This blog is 4 years old today! Thank you to my family and everyone out there that support my blog all the way.
Everything starts with a dream, and a dream is always sweet when you turn it into reality. I realised my dream. Having a blog of my own is one of my dreams. Actually it is two blogs!
To some, number 4 is not a good number, but not to me. We are family of 4! I am blessed with a girl and a boy. Hubby and I registered our marriage in 2004 after a brief courtship of 2 years.
This year has been another amazing year for me. For instance I have been in my business for more than a year, and it is picking up. We can see some extra incomes coming in from the business as well as personal networking. And now we are in midst of planning for another venture. Hopefully it will be achieved by next year.
Hubby is doing great in his work and other ventures although some hiccups early of the year.
And after more than a year of struggle, we can finally relax and have a family vacation. Where else but shopping in KL last week?! It were my children first trip to KL, so after so much story telling about the shopping complexes to my girl, it was time to show her the real place. *wink* They having so much fun walking the whole Mid-Valley and a day trip to Zoo Negara. Maybe we can have an overseas vacation next year, if everything goes well.
Till then, happy blogging everyone! And Happy 4 years old to my blog! :)
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Monday, 28 November 2011
Spring? Summer? Autumn? Winter!
I cannot believe that I am still picking miniature rosebuds from my tiny rose bush outside, placing them in my teeny tiny, vintage vase and enjoying them for a little bit longer. And December is only a few short days away. Wow!
I think these beautiful minis started budding back in May or June; kept their petals growing all through summer and fall; now as it is nearly winter I guess they will finally be ready to go to bed for a few months, resting up for warmer seasons once again.
Though it may not be easy to see, this vase measures all of two and a half inches tall, so you can only imagine how small the rose buds are. As you know, I just love all things tiny, and nature is no exception to my miniature collection.
December is on the way, the winter season is coming, but the studio will keep blooming pink and aqua throughout the chilly, winter days.
Sunday, 27 November 2011
After a tiring weekend
It is always good to be back to own home after a holiday. After 2 days rest at home from our short KL trip, I finally regained my strength and everything back to normal in shop. Kids are with baby sitter's since hubby is not free to look after them and I would be mending the shop whole day today.
Finished with all the packing of our shopping items and have the new clothing washed today. Fortunately the weather was good these few days but as usual it always heavy rains during the afternoons. No wonder many people is down with sickness.
Talking about sickness, my old car was down again on Saturday morning when I was sending my kids to babysitter. Probably it was on "mogok" because I deserted it for few days? Lol! Tried to drive it to my dad's workshop today but again, it broke down after few minutes so we decided to get my dad to pick up the car from our house. Wonder what is the problem now. Told hubby maybe it is time to get new car. Lol!
I have also made appointment for my facial this Thursday. Really need to go for one after back from KL because I can feel my face is clogged. Happy Monday and December is just a couple of days away!!!
Finished with all the packing of our shopping items and have the new clothing washed today. Fortunately the weather was good these few days but as usual it always heavy rains during the afternoons. No wonder many people is down with sickness.
Talking about sickness, my old car was down again on Saturday morning when I was sending my kids to babysitter. Probably it was on "mogok" because I deserted it for few days? Lol! Tried to drive it to my dad's workshop today but again, it broke down after few minutes so we decided to get my dad to pick up the car from our house. Wonder what is the problem now. Told hubby maybe it is time to get new car. Lol!
I have also made appointment for my facial this Thursday. Really need to go for one after back from KL because I can feel my face is clogged. Happy Monday and December is just a couple of days away!!!
Friday, 25 November 2011
A short holiday
I am trying to live my life to the fullest and that is what I did for the past 3 days. I came back from KL with my family last night. Yes! Four of us had a great time there.
We shopped till we dropped. After all, I seldom spend on myself (after having two kids!), so it was a great time shopping for myself. We spent the most on the kids, more than RM1000 on their clothing and shoes. Plus the kids were having so much fun walking around and eating there. What is most important is it was a wonderful and quality time with the family. And we have great time in Zoo Negara too. We spent nearly 4 hours there, luckily the weather was not so warm. And my boy can recognized bears when he saw one.
We will definitely do it again, if hubby and myself can find time and money to spare. Got to plan our next trip next year; maybe some place else. *wink*
We shopped till we dropped. After all, I seldom spend on myself (after having two kids!), so it was a great time shopping for myself. We spent the most on the kids, more than RM1000 on their clothing and shoes. Plus the kids were having so much fun walking around and eating there. What is most important is it was a wonderful and quality time with the family. And we have great time in Zoo Negara too. We spent nearly 4 hours there, luckily the weather was not so warm. And my boy can recognized bears when he saw one.
We will definitely do it again, if hubby and myself can find time and money to spare. Got to plan our next trip next year; maybe some place else. *wink*
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Join the Joy of Christmas
A new Cricut cartridge is out just in time for Christmas and it is a pattern collection all about the joys of Christmastime. This is a pattern set I designed for ProvoCraft’s Cricut Imagine based on my collection The 12 Joys of Christmas, and it is available on their website and wherever retailers carry the brand.The cartridge comes with 20 of my original designs and a few projects ideas. This time The 12 Joys of Christmas are in the candy collection colorway, which means pink, aqua and chartreuse are bringing sweetness and joy into your Christmas crafting! The collection has been named Christmas Wish by ProvoCraft, so you will need to look for that title on the cartridge. The cartridge will work with the Cricut Imagine, but I do not think it will work with the other Cricut cutting machines, as it is developed to be a printed pattern collection.
Since the images of the patterns are so tiny on Provo’s website I am showing them here as the complete set of twenty patterns so you will know what you are getting on the cartridge. Click on the image above to see the patterns at a larger size.
Get ready to take part in the joys of Christmas in a candy coated overdose!
Gobble Gobble
Even though we have had a difficult weekend/week with the tragic death of our bird I still think it is important to find things you are thankful for, especially around Thanksgiving. And while it is a lot easier for me right now to say "nothing" there is always something you can be thankful for. I am thankful for my life--that I am alive and healthy and well. I am thankful for my amazing husband, David, who is so caring and always thinking of me. I am thankful for our daughter Eliana who is a ray of sunshine in my life. She lights up my world. And if I think harder there a lot more things to be thankful for. It's always difficult to think of good things when you are in difficult times. But maybe it is when you are in difficult times it is even more important to remind yourself of the things you are thankful for...
Now onto food. Last week I made two different turkey themed sandwiches for Eliana. She loved them and they were super easy to make!
This is "Sally". Whenever you ask Eliana to name an animal she will name it Sally. She usually just would say "bear" if it is a bear, or "cat" if it is a cat. But if I really ask her to think of a name she will say Sally. So we named this turkey shaped sandwich Sally.
This was very easy to make. I made a grilled cheese sandwich and cut it into a circle with a cookie cutter. I cut another circle out of whole wheat bread and made the face out of edible eye candies, carrot nose and a red pepper googly gobbly thing (what is that called?!). I cut out feathers from red orange and yellow bell peppers. I cut the feet out of carrot. And I put some leaf sprinkles on the the plate.
Eliana loved it and ate it all up. Which I love. Win-Win. I also made another turkey sandwich.
On Mondays and Fridays I babysit a cute almost two year old (Sophia) and Eliana always comes with me. I always make our lunches to go and since we still had peppers left over I wanted to make her a smaller turkey sandwich last Friday. Again--so easy! I just made a jelly sandwich with whole wheat bread and cut it into a circle. Carrot nose and carrot legs. Bell pepper feathers and gobbly thingy. I then cut out a few cheese pumpkins and drew on them with edible marker.
This was by no means bento perfection. This container is just a sandwich container and I usually make Eliana small cute lunches to go in it. Eventually I will have to get her an actual bento container that will hold her food better--so it doesn't move around while traveling. Or I need to "glue" things in place with honey or something. When we reached our destination I had to rearrange her lunch because she was upset the feathers weren't all in place :) Both of these lunches would be an awesome way to use up leftover turkey in a fun way! :)
Here is what I used to make these lunches:
I Link up.
Now onto food. Last week I made two different turkey themed sandwiches for Eliana. She loved them and they were super easy to make!
This was very easy to make. I made a grilled cheese sandwich and cut it into a circle with a cookie cutter. I cut another circle out of whole wheat bread and made the face out of edible eye candies, carrot nose and a red pepper googly gobbly thing (what is that called?!). I cut out feathers from red orange and yellow bell peppers. I cut the feet out of carrot. And I put some leaf sprinkles on the the plate.
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| Mini Turkey |
This was by no means bento perfection. This container is just a sandwich container and I usually make Eliana small cute lunches to go in it. Eventually I will have to get her an actual bento container that will hold her food better--so it doesn't move around while traveling. Or I need to "glue" things in place with honey or something. When we reached our destination I had to rearrange her lunch because she was upset the feathers weren't all in place :) Both of these lunches would be an awesome way to use up leftover turkey in a fun way! :)
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving :)
Here is what I used to make these lunches:
I Link up.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Goodbye Kiwi
This post has nothing to do with food. So i apologize for that. I will post some of my newest creations tomorrow.
I write this post with a heavy heart. Two days after I put up my last post and we celebrated five years of having Kiwi he was suddenly taken away from us. Like I mentioned before we have always let Kiwi have his flying wings and ever since we have been in MA he had a normal flight path from the dining room where his cage was to the kitchen, where he would normally fly right to either David's or my shoulder.
On Saturday we had only left the dining room for a mere second. We heard Kiwi scream and we ran over. Kiwi had landed on my parent's parrot's (Baby) cage. Baby had mortally bit Kiwi. We rushed him to the animal emergency hospital but they confirmed what we already knew deep down inside: there was nothing they could do. We were devastated.
The sudden shock of this violent death of our beloved bird has been very difficult for us. Kiwi was unlike your normal bird. He was trained. He could do tricks, and even was poop potty trained (if thats what you call it for birds). He was always on our shoulder whenever we were home. We always left the cage open so he could fly to us. He loved for me to hold him close to my chest and scratch his head. When I scratched his head he would close his eyes and just rest with me. He would cry for us whenever we left the room. He liked to snuggle against my neck or inside my bathrobe when he was cold... Like I said. Not your normal bird.
We loved him very much, and he very much became a part of our family. Even if you don't like birds you can understand if you imagine your pet suddenly died in a violent way. Green Cheek Conures can live up to 25 years of age. We were expecting Kiwi to meet all of our potential kids and be a part of our family for a long time. Kiwi has been such a constant part of our lives. In the past five years we have moved to four different states, had different jobs, Eliana was born, I started grad school... Throughout all those years we always had him. I have never had to do a paper for school without him on my shoulder and his death has really shown me how much he really meant to us.
It was such a freak accident and it is such a complicated situation since Baby is also a part of my family. My parents got Baby before I was even born. So this situation is very delicate, complex and layered. It has been a very difficult weekend for us and I know it will take time for us to feel better. I know I will have to get used to the silence. It has been very quiet since Kiwi is now gone. He was always chirping in our ears since he loved to snuggle on our necks, next to our ears. He also loved to "talk" exactly when we were talking... I miss that.. :'(
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without words,
And never stops at all.
Emily Dickinson
RIP Kiwi 06/01/2006- 11/19/2011
I write this post with a heavy heart. Two days after I put up my last post and we celebrated five years of having Kiwi he was suddenly taken away from us. Like I mentioned before we have always let Kiwi have his flying wings and ever since we have been in MA he had a normal flight path from the dining room where his cage was to the kitchen, where he would normally fly right to either David's or my shoulder.
On Saturday we had only left the dining room for a mere second. We heard Kiwi scream and we ran over. Kiwi had landed on my parent's parrot's (Baby) cage. Baby had mortally bit Kiwi. We rushed him to the animal emergency hospital but they confirmed what we already knew deep down inside: there was nothing they could do. We were devastated.
The sudden shock of this violent death of our beloved bird has been very difficult for us. Kiwi was unlike your normal bird. He was trained. He could do tricks, and even was poop potty trained (if thats what you call it for birds). He was always on our shoulder whenever we were home. We always left the cage open so he could fly to us. He loved for me to hold him close to my chest and scratch his head. When I scratched his head he would close his eyes and just rest with me. He would cry for us whenever we left the room. He liked to snuggle against my neck or inside my bathrobe when he was cold... Like I said. Not your normal bird.
We loved him very much, and he very much became a part of our family. Even if you don't like birds you can understand if you imagine your pet suddenly died in a violent way. Green Cheek Conures can live up to 25 years of age. We were expecting Kiwi to meet all of our potential kids and be a part of our family for a long time. Kiwi has been such a constant part of our lives. In the past five years we have moved to four different states, had different jobs, Eliana was born, I started grad school... Throughout all those years we always had him. I have never had to do a paper for school without him on my shoulder and his death has really shown me how much he really meant to us.
It was such a freak accident and it is such a complicated situation since Baby is also a part of my family. My parents got Baby before I was even born. So this situation is very delicate, complex and layered. It has been a very difficult weekend for us and I know it will take time for us to feel better. I know I will have to get used to the silence. It has been very quiet since Kiwi is now gone. He was always chirping in our ears since he loved to snuggle on our necks, next to our ears. He also loved to "talk" exactly when we were talking... I miss that.. :'(
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without words,
And never stops at all.
Emily Dickinson
RIP Kiwi 06/01/2006- 11/19/2011
Monday, 21 November 2011
My travelling with kids tips
It is that time of the year. With school holidays and festive seasons, who could resist a vacation right? So, we are going to have our first family trip tomorrow. Here are some tips when you travel with not one but 2 hyper-active kids. Thank god it is only few days so not much things to bring over.
1. Plan the trip well
Day 1 it will be shopping. Day 2 we bring the kids to zoo. Day 3 shopping again!
It would be good to check out any interesting activities around the travelling date.
2. Get a to-pack list
List down what you need to bring for the kids like stroller, their toothbrush, their swimming wears, favourite toys/dolls, and enough clothing. Not forgetting camera (to snap the kids) and its charger, handphone and its charger and hubby's ipad and its charger so we still able to keep in touch with what's latest and happenings.
3. Chewies for children
Soft candies and snacks for my children when in the airplane.
4. Get enough sleeps
Make sure everyone has good sleep the night before. Travelling with kids can be hectic.
5. Not forgetting the eco-friendly shopping bags as shopping malls are practising no plastic bags policies.
6. Enough cash
Yes, make sure we have enough cash (or credits) for our shopping loots.
7. Do not forget your luggage
The night before, pack everything in the luggages and place your luggages together so you would not forget them. Sometimes, you make rush to go to air port that you tend to forget this and that.
8. Enjoy and relax!
That is the main objective of our holiday!
1. Plan the trip well
Day 1 it will be shopping. Day 2 we bring the kids to zoo. Day 3 shopping again!
It would be good to check out any interesting activities around the travelling date.
2. Get a to-pack list
List down what you need to bring for the kids like stroller, their toothbrush, their swimming wears, favourite toys/dolls, and enough clothing. Not forgetting camera (to snap the kids) and its charger, handphone and its charger and hubby's ipad and its charger so we still able to keep in touch with what's latest and happenings.
3. Chewies for children
Soft candies and snacks for my children when in the airplane.
4. Get enough sleeps
Make sure everyone has good sleep the night before. Travelling with kids can be hectic.
5. Not forgetting the eco-friendly shopping bags as shopping malls are practising no plastic bags policies.
6. Enough cash
Yes, make sure we have enough cash (or credits) for our shopping loots.
7. Do not forget your luggage
The night before, pack everything in the luggages and place your luggages together so you would not forget them. Sometimes, you make rush to go to air port that you tend to forget this and that.
8. Enjoy and relax!
That is the main objective of our holiday!
Sunday, 20 November 2011
On fire
Hubby received call early this morning around 6.15am telling him to go back to his office! And when I asked him where in the world is he going at such hour, he said his office on fire! FIRE!
But thank god after an hour later, he MMS-ing me the picture, it was just the banking hall. But hubby's office is just above, so a lot of cleaning and clearing need to do due to the smoke and dust. For time being the bank below shall be closed for investigation. Fortunately for the rain this morning, or else I think the fire could get worse.
Friday, 18 November 2011
Just add frosting!
I’ve been working on a new holiday collection that is all about the mood of the season. It is Frosting and it is just that. Designed to be the added touch, the frosting on top, if you will. It is Christmas without Santa, winter without the chill, and holiday without holly. This year my holiday colors are shifting a bit to the old turned new. Bringing back the sweetness and charm of 50’s carnation pink, the warmth and cool of robin egg and moss, the old renewed of 80’s taupe and gray, and a finishing touch of crisp, clean, snow white.
I couldn’t stop at designing just patterns for this collection, so I imagined these twinkling snowflakes encircling ornaments and voila, here are the results.
Okay, so for now the results are only on my site, not actual three dimensional ornaments to hang on this year’s tree, but maybe they will show up somewhere in the home just in time for holiday cheer. Maybe in paper crafting? Maybe in holiday decor? Maybe garlanding and glistening about? Wherever Frosting can be the added touch this season, sprinkle it about and let it shimmer, glisten and twinkle as you enjoy your holidays with family and friends.
I will let you know the minute you can find a little Frosting and where you can get it to top off your own creations in time for the holidays.
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Holiday starts
Today is the last day of schools for little girl. It is party day so all children are required to bring some food for sharing. As usual, I do not bake so I always having hard time thinking what to bring to her school party. But finally I chose her favourite snack of all times; Croissant from her favourite bakery. Easy as it is on the way to school and it opens around 7.30am.
No more waking up early and rushing in the morning. Yahoo!
No more waking up early and rushing in the morning. Yahoo!
Meet Kiwi, our Green Cheek Conure
So five years today my husband David and I got a bird. It was the cutest bird in the pet store.. for days I would just go to the store and play with him through the glass. I looked up all the information I could get on Green Cheek Conures (GCC) and I learned everything there was to know. I even named him before we bought him (oops?). I named him Kiwi. And apparently that is what made my husband make up his mind to get him. So I guess lesson learned? Name the animal you want and your family members will want to get it for you ;)
All kidding aside I love my Kiwi. He loves for me to scratch his head, he cries when we leave the room, he loves to sit on my shoulder or to hide in my bathrobe when it is cold, he repeatedly says "I want some" whenever I am eating, regardless of what it is and he LOVES to shower in the sink (he'll shower in the shower too but he prefers the sink!) All in all he has been such a wonderful bird who is playful, cute, and really not high maintenance (unless you consider the fact that you can't do dishes without him flying over to you and trying to jump into the sink high maintenance lol). We decided to let his feathers grow so that he can fly. And he actually has learned to figure out which room in the house we are in and can fly to us and land on our shoulder which can catch you by surprise if you didn't remember you left the cage open!
This is a picture of Kiwi the day we got him (11/17/2006)
Kiwi was born in June of 2006. My husband and I had just gotten married that June. So of course I thought Kiwi was destined to be ours! Now Kiwi is 5 and my husband and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary this past June. This is my most current picture of Kiwi. This is also Kiwi's way of telling me "I want a shower!" He flew to the kitchen sink faucet:
Alright enough about my bird ;) Now onto food! In June I decided to make a cool lunch for Eliana to celebrate Kiwi's birthday. Sorry for the poor quality in advance. It was taken with my phone and it was dark that day!
I made the parrot sandwich out of a spinach tortilla filled with ham and cheese cut with a parrot cookie cutter. I cut some of the beak out the spinach tortilla and use a food safe marker to color the cheese underneath to make it look like a beak. For the maroon colored belly I cut out the shape with fruit leather.
The "perch" is a bread crust
The cupcake was cheese that I cut with a small cookie cutter and then decorated it with food safe markers.
"Kiwi" was cut out with cheese with alphabet cutters
I added some raspberries and blueberries for the border
This lunch was fun to do and Eliana loved it! Next time I try to make a sandwich like Kiwi I may want to try to add more colorful tail feathers, but for a first try I was really happy with it.
All kidding aside I love my Kiwi. He loves for me to scratch his head, he cries when we leave the room, he loves to sit on my shoulder or to hide in my bathrobe when it is cold, he repeatedly says "I want some" whenever I am eating, regardless of what it is and he LOVES to shower in the sink (he'll shower in the shower too but he prefers the sink!) All in all he has been such a wonderful bird who is playful, cute, and really not high maintenance (unless you consider the fact that you can't do dishes without him flying over to you and trying to jump into the sink high maintenance lol). We decided to let his feathers grow so that he can fly. And he actually has learned to figure out which room in the house we are in and can fly to us and land on our shoulder which can catch you by surprise if you didn't remember you left the cage open!
This is a picture of Kiwi the day we got him (11/17/2006)
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| 5 month old Kiwi |
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| 5 year old Kiwi |
 |
| Happy 5th Birthday Kiwi! :) |
The "perch" is a bread crust
The cupcake was cheese that I cut with a small cookie cutter and then decorated it with food safe markers.
"Kiwi" was cut out with cheese with alphabet cutters
I added some raspberries and blueberries for the border
This lunch was fun to do and Eliana loved it! Next time I try to make a sandwich like Kiwi I may want to try to add more colorful tail feathers, but for a first try I was really happy with it.
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Weekend Menu #17
Another cooking over the weekend.
One of my favourite beans of all times. French Beans. Shimeji mushroom with french beans.
One of my favourite beans of all times. French Beans. Shimeji mushroom with french beans.
Monday, 14 November 2011
A week
It has been a week that my Internet connection in the shop having problem. No one seem to know the problem but I am suspected the modem is the culprit. But anyway I have books to accompany me so if nothing urgent, Internet is not so important to me.
Other than my new novels I am currently addicted to monopoly board games and sudoku. Even my daughter is playing monopoly but mind you, not the traditional board but the online board games. One of my favorite past time games when I was a child was monopoly. Me and siblings love to play monopoly. The feeling of owning properties and monies when you were a child was overwhelming. Lol!
As I was saying, my girl is also addicted to virtual Monopoly games. I wonder at her age would she misses out the feeling of playing with friends or her sibling instead of with a pc player? Somehow their games are so much different from our times too. Now everything is played or done on a pc screen. One day, she even asked her dad to buy her an iPad. Faint! Need to remind her on books too as she has not been reading much lately. Every time I always catch her with iPad playing games.
Other than my new novels I am currently addicted to monopoly board games and sudoku. Even my daughter is playing monopoly but mind you, not the traditional board but the online board games. One of my favorite past time games when I was a child was monopoly. Me and siblings love to play monopoly. The feeling of owning properties and monies when you were a child was overwhelming. Lol!
As I was saying, my girl is also addicted to virtual Monopoly games. I wonder at her age would she misses out the feeling of playing with friends or her sibling instead of with a pc player? Somehow their games are so much different from our times too. Now everything is played or done on a pc screen. One day, she even asked her dad to buy her an iPad. Faint! Need to remind her on books too as she has not been reading much lately. Every time I always catch her with iPad playing games.
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Striking it Lucky!
As many of you know, Woodland Tails is in my top five favorite collections of all time. This collection has been making its rounds in scrapbooking and papercrafting, cards, stuffed animals, baby dishes, baby clothes, blankets and bibs and now it gets a spot on the roster in quilting fabrics.
I was lucky enough to see the strike offs last week of these prints and get my own sneak peek at Woodland Tails with Riley Blake Designs. This collection will come with some prints in cottons, flannels, and laminates. The collection is due in quilt shops in February and it is a good mix of boy and girl prints and I believe (and designed) many of them to be unisex.
While I love, love, love pink, I’m not a big believer that all girls rooms need to be pink, nor all boys rooms blue, and many of these prints can be used for both. On the other hand, blushed walls would have a charming grace with the sweet lambs and deer for any girl’s room, and robin egg walls would be adorable with the raccoon and bear print for a boy’s room.
Above is the set of flannel prints for this collection, and they are as soft and cozy as one would imagine.
As soon as I have my hands on the entire collection I will let you know when and where to find it, and if Woodland Tails strikes your fancy as it does mine, with a little luck you will be able to get ahold of these woodland creatures in just a few short months.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Flower Soup
Eliana has been sick since last Saturday...needless to say we have been exhausted over here.. Sleepless nights, interrupted sleep, runny nose, cough along with a side of being irritable and not wanting to eat. It is never fun when your little one comes down with a cold. I'm so thankful Eliana likes soup! Since she hasn't been eating as well soup is great way to get some good nutrition in. However having soup every day for lunch can get boring.. so I decided to present today's soup in a creative way.
Eliana actually asked for soup and cracker refills and told me she likes her soup better in the flowers than in bowls! This was a very simple lunch, but very creative!
I put her chicken noodle soup in two flower silicone cups [use homemade soup or canned... if you happen to be running on a week of not-so-good sleep I would go with canned ;) ]
I then put crackers in the last flower silicone cup. I also cut some green peppers for some "leaves".
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| Flower Soup |
I put her chicken noodle soup in two flower silicone cups [use homemade soup or canned... if you happen to be running on a week of not-so-good sleep I would go with canned ;) ]
I then put crackers in the last flower silicone cup. I also cut some green peppers for some "leaves".
Easy as pie. Or soup.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
The touch, the feel of cotton
Today I get to touch, I get to feel the first fabric collection I have done with Riley Blake Designs, 100% cotton, 100% perfect. The fabric with RBD is amazing, in quality and in color, and this collection looks just like I had expected.
This first collection is ModTod and it’s very mod but not only for the toddler. This collection has something for everyone, not just for your little rascal or tiny tot. There is something for the gal, who seems to love cute animals, but not the “cutesy” look. There is something for the not so young as well, because dots, stars and stripes are forever ageless and forever useful.
There are two main prints in the collection, one is mod pull toys that are perfect for your little ones. They are dogs and ducks and turtles and cows and more.
The other is gears, gears, gears. This is a print with gears and discs in a swirl of modern madness. In addition there is a print with mod dots, another with mod stars, a mod check, and a striped print lining these graphics up in a very mod way.
I can image not only a cool boys room decked out with this collection, but diaper bags, kids clothes, soft toys and animals, and quilts, quilts, quilts. I might even try my hand at toy design and make the weenie dog out of a few of these prints complete with wooden wheels and a pull string.
You can find this collection in three colorways, blue, cream and green. This is the blue colorway above.
This is the green colorway above.
Look for the ModTod collection in your favorite quilt and fabric shops as well as online stores. Just head to the mod corner of the store and I bet you’ll spot the dots and all of the other modern prints in this collection. Gear up to enjoy the fun when you start creating many projects with ModTod by yours truly and Riley Blake Designs.
I dare you not to touch this cotton fabric.
No connection
Streamy has not been good to me lately. Down! So bored and frustrating at the shop, but luckily I have new novels to read or it would be hard to pass the times there.
Wonder it is only my shop connection problem or Streamyx's? Really hope the line is back tomorrow. Otherwise I need to check with Telekom on the problem. Sigh!
Wonder it is only my shop connection problem or Streamyx's? Really hope the line is back tomorrow. Otherwise I need to check with Telekom on the problem. Sigh!
Monday, 7 November 2011
Logo's Hope
It was a public holiday yesterday. Since I operated my shop last year, I lost count of holidays. Every day is the same to me, irregardless of holidays or working days, so not much differences.
But yesterday hubby invited me to go to Logo's Hope as it has international book fair which will be ending on 15 November. It was a hot day yesterday. We were under the hot sun for more than 30 minutes before we were able to go into the ship.
It is Logo's Hope maiden trip to Malaysia and the first stop is Kuching! Yes! Next would be in KK from 17 November to 13 December.
As you can see, this was only the first half of the queue. Luckily I brought along my umbrella. The second half of queue was much better as it was under the canopy. The queue reminded me of an hour queue for the roller coaster in Korea last year. Luckily this queue only lasted us about 30 minutes under hot sun.
Me taking photo before the queue
Our tickets and brochure. RM1 per adult. Kids below 12 is free admission
We were briefed on the operation of the ship. The famous section of the ship would be the largest floating book fair.
An insight on the crew cabin. Hubby has an idea of a double decker beds for the kids from this! Lol!
The price are in unit, since they are going to more than 40 countries.
The entrance of the book fair. It was very stuffy in there, many people. But I managed to grab 3 novels which is only RM16 per book. We spent RM204 on books and souvenirs yesterday! We did not bring the kids along, but probably I will bring little gal over this Friday since she has no school that day. Hopefully less people.
I am reading one of the novels now. Happy reading to me! *wink*
But yesterday hubby invited me to go to Logo's Hope as it has international book fair which will be ending on 15 November. It was a hot day yesterday. We were under the hot sun for more than 30 minutes before we were able to go into the ship.
It is Logo's Hope maiden trip to Malaysia and the first stop is Kuching! Yes! Next would be in KK from 17 November to 13 December.
As you can see, this was only the first half of the queue. Luckily I brought along my umbrella. The second half of queue was much better as it was under the canopy. The queue reminded me of an hour queue for the roller coaster in Korea last year. Luckily this queue only lasted us about 30 minutes under hot sun.
Me taking photo before the queue
Our tickets and brochure. RM1 per adult. Kids below 12 is free admission
We were briefed on the operation of the ship. The famous section of the ship would be the largest floating book fair.
An insight on the crew cabin. Hubby has an idea of a double decker beds for the kids from this! Lol!
The price are in unit, since they are going to more than 40 countries.
The entrance of the book fair. It was very stuffy in there, many people. But I managed to grab 3 novels which is only RM16 per book. We spent RM204 on books and souvenirs yesterday! We did not bring the kids along, but probably I will bring little gal over this Friday since she has no school that day. Hopefully less people.
I am reading one of the novels now. Happy reading to me! *wink*
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Toward recovery
The weather is damn crazy and there is no wonder we all fall sick. Baby Jay is down with diarrhea and vomitting, while I am having tonsilitis and bad cough, and so is little gal. Luckily we are recovering from our sickness. Shooo! Go away all the sickness. We don't need you here.
I went for a facial this afternoon. One of my customers operating a facial centre at her home so thought of giving it a try for first time. Reciprocal agesture; she supports and buy products from my shop and I support and done my facial. Since my facial course has used up, so it was right time to try out new place and compare their services and pricing. Near to my shop so convenient for me and I like the personal space offered by having it done at home.
I cooked at home this evening since hubby offered to take care of the kids. Both kids are still recovering, so it would be better to have them rest at home than running around at my shop. Don't want them get sick again.
I love this simple dish. When you are running out of time and don't know what to cook, you can give this dish, I called Steamed Shimeji mushrooms with Black Fungus and Chicken a try. I knew that I would not have much time after the facial, so I prepared the ingredients and keep refrigerated in the morning.
Method
Cut the lower part of the Shimeji mushrooms and wash and soak in water for few minutes.
Soak black fungus in water till it turns softer. Cut into smaller slices.
Slice some ginger, strip the Shimeji mushrooms into smaller slices (I did not have much time, so my slices are bigger) and slice boneless chicken meat into strips.
Mix the mushrooms, fungus, ginger and chicken together, add salt and oyster sauce. Mix well. Do not add water as the mushroom will release some juices.
Place into steaming dish. Steam till chicken strips are cooked under medium fire.
Voila!
I went for a facial this afternoon. One of my customers operating a facial centre at her home so thought of giving it a try for first time. Reciprocal agesture; she supports and buy products from my shop and I support and done my facial. Since my facial course has used up, so it was right time to try out new place and compare their services and pricing. Near to my shop so convenient for me and I like the personal space offered by having it done at home.
I cooked at home this evening since hubby offered to take care of the kids. Both kids are still recovering, so it would be better to have them rest at home than running around at my shop. Don't want them get sick again.
I love this simple dish. When you are running out of time and don't know what to cook, you can give this dish, I called Steamed Shimeji mushrooms with Black Fungus and Chicken a try. I knew that I would not have much time after the facial, so I prepared the ingredients and keep refrigerated in the morning.
Method
Cut the lower part of the Shimeji mushrooms and wash and soak in water for few minutes.
Soak black fungus in water till it turns softer. Cut into smaller slices.
Slice some ginger, strip the Shimeji mushrooms into smaller slices (I did not have much time, so my slices are bigger) and slice boneless chicken meat into strips.
Mix the mushrooms, fungus, ginger and chicken together, add salt and oyster sauce. Mix well. Do not add water as the mushroom will release some juices.
Place into steaming dish. Steam till chicken strips are cooked under medium fire.
Voila!
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Weekend Menu #16: I cook, I eat
I counted the days I cook this year. So shameful! *wink* Anyway, got the chance to cook over the weekend. The weather has been pretty wild lately. Either it rains or shines whole day but we stayed doing nothing at home over the weekend.
Felt like drinking some chicken soups. Remember we bought some of this dried fish slices from Korea last year. The Koreans used this fish for stock in soup and other dishes. Still have some leftover in the fridge so I added some slices to my chicken soup. Taste very sweet!
I do not have much time during the day since I need to open up the shop so I rely very much on slow cooker since I no need to check on it from time to time.
Red dates chicken soup
Half chicken used
10 Red dates
Few slices of dried Korean fish
Salt to taste
I put everything into slow cooker, let it cooks for 3 hours. Great taste!
On Sunday, I cooked Fu chuk (beancurd skin) pork rib soup. Very easy to prepare, and again I used slow cooker. Simple, just get ready all the ingredients in the morning and throw into the slow cooker. After came back from mass, our soup is ready.
Beancurd skin pork rib soup
Pork rib
Beancurd skin
Ginger slices
Garlic clove
Salt to taste
Thaw the pork rib in warm water for few minute. Soak the beancurd skin in cold water till it soften, then cut to desired sizes. Wash the garlic and ginger; slice the ginger into few pieces. Pour water into slow cooker and put all the ingredients in. Let it cooks for 3 hours.
As for the kids who do not really enjoy soupy dishes, I have some luncheon meat with egg for them.
After so many trials, my steamed egg is successful. *wink* But I still like my mum's steamed egg, because hers is silkier and yummier than mine. Overall, my steamed egg not so bad. *wink*
Felt like drinking some chicken soups. Remember we bought some of this dried fish slices from Korea last year. The Koreans used this fish for stock in soup and other dishes. Still have some leftover in the fridge so I added some slices to my chicken soup. Taste very sweet!I do not have much time during the day since I need to open up the shop so I rely very much on slow cooker since I no need to check on it from time to time.
Red dates chicken soup
Half chicken used
10 Red dates
Few slices of dried Korean fish
Salt to taste
I put everything into slow cooker, let it cooks for 3 hours. Great taste!
On Sunday, I cooked Fu chuk (beancurd skin) pork rib soup. Very easy to prepare, and again I used slow cooker. Simple, just get ready all the ingredients in the morning and throw into the slow cooker. After came back from mass, our soup is ready.
Beancurd skin pork rib soup
Pork rib
Beancurd skin
Ginger slices
Garlic clove
Salt to taste
Thaw the pork rib in warm water for few minute. Soak the beancurd skin in cold water till it soften, then cut to desired sizes. Wash the garlic and ginger; slice the ginger into few pieces. Pour water into slow cooker and put all the ingredients in. Let it cooks for 3 hours.
As for the kids who do not really enjoy soupy dishes, I have some luncheon meat with egg for them.
After so many trials, my steamed egg is successful. *wink* But I still like my mum's steamed egg, because hers is silkier and yummier than mine. Overall, my steamed egg not so bad. *wink*
Strawberry Fields Forever!
The strawberry season is over, but the berry will always be in season. I have a new check design that just came out with Bradford Exchange and it is all about the berry, the strawberry, that is.
This is one of the patterns from the Berrylicious collection. Now it can be used by many and seen by others when your personal checks are sent to them. Sure, the first thing they’ll get excited about is the amount of cashola they notice on the check, but then they won’t be able to get their eyes off that field of strawberries in blue, yellow, pink and green.
The checks are now available at Bradford Exchange and you can find Strawberry Fields in checks, a checkbook cover and mailing labels.
In case you haven’t been checking in lately, I have a stripe collection that came out last year. This is when a simple design makes that ever famous statement that “less is more” and these checks are nothing less!
The stripe collection also has a checkbook cover and mailing labels in four colorways. If you would like to view the Stripes collection available at Bradford Exchange you can click here to learn more.
This checkbook cover shares a chocolate background with a blended stripe of colors. I love this checkbook cover; it makes a statement without even trying.
Both of these check collections (Strawberry Fields and Stripes) can be found at Bradford Exchange and are also in the product category on my website. Thanks for checking them out!