Camera Pouch for Daddy

Dad has been bugging me to make him a camera pouch for his camera. He was using this bulky leather casing which is not too user friendly. Anyway, since we were hanging out in the tiny apartment with nothing much to do except watch boring drama serial at night, i decided to finally help him with his request :D

he chose the main fabric and i did the rest. Had been dragging my feet on this previously because i was simply too lazy to draw a template/design. Anyway, here goes...And here's the end product - added a layer of batting for protection.

Dim Sum @ City Hall Maxim's Palace

The dim sum at City Hall Maxim's Palace aint spectacular. But the place's big and spacious, bright and clean and there's some added charm to its restuarant with those push trolleys dim sum where u order as it comes along. Its a great place to bring guests/tourists to for dim sum but its better to go before noon on weekedays and before/at eleven on weekends. Weekends especially are terror - reach there by 11.30am and its fully packed with huge crazy queue. I am not too crazy about dim sum at Maxim's but i like the toufu hua (soya beancurd) - it comes in a wooden bucket on push trolley. Feels gimmicky but i like it! :D

Large Clasp Pouch 4

Surprisingly, i managed to find some time to make more of these for the past few days. Here they are. Love the floral ones (prints from leicen range) - they are bright and colorful .. very spring-like.And here's one of my favorite prints.. dad saw it and liked it so much that he asked me to make a camera pouch for him using this... which i did just tonight. Will post pictures of it tomorrow.

Morning Exercise @ Bowen

We were having nice leisurely breakfast at The Chalet last sunday and somehow, the topic turned to exercising and to Bowen Road. There's a nice walking trail along Bowen Road near cousin's place which i mentioned a few months back about bringing my parents there for a stroll when they visit.

So... here we went on the walking trail. Think its a popular walking trail for many cuz there's even an 'official' location map on the notice board.
See the black arrow in the map above. That's the start point and we were suppose to walk along the path denoted by the red line... But.. it took us like forever of strolling to reach from The Chalet to the starting point.. so much so that by the time we got to the starting point, we were ready to go back :D Had to take a picture before we turned back - been there done that? :D

Breakfast Bento

Made lunch bento the other day and today, i made breakfast bento style - cuz i just bought a new plate! Must try to use for prettiness.
Pondered abit whether to give tyre greens early in the morning cuz he has tendency to wanna vomit if he eats too much raw greens. Anyway, i prepared it for it anyway cuz (1) it gives a nice color combi and (2) there are leftover lettuce in fridge.

The hashbrowns, ham and cheese are from Marks & Spencer. Oooo.. i love their food ... usually very good.

Large Clasp Pouch 3

Made two more while watching the new china drama serial "后宫".　Not a bad show (neither very good) for passing time and crafting away to. But its feeling a bit draggy now halfway through the show..

Patchwork Pillows For HK!

I love hexis... they are so fun to make and so portable ... i can make them at home, at work, at fren's place, on the plane, overseas etc. I made these hexis for the living room pillow case. It took quite a while to piece them all together but it was fun!
I always wanted to do a red and aqua blue combi.. so here's it.. i made 4 different ones for the living room. So pretty! :D

Seperately, I am now trying to 'tackle' a new project. Another quilt! (yeah.. i havent completed sean kiddo's yet but i cant resist doing a new one) This time, happy yellow and happy green color combi.. hmm..reminds me of the vong's grass patch at home :P. Spent the whole day today cutting and ironing them .. till i have no time to cook dinner :D Well, parents are coming to hk tomolo for more than a week so guess i be laying off crafting for sometime and be out spending some money!! Whoppeee!!

I heart mail!

Look what came in mail yesterday! Two boxes of zakka goodness!The sellers really took effort to pack everything nicely to make sure it all arrives in tact. After about half hour of unwrapping! Ta Da!!

Large Clasp Pouch 2

Made two more yesterday while watching korean drama "Secret Garden"

My First Bento!

Tyre has been giving me feedback about his office canteen... how the food was too oily for his liking, how boring the selection was etc. I dunno if he's trying to hint anything but after listening to his feedback a couple of times, i felt compelling as a lazy housewife to do something about it. So, i started making him lunch boxes to bring to work.

It started off with bagels sandwiches with meat patties, egg, lettuce and mayo. But today, i decided to try something different. I prepared a 'bento' for him. Not bad eh for first time. Lately i watched on youtube a video on how patties and nuggets were made and it made my stomach churn. Its disgusting!!!

Anyway, so i decided to make my own patties now - minced meat, onions, carrots seasoned with salt, pepper and worchester sauce. I have not tasted it yet.. tyre's the first ! Hahahah hope its good.

Large Clasp Pouch

No 'feelings' lately to craft new designs... still searching for inspiration. So, in order to calm my itchy hands, i am back to crafting the large clasp pouches. They are quite a hit with many ... as it is perfectly sized and very versatile.

Here's the first of the many...
This piece of japanese fabric was a lucky find in hk. I kinda had some doubts when i bought it cuz its much brighter than what i am usually used to ... but... i am happy how it turns out in the end :D

My Favorite China Drama Serial - 步步惊心

Life for me here is like a long drawn relaxing isolated holiday. I enjoy staying home all day long ... toodling ard the house, doing some housechores (my fave has to be doing the laundry), listening to music, watching/listening to lots of drama serial while i do crafting. The day just whizzes by very quickly.

Talking about drama serial, my favourite one at thism moment has to be this...步步惊心. Its a China production with some hk actors. I was never a fan of china produced drama serials. My only memories of them were those which my dad would watch and fall asleep with. They are typically very dramatic in speech, slow and the setting is usually dark and gloomy. So, i was really impressed with this one especially. Unlike HK period drama which is a bit more 'modernised' already, China production period dramas are still very authentic in their props, fashion etc. Plus the storyline is sooooo good.. very romantic... *swoon*. The first few episodes are a bit boring but bear with it.. the story develops very nicely.

Sean's Quilt WIP

I am going to make Sean Kiddo a baby quilt. Mummy Haw also already made a minky blanket for him but never mind, the more the merrier?

Here's a sneak of the color combi that i have pieced together for him using cartoon prints. I have already finished piecing it and i just need to quilt it now. I have to first go get some batting later this week. Hope to finish it before my next trip back.

End of Winter?

Looked out of the window and saw this...
Oooo.. they are cleaning the pool... that means winter is coming to an end soon? Cleaning looks like hard work. The guy in yellow is in charge of using the jetspray to flush out the dirt while the other four helpers focus on scrapping dirty water into that tiny 'drain'.
After cleaning for hours, they started to fill up the pool. Using water drawn from the ground floor apartments! Hmm.. aint that going to take a very very long time? Its such a huge pool - a waste of clean fresh precious water. Seperately, here's the view out of my apartment. Its considered quite a clear day today. On some days, i cant see the small outlying islands.

Serious Steak!

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse - Home to Serious Steaks! That's their tag line it seems. Was never really but now, i realise , it may be an acquired taste? I love good cut steaks!! *Slurp... thinking of the steak at Ruth's Chris*

We had a cozy post v-day dinner with cousins.
The steak portions were generous - good enough for two to share. Steak was served on hot plates coated with melted butter - smells and tasted so good. And the creamy spinach and potato gratin were equally yummilicious!
To get there, take mtr to Admiralty station, then exit Lippo Center. Their addresss is :
89 Queensway
Lippo Center, Shop 2 & 3 Ground Floor

Toufu Hua

This is on my must eat list whenever i go shamshuipo. This place was featured in one of those tourist guide books and one of the shopkeepers recommended it too. Must eat - the toufu hua with yellow sugar and a plate of the panfried beancurd and beancurd puff drizzled with soya sauce. Oily and sinful! Yumz!
Gong He (公和豆品厂) is a small shop packed with customers - just eat and go. According to the guidebook, its established since 1893. The shop still retains its traditional look and feel. In front of the shop, there are two sections. The one on the left sells beancurd and beancurd puff fo takeaways. I usually buy a bag of the puffs home to go with my noodles/ laksa. The one on the right specializes in frying the beancurd To get there, take the mtr to Shamshuipo station, then exit B2. Once you exit from the stairs, you will see this 7-11 shop in front of on the right. Walk towards that direction - The shop is located along that 7-11 stretch of shops. Its No. 118 Pek Ho Street (深水步 北河街 No.118).

Fresh orange juice

Lately, tyre developed an interest in eating oranges - only sunkist oranges to be specific. So, i bought one of those juice squeezer thingy. Nothing fanciful, nothing electronic. Just cut and squeeze the orange dry.

It takes 3 oranges to make a glass of juice that's easy to gulp down in less than a minute. Times like these... i miss suparni and comforts of home! Back home, I have freshly squeezed juices every morning for breakfast. That i take for granted and resent having to wait that mere 3 minutes for suparni to make one fresh glass for me. Yes, i am that spoilt... too impatient to even wait - i just wanna get out of the house to work quick in the mornings.

Staying alone has its merits like privacy, and errr... i cant think of any else at this moment. But nothing beats staying at home with parents where everything is taken care of. No need for sweeping floor, laundry, cooking, ironing etc. And my darling girls! I miss them...esp snowy!

Clothespin Ribbon

I was spring cleaning my room over the weekend and found a bagful of ribbons and simply chucked them all into a big plastic bag. It was so unsightly, untidy that i dont even wanna use any of it and even forgotten about it. Since i was in the mood for tidying, i decided to roll them up but i didnt have enough spools. Used these clothespin instead..so much neater now.

My New Machine!

I have got a new machine!!! A Janome Memory Craft 6600!! On a nice date - 1.2.12!

My Bernina Activa 220 has been with me since 2008 (was one of the best surprise gift from tyre) and its perfect for my sewing crafts till now and will continue to be great! Its solid and sews beautifully & quietly.

Since tyre now works in hk, as the wife, i keep him company. It gets quite boring after some time (dvds and shopping overdose) so i needed to start crafting to pass time. Had bought a basic Brother sewing machine but quite regretted it after some time cuz its really for basic sewing and the stitches are pretty loose and weak looking.

So i started toying with the idea of getting a new machine. One in Singapore, another in hk. Ms G suggested for me to bring my Bernina over and when i needed to satisfy my crafting needs in singapore, i could borrow her juki. But but but... i just needed to own my own stuffs ! hahaha yeah.. wasteful.

My alternatives were Bernina, Elna or Janome.

Bernina is almost immediately out cuz its way to expensive for a more advanced model. I had used Elna few years back in Taiwan when we went on a crafting trip - the teacher used the Elna which sews perfectly and more importantly, it has a auto cutter function. This means, press one button and the strings cut perfectly. No need to pull and cut. I knew i had to have this crucial "auto cut" function in my next machine. As for Janome, its a foreign brand to me but Ms G said its popular among japanese crafters. Also, Elna machines are now made by Janome (so i was told by people in sewing industry) So being the sucker in me, i sort of decided on Janome.

And just before i confirmed my order, i did online research between Elna 7300 and Janome 6600. Seems like the features (which i look out for) are largely the same.

So... Janome it shall be!

And the best thing, they provide free delivery and home training! Compared to my Bernina after sales service support experience, Janome beats hands down! So friendly and patient! Bernina was more haughty in comparison.

Susan the trainer spent 2 hours going through in details how to use the machine. Here are some of the key functions i love - and with this machine, there's no need to use the 'step pedal' to sew - the start/stop button will do.
It comes with a boxful of footers for different types of sewing methods. Amazing! Without the training, all these would just be sitting at one corner collecting dust. I feel so inspired to start using the different types.
I havent started truly exploring and familiarizing with the functions, but i already feel very expert and professional and ready to tackle those big quilting projects! Sean kiddo - i will do your quilt first ... in hk!! :D

wish me luck!!!

Patchwork Zippy

Its been long time since i did patchwork zippy pouches. For the past year or so, most of the focus of my crafting was on fabric prints - as long as fabric prints are pretty, the crafted items turns out equally pretty , if not, more.

Lately, i develop an interest in doing patchwork and quilting again. Started doing patchwork pillow cases in HK then in Singapore for frens. I planned to do more patchwork when i return to HK next week (cuz i need to be very very free in order to do patchwork), but i just couldnt resist a small project!

Colorful zippy! So colorful and bright! :D but but.. lak said its gaudy ! :( never mind.. i love it all the same !! :D Its patchworked, its hand-quilted!