Do I look familiar?

When I first met BJ, she said that I look familiar and asked if I have ever appeared on TV before. I said no. Sorry, BJ, but, I was not trying to lie, but, I was a little bit shy and embarassed.

I wasn't sure if the person BJ saw on TV was actually me, or someone who looks like me, because the couple of programs that I have appeared on TV before were more about architecture and about my work, though there were a couple of times that I appeared in the social pages with my dad.

I did not want to be misunderstood, had I said yes, it would sound like as if I was boasting and proud of the fact that I was on TV before. I had only met BJ for the first time that day. Surely, `boasting' about appearing on TV just wouldn't give anyone a good impression of me, right? *wink* What if who BJ meant was not actually me? Wouldn't that have been very embarassing?

Recently, at the end of a meeting I chaired, a member of the meeting, a young officer who I have only met for the first time that day, came up to me and said that she remembered me from watching TV some many years ago.

Goodness! Someone still actually recognizes me and remembers me after all these years? I was a little emabarassed and asked her if she hasn't got me confused with someone else. She said definitely not, and would recognise me anywhere, because she had some interest on the subject in the programs that I appeared in.

It's nice to be remembered still and recognized. *smile*

So, BJ, yes, I did appear on TV before, but so many years ago, and maybe you did actually saw me on TV that many years ago! LOL! *wink*

An officer and a gentleman

It feels nice to be treated like a lady! *wink*

It's nothing, really, but, I am excited, just the same, and want to share my excitement of being treated like a lady by one of the former top person of the country, and I blushed in embarassment! *wink*

I had the opportunity today to meet up with the former Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia, Y.Bhg. Tan Sri Samsudin Osman, who is now the President and acting Chairman of Perbadanan Putrajaya.

We met at a project site and the heat today was burning extra hot and glaring. As we stood by the roadside to the entrance of the site, I could not help but squint (not wink *grin*) my eyes as I spoke to him in the hot sun. His chauffer gave him an umbrella to shade him. He moved closer to me and shaded me with the umbrella. I could not help but blushed in embarassment because, as there were about 10 of us during the visit, it felt odd that I was the only one sharing the umbrella (it was a golf umbrella, so, no funny thoughts, ok? LOL! *wink*) with him, as the others around us just looked on in the hot sun, listening, as I explained about the project.

I noticed a gentlemanly smile on his face as he saw me smile shyly and blushed in embarassment. It was a nice feeling to be treated like a lady by a kind gentleman, especially by someone of his ranking!.

It's hard to come by a kind gentleman these days as men are becoming more egoistic than ever before! *wink* Opps! Some men are not going to agree with me on this! LOL!

In Stash Heaven!

Yup, that’s how I felt on my recent trip to Singapore. LOL! *grin*

It was supposed to be a holiday for my son, because we were supposed to go during the last school holidays, but, due to both mine and my hubby’s new position, we were not allowed to take leave within the first 28 days of taking up the positions. So, this school holiday, we decided to fulfill our promise to our son, and I took the opportunity to meet up with Jean, at the same time, pick up my stash from her which I had ordered much earlier online.

Heheheh..I did not just pick up my stash I had ordered earlier, but instead, I bought more charts from her upon seeing more lovely charts she had up for sale at the Art House where she opened up a stall for two days. Look at the stash! Lovely, aren’t they? *wink* OOhh! Stash Heaven! *grin*

I am so glad to have finally had a chance to meet up with Jean, and finally be able to put a face to the name I have been `talking’ to over at NNC. It’s so nice to meet you, Jean. Though not much chatting was done because my son was already getting restless and hungry, I did however managed to try out the lap stand Jean brought along as a demo piece which she hope to be able to bring them in soon.

BTW, I also picked up my flexilens on base from Jean, for the old eyes to use when stitching! *grin*

Earlier in the day, after checking into the hotel, I made my way to Singapore Plaza to check out the much talked about Spotlight, with my son in tow. Yeah, hubby wanted to visit Refections at Bukit Chandu, which according to him, wouldn’t interest Aiman at all.

So, with Aiman in tow, I wasn’t expecting to be able to stay long at Spotlight, knowing how restless my son can easily get. There goes my plan to spend a longer time browsing at Spotlight, which probably turned out fine really, come to think of it. If not, I would probably have done more damage to my purse had I gone alone and stayed longer! LOL! As it is, I think my purse is already heavily damaged by the whole Singapore trip! *grin* Here’s proof of the damage done at Spotlight….

It was a big shop with so many craft items that caters to almost all types of crafts or hobbyist. I stayed close to an hour before Aiman begged to go home. But, I still wanted to visit the scrapbook shop Margaret mentioned to me which was also located at Singapore Plaza. It was easy to find since Margaret said that it was near the escalator.

Made with Love, that’s the name of the shop, was packed to the brim with so many lovely scrapbook goodies, I just had to browse, but, my son was getting restless. He just wanted to go back to the hotel for a swim. OK, how do I persuade a 7 year old kid that mummy still wants to shop? LOL!

Made with Love gave me the answer to that almost immediately, like they knew what parents who have kids in tow go through when going shopping. They had a small café at the end of the shop, and they serve chocolate cakes and hot chocolate! My son’s favorite! What more could I ask for! LOL! What else? I got my son settled in with a slice of chocolate cake, and hot chocolate with marshmallows, and I was in stash heaven again as I browse the shop. LOL! However, I did not stay long, because as soon as the cake and hot chocolate were downed, Aiman was bored again. *grin* I only managed to get two clear alphabet stamps, but, I was satisfied with the buys anyway. It cost a little bit more here in Malaysia. More stash for my stamping collection! *grin*

The second day was spent at Sentosa Island, from morning to late afternoon. When we got back into town, as my hubby had promised my son a dip in the pool before dinner, I decided to hop over to Ngee Ann City as Margaret mentioned that there is a craft shop there, and it wasn’t far from where we stayed at Orchard Parade Hotel along Orchard Road. It was also just behind the MRT Station we got off, after coming back from Sentosa.

Art Friend is another huge craft shop, covering almost 4 lots of shop. More organized than Spotlight, but it did not have as many things since it did not carry any fabrics as Spotlight did. However, for a first time visitor, it was stash heaven again for me! LOL!

However, I was a little wary with my purse this time and bought only two items – a rubber stamp and a punch. Could it be because I was already tired out from spending a whole day at Sentosa?

Art Friends had a lot of things which probably I wouldn’t be able to find back home in Malaysia, but, buying the things I wanted would create luggage problems going home because we only brought with us one big suitcase and one small one. Already I had the stash which I picked up from Jean, stash from Spotlight, and Made with Love. My bag would burst at the seams if I proceeded to buy any of the bulky things I fancied. So, the sensible part of me took over and my purse remains safe with me for the trip to Art Friends….for now LOL!

For dinner, my hubby suggested that we have it at Scotts Plaza which he use to frequent when he was working in Singapore some 17 years back. However, we couldn’t find it, which we later found out that it was knocked down for new developments. Just my luck, as if it was meant to be, my hubby took us to Far East Plaza along Scotts Road for dinner, which, coincidentally happen to have another cross stitch shop! LOL! I chanced upon it after dinner as we were just walking around looking at the shops.

Margaret never mentioned this shop to me before this though I remembered someone did mention it at NNC some time back, but it slipped my mind until I saw the shop after dinner. Unfortunately it was closed already at 8.30pm when we got there. *sigh*

However, not wanting to leave Singapore without at least satisfying my curiosity about the shop, I made a quick hop over to The Knotty Shop the next day as it opened at 11.00am, just before I had to rush back to the hotel to check out and leave for our evening flight back.

Again, with my son in tow, even though it was only a 30 minute visit, I still managed to spend quite a sum at the shop. They were books on hardanger which I find hard to find here in Malaysia. I have not been successful at getting them online as they were either too expensive, or, I couldn’t find the patterns I like, but the books at Knotty Shop fulfilled both my criteria of a reasonable price and lovely patterns. I grabbed them, together with charts by Serendipity Designs & M Designs, two fat quarters of 28ct evenweaves and a ready to stitch string bag.

Oooohhhh! I am in Stash Heaven! LOL! See all my stash! *grin*

Because of my recent craze of buying stash during this trip to Singapore, I have just banned myself from going anywhere within a 2m radius of any craft shop for the next 12 months! LOL! Err………but, there are still those online shops! *wink*

OK, no more stash shopping for me till the end of the year, except for necessities like flosses and that sort of things to complete a project. Dare I make myself promise? *grin*

A time for the smalls

I have been plodding on my Long Dog Mystery Sampler, which we are doing a Stitch-Along at NNC, for the past four months. I have reached the top band, but have gone back to the bottom band to finish all the bands completely. I am getting anxious. The faster I try to finish it, the slower I seem to progress. I was making more mistakes than usual. BJ suggested that I take a break to do some smalls. She said that it might get me in a less anxious mood, and thus, when I come back, I will have been more revitalised and, hopefully more relaxed, and can progress faster after that. So, I took her advised.

On my recent family holiday to Singapore, I brought along two small projects. Although I did also bring along the LDSAL, I did not touch it at all through out my stay in Singapore.

Yup, I stitched every minute I had, in between waiting to board the plane, on the plane, while waiting for my hubby and son to get ready for breakfast and dinner, by the pool. Anywhere where the lighting was good.

Eventhough the lighting in the hotel room was kind of dim, I still managed to stitch, though only a bit, it was still a lot of progress on a small piece, and this is what I have to show.

The first piece (above) is Cheryl's Bouquet using Carrie's Thread New Vision. Lovely colours, don't you think so?

The second piece I am doing is a motif taken from the french book, BLEU, BLANC, BISTRE, which I ordered from Amazon.fr some time back. I am hoping to turn this piece into a biscornu.

Taking inspiration from Carrie's Thread CORAL REEF, I am using DMC 3867 (pink), 3746 (purple) and 906 (green). One wonders why I don't just use Carrie's Thread to begin with, right? LOL! Well, for starters, I wanted to experiment. I also wanted to save the Carrie's Thread for other projects.

I think I am liking this mini piece too! Hopefully I can complete this piece in a week or two. I want to go back to my LDSAL before working on Cheryl's Bouquet. I am also expectng the Sisterhood Stitching (SHS) project to come my way too in September. So, I need to plan my stitching for the next few months.

Crazy for evenweaves

I have been looking for evenweaves to stock up for future projects which I have been wanting to do, but could only be done on evenweaves or linen because of the specialty stitches and 3/4 stitches involved.

I have been looking high and low at the LNSes and online, but wasn't too sure what and which to buy because I got confused by the many names evenweaves are being refered to. Finally I found a supplier in Jean from Needle Little Love from just across the causeway, Singapore!

Jean has the colours that I wanted in the count that I have been searching for - 28ct. That got me excited and I ordered in 3 colours!

Coincidentally, Margaret was going to Singapore for a few days and offered to bring back the evenweaves for me. I was restless in anticipation waiting for Margaret to get back to Kuala Lumpur! LOL!

We finally met up on Saturday, 12th August, so I could pick up my stash from Margaret, but, not before she enticed me into wanting to order more stash! LOL! *wink*

I had a great time flipping through the pages of Mar'garets french magazines which she brought along with her latest purchase of stash from Jean, which I also enjoyed looking. Really terrible for my purse, coz now I want them too! LOL! Yes, terrible this Margaret, isn't she? LOL!

BTW, Margaret also gave me some lovely stash - a fabric that looks like 14ct or 16ct Regina, a bright red cotton fabric and a lovely overdyed floss. Really nice! Thank you so much, Margaret!

I must now think of a project to use up my evenweaves and the stash Margaret just gave me too!

Craft update

I was at The Curve last weekend to take my mum, my brother, who's back for the holidays from Ireland, and my sister out for lunch with my hubby and son. Heheh..my stitching friends can almost guess already where I am getting to, right? LOL! *wink*

Yup, I had to drop by Papier! And you know what happens if I do, right? Yup, spend! LOL! *blush*

Well, I bought a piece of lovely flowery 12"x12" scrapbook paper, a heart shape stamp, like as if I don't have enough of heart stamps *LOL!*, a cardmaking magazine and, the one I like most, is the multi-shaper punch. It can punch around cicles!

I have yet to use it though. I got back late from the outing, and had so many other more important things to do first. I'm planning to give it a try this weekend. I will definitely put up some photos of the end result using the punch as soon as I get one done to my stisfaction.

On another craft note, I have already started on the top most band of the Long Dog Mystery Sampler which we are currently doing a Stitch-Along (SAL) at NNC. Although I have reached the top band, I have yet to complete all of the bands before this. Out of the 14 bands, including the mini bands, I have thus far only finished 2 bands completely. I will be going back to the last band again to finish each band completely. Like BJ, I am hoping to finish the LDSAL by August.

I promised myself that I shall not start on any new project until I at least got to the top band of the LDSAL. And, since I did get to the top, though I have yet to finish it, I thought I'd give myself a break and start on the much awaited project I have been wanting to do ever since receiving the yummy Carrie's Threads from BJ which I bought from the Sanguine Store.

Yup, I started on Cheryl's Bouquet yesterday. I am stitching on 14ct aida rustico oatmeal using Carrie's Thread's New Vision. I just simply love the way the colour changes subtly. So sweet! My favorite colour too! Pink in combination with green and a touch of yellow/beige, on my my favourite type of fabric - rustico oatmean! Simply awesome, don't you think so? *wink*

I just couldn't stop stitching. It was exciting to see the colour changes with every stitch! I just didn't want to put it down to work on my LDSAL. LOL! However, I know I had to put it down if I want to finish the LDSAL in August as planned. I would feel much better actually once I have finished the LDSAL. It's coming to 4 months already since we started on this SAL. I want it to come to a close soon so that I can concentrate working on so many other projects I have lined up! LOL!

I am pleased so far with the way this weekend is working out. I am hoping that this coming week will be a great one, though busy I will be.

Expect the unexpected

Yup, when you have a young child, never expect things to go according to plans, because, if you do, you will only end up being disappointed and upset. *grin*

Last week was my son's swimming gala. It's a swimming competition actually. My son has never shown much interest to really swim seriously, and for him to want to enter the competition came as a surprise to me and my hubby. Each time my hubby takes him to the community swimming pool in our neighbourhood, instead of learning to swim, he prefers to play in the waters.

He had swimming lessons at school for the first 6 months of school (which has now being replaced with sports practices for the 2nd half of the year), but, as to whether he was seriously concentrating during his swimming lessons, I wouldn't know because we never had the opportunity to meet up with his swimming intructor. However, my hubby did say that he now knows how to swim since he started the lessons at school, though his swimming wasn't actually competition standard yet. But, compete he wanted to, in fact, insisting that my hubby signs the registration forms as we rush to work one day.

We never actually took him seriously. I never pushed him to practice one month prior to the swimming gala, thinking that he wasn't really serious, but, the week before the gala, he talked about nothing else but the gala. He kept saying that he wants to win a medal and trophy. Still, I did not take him seriously.

On Friday, he had an asthma attack. I thought, OK, he's not going for the gala on Saturday. Nope, I was 2nd time wrong. He kept insisting that he wants to go. Usually it would be quite difficult for him to swallow his antibiotics because of the taste and smell, but, that Friday night, he took his medicines with no qualms at all. He wanted to get well. He just had to get well for the gala. So eager was he that he said that he was getting up at 4.30am to get ready (the gala was to start at 7.30am). Still, I had my doubts.

Come Saturday morning, we got ready for the gala. My son had registered for, not one event, but TWO events - freestyle kicking and 50m freestyle! As any parent would be, I gave him my full support and cheered for him. We both did, my hubby and I. He got last out of 4 swimmers in the first event - freestyle kicking. We did not think much. So, OK, he wasn't as fast as the other kids. That's OK. He tried and he got to the finishing line with no problems. That's what's important. He finished the race.

Come the 2nd event, here's when you expect the unexpected. His teacher said that if you think you can't finish the race, then that's OK. Stop, and hang on to the rope between the lane (sorry, I am no swimmer, so I don't know the correct term for it), and the lifeguard will come and get you. You know what that means? The teacher just gave my son an escape clause. Finish only if you can.

My son is one child who will try his best to finish something he started, especially with my coaching, and I would normally psyche him up days prior to any event. Remember his kindergarten concert where he was to give the opening speech? Also, he knows that I will not be very happy if he doesn't finish what he started on, but, the minute you tell him that it's OK if he can't, he will immediately jump at the opportunity! LOL! Gheeze! An opportunist! LOL! *grin*

Not to blame the teacher so much, but, that was exactly what my son did. He stopped midway when he saw that he was going to be last again in the 2nd event. Err.....not only did he stopped midway, he started crying in full view of all the other parents! *blush*

I was not expecting him to win first place, not that I am putting my son down, I wouldn't, as a parent, but, more because he did not have enough practice to compete. But, what was so unexpected was for him to cry in the middle of the pool! Many would think that he was just being a spoilt and pampered brat. But, in defence of my son, when I asked him later why he stopped and cried, he said that he wanted to win so much, but when he saw that he was last again, it broke his momentum and spirit, and he gave up. He saw no point in finishing the race anymore.

We had a tough time explaining and lecturing him all day that day the importance of finishing a race, no matter how late you are and how long it will take. We, in fact, managed to catch one of the races where this one boy finished last more than 1 minute after the last one before him finished, but, the crowd cheered him on to the finishing line. We kept giving him the example of that boy to make him understand.

We were initially upset with him for not finishing the race, and to top it, he cried publicly. But, later in the day, when we calmed down a little bit, my hubby and I, we both agreed, that we are actually proud of him of the fact that at least he has the spirit to want to join a competition on his own initiative. We never told him nor pushed him to do it. He wanted so much to join the gala, only we did not take him seriously. That was my regret. If I had actually taken him seriously, and pushed him to practice, he would probably have at least made good timing, and wouldn't probably be last. PROBABLY. A lesson learnt. Never take your child's interest for granted.

My hubby's taking him to the pool tommorow. We are starting early. LOL!