Leanne's drawings

No, I did not draw the above drawing. A blog reader did! How sweet of her to email me these drawings she did after being inspired by my work. It so totally made my day. I have been saving up these pictures in my inbox for days now and have been waiting for the right moment to post them up here. I hope this makes Leanne smile! Leanne and her friend, they are both so cute. They dropped by my MARKit stall on Sunday and said hi. They are also signing up for my Harvest special 1-night only watercolour class. I am so excited I get to teach such creative girls! Ah Leanne, you sure can paint and draw!

laid back {in platforms}

Chambray shirt: Gap; Jeans: H&M; Shoes: Jessica Simpson Dany platforms; Envelope clutch: American Apparel; Jewelry: J. Crew, H&M, Jess LC; Sunglasses: H&M

There is a slight possibility that I had the following conversation with my boyfriend after I put this outfit on:

Him: Ready to take some pictures?
Me: Alllllmoooost (searching for my long-lost aviator sunglasses)
Him: You know (waits for me to put on said aviators), you kinda look like you belong in the movie "Blow" with this outfit.
Me: (pausing to think for a moment) Wait, does Penelope Cruz wear an outfit like this? I can't remember."
Him: No, you're totally Johnny Depp right now. (proceeds to sing "Black Betty" the entire time we're taking pictures, hence my uncontrollable laughter)

And yes, there may have been some air guitar done throughout this as well (but I left those pictures out).

It was all good.

My birthday didn't suck. At all :-)

No matter what's going on in my life, I always know I have my WONDERFUL family to count on. They always go above and beyond to make me feel loved, and I will never be able to tell them how much I love them.

My mom and my aunt made me a delicious lunch at my Grandma's house, my cousins were there and we had a really nice time. The cakes, yes I got two, were yummylicious, and I just got to forget all the other crap for a while and just enjoy my day.

My mom, sis and nice got me this crazy cool ring I had been drooling over. My aunt got me those delish cakes. And my baby girl got me a box of chocolates. It was good.

Yep, not bad at all :-)

if you're going to san francisco...

Just spending a relaxing Memorial Day weekend romping around town, stopping at the beach, napping in front of the Palace of Fine Arts and smelling the flowers! Happy Memorial Day! Hope it's full of friends and family!

Gave the ol' DSLR camera a rest this weekend so I relied on my iPhone instead. {Click through to see more photos of my weekend so far.}

Digital letterpress. Whaaaaa?!?!? I die.

I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I found this crazy cool tutorial on Pinterest.

It teaches you very clearly how to create this letterpressed effect using Photoshop.

I played with it a little and these two images are what came out...

These were just my first attempts and I am gonna keep on trying to perfect it till I get it just the way I like it, but the process is so much fun.

Finding these tutorials for me, right now, is like buying embellishments.

(Oh how I miss my paper!!)

Definitely give it a try.

Tooddles.

MARKit day

After a whole long day of standing, smiling, and meeting both new and familiar faces, I am back from yet another market stall day! It was fun sharing an island stall with Harvest Textiles and Monolog's creative Indie at the ever fantastic MARKit. I was there this time round to sell our Dawn Tan + Harvest Textiles collaboration. Lots of tea towels and recipe boxes went to new lovely owners. Oh and totes and aprons too! So yes, if you've bought something from us yesterday, thank you! And to those of you who came down specially, said hi, introduced yourselves, brought your little kids to meet me, etc, thank you! I look forward to teaching all of you little kiddies and adults soon! The first class starts this Thursday! Oh wow : )

I took lots of photos of the other stalls. Will be sharing them in my next post. See you soon!

passing through

Blouse: Zara; Leather shorts: Urban Outfitters; Shoes: Charlotte Ronson; Purse: Zara; Jewelry: J. Crew, H&M, watch c/o ModCloth; Sunglasses: Karen Walker

Sorry, ladies and gents, but someone (ahem, me!) is running ridiculously late to work right now, but I wanted to make sure I had these posted before I ran out in my platforms -- I just LOVE this shirt. Best combination of silk glamour and slouch ever. Like a daytime pajama shirt.

OK, now off to find my heels, which appear to be hiding in my apartment somewhere. Might have to try some "Marco Polo" tactics with them...see ya, soon!

It's my birthday.

I turn 39 today and I am hoping with all my heart that this is the year it all happens for me. I used to love, love my birthday. It was the best day of the year for me and I looked forward to it all year long.

For the past 13 years I've kinda wished that I could just skip it all together and not think about it anymore. It's always a disappointment. Always some kind of hurt. Always makes me feel lonely. I just don't like it anymore.

I want that to stop! I want to know that this day will again mean happiness and celebration for me.

I am so ready to get on with my life, to be free, to be the best mom, the best daughter, aunt and sister I can possibly be.

To have the life I deserve and have dreamed of.

Here's hoping...

I got this verrrry cool letterpress effect in Photoshop with an amazing tutorial I found on Pinterest and I'll share it with y'all on Monday. I also found the tutorial to make the circular text. Finally! I was complicating it so much and it's actually so easy. Sheesh!

Right now...

Listening: to the TV on the background. Old Christine is on.

Eating: still nothing. Where is my birthday breakfast in bed? Ha.

Drinking: not a thing, but I could so use an espresso.

Craving: a nice big ole IHOP breakfast.

Wearing: a tank top and sheets cause it's too damn hot in here.

Feeling: sad, tired, sleepy, angry... Yay.

Weather: it's gonna be another scorcher.

Wanting: to like my birthdays again.

Needing: a present would have been nice.

Waiting: for this little hell to be over already. How cheery am I?

Wondering: when, when, when?

Loving: nothing at the moment really.

I'm off to enjoy my mama's cooking and try to have a good day with my family.

Have a good weekend, lovelies.

seeing red

Top: Sheer ruffle blouse, Ann Taylor; Pants: Adam, via Beacon's Closet; Shoes: Jessica Simpson, Dany platforms; Clutch: iPad case via Gilt; Sunglasses: Karen Walker; Jewelry: J. Crew, gifted, watch c/o ModCloth

Anyone remember this outfit from an installment of Vogue.com's "5 Days, 5 Looks, One Girl" series with Filipa Fino? It's been teasing me from my Pinterest boards for quite some time now and I finally got around to hemming the pants that would make my dream outfit come true. Granted, I've had the pants since February, but eh, better late than never, right?

Harvest Owls

Oops! Picture overload once again. Sorry, I just can't help it. Especially when these kids are so talented and so cute! For our last April class today, we made our very own owl clocks! I was rather sick and wasn't feeling very good so I didn't quite have any energy. Things were a bit slower resulting in a bit of a rush. Even cut my finger by accident. Kids saw and went 'ouch' on my behalf. Cute! But we made it in the end. Hooray for us all! A special thanks to Emma who took some of these photos. Thanks Emma : )

Don't forget, there's going to be another round of kids art class in June! If you're a mummy who would love to sign your kids up, do so over here! If I am not mistaken, the class is almost full! Come July 14th, I'm also going to be having a special one-day filled with Handmadelove workshops at Harvest. I'll be holding 3 classes during the one day. A toddler, kids and adult class! Check this little space for more info and to sign up!