ideas and to-dos

christmas has come and gone but i'm still romanticizing it. this is the best time to gather ideas for what to do the next year, since the whole town has quietened down in anticipation of the countdown.

i realize i like my tree simple. we used the ikea kallt spruce lights (they were heavily discounted) and they are so cute. i wish i could find these snowflakes to adorn the rest of the home ...

on to next project, cinnamon desperately needs a living room pillow to chill out ... these rug pillows seem to nail it. this calls for making a trip to ikea to get the signe rugs - we need to bring our tree back to ikea for recycling anyway...

{pictures from kjerstis lykke via remodelista, lena corwin and martha stewart }

Blessings in a Bag

So I have been cleaning out Nadine's things in the hopes of starting the wall works (ie. stenciling silhouettes of birds) and working towards completing the nursery. Finally. Maybe in time for Eid ul-Fitr this year. Hopefully.

So, Nadine apparently has a gazillion number of too-small-for-her-bodysuits and separates (a few of which are unworn at all!) stashed in storage boxes.

Because I was (and still am) against buying stuff blatantly pink and frilly and frou frou, most of Nad's clothing are gender-neutral (think white, yellow, green and a couple of reds and purples). And yes, in case you want to know, I do want to have another child sometime not too long down the road to pass these down but I don't think s/hewill need like 50 pieces of body suits in his/her first 6 months of life.

So the hunt began for needy families and organisations who may find a few baby's clothes and toys useful. And thanks to a friend who pointed me to the right direction, I am probably going to get in touch with Blessings in a Bag.

Better still, we're all headed to Phuket at the end of the year, we may yet lug a couple of bags over for the kiddos in Phuket! I'm excited at this possibility.

So this Sunday, happy from the trip to Ikea I will be I am sure, M, Nadine and I will delve deep into the storage boxes and sort out what can be given away. And since we're at it, a trip to Popular to get some school stuff all bagged up at the same time to donate.

cheri and david at the selby

i love this crane chandelier. folding cranes was my grandma way of calming us down when we were kids - when my parents were out on date nights, when there was a nasty tropical thunder storm. we would fold so many - all of them white - they would be of different sizes since we would use any paper we could find - typically from exercise/composition books. so many nights, i would somehow fall asleep and when i woke up, all the cranes would be strung and hung so that i could see them when i woke up.

{pictures from the selby}

Project-ing

With M home (at last!) for the next few weeks (before he has to travel again for another week), I have some time for myself this weekend (and next!) to do my own thing without having to worry that the rest of the family (our furballs included) are taken care of. Ok. Maybe I really mean, I-don't-have-to-worry-incessantly-whether-I-have-got-M's-and-the-furballs'-needs-taken-care-of.

And . . . with M enlisting help from my brother to turn that guest room around in time for Cookie's arrival in 8 weeks (YIKES! I haven't got anything remotely ready for the nursery!), I can safely say that I am starting on this hanging mobile project.

Then maybe this:

(Image courtesy of Living Creatively)

(I have to admit I was smitten by the new Japanese fabrics I laid eyes (and fingers on) whilst trawling Arab Street last weekend, that I have decided that I will purchase a few metres of them to sew sheets for the cot. Perhaps pillows. Something. Anything!)

And oh, I have started sketching/doodling to jumpstart my Gocco love.

M, Exp, Mini and ~e~ will be the first "victims" of my love. Hopefully.

Beauty of Love

M and I did nothing on a what started out as a beautiful sunny day back in Singapore, at home. Chilling. With Stairway and Empress.

It's raining now.

I love the smell of rain. The distant occasional sounds of thunder shattering the peace of the quiet afternoon with M napping and the cats sleeping.

A few weeks before I turned 34 - gosh, I can't believe how old I am right now! - I went through a self-evaluation phase.

And though it took me a long to see it then, I realise now that what I love, is what I do. Be it, my day-job, my side projects, etc.

The Persian poet Rumi reminds us to "let the beauty of what you love be what you do".

(Image courtesy of LookyLoo via etsy)

Oh Love!

At the end of the 2 weeks packed with adrenalin and excitement plotting in secret with E and ~e~ to throw Exp a baby shower, I feel buzzed and energised. I guess the adrenalin has not left this mortal body just yet.

As a few of you may already know by now, we're trying to get on the move of things to "tear out" our current guest room and convert it to a nursery-cum-guest room. (Nevermind that no guest will probably ever stay over for fear of a wailing baby. Not for the few months after May anyway.)

Our lilac-awash current guest room has taken a life of its own in 2.5 years. (Read: piled old clothes, extra pillows and cushions packed in my 10-year-old cupboards etc).

Our BIG todo list (which hopefully gets completed end April):

+ send old clothes to Salvation Army;

+ send current bed to storage;

+ send old cupboards for recycling;

+ repaint walls

+ purchase new cupboards/baby dresser etc

+ purchase sofa-bed

+ sew new panel curtains

+ assemble cot

+ purchase knick-knacks to make room feel comfortable

In between all that though, I hope I can start on a hanging mobile project. Like this I saw from Pottery Barn Kids:

I reckon though that Stairway and Empress will have as much fun with the hanging mobile as Cookie. :-P

Project : Love

It's going to be a busy few weeks ahead until I leave for London towards the end of October.

It's my best-friend's sister's wedding on 9th October. Doreen is a sweet little girl who has blossomed into a woman.

I've been tasked to make the wedding's card/ang-pow box to match the wedding theme of crimson red roses and champagne. Easy peasy. I think. At least I hope so. I need to take a walk down Arab Street and Chinatown for some inspiration.

I also have a few friends who are expecting. 2 of whom, in between their morning sickness and stuffing themselves with foods they have been craving, requested me to design/print baby announcement cards for them.

What great friends I have!

I thrive on these creative sojourns. And with the past month's hellish office move, I need this break to keep my sanity. ~ Inspira

short entry

i hear rain

strange, i do hear rain

but the sky is so bright

i turn around - my back is toward a wall of windows - {i have a lovely office}

and it's the most beautiful sky i've ever seen

if you squint a little, you can see tiny tiny rain drops

pitter patter

~exp~