Indian Summer

Its so hot out and the giddy heat, bright sun and bouncing hay balls across the desert is all I can think about. Okay, I'm not seeing real hay balls but heat is definitely making me edgy and migrained. Custom orders are stacked. I'm having trouble keeping up. Some business opportunities are popping up on the side as well but the florspace people are a bit reserved about taking it to the next level, brick, mortar or over oceans. We've had a weird experience with consignments once and would be happier with wholesale. Even then, because every piece is made by hand, words like "bulk" and "wholesale" seem almost offensive. We're not taking it personally of course, the whole point of making stuff (to us) is to spread the quality we once had a long time ago & taken for granted, but had lost it to mass production and sweatshopping in the 21st century. That said, its prolly more meaningful to keep it small and exclusive even, like the tiny handmade shoe shops in the unknown lanes of Paris, where once you've worn a pair, you'll never wear anything else again. I feel exactly the same for handmade shea butter soaps from naiad and soy candles from blisscandles. The so many romanticized idealists would make much more refined things in life which we can immediately appreciate - it comes from someone's hands, not a machine. (Like a Birkin!)



This purse turned out so red hot indian summer! I was once again re-inspired by my own handmade endevors while brainstorming and creating this passport holder for K. (I was really getting bit sick of it. Yikes.) She had wanted a passport holder that would fit & something bright so that it won't get lost in her tote. The conditions seem simple enough. Of course, I'd wanted to put zippers behind, pockets inside, D-rings here and everywhere... But in the end, I gave it all up for simplicity. Not because I was lazy, but I had thought about the practicality of it all plus the fabric was fabulous enough! When the airport security is breathing down my neck, I'd be cold-sweating if I had to dig around a million pockets for my passport and papers. So I decided to keep it bold and simple. And a keyring strap fixed to the zipper so that the holder would remember to zip up before moving. Extra security. :+)

It actually turned out so cute, I think I'll make one for myself. All that book-like passport holder I got was really not working for me. I'm a zippered purse gal. Et tu?

Whole bunch of RESTOCKS!

We have a whole bunch of restocks that just went live! Yaaaay! Look at the yummy variety of purses, by requests! I know, its summer and everyone's out and about but if you're scooting around for something fun and new, do check these cuties out! MiniZs, MiniBs, cubes and a whole bunch of crazy yummy tote sets!



Phew! At least the boxes of WIPs on the work table is kinda reduced. LOL Now we can concentrate on restocking carte wallets and stuff.

ps, I'm not sure if I should be bombarding everyone's inboxes so I'm putting up updates right here at the blog. :+)

Wordle

Had fun making this word cloud out of this blog. I've never been able to keep a blog properly so judging from the amount of different words from this wordle thingy, I prolly should pop a diet coke. I'll pop a dom peringon when I reach a thousand posts or something. LOL

Make your own.

More tote sets...

I'm not sure but I suddenly experience tremendous joy in cutting up huge pieces of fabric. Its kinda weird coz in the end, the bag turns out smaller than the gigantic pieces inititally. But really, nothing beats making these tote sets. The amount of work is giving me chronic back muscle pains but somehow, there's something about the exuberance of the images on the totes that seems so enticing to see it in person! On Tuesday, I even found the courage to cut up the half a yard of the blush pink version of Branche. My chest sorta tighten a little when I did but when the tote finally got completed on Friday, I sighed in relief and maybe accomplishment! You might ask, its a pretty simple tote, what's the idea? Well, I relish in simple designs coz I would very much prefer to let the beautiful fabrics I use speak for themselves. Besides, my little impromptu research over the years as a bag user, shows that a high percentage of us actually reach for a frills-free tote as a default everyday tote. Here, I'm obviously trying to convince everyone this is something you'll pick up everyday before you leave the house! ;+)

ps, I am desperately trying to find a way to reduce international shipping. Because of the layers of interfacing and heavy fabrics, a tote set tend to weigh a bit, not to mention some extras I throw in. I might have to find a cheaper source of bubble envies or maybe absorb a bit of the shipping? Hmm.

Update - Shipping recalculated and much reduced. Hopefully the tote sets will get to travel a little further this time!

203th day of the year - Reflections

With only 162 days of 2008 left, I find myself looking forward to the end. It might be a long semester, with projects, tests, my repeated business stats class (eugh!), and loads to do, I'm hoping it'll all end soon. Actually no, I'm in 2 minds about this. I'd always wish for more time in a day coz all the uploading, photo-taking, stuff making, packages posting has taken up more than 24/7. And people are wondering why I'm not spending time lurking in forums? LOL I so wish to do that, but guys, I hardly have time to breathe! Recently, I've taken to sleeping early, waking early, getting more done, and drinking a nice can of cold coffee mid-day so that I can keep the motors running til 9pm at least! When I get to sit down, listen to DH over the phone and update the sites, snoop around for Threadbanger, NiteFite & Viropop vids, its almost time for bed. I'm thankful for the 400thread count egyption cotton sheets I'd invested in. My day job is so full of fun but when I finally lie on the bed, I'd start to realise the pain and hell, its back-breaking labor! But so many of my audiences' sweet comments and appreciation makes me wanna go on. I've said thanks so many times, but always feel like I never thank enough! Hm, I guess I'd been brought up to at least be humble, though sometimes it gets hard to behave well when the weather is so hot here! I guess I won't blame my fellow Singaporeans anymore. I'd be hot-tempered if I'd were forced to live in such conditions! I kinda realised that when I went to the market with my folks on Saturday for breakkie & some groceries. I'm gonna try to be nicer. Wasn't that one of my resolutions for 2008?

I shall still believe in the good in people. And no, I am an atheist. ;+) Currently reading, God Delusion.

Tote sets!

Productive wednesday turned out to be pretty fun! Thanks mr coffee. All 4 totes are loose in my little shoppe! Got some summer moolah? Get yourself a pretty tote set! All made with my absolute fav raw cotton for the insides and cute little measure tape and zakka rick rack you saw during wip. It also took me some good time to locate those fabulous soft yet strong woven cotton straps for the handles. All the way from Japan, they are pretty expensive but hell, it works much better and looks fab too. I think I had much fun matching the handles! I hope I did I good job! Lots of designer fabrics are up here, Shinzi Katoh's Stroll, Puti de Pome's J'aime Paris, TABI's Biscuit & the rather rare and obnoxiously cute Safari. I had imported everything myself, 'cept Biscuit, which I had to have when I was in this very tiny fabric shop in Japan. I was carrying a crazy load but when I saw that, I had to have it! I still have a thing for red, Paris and vintage so it kinda explains the fabric choices too!



These fab totes also come with their own detachable/attachable mini wristlet! More are coming!

Do you love?

Shinzi Katoh Kids Land Everyday Tote Set

Kid's Land number 2! Yaay! Another tote set for a cute mom, a little girl or a big girl! Either ways, you're toting around town looking happy and fancy! I adore the cute sentiments on the already cute print of squirrels, mice and other critters! I made the inside of the pocket and the inside of the MiniB the same orange polka dot! So juicy and yummy the colors, I need a tic tac. heh

Perfect purse for summer! Strong and sturdy, bright and sunny!
Right here!

Productive Wednesday

Whoa! Never have I been able to do so much for quite a long while! I'm telling you, the awful sounds from upstairs has its adverse effects. The strange thing is, no disturbance came from upstairs whatsoever. In fact, I'm starting to get a bit worried about their kids. The adults are still shuffling their awfully loud furnitures intermittently but its really mild today. But anyhoo, the above is some WIP. I almost completed 5 tote sets today! Woo-hoo! All thanks to my new canned friend, the slim and able Nescafe regular. Wow does this little baby work! I hadn't stopped working since 12pm after admin and breakfast, til 11.30pm at night. What a wonderfully productive day... It feels so good to be going and going. Only when I'd finally sat down after a good shower to chat with a half asleep DH(2am in Syd!) did I finally feel super lethargic. Hmmm....should I try the human run next?

Oh the preciousness of silence!

Pinky Jack Tote set

Oh I still reminise about how happy I was to uncover this fabric! I was in a little fabric town in Japan and happened to get myself a little lost, walked into this very small and quaint little store that had the most wonderful fabrics all tied up in bundles with twine. They had utterly cute lace and buttons in glass jars and vintage sewing knickknacks all over! I was in HEAVEN, albeit a bit small, but still. They had plenty but as we all know, the whole opportunity costs idea drives me mad. I picked out a couple of vintage european home dec fabric in very retro prints which I had so much trouble looking for. No dekoplus, but just as good. Then I saw this beanstalk fabric, both in blue and pink. I remember that I couldn't decide and waved both bundles in Mom's face and asked frantically. I'd wanted to run to more shops! We decided on pink and the rest is history!



So besides CT's pleat tote set + cube that I'd made for her, we have a little left for a tote set for another lucky girl or mom! It seems so perfect for a new mom with a little girl. Of course it'll be so great for jazzing up an otherwise boring outfit! Would contrast perfect with denims too. Hell, its pink people, goes with anything! Our totes are made with the utmost dedication. I don't make anything unless I know it will be perfect. Pressure points are all double stitched. Handles are stitched 4 times! So feel free to swing and dunk books in. I feel so bad sometimes when I've got poor customers who tell me they've bought handmade and the purses look so fragile, they might fall apart on use. I'm sorry but I do spit on people who think they can make a quick buck out of selling handmade. Instead of just making a quick buck and getting out of there, you're making your audience lose confidence in handmade goods in general because of your shoddy work. Its fine being ignorant about crafting, feel free to experiment and only start selling when you are able to make something you would want to use and love. Its tough making stuff sometimes, but nothing beats the wonderful reviews we get from wonderful people! So a huge thanks and hug to everyone who's been so supportive! Its almost the 2 years anniversary for florspace so expect more yummy things! yaaaay!

I miss you

A shoulder to smile on
Originally uploaded by Nganguyen.

Who am I kidding... I am not happy to be here. I had to realise after 2 weeks of being back here that I am not happy at all. I miss my other half. I miss sleeping next to and waking up to him every night. Its a kind of security and warmth that has somehow got turned inside out and warped into this gaping hole of darkness and loneliness. Its awful having to sleep alone. The weather is creating all kinda of hell on me, really bad pimples all over, terribly heated head, itchy skin, swollen lips. And my poor other half is all cold out in Sydney. My poor old sheep having to ride out the essays and cold nights all alone. How I long to reach out and give you a hug. Even though the telephone has made its possible for us to hear each other, its still morbidly painful not to be able to see each other til Christmas. All alone to face the nonsense in school, the awful neighbors, the awful heat, the world in general. I need your presense to give me strength to push on, stinky humid or not. Because I know, at the end of yet another colossally crazy day, we can all forget our troubles with a hug at night.

Oh how I long for the time to fly.

Everyday Cupcake - Restock~!

I heard a yaaay....was it you? hehe Yuppers, they are here again! We love them so much, those cute little cupcakes, all decorated in their tiny cups of cuteness! Calorie-free, we can have them in our purse every single day for loads of smiles! Pile on the endophins!

Okay...maybe that was just me. I had just chopped off my butt-length locks and is feeling the freedom on my head! Finally! Plus my hair stylist had a cute new assistant, geek-glasses & toussled hair with good head-massage technics! Whats not to love. I preserved my hair in a braid. Show you guys later. ;+)

Anyhoo, I first bought only a metre (1.1 yard) of this cute fabric during my biz/pleasure trip to Japan. It didn't occurred to me that you guys would love them so much! Though I must agree that the print is well designed and arranged. And those cute sentiments written in pink! It was so popular that everything was cut and sold out in half a jiff! Then it was tough doing a search for them. I even contemplated flying over. And then bingo! It was hiding somewhere in cupcake land. Now I've finally got a decent stock of it in my own hands! Oh, the intoxicating smell of new Japanese fabric! LOL

There's something about these cupcakes really want to make me run out and buy some. I've gotta find a good low-fat cupcake shop in singapore again. If you're on a terribly strict diet, I guarantee these purses will bring you as much joy! Go shop! ;+)

Mini mini tote set Shinzi Katoh's Branche

A new born! Just a wee little set out of mommy's tum couple of days ago. She's SO painfully adorable! Bit too far, I know. LOL But seriously, this tiny little thing is almost half the usual everyday tote size. Even the beautiful branches and birds fall perfectly into the picture. Methinks its perfect for lunchtime. Just right for a wallet, cellphone and tissues. Plus it comes with a MiniB Wristlet! How cute is that?! ;+)

Edition of 2! Grab yours here.

Treasury

I made a treasury! Its worth a yaaay! Hmm, not sure if its the summer but things have been a tad slow. But glad everyone's out and about in the fun and sun! Thanks to bluesaphire for featuring my wristlet! I hope someone adopts her. She gets so lonely sometimes...

BTW, my poor ole Dell has met with some problems. I believe its a virus so I'm typign this on the MacBook now. I'm kinda iffy about using it coz I'm so handicapped! I have no idea where everything is and I gotta get a keyboard cover. It'll be such a shame for the white keyboard to turn black! Now that I think about it, should've gotten the black version... oh well.

Whimsically whimsical...

God, like I need a new craze to add to my expanding list! I'd thought the idea of whimsical jars had sorta died after I realised months ago that I prolly could never afford this beautiful version from One Good Bumblebee. Again, this whole idea of a whimsical jar is so very well eating into my awful need to hoard. I've been told that women hoard. Yes, I couldn't agree more. From 1995 to a couple of years later, I collected TY's beanie babies. I bought and bought with my meagre allowance from the folks on ebay. I think I even did a little layby with a nice girl who sold me a small collection. Sending money around wasn't really quite fun. But the delayed gratification worked like an aphrodisiac. Beanies were the reason I started using ebay. When paypal came along, it made shoppping online so darn easy. I moved on to designer things, prada rollnecks, vintage vuitton speedys, wallets, what name you. I deigned to spend local because of the whole romanticized western ideas thing. There weren't any quite as interesting and as exciting as waiting for a box to come thru. And hey, no waddling thru malls and dealing with rude shopgirls. Hmm... prolly explains why florspace isn't brick & mortar.

Like my weird need for bags, whimsical jars present the possibilities of hoard-ation, fun, the putting together and of course the infinite possibilities of what we could "hoard" in a jar. Make sense, non? My need to hoard bags has a long history. I'm not sure when it really began, I'm sticking to my story that bags started to mean something to me when mom taught me to crochet when I was just a kid. She made beautiful doillies, doll's dresses and bags. My first project was a 3 double crochet, 3 chain, bright yellow drawstring little bag. I 'matched' it with a bright green chain from circular bottom and made a drawstring at the top. I remember asking mom why wouldn't the bottom knot stay put coz it kept slipping out of the hole. Those were the days! Tons of bags came and went. Fashion magazines, shops and people watching were my sources of bag watching and hoarding. When Sydney came into the picture, I started vintage. Please don't ever ask about my collection. It would really kill me to add up the amounts. My wardrobe is at least 60% bags, everything from a lilac Luella(oh the scent of leather! forgive me just this once, vegans!), vuittons, to dollar store summer totes & purses. Yikes is how I feel now that I think about it. I'm only beginning to study the construction of clothes these couple of years. Fixation on bags is almost impossible to deny.

Where have I gone! Naturally, whimsical jars, even as its cute name suggests, we can literally put in anything. Jar of whimsical anything can be literally found anywhere! I'm being mean when I say this, but not all jars contain things I would like to have which is prolly why I'm so reserved in getting a jar myself. Scrapbooking jars are definitely the best around. Might be because they are themed so we can sorta unscramble our brains to find a connection between vintage buttons and domino pieces. Prolly makes deciding on what jar to get loads easier too! In which case, we're gonna go home, empty the jar and yet again wonder what fun things to put in it. Ah, the possibilities!

If you're utterly helpless and convinced, join me in a swap of Whimsy Jars!

Mushie shoutout

Just wanna do a little shameless shoutout for these 2 fab wristlets who just got relisted. The listings expired in May but I hadn't brought them along with me to Sydney so I thought I'll relist them only when I got back. And I went and forgot all about poor them til couple of days later.



There's absolutely nothing wrong with them. In fact, they are well amost perfect. I love the sturdy retro mushrooms fabric. Prolly perfect for throwing stuff in. I must say I choose my fabrics really particularly. No wimpies for hardy wristlets and bags! Hopefully someone adopts these cuties!

To sweeten the deal, they are on sale, 20% off, at $18. Mushrooms anyone?
Click on the pictures to take you to the listing. :+)

Chasing Soy + Etsy Finds

Soy saved my life. Weird, I know. I'd always been curious about soy candles with etereal promises like soot-free, lead-free, paraffin-free, helping American farmers, burning evenly & even the possibility of using the wax as a moisturiser. I thought 2 months ago that if that is so true, then soy is my paradise. I loved candles. Even at a young age, I'd been known to stare at the flame til I see stars. I love how the flame evoked feelings of fire-ry passion for life, yet maintains its ability to channel romance. Its nothing about lighting diptyques and going under covers with someone. Its tough to describe, really. The feeling of going back to nature and original forms of light really stokes my inner being to just let time go, at least for the moment, just to stare at the randomness of the moving flame. Of course, I got bored with paraffin candles as time went by coz they burn badly, tunnelling in, and the soot was annoying. There was once I got wax accidentally on stuff on my table. Boy was that horrific to clean up. Soy promises that soap and water would remove any traces & accidents.

Then I finally dropped some cash, DH dropped some cash actually (love you, DH!), at a little market store run by a wonderful lady who was in town for a while before she goes back to Canada for a while. We had a nice chat and she was so helpful in helping me choose scents! She also encouraged me to make my own soy with the company she was with. Unfortunately they wouldn't ship out of the country and I had my hands full with florspace anyways. I am permanently hooked onto eucalyptus ever since I went over to Sydney years ago and She had this scent called Harmony. I forgot what was in it, eucalyptus, ylang ylang etc. Its been crazy since I started burning the 8oz travel tin I bought! I light it everyday, just staring at that flame, pinching some of the soy while hot and wet for cuticle moisturising. And the smell, was heavenly! It was beautiful for the couple of days we had the Harmony soy. I'd wanted so much to go back to the store and just beg for more! But by the time I was done procrastinating, Sandy would be back in Canada. She did mention she was coming back so my only hope would be DH! I hope he brings some back for me in Dec.

So I came back with the need to light up. I'm dying to throw out the paraffins so I went online searching for soy versions. After a couple days of looking, I finally decided on some from Suzanne from blisscandles. She seems good enough for me, with a big range of scents and great feedback on etsy. She has her own website as well and has been so great with scent discussing. Its an irony that we're talking about smells we can't translate! I'm dying to smell what she has though! The color of Pomegranate soy looks SO mesmerizing! I've decided on eucalyptus. Her mayo jars are really pretty with brown lids! There are also adorable 10oz jars with a cute handle on top & of course the cute mason jars! I'm sitting patiently while I wait for the jars to come in. Wait, its more impatience that patience.

Anyone knows of decent soy candles in Singapore? I've given up searching.

ps: Should have blogged about soy earlier but vacation makes my ass lumpy. Procrastination became my immortal enemy. Oh dang.

pps: Oh Camilla! I swear I didn't know that but rest assured the soy candles I get are from renewable sources and would help American farmers. Or at least thats what they promised. But thanks for telling me that. I'll keep a lookout for 'poaching' types!

MiniBs Launch!

For everyone who have begged and threatened with requests of boxy bottoms zippered pouches/purses, this one's for YOU! Its been in the works for a while and you know how it gets. I have a bazillion things running in my head at any one moment I swear its the reason why I have a bigger head. I can't fit into store bought hats and I'm not being funny.

Anyways, I can't say much else about these crazy yummy purses! They speak for themselves in use. The simplicity of it all makes it a fuss free purse you can just throw stuff in, yet the cute fabric really brightens your day! I use 2 in my bag all the time coz I can't seem to keep my mirror and lipcare & pot of lip gloss together otherwise. The other one holds my memorystick and tiny gadgets. I can't live without them myself! I've also included a d-ring, held up with strong but cute grosgrain ribbons double stitched so you can safely swing it. Need a strap with clip? You only have to ask. :+)

Just 9 smackeroos right here.

I have a small batch up right now and will add more prints soon after I clear up custom orders that crept in during my hols. Promise.

Late PS: I totally forgot to say Happy 4th of July to my American friends! I'm so so so sorry! Hope you guys had a wonderful long weekend!

Back

I'm back! Not sure if the exclamation is appropriate but I'm politically incorrectly kinda happy to be back. Maybe the DSL line has something to do with it. My neighbors are still obnoxious though. I do miss DH and Sydney loads but somehow each time we leave each other, we leave no room for grieving. Jumping right back to work kinda makes the time go faster and perhaps with such thoughts in mind, we'd see each other soon. The adorable little bear up there? It was a Christmas pressie a couple of years ago when I realised we'd have to live apart. She plays a little message each time her tum is pressed. She's my placebo. Sitting next to her are a pile of Merino yarns. It has almost all been knitted into a huge queen size blanket by now. I'll need more from the store to actually make it queen sized. DH is helping with that.

I'm still pretty much in a lull right now. Qantas had a terrible delay and their service was less than satisfactory. I guess I'll leave out gruesome details. Let's just say that the nice lady who sat beside me would be writing to them. *yikes*

Anyhoo, I've just listed all the varieties of the cube wallets in the store! Shipping is obviously much lower and with registration as well. We can all breathe a little easier. LOL What are you waiting for! Go shop! ;+)