Christmas is insane....

1.12 am and here I am trying to get my life back on track. I'm not complaining but 24 hours a day doesn't seem enough for all the stuff I wanna do. (Plus I need 10 hours for sleep) I'm waaay too insanely perfectionist, throwing myself a ton of curve balls which would ultimately kill myself in the midst of it. Sigh. Its sadistic to say, but damn I love it. New year's resolution number one, I swear not to swear. Even though I don't say it loud (when I have company, that is), I swear a lot internally. Its not meant to be rude and utterly negative and stuff, but its what I've been exposed to and its my thing, so lay off. Fuck it. I won't make new years resolution. It never works anyways. Its like telling yourself to lay off chocolate for 2007. Has it ever worked? But I wanna save enough for a business trip (Read: Massive fabric buying spree!) to textile town in japan because I can't get enough of those fabulous fabrics. Confession, I have a love-hate relationship with Christmas. Have you noticed stress levels increase during the season? The rush to get the perfect gift, to have it perfectly wrapped only to have the recipient tear it up in a sec and trying to make a how-did-you-know-i-love-it look? I don't mean to say I don't do or do all that but seriously, its supposed to be a season of sharing and giving (to the less fortunate?!). All that novelty Christmas-y things...how many of them really do go the distance with us? Yes, its the thought that counts, but call me pessimistic, I'd much prefer a nice Christmas card wit sincere wishes for a great christmas (stress-free) holiday and a smooth-sailing new year. It might be me getting on in age, but I'd much prefer a quiet holiday, stay home, bolt the door, unplug the phone, pretend I'm not home, hug my turkey and go to bed playing gentle jazzy christmas tunes on my player. I mean I still love Christmas and all, the excuse to give beautiful things to people and still watching them squeal with delight. Couple pressie complete, as above. We wrapped them up in clear cello which I hate but DH insisted. He delivered and they loved it. I heaved a sigh of relief and wipe my beads of cold and warm sweat from my forehead. One down, more to go. Then I realised TC reads my blog. Do'h! He would have seen the previous chapters. Then he also told me LOF are his friends. Double do'h! How small is the world now?

Cute finds. I can't lay my hands on the Decole ones in Japan so this was the next best thing. But its orange, doesn't fit into my noir/blanc boudoir. Its going to sit beside my moses basket in my sewing area. Also found some cute cram cream deco-tape. Its always so tough to resist. :P

Highlights for 07. ^___^

Christmas collection + news

I had another long day, creating, designing, going out, checking out places and Christmas shopping, jostling with the ridiculous crowds....



My Christmas collection is done. I've always wanted one and I pushed myself to the limits finding Christmas but non-cheesy prints for my minis. I intended to give them out as presents, stocking stuffers and maybe a bit of promotion for my little shop.

Requests for re-runs have come pouring in during my busiest time of the year but I swear I will complete them all. I just can't say no to people who proclaim they love my stuff. I know I rant about this all the time but I really do appreciate the time and love they give. ;+)




So I checked out The red dot museum for the Sunday Maad Market. Apparently they were having a holiday break. I was thinking of actually having a physical shop but I can't produce enough for an actual shop not to mention the whole idea was too cliche for me. Since I loved markets and often dragged DH around Sydney for the past couple of years through market after markets during the weekends, I might as well actually have a stall! It might be fun and perhaps see the response of my stuff actually, physically selling. Of course, there's the costs and time. Being the commitment-phobe, I'm more worried about me actually being there every Sunday than my stuff actually selling. :P The place was waaaay cool. Red building and great cafe. Oh did I mention I love old libraries and all sorts of museums?



Chapter 2 of the couple present was completed this morning. Cute Kinchaku (Japanese draw string purses) with embroided initials on felt. These look simple but they are surprisingly complicated to make. Or maybe it was I who chose the complicated design. sigh, but, I'm so fanatic about my work, I started working right after I wake. No monday blues for me. Oh wait, its sunday today. Nah....doesn't matter when I love what I do....

My fabulous friend, Annie, bought the Strawberry fields tote for work and 3 other Christmas minis. Thanks babe.

Its been a long day, and I had to have KFC with DH and family at 10pm. I understood its diet suicide so I might go hide under the covers now and pretend the fat will go away.

"My breath smells like chicken."

p/s, I found time to wander through the installation at the Esplanade and found LOF at the Esplanade shop, and wasted no time at all grabbing the fabulous clutch I was eyeing all along in her shop but was always sold out. I'm happy. Love LOF loads. Also grabbed a fab pair of Chris Lou lookalike patent platforms. Yeah I'm cheap. But why buy something exp when its going to be passe in 3 months?

Couple card holders

I'm so sick of the usual card holders people make. Yeah, I used to make them too but I got tired of it. This one is a stem off the cute fold wallet, only simpler. They took a couple of hours to be done but they all turned out cute. Thats the thing I realised, everything I make seem to turn out cute. Don't know if thats a good thing though. I can't seem to make things look adult even though I so want to. :P

Anyways, I love this couple. They're DH's friends actually but I came to know them quite a while ago and they've been fab to us.

They form part of a basket of goodies....

Crap, am I supposed to post this before it goes out to them?!

I'm so in love with the sheep and the mushroom.

Utterly lovely presents we got from them. The big one is mine!

Black Sheep & Mushroom Mania

Black Sheep & Mushroom Mania
Originally uploaded by florspace.

I made this today, for Rachel. She convo-ed me on etsy and said she loved the fabric and wanted minis out of them! Glad I still have some of those darling fabrics left. These are total rarities and would belong in a museum! LOL or maybe its because I'm not in Japan? Sigh.

Still I'm really happy to get custom orders! Not a day goes by where I thank god and those superbeings up there for sending me great customers who love my stuff. I can't ask for more than that! I actually get offers to mass-produce or have a real shop but I had to turn them down. I know its prolly really cliche to even be thinking this, but I really want to keep it small. Exclusive, ever-changing, and always fabulous. Only in this way, can I promise quality and great service. I really want to have time to package each order, dress them up, have nice conversations with the person who chose to browse my store and actually bought my stuff. Hope to really do this till I'm so old I can't sew!

Oh and there's my dream to own a massive white-washed gallery, filled with fabulous art of all kinds.

My brains are churning out ideas faster than I can realise them. :P Maybe that explains why the costing fomulas ain't getting absorbed into my brain.....

Photos!

I'm so bored of costing (paper on wed) so I thought I'd be good and actually post something about stuff that happened in my life. There was a good sunset the other day so I took a picture. I live in an apartment block but there's this private apartment thing in front of my building that came up couple of years back. I've always hated that it blocked the view. The scarcity of land here has made us little more than chickens in a chicken coop. I'm constantly jealous of Christine and Hazel's homes. :P

Oh and I was in this Etsy Secret X'mas swap thing and a lovely box came for me last week. I forgot all about it untill I opened it! There was a very very lovely brooch from brokenplates in all green packaging! It was so lovely and the whole thing was sweeten up futher when I discovered a big box of choco dipped pretzels~! I ate the whole thing in a couple of days and I swear something about the salt and choco that goes so well together! I was hooked but then I was down to the last pieces. I promise I'm going to learn the recipe and make some myself. Here's a pic of the brooch though. Isn't it classic yet quirky?

Speaking of Christmas, I have an early gift! DH bought it for me after he caught me staring at it for days. He swore I was drooling. I denied it. Anyways, I'm a total sucker for transport so i really couldn't pass up this one although I didn't want to spend on toys since I needed the money for fabric & supplies. Its a very adorable bus with candies inside. Its the yearly Candy Cabinet thing Sanrio comes up with. It was such a great day! I got it like a day before my 1st nightmare paper. I wished I could say its a motivation but after those 2 killer paper days, I don't think its right to use that word anymore. Don't ask. Pictures!

The exams. Held at Expo, a freaking huge convention centre, far east of Singapore. It takes me a whole hour just to get there. And we all have to make this very long walk to the hall. All the time I was thinking to myself over and over, Dead Woman Walking. It wasn't nice. Maybe a bit like the Jews. I watched Schindler. No offence to real Jews though. The stress was so great I couldn't produce during most of the exams. I'm just not the exams kind. I prefer essays & projects, where people do the sane thing by taking time to read, analyze, and come up with a fabulous solution. Not trying to cram a phonebook in a couple of months, hoping to remember as much as one brain can, culminating in a 3 hour paper where one prays that the stuff we can't remember won't appear in it. Its utter crap and inhuman. Who really benefits from such an examination and actually prepare one for work life? I think not. Let's look at the gloom anyways...

In the other news, I got really stressed and started shopping a lot. Apart from my load of fabric last Sunday, I got 2 new Decole stamps and they came really quick, although I got overcharged on shipping. Its a pet peeve of mine but I really hate it when I'm overcharged. I guess I'm going to have to live with it until I can find someway to swim to Japan and beg them to take me in as an asylum seeker. :P The white guy on the left is actually new year sticky rice cake for new years and the red guy is a daruma. But we already know that. Decole made is so much cuter so its impossible to resist. Sigh. They made friends with Santa Decole so I took this new family shot on the cute mini chair I bought at Daiso on Saturday. I should be banned from that store. The next shot shows a fraction of my goodies. I have more at my Daiso group on flickr. ;+)

Last but not least! My stumpie, new best friend, confidante, yoga/meditation teacher. Came from LOF, my fav store in the world! He's posing here with sheep who loved him the moment he came out of the box. "To hell with my owner!", he said. Lousy guy. I sent this pic to Lynda at LOF and she loved it.

New minis coming up! All lovely delectable designs, hand selected, designed and made one by one lovingly! Grab one today!

I got ambitious....again

I got ambitious....again. Started uploading goodies & stuff, even one cute mini on etsy! Or maybe its the stress. I can't decide. My exams - this week, wed & thurs. Anyways, I started throwing up mucus these days. Don't worry, never on the purses I work on. My workplace is so sanitary. No pets, no smoke. Why? Coz' yours truly is allergic. Mum cleans the house ever so often coz I sneeze & wheeze when dust flys by.

Anyways, I got a break on Sunday. Went on a fabric hunt! (again...) Its one of my heaviest days yet! Heavy Natural linen from japan, fabulous Cheap Monday type denim fabric (!!!), printed cottons, white denim twill, zippers (lousy guy overcharged me! but I needed them :O...), and the best yet? - Japanese linen canvas prints!! I didn't know I can ever ever find them here but voila! LOL Though its only like 2 different types, I was waaaay over the moon coz they are so freakin hard to find, even on the internet. I swear I would rob the bank just to buy me a ticket to Japan & steal my dad's credit dards! Yeah, so I grabbed them and a couple more fabulous cottons even though it seriously depleted my bank account and would render me meal-less for the next week or so. Sigh....I can seriously live on fabrics....
SO, the new Daiso store opened in Vivo City. I had to check it out. Lugging 7 yards of fabric around isn't funny. I was glad to have my dad's vehicle come pick me and mum up for the trip. It was cr-OW-ded! I got a cart and that's it. Lost in fantasy world for the next 3 hours! I really should be banned from going to Daiso. To think that I administer the Daiso group on Flickr. My dad shook his head in dispair when he spotted too much cute & pink factor in my cart when I emerged after 3 hours. Note - they did try to call my cell 5 times. I didn't pick up. Hey, it was noisy! :P So, more goodies, fabrics, stationeries, kitchen items, food.....

The nice thing about me? I'm sharing my goodies. Check my store! ^__^

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Everytime I hear that song (title), it reminds me of the hotel guy in that Home Alone movie. Funny and so heartwarming all at the same time. Christmas here isn't any fun. Its 32degC days and sweaty nights. Not exactly my idea of a white Christmas, but in the spirit of giving (presents) and expecting them, it might be a good holiday idea. Or maybe as a reward for being nice (69% of the time) in the year?

I'm usually indecently late for Christmas. This year, I swear on my own grave, it was going to be different. I've ordered my turkey, ham, pork ribs (?), complete with trimmings and even pineapples (This is what you get for Christmas in the Tropics) and even the log cake! I'm told I should just eat one slice. I begged that its the holidays but my mum won't listen. She's going to on a trip to the Dead Sea with dad so I'm left with DH in the house for Christmas. Oh, I'm also told not to burn the house down when I try to paint the town. :P Anyways, DH is in town for 3 months. He's on a Phd course & lecturing in Sydney and its the hols now. At least I'm not alone for Christmas. Wait...is that a good thing? Maybe I'm too used to being alone. Oh well.

Today DH put up the decorations while I tried (or pretended) to squeeze in more of what I'm suppose to squeeze into my already buldging head. Most people like to tell me I have a bigger head than usual. Well, duh. Thats what you get for studying too much. Anyways, DH had to play Christmas tunes while he danced & pranced about while decorating. It was more annoying than distracting. I never understood the stupidity of the UK system. We have courses all round the year, then its exams, followed by 1 week worth of break and the new course starts. If my exams end 13th dec this semester, would I have any Christmas left, I keep asking myself. Its utter crapola if you'd ask me. I can only sigh in disbelief while I try to memorise the Cash Flow Statements format and the list of never ending ratios. Who the hell cares about Creditors turnover days when its Christmas?! Hey, I already tried to be early this year. Last year, DH decorated 1 week before Christmas and we had a real crummy dinner at home. (read: Pasta with slices of turkey on top with $7 sparkling wine) We will have something good this year, I keep promising myself. The lights are up with the red theme ornaments and wooden zakka Christmas creatures around my black wrought iron bed. (I refrained from word-bashing!) I also have a tiny tree with the cute wooden creatures on it too. I put DH's sliver cufflinks beneath the tree. He hasn't asked what it is yet.

So, you already know how I can't keep my hands away from my sexy little white sewing machine? Yeah, I couldn't. Even under the watchful eyes of my mum, who threaten to break "us" up if I work on anything before my exams are over, I cheated. Hell, it felt good. It can only be described in Shakesphere,"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". He probably said that while he was having an affair and I can only nod enthusiastically in agreement.

I made my Christmas collection, up on etsy now. Only 2 sets of 3 minis, since I had some trouble finding fabric I actually like. I scour up tiny pieces and fight it off someone so you could have only the best, like I always intended. I have a strict policy not to offer anything to anyone if I don't already love it. Those 3 fabrics are fabulous together and they would be perfect for stocking stuffing and for peeps you don't know what else to get! Makes a good closure too, like if you're missing that something in your package.

Oh and, before I run off, I've finally started a shop with freewebs.com They are a fab bunch and I've gone premium with them too, which means less restrictions, no ads, more space and stuff. I'm so lousy with the DNS-type mumbo jumbo so please bear with me. If you're smarter and wish to critisize, please write me. But please promise you'd help.

Otherwise, SHOP @ florspace for fabulous handmade goodies and ultra adorable stuff from my shopping trips!

You know how much I love you guys... (apologies for the late update!)

Happy (late) Thanksgiving & early Christmas