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Etsy How-Tos

Click play below to learn how customize your packaging and branding courtesy of the fabulous Etsy Labs.



This video is the first in the series of Etsy's Holiday How Tos. Oh, bless the simple things that make me very very happy! :)

I've Been

Listening to Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" over and over again. I love the emotion and rawness of her voice. And it's such a great song to sing out loud to my dogs. They haven't felt the urge to join in yet though.



Reading "Suite Francaise" by Irene Nemirovsky. I'm at mid-book and so far it's been an easy read, touching and charming in its details. Yup, this is a book I'd recommend to anyone who loves their fiction tinged with a little insight to historical events.

Coveting this print on the left from the Yumi Yumi Shop. This print entitled "Make a Wish" is innocence and simplicity personified in my humble opinion. Love the yellow dress especially and the flushed pink cheeks just slay me. Do check out the rest of this wonderful artist's work at the link above.

Craving for some Cuppacakes (yes, that's the correct spelling). Too cute to eat? Almost but not quite. Royal Vanilla in the signature Secret Garden design for me please, thank you.

Props & Displays

I love my new jewelry displays/props. Yup, the birdcage above is for jewelry, NOT for live itty bitty birds. The jewelry tree below is a fave too. I bought two but am thinking of getting more since it's so useful and purdy. Can't wait to decorate it with feather butterflies and paper flowers, and then finally sprinkle in my jewelry.

All Shopped Out

Our group of 9 (5 ladies, 1 man & 3 kids) left Kuala Lumpur for Bangkok on Tuesday evening in excitement. 6 out of our group had never been to Bangkok or in my little sister's case, too young to remember her trip to BKK 2 years ago, the three of us who had been there on numerous occasions were filling them in on the glory of shopping and eating till your heart's content in that wonderful capital city of Thailand. And boy, did we shop and ate plentiful!

Although I came home with diarrhea (I think an omelet stuffed with mussels's the culprit) I did fortunately also came home with 2 suitcases of clothes, shoes, bags and various arts & crafts supplies.

Check out *part* of my score below...

The best shoes to be found cheaply are at Pratunam's shopping district. I found so many great bargains that I came home with a total of 18 pairs of shoes! The ones pictured here are some of my favorites.

The red and mustard yellow bag on the right were bought at Bangkok's infamous MBK Center and the other two were from the previously mentioned Pratunam. MBK is the equivalent of KL's super bargain Sungai Wang Shopping Mall only bigger! Although there are A LOT of great bargains, you really have to keep your eyes peeled to spot quality.

Going Mortar

Congratulations to Brooke of Gemma (her Etsy store here) on opening up her very own brick and mortar store! Read her blog to get the low-down on her transition from solely selling online to actually signing the lease for the store. You go girl!

Adorn

I was feeling very book-hungry last week so I picked up a few magazines to whet my appetite. Now, I used to buy heaps and heaps of magazines (I bought 15 at one go this one time... crazy huh?) on top of getting at least 4 new books every month but ever since I stopped living precariously off the parental unit's supplementary credit card, I've had to restrict myself A LOT. I now only buy InStyle and KLue religiously and indulge in at least 2 new books every month. This month however, I figured I deserve a browse friendly treat and seeing that I haven't had time to go to my fave bookstore, I stopped by my local mamak newsstand. To my surprise, my local mamak newsstand had gone all craftsy during my dry-magazine-spell. Look what I found...

Adorn is totally fabulous... I love all the ideas, patterns and resources. Oh, and the pictures are gorgeous! Highly recommended for all you craftsy types and good luck looking for it if you're Malaysian... I was told by the mamak that he only had 4 copies of the magazine TOTAL and that it only comes out every 4 months so you better rush out and get it NOW. You may have better luck at one of the big bookstore chains though. Hmmmm, I wonder if the distributor could possibly send it to me direct?