the commission sewing continues

... and another order, I'm creating a series for this which I shall name "My first Louboutin (almost!)" for the chili red sole. hehehe..

the first commissioned order(s)

I uploaded the two pairs of booties photos I earlier made in my fb page. Exactly 6 minutes after, a friend of mine sent messages requesting for a custom made booties as well.

Honestly, I do not sew with the thought I can make money out of it.

It is more of something that I find it fun, challenging, therapeutic and happiness. Fun because I am able to explore the creative side of me in inventing and finally create a name for the product, challenging in figuring out how to put things together, therapeutic because I just need something else more than the stressful office work load to slow me down and enjoy, happiness to see my baby girl posing in anything I made for her, happiness when people appreciate my handmade gifted to them. That is sewing to me.

However, I can't resist those messages that I mentioned earlier. Till now, I still can't believe that I actually took order for the booties. Here's what I made for her :

I name them Chasing Butterflies

With the help of office secretary, these cuties were couriered to my friend. On the same day, she (the secretary) nagged me that she needed the booties too for her niece.

I said "Dey! i'm busy la.... cannot sew for you!"

She went on and on and on "Aka, please la.. aka.. i make for you coffee every day right after fasting month finish"

Me then had to say "I will try".. to get her not to disturb me anymore so that I could get on with my heap of office work.

After I arrived home, I kept hearing the girl's name : EVE. Such a lovely name, hence these booties.

~ eve ~

My daughter at 3.5 yrs old

Well shown.

She issss Mek Robey

Lipsticks and Pinking Shears

At 21, I was gifted an Estee Lauder lipstick by my aunt, Cik Ra. It was my first lipstick and I thanked her so much. (Ya, I’m just that type of person whom remembers minute details……. Especially the every kindness bestow to me)

By average I guess it’s pretty late that I started with lipstick, huh? At that time, my uni friends were definitely having their lips in multicolors. As always, I am not easily influenced, I do things at my own want.

Oprah says something like - “Everybody likes fashion and beauty, but some like it more than other or less than other….”

Hmmm… me, yup – I love beauty but I’m too much of a cincai person when it comes to make-up and such. I wash my face if I feel like washing, I apply toner if I remember, I don’t regularize make-up as compulsory either at home or even if I’m outside (and that’s when make up for me is just powder and lipstick).

Once, an office client asked me if I had gone for facial treatment that my face looked glowing. I told her, so far in my life, I’d only been for facial treatment once. It was more than 10 years ago and I didn’t even have it for my wedding day. If I look slightly better when she praises me, it could be I was thinking of having steak at Me'nate Steak House or D’Butcher for dinner! She didn’t believe me. Whatever.

We very much frequent the steak house, Nada receives special x-ra attention. She calls the towkey - Atok.

Another time, I declared it was my birthday during a site meeting that I attended. Y’know, when you’re an only female in a pool of more than 20 males, the Y kromosom will listen to X kromosom on aside issues like this for pleasure. They were asking me my age. I have nothing to hide, so I just said – “I’m 36” . Many were in disbelief, which apparently they thought I am much younger. (They should see my mami). One said – She looks young because she doesn’t apply much make-up. ???????? I don’t understand the relation : make-up – looks young – looks old. Anyway, that was one man’s opinion.

On another occasion, at another site……..I was chit-chatting with few people about our child(ren). Our hopes. Our prayers. I was telling if my daughter turned out to be like me in term of consideration towards mother, it would be far than enough for me. Because I know myself, though I appear to be a stubborn as my mami always says.... I have huge soft spot for her in my heart.

One Chinese man asked : “Melayu anak perempuan ada bagi makapak uwang ka?” (Does Malay daughters give their parents money?)

I said – “It doesn’t matter for us, whatever the gender is one can give money to their parents. I myself have never slip a month of not giving since my first tiny RM 800 pay. I had a fixed percentage for my mami ever then.”

Then, the man went : “Ya loooorrr… lu tarak pakai make-up, ada uwang lebey….” (Ya, you don’t wear make-up, so have extra cash) – DUH! Really ah like that ?

I don’t think so but I just layan the man : “Ya looooorrr… saya cincai la” (Ya.. I am very lousy)

He goes : “Tak paaaaaa…. Itu manyak pakai make-up punya ah… kalau tarak pakai, dia takot mau kluar lumah oooooo” (It’s okaaayyy…. Those women whom put on lots of make-up, if they don’t, they would be afraid even to get out of the house)

I told him : “Lu ah… cakap ini macam depan 5 perempuan… mesti lu mati kena bunuh ooooooo” (You speak like this in front of 5 women, you’ll get killed!) GULP!

Indeed, I wasn’t “supporting” what the man said. But then again, I do feel women shouldn’t depend on make-up for self-confidence. Make-up should ONLY help to elevate women’s self-confidence. Right? No?

As much as I am very cincai with make-up, I do carry lipstick… and believe it or not, I carry and have only ONE stick. I told Harris, how lucky he is that I never pester him to buy make-up and still I am a damn gorgeous person. (Talk about self-confidence, huh?).

To further make him feel guilty, I said he may check any other women’s purse… mostly will carry at least 2 sticks. Even those in a lower pay bracket than me would do so.

Look at my only stick.

Patahhhh ko!That is the result of having a 3 and half year old daughter who thinks she has right to try every mommy doing.

Couple of weeks ago, on a weekend morning, nature does it’s justice. My beau talked to her daughter : “Nada, wake-up. Get ready. We are going out to buy Mommy lipstick ! ”

Yipppeeee. So we went to Sogo which initially was opposed by Harris, saying I’d end up in Bunga Riben store. He was right, anyway.. I wanted to go to Bunga Riben that’s why I chose Sogo store at Jalan TAR. To my surprised, I found the long searched pinking shears (gunting gerigi-gerigi) at Bunga Riben and being the pathetic me, I told Harris : It’s ok if he doesn’t buy me lipstick, just pay for my tailoring needs. What could be worse!

Two types of additional scissors for me.

However, my beau is kind.. isn’t he? I still was gifted with new lipstick that day. Not one but two. Fuh.. so much to say about make-up.

The pinking shears had already been in good used. Two pairs of baby booties were conceived with it’s help.Cute!.. This is the first time that I used free downloaded pattern from internet.

Another cute stuff, one shoulder top for Ms Dew. This one, I tenang2 the dress design by Baby Gap at KLCC store and re-invent my own top version.

And.... this is tonite's dinner. Homemade beef Olio - Mario's version :-)

Not bad laaaaaa...

Coin can

Glenelg, Adelaide

Ms Dew has own way of about Osreylia thing. Really this girl? When I was 3, I don't even know if there's any better place to go than Pantai Cinta Berahi or now known as Pantai Cahaya Bulan.

She's been imagining : going to school - Osreylia... When I say, I am going to work, she says she's also working - Osreylia. Seriously, I don't know how she gets the ideas.

I told her, Mommy had been to Australia before and you don't. She got so angry, she took my Australia album and started scolding me. Didn't I tell yal she's one drama queen!

Travelling alone...

For being obsess with Australia, her dad advised her to start saving money to buy aeroplane ticket so that she could fly to Australia. Using crayon colored paper, they both decorated an empty formula can and turned it into a coin box.

Since then, Ms Dew has been trying to fill the can.........
Well, it looks like she still has a lllloooooooong way to go.....

Antiques

Many-many months ago, our little books closet shelf collapsed being not able to hold the load it has to bear. After almost 2 months, my beloved handyman got it fixed and he willingly arranged back the books into the supposed shelves. Of course, it was not the same way of how I did it.

I am contemplating to re-shuffle the whole cabinet with noblest idea to create more space for more new coming books, especially for those colorful, full of pictures, less words books! This means some have to make way. I saw a section of my part ‘collection’ during uni time which by priority of usage, should not be accommodating the shelves anymore.

However, I so treasure my school books, notes and stuffs that some of them I still have today making me very difficult to put them away. Offer me to trade them with Zirkon jewelry, I would chose over my notes a thousand times. Offer to trade with Platinum.. I might consider only. J After every semester during uni, I would compile my notes according to subjects, bind and labeled them. Every single compiled notes has a story of it’s own.

For example this one. It was an elective subject under Engineering course that I took because of the lecturer. He was a handsome! Hehehehehe. Where got architecture student go and learn up about designing highway... So not cool ok.

See above assignment which I was supposed to get 7 out of 10 marks but being down graded to 5 marks because it was submitted later than the dateline. 7 is already not a big number... got cut some more! What can I say… I loaned the completed assignment to a class mate for reference which she promised to submit for me timely but she didn’t make it. My fault to trust. It was heart breaking right, to see that crossed. Lesson learnt!

There's one that has such an interesting story. Building Engineering subject and it is a compulsory subject that most students hated. Many hardly understand the lousy lectures and being architecture students whom always live in drawings and dreams, calculations and structures are so raw, boring and blergh!

We had our finals done, but results yet to obtain. A friend informed me that the lecturer wanted to see her, one other friend and me at his room. So we went. Lecturer’s name A***n Ch**bi.

When we met him, he went telling us about MLM, CNI products, he’s an agent… so on so forth. Then about our exam marks that we were in the A- range very close of getting A (border-border gitu as he said). The magic conclusion of the meeting was something like – join MLM under him/buy products = got A! Hah! Tu dia… I remember my two friends went out of the room with packets of CNI coffee, CNI soya drinks… Meanwhile I told him – “Just give me a ‘B’ or Fail me – I don’t really care”

That night I went to my class studio – Goodness…. There were packets and packets and packets of CNI products on many drafting tables, we had CNI feast.

I came to know almost everybody were called to his room with offer of B to A-, B- to B, C to B (if you buy more).. or even Fail to B-. I thought : I was so screwed up for not going with the flow and imagined the RED color mark on my results transcript. How were I gonna tell my mami about the to be Fail ? Not that she’d have a clue about it, scold me or be worried.

Results came out : I got ‘A’. Best part, I know I deserved it. Mek keras hati ok…..

Besides the stories behind each, I love my notes because they’re orderly and soothing to look at. So happened.. my handwriting is neat. I mean it. If I write, I make it a point to write properly. You should see my Geography notes during secondary school. I still remember how it was done very neatly. Too bad it’s no longer in my possession, lost somewhere along the line due to moving from one house to another. If it hadn’t for that, surely I’d still have it… even my primary school books! I sayang them all.

During uni, I hardly skip lectures. Ya-ya-ya.. Call me nerd if you want but I have reasons for it. I felt tensed up if I miss classes because I only trust my own notes! He he.

I was one who can’t stay late to study which is SO NOT an architecture student. Stay late to watch tv – can. Again unlike other architecture students the least my own batch, I was an active one. I like co-curricular, I got to hit something in the late afternoon. Usually by 5pm I was on turf with my hockey stick. I don’t spend much time studying. (The bad habit from school continues, I guess)

I did other things – panjat bukit – gunung, campings, sports - … And asal ada cuti, Mek balik kampong or down to kl to my cik ra’s house.

That’s why classes were so important for me. My studying time was mostly during classes.

For always attending classes, it made my notes were among the comprehensive ones and always being used by my piers as reference.

That’s the reason which makes me not very keen in joining study group because many times in a supposed to be group study, we’re referring to the same notes, and it’s my notes. I didn’t even know when they photocopied. Well, situation was… you owe it to one or two or may be three persons, then for all you know it’s already well circulated. Frankly, I don’t mind.

So, see.. I can go on and on and on blabbering whatever related to my school stuffs. These are my treasures money can’t buy. It may not be valuable to others but it cost so much for me. I’d rather carry all of them in a big-big bag rather than hanging big-big gold necklace to my neck, although I’m pretty sure no pawn shop would want to receive them in lieu of money! Tak laku….

But hey, I need not have to worry for burglars wanting to steal my precious belongings. Contradicting if I have a box of gold that every time I want to leave the house, the box has to follow me. Like the usual people do fear being stolen.

I don’t know what would be the end for the stuffs. May be again, I could pass them to Nada!

Ayat Drama : “Nada, Mommy tak punya emas-permata berkotak-kotak nak dibagi buat kesenangan Nada. Tapi Nada ambillah buku-buku dan nota-nota Mommy ini untuk dibuat panduan. Walaupun mungkin ia tiada lagi kaitan dengan keadaan semasa, lihatlah dalam perspektif berbeza. Akan kesungguhan Mommy dalam sesuatu hal."

Yup, when I always pray that she would inherit most of her dad’s values rather than mine… patient, polite, good temperament, soft spoken, stable, smiley, .. I hope she’ll get this one from me. The determination.

I do not need much external force to get things done on things that I want.

Relating studies – I never need my mami to breathe down my neck ever since I started learning A,B,C. Looking at these antiques, I am so unsure if there’s any significant for me to still keep them. Very much of me, I want to keep.. but I don’t want to be a hoarder ! Nanti Oprah datang interview Mek pulak!

Oh tough decision for me.

Clear the shelf. Clear the shelf NOT. Clear the shelf. Clear the shelf NOT. Clear the shelf. Clear the shelf NOT. Clear the shelf. Clear the shelf NOT.

I don’t know…

Name Quiz Session

Nada, what is daddy's name? * Abdul Harris * - perfect

Mommy ? *Safariiiiiyanti Maiyo*

Nek? *Rojan* (read : Norjan)

Tok Wan ? *Abdul Aziz* - perfect

Tok? *eeeeeemmmmm *.... Mommy has to start : KA.... She continues *Mayah* (read : Kamariah)

Pak Tam? *Hazidi* - perfect

Uncle Pi? *Rafiyuddin* - perfect

Abang Nya? *Danial* - perfect

Tok Ngoh? *Machine!* (read - Hashim) .... GOD! Mommy better not do name quiz in front of Tok Ngoh for he can be a real machine.....