DIY Birthday Card for a Dear Colleague

My friend celebrated her birthday today and I don't know whether she's lucky that her birthday falls less on the 28th instead of the 29th Feb where you should know the latter date is the leap year. If not then she has to wait every four years to celebrate it! 

Okay so I think that she's worth making a card for..and uhm worth staying up super late to make the card. Like in my previous post, I don't really plan but just go with the flow. You know one day, if I make enough moolah from my cardmaking adventures, I can reinvest the money and make better cards using specialized products. Of course, the best designs don't always have to depend on such products. Like Spongebob says..use your 'IMAGINATION'...heh heh.

So to my dear colleague who is also like a mother to me (which my own mum dubbed my Chinese mother), have a blessed birthday. I'm super glad to have you as my colleague..which is good..and bad in the sense that now, I find it harder to get out of this place, haha. Okay just kidding.


Hoping your like our gifts too!

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Weekend Project & A Shot at Happiness

I like my new hobby..okay more like a revamped hobby..though last week, I didn't get down to making a decent card except for a small tiny one. But I discovered another new thing instead, personalised notebooks. I got this idea from a website that sells handmade products such as this and they are beautifully designed and I loved them.

Actually I tried to do a step by step thing..not a tutorial coz it was my first attempt too...and my phone battery died half way. I only managed to get these shots. But through out, I shall write some captions.

Okay I don't have that much of moolah to start off with though I managed to get some knick knacks along the way that don't add up much and yet when done creatively, added some DIY dimensions to my craft project.

Started with a cheap notebook. Placed doubled sided tapes all over it.

Using a pretty recycled gift wrap with a paper base.

I used a patterned paper and cut little scallops with a patterned scissors..or whatever you call it.

Drew out this panel using another patterned paper for the name stickers.

Added some embelishments like a bow,  stickers and cut out designs from a scrapbook paper.

I made this fabric flower myself using scrap fabric.

I bought this cheap letter stickers and noticed the purple rose? I made myself too using recycled ribbon.

The whole project done! Oh, lace details is from Daiso & stickers I bought from years ago.

How awesome is that? =) First project, yo! 

Sometimes you can't write down creativity but you can get the basic layout down and then add on. This is my style anway, ha! I would say..the go with the flow style.


While I love pretty card designs and learn a lot from them in terms of style, I always felt that at some parts, they're kinda boring and generic despite the handmade theme. Okay why is this so? Basically coz I think that many people are just copying other people's designs and to me, the best designs usually come from the heart. They don't always have to be perfect because these little imperfections make them more personal and more special.


Well many of us start of copying the style of someone else so it's no big deal but along the way, you will learn to adapt it to your very own style.


And yes who says you need to get those expensive materials. On a small budget you can think out of the box and get only the essentials to jazz up your designs including using the things that you already have. Money saving.


Later on I will be making a card for the said colleague's birthday. Gonna try to clock it in about half an hour because I need me some beauty sleep, haha. 


Moving on, I've been quite on a down low this month in terms of blogging. I seriously have a writers' block. I hope things will get going for me in terms of my own life. I believe that happiness lies in my own hand. How you want to lead your life depends on you. Sometimes you need a bit of push or motivation in life to get going and despite the many setbacks that you may experience, take it as a learning experience towards your goal.


I still aspire to lose weight and today I have started to eat healthier snacks in replacement of sugary treats. If I don't want to put up with the blubbers on my body, I ought to do something about it. I'm giving myself up to my next age of 31 to see some results. I don't want to be this size anymore in my thirties especially when at this age group, your body's metabolism slows down a bit unlike when you are in your twenties. I would still wanna be hot when I enter my forties, haha. Long way still to go.


So what keeps you motivated?




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My Life is Hard But Meaningful

Sometimes life can be so hard..yes it's true...but somehow there is no way that we can just let it hurt our pride and make us dreadfully unhappy. We just have to learn to make compromises, even have to sacrifice while actively look for help and solutions to our problems. 

But we must always remember that for every misery that we are in, there are other people who are in  a worse situation than us. Honestly I don't know why do I sometimes end up making bad decisions but it's all part of the learning process. In the spur of the moment where I don't think hard enough and make poor decisions, things can go downhill. I would also be driven by a sense of desperateness that make me do things that I shouldn't do but I had to. 


Still there is no use crying over spilt milk, right?


Sigh. Such is the complications of life. Honestly I'm not seeking fame or fortune or even popularity. I don't care if nobody reads my blogs. I usually sort out my thoughts here because writing takes away the pressure of thinking and wallowing in my problems.


Remember I said that there are people who can be in far worse situations than you are in now? Take for example, this family who sometimes have no money at all, that their children have to walk the far distance to school instead of taking public transport as they could not afford it. So during the long journey, she said they would make small talk so that the children do not feel bored. The important thing is that they go to school, have a good education so that they will not be as poor as they are right now.


You see. Poverty shouldn't stand in the way of a good education. Those that have the luxury of being provided good tuition support, chauffeured to school and back home, given lunch money and be able to take  part in different paid co curricular activities should be grateful. Not every kid has such priviledge. Unfortunately, many kids are sheltered emotionally and physically by their parents which in turn make their children behave unruly and say such colourful  language because they are not able to control their emotions. They  don't treasure what they have. Instead they chose to be defiant.


A pity indeed.


Not only children, there are many adults as well that do not appreciate what life has to offer to them and how life can be good to them compared to others who struggle to make ends meet every single day. Why don't we just take a breather and don't get agitated always and be mindful of what we say or do. For once don't be so self centered.

 I grew up in hardship and even though both parents worked when I was young, they toiled a lot so they don't heap luxuries on me. Only on certain occasions such as when my father gets a bonus that I get to have a slightly more expensive toy. But that's about it. I thrived on a simple livelihood and I didn't mind it although my parents felt that they didn't provide me enough like I was missing on something.

 If you are like me struggling to put food on the table with an average income, and having difficulties coping with the rising costs, don't give up. Try to seek for help or seek other avenues where you can get additional income to supplement your current income. At times we have to sacrifice our time or even our sleep but we should reap what we sow. Or else, live a simple livelihood and don't always think that you are missing out when your friends get to spend their moolah on new shiny gadgets or new clothes or shoes. You are not missing out. .When the timing is right, you also can have new shoes or clothes and if you can save a bit more, you can get that dream gadget.


But while you get there, don't forget to be appreciative of what you have such as the love from your family and friends. They don't cost a thing but they are indeed priceless. Some days, people will see the kindness in you and see you as the nice person that you are that sometimes, they will show their appreciation back to you.






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Card Making is My New Hobby

Yes people, finally I found something that I enjoy doing! Okay I have always enjoyed making cards but then you know laziness takes over my poor brain and body that I simply hate doing anything except having my face infront of the laptop or lying down. Anyway, I have embarked on this new project after years of putting it off although there were times that I actually did make an effort (when I was too poor to get a decent looking present) to produce DIY cards that comes from the heart.  So it is totally not a lost effort.


However, I have tried different methods of making cards that have enhanced my creativity and also add some dimension to my artwork...more like using embellishments similar to that of scrapbooking. Honestly it is hard for me to find decent embellishments that do not burn a hole in my pocket. My gosh, they're so pricey! But I think it is still possible to make nice looking cards or a scrapbook layout if you can buy selectively on a tight budget and also to make some of the embellishments yourself. Seriously the you tube is like a treasure trove...and I realize that they're not just useful for me to watch soap dramas and make up videos..heh heh.


So these were the materials that I got once I got my pay slightly more than a week ago...

I got them all for less than $20 actually...a mixture of Daiso and one scrapbooking shop in Plaza Singapura.


Made with Love


There are so many things there, I always find it a hassle to look for the things that I want to find but then you can always ask them which I actually did. I'm a very chop chop..let's go kind of person. There was one woman who bought so many scrapbooking papers that after 5 or 6 people had paid and gone away with their purchases, she was still there with one of the cashiers attending to her. Wow.

So! Wanna see my cards? :D

Just a brief story on them. I made them and give away to friends. I think the idea of making cards for Valentine's Day just spurred me to make them. The first card  I made, I spent a little over an hour and it was quite messy as I had to use a stamping method which is a new method for me and I had ink all over my hand :( I was also in a hurry and hence the messiness. Sigh. Oh well, there's always a first time.

Click for a larger view

I have improved on my stamping! I stamped the flower..I can't draw for nuts.

A second attempt. For the first attempt, I spill glitter glue on the card :(

A card that includes sewing embellishments...I could sew buttons and a decent ribbon.

I made these hastily before meeting them..my card adventures started soon after.

This week, I will embark on another card project for an upcoming birthday. I thought I will try my hand at making a living out of it. Ok not really. Just make a couple of moolah. We just see.

Pretty? :D

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Finally Seeking Help from CDC

On the 1st of Feb, I have finally sought help. I actually went to see the CDC or the Community Development Council...to get some sort of financial help. I've always felt that I was in no position to get help from them because there are other people who are of even more dire financial conditions than me but I do need help so I just went to approach them one fine day after going to my brother's school to see the teacher regarding his re-admission.


I have problems coping financially so to me it is a move I should have done yonks ago. However I didn't expect to be bombarded with so many questions as the officer was so thorough :s that I got nervous and I left out some important financial facts. But I just hope she gets the gist of my problem and do offer me some help. I have no idea how exactly they are offering me help as I have to wait for a month before I get some reply on whether my application is successful. If it is not, then I may have to make a second trip and this time, bring the necessary important documents that I didn't manage to bring the last time.

Anyway, I heard that while they may offer help, most of the time it is of temporary relief. They want you to be independent so that you don't rely on constant help to get by. But they do still allow you to re-apply again should you need further help. They also help to link you up to other agencies that can  offer you help as well. 

I don't have much to say as of now because I don't know about the outcome of my application yet. I do hope that they will provide me the help that I need, especially in terms of finance. 

I will talk more about this later when I get the letter from them. Let's hope they approve my application.

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Not Gone from Good

Life hasn't been good lately especially in the last two weeks. The latest news is that it seems that almost everyone has an increase in their pay due to changes in the civil servant wage scale and very unfortunately, my group didn't get it. So my boss, whose post is that of a manager and the operations manager, have quite a significant salary rise.  I heard she got a 10% pay rise. 10%!!! look, even the attendants got a pay rise. What we got? nada! zilch! Why? Because apparently our salary is of a competitive range.


Sigh, such is the unfairness of life. I'm already struggling as it is and then apparently now, the rich has become richer. The poor remains nothing but a destitute mess. So I guess the only chance for a pay rise is for me to be promoted and though I do not know how much pay rise will that be, at least it is going to be slightly better. The problem is that I have no clue when I will get promoted. I am not one of those people with many super ideas that will greatly enhance the productivity of work. Basically I am just one of your regular workers. Plus I will be competing for a spot of promotion with many other officers in the same ministry and we are the second largest ministry. You can imagine the significance of that.


Apart from that, I was also devastated that end of January, we found out that my brother didn't manage to get to any polytechnics. We tried to make our way down to the polytechnics but they proved to be fruitless. My poor brother. He refused to go to the ITE so I emailed on his behalf to the school for a second chance for him to repeat his o level studies. The only relief was that he could go back to school again after the release of the appeal results.


It was such a depressing and exhausting moment for us. Although I had reminded him time and time again the importance of the O level, of which he did study but then there was absolute stiff competition. 


I hope when he gets to go back to school, I hope that he will do better even though I may have to spend some money on providing him tuition so that he can do well in his Maths and not get turned away from polytechnics again.


Then remember last year my finances were in such a mess that I predict that it is not going to recover immediately. I guess it will take time but I just hope to clear my debt asap so that I no longer get such unnecessary calls. I may have to spend lesser but my main concentration is on trying to make some money. Even $50 per month is fine by me for now to just clear my debt, or what they call in the business, to 'break even'. I need to re-shift back my focus on what I truly want out of my life instead of just idling it away. There are so many inspirational young women out there who do not start off with a silver spoon in the mouth or have to slog her way to make life better and yet they have made it. I want to be like that.


So I started on this new project that takes up some of my time after work starting from Monday. After years of putting this hobby off, I have restarted it. I have started to make DIY cards and they're so pretty. More on that in the next post. I hope to start making and selling them for some moolah. I believe there is a market for this because it is all about creativity and the personal touch. It's not like your average greeting card. We'll see. 


I want to also ensure that I do not stray from my goal to be more fit and lose more weight as it has been taking far too long for me to see any form of progress. I have lost my motivation and I want to get it back. I can indulge but most times I want to 'think healthy'. Medical costs are rising and they mostly provide healthcare costs to those who are older and I'm definitely too young to have some major illnesses although yes in true life indeed, life can be so unpredictable. Like one time you are fit, and another time you are battling for another shot of life.


So I hope you know what has been going in my life lately. Ain't easy I tell you. The thing about life is that you shouldn't get yourself into unnecessary trouble and I have learnt my lesson hard. Sometimes I think that it will not happen to me but it has due to some unforeseen circumstances. 

 
Therefore now I am stuck. I hate to write about my woes but this kind of thing has happened and the only way out is for me to start afresh and slowly push my troubles away. I won't run away from them but I want to make them go away.


I hope things will get better.


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Being Zen Like

We're just human and we make mistakes but some mistakes can be avoided as we get too carried away emotionally and hurting the people around us without us knowing about it. There are people who gets so caught up in their emotional web that they carry this ego where they refuse to back down even though things have cooled down or it's just a trivial matter or a slight misunderstanding. But alas, they're way too egoistic to realize that. 


Nevertheless, I don't want to be such people. These kind of people hurt other people without realizing it because they are too selfish to care about how others may feel and expect others to attend to their whims and fancies. 


One word. Whatever.


Honestly, I too get carried away emotionally as I guess it's just part of being a girl. But before things get blown out of proportion, I just take a step back and then realize that I'm huffing and puffing over nothing and I shouldn't be so emotional. I mean I am an adult and I believe childish behaviour should be left in the past and not carried forward. Therefore now, I strive to be more zen like. People complain all the time..especially in Singapore. While some also offer constructive criticism, others complain for the benefit of their own. Things don't go their way, complain. They don't realize that certain things are not easy to implement and not everything can be perfect. We can't always answer to all.


Instead of being bitter about things and how difficult life is blah blah blah, we should learn to focus on doing good and also being open minded about things. Stop complaining for once, stop being so moody, and realize that we should aim to be more zen like because when our mind is clear, we think better. Someone said that we actually have the ability to control our emotions but we get too lost in them sometimes especially when they either refuse to accept the truth or they totally want things to go their way, no matter what.


Stop this negativity. You can actually lose friends or lose the trust of the people around you because of your inability to control your emotions. I also aim to be more calm and collected instead of always thinking negative things as sometimes, our mind also tend to exaggerate the matter, even if it is a trivial one.


Here's to good health. Don't keep holding on to negative emotions. Life's too short to hold on to grudges and thinking negatively. 


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Pulling Through a Rough Start

Update regarding my food poisoning, well I am better :) and after such harrowing experience where I was practically so weak and crying in pain and despair, I have recovered. However, my brother got his food poisoning merely days after mine and the poor thing was also in pain. I had never seen him so weak before. Anyway, if you are suffering from food poisoning, you need to hydrate yourself well with an isotonic drink and load up on vitamin C such as using the vit C sachets or the the effervescent vitamin C pills. That's what I learnt from the doctor.


So anyway, I would like to update this blog regularly and as you can see, it has a new look. Very pink, I know. The graphics is a bit crappy though but my designing skills are pretty rusty so I guess that is the best for now. 


The month of January is coming to an end soon and as you can hear about it ever so often, the economy is pretty much gloom and doom, or at least predicted to be as such. So be careful about your expenditures. I am trying to pick up some craft skills such as making of cards and accessories so that I can learn to make some money as a source of additional income. I know I talk about this all the time and just as I was about to embark on such a project, I had to get fever followed by food poisoning. Now it is no more excuse. I just have to go ahead with my plans. 


I have accumulated some neat stuffs recently from Daiso. I got myself a bunch of pattern cutters, or I've no idea what they call them exactly.

Okay after looking at the pic, I realized they are called craft punchers. They cost 2 bucks each only! I believe I got all the patterns. They don't have much so oh well, I guess that will do for now. Of course if you want more varieties, you can either buy the Carl brand ( I recently purchased their corner puncher for $7.60..*faint*) and after looking at the materials and how much they cost, I conclude that scrapbooking or making DIY cards is an expensive hobby. However, it is possible to create art or something nice and pretty to look at if you've got the creativity without spending much. I believe it is called sustainable art. There is also sustainable fashion where people make new clothes out of scraps of fabric from old clothes. 


In previous times, or even until now, some families are barely surviving with their current income and they do other things to supplement their current income. Like for some Malay associations, they try to help single mothers to make an income for themselves by teaching them basic skills like sewing or baking so that they are able to earn their own money to support their families. Some are really poor thing where they were so reliant on their husbands, that when they pass away or they divorce, they just don't know where to get the money from. As women, we must strive to learn to earn our own keeps. For those with families, it is even harder because you know that nowadays things don't come cheap. 


No matter how dire our situations can be, like I always say, be grateful for what you have. Then of course spend wisely, as in during big sales, buy more clothes or buy a nice bag that have a huge discount and take care of the bag until the next sales. I know that being girls, we can never have enough bags. Based on experience, I feel that I don't need to change bag every single day. I can actually carry the same bag to work for like what..up to 2 weeks?


I've been lucky recently in which I won some stuffs and also I got a colleague who gave me Clinique make up palette. Argh! High end! I may love make up but I have a lot of difficulty buying expensive make up because I don't think it is a necessity. I am also lucky because I won an Anna Sui make up palette. So that's two..TWO high end brands! In regards to bag, my good friend Natasha got me a teal colour bag, which of course was one of the things on my wish list..heh. 


So these are the things that I am proud to have :)

The two orange books are actually a planner and a notebook respectively. For the planner, I won it in a contest by Urban on tie up with Esprit. Actually, I took part just for fun and didn't really think I would win it but anyway, I got it as a nice surprise. I am using it currently. For the other orange notebook, I got it free when I bought the style magazine for $6. I don't really read style coz it's mostly about high end fashion but oh well, down the road I can use it to find inspirations for my designs. Or perhaps cut out the photos..hehe.


The black bag is the bag I got from Mango during their sales recently. I bought it for just $35. Steal! Originally it was $60 I think? Around there. And of course make up. I won the Anna Sui make up and I got the clinique make up  palette and the liquid foundation from a colleague. She's so generous!!!


While it has been a rough start for me, I believe that I just have to think positive and find ways to make my life better instead of simply worrying. One of the ways to chase the blues away is to believe in yourself that things will get better and make an effort to improve yourself. A successful person doesn't just sit down all day. He or she works very hard before reaping the rewards. 


So how has your new year been so far? Well, if you haven't been really keeping up with your resolutions, time to sit down and write down what has gone wrong and where you can strive to make changes and finally keep to them. It's not too late. 


After a two week hiatus, I hit the gym again and finally, I got to go on the strider. That irritating hoarder was no where to be found. It doesn't help that now there is only one strider, hrmph. Oh well. It just means that I have to wake up way earlier and not be lazy before finally dragging my ass down to the gym, haha.


I think I feel a bit healthier now and I shall continue to watch what I eat especially when I am at work by cutting down on unnecessary snacking and keeping to a light lunch. Also, I will continue to strive to walk at least 15 minutes after work. Nowadays major illnesses are like this new mutated breed. They are harder to treat and more costly to treat as well. So it's better to take care of your health now than never.


Have a blessed Chinese New Year to those celebrating it and those who do not, at least in Singapore, have a good extended weekend! Spend these two days wisely by doing something fruitful and rewarding. 


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