more. Bake the blackberries in the oven according to the instructions on the back of your pack of clay (for FIMO SOFT from EBERHARD you've to bake it for 30 mins at 110 degrees Celcius.
After baking, glue the ear studs to the black berries.

There you go! If you'd like, you could glaze/polish the berries, which is what I did, 'cept I used nailpolish, as mentioned in my Polymer clay tips and tricks post. And there you have it! The cutest tiny blackberry studs. ^___^

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Ben & Jerry's DIY decoration piece! :) Featured post

2011-12-22T11:49:00.000+01:00

Salaams all!!
So, I came across another awesome Danish blogger :) 20 year old Helena, who loves DIY'ing and crafting, recycling, and all the other good stuff. :)

And I immediately fell in love with her most recent design:

I was STUNNED when I saw these............ Amazing... purely amazing....

Imagine the potential of this creation!!........ And it just keeps reminding me of Ben & Jerry ice cream... again, and again and again and again and again and

okay, I think you get the point now. I'm hungry for some ice cream. :)

Anyways, do you wanna know how to make one? :)

Check out her tutorial and her AWESOME blog @ Når genbrug bliver guld! P.s., it's in Danish, so you'll have to translate it with the help of Google Translate if you are not danish-speaking. :) Which, I assume, most of you out there aren't. :)

FiamanAllah,

The Creative Muslimah

Liebster blogger award! :)

2011-12-22T11:38:00.001+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and peace out, awesome readers!

I know, I know, it's been ages since I last posted...... College life can get pretty hard, sometimes. May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala make it easy for all students out there!
Truth is, I've been thinking of blogging every day! I just... haven't had (or rather, made) the time to do so.
But guess what??? I'm off from school for Christmas vacation, so lots of free time now! :) Tihihihi, alhamdulillah. :)

So... Now, let's get down to business...

First of all...

I've received another award! I was so happy to find out, alhamdulillah, that dearest Samaa from Honey Sweet Home awarded me with the Liebster Blog award, one that is meant to promote blogs with less than 200 followers. What a kind thought, mashaAllah! So, the rules are, I'm to pass this on to 5 other lovely blogs with less than 200 followers, let them know, and share it here in the blog post.

So here are 5 of my favorite blogs with under 200 followers:

My Fimo kitchen
Elzibieta from From inspiration to realization
Ummi of Ammi, Muslimah mommy!
The road map
Quiet Lion Creations

Please do take some of your lovely, precious time to check out these amazing and creative, and not to mention inspirational bloggers! And once again, thank you to sweetest sister Samaa for her lovely award. :)

FiamanAllah

The Creative Muslimah

Upcycled necklace tutorial! ring-bracelet (ringlet)

2011-12-22T11:16:00.000+01:00

Salaam, all! :)

Here's a new upcycling tutorial for you all! A long time ago, I bought this lovely necklace at a jumble sale, for only 5 kroner! I thought it looked great, but wasn't really sure if I'd wear it the way it was, but I knew I could use it for something :) So I kept it.
And recently, realized that I could make a cute bracelet-ring (or ringlet, as some people call it, I think??) out of it!

So here goes, bismillah:

You will need:

- A necklace to upcycle
- Some jump rings
- Some pliers (round nose, flat nose, cutting pliers)
- Lots of patience!

Here's the original necklace. The rhinestones inside the flowers are actually much more green, it was just kind of late at night, so the lighting wasn't that good!

I detached the top flower, and some of the chain, and attached it again like so. This makes the ring. Make sure to try it on to see if it fits! Wouldn't want it to be too small!

Well, this is kind of hard to explain. But detach the other flower, with the long chain hanging from above it from picture one. Then, detach all the other chain, and attach it to the ring with the help of jump rings! This part will be the part that hangs on the top of your hand.

Next, make the bracelet with the remaining chain. Add the lock and a jump ring at the ends of the chain. Attach this part to the rest of the bracelet, and there you go!

Voila! I edited the picture slightly, so that you could see the somewhat real color of the the rhinestone. :)

Enjoy!

FiamanAllah,

The Creative Muslimah

Berry bead tutorial!

2011-11-20T22:40:00.000+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu dearest readers!!! So...
A while back, one of my dear readers asked me to post a tutorial for these cute berry bead earrings I made:

So I thought, "yeah, that'd be a great idea!"... That is, until I realized how difficult it was to explain... So I thought, why not post the link to the tutorial that I used, as I thought it was fairly easy, and already explained so well?
Well, that's what I've done! This video explained the instructions really really well, and once you get the hang of it, you won't even need a tutorial! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1BA-TcTSdc

And here is another one, which is also pretty easy to follow, alhamdulillah. :) Thanks to the lovely people who made my job easier. :) Though I do hope to take up the challenge in the future, and make a tutorial of my own, inshaAllah. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53U5xtkqtlo&feature=relmfu

Enjoy!

Wassalam
The Creative Muslimah

polymer clay coffee cup and book!

2011-11-19T12:08:00.001+01:00

Assalamualeikum dear readers!

I hope you're reading this in good health and strong faith. I've been incredibly busy lately, so much School work, It's almost unbelievable! May Allah make it easy for all the hardworking students out there. Though I've been busy, I have a lot to share with you all, starting with my latest polymer clay creations!

I hope You like them, and hope to make a tutorial very soon, inshaAllah! P.s. wouldnt it be fun to make the coffee cup pendant into a ring?

Wassalam

The creative muslimah

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My NEWEST handmade jewelry! Loads of pictures!

2011-10-30T12:45:00.000+01:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and peace out there to all of you, my dear readers!

Hope you are all doing well?? I am quite aware of the fact that I have been about MIA (missing in action) lately, and for that I apologize. It's amazing, SubhanAllah, how much of ones time homework can take...

Anyways, back to something FUN and SPARKLY!!! I've just had a whole easter break of JEWELRY MAKING at my silver-smiths class!!! It has been such a fun and informative week, and Alhamdulillah, I got a lot of things done. :) My favorite part of silver-smithing is definitly melting a ball on silver wire to make earhooks. :) And then bending them!! If you want to learn how I bend my earhooks, check out my tutorial on the "Tutorial"-page above!

Here they are! P.s. I apologize the bad quality of some of the pictures... but kheir inshaAllah. :)

Sterling silver earrings with swarowski beads

Sterling silver earrings with faceted beads

Sterling silver drop/leaf earrings, with a hammered design. Originally, they were not supposed to have the hammered design, but then I thought... Why not try something new??

Honestly though, these did take me some time... First of all, I had to saw two pairs of equal-length 1.5 mm silver wires, then solder them by the edges to get the really nice pointed edges. Then I had to solder the jump rings on the top of the earrings, of course with a lot of filing, sanding and polishing in between, then finally I hammered in the design with a triangular "stamp". :) And then attached the beads and earhooks

sterling silver earrings made with glass- and freshwater pearls

Sterling silver bracelet with glass- and freshwater pearls. My teacher especially liked this one. :)

Here's the beginning stage of my plexiglass pear ring! I thought I'd show you guys some of the pictures from the production stage. :)

My ring after it was sawed out...

My final lovely result! I thought it was quite cool. :)

Oh, oh! And my camera pendant!!! I was inspired from camera pendants on google, and just HAD to make my own!! This one took me a looooooooong time, because I started on quite a few projects in between. But here is a picture of my camera when I bended the wire to my desired shape, and what it looked like before I soldered the rods together

Here I soldered some of the parts separately, and I originally chose a purple stone, but later decided to go with a beautiful deep red stone! Check out the next picture!

Here is my finished result!!!

Here it is after I attached two jump ringss and put a chain through it! I am thoroughly pleased, alhamdulillah

I have already shared a picture of my pac-woman ring, but here it is again, as I got my teacher to oxidize the bow again.

Here's my attempt at making a tree of life pendant, but I don't like it that much, as it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, but kheir inshaAllah! :)

And here is my leaf pendant. :)

It's also made out of sterling silver. It was originally flat, but when I hammered the lines on it, it became a little bent/curled by mistake, but it turned out to look really nice, and made the leaf look more life like! SubhanAllah. :) I then got my teacher to oxidize the indents from the hammering. :)

Here is my polymer clat braided bracelet, which I am incredibly happy for! I must admit though, I made it a while ago, and with the help of the following tutorial!

http://www.delightedmomma.com/2011/08/diy-braided-clay-bracelet.html

And here, I had found the bezel cup, this beautiful, vintage and antique looking bezel cup, but without a rock in it!! So i took it to my teacher, and she brought a plate of Mother of Pearl, which I sawed and filed to fit into the bezel cup! I'm planning on using it as a necklace pendant, inshaAllah

Also, I tried working with titanium for the very first time in my 2 ½ years of silver smithing!!! I loved it!

Here are the pendants I made after I warmed them to change titaniums color. It's amazing, as it first turns golden, then purple, den dark blue, then light blue, then golden,, and then it doesn't change anymore. It's hard to distribute the heat all over the pendants, and that's why it's a little multi-colored.

Here's the oxidized sterling silver cloud with a drop ring i made!

And here is what it looked like before I filed, sanded and polished, and got it oxidized

And last but not least, my second titanium project, a set with earrings and a pendant!!! I hammered them with a special hammer to give them the crater-like texture, just to try something new!! Then colored them as described in the previous picture. It's unfortunate that the picture quality isn't that good, as the beads I chose have the same color as some parts of the earrings and pendant, and my teacher liked that very, very much. :)

So!! Those were my newest additions to my handmade jewelry collection!! Some more pictures will be up soon, inshaAllah, so tune in!! I'll be sharing a few tutorials soon too, inshaAllah!

FiamanAllah

-The Creative Muslimah

Cute clutch, and easy tissue pouch tutorial!

2011-10-14T12:30:00.002+02:00

Bismillah ArRahman ArRaheem

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and peace to all of my lovely readers out there!

Hope you are all in the best of health, inshaAllah.
Here's a clutch purse I made about a year ago (I've been waaaay to late in posting it here!).

I've always been afraid of sewing purses, clutches, bags, pretty much anything that involves sewing on a zipper and lining... I've always wanted to be able to sew something like it, though, but never dared to.

Until I stumbled upon Noodlehead's ingeniously easy and super duper cute clutch tutorial! I wanted to make it as soon as I laid my eyes upon it, and I did! I've used this purse constantly, whenever and wherever I go, for my bus card, phone, lip balm, miswak/siwak (toothstick, google it), keys and nit bits from my "wallet". It has been so incredibly helpful, as I've always needed an alternative form of storage for my phone instead of my jacket pocket. And Alhamdulillah, this nifty little and cute clutch has been there for me ever since!

Unfortunately though, as bad as I am at sewing, I didn't get the zipper right (duh), or the corners of the lining! Kheir inshaAllah, I've learnt from my mistakes, and will do it better next time! Hopefully! :-)

Please do check out Noodlehead's incredibly easy to-follow tutorial here!

Here's the inside, the purse resting inside my bag along with the books I borrowed from the library.

As you can see, it's pretty spacious!

I even made card holders! These have been great for my Student ID card and coins!

Here's the back.

And so, a few days ago, I came across a cute tutorial for sewing a tissue paper pouch! Many may think that it's a pretty useless project, what are you going to need a tissue paper pouch for???

WELL, once winter returns, and everyone around you will be sniffing their runny noses and people keep asking you for a spare tissue, you can hand them one by flaunting your cute tissue paper pouch. How cool is that??? OK, you don't REALLY need to flaunt, but you know what I mean...

And besides, it's much more fun carrying around a homemade tissue paper pouch than it is to carry around one of those plastic not-so-resealable packets... You know, the really ugly ones?? Like on the pictures below??

Anyways, I decided to make a matching one for my pouch! Here's my version of the tutorial! Enjoy!

Easy tissue pouch tutorial!

You will need:
A tissue packet for measuring
A scissor
A sewing machine
Scrap fabric

1. Cut and measure the scrap fabric to fit the tissue paper packet. It should be able to fit right across the packet, so the two sides don't overlap each other. As you can see on the picture below, I have about 1.5 cm's seam allowance on the length, and about 2.5 cm's seam allowance on the width. The 2.5 cm's should be folded neatly twice to form a nice edge.

2. Sew two neat stitches along the folded edges like so.

3. Make sure that it fits JUST about perfectly around the tissue packet, as seen on the picture below.

4. Turn it wrong side out, and mark about 1.5 cm on both ends.

5. Sew along the mark of the seam allowance (does that make sense?). See picture below.

6. Trim off the excess. Turn inside out, and check if the packet fits by putting it inside.

7. There you go! Fill it with tissues and enjoy your newest edition to your accessories!

See!!! See!! Here are my matching accessories. :)

Unfortunately though, as the clutch is about a year old, there's a great difference in fabric color... The clutch is getting a BIIIIIIIT dirty, don't you think?

Enjoy!

A blessed Jummah to my Muslim readers, and enjoy your Friday to my non-Muslim readers. :)

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

TCM 's 1st anniversary! Thanks for a lovely year!

2011-10-11T19:42:00.002+02:00

Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and peace to ALL my lovely and utterly important readers!!!
Yesterday I was so busy with my homework that I didn't even get a chance to mention that it was The Creative Muslimah blog's 1st anniversary!
That's right! Since yesterday, the 10/10/11, I've blogged for a whole year!
And 120 posts, 147 followers and 40,000+ views later, here we are! Alhamdulillah, may Allah reward all my Muslim readers, and guide and bless all my non-Muslim readers, because without you all, your lovely and constructive comments, this blog wouldn't be where it is today!

Now, it's YOUR turn!!
I'd like you all to leave a little comment below mentioning any good/not so good things about this blog, what you would like to see in the future, what you think I should avoid posting about, and any other constructive comments. :)
Thank you all for a lovely year, and I'm looking forward to many more years of awesomeness. :)

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

The new "tutorials" section on TCM!

2011-09-30T21:28:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and peace, readers!!
I'm glad to fiiiiiinally introduce The Creative Muslimah - blog's new and upgraded "Tutorials" tab!

Don't know what I'm on about??

That's the one!! Now you can click it and check out my different tutorials! The page will be updated as I keep posting tutorials, recipes, and such.

I apologize if it's a bit confusing and/or messy! I'm not very good at all the technical stuff. I tried making some banners for the different sections, but I fear that they are a bit confusing! Kheir inshaAllah, please do leave comments for constructive criticism and improvements, especially if you've got some technical tips!!

Jazakummullahu khairan and thank you!

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Quilling in Arabic and jewelry??

2011-09-25T11:58:00.001+02:00

Salaam and peace! :)

Hope you're all happy and fresh!!! Because I sure know I'm not!. (Just kidding. sort of.)

Second year of college (2.g for my danish readers) is seriously bothering me... The weird part is... It's not even that hard (alhamdulillah!!) but there's just SO much homework to be done!!! Kheir inshaAllah, every student in Denmark has to go through this, and as they say (even though I hate cliché's) "No Pain, No Gain."

Anyways, back to something FUN! Here are a few quilling pieces I made and some jewelry! Guess what?? After a loooong break, I'm FINALLY attending jewelry class again, starting from today, inshaAllah!

So to start off, here's what happens when my mum and I mix our artistic skills together. :

My mum did the calligraphy part, where she wrote "Bismillah, Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem" in Arabic, which in English means "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Benevolent". And I did the quilling. :)

NEXT is an Arabic quilling piece which was actually a request from my aunt. I made it as an Eid-present for her, and she was pretty happy, alhamdulillah. :) Even my 2 ½ year old cousin B liked it. :)

It says Allah in Arabic, which translates as "The One and Only God".

I asked my mum (as usual) to write it out on a piece of cardboard so I could trace it. I showed her how I wanted it to be written from a book (the one you can see beside her hands) and then she looked at that and at the first arabic quilling piece I made a while ago (above her hands).

Then I started the quilling...

Then I edited the picture, just though I'd share cuz the colors look pretty neat. :)

Oh wait... What's this doing here??

Err...

Homemade macaroons with blueberry marmalade... My second attempt at macaroons, which, alhamdulillah, was ALSO a great success!

A good friend of mine asked me to make a present for her friend who was leaving to study abroad for six years. So I made a custom pendant and bracelet with her name and my friend's little message to her.

This is the back of the bracelets pendant. Her friends name was Salmah, duh. :)

It says, in danish, "May Allah give you all success, - F.F."

Made out of polymer clay and rhinestones. :)

And here's the origami gift box I made for her too. :)

I got the great tutorial from DIY, Done! It's Yours!

Both her and Salmah liked it very much, Alhamdulillah. May Allah make her studies easy, and make studies easy for aaaaall muslims out there! Let's hear an "Ameen" !!

Here are a few extremely simple earrings I made a while ago at my jewelry class. I sent these to my cousins who liked them very much, alhamdullilah. :)

Anyways, that's it for now!!!

P.s. Don't know if I'll be blogging for a while... what with all my homework, it was hard enough to find time to blog at this very moment!!

But kheir inshaAllah, my class will be going to Rome for a week in two weeks, and then I'll have a week's vacation (as I'm not going), so maybe then I'll have time to post some more tutorials and inspirational pictures. :)

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Farewell Ramadan, new jewelry, henna and what not...

2011-09-02T12:00:00.002+02:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu and greetings of peace dear readers

I hope you're all in your best of health, inshaAllah!
As Ramadan and Eid came to an end, I couldn't help but feel a sorrow over the fact that our beloved guest, Ramadan, has left us again. May Allah let us witness several more Ramadan's in the future, inshaAllah, and may He, The Allmighty let us all reap the benefits of each and every Ramadan. May Allah accept our fasts, our prayers (salah), our night prayers (qiyaam), our duah and our good deeds, ameen.

I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Eid, and have started the month of Shawwal in a happy mood. As for me, I'm just waiting. Waiting for Ramadan to return, once again, inshaAllah.

Now, as for an update, I must admit that school has almost taken over my life at the moment... I've had almost no time to do anything else than homework, really... Stubborn as I am, though, I did find time to make and share some of the following things with you. So sit back and enjoy, inshaAllah. :)

I have been so inspired by these lovely and beautiful feather rings all over the internet... (sorry, but I can't remember the sources, so if these are YOURS or if you know the owner, PLEASE DO MENTION IT!)

I really, really, really wanted one of my own. But with my economy, the dream of owning such an aesthetic ring was just that, a dream... So that's when I thought...
Why buy it, when you can DIY it?

Searching the internet enthusiastically, I slowly started losing hope, as no one had shared a tutorial, let alone attempted to create a feather ring.
So with a heavy heart, I set out to create one myself... And this is my amazing (I think) outcome...

Polymer clay feather ring!!!!!!!

Polymer clay feather ring!!!!!

That's right folks, I made a polymer clay feather ring. :)
I love the outcome of this ring, really!!! I was so sceptical about it once I started it, but I love the way it turned out!! Alhamdulillah. :)

Here's the ring again, with a beaded-flower brooch I made too. The last little black flower piece is a little vintage/thrifted piece I found. I'm planning on redoing it by adding an oval rhinestone in the middle inshaAllah, if I can find one!

Here's my beaded brooch again. I like how this turned out too, alhamdulillah.

A rainbow outside my parents bedroom. There's something about the creations of Allah, the flawless creations, that amaze the human mind so much and appeal to our feelings of happiness. Am I right?

Here is a pair of wire-bangles I made for my aunt for her Eid suit. I bought the turquoise beads, and the little silver french lilly pendants, but rest of the beads (the big round ones and the golden ones) are upcycled from a necklace I got from a friend from Burkina Faso, which I couldn't wear, but couldn't bear to dispose off of. So I reused the lovely beads from it. :) I like how these turned out too, and so did my aunt. :) It so happened that the matched EXACLTY with the color of her Eid suit, alhamdulillah. :) Will share a tutorial on how to make these soon inshaAllah!

I made a matching pair of creol earrings for the bangles. But unfortunately, when it came to making the ring, there were no golden beads left!! That's what happens sometimes when you upcycle jewelry... So here's the ring I made, because my aunt wanted a triangular ring:

Here's a henna design I made a while ago. Have I shared this before??

I also made two rings for my little 2 ½ year old cousin B, as she is soooo fascinated by her "baji's" rings and things... shiny things...
She calls them "wings".

This is how she poses...

During Ramadan, our family was on our way to the mosque when we saw the beautiful sky and just had to stop for a picture, although the adhan was already being recited!! So unfortunately it was a bit of a rush picture... :(

Here's the henna design I made on my palm for Eid...

The following few pictures are of the jewelry set I made for my cousin B for her Eid frock.

I used over 325 seed beads for this project! My aunt loved the set, and so did my cousin, who was well aware of the fact that her older baji had made some jewelry for her. :) SubhanAllah, kids these days. :)
This stitch is called "the daisy stitch". To learn how to make it, search "the daisy stitch" on Google. Otherwise, if you guys can be a bit patient, I made a video and will show how to make the stitch soon inshaAllah.

And last but not least, my new classmate J was so thrilled to see the henna design when I went to school the day after Eid, so she insisted on me applying henna to her hand too. That's what I did during lunch break today, and here's how it turned out:

J was pretty thrilled at the result, alhamdulillah. :)

And just to end this post, I'd like to share an amazing blog that I just came across while blog-surfing a bit today. This blogger is such a great source of inspiration, especially when it comes to jewelry. :)

Visit the blog Humur and be inspired. :)

Yours truly,

The Creative Muslimah

Flowery macro photography. Reflect on the creations of Allah.

2011-08-19T17:43:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu dearest readers.

As I sit here on my bed, I wonder what this coming school year will be like. Practically all students say that the second year of college is the hardest. Allahu Ta'ala Alim. One thing is for sure, I'm definitely not looking forward to it.

Anyways, I wanted to share some beautiful flowery and nature pictures I've taken during the past week or so (some are a little earlier), and hope that it will let readers reflect upon the amazing, flawless and perfect creations of Allah, the Allmighty.

I apologize if the quality isn't very good, but all photos are taken from my HTC Desire S, which, I'd say, is a pretty good phone camera for amateur photographers (like me) who cannot afford to buy a professional SLR camera. Yet!! :)

Without any further a due, enjoy this macro photography:

HERE'S MY EXTREMELY LONG FLOWER CHAIN that I made during a break at school. :)

Flower chain again

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Read and reflect in Ramadan (on happiness and thankfulness)

2011-08-13T17:32:00.000+02:00

"And if you would count the graces of Allah, never could you be able to count them." - Qur'an, 14:34

"Healthy, safety, nourishment, clothing, air, and water - these all point to the world being yours, yet you do not realize it. You possess all that life has to offer, yet remain ignorant... Can you picture yourself walking without feet? Should you take it lightly that you slumber soundly while misery hinders the sleep of many? Should you forget that you fill yourself with both delicious dishes and cool water while the pleasure of good food and drink is impossible for some, due to sickness and disease? Consider the faculties of hearing and seeing with which you have been endowed. Look at your healthy skin and be grateful that you have been saved from diseases that attack it. Reflect on your power of reasoning and remember those that suffer from mental ailments." - Dr. 'Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni, in "Don't be Sad"

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu dear readers, and greetings of peace.

Above is a quote from a book I recently purchased, by an author whose works have enlightened me for so long. Indeed, such a message should be one that changes our lives and lets us reflect upon our actions of disobedience and unthankfulness towards our Lord, the Allmighty, the Most Merciful.

Alhamdulillah, for me, this Ramadan has been different than the ones that have come to pass. I've started realizing how much small things in life really do mean to me, and how ungrateful I actually am towards Allah Subhanahuwa Ta'ala. Living in Denmark, where everything is safe and sound, where I have no physical problems or ailments or trials, alhamdulillah, I should be happiest person in the world. What is it that I don't have? Indeed, I have more than I need, much, much more.

Even when my brother takes me to pray Ishaa and Taraweeh prayers at the Maasjid during the night, I have several things to be thankful for towards Allah. My brother, his car, his personality, the Maasjid, the people in the Maasjid, the Imaam and Qaari, the cool weather during the night which makes it comfortable to pray, and so much more. I remember the first weekend of Ramadan when we went for Taraweeh prayer, after it was over, when we stepped out of the Maasjid, seeing the HUGE group of Muslim brothers and sisters, greeting each other, the children happy and playing around, families meeting up, and sweet feeling of sister- and brotherhood. My mother exclaimed "SubhanAllah! What a beautiful sight. So many Muslims, all together for one purpose. Poor non-Muslims. I don't believe any group of non-Muslims have the same connection as the Muslim Ummah."

Indeed, she is right. Just take a notice of how much kheir (goodness) there is in our Ummah. Despite our differences and disputes, we sacrifice everything we have for the sake of Allah. How thankful I am, Alhamdulillah, to be a Muslim first of all. Then, I am thankful for being an abiding Muslim, one whose family does not practice bidaah (innovations), one whose family is knowledgeable and not ignorant within all fields of knowledge.

How thankful I am, and how thankful and happy we should all be. Imagine our brothers and sisters in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and all other places around the world where they are suffering. Imagine your children, your siblings, and young family members, dying in your own arms due to starvation? What would YOU do if YOU were in their situation? Alhamdulillah, most of us are NOT in such a situation, may Allah save us and help those who are going through such a trial.

All you've to do is be happy. And say "Alhamdulillah", "All praises are due to Allah".

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

p.s. here is a link to THE MOST BEAUTIFUL Adhaan (call to prayer) I have ever heard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADLO-Hm_nCQ&feature=related

Don't miss RAMADAN TV this Ramadan!!

2011-08-02T19:14:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum dear readers!!

Just a quick note!

Don't forget to tune in to Ramadan TV this Ramadan! A channel which starts at the beginning of Ramadan and ends at the end, for the most exclusive and exceptional experience!!

If you're in ENGLAND; you're lucky, because then you can watch it from the comfort of your TV. :)

But for us others, they have Live Stream at www.ramadan.tv , so don't miss out on it inshaAllah!!

It will inshaAllah launch in a few hours, I think. I've been anxiously waiting for updates on their facebook group, so let's see when it'll start! :)

And remember to share the amazing news and earn GREAT REWARD, inshaAllah!

Wishing you a blessed Ramadan.<3

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

RAMADAN MUBARAK + What is Ramadan?

2011-07-31T23:07:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum wa rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu dear readers!!!

I'm here to wish you a quick Ramadan Mubarak to you all and your families and friends! May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala make this Ramadan a blessed month for you and let it be a life-changing one in which you will find peace and tranquility in your heart.

For my non-muslim readers out there, Ramadan is the Holy month of Islam where Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, keeping away from lusts and desires (not just food), and earning self-disciplin and self-control, and a better sense of nearness to Allah and a stronger Taqwa (literally meaning shield from Allah's Subhanahu wa Ta'ala punishment and from the severe torment of the Hell fire). In it we strive to become better Muslims, better people, better human beings. We seek forgiveness and are thankful for what we have and struggle to maintain our changes AFTER Ramadan as well inshaAllah.

My quilling piece

USEFUL LINKS FOR BOTH MUSLIMS AND NON-MUSLIMS REGARDING RAMADAN!

- Ramadan Checklist
- General Ramadan resources (ebooks, articles, material)
- What are the virtues of taraweeh prayers?
- Advice to Muslims during Ramadan
- Why Muslims fast during Ramadan?

Wishing you a blessed month of Ramadan! May Allah accept our deeds, prayers and fasts. Ameen.

Ramadan Mubarak!!

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Ramadan Mubarak + Cracked Chocolate Tops (easy cookie recipe)

2011-07-31T13:44:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu dear readers!!

First of all I want to wish all you Muslim readers out there and your Muslim friends and family a Happy and blessed month of Ramadan! I was so happy to hear that the majority of countries this year will be starting Ramadan on Monday 1st, inshaAllah :) I'm so excited! Will be posting some Ramadan Reminders during this Ramadan, inshaAllah.
I hope you've all prepared for it, because our beloved guest is now here, and we must treat it with it's due respect! :)

On a side note, here's the promised recipe for the Cracked Chocolate Tops I baked a week ago!
I apologize beforehand for the bad quality, as I had to take the pictures in a rush!

I found the recipe in this book I borrowed from the local library. It's in Danish and translates as "The Chefs Book on Chocolate". Just the book for me. :)

Here's the page of the recipe in the book. YOU tell ME, do you think my outcome looks like the ones on the picture?? :)

CRACKED CHOCOLATE TOPS RECIPE:

200 grams of chocolate (preferably bittersweet, I used a dark chocolate bar with orange flavor and cornflake crisps from the renowned Danish chocolatier Toms Fabrikken.
90 grams of unsaltedbutter
115 grams of sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla sugar (the recipe calls for extract, but in Denmark they contain alcohol, so being Muslim I can't use those)
200 grams of flour
25 grams of cocoa powder
1/2 tsp of baking powder
A pinch of salt
Confectioners sugar for topping

Melt chocolate and butter in a pan on low heat. Stir frequently to insure an even mixture. After it's mixed, take the pan off the stove and blend in the sugar until it's dissolved.
Add the eggs, one at a time and stir well after each addition.

Add in the vanilla sugar.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a bowl and gradually add it into the chocolate mixture until it forms a soft dough.
Cover the dough with clingfilm and let it cool down (preferably in the fridge) for at least 1 hour, until the dough is hard and will keep its shape when formed.

I left mine in the fridge overnight and rolled them out the next morning, which worked pretty well.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celcius on the fan-function. Pour some confectioners sugar in a little, deep bowl. Use an ice cream scooper or just a teaspoon to pick up the dough in small, preferably uniform blobs and roll them into small balls in your palm.

Roll the balls in the confectioners sugar, one at a time until it is well-covered, and place them on a baking tray with 3-4 cm's space.

Bake the cakes for 10-15 minutes, or until they feel a little hard on the outside. Let them stay in the oven for 2-3 minutes before our transfer them onto a rack and let them cool completely.

Serve with cold milk. :)

Enjoy your tasty and not to mention beautiful cracked chocolate tops. Just look at them, too hard to resist, no? :) Alhamdulillah, I got great feedback on them! Especially because, as I mentioned earlier, I used chocolate with orange flavor which somehow enhanced the sweet taste, whilst making it not too sweet. If you know what I mean. :)

Happy Baking!

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

I did it... I baked macarons... Check out my result + recipe!

2011-07-31T11:00:00.003+02:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu readers out there...

Yesterday I took up the challenge that has been running around in my mind endlessly for the past few weeks.

It all started one summer day when I was strolling around in a local book store's cookbook section when I came across a lovely, colorful and flamboyant book cover, with big, prominent capital letters stating the name of such a pastry that, little did I know, would change my life.

Indeed, it read "MACARONS". And with the bright and cute pictures of the little pastries, I knew immediately that I had to pick it up. I had to read it. I had to see it. I had to feel it.
As I picked it up and started reading, my confidence slowly started decrease, and I felt the sudden pang of a heavy heart when realizing that this pastry may be just a tad bit harder than it looked.
Heavyheartedly, I put the book back and walked out of the store, and never looked it up again.

That is until a few weeks ago. The idea struck me once again when I watched a video commercial for someone/something called "Betty Crocker" that albeit was advertizing for a macaron looking cake-pop.
Finally, a few days ago, when I was invited to a pre-Ramadan get together for sisters at Masjid Sunnah with cakes and tea, I thought, "Hey? Why not give it a go?"

And so that's when I turned on my laptop and did some research. Gradually I started realizing that macaron-making is almost a science in itself. Aged egg whites or fresh ones? Store-bought almond meal or home-ground?
Rapping the tray or not rapping? Precise measurements or slightly off-ones? And all the fuss going on about the MACARONAGE?? Got me pretty confused. -.-'

After reading Brave Tart's Ten Commandments for making macarons, I must admit, I even got a little afraid of the fact that I most likely would fail the first attempt. Knowing that I was going to be serving the macarons for the first time at the gathering, that feeling was pretty daunting. Though I really do recommend her website for newbies at macaron-making!!

But I took up the challenge, and made the macarons. :)

Here's the recipe I used. Unfortunately, I can't remember the website I got it from!!

RECIPE FOR BASIC MACARONS WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE

3/4 cup almond flour (finely ground almonds)
1 cup of confectioners sugar
2 large egg whites
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Ganache:

100 grams of chocolate
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions:

Unless it's store-bought, grind the almonds finely, but not too much so that it becomes a paste!
Sift the almond flour and confectioners sugar in a bowl.
Beat the egg whites and granulated sugar very stiff in a separate bowl. Below is a picture of how stiff mine were. Right when you think it's going wrong, that's how stiff it should be. Some recipes don't require them to be whipped that stiff, but I read that it gives a better result.
And then of course, remember to check if they defy gravity by putting the bowl upside down over your head :D That's my personal favorite step. :)

4. Here's the "crucial" part. The MACARONAGE. I came across a funny note of a blogger writing that the macaronage is like The Matrix. No one can tell you what it is, you have to see it for yourself. :)

This is where your mix the wt ingredients with the dry ones.

It's crucial that you add your dry ingredients in at least thirds. After one part is fully incorporated, then add the second part. This is because if you add all at once, the texture may not turn out as it is supposed to, and it may result in cracked or ruined macarons.

Fold in the parts slowly, until the mixture becomes, as most describe it, "molten magma-like" or "lava-like". You can check for this texture by taking your spatula and making a line through the mixture. If it fully incorporates and becomes even in 20 seconds, then that's where you need to stop folding. This is typically somewhere between 35-45 folds. If it's too thick and doesn't become even in 20 seconds, fold some more. If it's too runny and becomes even faster than 20 seconds, you've folded too far, so try your best to avoid this point.

5. Pipe small circles/rounds on a baking sheet. Remember to make an even amount. Keep about 2 cm distance between each circle.

6. Not all recipes require this step, but I thought it made more sense to do so. After you've piped, let them rest for about 15-20 minutes. This makes sure that the macarons can set nicely and spread as much as they need to, so that once they are in the oven, they only grow taller and not wider.

Also, it makes sure that the macarons have a "shell". After about 15-20 minutes, if you lightly touch the top of the macaron, the batter shouldn't stick to your finger tip.

7. After they've set, take the baking tray, and do the "rapping", where you pick up the tray and bang it hard twice against the work top. This eliminates any air bubbles in the macarons.

8. Bake the macarons on the fan-function (according to your personal oven) for 18 minutes at 160 degrees Celcius.

Watch the macarons grow in size, creating their famous, distinct and not to mention cute "feet".

Just look at their cute feet and smooth tops! Soooo pleased!

9. Let macarons cool completely before you apply ganache.

For the chocolate ganache:
Chop the chocolate and put in a bowl. Boil the whipped cream. Gradually pour the cream over the chocolate and whisk. Let cool and put in fridge until it's nice and think and apply on the macarons.

And you're done!! Unfortunately, I was in such a rush to reach the gathering in time that I didn't get to take a picture of my sandwiched macarons!! Next time, inshaAllah, I will post more pictures. :)
I got such great feedback, alhamdulillah!!

Until then, enjoy following pictures:

David Lebovitz' amazing recipe

Also from David Lebovitz

Funny picture from Serious Eats

EXTRA PERSONAL NOTES:

If you're a newbie, don't be afraid of the pretty scientific-methods it takes to make macarons. Just give it a go! Trial and error! I must say though, I was pretty happy that mine turned out perfect the first time. :)
Some recipes call for aging the egg whites for 24-48 hours. I aged mine for about 18 hours. They say it's supposed to make it easier to whip, but being an experienced meringue-baker, I couldn't tell the difference in the time.
Once you've mastered the basic recipe, give it a go with different colors and flavors! Though remember that the baking time may be longer!
Even if they turn out bad the first time, I've been told that they still taste amazing, despite their not so characteristic look. So don't be dishearted!
After your macarons are sandwiched, put them in the fridge for better taste! Several pastry chefs have said that macarons always taste better once the filling has soaked into the macarons. Indeed, I only refridgerated mine for about 30 minutes, but they still tasted muuuuuch better!!

Happy macaron-making!! Good luck, inshaAllah!!

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Two-finger wire ring tutorial

2011-07-28T12:10:00.003+02:00

Assalamualeikum!! Here is the promised tutorial for the two-finger wire rings! Enjoy! :)

After seeing so many amazing pictures of two finger rings on the internet, but NO TUTORIAL, I thought I'd take matters into my own hands. And Alhamdulillah, the result turned out great, I think! This tutorial is quite simple, as long as you're good at holding on to your wire. :)

Also, check it out on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gQ6D1JP0X0

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Islamic quilling, henna designs and what not :)

2011-07-28T11:59:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatuhu and peace to YOU! :)

I hope you're doing good and are happy and well :) It's been a while since I last blogged, I know. What with the extremely succesful Muslimah Summer Course I attended last week and the Holy month of Ramadan coming up, I've not had much time to blog. The summer course went, as aforementioned, very well, Alhamdulillah. I met a lot of new Muslim Sisters my age, and it strengthened my iman knowing that there are other sisters out there in Denmark, my age, struggling through the same various problems whilst doing their best to please our most Magnificent Lord, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Alhamdulillah, it was an amazing experience, we even received diplomas! :)
The BEST part of the course was that our Muslim Ummah received a new family member, Alhamdulillah. :) A dear sister went from Julie to Jameela, at the age of 16, and is now inshaAllah going to be a resident of Paradise. <3
I am so excited to join another one of their future courses inshaAllah, and hope it will be as succesful as this one. :)

But Alhamdulillah, I'm here to share some of the most recent things I've made :)

Add caption

Will share recipe soon of these lovely chocolate cracked tops :) inshaAllah

Ramadan Kareem literally means "Ramadan, the Generous" because this is the month where God is most generous in rewarding. :)

This was given away as a gift to one of my mother's friend's daugther, who works at a craft supply story and ALWAYS gives me soooo many things from her work place!

I hope you enjoyed! Please do leave a comment or share an idea! :)

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Will be out for a while, inshaAllah :)

2011-07-16T19:10:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatulahi wa Barakatuhu dearest akhawat and non-muslim readers <3

I hope inshaAllah that you are all in your best of health and are happy. :)

I'd just like you to know that for the next few days (starting from today until thursday) I will most likely not be blogging, as my mummy and I are taking part in an Islamic summer course for sisters in Copenhagen. :) Today was the first day and Alhamdulillah, it was extremely wonderful, may Allah Azzawajal reward them for their initiative. We will be learning Tajweed, Tafseer, Fiqh, Hifdh, and other subjects and duroos! :) I already met a lot of new sisters Alhamdulillah, and made some new friends. :)

But anyways, that was it! So.... Take care! <3<3<3

FiamanAllah

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Guest post - Summer inspired Rosettes Necklace tutorial

2011-07-15T13:00:00.001+02:00

Assalamualeikum and peace out to all of my dear readers! :) Hope you're all doing lovely and enjoying your day wherever in the world you may be sitting at right this moment!

Today we've got dearest Hani from Craftionary, the winner of TCM's 100th post contest sharing her winning tutorial on a cute and lovely summer inspired rosettes necklace!
Take it away, Hani!

I am so excited to be featured at The Creative Muslimah today.

I am Hani, a stay-at-home mom to a toddler and I love to blog about crafts, decoration and organization at Craftionary. You will also find fellow crafty bloggers being featured on my blog and I have recently started a party every Wednesday to feature your projects. You can participate in the Wednesday Wordplay party here.

I made a necklace to wear in summer with yarn rosettes.

Here's how I made it:

YOU WILL NEED:

Yarn rosettes (Make rosettes with yarn for this necklace following the tutorial found here)
Beads
Thread and needle
Felt
Ribbon

MAKE IT:

Once you are satisfied with the arrangement, sew the beadsandrosettes on a piece of felt. Glue another piece of felt over to sandwich the stitches. This makes it look neat. Make rosettes with yarn for this necklace following the tutorial found here

I bought these white beads bracelet and ribbon. {1} Thread the white beads on both sides of the flowers. {2,3} I made one side shorter and the other side longer,to hang the rosettes on the side. To make the ruffles, make running stitch into the ribbon until you get the desired length. {4}Make knot at the end and leave some extra ribbon for tying.

The ruffled rosettes necklace is complete.

You can also wear it as a brooch

Wrap it around your wrist to wear it as a bracelet

Have Fun!

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial.

Thanks for having me. :)

A few of my recent posts that I enjoyed making:

White shoe refashion with lace

Painted Chevron Silhouette

Burlap and buttons Shirt

Nylon Butterflies Specimen

JazakAllahu khairan Hani, for sharing this with us today! Hani is an amazingly creative Muslimah whose creative works and not to mention easy-to-follow tutorials are so inspiring!

Enjoy the tutorial and happy making!

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Easy paper flower/star tutorial! Great for gift-wrapping!

2011-07-14T13:00:00.001+02:00

Assalamualeikum and peace all!!

Sorry it's been a while, things have been hectic what with all the rain and damages that have been taking place here in Denmark.

Good news is that I've got a tutorial for you all! Crispy and newly made pictorial on Picassa!
Here is, as promised, a tutorial on how to make a paper flower/star out of either scrap paper, gift paper, newspaper, scrapbook paper (I've even seen some made from ribbons and fabrics!).

You will need:

1. 9 strips of any sort of paper that are about 25 cm long and 1 cm wide.
2. Scissors
3. Stapler
4. Glue
5. Tape

Now, there are different ways of making this, and this pictorial is simply to show you all how I made it, but you can always watch all the numerous videos on YouTube or follow the many tutorials all over the blogger world. :)

1. Cut all the strips in half.
2. Twist 6 of them as shown on the picture and staple them.
3. Twist 6 more of them a little tighter than the first ones and staple.
4. Twist 4 more of them a little tighter than the second group and staple. Cut them all down to an appropriate size for each "layer".
5. Shape one of the strips into a circle and staple.
6. Set each group of paper strips into a flower shape as shown on picture 6.
7. Glue each layer on top of each other and glue the circle on the top.
8. Voila! Now use some tape and tape it to your present, card, or whatever you like! :)

Here's how I wrapped the gift! I wrapped the ribbon three times around the box and gathered them at the top and taped on the star/flower.

Here's one I made out of a page from a magazine for my cousin B's gift which you can find more pictures of here.

Tune in in a few days for a guest post by the winner of TCM's 100th post contest winner, Hani, from Craftionary, inshAllah! :)

Enjoy the tutorial and happy crafting!

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Butterfly award!

2011-07-13T23:20:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatuhu Muslim readers and greetings of peace to my non-Muslim readers. :) Hope you're all having a fine day and enjoying yourselves with whatever you may be doing!

I just realized, after such a long time, that I forgot to post about the Butterfly award I received from my dearest, dearest, dearest baji, The Sister Who Smiles @ http://thesparkleofasmile.blogspot.com/

This amazing sister, who lights up ones otherwise boring day, who encourages one to do what is good and enjoy it while you're at it, who just warms ones heart by cheering you up and always reminding you of the fact that smiling is free and makes a huge difference. :) I love this sister incredibly much, for the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, even though I've never met her before, and have only "known" her through her blog for a few months. May Allah reward you greatly, dearest sis, and bless you in all that you do! :)

So, something about myself...

I'm a little insecure. I like all colors, but mostly I enjoy green, blue and other summer reminding colors. I like sitting outside, admiring the perfect, flawless creations of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. I'm a sucker for reading and sweet things (the edible ones, that is). I've had several nationalities attached to me but others, but never the one I'm actually from, so I tend to befool others quite a lot. :)

I have an obsession for jewelry making, but I don't like to wear jewelry myself and I love toddlers. :)

Now, these are some of the coolest blogs I know:

The Sparkle of a Smile (because you're an amazing sister and blogger)
Dear Little Auntie (because your three sisters make an awesome (halal) cocktail. :P )
Fimo Manualidades (fimo tutorials) (because your fimo/polymer clay work is so inspiring!)
Torview Toronto (because your recipes and tasty-looking photos are amazing and Muslimah-friendly :) )
Creative Mind (because your sense creativity is amazing and inspiring)
A Poet Named Fida (: (because your writing is amazing, beautiful and easy to relate to)

You guys out there are all amazing and are all lovely butterflies! :)

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Winner of the 100th post summer contest!

2011-07-07T18:40:00.001+02:00

Assalamualeikum and greetings of peace to all of you out there :)
Hope you're all doing well and are looking forward to Jummah tomorrow (for my Muslim readers) and then the weekend of course, for ALL of my readers! :)

Well... I've got to apologize it's so late, but.....
The winner of TCM's 100th post Summer DIY/craft competition is....

*Drum rolls*

IT'S Hani from Craftionary with her lovely tutorial for a cute party rosette necklace with yarn! Congratulations Hani! I'll be in contact with your about your featuring on The Creative Muslimah with a guest post!

Thanks to all the contestants! I hope to host another one of these contests soon, it was so much fun to see what you all could come up with! :)

Have a good weekend, inshAllah!

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

P.s.

Coming soon on TCM:

Tutorial for paper scrap flowers for gift wrapping!

Two-finger ring tutorial!

Recipe for zebra muffins!

STAY TUNED

I'M SO SORRY... and henna design

2011-07-02T20:16:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum!! I apologize sooooooo incredibley much for being sooo missing in action lately!!!
But never fear! (Hahaa I've always wanted to say that). I've got tooo many things to share!

First of all thank you to all the lovely contestants of the TCM 100th post summer competition! I've looked through all the entries and oohed and aahed at all the amazing DIY's and recipes, and it was actually quite hard to find a winner, but I did, alhamdulillah! :) I'll have to share that news veeeery soon though, but not now. :O

My family and I are attending a wedding party tomorrow inshAllah (shaadi, as we pakistanis call it:) ).
In joy of that, I drew this simple henna/mehndi design on my hand today:

I had to go say my Asr prayer, so couldn't keep it on for too long! This is the color I got from keeping it on for about... half an hour?

Oh, and erh.... here's my practice flower on the inside of my hand.... yeah, not so proud of that...

Ohhhhh ooohh and I made zebra muffins today!!!! Will share some photos and recipe soon inshAllah!!!!!

P.s. I need help with my time management! I procrastinate waaay too much, and I just don't seem to get much done! :O Any ideas??

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

100 th post! Get your blog featured! :)

2011-06-23T16:47:00.001+02:00

Assalamualeikum and peace to all my readers. :)

I hope inshAllah that you are all in the best of health and are happy and content. :)
I'm pleased to announce that this very post is TCM's 100th one!

Now... First of all praises are due to Allah, the Most Magnificent, who gave me the knowledge and will to start a blog, and Alhamdulillah, a successful one too. Without the Mercy and Blessings of Allah, this blog would not have been.

Next, I want to thank my dear readers and followers!

You guys are awesome, really! Without you all and the other discreet readers and not to mention your wonderful feedback, this blog wouldn't really be much worth writing, would it? So Alhamdulillah !

Now comes the exciting part, which the title of this post so eloquently mentions...

Here's your chance to be featured on The Creative Muslimah blog!

So, as we all know, the blessing from Allah that is the season of Summer has finally arrived! Though I must admit, it's not that evident yet up North. :)
But in joy of the arrival of summer and this blog's 100th post, I'm giving my dear readers a unique chance to be featured as a Guest Writer on my blog! And it's so simple!

All you do is share a link to your very own summer inspired craft/DIY tutorial!

So the requirements are:

Comment on this post below and share a link to your own summer inspired craft/DIY tutorial (preferably in English). New posts are appreciated, though archived ones are fine too. :)
This one is optional, though would be much appreciated. Share a link back to my blog on your own blog mentioning this competition. :)
Oh, and if you're aren't already following it, that would be nice too. :)

And that's it! So go ahead and share your tutorials! Remember though, it must be your own tutorial! I want to avoid any form of Academic Dishonesty, but inshAllah, none of you will let such a nasty thing happen. :)

The competition starts today, on the 23rd of June and will end next Thursday (in a week) on the 30th of June, so plenty of time to spread the news and write your amazing summer inspired tutorial!

I'll be choosing the best and most creative tutorial of all the entries, and the winner will inshAllah have their tutorial featured as a full Guest Writer post on this blog! But more info about that later, inshAllah. :)

I'll be looking for originality, creativity, and most important of all, traces of summer!

Good luck! And remember, spread the news!

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Blueberry-Almond Claufoutis recipe! (super fast cake/dessert!)

2011-06-20T21:43:00.001+02:00

Assalamualeikum to my Muslim readers and peace to my non-Muslim readers. :)

Guess whaaat???? Summer is here! Which, in Denmark, means season for berries!!!

Source

In other words, it's time to put all those sweet and sour, colorful berries to use!
Don't know how? Here's a recipe to get you started. :)

Claufoutis (Pronounced: Clah-fu-tee) is a traditional French dessert in which berries are arranged in a buttered cake ban/dish and covered with a pie-like batter. The dessert is served when mildly warm or cold, with ice cream, sour cream, or any type of cream really! Sprinkled with cinammon, confectioners sugar, and love. :)

Is your mouth watering yet? Well, here it is!

RECIPE FOR BLUEBERRY-ALMOND CLAUFOUTIS!
Ingredients (makes about 16 slices)

60 grams of blanched almonds (finely chopped)
20 grams of flour
100 grams of sugar
A pinch of sea salt (regular salt is fine)
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
1/4 deciliter of whipped cream
250 grams of blueberries (or any berries, really)
Optional: cinammon, confectioners sugar and sour cream

Preheat the oven to 180 degress Celcius.

Blend almonds, flour, sugar and salt in a foodprocessor. I just used a whizzer which worked fine, though watch out that you dont get flour flying all over the kitchen!

Add the eggs, egg yolks and whipped cream to the mixture and blend it for about a minute or so, or until it makes a batter like mixture.

Butter a pie or cake pan. Spread the berries in the pan and pour the batter evenly over the berries.

Bake the claufoutis in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden or lightly brown on top.
Let cool slightly or completely.

Sprinkle confectioners sugar and/or cinammon on the calufoutis and serve with sour cream if you like!
And voila! C'est tres magnifique!

Bon Appetit!

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

MY MILKY TOOF? CUTEST STORY EVER!

2011-06-17T23:31:00.000+02:00

So, I was planning on going to sleep...

That was, until I discovered this...

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? These are so unbelieveably cute! I JUST discovered author/artist Inhae Renee Lee @ My Milky Toof who has portrayed the life of two little, fuzzy and loveable milk teeth who knocked on her door once. She did what any other person would do: let them in to stay!

Now THIS is creativity! Her two teeth, ickle and Lardee, are two loveable, fun and curious teeth (made of polymer clay) who love a new adventure and a little mischief here and there. Who doesn't? :)
My Milky Tooth - Snacktime

Read more of here stories and portraits, and you could order her amazing book too! I'd love to do that!
Visit her at www.mymilkytooth.blogspot.com !! She just hosted a contest with the prize being a signed copy of her book, I wish I'd discovered it just a tad bit earlier! Khair inshAllah! :)
Enjoy!

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Polymer clay/fimo pinwheel earrings!!

2011-06-17T22:49:00.001+02:00

Assalamualeikum and greetings of peace!
Check out these cute pinwheel earrings I made a few days back out of fimo! I saw some lookin' through Google images, and thought I'd make a pair! Aren't they cute? And so simple to make! Maybe I'll share a tutorial soon, InshAllah! :)
Enjoy!

Below is my first attempt at polymer clay fortune cookies :P

Tomorrow my Mum and I will inshAllah be going to the local library (as if I don't do that enough already) for the annual Quilt in Public Day! I'm excited as it's my first time. I'll be taking pictures inshAllah, and I will be sharing too! :)

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

update + simple phone pouch - tutorial ! :)

2011-06-16T16:09:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikuuuuuum and greetings of peace to y'all!!!!
You may be wondering "what took her so long? Where was she at?"
Well.... I'VE BEEN STUGGLING WITH AN EXAM! And Alhamdulillah! All praises are due to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, who brings ease after hardship and makes things easy for those who seek ease from Him! I got full marks on my exam todayand I'm sooooo relieved!!! Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah!!!!!!

I was so nervous that I didn't get a chance to write anything here at all, but Alhamdulillah!
And I have so many things to share with all of you! SO many pictures, tutorials, inspiration and so many other things, and now I'm off for summer holidays, so I'll InshaAllah be sharing so many things all during summer! :)

But for now, here's a small pearl to share ;-)

I'm here to share a quick tutorial on how to make a snug pouch for your mobile phone (or anything else for that matter, you can vary the size).

You will need:

- Scissors

- Embroidery Needle

- Embroidery thread (or I used thin yarn)

- Felt (or fabric of your choice)

- Paper and pencil

1. First off, you trace the outline of your phone on a piece of paper and cut it out.

2. Depending on how thick your fabric is, you cut minimum 2 pieces of fabric based on the trace outline, BUT REMEMBER, YOU MUST ALLOW AT LEAST ½ CM SEAM ALLOWANCE ON BOTH SIDES. Once again, it depends on your fabric, phone and/or whatever other object you may be maing a cover for. All you need to make sure of is that your fabric pieces are BIGGER than the trace outline, but not TOO big as then it wont be nice and snug!

I cut 4 pieces as my felt was sort of thin.

3. Next, gather all your pieces and blanket stitch all the way around. But when comming to the opening, or the "mouth" of the pouch, blanket stitch on the two fabrics seperately. (See next picture)

4. This picture shows what I meant by step three. When comming to the "opening", stitch the two parts of fabrics seperately.

5. Turn it inside out, and you're done!!!

6. You can also choose to keep it the other way around. But I like this way, as it looks much "cleaner" and "finished". Now, you can choose to keep it simple and elegant, or leave your personal touch to it! You could fabric paint, stencil on it, embroidery on it, or sew crochet flowers or laces on it!!

Enjoy! Please do link to your version if you do happen to make one too! :)

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

2011-06-03T12:34:00.001+02:00

Assalamualeikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu readers! :)

JUMMAH MUBARAK!
(Happy Friday!)

May this Friday be a day of peace for you and your family, and may you have lots of fun and may it be filled with blessings from Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Ameen´. <3

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Gift wrapping ! :-)

2011-06-02T13:14:00.001+02:00

So here is a picture of a gift i packed today for my little cousin B. It's two books which my brother both when he was in England for the JIMAS conference. The paper is reused and the paper bow star is made from old magazine scraps. They are so easy to make!! will post a tutorial soon inshallah. Also, the swirls made with the green ribbon is a new and simple technique for ribbon swirling! (is that a word?). Anyways, enjoy!

Polymer clay lemon pie earrings!

2011-05-31T18:06:00.001+02:00

Here are some simple and cute lemon pie earrings i made from Polymer clay. The "icing" is made from homemade TLS cuz you can't get tls here in Denmark. Will post a tutorial about that later :-)

Allow me to introduce you to what I loathe...

2011-05-25T23:32:00.000+02:00

Have I ever mentioned that I LOATHE homework?? And all that follows with it??
Oooh, ooh! And groupwork -.-' Don't get me wrong, I like working with others, but NOT with the type of people I keep having to work with!!! The slackers, the ones who make me do all the work the night before a project is due!!!

Oh goodness me, I need to vent, and I need to vent badly.

WHY MUST WE HAVE HOMEWORK??????? OR REPORTS?. :(

Forgive me for being so negative... but...

What do YOU hate??

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Whoever said Muslims were a threat to society??

2011-05-24T16:19:00.000+02:00

If it weren't for Muslims, we'd have no explanation of rainbows... Or no cameras... Or no teachers desks... or fine dining... or you know, that drink you take every morning to freshen yourself up? That's right, coffee. Yeah, we'd have none of that if it weren't for Muslims...

Well, Alhamdulillah, I FINELY bought my own copy of the "1001 inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World" Book!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Actually, I bought it about two weeks ago, but haven't had time to share with you all, but look! Isn't it a BEAUTY???

Sorry that it's upside down, I don't know why this happens! Or how to change it!

Once again, sorry! It's a picture of the the first coffee house, where learned scholars and teachers and ordinary people would come and discuss various subjects while drinking freshly brewed dark coffee!

And along with the above are 1001 other inventions, it's so amazing! If you'd like to read more, try visiting one of the following websites:

http://www.1001inventions.com/

http://www.muslimheritage.com/

BE AMAZED AND IMPRESSED.
We Muslims are awesome. ;-)

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

polymer clay summer pendant

2011-05-23T23:33:00.001+02:00

Aaron cute flower pendant i made with polymer clay! i might post a tutorial, what do you all think?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.9

polymer clay flower earrings

2011-05-23T23:22:00.001+02:00

Just some earrings i made recently. Inspired by etsians but unfortunately i dont remember who! These pictures don't show the attached ear studs

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.9

Read and reflect! (On prioritizing)

2011-05-22T22:29:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum warahmatulahi wabarakatuhu!! and greetings of peace!

The hadith of ibn Abbas radi Allahu anhu reported in the mustadrak of Al-Haakim, musnad Imam Ahmad, and others, with an authentic chain of narration.

In this hadith the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said to a man while he was advising him:

"Take advantage of five matters before five other matters: your youth, before you become old; and your health, before you fall sick; and your richness, before you become poor; and your free time before you become busy; and your life, before your death."

Yet another gem from the mouth of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who had the most perfect speech.
Think about it... How much time do we waste in front of the television? Or doing useless things on the computer?? Or our youth?? How much time do we waste trying to fulfill our lusts and desires, constantly... ?

Read this for more details:

http://www.turntoislam.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34526

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Read and Reflect (on being thankful)!

2011-05-18T21:48:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatuhu dear Muslim readers and greetings of peace to my non-Muslim readers out there :)!

Just wanted to share a small incident I came across last weekend.

I was at the library when I met my dear Muslim sister Sarah, so she decided to follow me around wherever I was going :) So I had had my bike with me, and we walked down towards the mall because I had to buy some small stuff. I parked my bike outside the mall where we saw a homeless man trying to sell the Danish magazine written by homeless people called "Hus Forbi" (am not sure how I'd translate that. "past the house" maybe?).

SIDE NOTE: See in Denmark, the homeless people have an "organisation" type thing, and so they try to earn money properly by writing a magazine and selling it to others on the street for 20 kroner, whilst shouting fun slogans like "Jeg kan sige det uden at lyve, det koster kun tyve!" which means "I can say it without lying, it only costs twenty!" but it sounds better in Danish as it rhymes. But anyways, there's is always one (or two) homeless men standing out by the mall trying to sell their magazine, so one of them was there again this day.

Anyways, we went inside and bought whatever and then went out again, and when I started looking for the keys to my bike, I couldn't find them!! Suddenly I heard someome speak to me from behind saying "Hey you, do you want these back??"

I turn around and see the homeless man standing there, waving my keys in the air...

"Yes, of course." I reply. I dreaded his reply, not knowing what it would be, but thinking of a thousand possibilities...

"Well then, you've got to remember to take care of them next time!" He replied friendly, and handed me the keys back. "Have a good weekend, my friend."

Later my friend spoke me thoughts when she said that she was surprised that he returned the keys, because anyone else may just have taken the bike and ran away. I told her that it's people like that man we need more of in this world, and she said it's always those who are poorest who are most thankful and polite and kind, because they actually know the true value of things...

No wonder the Prophet Muhammad (saws.) said:
The poor will enter Paradise forty years ahead of the rich (Sahih Muslim). [*40 years is not same as our forty years]

The poor will enter before rich. The Prophet said: "The poor of the Muhajireen will enter Paradise five hundred years ahead of the rich of the Muhajireen" because the Poor will not have to give the accountability of their property.

If there's one thing I really love...

2011-05-13T18:51:00.001+02:00

...it's the melodious sound of knees thumping hard on the ground as fellow Muslim brothers and sisters bow down in sujood* before their Lord when saying their prayer in Jamaah* at the Masjid*. That sound to me is beautiful. It's like a melody to my ears. Knowing that each and every person inshAllah is there for the same reason, to worship their one Lord, it makes my heart melt.

Oh, and also the sound of the birds singing precisely at Fajr* time. Just think and reflect...
Allah swt created the birds and told them to act as a wake-up call for us Muslims to get out of our beds and remind ourselves of He who created us.

Alhamdulillah, I am blessed to be a Muslimah.

Source

What sound do you hold dear?

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

*Sujood: arabic for "prostration"
*Jamaah: arabic for "congregation"
*Masjid: arabic for "Mosque"
*Fajr: the Islamic morning prayer

If there's one sound I really love...

2011-05-12T17:52:00.000+02:00

...it's the sound of knees thumping hard on the ground melodiously as brothers and sisters bow down before their Lord in sujood* when saying their prayer in jamaat* at the masjid*.

And also, the sound of birds singing gracefully at the time of Fajr*. I do not believe that there is a sound more beautiful on this Earth than that of the birds singing early in the morning as a wake up call for Muslims all over the world to get up and worship their Lord.

Alhamdulillah, I am blessed to be a Muslimah.
What is your favorite sound?

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

*Sujood: Arabic for "prostration"
* Jamaat: Arabic for "congregation"
* Masjid: Arabic for "mosque"

Read and reflect (on peace)!

2011-05-02T22:37:00.001+02:00

Abdullah bin 'Umar (Radiallahuanhu)* said:

A man asked the Prophet (peace be upon him), "What is the best act of Islam?".

He said, "To feed others and to give greetings of Salam (peace) to those whom you know and to those whom you do not know." -Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim

ASSALAMUALEIKUM WA RAHMATULAHI WA BARAKATUHU TO ALL OF YOU MUSLIMS OUT THERE AND GREETINGS OF PEACE TO ALL OF YOU NON-MUSLIMS!!

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

*Check meaning in Arabic word-key

Source

Spring not-so-break

2011-04-26T13:50:00.001+02:00

Assalamualeikum readers, I'm back after a long, tedious and boring Spring "Break". The thing is, you'd think that a "break" is meant for getting away from school and homework...
I guess my teachers just. dont. get it.

I've spent the whooooole break finishing up my exam project in communication/IT on C-level which here in Denmark means the "basic" level of all the three years of college, where you only study the subject for one year, typically. D'you guys want to see how it turned out??? I might just post it at the end of this post, inshAllah (:

On a side not, I REACHED 101 FOLLOWES! Yay! :) It's like nothing compared to some other amazing blogs, but I think it's pretty well done for not being the best at advertising and having had started on the 30th October 2010. What do you think??

My brother spent his weekend at the annual JIMAS conference in England, http://www.jimas.org/, which is an Islamic charity organisation who host a conference evry year on Islamic topics obviously, where well-known learned scholars such as Salim Al Amry (a hilarious and funny sheik :) ) and others come to visit. We were all supposed to go as a family this year, but my parents thought it would be a good idea if my brother went first to check it out and then we'd all go together next year, inshAllah, and then hopefully for the Peace Conference Scandinavia !!!!!!!!! I never knew there was a Peace Conference in Scandinavia until a few days ago, but there is!! In Oslo, Norway, which is great for people like us who can't afford to go all the way to India :D InshAllah, I am soooo excited for next year, please pray that we always keep our intentions clean and that we may be able to go there (:

So, here's the animation I made for Communication/IT. It's in Danish though, so you guys probably wont be able to understand it. But just look at the weird pictures :D It's the story of a student called Peter who likes to procrastinate and so he has to hand in a huuuge report the next day. WHen he finally realizes that it's late at night he starts working and falls asleep and his laptop is turned on all night on full battery because he didn't set the standby function on, so he looses all his work because it runs out of battery sooner or later.

The point is, I was trying to convince young danes between 14-18 years old to remember to turn on their standby function on their laptops as it not only saves energy but also saves their homework, as I mentioned in the background and in my report. I hope inshAllah that I will get a good grade for my report, and we may risk having an exam in this! :O

Without further adue,

Enjoy my animation (for a Tv-commercial)!

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Assalamualeikum. It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Phillips!

2011-04-17T21:27:00.000+02:00

Boy do I wish I could've said that today as I, along with my fellow Muslim brothers and Sisters here in Denmark had the honor of having Sheik Bilal Phillips, a revert to Islam who was a former rock musician, to speak about the subject "Islamophobia" and whether Islam is a threat to the non-muslim society or not. MashaAllah, may Allah swt reward all the Muslims who were there and who helped organizing the event and of course Sheik Bilal Philips for his wonderful and amazing spech based on his one motto "peaceful coexistence".

It's funny how the media is able to twist the words of a few people in such a way that everyone else around them turn their opinion 180 degrees. I find it sad, as Bilal Phillips mentioned, how they can use Muslims as an excuse and as a resort to diverting the attention of the public from the REAL problems in society, the problems of the government and the problems of the country, which Muslims are more than happy to help to solve. The media created scuh a stir, such a "rumble in the jungle" about sheik Bilal Phillips, and had been doing so for the past few weeks, it actually made me sort of sick because not a single one of them actually understood any of sheik's works on Tawhid, on the fundementals of Islam, on the peaceful lifestyle of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). There was a demonstration taking place outside of the venue as well, and it made me sad to see that people were actually participating. How is that supposed to contribute to a healthy society?? Why do people hatye us so much just because we say "La Ilaha Il Allah" "There is no deity worth of worship except Allah" ?? All we want to do is be a part of the society, to contribute positvely, to help one another for our common future. Where have all the good people gone? Where are all the preachers of the so called "freedom of speech" ? Where are all the supporters of "freedom of faith" ? Where are all the speakers of liberation and equal rights?? Why don't these things count for Muslims?? Why do different rules suddenly play apart as soon as it has something to do with Islam or Muslims?... The same thing happened about a year back when we had the honor of hearing Sheik Khalid Yasin speak about Islam, the status of Women and many other subjects. How can we boast about rights for everyone when this obviously doesn't really exist?...

MashaAllah, the whole hall was filled up and mostly with sisters that a lot of them had to sit on the stairs because there weren't enough chairs for people to sit on!! It felt so motivating, so heart-warming to be a part of the brother/sister hood today. We as Muslims should stand together with each other. Not to fight the politicians. Not to fight the non-Muslims. Not to fight any non-islamic government. But to fight injustice.

May Allah give us all sabr and make us all strong so we can all fight injustice and contribute positively so that we all, Muslims as well as Non-Muslims, can live peacefully, side by side, as we have done in the past and inshaaAllah will do in the future. Ameen.

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

Henna pattern/inspiration

2011-04-16T19:25:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum!! So my auntie brought my some henna/mehndi cones back from Pakistan, and here's what I did with them today:

And after it dried and I washed it:

The color looks pretty light here, but it's much darker in reality. I need tonnes of practice!!! :O I didn't use any pattern btw, I just drew it according to whatever came out of my mind :-) Some of it turned out as a big blob because the henna mixed together as so:

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

POLYMER CLAY TIPS AND TRICKS :D

2011-04-16T11:14:00.001+02:00

Assalamualeikum lovelies!! Here are a few tips and tricks I've come up with over the time I've been playing around with polymer clay/fimo. A few are also found from around the internet. :-) PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE SOME IN THE COMMENTS SECTION!! :-)

1. If you want to make magnets, it's much cheaper and easier (in Denmark atleast) to buy magnet strips rather than seperate "ready made" magnets.This way you also get to decide the size of your magnet according to you piece.

2. When making holes in your pieces to use as beads, always remember to put talcum powder or potato flower on the stick which you use to make sure that it doesn't stick to the clay!

3. Use NAIL POLISH as a varnish if you (like me) can't buy professional FIMO varnish where you live or it's too expensive for your economy. Experiment a little with different types as not all types work. I found that TIGER clear nailpolish works really well as it dries out fast and becomes nice and smooth!

4. Here's a GREAT tip I learnt from a YOUTUBER. When making pieces for charms or pendants where you've to stick a homemade eye pin (or store bought, cuz headpins are too expensive), don't stick the eye pin directly in! Bend it a little and make it squiggly because that way pnce it hardens it wont fall out! With the straight eye pin it'll easily fall out and you'll have to glue it into place which I find is really uneccessary and frustrating.

5. Here's a great tip I read online, if you hate having fingerprints on your pieces, but rubber gloves make your hands sweat, cut the fingertips out of small rubber gloves and just put a tip on each of your index fingers and your thumbs. You might have to put a small piece of tape to tighten the finger tip on your index finger, so the glove won't leave a line, but it works wonders! Smart, eh?

6. A great way to poke a whole through your work for beads or whatever is to use the inside of a pen (the part that holds the ink) as it kind of works like a mini cookie cutter! Tooth picks and needles will end up poking the clay out in the opposite end and that's just annoying -.-'.

7. Baking paper/tracing paper works as a great non-stick surface! Just tape it to your table and take it off once you're done!

8. When working with several colours (especially white and another color) remember to use gloves! Ohterwise, especially with the white clay, the other clays color will rub off and you wouldn't want that!

PLEASE DO SHARE SOME OF YOUR OWN TIPS BELOW! :-D

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

I've been awarded and featured!

2011-04-10T16:38:00.001+02:00

Assalamauleikum everyone!!

So I am not supposed to be blogging today, but I fear that I may forget to post about this as it was a little while ago that I received one of them, but I've been awarded by two lovely sisters in Islam!!
Óne was from sister Aeesha @ Aeesha's Recital and the other from sister Rabia @ Muslimah Bloggers. JazakAllahu khayran to both of them, may Allah swt reward them both! :-) I happened to receive the same award from them both, so here goes:

Yay! I am an inspiration! Alhamdulillah. :-)

To receive this award officially, I must do the following:

Thank and link back to the person that awarded this to you.
Link posts by you and fellow bloggers that YOU find inspirational.
Give the award to 10 fellow bloggers.

I've thanked the sisters who awarded me, and I'll start off with awarding others:

1. Freckles and fudge
2. A little sussy
3. All you need is luff
4. Chloe Inga Designs
5. Cut, paste, repeat
6. Fimo Manualidades (fimo tutorials)
7. I am momma, hear me roar
8. In words and pictures
9. Linneas Univers (linneas universe)
10. Who's Your Editor?
11. Goddess of Cats

I have a much longer list, but I think 11 is enough for now. :-)

A few inspirational posts:
http://torijean.blogspot.com/2011/04/car-photography.html
(Some great car photography. Truly inspiring photos)
http://nicolehill.blogspot.com/2011/04/mmmm-chocolate.html
(Some of the most adorably baby pictures I've ever seen. :-) Nicole here, is just an amazing photographer. :-) )

http://radmegan.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-years-eve-treat-keyless-lime-pie.html
(All of Megan's recipes and posts and pictures and what not are ALWAYS sublime and amazing. This post features a great and tasty-looking lime pie. :D )

Once again, many more inspirational posts, but those were just a few. Plus, I also don't have much time :O

OOOH OOOH and one last thing!! My homemade beadloom-tutorial has been featured here:
http://www.handmade-jewelry-club.com/2011/04/how-to-bead-loom.html

check, check! :D

Have a good sunday, inshAllah!!

Yours sincerely,
The Creative Muslimah

Thought-provoking misconception...

2011-04-04T21:50:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum dear readers!!
Be aware when reading this post, you may react violently. :P

I know what some of you followers may be thinking... "It's not tuesday or thursday, why is TCM blogging today??"... Haha, yeah right :D I'm just trying to make myself happy by thinking like that, but ANYWAYs. I'm writing today because I wanted to share a really important point with everyone.
So here goes, Bismillah...

So there's this girl in my class, let's call her C, and since the start of the year, we've been discussing quite a lot, and I mean a lot a lot. We discuss about religions and ideologies, and inshAllah she is a kind person, but unfortunately (not to point fingers or anything, cuz I'm not any better) but she has a habit of becoming arrogant pretty fast if someone has any opinions that are different from her own.

Today she asked me why I wasn't attending the joint birthday party of two of my classmates this weekend, so I as always explained politely that I couldn't/didn't want to attend because we don't celebrate birthdays in Islam and would therefore rather not be a part of that and because the different activities that would be taking place wouldn't be suitable for a Muslim to participate in. So as usual she started asking in to it and about why Muslims aren't allowed to mix the genders and how it's just an "innocent party" and none of the boys were going to come and rape me or run after me with an axe or anything. I told her that that was not what I meant and such and explained that we as Muslims are supposed to keep ourselves busy in a modest way so we always can be pure and spend our time doing good deeds rather than spending our time doing frivolous acts of entertainment such as mixing unnecessarily with the opposite gender which we've seen in society leads to objectification (is that a word?) of the woman, rapid increase of acts of fornication and adultery (known as zinah in Arabic) and so on. When I told her that nowadays you can't even sell a bar of chocolate or an ice creamw ithout having a half naked woman on the wrapper, she reacted negatively and said that she didn't believe any boy in the class looked at any of the girls as an object.
Once again I explained to her that it of course isn't all that think like that but it has definitely become more common, though she didn't agree with me. I told her that in Islam a girl/woman's status is high and she is honoured. She is nevertheless like a diamond, beautiful and sparkling yet slightly weak and fragile, and therefore needs to be protected from all the evil things around her. When you have a diamond you don't go around bragging to everyone by showing it around, but rather you keep it close to your heart and only show it to those whome you love and trust (what is known as a mahram in Arabic).

After this she told me that "our God" spent too much time ruling our lives and that we have no control over our life and that we've been given a book which we have to follow and what not. At this I of course explained her that what she said was incorrect and rather a misconception and that if she tried to open her mind and heart she would understand what I was trying to say.

So anyways, we kept discussing several things until we came to the end where I mentioned that Islam is a peaceful religion at which she replied "No I think the Buddhists are more peaceful than you all". I then explained a very important point which my Dad has told me several times. Buddhists may be peaceful. They may preach things such as dont even hut a fly, dont do any self defence, and what not.
But if they were really that peaceful, why do such deadly spots such as Kung Fu originate from there? So she said "well I've seen in several movies that the monks were just standing and praying until they got shot in the head and blah blah blah...". I was a little dissapointed that she chose to base her opinion on movies rather than hardcore facts. She said that they probably developed kung fu for instance just for fun so they could share it with others and that had nothing to do with what they preached...

... ??????

If you preach utter peace, why on EARTH would you want to teach others something that does NOT lead to peace??
At this she said (or rather shouted): "SEE THIS IS WHY I HATE ALL RELIGIONS LIKE CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, JUDAISM AND SUCH BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL SO CORRUPT AND THE WORST PART IS THAT YOU CANT EVEN SEE IT YOURSELF!!!!!!"

Then she stomped her feet and walked out of the classroom and didn't speak to me for the rest of the day...

Is this how you create a healthy society? By being narrow minded when others have a mentality that is different to your own? I think not.
I think she got confused at that moment and that was why she ran out of the classroom... She tried to compare what christianity has done to it's followers through out time with Islam and Muslims, whereas if you compare the two ruling states at their time of conquering/ruling, there are MASSIVE differences and VERY FEW similarities...

The other girls couldn't understand why I would want to "waste my time" explaining and discussing with what they called "an arrogant person who denies it all anyways". I told them that as Muslims, our duty is to spread the message in the right way and not just saying through our mouthes but by showing it through our actions. Whatever happens next is up to Allah swt, because in Islam there is no forcing into faith.

May Allah subhanaHuwa ata'ala forgive us all our sins, have mercy upon all of us, let us all be able to accept each others differences, and give us all hidayah (guidance).

And Allah knows best.

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah

More inspiration for jewelry :-)

2011-03-31T21:46:00.000+02:00

Assalamualeikum!!

So, I wasn't able to blog on Tuesday due to me being overloaded with homework by my teachers, but khair inshAllah. I wasn't going to blog today either as I had math homework and wasn't sure I'd be able to finish it in time but alhamdulillah I did, but by then I found myself playing Bubble Struggle 2 (as it's this new wave thing going on in my class) and getting frustrated over level 45. Yeah, that's right. level 45. I have no life... I find myself shouting at the computer screen and pressing the keys on my keyboard really hard thinking it'll increase the speed of the little guy that's shooting at bubbles...

But... It's a pretty fun game, and there's this creepy feeling of satisfaction when you've won a level, so I guess it's alright... Right???

P.S. if you don't know what I'm talking about, type Bubble Struggle 2 on google and find out... I hope you don't get as addicted as I did :D It's like 7th grade all over again where we'd play all the time. :P

Anyways. I wanted to post a few pictures of the last few things I made in jewelry class as last friday was the last class for this season, but I can't find my USB cable for my phone at the moment, so that'll have to wait... -.-' So until then, here are af few pictures of some stuff I've made.

Flower bouquet made out of fimo.

PacMan ring made at jewelry class 2 weeks ago out of sterling silver
The bow is oxidized.

Yours sincerely,

The Creative Muslimah