Friday, December 31, 2010

Fruitful year of 2010

This is my 2nd year being a SAHM…. It’s a real blessing for being able to spend my time with Joel. Seeing him growing everyday and witnessing his ‘first’ time are something that ‘money’ can’t buy!

Joel is a fast learner, I must say. He picks up thing very fast. Coming to 2 years, he is able to listen to instructions very well and very eager in learning new things. He can recognize 1-10, some alphabets and most of the shapes. He is able to tell me what he wants. He can speaks quite a lot of words. All I need is to mention once or twice, he’ll be able to remember.

There’s another thing about Joel that both Alan and I is proud of, his character. He is a very friendly and happy boy. He doesn’t have stranger anxiety unless that person looks crooked… =P He’ll greet anyone whenever we asked him to. He’ll smile at strangers and sometimes, will say, “Hello, Uncle" or “Bye Bye, Uncle” He can mix around with kids very well. He’ll hug someone he likes. At this stage, he is able to differentiate young and old, female and male. He’ll call young boy and girl, gor gor and jie jie. Middle age lady, he’ll call Ah Yi and older lady, he’ll call Auntie. As for man, he’ll call Uncle.

Of cos, being an outgoing boy, he is very active! Sometimes, I was not able to handle him alone… He’ll play trick on me like hiding behind a pillar or leading me to a wrong place. He refused to hold my hand and he’ll throw tantrum if he couldn’t get what he wanted.  Whenever I scolded him, he’ll look at me innocently and talk to me about other things just to diversify my attention. *FAINTZ*! For my boy, scolding him is useless… The only way to deal with him is negotiating with him. Works pretty well… hehehehehe….

Joel 2010

Joel’s 2010

I’ve stopped breastfeeding Joel @ 20th month. I was very sad and guilty. The first month when he was weaned off, he rejected formula. I was very worry. I had no choice but to mix Milo into formula. But only for one month, 2nd month onward, he accepted formula very well. Instead of calling milk, he called it Milo. He’ll request for Milo whenever he wants it and he can have up to 4 cups of ‘Milo’ a day.

Joel likes music very much. He likes to sing and dance. I remember, the first week when he was weaned off from breast milk, he was unable to sleep and he wanted me to sing to him. After 30 mins of singing, he dozed off… This little boy is YouTube fanatic, he’ll choose his own songs and sing along with it. Besides that, Joel likes to play puzzle. I bought him those wooden puzzles from Popular. He could place the puzzle pieces correctly after one or two trials. From the puzzles, he learnt a lot of new words.

Year 2011, we plan to send Joel to some classes, where he can learn how to interact with other kids and learn how to be independent. Sometimes I find him very lonely and sometimes, he’ll ask me to bring him to his granny’s place so that he could play with his gor gor. :( We’ve enrolled him to this drama and speech class by Acts3. The class will start in Jan 2011. Hub and I brought him to the trial class and Joel enjoyed it very much. I’m looking forward to bringing him to the class again.

A prayer for our little boy,

“Father God, we thank you for baby Joel. He has brought us happiness and joy to our family and he has strengthened our marriage and relationship. Indeed, he is the greatest gift from You. We thank You for this wonderful year. We could literally feel your blessings and protection everyday. We are very touched ant thankful! Father God, we pray that You’ll continue to guide us and grant as wisdom to teach this little boy and care for him.  Without your grace, we are unable to depend on our own strength to achieve our plans. Protect us from all evils and sickness with the blood of Jesus. Lastly, bless our loved ones. In Jesus name we  prayed, Amen”

Wedding Couple for Todd and Corrine

Todd is one of the few guys who ordered wedding dolls for his dearest wife. Todd is an American and his wife is a Singaporean. He contacted me a month ago from the State and told me that he would like to surprise his wife with the dolls… Soooo sweet!!!!

I was surprised that he knew his wedding details quite well… Their wedding theme was purple and white, and his wife would be wearing an off-shoulder gown and will like her hair flow, instead of bum up.

They tied their knot on 26th of Dec 2010 in Singapore.

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New hairstyles for lovely brides….

I’ve been making quite a few nice hairstyles for the brides… These are two of them….

Wedding Couple for WT

WT was referred to me by Betsy. She wanted a pair of wedding dolls for her own wedding and pre-wedding photo shoot. She has a special request… She send me a photos of this lady:

bride's hairstyle

She wanted her hairstyle to be like this. Very pretty!! Took me awhile to figure out how to assemble the curls. I’m quite satisfied with the outcome…. hehehehe

“Hi jul, thanks for the wedding dolls. They r really adorable and sweet! Will use them to personalize my ROM and wedding dinner reception table :)”

Sms from WT

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Wedding Couple for XY

XY bought this pair for her very good friend. Her friend has short hair. Initially I was like, errrrr….. How should I decorate the hair? I can’t add bum or curls on short hair rite?

Finally, I “braided” one side of the hair and put crown.

XY told me the bride doll looks like her friend very much! I’m glad…

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photo 2 

Photo from XY…

Just for Hazel….

Another major project that I’ve done. :) This is for Hazel, a very tall and stunning lady. She’s one of those who really appreciates handmade stuffs.

“I LOVE THEM TO THE MAZ!! it’s so alike to my pre-wedding photos which I showed u!! My husnamd loves them too!! Wow, that’s so much effort!! Thanks dear, they’re really lovely!!”.. N also, I’m glad my bridesmaid love their dolls as well ;)

Sms from Hazel

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Then 7 corsages for her sisters. I was very very sorry for these corsages cos I got the color wrong… =( The roses were supposed to be in champagne color but I made them in white…. =( I feel so bad….

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Following are small dolls for her brothers and sisters:

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I love this the most! This is the first time making a set of family dolls… Thanks for the opportunity.

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I love playing with crochet stitches and colors. If you notice, I’ve used a few patterns on the small dresses.

December’s Wedding Bells….

December is always a busy month! But December is also my favorite month… It’s the month of Giving, Love and Joy…. =D

I’ve rushed quite a few set of wedding couples. Thanks to my dear dear friends who came over to help me during this period… Really appreciate your help, without you, I don’t think I could deliver my orders on time….

Wedding Couple for Celin

Celin was nervous before she received her dolls… It’s very common among the brides cos they didn’t get to see the real product until they received it and usually quite last minute. LOL!!! Thank God, I never disappoint them. Celin loves her dolls very much…

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Wedding Couple for Josephine

I didn’t get to deliver this pair on my own cos I was very busy rushing other dolls. Hence, I didn’t have a chance to see Josephine’s expression… However, received these sweet messages from her after that:

“Thank u. The dolls r gorgeous! My friends r overwhelmed by the dolls…”

Josephine also ordered corsages and one personalized doll for her good friend. Blog about this later….

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Wedding Couple for Danny and HC

I’ve made this pair of dolls as a gift for my cousin and his wife. They are one of the loveliest couple I ever met. :) I wish both of them happiness….

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Wedding Couple for Joyce

This is the 2nd time Joyce bought wedding dolls from me. However, it’s not for her… It’s for her good friend… =D It was a very last minute order. I’m glad the turn-out was very nice.

“My fren luv the dolls… :).. Btw, I’ll probably need u to do up a pair of dolls for my bestest friend who is getting married next year, 2 Oct (again, not for herself… *tsk*tsk*). Will let u know the details once she confirm... Btw, when will you be available to do up a set of my family doll? (arh… this is for herself) .”

Sms from Joyce

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Wedding Couple for Vera

Cousin Ing’s very good friend, Vera tied her knot on 26th of Dec. I’m really happy for her… She’s a very sweet and trendy lady. I didn’t get to take a nice photo of this pair because I was rushing to attend a Christmas party.

“Vera likes the doll so much, she says the groom looks like her husband so much.”

Sms from Cousin Ing

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Thursday, December 30, 2010

For Cindy…. Wedding Dolls, Corsages, A Boutonnière and A bouquet of flowers….

Cindy approached me early this year for something very challenging…. She wanted a pair of wedding couple in Chinese Traditional gown (kua), a wedding hand bouquet, corsages and boutonniere. She has chosen roses and lilies as her flowers! It took me awhile to accept this order because I really had no confidence whether I would be able to deliver, especially the wedding hand bouquet.

Cindy has really given me a very rare opportunity to explore almost everything a wedding need… I was very excited cos I never done all these before, especially the wedding hand bouquet…

I really enjoy exploring something new. Let me start with the wedding dolls. Trying to make the ‘kua’ was very challenging. Initial, I was using fabric to make the ‘kua’ costume, FAILED!! I’m really bad in sewing…. :( I gave up after a few attempts and wasted almost half a meter of fabric.. =S

Starts with the Chinese costume, ‘Kua’. I crocheted the kua and embroidered small flowers with crystals as embellishment.   My friend, Lynn, made a Chinese knot as the collar’s button. I’m not very good with Chinese knot but according to her, this knot brings luck and good fortune.

After completing this set, I felt so relieved and very satisfied… The actual dolls were nicer than picture… When Cindy received them, she was thrilled and excited… She really likes them… I like them too…

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I had a lot of doubts when it comes to her wedding hand bouquet. I have no confidence whether I would be able to make something as nice as the real flowers bouquet… I wasn’t able to find any reference at all too :( What I could find were either too elaborate or too old fashioned. It’s not for gift but it’s for a big occasion, WEDDING!

First challenge I faced was deciding the numbers of roses and lilies… By faith, I’ve made 12 roses and 8 calla lilies to make this bouquet. Then come to choosing the type of yarns. I’ve discussed with Betsy and we decided to use Egyptian Cotton, thicker and shinier though the yarn is quite costly. No regret! Lastly, the assembly was another obstacle.. :( At first, I thought of assemble on my own, but I had no clue how to wrap them. Thanks to this wonderful florist, who owned a very small shop near my place. Never judge a ‘SHOP’ by it’s frontage! The owner is a pro! She has actually won quite a few awards for her flower arrangement and her forte is dealing with calla lilies! When she saw the handmade flowers, without hesitation, she agreed to wrap for me! Could see she was very excited too… LOL!!!

I LOVE the outcome very much!! By GRACE of GOD, I got the numbers of flower right! The florist was able to make a nice semi-round bouquet and the size was just nice… :)

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The whole bouquet is 100% handmade! The florist and I will be collaborating in doing some hand bouquets next year… Stay-tuned!

Then she wanted two wrist corsages for her sisters… I love the wrist corsages very much! Very different from my usual wrist corsages… They were made of two calla lilies and 2 small roses…

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Lastly, she requested a Boutonnière for her husband…. :) The Boutonnière was made out of 3 calla lilies….

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Thanks to Cindy for this rare opportunity! I’m glad she loves all of them too.