Have you ever walked in the rain?

Hello people in the internet,

Is the sun shining where you live? Because in Singapore it's been raining for a freaking month already. I'm not a morning person. And it does get a little sunny in the morning. Before the big rain comes. So being "not a morning person", it's been pretty gloomy for me.

So let's see what's been happening. Nothing much. KIDDING.

Last Thursday, a day of reckoning for all 12 year olds in Singapore. Yes sir, the day, MOE (Ministry of Education) released the PSLE (Primary school leaving examination) results. As you may know, my younger child is 12 this year and like all her peers, she's had a very stressful year. We cannot escape the school system here. PSLE is really just an exam to tabulate a score and you use this score to gain entry into a secondary school. Simple? Well, it would be if there are no cut-off points to secondary schools. It would be simple if every secondary school is given the same amount of funds. It would be simple if the top schools don't hog the good teachers. PSLE is given far more importance than it should especially when MOE helps to create a class system where you either get into an elite secondary school or you don't.

Ah, the ranting again. Never mind. You have no power to change the system. Neither do I. So we just make the best of what we have.

You could say we started waiting for the PSLE result from the moment my girl was born. Because every thing you do from the moment she was born was to ensure she is equipped with the skills to pass this darn PSLE well enough so she does not get labelled "Normal" (ironic, I know) and end up doing 5 years of secondary school instead of the "Express" course of 4 years. This year 62.9% are eligible for the Express course. So last Thursday was a day of sorrow for about 37% which in raw figures is about 15,500 students.

When my girl was in K1, she often asked me why her classmates were way ahead of her in academics. At first I told her it was because she was born in the last quarter of the year and her classmates were older than her by a few months. Once we went to a classmate's home and I saw the little girl take out a thick book and start writing feverishly. It took her an hour. After she was done, she telephoned her mother at work to tell her she had finished her Math and she could play. I took a look at the Math and was shocked she could do mathematics meant for a child 2 years older. Man! If every parent prepared their kid like this one, I knew I was finished. Still, I did not want to hot-house my kid. Okay, who am I kidding? I couldn't hot-house my kid even if I wanted to. Firstly, I have no patience. Secondly, I don't believe in it. Thirdly, it's way too much work. Being a parent of 2 kids is no picnic already without adding on these unrealistic goals. So I helped my girl learn Math thru' play and hoped that one day she'll catch up with her super classmates.

One day when my girl was in K2, she suddenly saw that she got smarter all on her own. She could count, add, spell and do everything everyone else could. I was relieved but I knew in my heart that the kids of tiger parents are the ones who will come out top.

Academics has always come easier to my son. He was good in Math and that's half the battle won. MOE is notorious for setting god awful Math questions that even ministers could not answer. Yes, make the Minister for Education take the PSLE every year. Math did not come easy to my girl. For years, she survived without going for tuition. But for her final year, I'm afraid I made her go for Math, Science and Chinese tuition classes.

In Singapore, many students attend two schools. One regular school and one after school usually 1 to 1.5 hours per subject.

The last few months before the PSLE, the school teachers went crazy and loaded the kids with too much homework. That plus the extra lessons I had signed her up for really took its toll on my girl. She did not perform well in her preliminary exams set by her school. The purpose of this exam? To help you gauge where you are. I think my girl's bad results helped shake her up a little. The emotional stress? I don't know if the damage is lasting.

On Thursday, we made our way to her primary school. This was a moment my girl had been dreading. She was very sure she had done badly. Her confidence was at zero. She told me I had to read the grades for her.

At the school, we had to endure 45minutes of announcements, top students photo-taking and other inconsiderate photo-taking sessions. When the teachers finally started handing out the results to the students, the principal interrupted once more for a final photo-taking session with so-and-so. Geez. Did everyone have to bear witness to the darn photo session? I wanted to throw a shoe at her. Seriously.

Finally we could continue with the results. Me hubs saw my girl getting her results. Then she went and sit down with her class. She did not look at us. We waited and waited and waited. C'mon. We've been waiting for 12 freaking years for the result. We finally called her on the phone but it was too noisy so she probably did not hear. We decided to squeeze our way thru' the crowd to her. Me hubs gave up squeezing half-way. I was determined and finally caught her attention.

The moment I saw her body language I knew it was good news. She was a different person. She sat straight and was smiling and relaxed. She handed her result slip to me and said excitedly, "I got A star for English!"

The good news? She did well enough in her PSLE to enter 4 years of secondary school. Her grades well exceeded our expectation. The distinction for English was a bonus. Me hubs is claiming genetic credit for it.

Now the next phase of the waiting game begins. Waiting to see which secondary school she gets posted to. We have to pick 6 schools and I believe we have made very smart choices. I hope she gets her first choice because it's easy to get to and the students the school produces is not too bad.

♥♥♥

In the midst of all the excitement from getting the results, I suddenly got all nostalgic and I remembered this day which was when my girl was maybe 9 or 10. Now, I come from a family where getting caught in the rain is like a sin. When I became a parent, I became paranoid that a single drop of rain would make my children ill. So we never went anywhere without an umbrella. Once there was a huge gusty rain and we were on our way home. The umbrella really wasn't any help as the rain just lashed on us. As we struggled to hang on to our umbrellas, my girl asked me if she could walk in the rain.

Walk in the rain?

I don't know why but I said yes. So all three of us closed our umbrellas and we walked home in the rain. The rain was really huge giant kind and kept pelting at us. It was really funny. We walked in the puddles and played with the water as we walked home. All these while giggling like crazy because it felt so free.

I never knew walking in the rain could feel so liberating. But it was the one and only time we did it. Much much later we were walking home and it was raining and I suggested to the kids that we walk home in the rain.

Are you kidding? My kids thumbed down the idea.

The moment was over. It was a sweet moment and I will treasure it. Have you ever walked in the rain with your kids?

♥♥♥

So the past week I was nervous and out a lot. Not much stuff has been produced for my craft market. I should feel nervous!

This is a small piece of fabric I won in a giveaway. It is so gorgeous. I love it so much. The print looks like antique drawing. I especially dig the morning glory. Unfortunately I don't know the name of the manufacturer and neither does the person I won it from. I've been saving it and saving it and finally I decided to use a tiny bit of it.

Remember this piece of embroidery I found in my stash in September? I must have done the embroidery ages ago and forgotten about it. The style looks very similar to my aunt-in-law's so I'm guessing I was trying to imitate it.

I decided to marry these two - something old with something antique.

What do you think? I'm so in love with the pouch.

I know you're not supposed to praise yourself but I feel I'm so freaking good with drawstring pouches. And I never get tired of making them.

Still on a high from the drawstring rush, I made two more.

I think these are great as gift pouches. Have a great week my friends.

Linked to: Skip to my lou Sumo's Sweet Stuff  Ninth Street Notions  Dittle Dattle  Tea Rose Home

Get Up & Go Go

Hi friends,

I believe most of you have blog friends? When I first started blogging in 2007, the concept of blog friends was rather alien to me. In fact, I only started leaving comments on blogs I read after encouragement from me hubs. I cannot point you to the first blog post I left my first comment on as the blog has closed. I was just beginning to sew bags in those days and I left a comment to tell the blogger that I had used her tute to sew a little zip pouch. For days, I worried over the comment. I wondered if the blogger had read it. Did anyone else read it? Was I too cheesy? And so on. Yes, kinda paranoid like would the comment police come to my door?

I did not leave any more comments after that as it took a lot of courage to leave the first one. For those of you who are seasoned "commenters", it really was not easy for me.

Much to my surprise, a while later, the blogger emailed me to tell me she liked how my zip pouch turned out and wanted to feature it on her blog. I was shocked and horribly flattered. I had not expected any contact from the blogger. It totally changed the way I viewed blogging. The interaction was so pleasant and invigorating. And might I say, addictive.

Being featured on her blog also changed something else. People started reading my blog. In the beginning, it was just me, my family and the occasional reader who stumbled on my blog. I think this blogger was rather popular because for a few years, I would get a lot of traffic from her blog. I was quite sad when she closed her blog.

Well, I became less afraid of leaving comments as I went along and before long, I actually made a few blog friends. One blog friend in particular, Antmee she's had a pretty big impact on my life though I'm not sure if she's even aware.

I think I told you guys how I wanted to start my ePattern business in 2009 but I could not get going. I had so many issues - hardware, software, lack of confidence, shyness. You name it. Then in end 2010, I told Antmee about my pdf patterns and she agreed to try the first ePattern. I think she went beyond trying. She gave me very good suggestions and her opinion which I value. I gained a lot of confidence from her feedback. Still I did not launch it till mid 2011 as I wanted to use a better software.

As you know, I've already launched 3 of my ePatterns. For my last ePattern for this year, I turned to Antmee once again and as always, she's a fabulous blog friend. I think I'm very lucky to meet her. Thank you, my friend.

Read FAQ before buying
Buy Now

My dear readers, I present to you my Get Up & Go Go Sling Bag. I know, what a ridiculous name. I ripped it off Wham!'s Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.

This is a bag that every woman should own. It's a good size to keep your essentials. A zipper to lock everything in and a cool sling so you can carry it crossbody.

What else? No raw seams. (I'm still unable to make bags with the seams exposed)

Plus a pleated bottom.

Anyone has an Etsy account? Please do me a big favour and go heart it or buy it. HERE. ♥♥♥

Lastly, I'm doing a Black Friday Etsy and Cyber Monday Etsy promotion. So all my ePatterns are at a special price of US$5 each. From now till 30 Nov 2011.

Some of you are celebrating Thanksgiving this week? Hope you enjoy it. And happy shopping too. All the best to everyone who owns shops and having sales. Me hubs says he'll be raiding Amazon on Cyber Monday. See you in a while.

For more BAG PATTERNS.

Project Accessory

Dear fellow bloggers and readers,

How are you guys? Time did not stand still for me and I am frantically cutting fabric and trying to get into the groove so I can sew bags for my December craft markets. Before I talk about other stuff, I have a very important announcement to make:

Project Accessory is unwatchable.

Project Accessory is similar to Project Runway in format ie. you have a bunch of contestants given a challenge and limited supplies and within a limited time, create one or more accessories. It is a reality TV show.

I gave this new show a go as I am naturally interested in accessories plus I am a big fan of Project Runway. I am a very loyal viewer. If I like a show, I will watch every single episode. I'm kinda like Hachi: A dog's tale. In fact, I'm still hanging around, waiting for Law & Order to return. If you must know I have watched every single episode of:

•Cheers
•Seinfeld
•Friends
•The Nanny
•Will and Grace
•Survivor
•The Amazing Race
•Big Bang Theory
•How I Met Your Mother (I want to give up tho')
•2 and a half men (still hanging on)
•Law and order
•Law and order svu
•Law and order criminal intent
•Fringe (on the verge of giving up)
•House

Yes, I know. I watch too much TV. The amount of time I spent on these shows - I could make 1000 bags and 100 ePatterns!

Back to the topic. Why is Project Accessory unwatchable? The host, the judges and the contestants. Basically every bit of the show doesn't work for me. First of all, the host, the mentor and the judges seem so uninterested. I mean, where are the mean girls? Where are the judgy statements. Where are the bitchiness? Where's Mr Kors? The contestants are worse. Everyone looks straight. Where are the over-the-top gay guys? We need them in reality TV. Otherwise it's just watching you and me work.

I decided to hang on until the handbag challenge. Of course the contestant who's a bag designer won just as the shoe designer won the shoe challenge. None of the contestants thought to show us what the inside of the bag looked like. I mean, were there raw seams? Was it even lined? One guy actually put on the runway a bag with holes and he was not even eliminated. Alright I give up. This show is history to me.

Now for some linky love. A few more bloggers joined my Christmas gift linky party. Thank you.

pic from What's Going On?

First to jump in is Rebecca from What's Going On? The wristlet look familiar? Yep, it's made from my ePattern. I'm not kidding. I was so ridiculously happy to see it. Want to make one? Get the pattern here.

pic from Relished Artistry

Who's next? Ah, it's my only male reader Corey from Relished Artistry. I remember the first day we "met" like it was yesterday. Okay, I don't. I've been reading his blog for a long time now. He's very arty and always has something interesting to say. I like to read his thought process - very often raw and honest. His neck laces are really gorgeous. If you think you can make one, go to the tute.

pic from Yadira's Crafty Adventures

Yadira recommends a pretty flower brooch/hair-clip. Her blog is Yadira's Crafty Adventures. I like this combo of red on pink. It's so cheery!

pic from Sweet Bee Buzzings

Bethany from Sweet Bee Buzzings has a change purse tute. I remember "meeting" Bethany like it was yesterday. Geez, I don't. Suddenly one day, I found myself reading her blog religiously. I don't remember how or why. It just was. She makes bags as well but she's more versatile. She makes quilts and things to hang around the mantel.

pic from Hobo Chic Project

Hobo Chic Project came with food. How polite! If you want to turn oreos into lollies, go to her tute.

And that ends my party. Hope you enjoyed it. I have to read my linky tool email to see if I have to pay to hold another link party. If it's free, I might just hold another one. But don't worry. Not so soon.

See you soon.

Marry me juliet

Hey people,

Today is 20.11.2011. A great day to get married in Singapore. (I imagine it'll be hard to get a taxi tonight. I'm still recovering from 11.11.11)

I attended my niece's wedding this afternoon. No, she did not choose to get married at 20:11hrs. But I imagine some people would. I still remember my niece when she was a little baby. She was always smiling and laughing and really plumb. I called her The Laughing Buddha. I didn't see much of her when she was in primary school. One day I saw her at a book shop. I was quite surprised to see her alone looking at some books. In my mind I was thinking how on earth did she get here by herself? I walked up to her and started talking to her. She went absolutely pale and ran straight to her mom. I think she thought I was gonna kidnap her. She didn't recognise me at all. Happy to report she no longer runs screaming from me.

In honour of this happy occasion, I wore heels. Technically they're heels because they're not flat.

Me and hubs went as 80's rock groupies. To make it more relevant, he gave his hair the Justin Bieber look. I respected the special occasion and ran my fingers through my hair a couple of times to "comb" it.

We did not get married on a special date. However, the date we chose turned out to be the hottest day in a century. How cool, I mean, how hot was that! Just picture me sweating in a gown and full make-up on my face. Me hubs did write a little about how we ended up married. It's very unromantic. Read it here if you care.

The bride wore a dress. For the first time.

I like the door gifts. The containers can be used to store my beads. You get different words like "Love", "Hold". I did not investigate what my siblings received.

The second gift is a piece of chocolate. I contemplated bringing it home to the kids. Then I popped it in my mouth. Me hubs did the same. Fortunately I found a spare one and my kids shared it.

So that was a lovely afternoon. Always love it when couples get hitched. It is a courageous move. To take a gamble on a person till death. To love and to cherish.

On another note, I had a link party here but the response was poor. It's like I had a party and no one showed up! I feel like the uncool kid in school all over again. No one wants to partay? You guys own blogs, don't you?

A grand total of 2 persons showed up. Technically, 3 persons showed up but the 3rd person sells stuff!

pic from Kamiel and Odille

First to show was Kamiel and Odille. She brought oven mitts. Remember, you need to borrow a large man's hands for the pattern.

Pic from Made To Treasure

Next was Made To Treasure. She brought quilted ornaments. These are really beautiful.

Anyway, it was kinda awkard. A party with just 3 persons. Everyone stood against the wall. I tried to liven things up with Def Leppard and discussing Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore's break-up. Of course it was even more awkward when the 1000 pizzas came.......

Guys, the link party is still going on. It ends on Tuesday. You can still jump in if you want. HERE.

See you soon.

Make your own christmas gift link party #1

Hi friends,

How are you guys? Hope you have a great weekend. Today I want to talk to you about blog awards and link parties.

From time to time I get "awarded" blog titles e.g Versatile Blogger. To "play" the game, you usually have to :
1) reveal a number of things about yourself your readers don't already know
2) link to a number of bloggers (include links) whom you admire and want to award the title to
3) thank the blogger who tagged you. (with a link back)

Yes, it is a tagging game. And I've played it. A couple of times.

Thing is, I've written so many posts and they're all about me. So you know more about me than most strangers should care about. And I don't know many bloggers to tag. Also, some people don't react well to being tagged.

So I'm officially out of this tagging game. Those of you who have tagged me. I thank you for thinking of me.

Anyway, instead of a blog title acceptance post, I thought I would do a link party instead. I've never done one before. It's my first. Will it be my last? Haha. Yes, if the response is poor. Anyone interested to post a link? I thought this would be a good way for bloggers who read my blog to link back to their blog. Kinda like saying, hey, over here.

So that's the purpose of this link party. Do you like this idea?

I've set a theme for this link party. It is to link to anything you have made that one could make and give as a Christmas gift. It need not be a tutorial.

I'll start with my item which is a sarubobo pin. I made it this evening. It's easy to make and requires very little supplies. Here's my tute.

I love to pin sarubobos to my bags and pouches. p.s. check out my messy sewing table.

Here are a few rules:
1) Link to something you made. It need not be something you made this week. Old posts are fine.
2) Link to a specific post.
3) Link back to my blog.

p.s. This linking tool I'm using is slow. When you're done with the process, it'll take a while for the image to load.

Have you ever needed to scratch so bad?

Hi from cloudy Singapore,

Although I've recovered from my 11.11.11 which entailed sleeping a couple of days away, there's something about grey skies that gets me down. So I should avoid looking out of the window! Today there was some sun and I managed to take enough photos to complete my latest ePattern. I have sent it for testing so we'll see if I can release it this month? This will be my last ePattern for this year because I don't want to play hide-and-seek with the sun. It's just too frustrating. Besides my stock is quite low and I need to stock up. I'm going to have to sew like mad for the next few weeks.

This is my girl's last year in primary school. She wanted to give her teacher one of my pouches. She fancied the linen ones. I was too stingy so I asked her to design one and I would sew it for her. Seriously though, I thought it would be more meaningful if the pouch had her input.

I gave her my stamping ink and stamps and she had a ball.

She only stopped stamping when I said, "less is more."

I thought the teacher might like some polka dots!

Bear approves.

I don't know how much my girl told her teacher about the pouch. My guess is she probably did not point out how she designed the front. I don't know what I did wrong but both my kids are rather reticent. Maybe it's in the genes? I know I was very reticent as a kid. I barely said a word throughout my primary school. But I grew out of it later on. Sometimes though, especially in the presence of uncomfortable company, I do go back to my ole reticent self.

This is the last week of school for my girl this year. That's right. Come Saturday, I no longer need to wake up at 6am. Woo hoo! My son has been on school holidays for a couple of weeks. Secondary schools end the term earlier. He had really just been sitting on his butt with his iPod. Starting this week, for 2 weeks, he goes back to school for Art Boot Camp. Okay, it's just painting. He told me he's the only guy. hahahaha. I'm glad he has school as it gives him some exercise.

Me hubs had his teardrop mole removed. It was fast and he said, painless. I'll spare you guys this time and not show you the exorcised mole.

Unfortunately me poor hubs has bigger issues. He has developed an allergic reaction to an unknown substance or food? Now he is covered with hives.  It is fortunate his mole doctor is also a skin specialist. She had a look and now we have to let the medication take its course and hopefully the welts will disappear soon. Itch is a terrible thing to bear.

My MAAD 11.11.11 Post-Mortem

Hello everyone,

How did your 11.11.11 go? Did you do anything special or just let it go by like any other day? Here's how my day went....Be prepared. It's very detailed and long. Do you have a glass of wine or vodka or whatever you need to get thru' my long post?

11.11.11
6:00am    woke up (very reluctantly)
6:30am    checked gmail for notification of Etsy sale - no sale
6:45am    walked girl to train station. debated whether to go jogging - laziness won
7:00am    breakfast of honey pancakes (it was a little burnt)
7:25am    checked hair in mirror - decided against washing
7:30am    watched Project Accessories

Have you guys watched this show? It looked like a very low-budget version of Project Runway. And why do most of the contestants look like serial killers? The female Tim Gunn looks like a madam at a russian brothel. The Heidi-wanna-be looks like a human form of Iman (previous host of Project Runway Canada)

You know what I think after watching Project Accessories? I need to learn how to make a necklace, a ring, a bracelet, an arm cuff, a head band, a belt and shoes! Because these contestants - they know how to make everything.

8:00am    arrival of garbage disposal truck triggered sneezing fits
8:25am    did some laundry. might have said some f-words
8:30am    updated facebook
8:45am    googled for cure for urticaria - none found
9:00am    finished up some hand sewing
9:30am    checked out pathetic stock
10:00am   made sign for $11 zip pouches
10:10am   checked out a winged skeleton pendant/necklace on Etsy.
10:12am   checked out a dragonfly/mermaid brooch on eBay - would have preferred it as a pendant
10:58am   received SOS to wake mandy up.
11:11am   started packing (11:11am feels same as 11:10am)
11:15am   woke son

12:00pm   had leftovers for lunch
12:45pm   finished up packing
1:00pm     called Mandy to wake her up for maad
1:15pm     watched Big Bang Theory
2:00pm     left with son and luggage to get taxi - we got lucky but the bastard went the long way!
2:40pm     reached red dot museum - ran into Shannon (red dot mamasan), she helped me with the  luggage for a few metres before giving up.

2:45pm     queued up to enter museum

 3:25pm     met chewy from elephantislove! believe it or not, i had "met" her thru my blog. i don't remember how it started but suddenly i was reading her blog. Maybe it has something to do with her being from Singapore! i suggested she sells at maad on her visit back and here she is.

3:35pm     collected my table which is a suitcase, my charged lamp and a clothes rack. searched for son as I had misplaced him.

3:40pm    selected my spot which is my usual spot and it's right next to chewy! check out my new ikea lamp

3:41pm    Chewy's table

4.26pm    My first sale! Mandy snagged TWO 11.11.11 zip pouches

5:20pm    Photo taking session with Chewy. My head is 3 times hers! This, I'm blaming on my ancestors.

5:27pm    My 3rd 11.11.11 zip pouch went to Janet. Love her outfit!

5:47pm    My 4th 11.11.11 zip pouch went to Fiona. See how she's wearing my iPhone zip pouch round her neck? She has also bought my sexy zippy wristlet ePattern and I'm waiting to see her finished product.

7:10pm    Spotted my sis, Elaine. My son sold her the MoMo Odyssey zip pouch.

I had really wanted to take the opportunity to give my son the chance to man my table without any help from me. It could mean fewer sales for me but I was willing to trade that for a learning experience. It took a bit of prodding from me and a lot of time, he was so engrossed in his games, he totally neglected the customers. But in the end, he made a total of 8 sales! Very impressive.

9:36pm    Wendy came and snagged the nautical red/white crescent bag. The linen bag she's carrying? That's my bag too! I love to see my customers carrying my bag. It's so awesome.

10:24pm    sold my 5th 11.11.11 zip pouch to this lady - i forgot to ask for her name. she's a repeat customer so i better remember her. she snagged 3 items this round. love her already.

my total sales? it was pretty good - not fantastic but i'm very happy with it.

12:00am    goodbye maad. hello home. so i thought.

12.11.11

12midnight to 1am

Me and son lugged our luggage and hunted for a taxi. At first, there weren't any taxis with the Green Light on. We walked further away from red dot museum. Was it a mistake? Lots of people were walking with us. At some point, I decided it would be silly to keep walking and hoping.

Then we came to a road where there were lots of taxis with Green Light on. We were so happy and so were the groups of people with us. And the stupidest thing happened. NONE of the freaking taxis would stop. They just zoomed past us and after a while, I realised that the taxis were just going round and round, not picking up passengers. I could recognise some of the taxis. Yes, WTF! I asked a woman next to me and she was just as puzzled. Later, a Caucasian walked past me and he said the taxis weren't going to stop at all. It dawned on me the taxis were waiting to be booked. Apparently, the 50% midnight surcharge wasn't enough for the buggers. There ought to be a law against taxis not picking up passengers, Mr Transport Minister! Like caning or something.

My strategy then was to get to somewhere I could identify so I could hopefully get a booking for a taxi. So we walked once more. The streets were really deserted save for us, the walkers. It was like a scene from Walking Dead and the taxis were the humans running away from us.

Me and son broke away from the group. I saw from a distance a structure that looked like a taxi stand. I felt I would have better luck there. At the taxi stand there was a location code so I called for a taxi but of course everyone else was trying to call for a taxi as well. After a long wait, I managed to get to a human who transferred me to a machine which said my booking was being processed and to HANG UP. Wow. So we waited. Everyone else at the taxi stand seem to be doing the same thing as me.

Suddenly out of the blue, a taxi pulled in and the driver poked his head out and asked if anyone was going to the west as he was ending his shift. I couldn't believe it when no one else was going west. Although I was at the back of the queue, I doved forward (I felt like I FLEW forward) and told the driver where I lived. He said YES even though I lived in the North-west.

The first question he asked me: How long have you waited?
One freaking hour.

Then he said that with barely any traffic, he could have me home in 20 minutes. Mr Lim, you're a superman. We were home in 18 minutes. On the way home, I called to cancel my taxi booking but the operator insisted there was no need to cancel as I hadn't even got a taxi yet!

Good nite people.

Spot the elevens

Hey folks,

It's a been a while since my last post and you must be wondering if I'm dead or alive. No? I'm still here. I've just gotten over a tiny attack of migraine. It's all good now. My brain is a little confused tho'. This morning I thought it was Thursday. Then I found out it's really Wednesday. Joy! Technically I've gained one day. Woo hoo!

I'm wishing the rainy season will end soon. Rainy season means I get the sneezy nose and sometimes itchy skin. Plus, my laundry doesn't dry properly. Every year I get the urge to buy a dryer and then I don't. I don't really know how to fit a dryer into the laundry area as there's no room. Just wishful thinking. It's also a losing battle for me trying to get my next ePattern up. When I am ready to do some photography, it's hopelessly grey. Today the sun came out and I was out! Who knew living in Singapore you would have to wait for days for the sun? In a couple of months, I'm pretty sure I'll be sweating every day and wishing the sun would take a break.

Want to hear some updates about the sales of my ePattern? Since I launched my sexy zippy wristlet last Thursday, I've sold a grand total of (drum roll) 6 copies. Yep, literally 1 a day. Oh....wait. Don't look so sad. It's a success story! Did I not make that clear? I think 6 copies in 6 days is pretty good. Sure, if you compare it to say a more established pattern maker, 6 copies is pretty pathetic, but it's not to me. Yay!

Want more updates? Remember in this post, I alerted you to the numerous drowning at Bedok Reservoir in Singapore? It is now confirmed that Bedok Reservoir is indeed a serial killer. A sixth body was found on Saturday. The body was fished out shortly before a blessing of the souls was conducted by the Inter-Religious Organisation at the reservoir. Psst...I think their timing was off. The organisation in charge of Bedok Reservoir has currently engaged a security agency to patrol the reservoir. Hopefully, these men will catch the reservoir red-handed and chain it up or something to put an end to all the drowning.

You guys want to play a game with me? First some backstory. Over the weekend, I was asked if I would do anything special for this Friday's MAAD which falls on 11.11.11. Without thinking it through, I gallantly said I would sell 11 zip pouches for $11 each. Right away, I started making 2 and it was quite a breeze. I didn't want the zip pouches to be any ole print. So I decided I would use either stamping or embroidery to embellish them. Kind of make them a little special. Then it occurred to me that I would actually have to make another 9 zip pouches.

Here's the game. I basically played around with the date 11.11.11. See if you can spot the 3 elevens. Some are pretty obvious. No prizes for getting it correct. Just for your own satisfaction.
Here we go....

At first I went really literal.

This one is pretty obvious.

I was thinking of going Matrix the movie route and do running stitches of elevens. Then I thought of the amount of work involved.... so I settled.

Still a little literal but sweet right?

Starting to run out of ideas. Houses to the rescue!

I'm not shy to steal from my own databank. Remember my first tulip?

I LOVE little girls with balloons. You may have noticed I'm trying to hide my elevens. See, I kinda had a seizure thinking what would happen if no one bought these zip pouches on 11.11.11? Would be pretty hard to sell them on say, 12th November.

I think I hid the elevens pretty well here.

Yep, reworked the flowers but this time, less literal.

I had a sudden inspiration - the 3 amigos. I was giggling as I made this.

This reflects my state of mind when I made it. Just. 2. More!

Even the houses were grumpy!

Did you play along?

Here's your reward. I'll let you take a peek at my lining! It's been a while since the last peek.

I'm exhausted. So I'll see you when I see you. If you are in Singapore this Friday, pop by red dot design museum to celebrate 11.11.11. Details below.

Maad Pyjamas
11.11.11 Friday
5pm to midnight

@ red dot design museum
28 Maxwell Road, red dot Traffic, Ground Floor
Singapore

Projects By Jane's 11.11.11 Special

11 stamped and embroidered zip pouches will be sold at $11 each
Any unsold ones will  be bumped off either thru' Etsy or other craft markets.

p.s. I'm linking up here: Tea Rose Home, Skip To My Lou Ninth Street Notions