Life updates!

Hey guys, first of all, HUGE thanks to everyone who has been reading my blabberlings here and dropping sweet comments here and in emails. I haven't been exactly prompt with my reply coz its been a crazy week with school. Its not a good excuse I know, especially when I'm late with postings and things don't arrive to you great people who bothered to buy my stuff. Seriously, I worry about the packages not reaching all the time and I worry about not getting them out in time coz I buy all the time too and get annoyed when packages gets late. So, sincere apologies to anyone who's griping because the stuff hasn't arrived. We're really doing our best to make everything nice and smooth. (I still pack orders at 3am and run to the PO before & after school.)



When I get stressed, I go shopping. Its cliche I know, but better than eating. I'm running on alternate days but snacking is always getting me down eventually. I'm breaking my promise to stop buying unecessarily but there are waaaaay too many good stuff out there. The other day I was really mad when I lost a gigantic poet sleeve vintage blouse on ebay. Then again, I scored a couple of good stuff. That super cute yellow enamel pot up there? From RetroKitsch. Also got a vintage sewing basket from JewelsByDesign, a blue vintage woven leaher clutch from junkenvyetsy, another gorgeous foldover blue clutch from vintagerevolver that came super quick, 4 days, baby! And a cute luggage from VictoryVintage. I had actually wanted the red one from her too but she didn't reserve it for me. :P But I got the blue one in the end. Vintage stuff are my ultimate weakness. Sigh.



I woke up the other day revisiting my wish to pack light. I'd always been the bag lady du jour. Bagging everything I think I'll need on the road. Jesus, I wasn't even travelling, or at least that'll be an excuse. So, I brainstormed and fixed up a mini granny-esque bag. Methinks the original grannies are a tad tired hence a cuter style! I managed to carry a scientific calculater, cell, wallet, tissue, mirror, 2 lippies, keys and a mini moleskine in it! I'm not crazy about how it turned out so I'm gonna improve on it before it goes into the shoppe. What do you guys think of this cute new Petite Pochette Accessoires? ;+)

(Management biz mid-sem next week. Eugh.)

House Party

New addition to the shoppe! I'm pimping this a bit coz I'm so in love with the cute print. With the bears and bunnies happily trotting in the beautiful streets of cute red-roofed houses, it really makes for a beautiful day! It looks a little like Paris, but it looks a bit like Austria. What do you guys think?

Looking for a smile? $18, right here. ;+)

Overheard

Boy : "Mummy, this place smells like the beach"

Overheard in the female toilet of King Albert Park's McDonalds this morning during breakkie before the law lecture.

For more random overheard stuff, visit Overheard in NewYork.

Life + valentines

And I didn't realise it. My last post was the 200th post! Meaningless milestones I know, but its a biggie for me since I've never been good at keeping up with online communities. Seriously, I have learnt to loathe the "register" command at every website. Coz I know it'll be ages before I return and its a pain trying to memorise the login and pw. Now that I think about it, I'm more of a commitment phobe than most men. Tsk. I hope I can blog more often anyways. If you're reading this, you're loved. ;+)

These couple of weeks are pretty crazy with school running down my neck and me trying to squeeze every second I have sewing, packing and running to the PO. Just so you know, I'm a bazillion times happier doing stuff for florspace than going to school. I've got a hopeless lecturer for costing this sem and I hate costing. I'm praying for a pass. Help me? Anyways, I keep dreaming about new stuff to make! The inspirations are running like water on tap and its almost insane to keep track of them. I have notepapers scribbled with designs everywhere. I think the costing lecturer caught me drawing when I was supposed to finish tutorial 7.2 (or was it 7.1?, whatever.) I left sheepishly. To think that I spent the last few sleepless nights trying to complete 3 past exam questions. Statistics mid-term next week. No time to bum around.

So we spent valentines literally taking a breather. DH surprised me in school after class with a long stemmed rose, the big strong kind he used to surprise me with in high school. Yeah, we go waaaaaay back. LOL Anyways, he also got me the zakka carriage bear set I've been drooling over but can't justify buying. Suffice to say it costed a bomb. Yikes! We went to the airport for old times sake. We used to study for major exams there. You can't do that anymore apparently. Quiet dinner at the canteen was great and walking around aimlessly like we used to, gets rid of stress. I think its one of the best valentines we had. Who needs to pay for dinner at 3 times the usual price in a crowded place to get romantic?

Anyways, I'm dying to make more stuff.
Just for the sake of making stuff.
I get edgy when I don't get to sew.
Did you check out our new design launch yet?

(Music playing - Bullet for my valentine, The Poison)

MWTWT Ad is up!

Our ad is up! I love MWTWT a lot coz Leah's selections of lust objects always leave me drooling. So we at florspace, decided to place an ad there! I had been so ambivalent about placing ads coz we wanted to keep costs small so that we won't have to charge exorbitant prices I myself won't pay for. But I had to put one somewhere, says my shareholders to at least expand potential audiences. LOL Ok, then I had to grapple with the graphic. I wanted something simple & fetching so I'm picking the wreath placements. I expect to change the graphic every month, hopefully I can stick to my word for that! I'm gonna need a T-shirt that says, "I beat procrastination" very soon.



Schoot over if you have 2 secs to check out the ad! All the way up there at Leah's fabulous More Ways to Waste Time blog!

Made someone's day!

Woohoo! I made someone's day! Can't get better than that, methinks. Oh, its as decadent as the truffles I hid on my desk and pick one when DH isn't looking. Oooooooh.....chocolate.

Ooopsy, this wasn't about chocolate. Nicky at Sparkly Treasures only had 5 choices and she picked me! Thanks so much Nicky! She makes great baubles come alive so do scoot over and drool on her creations.

My turn! It was tough to pick so I had to be so cruel and pick 5 and only 5. :+( But do browse my list of awesome people on the left for more great people!

1. Hazel at Blossom Hill Cottons
2. Jek at Scrumdillydilly
3. Ana at Ana Paula's Amigurumi Patterns
4. Leah at More Ways To Waste Time
5. Marsha at Indulge me...

There you go!

To pass the award on, here are the details :
1. Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make me think and/or make my day.
2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver.
3. Display the “You Make My Day Award” logo.
4. Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news.

New Design Launch - The Carte Wallet

Florspace has a new design! We've been sweating over this for months now. Its strange to think that since it looks a rather simple design. Not so simple it seems to come up with something perfectly simple, that is. We've received quite a number of requests for card holders coz apparently, lots of people use card wallets! Its not surprising since we pretty much live in a card age and real money seems to soon become a quaint notion. Nonetheless, I thought about the design over and over, most of the time when I'm in the loo or spacing out in class or on the hellish public transport.



As Japanese zakka fans can probably tell, its in a zakka style, with handcovered buttons and linen rope closure. Inspired by my current cube wallets, the design and size was experimented about 5 times over before this final product. I wanted to incorporate style, functionality and cuteness all in one. Hence the choice of only the most fabulous fabrics, cutest buttons, & the capacity to hold 100 business cards or a stack of plastics & paper cash all in a simple bi-fold wallet.



Having bought a bunch of hand covered buttons supply from Japan, it was in good time to use up my over flowing drawer of fabric scraps to salvage the most adorable designs for the buttons on the carte wallet. I personally think it compliments it nicely! For the red piggies wallet, I used a plain red cotton but there will be cuter designs coming. Check the last pic of our new listing for a sneak peek of which's next!



Check out the stack! Your cards will be swinging in style! Never run out again and have people ask where did you get your super cute holder! ;+)

Feel free to swing the removable clip wrist strap. Stress points are all double stitched to ensure durability. Gallavanting guaranteed!

Only $18, right here.

Decole wallet - STOLEN!

Jessica from Devon, UK bought this cube from me a while ago and it was stolen from her! While she had requested a new one, I just wanted you guys to keep a lookout for this exact wallet up there. If you see it, it was stolen from poor Jessica! Return it and get a little reward from me.

Stealing is not acceptable! :+(

Wallets & mushrooms back on track

I realised my last annoying post bordered on people throwing rotton eggs at me. I do apologize if I offended CNY fans or anyone. I guess I was a waaaaaay too tired over the whole ordeal. Today parents are out to Sentosa on a flower admiring trip and DH and I woke up late and had a nice breakkie at Delifrance. Some beef baked rice & Perrier with fresh lemon & all hatred almost gone. I'm planning to have one more day of rest lest I get into another horrible mood in the middle of next week, which is prolly the last thing I need. We're playing Burnout Revenge later. Hopefully when DH goes out tomorrow, I can spend the day whipping up more good stuff for you guys! yaaaay!



One more of the fabulous 5 making its way to the florspace shoppe! Its the red bunnies, all happily leaping around on a very red textured background. Its quite unexpected that people seem to love red from my shop lots so this is one dedication to the lovers of this red & very hot color! Woohoo!



Dinner yesterday. Mum added these very adorable straw mushrooms in the soup and DH was so amused by the cuteness, he kept spooning them up & showing it to me. Apparently he thought some of them looked like lamps and some of them like the umbrella ghost of Japanese folktales. And I said, "Fine! Take a picture, it'll last longer"
And he happily did. Men! *eye roll*

Lunar New Year - lamentations

Chinese new year (cny for short) is exhausting. All that fake plastered smiles and relatives during the visitings make me wanna crawl into bed. Did you guys notice that cny is mostly about the money? All the songs, gadgets, lengths upon lengths of decoration, red packets all towards that one idea of luck and prosperity. Its not that I'm not for the idea, but c'mon, its crazy times like these, making people work 12-16 hour days in a box that makes me feel like we're living for money. Of the money, by the money, for the money. Someone during a visit told me, without money, we're nothing. Is that really true? They lament that they even pay for the air they breathe, ie, AC. They become obsessively calculative, to avoid a parking of $3, they park 3 blocks away, only to walk the 3 blocks to their destination in the sun. They wait for the time limits of street tolls to be over before proceeding. They refuse to lend people rides, because of petrol prices. Yes, prices are soaring, yes, the weather is ridiculous hot (32 degC) but do we have to take it out on ourselves and the people around us? What happened to love thy neighbor? I can't help but wonder if we've become fruits of capitalism, where we see each other not as people, but as potential for trade, ie, if someone is not of value to us, why keep him/her around? That is plain sad.

Back to the cny thing, besides all that annoying cny music everywhere, which does something funny to my head and DH's too apparently, there's all that crazy "preparation" for food shopping, for bright new clothes, new shoes, accessories and whathaveyous. Black is a taboo, so is unauspicious words like death or dying-related, of course anything to do with poorness or losing money. On the 1st day, I just decided on a plain black tank from bonds which might I add, have already worn countless times, dark red PJ pants which I made myself, a old white bangle I pulled from somewhere, Marsha's cute woody necklace, gold thongs (shoes!), and the red duct tape satchel I made and I was out the door while the relatives carried vuitton and gucci. In order not to offend the superstitious, I had red on me as an excuse for the black I can't help wearing. No black means giving myself up utterly. So its on to the bazillion "Happy New Year!" and fake smiles plastered on me and DH for the rest of 2 days. I wore the same thing on the second day no less while I noticed the fashion of cny is 2 days of really weird clothings I see all around. Yeah, some of them seem fantastic, but mostly it was pretty obvious that they're all wearing something just for the occasion and will not wear again (eg, red t-shirts on national day). Relatives' homes were shy of AC so we were hot and heavy all day, listening to the ramblings of current political states, what the govt has or have not done for us, how crummy everything is and how good and fun the past was. Yeah, our lives are crummy, our govt is crap and things in the past is always good. Obviously the past is good because we choose to remember the good things! Why don't we all try to see the good things right now so that we can be happier? National depression rates is on the rise, people are going nutters and we're neglecting our family, taking them for granted and not spending enough time with them! I live and breathed all that, working 16 hours in a box with nothing but a computer screen & towering papers all around, coming home only to yell at my family for silly things. Yes, I had the money, but no time and no life to spend it. I took time today to thank DH for suffering the day's ordeal with me when he could've lazed at home. Poor him was dead tired and could hardly do a jog with me.

Eventually, I'm not entirely sure if the collection from the red packets were worth all the trouble. I like seeing my relatives & spending time with them. If only they could be a little more positive about life, to see more of the good side and be less calculative & a little more generous with their hearts. Spend a little more time with people you love. The most expensive gift you can give to them is your time. It is important coz in the end, they are the people who are going to help you when you fall. They are the ones who will lend a shoulder when you're tired or sad. Just don't see them as commodities, ever.

phew, just my 2 cents. Need to crash now.

Etsy Finds - Love Sprouts!

A lovely virtual friend of mine, finally started a shop! If you were active on flickr a while ago, you'd remember the really adorable stamps Jo (aka DIY Obasan) carved in the night! Check out her work on flickr if you're unaware. A super stamp carving talent with great attention to detail, you'd look no further if you need some personalizations, for yourself or your store. Jo will do custom orders too so just drop her an email.



Thats one of my very favourite stamps currently still in her shop but I'd imagine not for long now! I'm secretly dying to own this so squeezeable little happy mushroom, as well as the Enchanted Cottages postcards! What a lovely touch to ordinary postcards. I'd say, its worthy of framing!



Remember this stamp she surprised me with? Yeap, its Jo. Don't let this one talent pass by you! Call today & get something done! Before long, you'd want to use your new stamp everywhere. LOL AND, she's got a grand opening offer! "Receive a set of 12 stickers plus 2 gift tags stamped with my handcarved minis for free when you make any purchase!" Valid til 28th feb. Be fast!

http://www.lovesprouts.etsy.com/

Le Concentrism

This conversation happened 2 days ago (I think. My concept of time is almost missing). Friend and I were shopping.

Friend: You didn't blog about Le Concentrism.
Me: Huh? Whatza?
Friend: Le Concentrism.
Me: What are you talking about? Hey that bag looks cute!
Friend: Yours was more fetching.
Me: Huh? Which one? You wanted something?
Friend: No, I mean you didn't blog about the Concentrism bag, the one with circles.
Me: Oohhhh....that tote. I didn't?

Here it goes.

Once upon a time.... a girl was working in her cute factory and realised she ran out of supplies! Off she went in her red hoodie and wicker basket into the woods and into the city she tread in search of the good stuff for her little factory. She stopped at a little fabric shop after getting the nobs and bobles as she always does and looked with her sharp little eyes for the wonderful things hidden behind bales of duller choices. Without disappointment, she chanced upon something gleaming in the far dark corner of the shop. It was hidden behind larger rolls of fabric that virtually dawrfed her petite frame. Her heart was palpitating with excitement. Could it be the one? The one wonderous fabric that would scream out to her, get me outta here & make me into something! Anything! Make me good! She hopped on one feet hoping to get a better glimpse of whatchamacallit. "Sir, could you help me?" She asked politely. "Of course, little one. Which would you like?" the dear old man answered. She pointed out to the little gleaming spot of orange and red. "Aaahh, that one. Might take a while..." She waited patiently, without expectations as she was used to the disappointment that it might not be anything great. However, this time, it was different coz she had a little gleam of that special feeling right at the bottom of her heart that it might just be something great. Bales and bales of fabric came out, some slinky, some dull, some spotty, some smooth. The old man painstakingly removed the bales and set them aside, all in the unseasonable warmth. Immediately she felt bad for him. Unfortunately the old man wouldn't let her help in consideration of her petite frame, the bales might just topple over her. As he finally reached the last dark navy bale of fabric that covered the One, she held her breath.

It is the One. The one such fabulous fabric that would complete her, at least for that day. It was gleaming among the dark, all that concentric circles in reds and oranges, perfectly combined with whites all on the great decorator weight canvas. As the bale of concentric cirlces was brought closer to her for inspection, she sighed and caress the fabric as if it were silk.

"How many yards would you like?" The old man asked, jolted her concentration. "2 yards, please" she said, without looking up. She was fixated on the circles and was floating into the retroness of it all. The bale was removed and exactly 2 yards was snipped, folded and packed into her basket. She paid and thanked the man. As she was leaving the shop, she turned back and saw the old man putting the bale back into the corner and wondered who would be lucky enough to spot the wonderous behind the masses. She felt sad to leave the rest of the fabric in the shop behind, but happy to be swinging the find of the day in her basket.

And home she went, conjuring infinite possibilities for her new find all through the woods.

(Long ass story, but that pretty much happens everytime. :+)

Showcase

Friday showcase. Check us out! Its our first time trying the showcase thing out after clicking on it so many times and finding awesome etsy people through the showcase!

Can you guess which one's us? ;+)