Whatcha doin?

It's Saturday night in Singapore. It's been cloudy and cold all day - no chance of taking any pics. Yesterday I was at MAAD and it was kind of a weird day.

First of all, I went for a jog and came home exhausted. I hadn't jogged for a week and one week was all it took to put me out of shape. After messing around for a while, I took a nap at 10am thinking I'll get a power nap of at most 30 minutes and then I'll pack my luggage for maad. It became a 2 hour snooze.

I don't know how I managed to squeeze shower, lunch, packing luggage but I managed to leave for maad at my usual time. It was Children's Day so my girl came along with me. (she volunteed although she did grumble about not having any free time) Amazingly, I caught a taxi right away and it went the short way and I arrived at red dot early. There was a queue. I've never arrived this early before.

Some people use objects to queue. I discovered I don't like arriving early and queuing.

It rained. All the folks selling by the road had to move into the museum. It was cramped. The live singing and dj moved to the back of the museum. The portrait painters moved to a different location.

The fengshui was totally changed. I think I got the table of DEATH because my sales was very sad. I was very disappointed. It was also Crazy Hair Day for me.

The museum is really dark. Know why? The bright lights are switched OFF. I think it's time I invest in some small but bright lights. Ikea here I come.

I saw these exhibits which I thought was really cool. Would you believe they are tupperware? Yes, the overrated plastic containers.

I managed to make one more bag since my last post. It's a one-ring-wonder. I modified the shape a little to give it a wider base. No, it didn't sell. But there was a tiny bit of interest.

It's made of cotton canvas. I love the green leaves! The fabric is manufactured by kiyohara.

I hope you don't mind me showing you the bag bottom. It's a current fetish of mine.

My next craft market is on 29th and 30th October. That means I have loads of free time to devote to my ePatterns. All I need is for the sun to come out bright and shining like it should. I will work on 2 ePatterns next two weeks. Oh, I met a guy seller at maad. He owns monster gallery. I have signed up to learn rubber stamp making from him. That's next Saturday. I have tried making moulds on my own but they're really crappy. Hopefully I will be able to pick up the basics from him. Also, I have a free bag tute coming up. If all the stars are lined up perfectly, I should be able to publish it this month. I'll see you soon.

You likey stripey?

Fellas,

Today was quite an unusual day for us. In the morning, we took hubs to see a mole specialist.

But first we got terribly lost. Me hubs said, "Blame google map." We went to the wrong hospital. Google is no longer our friend!

Despite getting directions to walk to the right building on foot, we still went the wrong way. Finally, the  nice lady who gave us directions drove us to the building. We are pathetic!

Me hubs is hoping to have 3 facial moles removed. But the doc is only willing to do one first. See where the rocket is pointing at? That's the first to go. Turned out the moles me hubs has are not easy to remove. They have to be cut out. Ouch. There will be a scar. It is not cheap. Consultation alone is $71. The surgery is $173 minimum for the each mole. It will cost more than that after adding miscellaneous like gloves, tissue paper. I don't know, just guessing.

The doc was worried me hubs might fret about his fengshui changing for the worse after removal of his mole. I don't think me hubs ever thinks about his fengshui.

We helped hubs kill time as it was too early for him to go to work.

We saw the movie Contagion. This is the kind of movie in which you will see a lot of familiar actors - some you couldn't place but are vaguely familiar. You know, that guy from, from.....

This movie reminds me of SARS. My girl was in K1 when SARS hit. Many parents kept their kids at home. Not me. I sent my girl to school every day. Only a few students showed up. It was a blessing in disguise. The teacher gave my girl a lot of attention. She won "Best Girl" for her class that year.

We had time to look around Orchard. I finally got to see the offensive ad which is making some folks in Singapore as well as a powerless Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) mad last week. Please tell me. Are you offended by the ad below?

Ah, here it is in its magnificence. The offensive Abercrombie & Fitch ad of a topless man. I must say dear readers. I am terribly offended by this ad. Terribly offended. Who is this desirable hunk man? How dare he show off his heavenly bod! And where may I download this ad for my wallpaper?

pic from Strip

And what about this ad Unfurgivable which some folks are offended by as well? I'll be honest. I did not understand the fuss because all I saw was a fur handbag. Today me hubs explained it to me.
hehehehe.

hehehehe.

hehehehe.

We had a couple of minutes to pop into newly opened H&M. It was nice that there was no queue to enter the store. I don't quite understand the fuss over H&M. But I think I'll go back again. I saw a pair of bell-bottomed jeans I really like.

Over the weekend I made a few stripey items. Here they are.....

Stripes look good on a crescent bag.

Good ol' curvy wristlet.

Two simple zip pouches to round up.

This Friday I'll be back at MAAD selling my bags and pouches. Details below:

Maad Pyjamas
7th October 2011 Friday
5pm to midnight

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

See ya.

I need a clone

Dear lovely readers of mine,

It's October already? Why does time fly when you don't have enough of it? I need another pair of hands. To take care of all the menial work. It's the last quarter of the year and time to really start stocking up. It's also time to start thinking about craft markets for Christmas. This October alone, I have 3 days of craft markets. That means weeks of sewing. Honestly, I'm not complaining. It's always good to have a market date to sew for. Feels more purposeful.

This past week hasn't been that good for me. I think it's the pressure from the end of primary school exams my girl is sitting for. Tomorrow is the last day! I'm practically incubating her so she doesn't fall sick. It's just an exam which decides which secondary school she gets to go to.

In Singapore, at the end of primary 6, kids sit for an exam for English language, mother tongue, science and math. A T-score is generated based on the marks earned and calibrated against their peers. This T-score is then used to qualify for a secondary school. Schools which are more successful will have higher cut-off T-score. The worst ones will take in anyone who applies.

The way the teachers and schools go on about it, it's like the kids are sitting for the Imperial Exam. There's so much unnecessary stress and we parents have to fork out ransoms to pay for extra lessons at private tuition centres. Why? Because the exams are pitched at a a higher level than what's taught in schools. My opinion? The meritocracy in singapore education system SUCKS! What it has produced are elitism and crappy secondary schools which nobody wants to go to. Wouldn't it be great if kids could attend secondary schools near their homes without having to check if they meet the cut-off exam score? Geez, what gives schools the right to exclude kids based on grades? How did Singaporeans let this even happen? Yes, I'm just ranting. Just one more day.

When my son entered secondary one, he said to me that if he had learnt the secondary one syllabus in primary six, the primary six exams would have been a breeze. I'm sure the kids who were hot-housed found it a breeze.

Remember my skulls challenge with me hubs which I won? Thought I'll show you a pic of him eating his words or should I say money he lost.

Isn't he sweet? Hamming it up for the camera?

You recall I had some cardholders for sale? Well, well. I had 4 unsold ones and I displayed them when I was at 313@Somerset. I didn't manage to sell them on Friday and Saturday and me hubs said and I quote:

I wish you wouldn't display them for sale. NO ONE will buy them.

Unfortunately, I did not have my shark-mode on because I did not say:

Care to make that a bet?

Because I sold the 2 top ones on Sunday. I have to be more vigilant in future. Can't believe I missed the chance to make another $100 off me hubs.

I've been quite pre-occupied with my sling bags. It's going to be a ePattern soon. I already have the sizing perfect. All I need is 1 week of free time to create the pdf. Yes, yes, I know. I work very slowly. Here are three new ones.

Skulls and roses

Blue Momo

Psuedo patchwork

Hey, has anyone other than Miranda noticed the changes on my blog? I made the blog header HUGE, changed the font for the text and changed the sizing of the page and sidebar. I'm using the new blogger editor so changing the fonts is really easy. But for the sizing of the page and sidebar, because my template is really old like 2004 old, I had to modify the html. I am not a fan of html. I feel the same way about html as when I have to unclog the toilet or pipes. See you soon.