Returning to my first love...

Almost 4 years ago as I was frustrated with the rat race, I started making purse out of the need to go back to something wholesome I could just do and enjoy. I was already knitting and crocheting, but it wasn't quite as satisfying. I was actually doing well in the rat race, my bosses liked me because I work hard & fast but it wasn't fulfilling at all not to mention I wasn't one to wake up darn early and brave the morning rush hour before breakfast & coffee. I was drained. Fast forward, I'm a lot happier pottering around my fabrics, dreaming & making things! But like everything else, I got bored...again. Its a strange feeling but when I got news that this particular print was available in a small production again, I was suddenly awaken again! It prolly sounds ridiculous to everyone reading but this ONE piece of fat quarter that landed in my hands 4 years ago single-handedly drove me out of the rat race and back to my dream land! I had searched endlessly for weeks, I remembered to no avail because by the time I chanced upon this print, it was long out of production. I don't know why but the retro-cuteness had become my classic! Something just clicked in me. I had only one amazing fat quarter of fabric but I shared anyway. Oh how I miss that tote! It might be time to make another! :D



So we wasted no time in acquiring another limited amount of this print, just out of love for these amazing mushrooms! Its been such a tumbling year of ups and downs so we're starting 2010 rekindling our love for the classic and the simplicity of life and of course, loads of mushrooms and joy!

The set of 5 very limited purses are available in our shoppe. Be quick.

We're in the midst of more RED sets to come! In time for the Lunar new year & Valentine's day. Got a request? Send it in to us, soon. :+)

Fawn of Mushrooms

By now, you guys'll prolly know my fondness for mushrooms. I love them to bits, eat them, stare at them, make them, play with them... It is only a matter of time before they mushroom out into totes again. One of my fondest memories of my first mushroom totes were of this one. How happy was I to find that fabric! Even today as I unearth another out-of-this-world-cute mushroom print is sure to make me grin and squeal! This print is particularly special as it incorporates another fav character - the fawn, aka deer, aka doe...etc. I loved Deery Lou when Sanrio came up with it eons back. It evokes memories of beautiful secret woodlands, or the garden of Eden, with apple trees & honey bees, elves and pixies having a cuppa on stumps. Oh yes, I should prolly mention that I grew up with fairy tales, Alice in Wonderland & Enid Blyton. :+)

Pair this etereally adorable print with a slightly more unexpected polkadotted sky blue (usually it'll be red!) as I was really thinking of well, the powder blue skies with puffy clouds in that secret garden! All thats left is a rainbow and maybe a cute leprechaun before its pure magic!

Let's have tea in the secret garden here! ;+)

Mighty Mushroom Tote set - oopsy!

This set is so seriously adorable, we totally forgot it was PINK! So we've just put it on the Pink Spring SALE list, 20% off, at just $55.20 for the cuteness!

Boy am I getting old. Much thanks to my dear assistant who pointed out, "Isn't Mighty Mushroom in pink?" LOL Feel free to holla if I'm wall-eyed again. ;+)

Just a bit more details on it. I bagged this print all the way from Japan, from a really cramped fabric store and woulda missed it if it didn't winked at me from some dark corner! I love it loads but it wouldn't turn out as great in a larger tote, read* not as cute! Its a smidge shorter on the top length coz I angled in the sides, to give it a really cutely boxy look, which fits in with the adorable scalloped lace I had to include! I'm known to hoard cotton woven laces coz I think they're simply amazing work! To girly-fy the whole thing, I had to squeeze in a tied lace ribbon!

Dang, I want one! Get it here!

Shinzi Katoh's Mushroom & other hobo stories

Its exceedingly difficult for me to stop thinking about mushrooms, big and small, cute or classy. Its 3am here and I'm having trouble sleeping. This hobo keeps staring at me in the face. I hop on over to blogger and start to write....

I have a long standing love with Shinzi Katoh, ever since the Branche print came out, I'm floored. I rushed to grab one of his shorty totes in the Branche print. Sadly, it wasn't to my expectations as the material was a tad lumpy and the construction was a little shoddy. Was it my tote, I wondered. I never did quite use it. It sits in my wardrobe with my collection of not-quite-right bags. How many of us have that problem already? Strangely, my shoes are getting plenty of action. As I get fitter from my gym classes, my heels got higher. I even got semi-drunk on Moet during Sunday night's uncle's 65th birthday dinner. How can I refuse my dear uncle? The Moet was definitely the cherry on top of the ridiculously yummy fudge cake. I have a new addiction because of that. But I digress!

So how did panel hobos come about? 4 scores & 7 years ago(nah, not that long!), I remembered I had a piece of the Safari Dream print fabric lying around. Not big enough for a tote, not right enough for a wallet or anything else. I wanted to do something that would efficiently use the entire piece without wastage. I did a bit of shifting with fabrics and came up with the panel hobo. One of my biggest customer had to have it when shown the picture & snapped it up without waiting for it to run live on etsy. I had the same piece of fabric in about the same size for the Shinzi Katoh prints and thought I could do the same thing coz I seriously loved the panel look. It took some practice to get it perfect & as I worked on it, I fell in love with it and started working on a more of it. A bunch of wonderful people felt the same and couldn't resist them! I was more than happy to hear wonderful things they had to say about the reversibility and the cuteness. Lucky that I had the canvas red gingham on hand for Mushroom & Stroll. They work beautifully together & I'm always over the moon when I see them click like magic.

Of course, people in florspace have a weird tendency to love mushrooms. We eat them, think about them, make them and love them. I think they're awesome! Maybe one day they'll talk!

Mushroom Magic! Yaaaay!

Red & oh-so-brighty
White & very spotty
Staring at me
innocently naughty

Grown in spurts
He is stumpy, she is mighty
They are tall
All so spotty

Watch the feet!
Watch those hands!
I'm a cutie
but not for tummy

The winds gently breeze
Never shy nor lethargic
swaying in the fields of green
Mushroom magic!

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. :+)

More mush for the everyday rush

I got a problem! I'm ridiculously addicted to these retro mushrooms and I've got no way of getting rid of them! In fact, I'm down with the retro bug and it looks permanent! Help!

LOL If um, you happen to be in my boat, come join the retro side. Everything's so beautiful, colorful and did I mention the possibilities are endless? The age of space travel, lava lamps and Supertramp. Uhhhhhhoooooo~~~



o-k-a-y....its getting a tad ridiculous. Overheard - "Earth to Lyn!" *deep breath* DH was busy the other day ranting on and on about Derrida & Heidigger's ideas (he's doing Phd) and while "listening", I managed to finish these lovely mushie pouches! Yaaaaay! Its a 'brighten up your everyday' pouch! Use it on its own to travel light, or put one in your purse so you'd smile everytime you open up your bag! They all got cute gingham inside and zippers with holes so you know what that means! Customize it & make it yours! Hang that voodoo doll, or the cute plastiques florspace always includes with your orders! Woo hoo!



Did I get your hearts palpitating yet? They've got removable clips! Use them everywhere! One great tip from a friend - put them around the boyfriend/husband's belt loop and put the wrist loop around your wrist and taa daa! He's not going anywhere now, is he? *evil chuckles*

Still at the fabulous price of $22, right here!

Merry Mushie...

Mushie Love is here! I stopped procrastinating for 5 minutes and got these uber cuties up on my shoppe. Do take a peek!

It took me a while to put scissors to these fabrics. Japanese-import fetchingly-retro mushrooms on cotton canvas doesn't sound any sweeter than anything else in the world for me. Or maybe Krispy Kreme? For people who live in Tokyo metro, did you guys see the Krispy Kreme queue outside Times Square?! Jesus. I didn't even bother to take a picture coz my camera won't cover the length of the queue. And there I thought, hey, let's go get a donut. *eye roll*

Back to the mushies....I've been pretty much hit with the 70s wave. I'm always a vintage lover but never thought I'd progress beyond the 60s. Well, maybe as time progresses, the vintage bug moves too? Oh well. I think it sorta started when I saw this pillow. Then California Dreaming started playing in my head, day and night. I started looking for the mv on youtube. The of course, it had to progress onto Surfer Girl because of Cameron Diaz and Demi Moore, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles (I played this video through my exam period) and ultimately stopped at Lennon and Ono. Seems that some people actually hate Lennon but methinks his determination to live life and make changes deserves some respect. It seems that its destined that great people tend to die young, Bruce Lee & Lennon (is it just me or does anyone else think he looks a little like Aidan Shaw when he first appeared in SATC?)for example. Or maybe its only in those ways that etches a deep memory.

Anyhoo....I've also been searching for retro fabrics, of course (^____^) but haven't been able to find anything fetching. If you are reading and do have pieces from Dekoplus or some scandinavian, european fabrics you have available, give me a buzz. Oh, and vintage french linen with red stripes on it as well. ;+)

As if I haven't got enough. Tsk tsk, shame on me!

Hello boys and girls....

Boo. Just wanna say hello before I hit the hay. How were you guys when I was gone? Been good? Santa's watching! Yeap, I'm back, for a couple of hours that is. Some of you guys may have known, I was in Japan for the past 2 weeks or so. Its been quite a great trip, the only problem was um, the lack of money and energy to do more. It was quite an unplanned trip actually. My folks just wanted me to bring them around and act as their translator. Then I figured out that it isn't really that easy. I think the luggage made it worse.



Thats the stack of fabric I manage to grab while given the short time and stress from crowds. Still quite a gigantic stack, I had to let it come by SAL. It fitted just nicely into the largest Yuupakku from Japan Post. 19kg worth and um, yeah, my dad and I carried it to the PO nearby. Looks like I have a bad habit of extra boxes when I make my Japan trips. Still, thats not including more stuff I bought! I'd prolly need a bit of time to sort the stuff and pictures out. Be a little patient with me! Orders are running in so our little factory would be up and running this weekend. Imagine those puffy chimmneys! *toot toot!*



Had this stack before I left. ;+) Its the Mushroom bunch. Coz I really wanna have a mushie kinda Christmas. I miss the warmth of fireplaces, the smell of roast turkey and snow on the window ledges. Nothing says "awwwww~!" more than mushrooms, non?
Coming soon. Will be under the Private Reserve Collection.



Then of course, there's the mini strap pouch. ;+) I like how this picture almost says, "Time's running out! Now mush!" heh heh

Time to get some shut eye. Post office tomorrow.

Crabby & Lumpy

I wanted to eat this just now but realised I haven't taken a pic of it coz it came in a bag from my good friend, Angela. She included a really cute mushie strap. Way to add to my country!



Anyways, here they are. I've been feeling really crabby lately. Screaming at everyone and everything in sight. I thought it was the heat, then I realised its PMS time. LOL Not to be disgusting or anything, but I have irregular flow. So it doesn't really come to town often. Its not a bad thing coz I have one less problem. Only thing is, it gets me worse when it comes. I can handle the pain, but not the crabbyness and lumpyness. Yeah, I created that word, "lumpy". DH said he learnt it from me, so I'm pretty sure I'm the only one. No? ok, whatever. I feel lumpy. There, I said it.

Project people in school have been behaving badly and well, I have been behaving badly by not doing consistent work on it. But hey, there were tests and stuff the last 2 weeks. Now I'm sorta trapped with a little too much to do in between. I'm tired and crabby. The weather was crazy hot at 33degC, the skin on my face is exceedingly angry at the cheap foundation I insisted on using to save cash, loads of stuff to make but not enough time. That pretty much explains why I was whipping out the cookies & cream rocky road bar tonight. I closed all the MSword windows and decided, that was it. I wasn't going to kill myself over a year 1 project.

Then I got sick halfway thru the bar, which is why I'm typing now. LOL
I'm feeling a lot like this guy.

Now I want blue potato chips. Or a burger. Or a potpie. Or 7.

Purple Mushrooms in the Night

One of the most coveted fabrics from Japan!

Little cute mushrooms with little purple dots sprouts in the night. Little yellow squirrels, almost glowing, stands proudly atop intermittent mushrooms.

You won't wanna miss this!

New mag & tote, mushies + Surprises!

Its been a pretty busy week, making stuff, sending them off, going to school, dealing with people.... I didn't do as well as I wanted to for the ecnonomics test last wednesday. I think it was anxiety. I haven't done a test, a real one in a pretty long time. I studied for it, got hints from a student who did the test on Monday, still, it turned out pretty unexpected, like it always does. Nonetheless, I figured out the excel functions for the biz comp class on Thursday which was a great relief coz I was literally panicking wed night. The geeky lecturer had the cheek to tell me that I was "not bad", coz I managed, despite him leaving for a lunch appointment last week than to tell me how to do it when I asked. Jez, no thanks to you, dude. :+(



A shopping mag I bought last week. I thought I had to give up mags when I'm back here but out pops Smitten. I'm not sure if I want a subscription yet since I'm more inclined towards Cotton Time right now. Though I miss the STYD days. Shopping was a sport in Sydney, sniffing out bargains and looking good in school. With my etsy shop and the thrill of making new stuff leaves shopping for clothes out for now. I still shop, albeit for fabrics. And my ever growing collection is not only annoying my mum, its annoying me too - not being able to make as fast and many as I want to as my inspiration comes, not just because of the money, but I get off on sewing. Freaky, I know. Nonetheless, I spent a couple of quite moments in the loo with this mag last weekend. *eye roll* Its not what you think, I spent time in the loo, coz its about the only place when people have to leave you alone, when you're in there.



My new crochet tote, & messy bed behind. Try your bestest to ignore it. Anyways, I'm feeling pretty satisfied. LOL I know, I hardly say that but this time I would. It took me a while to crochet up the mauve part, actually I was doing it in April or May I think. I didn't know what I was going to do with it yet. A couple of days ago I took it out, finished a couple more rows, made it up into a bag, did the cream trimming on top. Just this afternoon, I made the inside and handles and its done! Inside & handles with decorator weight light cream cotton. Handles are extra thick for fun. So, what made me do this? I wanted a knit-esque bag since last year when Ferragamo came up with a fancy-knit version with leather trimmings. Only thing was, I had trouble with the fancy style and finding decent leather trimmings. Wish I was in Japan. Their simple treatment of leather handles are so divine. I'm determined to actually use this tote, and maybe turn a few heads while I'm at it.



My mushies from Barbara arrived. I'm so in love with them, I took a bazillion photos and had fun arranging them on the picture table. I'm not sure how to arrange them yet but I'll figure it out later. I'm having waaaaaaaay too much fun just playing with them right now. Red mushrooms are my weakness. They just go right into my heart, just like that!



Surprise from Charlene. She buys a load of my stuff and she sends me a surprise! I went home, opened it and it says, "Happy Birthday, Lyn!" How sweet is that!? Out-of-this-world sweet, peeps! I mean, I hardly knew her and yet, she went all out and bought me the best stuff! Marks & Spencer mini animal biscuits & a big bar of choc, a super duper cute retro Hello Kitty radio and a yard of Hello Kitty fabric! Thanks soooooooo much, Charlene. You just made my whole year!

There are really nice people in the world who be nice just for being nice. And its amazing just saying that.