Monday, 24 September 2012

What your front door says


I painted my front door blue for a reason. I was actually considering black as well.  But I thought black, although will look well with the rest of my white interiors, would be too boring, too matchy-matchy.  Instead, blue is different and fun. It adds the pop of color which I needed to make my home less clinical. The shade is not any blue, but Greek Blue!. I just made up the name. It was actually glossy Nippon paint. The inspiration came from houses in Santorini island, Greece. The houses are all painted in white which are so striking against the backdrop of the blue sea. The white and blue is a great combo and is all time classic.  

   
Santorini Island

Apparently, the color of your front door says something about the home owners.  




Red door means the home within is a vibrant place, full of life, energy, and excitement.



Purple symbolizes energy and invites good opportunities into your home. . 


Black front door projects strength, sophistication, power, and authority, indicating that the home is a inhabited by a person of substance. Yes, just look at the number.




A brown front door conveys warmth, stability, and reliability and other positive attributes. But darker brown signals a desire for privacy, even isolation.



White represents purity, virtue and serenity. 


Yellow means mental clarity, understanding, wisdom, confidence, humor... 


Green door connotes health, safety, tranquility, and harmony. 


And, my blue door means the homeowner views her home as a place of refuge -- calm, serene, and relaxing. That is so true..


Images: All from Google Image, except blue door.
References:
Five popular front door colors and what they say about you.
What does your front door say? (houzz.com)


Sunday, 16 September 2012

Kate Middleton



It is quite hard not to be sucked up into the Kate fashion craze. Especially after watching the royal couple's Malaysian tour on tv.  Not that I know much about her, but I think this is my favorite of all her dresses. Very flow-y and feminine. She's pretty but I think she overdoes her eye make up which only makes her looking older than her real age.


Image: fashion.telegraph.co.uk   

Tuesday, 11 September 2012

I Love Rainy Days

It is only 6 in the evening. Yet it is so dark outside, a sign that thunderstorm is coming.



I love rains. But only when I am at home.


This is my idea of spending a rainy day....

being a snuggly bug on sofa under a warm, cozy blanket...


a cup of freshly-brewed coffee....


a fireplace making its soothing wood crackling sound....


with this little fur ball (or germ bag, as my hubby calls it) curling on my feet....


a good book in my hand....



or, even better, watching Mr Firth's movies....


A pure BLISS.

Unfortunately I have to return to reality. I need to cook dinner, check my kids' homework, do laundry and sweep the floor... all in an hour. Hmmm....

All images from internet.

Saturday, 16 June 2012

Fashinspiration from Pride & Prejudice


Google Image

The house was still quite when I woke up this morning. I turned on the TV and Astro was showing Pride and Prejudice (Keira Knightley’s), based on Jane Austen’s (1813) novel of similar title.  I watched it before but I don’t mind watching it again.  After all, it is not that often that I got to watch something other than SpongeBob, if you know what I mean.

I was most fascinated with the pretty gowns. There was one ballroom scene where the girls were all wearing white gowns.  The fashion differences were very subtle with the use of different tones, textures and materials of whites.  I noticed that pastel colours were also used for little highlights as belts, ribbons, etc.

Google Image

Google Image

The detective in me pushed me to google further. The costumes were designed based on the fashion in 19th century England, where the story was set.  Apparently, the ‘empire waist’ of the gowns were pushed down lower as the movie director felt that the original fashion was unflattering.  The gowns may appear simple, but they were actually quite complicated involving different layers, wraps, necklines, regency era skirt, etc etc… too much sewing jargons for me to understand.

This is another of my favourite (glad that I found the image on the net). I love the stripes and the long sleeves. I suddenly remembered that I have a similar fabric stashed in my sewing room. Well, looks like I just got another inspiration for the next dress for my daughter! She can wear this for her mengaji class or as a night gown. My worry with working with stripy fabric is lining up the stripes. The cutting has to be spot on.   

Google Image

I love this too. Heart heart the colour!

Google Image

Maybe I should sew one for myself too. But the problem is that I think this kind of gown is suited for slim,  tummy-less people. I'm sure people will start asking me 'when are you due?' if I wear one. So unfair!

I leave you with this romantic clip from the movie between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. 

"You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on".  (Mr. Darcy)




Tuesday, 12 June 2012

Dress Me Up

I tried sewing a dress for my doter a fortnight ago. It is quite an upgrade from my past projects, i.e. cushion covers, skirts and baju kurung. It was made for my nephew's wedding but it wasn't worn as I wasn't too happy with the pink sash - felt that it was too strong for the dress. I was thinking to change it to a more toned-down material but haven't got the chance to buy it.


However, I've decided not to bother. Let's just stick with it as a reminder of my first attempt. After all, it was my doter's suggestion to match the materials together. And she had no qualms with it. The dress used 1 metre of fabric. I bought a metre of each colour from, you guess it, Nagoya last year. My original intention was to make pillow cases for Aisya but I felt the patterns are a bit too cute to be wasted as such. Total cost of the dress was just under RM15! I've cut the pink one and will try making a longer / maxi dress.

I asked Aisya what am I going to do when she grows up and if she would keep wearing my homemade dresses. She looked at me with a blank stare, trying hard not to say anything to hurt my feelings. That's a good girl... :)

Friday, 8 June 2012

Lempeng Bodo

Recently on the way to our 'canteen' (a nearby cafe where I usually get our dinners), my son complained that he was bored of eating the same food and asked me why he couldn't have nice food like kakak's (my mother-in-law's maid) cooking. Ouch! My ego as a mother was dented.  I told him that there was nothing to cook in the fridge (which is true) and promised that I'd cook something nice this weekend. The next day our fridge was still empty. So I korek our kitchen to find anything edible to cook. The only things I had were a can of sardine, frozen peas, flour, and almost rotten potatoes. There and then I got the light bulb moment - lempeng! I knew the kids would like it. To entertain them further, I got them involved in the cooking.  


Aisya helped dicing the potatoes. And Imran pan fried all the lempeng. During cooking, he asked me 'where's the pancake box'. I told him 'this is malay pancake, not the mat salleh ones'. Don't worry - no kids were harmed in the process. Their fingers are still perfectly intact!

Aisya, who is always eager when I commissioned her to do anything which involves pens and papers, wrote the recipe. 


Good job guys! Next time I'll train you to wash the dishes... :)

Friday, 25 May 2012

My wish is granted with a swipe

After much contemplation, I finally striked off one item in my wish list i.e. serging machine aka mesin jahit tepi. I have been thinking to get one since a year ago but felt it was too expensive and unecessary. Not that it is now more affordable (now more expensive actually) I got tired trying to beat the traffic at 6.30 pm after work rushing to the sewing shop only to find that it was already closed. While on the way to the shop today I vowed that if the shop was closed, I would go straight to Singer shop near my house to get the serger. So I did.. . this is the serger which I already test drove!


The serger was RM1345 (more expensive than my 'stupid' handphone (which is only RM150!).  I closed my eyes, swiped my credit card but not before shooing my husband to wait at a restaurant...hehehe.. To pay for it I probably have to hang the following in front of my house....



If it that's not enough, I'll probably have to put this too..



hmmm.... what the heck, might as well this too... hihihi...



For the time being my sewing cum art room looks like tongkang pecah surrounded by all the sewing projects under construction..



Hopefully the room won't stay like that for long as I have a very ambitious plan (ceh..) to transform it into one of these...


source: internet

source: internet


source: internet

Just wait and see..... For now let me enjoy my serger..