We'd hardly have solid colored MiniZs at our shoppe coz we thought you guys might find it boring. But its so hard not to cut up these super cute felt for a MiniZ! Might have something to do with the thickness of felt that makes the purse slightly pouffy. I think they turn out pretty cute!
The great thing is that they'll be perfect for your gadgets since the felt protects them.
I'd borrow dad's Cybershot for these pictures, obviously I'm using mine. ;+) I've been using Cybershot compacts for about 2 decades now and they work amazing. Even withstands my occasional clumsiness! The compact cameras would fit in these miniZs nice & snug! Just unzip and pop them out for a quick snap! No more boring black cases!
See them right here!
@Marekita tweeted about the cute postcards that were included in her package from us! Its so sweet that she frames them up! Thanks girl! We do still have a couple of them, usually included with your orders of 2 MiniZs and above! I secretly love to squeeze out bits of time to make postcards....shhh! I love them! If you get some from us, do share! ;+)
The cute Lemon stripes tote has also been featured in this lovely etsy Treasury full of lovely yellow by Amy of northernroots. Thanks Amy!
We've also got really lovely feedbacks from our customers at etsy! I feel so loved these days! :D
They say its spring! I know quite a lot of you guys are snowed in and looking earnestly at the sky, hoping the sun would shine soon (you twitter peeps!). I admit I don't really know how that really feels like as I spend more than 2 decades in a mid-summer all year round type country. It ranges from ridiculously humid & splashing wet to monstrously sauna-like warmth. I used to yearn for cold weather and curse myself for having been born here in Singapore. The thing about summer is that clothes get boring and well, you don't get to 'cover-up'. When I went over to Sydney, it was bliss for half a decade. I shelled out for hand knit baby merino jumpers (sweaters), trench coats, pea jackets & all kinds of booties. I loved the layering effect a lot. Obviously, I got a little loose-y with the snacks. Now that I've been back here for a while, I've sort of gotten used to the obnoxious heat since its much easier to workout outdoors without having to spend too much time warming-up & gasping for air in the cold. Clothes do get boring (tees, shorts, havaianas), but its easier albeit unforgiving to watch the changes, so no more piling on snacks. :P
I hope it gets better for you guys who are battling/hating the cold. Stay close to the fireplace/heater! And yes, spring is here! Still hoping that someday I'll get to sit beneath a sakura tree and watch the flowers fall around me. I gotta settle for sakura prints for now. If you love them too, do check out the cherry blossoms MiniZs in store! The prints are amazing, better yet, printed on dobby weave cotton which gives a beautiful texture & feel.
Happy spring everyone!
So I've finished one accounting theory case study paper. The whole thing left me feeling more loathing of the finance and economics driven world more than ever. Its all about who owns the most cash gets the most say. Where's the love dude?
I shall not bore you guys with the gory details. I went straight out with my girlfriends for dinner after I sent in the paper, in the pouring rain no less. It was dramatic! I was glad to rid of some of the semester's work. there will be one more Audit report due in 2 weeks and then exams at the end of April. But all that aside, I'm seriously dying to crawl back to my drawing table & sewing machine to make stuff! Its weird but creating stuff, despite the sweat & ouchies, is really the only thing that takes me away from it all. My current fav is the Snaps wristlet purse. They are so so so cute to behold! Of course, and having great times with friends. But, I simply must learn to manage time between studies & making stuff. :P
What do you do to wash yourself off from cruelty of the world? ;+)
I looked in my closet and there was nothing green! 'Cept for an old grass green tank & a flutter cami, I was out of cute green! Nothing else to do but to whip one up. I didn't want to get pinched on St. Paddy's Day. LOL Besides, I want to fit in when I meet a Leprechaun. ;+)
The design is relatively similar to the Babydoll dress I made earlier.
The top portion is from an old navy tee, cut about 6" across from the bottom. It depends on how "thick" you want the top panel to be. I find 6" works for me.
I used cotton gingham for the bottom panel. You'll need your hip measurements, add 5" for the gathering effect & 1" for seam allowance. In my case, I cut out one long rectangle and stitch up only one side, which sits on the center back. You can choose to cute 2 rectangles & stitch up both sides. Fold up 1/2" twice of the bottom raw seam & sew across. You can choose to add ruffles if you like. I think I might do that later. ;+)
My pockets are about 7" square. If you have leftover from your tee, cut 2" strips & add them to the top of the pocket for interest. I added some cotton lace as well. To place the pockets, place your rectangle tube flat out. Measure 1.5" from side and bottom & pin your left pocket on for sewing. Do the same for the right one.
The tough part is to fix the top & bottom panel plus the elastic all together. You'll need a piece of elastic that will sit comfy around your under bust & stitch the ends together first. I find that the elastic stretches out a little after sewing so I usually make sure its a bit snug on the under-bust, not tight though. Put the top panel into the bottom panel, good sides together. Find the center of each section, pin the top & panel bottom together.
When you've pinned at least 8 sides, use the same method, add the elastic on. This stage can be trying & annoying, but keep going knowing your top will be cute! Have a drink or take a BREAK if you need!
When you're all done pinning, go to your sewing machine, pick the longest stitch, start at the side seam. Stretch both front & back while sewing. Go slow. I went 2 rounds to make sure everything is nice and tight. Flip it around, you're almost done!
If you like to have shoulder straps, cut 13" by 8" for 2 strips, fold lengthwise, good sides together, sew up the sides, flip it inside out and iron flat. Measure your favorite top's shoulder straps if you don't know how long it should be. You can choose to add ruffles to the sides or add lace, ribbons, etc. Its good to wear your top at this time and find out where you want your strap to sit. mine was 3.5" from the side. For the back placement, you want to place it a little angled and inner than the front placement. This will ensure the strap sits nicely on your shoulders.
You're almost done here! I added small white buttons for fun but you can do anything else! ;+) I'm already thinking of doing yellow summer tops & of course, pink ones! :D
Find green things in our shoppe, tell us happy st patricks day at checkout & you get 20% off!
Till friday only! :D
Happy St. Patrick's Day & remember, those who don't wear green, gets pinched! ;+)
I got so excited about this little collection I had to shoot a couple more vanity shots just because! LOL A little story/inspiration to tell about these new totes.....
Well, as you may have already known, I journeyed to Bangkok, Thailand & back. It was such a wonderful flurry of sights, food and shopping, the only desire I had was to make the trip last. Even under the scorching sun during the weekend markets, I had close to no complaints I swear. Usually I'd curse & rant til the sun sets or til I'm back in the protective shield of some place with AC. Obviously the last thing on my mind was appearance. I know, I know, appearance is everything, its the first thing someone sees you as! But hell, sometimes we're so frustrated with the bazillion things we have to do! Hence the stripped-bare simplicity of this collection.
I wanted something that would hold a lot of our necessities, including a lot of supposedly uncalled for items we may or may not want the world to know! These totes will do their job functionally. Open it wide to hold your mags, papers, novels, bottles of water, fold umbrella, wallet, cosmetic, you kiddo's toys, bottles & towels etc. The best thing is that you can zip it all up and no one will be allowed to peek in nor steal your latest purse sitting right on top while you're shopping. Which makes it the best tote for travel! No more stuff falling out when you put this baby in the overhead compartment! No worries about your appearance either coz these grab n go vegan leather handles will last! The simple, chic prints will take you anywhere. Plus the little details will be such eye-candy!
All you need now is a little imagination & a little getaway!
Come away with me!
Spent last Sunday shopping for supplies & packing up gifties for lovely florspace customers. I'm not sure why but the gifting process is quite therapeutic for me. I think its because of the simple act of giving. Also, I imagine the happy faces of the recipient when they open up our packages. Recently, the lovely emails we'd receive is really humbling! They really make our days so much brighter, and makes us wanna do more too! Thank you so much for taking time to write us!
We're also continuing the yummy fruit candy from Japan coz you guys seem to love them! Yeap, we don't ever stinge on quality coz its the only thing that matters to us in this awful profit-driven world, which we're pretty tired of! So everyone gets a good shopping experience!
Hope you guys had a good weekend too!
I had these internal flex frame snaps for a little while now. Its tucked away with the other hardware. Like someday, I'm gonna have enough time to actually use up all of them. Its always so hard to resist these amazing bag-ware that promises a fressh new perspective to purses which I am forever looking for. Obviously, these snaps were one of the good ones, thicker metal, wider frame. I'd always do a ton of research before settling in for something, to make sure its the good stuff! It took me a while to figure out a size that would be visually pleasing yet super functional, as per our philosophy for almost 4 years now. Where has the time gone?!
I decided that it has to be puffy to be cute & accomodating. The 2" wide bottom in this design really adds to the holding power of this thing. Currently, the one above holds my keys, lippy, mints, usb, hair clips with space to spare. I tried putting a pair of clean rolled up socks and it gladly fit in! I think that it really cute-ify my purse coz there's this puffy thing inside everytime I open my tote. I have had to fend off grabby hands on 2 occasions when I brought it to class. You know who you are! LOL
Okay, so I thought it would be unfair if I'd talk to the heavens about the new puffy-snap-purse thingy without offering one in the shoppe. Strawberry snaps turned out SO darn cute, its tough to let her go actually! The polkadots felt make her look like a furry strawberry you just wanna eat up! Ok, I won't but let's see who's gonna pick her up & have a new candy hanging from her wrist! I'm planning for a lemon & blueberry Snaps, right after the Cruise totes. Keep your eyes peeled then!
Man, the MiniZ restocks are killing us! But good news for you guys! They're perfect for organizing your tote!
Obviously I was gonna whine. About the unforgiving nature of cellulite, white hair and the damn rush of time. Not that we really can do anything about the last one. My trip to Bangkok has been wonderful, loads of family time, culture, nice people, food and shopping. So good was the little trip that the withdrawal hasn't quite worn off. When I got back, the joy of exploration was suddenly removed. My emotional state plummeted, so low that I've quite lost the ability to motivate myself into doing things that I love. It became a "have to do" and I've always hated that. I think I've got the ups and downs of a bad behaving artist. Hence the excuse for not writing. ;+)
It has since gotten a little better as the memories of the trip wears off though I know school work is gonna tie my hands up again as the papers are due, very soon indeed and while we busy ourselves with the restocks of over 20 very popular & long-awaited MiniZs, we're also putting up our Cruise 2010 collection. I pray school isn't gonna kick my ass too hard this time. I've got one more semester to go after this one and I'm done. DH is still busy with finishing his phd paper and I miss him & Sydney terribly. Its funny but the only solace is to experiment with new recipes at home with mom. Today we created veggie mini Okonomiyaki. It was pretty good! I'll put up the recipe soon. Promise.
And I'm back to whining about how can I beg for more time to do everything and still actually have a life, visit museums, go to my fa cafe without looking at the time & browsing at bookstores. Hell, I actually miss my bed! How do you guys chill in this day & age?
