Around the World - Ukraine - Boorashka

Crochet will probably be one of those crafts I will never pick up, but I am constantly amazed by it's flexibility, as proven by Boorashka. Various styles of crochet jewelry in colors, hair clips, lovely brooches, appliques, table decors, bookmarks, baby sensory toys and even egg warmers! How cute is that? I love the bright colors as well as the unique texture resulting from crochets. The details are just so interesting to look at! My favorite are definitely the egg warmers, the idea just amuses me. :D But the wooden Easter egg magnets are pretty cute too!

The 30 Days of List - With an Extra Hour in the Day, I would...

1. Sketch on Monday.
2. Paint on Tuesday.
3. Read on Wednesday.
4. Write on Thursday.
5. Watch a TV show on Friday.
6. Craft on Saturday.
7. Sleep on Sunday.

Did this while watching So You Think You Can Dance, it's the episode with Lady Gaga as judge. Just an amazing, amazing show! I love this show!!

The 30 Days of List - Favorite Memories

1. When I adopted Ginger.
2. Grand adventures in my car. Especially when I have a passenger, Once, my car engine died when I was going up a super steep hill, and I rolled backwards safely back to the bottom. Carlyn was so traumatized! It was hilarious!
3. Playing horror games on a home theatre system in the dark.
4. Whenever I am with my friends in San Francisco.
5. My first 9 sales on Etsy.

Yeah, when I got my first sale on Etsy, I actually got 9 sales at once! I was the target of a sneak attack by the Handmade Movement! You can read all about it here. :)

Around the World - Ukraine - My Bookmark

How to make 1000 sales in just a few months time? Have a great and unique product that tickles people's fancies. :) I first saw MyBookmark's bookmark on the Etsy FP, that was back when they just started, and I can still remember going in awe at the sheer simplicity and creativity of their bookmarks. I'm sure at some point in life, we entertained the idea and image of a person being squashed in between pages of books, or even between just any random two things. But Olena from MyBookmark made it into a reality with her funny and creative bookmarks. The image of a pair of legs, human or animal jutting out of your book is sure to attract attention and bring up conversations. Just pure genius!!

The 30 Days of List - Dear World...

...you can make me happy in the following ways.

1. Having 48 hours a day.
2. No more traffic jams.
3. No more discrimination.
4. We hug instead of fight.
5. No more sickness and sadness.
6. Stop making selfish and stupid people.
7. People appreciate art and design more.

I know, I know, one can always dream, right? Hahaha. Playing catch up still! This is all I have tonight though. Till tomorrow :D

Sick day? Scratch that. Sick WEEK!!

Andie's Candy RX - andiesspecialtysweets

Whoops! I dropped out of the face of the blogosphere a little bit there. So, so terrible sorry! I have a very good reason though - I got ply on with more sickness, lol.

The diarrhea did not stop, once I stopped taking the meds for it, it just reoccurs. Then by last Thursday I developed a nasty sore throat which was diagnosed as a throat infection on Friday morning. The doctor also said I will have a fever coming due to the throat infection, and I was bedridden a few hours later. The sore throat was so, so painful! By Saturday I had totally lost my voice.

It was actually the Arts for Grabs weekend, I mentioned Arts for Grabs in one of the 30 Days of List earlier this month. But I was too sick still, and had to rest in on Saturday and missed the first day of Arts for Grabs. Thankfully the fever finally receded and I feel a lot better on Sunday, so decided to pack up and head on to the second half of Arts for Grabs. I didn't bring a lot of inventory or too many display items, as I just want to cover my cost and take it easy. In the end, I did managed to cover cost and earn a little bit, after that I head off with my best friend who came to help me pack up, and we had delicious Vietnamese pho for dinner, the tastiest meal I had the whole week!

I'm finally back to work Monday, but at the same time my sore throat had turned into a nasty cough. It was difficult to sleep, having coughing fits that woke me up so frequently. And by this morning, my chest already started to hurt from the violent coughing. I probably strained a muscle somewhere.

Well... at least I am not bedridden anymore! I'm slowly getting back on track, trying to get my backlog of things done like my 30 Days of List, (how behind am I? Oh no!) orders, art, etc. Wish me luck!!

The 30 Days of List - Family Traditions

1.Going back to mom's hometown every year for Chinese New Year.

2. Steamed chicken for Chinese New Year eve dinner.

3. Vegetarian for the first meal on Chinese New Year.

4. Earth Hour. (fairly new tradition, hehe)

5. Eating out on everyone's birthday.

Seems like most everyone's family traditions are celebration/holiday related too!

Spring Time!

And Spring Arose on the Garden Fair - joystclaire

I think pink-springs are too overrated! I want mine orange for a change. :)

Peach Pink Peonies Miniature Flowers - miniaturepatisserie // Orange Flower Fascinator - LaCocoRouge

Juicy Orange Shoe Clips - eclu // Book Rose Photograph - shannonpix

Handmade Fabric Buttons - RetroNaNa // White Floral with Orange Cloth Napkins - toocutecustomcrafts

Now isn't that nice too? :)

The 30 Days of List - Favorite Days of the Year

1. Family Birthdays. In chronological order:

April 18th (Mine)

April 27th (Dad's)

June 19th (Tat's)

Auguest 5th (Chuen's)

November 23rd (Mom's)

2. Days spent hanging out with friends, making lovely memories.

3. Comic Fiesta. Only once a year I get to meet such a huge gathering of friends!

4. Long weekends.

Who doesn't love long weekends? Lol. Trying to play catch up! I have a long way to go...

Sick Days

Get Well Soon Card - poosac

My apologies for the lack of update in the last two days. Because as luck have it, I caught a terrible virus and was out of commission for nearly two full days. Trust me, 15 diarrheas in a day are not fun. Why I call it a virus? Because it is contagious. My brother was the first to catch it early last week, then the kid my mom babysits, following by both her siblings, my mom later in the week, and finally... me. Hopefully that is the end of the cycle.

For the last two days I spent at least 13 hours a day sleeping, drifting in and out on the couch, and was not well enough to sit in front of the PC at all. I spent a lot of time playing Draw Something on my iPod Touch though... Anyways, I'm so totally behind with the 30 Days of List! I'll try my best to keep up, but at this rate, and with the preparations for the Arts for Grabs market later in the weekend, it will not be an easy task.

Hopefully I don't get sick again. Sigh, will try my best to pick up the backlog and get everything back on track soon!

Around the World - Ukraine - Leather Druid

Ever since I laid hands on a leather journal some time last year, I had slowly grown a fondness for leather journals. And when I see these beautiful leather journals from Leather Druid, I just can't take my eyes off them! The laser burning pattern, the details in the stitching, the leather color coordination, everything is just top notch in there gorgeous leather journals. I love that a lot of these look like they could be from the medieval times, makes writing tales of adventures in the book that much more exciting! Now if only I have a habit of writing or sketching in journals...

The 30 Days of List - Pet Peeves

1. People cutting queues on the road or otherwise. (so so hate this! Selfish people!!)
2. Internet trolls
3. Being called 'Ah Moi'. (It's a local slang used by mostly Malays to refer to young/pretty girls)
4. Smokers that smoke in the toilet.
5. Eyelashes in my eye.
6. Self righteous people that contradicts themselves.
7. Stupid people, generally.

I'm sure I have more pet peeves, but these are the ones that immediately come into mind :D

The 30 Days of List - Overheard Today

1. Unreasonable demands from clients, which resulted in
2. Coworkers complaining about work
3. Weird noises from the technical department
4. Radio DJ pretending to be someone he is not, though it was obvious it was him.
5. The kid my mom babysits is sick, and so is my mom!

This was a difficult list, as I usually have headphones on over my ears when I am at work. I feel like such a stalker trying to eavesdrop on people!

The 30 Days of List - Tools and Toys to Try

1. Metalsmithing tools - Always meant to try them!
2. Sewing machine - LOL!
3. Kinect
4. Make-up tools - Hahaha! (I am so hopeless with this)
5. Smartphone, contemplating on an iPhone 4s

Still trying to play catch up. Surprisingly, I finished this fairly quickly!

The 30 Days of List - 10 Years Ago I...

1. Was still a teenager.
2. Had no idea who I'd be ten years later.
3. Was still dreaming about being a comic artist one day.
4. Had just started to learn to use Photoshop.
5. Owned my first tablet - A Wacom Graphire 2. (which had since broke a few years back)
6. Was still using a dial-up modem to get online.
7. Would never thought that I would be running my own small business one day.

It was nice going down memory lane for a bit. :)

Around the World - Ukraine - Beauty Spot

Now that we're finally done touring Israel, (10 shops gosh!!) let's hit a new country next! If we head some ways up north from Israel, we'll hit... Ukraine!!

Now let's see what Ukraine has to offer in fantastic Etsy shops. :)

You would be hiding in a rock on Etsy if you have not seen Beauty Spot before. They are more well known for their art resin jewelry, but there are a few other gorgeous pieces in their shop as well that is both vintage inspired and romantic. I must admit, I had more than one occasion studied the way they photograph their pendants. The setting and lighting is just so exquisite! One can see that a lot of time and effort had been placed into the product photography, and this we should learn from them. :) I am also convinced that they have the best sunlight ever! Such a soft and pretty glow in the photos, something I probably can't achieve with Malaysia's harsh sunlight.

Anyways, I should stop gushing at their photos hahaha. Check out their jewelry pieces, a lot of them are really unique and lovely. My favorite is the piano necklace!

The 30 Days of List - Superpowers I'd Like to Have

1. Teleportation - If I could only have one, this would be enough.

2. The ability to communicate with animals.

3. Rapid healing.

4. Telekinesis.

5. Time Travel - Imagine how awesome it would be to see the dinosaurs!

Just thought I should mention some superpowers that I do not want too. Such as mind reading. I do not want to know what people are thinking, because I know a lot of people nowadays can be pretty scary, or perverted, or just cruel. I would probably be depressed if I had that superpower. I also find another popular one - flying, to be pretty pointless. When you have teleportation, well... flying would just be a sensation, there's no real use to it.

The 30 Days of List - Right Now I am...

1. Sitting in front of my work computer, drinking delicious tea.
2. Looking forward for the weekend!
3. Having a mild headache.
4. Working on this list in Photoshop.
5. Reminding myself of the tasks I need to complete today.
6. Waiting for the rain to clear so I could go home.

Shhh... I did this list while at work today, hehehe. But in the end I couldn't wait for the rain to clear anyway as it just goes on and on. (still drizzling a little outside actually) So I grabbed my umbrella which I conveniently left at work yesterday and trotted off in the rain to my car.

The 30 Days of List - Today was Awesome Because...

1. I had two glasses of delicious sour plum lime juice for my sore throat, it was delicious!
2. Donated Ginger's kidney disease medicine and cat food to the vet, to benefit another sick kitty.
3. Shipped a large custom order.
4. Had Starbucks caramel frappuccino.
5. Had millennium crispy chicken rice and Chatime milk tea for dinner.

Whoops, sorry I missed the Sunday update. I wasn't feeling too well yesterday. :( But here is today's list! And I am ashamed to admit that I am 2 lists behind now. >_< Trying my best!!

As you can see, I am easily satisfied by food ahahaha. I might have taken a little too much sugar today but... I have low blood sugar problems and today is one of those days, hehe.

Unfortunately, there will be no Weekly Word Picks today, it's postponed to next week. Reason? My treasury team Curation Nation and TeamT International are having a team collaboration of treasury blitz session. Curating a large amount of treasuries and posting them over today and tomorrow. So I've been a little busy curating treasuries for that. Hehe. :P

Well then, till tomorrow for the next list I guess!

The 30 Days of List - Happy Places

1. In the company of my best friends.
2. San Francisco.
3. A place with great food.
4. Japan.
5. In bed on a cold rainy day.
6. At my laptop doing productive creative work that I love.

I do miss San Francisco and Japan, the two places I want to revisit again. And this year, I'm going back to Japan again! :D Woohoo! Going to see Kyoto in it's autumn glory. Can't wait!!

The 30 Days of Lists - I Need To Say No To...

1. Spending money on things I want but don't need.
2. Fast food.
3. Outrageous requests I don't care about.
4. Promises I don't have confidence keeping.
5. Too much sweet or fattening food.
6. Hoarding outrageous amounts of supplies.

True on all accounts. I want a smartphone but I don't need it. My old (non-intelligent) phone still works fine. BUT I am starting to learn to say no to outrageous requests, so I guess there is an improvement there? Haha.

In Memory of Ginger

Mid April last year, I rescued an orange kitty in dire need of medical attention, she had a bad case of mange. At first I was just a fosterer, but as time passed I grew close to her and decided to adopt her, much to my parent's chagrin. (eventually they relent anyway, hehe) She was diagnosed with kidney disease a short time after that, and was estimated to be 11-14 years old at the time based on the condition of her teeth. Most of them were already gone, only molars left. Ginger needed to be on a special diet specially for her kidney disease, and she need to take meds everyday.

This morning she was found dead and her body was already stiff under my neighbor's car. It was a shock for me, she seemed fine the day before! There was no apparent injury. We suspect she already knew she was about to die because yesterday night at 11pm+ my mom saw her sitting outside, staring intently in the direction where we found her dead body. She never looks in that direction. My mom called her but she did not budge, normally she would at least look back even if she didn't want to come into the house compound. At 12am+ I came down to check on her, she was sleeping right beside the door, I accidentally woke her up when I was opening the door and I said 'goodbye' to her, urged her to continue sleeping and waved. I normally do this when I am going away from her for a few hours.

She is now buried under a flowering plant nearby, with cement blocks and bricks as tombstone and grave marker. I will be able to see her everyday because I drive by that spot every time I come home. RIP Ginger. T_T

If you want to read more about her tale, just click here.

The 30 Days of List - I am Inspired by...

1. The beauty of mother nature.
2. Friends.
3. Music.
4. Art.
5. Dreams.
6. Great books.
7. Colors in all shade and hues.
8. I believe that we could find inspiration from the smallest and most insignificant things.

Today's list! I like this color combination, reminds me of vintage hot dog stands somehow...

I was feeling unwell this morning so I got off work early to come home to rest. Miraculously, I felt better after taking medication and napping for 3 hours. I decided to take it easy for the night and just have fun with these posters. But alas, it was too good to be true. When I was almost finish with this poster, I fell sick again. Just took medication right before I type this post, and will be heading to sleep soon after.

Have a great day fellow readers, appreciate you reading this :)

The 30 Days of List - Things to Collect

1. Travelling Experiences.
2. Words of Wisdom.
3. Happy memories with friends and family.
4. Kitty and nature photographs.
5. Fabulous art.
6. A bajillion crafts and beads supplies in a million colors.

Whoops! I was late by one day to post this list. But I was busy rushing orders the night before so did not have the chance to complete it. Well, better late than never right? Hehe.

Taking the Leap

Once in a while, a quote from one of my wisest friends would ring in my head. "Eventually, artists and designers would work for their own." Either starting their own studio, be a freelancer or run their own indie business. Because I realized, especially in Malaysia, that there is close to no creative freedom  in the corporate world for designers. I had realized this increasingly lately as I was practically pulled by the nose by a client from my day job to complete a recent work. Twenty edits later, the design is no longer mine, but the client's. I might as well hand the computer to him and let him do the work himself.

Overworked, underpaid, under appreciated, this was the life of a designer in Malaysia.

Inspired by the Quit Your Day Job series on Etsy, ever since I started my Etsy shop I had always been working towards one goal - Quitting my day job. And I am happy to announce that... I finally had. :)

On the leap year day - February 29th, which is exactly a week ago, I finally tendered in my resignation letter to my employer. Woohoo!! It was such a liberating feeling, to know that I will be rid of this dead end job once and for all. Although I still need to work 3 more months here, (I need to give a 3 months notice) but after that I will be freeee~!! And I will be concentrating on Skyejuice and Starjuice full time. Soooo looking forward to that!!

Want to take a peek of what designers need to suffer? Check out this fun site Clients from Hell hahahaha.

Around the World - Israel - Tush Tush

Finally, the last featured seller for the Israel run. There is just a wonderful, almost childish charm to tushtush's artworks. The bright colors, the beautiful painting style and especially the subjects, reflect such joy that you can't help but smile as you look through her paintings. Although I love her portraits, whether reflecting the emotion of joy, playfulness or sadness, I also love her street painting of old people. It is just so lovely to see those wrinkled, smiling faces. Aside from her semi-realistic style, she also paints in another more cartoonish style and she sells her artwork in her alternate shop Tosya. Talk about multi-talented!

The 30 Days of List - Words to Live By

1. Don't worry, be happy - Bobbie McFerrin. (srsly, this is like my life motto)
2.  If today was your last day, tomorrow was too late. Could you say goodbye to yesterday? Would you live each moment like your last - Nickelback.
3. Crying doesn't indicate that you're weak. Since birth, it had always been a sign that you're alive.
4. Look forward with hope, not backward with regret.
5. Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do, than by the things you did do. Explore. Dream. Discover - Mark Twain.

Yes, I'm inspired by songs a lot. Bobbie McFerrin's Don't Worry, Be Happy had always mysteriously came up on my radio or my iTunes whenever I'm down or sad. Nickelback's If Today Was Your Last Day is one of my all time favorites. I'm quite certain that I want this song to be played at my funeral. :) Meaningful music video too!

Weekly Word Picks - Industrial

Ooooh this week's one was super fun too!! I based around the idea of office/workspace decor, and had a fantastic time picking items to match the theme. :) This week's word is...

INDUSTRIAL

Reclaimed Wood Coffee Table - Hindsvik // Sconce Bookshelves with Oil Candles - DirtyBils

Industrial Salvaged Fan Cage - AMradio // Natural Wood Apple Crate - LBrandT

1940 Antique Royal Arrow Manual Typewriter and Case - CatskillDivine // Vintage Crouse-Hinds Industrial Spotlight - lacklusterco

For the complete treasury : The Perfect Industrial Office

This week's word was chosen by rhanvintage.

So what should next week's word be? Suggest by posting in the comments below!

For a list of words already suggested, please refer to this post.

The 30 Days of List - Things I'll Put Off Till Tomorrow

1. Cleaning and reorganizing my nightmare of a room.
2. Plan for next week's blog updates.
3. Finishing that long pending artwork.
4. Sorting through my new supplies.
5. Brushing Ginger my cat.

I think everyone is a little bit guilty of an unkept room once in a while. Mine is just... 10x that maybe, lol! A shorter list today. :)

The 30 Days of List - Recipe for the Perfect Weekend

1. Wantan mee or nasi lemak for breakfast.
2. Going out with friends.
3. Visiting a craft market.
4. Spending some quality time with my Xbox360.
5. Have a great cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon.
6. Making new pieces for my Etsy shop while watching my favorite TV shows - CSI, Criminal Minds, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Walking Dead.
7. Not having a sprained foot.

I just can't help but adding that little bit towards the end hahaha. FYI, wantan mee or wonton noodles is a Chinese noodles dish, served in soup or served dry. I prefer the dry version. And nasi lemak is a Malay dish and is the national dish of Malaysia.

The 30 Days of List - This Month's Goals

1. Get tickets for the Lady Gaga Born This Way tour in Bangkok, Thailand.
2. Finish all the things I have planned for Arts for Grabs.
3. Survive the day job!
4. Make enough from my Etsy shop to cover living expenses.
5. Finish at least one artwork or at least one sketch.
6. Launch StarJuice - The supplies shop.

Yey!! Hopefully I can get these done this month. Am not a huge fan of Lady Gaga, but I do respect her artistic individuality and think she has great showmanship. Plus she don't come to the Southeast Asian region a lot. Malaysia is not on her tour list, (don't think it will be, seeing how they banned Erykah Badu just last week for something stupid) and tickets for the Singapore show already sold out, Thailand is my last hope. T.T

And on an unrelated note, I sprained my foot pretty bad earlier today. I guess that is more time to work on orders or new items since I need to stay still more...

Around the World - Israel - Yoola

STILL on the Israel marathon for the Around the World series, this is the 9th featured shop. We're almost till the end!

Until I discovered Yoola, I never knew that crochet wire jewelry existed. And boy was I soooo amazed at the intricate craft and the versatility. I've went to some basic wire wrapping classes before and I can definitely tell you I have major respect for people that are great at wire craft! And Yoola is no exception. The amount of detail, design, and even the 3D form, it is just so mind blowing! The best thing is that Yoola offered video tutorial on how to make crochet wire jewelry as well. How amazing is that? However, I am not emotionally ready to tackle this craft yet. I don't even know how to crochet!

The 30 Days of Lists - Challenges to Accept

1. Complete all 30 lists for thirty days of list.
2. Draw more, write more.
3. Run my small business full time without a day job.
4. Cut down on spendings or spend wiser.
5. Start two more Etsy shops - Supplies and art shop tentatively.

I decided to take on something new, and joined the 30 Days of Lists challenge! Since I need to do this everyday, maybe it can spur my creativity again. Decided to do this in typography poster style hahahaha, taking the opportunity to dust off my typography design skills once more. Who knows? Maybe by the time I'm done with the challenge, I'll have a fabulous new skill set. ;)

Anyways, yeaaaah that's my list above. :) I'll elaborate on the without a day job part in the near future. ;)