Where have I been?

Two years since my last post.

In our increasingly tiny-blog-post worls of twitter, facebook and instagram, i found i really had little to say in long form that i couldn't express better than in 140 characters or less.

I also found that it is very easy to feel good about one's opinion.

And also that one's opinion can get washed away in the face of what really matters in this world.

I went back to work after caring for babies exclusively and loving every moment of it. I find now, after a couple of years back in the rat race, it is really hard to justify work being the be-all and end-all of one's life. However it is hard to find the self-purpose in one's life if one is either tending wholly to others' needs, or if one tends to procrastinate as I do.

With the horrible 3 month long haze situation and depressingly chronic world order, the need to disconnect from social media feels stronger than ever, and yet, it is the one thing that becomes my escape from what it brings... I feel disaffected, overly plugged in yet disconnected. Fuzzy, like the haze.

Been thinking that whilst I have some daily professional purpose, I should really find the thing that I would most like to do, that would satisfy my own deepest personal motivations.

I have been thinking of what used to motivate me as a teen: movies, reading, writing, people-watching and eventually the theatre. These were my real loves before working in the industry destroyed my idealistic views of humanity. People are ignorant, whiny and lazy in real life. And all the nice ones are busy being purposeful.

I kind of gave up on the idea of writing anything because I really felt my forte was as an editor of sorts, or script vetter. I felt "telling my story" was boring for me. Still is. But the idea of putting my full effort into something interesting to me, by telling a complete fiction, seems workable.

I am a keen romance novel reader. I feel they are an underestimated form of catharsis for female readers. I am often aghast by the way male chauvinism is thinly veiled as feminist empowerment in romance novels, but love when I come across novels which somehow keep the romance norms yet subvert them and make awesome stories for women.

I would love to write a great fantasy novel, since those were my first love in books, with good thrillers and crime novels a close second. Science fiction, for some reason, seems a little meh compared to fantasy - and I am not sure why. Fantasy seems to hearken to something primal and medivaeval for me, so perhaps that is why i find Sci Fi tends to leave me a little cold. Too much "widget talk" as scriptwriting lecturers would say.

I have been enjoying instagram and posting outfits of the day. I find, even though I probably would have pooh-poohed such a thing 5 years ago, now it seems empowering being both frivolous and honest. After all, I am a large woman who doesn't believe how one looks should matter.

Which is probably why I am enjoying doing my #ootd posts:)

Anyways, am hoping to revitalise this blog. You may see a few posts regarding our business, but I have been actively doing that on my facebook and insta anway.

Still blustering through life,
C

Winter is KAMBIIIIING!

Have you not bought your tickets yet? Are you not our twitter follower or facebook liker? This must be redressed immediately!

Go book your tickets on http://tix.my.

Like our facebook page.

Follow our twitter handle.

Come see the show and see which House wins :)

Hope to see you there next week!

ACTORLYMPICS

Wednesday to Saturday, 28-31 August 2013 at 8.30pm.

Sunday 1 September 2013 at 5pm.

Tickets are RM60 and 45.

Because SALE!

You may have guessed I am a bit of a crafty type. So I have been working away like a madwoman on so many different little things and I thought I should make way for the rest of the stuff I am going to future-make.

So... MAIL SALE!

Please check out my little get-together with my sister/partner, which we have called Zanuck and Roumeli. We have a facebook page and have had one outing last year, which went quite well.

We meant to do another at the Art for Grabs in June, but circumstances forced me to pull the plug on that appearance. (However you must go check out Art for Grabs at the Annexe Gallery at Central MArket this weekend, 12-8pm Saturday and Sunday June 15/16)

I had a fun time taking photos of the items for sale, take a look:

If you feel like it, please take a look and order through the facebook page:)

Happy days.
C

Custom dress form 1

I have always wanted my own dress form, mostly so that i can work on a garment whilst it is actually hanging up on form, and also to try my hand at draping.

But commercial dress forms are expensive and rarely come in my size or even dimensions. Honestly, does anyone really have a body shaped like a tailor's dummy, even the adjustable ones? ( they will never match my measruements!)

So, besides the duct tape DIY dress form, what other options would i have to make my own?

I have tried the tape version but found that having to rely on another person to tape me up was tiresome, and for some, too close for comfort. My bust area ended up being not accurate at all, purely because my rib cage has two inward- bending ribs which affect the drape of any clothes on me, and gives me an unusual bra and bust sizing.

Then i came across this, which is a tutorial in which one "eyeballs" one's own figure and makes a dress form out of a base of chicken wire. It's a form of sculptorly self portrait!

So i tried my own. It was fairly easy to measure my general dimensions and get the structure into shape. My only tools were a wire cutter and pliers, tiny zip ties, scissors to cut the padding and some normal cellophane tape to hold things in place til i sewed them.

Once you get to the bust area, waist and crotch, you need to get creative. An understanding of anatomy coupled with pattern-cutting helps. Especially when trying to get chicken wire to bend nicely to follow the human form.

After the wire structure was finished i covered it with bubble wrap and then a layer of thin foam ( bubble wrap from ace hardware and foam from juwita, a malay wedding hantaran supplies franchise - one in carrefour/aeon big in wangsa maju, comes in A3-sized sheets for RM1.30 each).

You can stuff the form or leave as is. I think stuffing it prevents it caving in badly if some accident happens. My last form, I stuffed it with all the plastic shopping bags Malaysia insists on giving me, and that kept it light yet well-stuffed. I came across this post that recommends expanding construction foam filler, which looks good too. It also shows how to cover the form once made.

I will cover it with a cotton layer and post pics of that soon:)

Looking up the right leg OOO-EERRR!

Yes, wide load, har har har.

My sternum. My hand reaching into my liver area.

Before I added the neck. I tell, you making that tummy was a work of art!

Layering on the foam. I found working with diamond shapes the most easy way to follow the body contours. Very Hannibal Lecter-esque, no?

From above, front. Notice the LAAAHVLY bust work.
I padded out the top of the neck so I can stick pins in there.

Yuh. That's a fairly accurate version of my side view.

The back looks best!

I shall name her Galapagos. Because she is a lone and unique island mass.

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Craft (and other) Supplies In Kuala Lumpur

Up until a year or two ago, it was awfully hard to come by crafting supplies unless you were already in the business of supplying craft supplies or selling crafty products.
But recently all sorts of supplies that were once hard to come by - for example, jersey knits in textiles, or felt - have become very easy to find and at wonderfully cheap prices too.
So, in brief:
SEWING and TEXTILES
KAMDAR
Mid-Valley and various stores in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (Jalan TAR)
Great selection of Japanese and English cotton prints with varying qualities of "feel".
Some plain jerseys as well as poly knits with prints.
Cotton and cotton-feel jerseys are very rare and gone before you know it.
Limited but good selection of novelty or specialty textiles such as fake furs, sequins, paillettes, plush, chenille, pleather and more.
Linen and cotton weaves for pants and shirts are great too.
Great selection of curtain and sofa materials at affordable as well as high-end prices.
Look out for remnant sales. You can get lovely hardy home furnishing textiles for less than RM10 per metre.
Kamdar also has their home-brand uniforms, malay and indian cultural wear, saris and sarongs, head scarfs, underwear and henna dyes.
You can order a limited selection of their textiles online at http://www.kamdaronline.com/. It has reliable service and delivers anywhere in Malaysia.
Also know there is a store in One Borneo, Kota Kinabalu.
NAGOYA
Various stores at Jalan TAR and Carrefour, Wangsa Maju, plus many more.
Fantastic range of low to mid-range manmade, printed textiles for the malay female dress market with some great and sometimes way-out-there designs. You can get enough material for a full baju kurung with less than RM30. Great for your unique homemade skirt or pants.
Also a limited higher end selection of printed silks and manmade fabrics.
Great range of longer-width fabrics in denims, velvets, checks, poly knits in plain and in prints, suit textiles with and without stretch in the weave, and printed felts for pyjamas and crafts.
They have low to high-end home furnishing materials including a selection of blackout textiles, and loads of lovely gossamer sheers for curtain dressing. They also have DIY kits for making your own roman blinds and curtain rods, curtain tie-backs and curtain hook-tape for making your own curtains with hook pins. There is also a large selection of plastic and sequined / pailletted ribbon for making your own tiebacks or accessorizing your curtains.
There are some pretty chinese brocades, themed cotton prints for crafting and plain cottons for uniform making. Nagoya also has ready-made malay and indian dress outfits, as well as ready made curtains and loads of lining options as well as single-colour, tiny brocaded acrylic and poly mixes for DIY malay baju making.
In the last year they have introduced an interesting line of rayon silk - type textiles with complex prints on brocaded cloth, some of which are priced very reasonably.
You can visit http://www.nagoyatextiles.com.my/eng/#/homegallery/, which currently only really has information on locations of their outlets.
SUNGEI WANG PLAZA
High end knitting yarn and supplies, also a knitting club-type place for knitters and hookers to come knit and hook. Organic cotton yarn as well as all sorts of novelty yarn. +603 2148 3298.
Sewing notions and haberdashery shop next to the BB PLaza annexe (near the metrojaya entrance on 2nd floor) +603 2148 5454.

CRAFT SUPPLIES

SSF
This is a huge warehouse-style furniture shop in which there are some reasonable finds, but sometimes really pricey. It happens to have a home-decorating section with a large selection of ribbon, beads, paper and plastic flowers, baskets and other gift boxes / wrappers / hantaran (malay wedding traditional gift-making supplies) supplies. Excellent for those little itty-bitty things you need to make small gifts in bulk numbers.
The BUNGA REBEN Shop (The Flower Ribbon Shop)
This shop started out as a ribbon and malay wedding decoration and accessories shop and within the last couple of years seems to have opened its eyes to the world of crafting and BOOM! Hello felting supplies. Hello scrapbooking supplies. Hello supplies for whatever I saw on pinterest today. they have the buckles and nylon cord to make those parachute woven bracelets. They have the hardware to make keychain accessories. They have pre-cut felt flowers and leaves. They have feathers, walls of beads, zippers, elastics of all sixes, straps and webbing for bag handles, supplies for various fake flower making crafts, needles, haberdashery supplies and more. Also felts, netting and little packaging options.
All prices pretty good.
They have a facebook page and a website and they are updated with photos regularly when stock comes in. There are two shops within walking distance of each other in little india, one on Jalan TAR, just 20 metres from Semua House. The other in City Mall, 20 metres the other way from Semua House.
MULTIFILLA
Sculptor? Need an airbrush? Blacksmith or into Quilling? Paints, clays, soldering, model-making, beading and jewellery findings. They have a website and facebook page. The shop is a little like a magical mystery tour, and the couple there let you rummage and poke around for the things you are looking for. They are also extremely helpful. Plan your journey because it is a little out of the way.
As of 2015 Multifilla has a branch in PJ and is known as CRAFTIVITI. Find them on Facebook and also go to their site here.
ART FRIEND
The Gardens. The Curve.
Upmarket and up-priced, but definitely in a league of its own. From branded art pens and paints to foam and clay crafts, from easels and oils and different canvases to party makeup kits, japanese paper and mounting boards, scrapbooking supplies, specialty glues and grommets and gold leaf. Mini screen printing kits and Rm30 rolls of cotton crochet yarn, cutting and metalworking tools, cross stitch needles and cloth, styrofoam shapes and moulded heads, hands and styro eggs, beading and jewellery findings... You can find much of anything you want here (but cheaper elsewhere if you are prepared to do the legwork.
MACY
Not the furniture dealer but the boutique craft shop in chinatown (111 Jalan Sultan, straight down from Nando's at the Kota Raya traffic junction). Sewing notions, beads and acrylic knitting yarn at about rm3 a skein.
PETALING STREET
Dexon Button Shop.
Deep in the touristy part of Petaling Street there is a button shop that is wall-to-wall in button supplies. Also sewing notions and ... wait for it... adjustable tailoring forms (dressmaker's mannequins) for less than rm1000 each.  +603 2070 8603.
Zen Chu Bead Shop for wholesale beads.
142, Jalan Petaling (the other end, away from town centre) +603 2032 4822. They have silver, brass, copper, gold jewellery chains and findings, glass, plastic and swarowski beads. They have charms and their staff can be very very helpful. GO THERE.
KENANGA WHOLESALE CITY
This is where you go to buy "bundle" clothing. Basically they rounded up bundle clothes sellers and housed them in one building, doing everyone including the customer, a favour. With floors dedicated to clothes which get cheaper the bigger the amount you buy - hence "bundle" - you can get a great range of quality cotton jersey clothes, kids' novelty clothing and accessories. I assume all the brands are knockoffs, but the brand-inspired cheap versions are gorgeous, cheap and plentiful. Two floors are dedicated to crafting supplies, in particular beading, jewellery and accessory-making.
Check out their website.
On the 4th (3A) floor there is a little craft supplies shop "Ani Wasabi" that imports a fantastic range of ribbons, elastics and elastic laces, buttons, charms and felts. It has an online ordering system and they deliver with poslaju, which should be the next day's post in MAlaysia. Check out their site here.
BEADING.MY
Or, instead of going to any of the above for your jewellery-making supplies, just order online on the fabulously comprehensive, easy to use site, http://www.beading.my/. I have ordered twice from them and they are cheap and reliable. And what a range! They have a proper walk-in shop only open on weekends but they are shutting that down as their online business does better.
KAISON
Scrapbook much? Kaison has a fantastic range of stickers, adhesive textile patches, cloth tape, lace tape and novelty tapes, adhesive figures and so on. They are cheap and have an inviting range of paper goods and stationery. Also great silk and plastic flowers and home soft decor and dining accessories. they have a store in the new KL Fesitval City Mall, and I know there is one somewhere in Kota Kinabalu too.

 
THE ART SHOP
Jalan Negara in Taman Melawati. Model making supplies. paints. stationery. Excellent.
DAISO
Daiso in Malaysia is the equivalent of the Japanese 100 Yen shop, which translates to RM5 here. Every item is RM5. They have all sorts of items for the household, car and garden, as well as clothing, accessories, toiletries, stationery and of course, craft supplies. Great stuff if you're looking for ways to neatly organise your stuff using many, tiny little organising containers! If you're a knitter, you know the value of buying bamboo or plastic knitting needles in all sizes for RM5 a pair, when most knitting shops seem to think they have a premium on knitting or crochet needles. They have some knitting yarns and slubs, and it all seems to change seasonally or flows with changes in stock every now and then. They have button-covering sets, sets of sewing thread, accessory making kits, buttons, ribbon, trouser hemming tape, etc. Be careful though, there are some things that can definitely be found cheaper elsewhere. However, I have yet to come across trouser hemming tape in any haberdashery store, so for RM5 for some hemming tape 30cm long, I might shill. But for a set of buttons, I'll pass.
There are huge stores in One Utama (under Zara in the new wing), The Pavilion (Tokyo Street), Sungei Wang and The Curve. Sometimes stock runs out in one but is available in another, so be prepared to check all of them out if you are after something in particular. I know there is a store in One Borneo in KK too.

edited to include:

CRAFT HAVEN
One Utama. Their site is http://www.craft-haven.com and their facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/crafthavenmalaysia.r

How could i have forgotten Mr D.I.Y which is a hardware store that also sells baking crafting and stationery supplies all very cheaply, and often has large items like pop-up marquee tents and party supplies and belly dancing hip scarves. Their stationery prices rival department store prices such as at Aeon too. The store at aeon AU2 is HUGE.






http://www.sin-wah.com/


http://craftzone-my.blogspot.com/

edited again (September 2014) to include:

SPOTLIGHT MALAYSIA

Now opened in Ampang Point. Besides Soft Furnishings and Home Decor and Kitchen Ware, Spotlight has sewing machines, many kinds of dress forms, all sorts of INTERFACING, jersey knits, haberdashery including knitting needles, sewing machines supplies, zippers, ribbons, knitting wools and threads, also scrapbooking supplies, polymer clay making supplies, and a WHOLE lot more. Be aware that it can be SUPER PRICEY, but effectively it is a one-stop wonder if you are looking for hard-to-find or specialty equipment. The prices are actually relatively realistic, comparable to prices you would pay sourcing some items from overseas.

BLOGGERS' RECOMMENDATIONS:


http://acgmalaysia.blogspot.com/p/art-craft-supplies.html
http://mekar-candella.blogspot.com/2012/09/craft-supply-in-malaysia.html









ELSEWHERE


Johor Bahru - The Merlin Tower, opposit the JB KTM Railway station. You can see the station from the shop as it is outside the building facing the main street. I think the name is Yong Huat +605 621 4578. They have the cheap acrylic knitting yarn that Macy does (Minlon brand), and TONNES of retro buttons for cheap. They have all sorts of haberdashery and sewing notions including cording for knotting crafts and pins, scissors, zips, machine supplies and so forth.
Singapore - Spotlight. TUH DIE FOR. Plaza Singapura on Orchard Road. T-shirt yarn. Knitting and crochet needles and supplies. Crafting. Scrapbooking.
HAPPY HUNTING and CRAFTING and SEWING!
Lovey, C

Crafty? I may have something for you:)

I have idiotically, maniacally, taken up so many different kinds of craft. After culling so many tens of metres of fabric, I took up card-making and beading jewellery - what was I thinking?

So, I will be culling loads of things, starting with beading stuff here.

You can buy everything in the photos for a flat price of RM350. All prices include postage within Malaysia by Registered Parcel Post - allow 7-10 days for delivery. Please do not put your contact details in the comments section - PLACE YOUR ORDER BY PRIVATE MESSAGE on the Zanuck and Roumeli FB page.

Plastic, metallic beads. Smallest beads are about 3x4x5mm.
RM15

Seed Beads, all plastic. You will see some extra odd beads to the right, also plastic, and faceted.
RM30

Semi-precious unshaped beads. Note the turquoise beads seem to be offcuts or mistake/castoffs.
Also note, an extra string each of black and white beads is included.
RM80

Glass beads. Top right, 5 each of heart, fish, leaf and elephant charm/pendants in brushed bronze or plastic/silver effect. Also a press stud kit which u can check in detail in the next photo.
RM300 including press stud kit.

Press stud kit. Comes with tool to hammer studs down. Please be sure you know how to use it before buying.

I Spring Cleaned.

Here's what i decided after watching 2 seasons of Clean House: i don't need much of anything i have at home. Of course, there's lots i think i need, but not much of what would keep me alive if it came down to survival.

I also realised i have a lot in my house that i shop for to feed my hobbies which i tell myself give me purpose. It would be fine if i were committed to seeing those projects through.

It is as if the shopping is on purpose to sabotage myself by getting so much stuff that i couldn't possibly start or finish anything - and i know many out there who fall into this trap.

I also have this dual personality thing going on where i hate to waste anything, but also hate having to store things and clutter because i save more things than i repurpose or recycle them.

Pointless, when i could simply ship them all off for recycling, which my condo facilitates easily.

So i have decided to sell off all my beading and paper supplies for scrapbooking etc. I have stock and i also have gift packages for crafters.

This will all be featured here over the weekend but here is a taste of what is available. Please note that none of the stuff you see here is for sale yet, it is just a sample of it.


































Keep you posted!!
C


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Have you missed us?

Actorlympics! is on again with your regular favourite comedy improvsters :)

Get your tickets on tix.my - just remember the show starts on Tuesday and ends Sunday, and Sunday is at 5pm only .


LOVE YAS!!
C

Morning Time

I sent the kids very early to school today and noticed it was an odd dawn. The moon is full, the skies completely clear and yet a crisp breeze is blowing. Now it is momentarily still here and there, and then the breeze blows up again.

It's nice when the house feels empty, though on other days it can feel too quiet. I would never say it feels lonely, because I think feeling lonely is more a state of my being than actually being devoid of company. I think people don't realise that one can feel at one's loneliest when surrounded by people who don't really care for you.

Being alone is one of my great gratitudes in life. Many people don't get to have alone time. They don't get to choose. They may actually be alone and not savour it like I do. 

On the flip side, I have been made to feel weird or ungrateful for wanting to have my alone time. Been asked repeatedly to explain myself. My question is, why do you feel entitled to ask?

We all have varying levels of anxiety. Some people can't get through the day without prolonging or perpetuating the dramas and anxieties of everyday life. Others can't cope with outward pressures and may shy away from life's stresses. 

But imagine if we all gave ourselves the chance to just be. And if we gave others the chance to just be.

We wouldn't feel the need to point out our neighbours' flaws. We wouldn't look at their property or behaviour or ideas with envy or jealousy, and allow ourselves to reach out and take. We wouldn't feel the anxiety of being judged, because we wouldn't judge others.

That very thing you point out in others, you must accept that you have it in you too. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to recognise it in others in the first place.

SO listen to how you speak of others. Listen to what others always seem to say to you. If the pattern is always the same, you cannot blame life or others. 

After all, you are the only constant in the equation.

Know Thyself.

IF you have nothing good to say, say nothing.

Be alright with just BEing.

Let others Be.

Lovey, C

Conversations with my chirrens

Baby Two: ma, has there ever been a ruler who made everyone wear uniforms?

Me: yes... Err Kim Jong Il....

Baby One: yeah he made everyone wear lawsuits.

I love that my girls know so much and so little at the same time.

C


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The Approach

My daughters. Joyous. Photobombers. Love the Silly.


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Booth Goodies

Panini and I decided we wanted to get involved with some sort of crafty bazaar or fair, and when the Community Care Carnival came up, we decided to take a booth there and see if anyone would be interested in any of our wares.
Everything is hand/homemade and is repurposed, re-used or recycled in some way. Panini has gone the way of home decor chocolate, and I have veered toward that I know so well: crafty, sew-y things for the self.
If you are free on 16 December and want something to mosey on down to, come visit our booth at the Community Care Carnival at the Tropicana Medical Centre.
So, for months I have been working like a little busy working thing, making lots of things that I would wear myself, and that I see many people wearing - but if I were to go buy it at a regular fashion store, I would pay relatively exorbitant prices, knowing the cost of the items needed to make the accessories.
I don't profess to having the best workmanship, but I can make something functional and pretty enough!
I love beautiful, luscious colours and things to look at. I particularly love arm candy, and wearing gorgeous bracelets on my wrists which look like cuffs or have that worn look. That was my aim when I started making these paperclip wrist straps.
The materials are paperclips and faux suede leather thongs or strings. I had bought some on the internet earlier this year and only just discovered they are newly easily available at that wonderous shop with the mysterious name, Bunga Reben. Double YAY!

My biggest problem was how to make fasteners for the ends, because it was very hard for me to find the ribbon crimp clasps that I needed, which are costly and also don't come in the kind of metallic sheen that matches the modern lines of the paperclip.
I also thought of stud clasps, the kind you get on baby outfits, but I was a little unsure as to how to attach them and I knew they required a bit of hammering too. It seemed too fiddly for me to attempt for now.
So I decided to go with what I am comfortable with: sewing the ends by binding them as you would the edge of a quilt, with foldover binding. However I cut the strips of material on the grain to prevent loose, flexible binding, which I sewed to one end of the strap, keeping all the thongs in order and maintaining a consistent width from edge to edge of the bracelet.

Neaten the ends and fold the strip thusly:

A little UHU  or fabric glue dotted on the corners and fold all in to hide the exposed ends of the strap thongs.

Binder clips to hold the binding will I start sewing.

THe finished product before I sew on some press studs for fasteners. You can see the offcuts that I am keeping just in case I can make something out of them in the future. Waste not, want not. (Though it does take a lot of fiddly space)

Other things you will see at our booth:

 

Pretty, dainty wrist decor.

Christmas decor made from paper clay.

I do hope you can come over, even if to visit all the other booths. We hear there will be a gourmet delectables booth near ours, worth checking out!! 

As Hubs ventures out to other lands to make a stand for the men, women and children of Palestine, we have in our tiny way, made a stand for the kids closer to home. ANd although our ultimate goal is to test the waters and see whether any of the stuff we offer appeals or is sellable, we are happy to be contributing in our small way too.

Lovey!

C