Friday, January 21, 2011

How To Tell Chinese New Year Is Round The Corner

Ways to tell Chinese New Year is Round The Corner:
ONE - lanterns are the favourite decoration in shopping centres.
TWO - older women appear with tightly permed hair.
THREE - long queues form outside banks. (to get new notes)
FOUR - red packets become prized goodies.
FIVE - strange looking food appear in my fridge.
SIX - bald looking plants are sold everywhere.
SEVEN - traditional TONG-TONG-CHIANG Chinese New Year music is played everywhere!!!
EIGHT - a sea of RED everywhere you go.
NINE - traditional PING-PLIANG-PONG Chinese New Year music is played everywhere!!!
TEN - a sea of RED everywhere you go.


Let me explain the strange fishes in my fridge. Okay, actually I can't. One morning I woke up and there they were living in my fridge. Me hubs who apart from hoarding books, CDs, DVDs, T-shirts and shoes, can't bear to see food thrown away. So he rescues free food from the office which no one wants to eat. The 2 fishes signify abundance, I think. They belong to the custard family. I'm not eating them. Would you eat them? They look gross. Me kids don't eat anything in the jelly or custard family despite all my attempts as a mother.
Have I ever told you the name of these bald looking plants which almost every Chinese home worth its salt will have for decoration? Promise me you won't laugh if I tell you. Ready? Pussy Willow. Did you laugh?
When the buds bloom, the plant will look like this. No Pussy Willow has ever adorned my home. We keep it free of any hint of Chinese New Year.

In case you're here for my eye-catching bags, let me introduce you to my green polka-dotted mini zip handbag.
I love making mini zip handbags. The handles took the longest time to make though. One thing that's been bugging me lately is I haven't found a way to make such handbags using a single handle - you know from end to end? I could only insert the handle via the side seams but that's not what I want. Oh well, something to obsess over.
I mentioned in my last post I was doing the Amy Butler's Style Stitches Sew-along? I'm afraid my progress hasn't been good. Thing is, I realised that I have to use the templates which came with the book. But I'm not having the courage to cut them! So I have to trace them out. Oh, it's such a chore. But at least I have laundered the fabric chosen. In a week's time when I'm done with the tracing... I'm kidding. I shall sacrifice the templates. See ya.

3 comments:

xiaofu (Fiona) said...

Dear Jane, I look forward in seeing your progress on the Amy Butler bags! Frankly, I almost bought the book from borders, but chickend out last min coz I am afraid I'm not good enough to produce the bags!

antmee said...

I cant cut out the patterns either! I take the templates to work and photocopy them there and then cut out the copies.

I also am not good enough at bag making to make one from that Amy butler book. I have noticed that all my sewing projects that leave me frustrated are my attempts at making bags. The projects I make that are successful are softies!

PS I am not giving up though! lol

tamdoll said...

Is the music and red getting to you? I can't concentrate in stores when the music annoys me. I don't understand the permed hair thing, #2 - what's that one for? Just to look special and new, that would make sense.

Are the custards made of fish? Are they sweets? I think I'd try anything once. I love food.

I didn't laugh about the Pussy Willows because around Easter time a lot of people start decorating with them. I don't understand any decorating that has to do with bringing dead branches into your house.

Good luck with the handles! I love how handles look when they are all made of one piece, I haven't tried it yet myself.

Going to catch up on reading your blog, I love how you're always so busy.

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