Birthday

Yeap, today's my birthday. It seems like I'm edging into an interesting chapter in my life. I don't feel excited about my birthday like I used to. I would jump around, tell everyone its my day and make them say happy birthday. Afterall its the only day I could make everyone do that. Apparently at this time, everything sorta feels bland and exhausting. I know for every passing year, or even day, that I'm closing in on real adulthood - the big 3-0. To me, 30 marks adulthood. When I really have to get serious, don boring suits and get a hellish job where I hide behind mounts of paperwork and don't see the light of day. I'm not sure I look forward to that but maybe the money for a nice apartment and car. Its amazing how much people would go thru for a lifestyle. I do want a life, crave for one, but really unsure if I wanna go to that much trouble. And in fact, would I enjoy it after all that staring at the computer & dealing with ofice politics? Not to mention my terrible phobia of commitment to a job (or anything else for that matter!). I thrive too much on change.

Anyways, its been a really really nice weekend. I had to be in school for most of yesterday for class & projectwork but AJ took me to a concert at The Esplanade. I used to be a regular concert goer but somehow had lost that for sometime. The last time I was there was for The Phantom of The Opera last year. I got kick ass seats for that and it was a great show. We watched A Time To Dance, where the adorable Rossen Milanov was the conductor and the amazing Arabella Steinbacher was the solo vionlist for the second piece, Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46 by Max Bruch. Itw as walking thru Scottish fields! She has amazing control over her violin and can do the most amazing things! But nothing beats watching Rachmaninov live. I didn't quite realise it but I was watching the last composition of Sergei. I personally love Rachmaninov coz its NEVER boring listening to his music. Every piece is like a movie by itself. All the dynamic, dramatic movements....timpanis (!!), very very old world Russian village. I can just feel like I was walking through one and actually experience the life as if he described in his music. Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 is an amazing composition. I can feel his exasperation, his moans & groans, the anger, and mostly his resignation. Its amazing just to watch the music come alive. Its truly one of Rachmaninov's best, considering its his last. I love Rach 2, especially when played by Lang Lang. :+)

Oh but not forgetting to thank dear CT for the wonderful surprise! She gave me a beautiful tea for one set. A really adorable vintage-y country-esque teapot & mug set by Ginger Snaps, Decole! And a beautiful tin of Earl Gray tea from Harrods! I'll picture them a bit later coz I have trouble believing I own the tea set! LOL She's such an amazing person & friend, and for the success of florspace, I have to thank her profusely & publicly! *hugs to CT!*

Oh and of course, DH. I told him not to send anything coz the shipping is pretty nuts from Australia but he did anyways! I just opened the box and its a bit like Christmas morning! He actually found the original M*A*S*H, The Recovery Collection, bought it and sent it here! Goodness me! Tough to believe my eyes so I have it right on my desk, at least for a while! I have been yearning for this set for ages and always panicked when it disappears. Its so hard to find and the last time I looked, only one store in Sydney had it. Not sure how he found it but hoooray for DH! We have the most amazing DVD collection and its growing in numbers all the time! Oh of course, he couldn't help buying Dora. I'm not sure why but he thinks she looks like me. *roll eyes* I don't like her very much though. I much perfer Lilo (& her pet Stitch just in case you were thinking of LindsayL hehe) if I had to pick but oh well. So there, its the birthday girl sitting right up there, excited about all the wonderful surprises she's been getting these days!

And to everyone who's remembered me and have sent their greetings, electronically & via text messages, huge thanks to you guys! I feel all sweet now! *___*

EDIT
ps: I'm only 28 this year. 2 more years for fun! yaaaay! Jek, I like your thinking. ;+)

Let's get naked....

How many of you guys actually recycle the plastic baggies I send out? Be honest! Actually, its prolly easier said than done! Reuse it my friends. Store beads, buttons & whatnots. Don't be a tosser! Tough, but it'll get easier, you'll see!

Its my birthday soon and I've been dying to lose the professional-looking plastic wrappings for the purses in my store, at least for a while! I send out all purses wrapped nicely in resealable plastic bags so they would look good, repel impending dirt & would make great gifts. But its time to lose the bags for the greater good! Think about it! No bags to recycle, no hassle, no guilt and if you're wrapping them as gifts anyhoo, it'll be perfect naked! Or even better, some of my dear people actually use the purses as the wrapping themselves! Put something nice in it and off you go! Purses will come semi-wrapped in clean & available recycled paper, tied with a twine.

Op to have your purses sent without the plastic wrappings and you get 2 bucks off each purse! That means, MiniZs are $5 and MiniBs are $7! Tell me to lose the bags in the "notes to seller" section when you order at etsy. Stock up for gifts and Christmas!

If you want to "naked" any other of my purses, convo me and I'll work out a better deal for you! ;+)

Let's get naked!

(The whole naked idea is borrowed from a dear friend/fellow etsyer/talented girl, Erin @ naiad.etsy.com Do hop on over for great body products!)

Festival!

Happy Mooncake/Lantern/Mid-Autumn Festival everyone! ;+)

Huggable Hobos

"Hi! My name is Soda. I was born on a hot summer day when my creator was dreaming of lime sorbets and the deep blue sea and clear skies of californian beaches!"

Law mid-term is over, bit of window here. Time to talk about the huggable hobos! I love love love hobos! I'm not sure when it started. Hmm....I think it was a couple of years ago? Gucci launched their big and functional horsebit hobos, the one with the tooth/leather rope handle thingy? Jessica Simpson was carrying still with Nick and was lugging a caramel version all over town together with a string of other celebs. Obviously I had trouble paying for something like that, not to mention I was never the Gucci fan. I loved the rich caramel buttery leather but I keep having the PETA voice in my head so I opted for a faux leather version for uni. It went perfectly with anything, I mean ANYTHING! I lugged it in wide-legged tailored pant, denim, even to the beach and it still looked fab every step of the way. The ease of the single handle and fuss-free design made it literally my everyday bag. Just lug and go, my friends would tout.

So there, couple of years later, not to match Gucci or Bottega or anyone else, I made my own. Fabric choice is almost my first priority. I didn't want the hobo to be too structured coz, hell, its a hobo! But but but, I still wanted some sort of form. It needed to be functional yet decent looking at the same time. I went straight for home dec weight canvas. It was the only way to go without the lumpyness of thin cotton or the stiffness of interfacings. To double the fun, and to further maintain the puffy-semi-structured-flowy look, I took the fabric inside as well. The opening of the hobo is about 13-14 inches, big enough to dump things in, but small enough to prevent naughty hands from dipping into your hobo pot. All in all, I could make it reversible! How cool to have the versatility of 2 bags in one! Woo-hoo I thought that hot summer day, Bingo! Naturally the double pleat is to add puff and space for your stuff. The size was made to fit anyone. Its puffy and cute on smaller gals but not ridiculously tiny on my big gals. The wide 4 layer strap is comfy and sturdy on the shoulders. Added a D-ring on the side, so the gals who love to hang something "you" on your bag, go ahead and make it yours! I was ready to take my hobo out! Not sure if its a good thing, coz I came home with several orders for it. :P More work for us! But I feel so happy that you guys find joy in my stuff! Its the greatest payback, ever!

So yeah, thats my little hobo story. Oh wait! The little hobo! LOL I almost forgot about MiniHobo. I've been reading too many bag in bag stories. Hey, we all want more bang for our buck! MiniHobo is perfect for your little girl, or its the perfect cutie for your camera or essentially tinier things that might get lost in the Big mama. ;+) She's reversible too! Yaaaay!

I know Soda's bit summery, but I had to do it! The colors was just begging me to. hehe Anyhoo, Diablo is a real bad ass and Mod Blobs had been SO popular I got orders to fill! I'm still a little weirded out by that. Hm. So yeah, go check them out and I've got a whole pile of fall fabrics just waiting to be turned into Huggable Hobos!

ps: They're Huggable Hobos because if you put something soft in them, they turn into a comforting pillow. Seriously!

White rose

white rose
Originally uploaded by FotoCath.

Its been quite a weekend. Some one in my extended family has passed on. My cousin's father to be exact. At about 80, the poor man had lung cancer. A month or 2 ago, the same cousin's wife's father passed on. He was my uncle. Its been really difficult for the family to deal with 2 beloved fathers passing on in the same year. My thoughts goes out to them at this difficult time.

I will resume my usual sewing duties this week amongst school stuff. (Took bit of time today to run errands too.)

Looks like Fall....

The beginnings of our Fall Collection. Besides these long awaited additions to the traditional Japanese section to our little store, more things are coming! Apologies to the lovely peeps whos been waiting for these. I'm kinda picky about fabrics and without physically being in Japan, these are my personal selections. I'm particularly in love with the oat background with weeping willow like sakura blooms on it. It looks amazing in person, so understatedly chic and subtle. I know, kinda different from my usual loudly adorable prints! Yeah, we're going subtle for fall.

But, I had to add some cuteness, like the puffy mums (yummo-ly cute!), Luckyness with cute little lucky objects on soft pink & cute hopping bunnies amongst more blooms! Something for everyone there, I hope!

Psst.....I've just overspent on beautiful fall fabrics, expect orange, mustard, olives, blues, blacks and grays on everyday versatile bags! Coming, coming, coming....

Some not so nice updates in my life. I've landed in a big pile of crap, assignments half done because of incompetent & lazy people (deadline is here!), missed test (byebye 10%! yikes.), & a big law test on Saturday. Hm, I realise that when I my deadlines loom, the more I wanna run away from and just make stuff in my own la-la land. I have to learn to like my course more. Seriously. Maybe even love it. DH says, "you're running a biz and you're doing a biz course. whats the problem?" Yeah, like I really run florspace like a biz! Hmm....time to learn to be shrewed & calculative? Believe me, how I tried! Not happening.... :P Well, its not a good week, but I'm keeping myself happy by looking at my pile of fall fabrics & sniffing Erin's Sugar scrubs (We have the same weird tendencies!) Oh, hot Earl Grey tea keeps me happy too.

Anyhoo, isn't fall a great season? The time where it isn't too cold that we have to be wrapped up in a unglam bun, isn't too hot that we feel too exposed in bikinis & drinking one too many Daiquiris. When I was in Sydney, fall was my absolute favorite season. I almost treated every beautiful fall day as if it was my last, drinking alfresco, chatting with great friends at cafes til the cows come home, general gallavanting & frolicking in the golden leaves. Everything was bathed in this beautiful orange, especially during sunsets & sunrises! I do love the bare branches in winter but that was when life was great with DH around, that I had the energy to feel gray but not really just plain sad like now. Then again, though there's really hardly any fall to speak of here, I intend to just imagine it!

Still tough to keep my hands off the fabrics! *slaps naughty hands*

Life....or death.

My mind is tussled like the noodles in the teacup.

I choose life. And I choose to surround myself with pleasant things, i.e. people who appreciate what I do. I'm sorry but I gotta say this outright, no custom orders if you're fussy. I'm serious. Fussy Singaporeans, PLEASE stay away. I said my peace. (If you think I'm being nasty, check out ebay singapore, there are plenty of auctions saying exactly what I just said.) Therefore, let me preface by saying, I will not entertain emails/convos like, "can give discount a-not?", "gimmie your best price", "show me everything, i wanna choose the best one" etc. This is not pasar malam for god's sake. Its like scratching on the blackboard to me to hear these things, both insulting and unecessary.

I'm a stuff designer. I make stuff, to my whims, fancies, dreams and desires. I make things to enrich someone's life, to make someone happy. If I have to submit to your ever-changing undecidedness whims, perhaps you should do it yourself. I can't work like this. I have plenty of life on my plate, loads of stuff to do, school and stuff designs to dream about. I have to stop pleasing everyone with requested low prices, great fabrics and lots of work on the bags. Its driving me nuts trying to make everyone happy.

I'm actually really quite free for negotiation on custom orders, and are always up for a challenge when someone BYO fabric or need something I haven't done before. I try my best to perfect something before it goes out. If I feel guilty about sending out something, it'll be so hard to sleep at night. Besides, I never charge before the final product gets ok-ed. I'm still mind-boggled about how much nicer I can be without killing myself.

That said, I'm so VERY grateful for the small bunch of people who make straightforward requests like, I want a bag in this print. See what happens, or something like that. People who know what they want, know the prices to expect (or ask politely!) and send back appreciative messages when they see the final product and, even when I botched up their orders and made something a bit different (you know who you are!).

I thank these wonderful peeps for their patience, their ability to give me space to create, their belief in me that I can make something.


(sorry guys, bit of lamentation there. its been a long week and its prolly gonna get longer with all the tests and assignments! yikes.)

edit: woo-hoo! i feel better after all that lamentations. thanks for listening! (if you are, hehe)

2 years

Its been 2 years and a couple of days. This review is long overdue! Its been a busy time, putting out yummy things for you wonderful people who love us so much and tell us so! I should stop the long ass appreciation speech and just say, you people are everything to us, without you all, we're nothing, literally. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

When I set out for florspace, I really was at the breaking point, fiddling with store-bought bags that didn't really get me anywhere. Like clothes, shoes and everything else, there was always something so wrong with the bags in stores. By 'bags in stores' I really mean the mass-produced kinds. With little income to spare for Chloes and Vuittons and Kate Spades, I have to look at the more affordable range on the floor. I've been a bag lady all my life. When I go to a store, unconsciously, I'll end up looking at bags. Still not sure why, but somehow I'd always end up scrutinizing one or maybe, if I get lucky, lugging one home too! The exhilaration of bagging a new bag is just pure joy. That is until, said bag, has a problem. Size, color, texture, style, durability, utility & sometimes, even overusage disintegration and/or the smell of "vegan" leather can be so 'wrong' that it has to be stuffed into the back of the wardrobe. I feel bad, for the earth really, going thru bag after bag, purse after purse for years and years with the buy-and-throw attitude rolling on faster and faster, more and more. It got worse in the recent years when mass-produced bags started flooding the market from China. I was very pissed when the fakes started flooding in. I have the utmost respect for most designers and feel absolutely disgusted when their designs are simply stolen, copied and sold as if it was the most natural thing in the world. There was even a time when I spend spotting fakes in the street for the sake of it, I still do it now. I even reported a lot of listings on ebay because they're hawking fake bags. Whats the difference between selling a fake purse on ebay and stealing? With imminent depressing factors in the world, I decided I couldn't take it no more one day and decided to make my own bags for myself. Hell, if I'm so pissed with what's available, I should do something about it. After months of trial, florspace was born, as a way to share and as a means to feed myself coz I was sick of the corporate life about that time as well.

And yes, like every other business, we do have ugly episodes. Even though florspace was born to share the love for quality handmade things, like it always should have been, it is definitely tough to please everyone. Its easy to say, I can't please everyone anyways, but difficult to say when to draw the line, which comments are hitting below the belt. We are customers ourselves at some point, everyone is, and recognizing the difficulties in business, we try our best to play nice. It can be taken for granted and thats where things can start to get messy. Over the internet, over emails, words are words. Its dangerous, I think, coz ever so often, it gets misinterpreted. I'm so lucky to have DH who is a wordy expert, a social discourse linguist who deciphers my misconceptions and misinterpretations. I'm lucky to say its still pretty unusual, so I pray it stays that way. Still people can sometimes be annoying, intentional or not, I don't really have an idea. But I do have a natural tendency to make peace most of the time. Everytime an episode arises, I re-read wonderful things so many other people have said and feel better. Its still funny how one bad review can really just cancel out all the good things that have been said.

On business opportunities, we did receive quite a number of requests recently. Due to manpower shortage, the fear of becoming yet another mass production corporation & the desire to keep things smaller, more exclusive and of a higher quality, we've decided not to go anywhere yet. We're open for wholesale orders, not consignment because of a pretty bad experience. Hmm. I'll be happy to work for collaborations too! (silkscreen people, are you hearing this? ;+)

In the next years to come (I hope!), I do wanna strive so much to make better & yummier things, search the world for more yummy fabrics (another japan trip next year!), procrastinate less and take life's lemons and make them into Spanish Fly. Of course, spread the general niceness. ;+)

Hmm.....I need cake & bubbly.

Etsy Finds

Find of the day! Blazingly beautiful Orange Mid-Century coffee/tea set. I really, really want this so bad for myself but I already bought one sometime ago and DH says we're not a warehouse, so thou shalt not have repeats. Damn. From vintagedame, a steal at $32. I wished the cups come with, even though I'm not into matchy-matchy.



I've also been in love with this plate. Pity its ceramic, would be nuts to ship. And my budget's bit bad for scoured treasures. Scandinavian/Danish style. Details of this kind would be tough to unearth these days. I think it'll be perfect on the kitchen wall. From domestikate, $15.



I definitely need this one. Why the hell am I in the far east?! I could have a mid-century home by now. Double damn. A total beaut, not 50-yr-ole musty, she's hand-built by bladmanmod. Beautiful asymmetrical angles, pin legs, cute little corner stowaway! At $350, she's an incredible steal. Try looking for a piece on ebay (like this credenza), it'll hit you way more that that. Blow up the pictures at the listing and check out the knob. Swanky! Now all we need is a good book and a good drink. That said, baldmanmod has wonderful things in his shop plus his avatar is adorable!

Updates - restlessness and boredom

I gotta admit sometime that I'm getting it again. IT being the restlessness, the boredom, the quarter-life crisis feeling. I read that book a couple of years ago and shelved it coz I wasn't quite sure what the book was about. The contents are obviously already fuzzy in my brain right now, but I think I'm starting to feel for the people who accounted for the "not sure what to do" phase. I'm pretty sure what I want in life but because its a bitch and a lot of gruel getting there, I always get bored and restless every 2 years into something. And when something positive happens after 2 years, I diss it and unconsiously try to sabotage my own potential because I get worried about getting there. I am quite a commitment phobe. Its funny to recognize this still. I think the most successful "long-term-relationship" I have with anything is with DH (my education is not counted coz I keep trying to run away from it). But then a crazy amount of things happened between us during this decade or so, and I think I'm still standing on the line and constantly worry about sabotaging myself. Shhh. Its most prolly a 2-year-itch, a perpetual need to shake things up every 2 years. Hmm.

Some updates.

1) I just got a gym membership at California Fitness. Seems like a nice place with generally nice bunch of people. The classes are back-breaking, but considering my popcorn & reeces pieces/nutella spread lifestyle in sydney, I shouldn't complain but just do it for now. My limbs are aching as we speak but I'm determined to make the most out of my membership even if it kills me.

2) Whining. I'm whining again, especially to my friends. I do that when I'm bored and de-motivated. And even more so when people are asking a lot out of me. Assignments, projects and tests are slowly but surely creeping up on me and this is definitely adding up to the stress level. My hair hurts and I complain, a lot. (Sorry TC.)



3) Justin Timberlake (above. my fingers were playing shadow there). I know, I know. Its 2 years old and I'm slow to discover. Hey, gimme a break. I spend 27 hours thinking about bags a day. I started listening to my love a while back and had to come back to it. I'm not sure why but there's something to the combination of Timbaland and Timberlake. At this point, I have to say that I have no interest whatsoever in their privates lives so telling me Timbaland sleeps with Nelly Furtado isn't going to stop me from listening to Promiscuous for the millionth time. *eyeball roll* I can go on and on about his album but I'm putting Until the end of time, What goes around, My love and Apologize (One Republic & Timbaland from his album, Shock Value) on replay a lot. At night before I doze, I like all over again from JT. The hiphop/black/acid tunes really get to me. I'm a mix gal. But I have a preference for stuff by blacks. They are really more honest about life and JT is one exception. Maybe coz he worked with SD? DH still won't shave his head yet but I won't stop trying to ask. LOL The songs' MTVs are really quite mesmerizing too. Can't believe I used to diss JT because he was from N'Sync. Jez.

4) I'm also eating more amongst making stuff. I'm loving the popcorn and frozen yogurt (up there). Maybe the gym thing will balance it out. Phew.

Hope you guys are holding out well.

Friday

Staying in on Friday after a postal run and stealing a bite at the ice-cream stand. That chunk of chocolate was yummo. Of course I had 15 minutes of breather with some cold Oolong and the new Timbaland cd And the new IKEA catalogue before DH called with requests for new soaps. Naiad is having a naked soap sale and I gotta say her soaps are plenty luxurious for your skin! Go get some people.

And then it was pretty much work thereafter. Click, click, click, clickety, click.

There's something about Timbaland and Timberlake. Those 2 people make one of the greatest music I've ever listened to. And yes, I buy cds. I'm old-fashioned and I love album art. Where's the love in downloading mp3s dude?

Off to bed. Have to discuss some project stuff with the dudes tomorrow.

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!