My tatted black bunny

This is my black bunny. If you have not seen the rest its here. I have not been doing much tatting nor have I tried out the blissful block kit which Pat sent me. I am so behind in my crafts and jewellery making. I probably have to start again soon. I did not finish the beak of the hummingbird either. Honestly, I really do not know how to tat the beak based on the pattern. I was thinking maybe I should sew in beads or use an embroidery stitch when I use the tatted hummingbird in a project. Any suggestions?

Pink flapper girl egg doll giveaway

This is another 'egg doll' which I made. She is Princess Olivia's flirtacious half sister, Estee. She is made with a cream Thai silk, a tatted egg, a metal rose, pink metallic sequins and glass beads. She is my second giveaway. Just leave a comment before 4 May 2008 and I will do a draw on 5 May 2008.

Tatted green hummingbird

This is my first try at tatting this hummingbird pattern by Sherry Matthews. It is still missing its distinctive long beak which I have yet to make but you can see that it is a bird. I had to do a lot of unpicking because I kept reading the pattern wrong. I finally finished the body, wings and tail. I am going to try tatting it in another colour combination and see how it looks, maybe dark grey and blue.

Khazana at Boat Quay

This looks like a pretty old building. It is at Boat Quay behind the Singapore River. I was there early one morning. There were people just finishing a night of clubbing and having an early breakfast. I thought this building looks interesting. Behind on the right is the former ICA building. Khazana means treasury in Malay. What treasures does it hold? I am not sure, I think it is a restaurant.

Tatted eggs blocked

This is what I do after I finish a piece of tatting. I pin it on a computer mouse pad and wet it with water and let it air dry. You could also spray it with starch but sometimes the starch clumps when it does not drain off properly. I usually use water and when it dries, the shape of the tatting will conform to how you pinned it down.

Blissful block kit from Pat

I received this from Pat last week. It's a kit for crazy quilting (CQ) newbies. The kit comes with an already printed image with coordinating fabrics, silk ribbons, beads, sequins, charms, lace and embroidered ribbons with an instruction sheet. It's all ready for you to start. Do come back and see how I progress with this block. If you would like to try this kit, do visit Pat's Etsy shop here.

My moulin rouge dotee

I received this Moulin Rouge Dotee from Becky last Saturday. I only had a chance to photograph it today. She also sent me a wooden flower doll and fabric squares which I could use in making more dolls? The Moulin Rouge dotee is black and red with a blue and black feather in her head dress. The wooden flower doll is really cute too. Thank you Becky.
I prefer to take photos in natural light but sometimes it is just not possible. I either have to supplement it with a table light or use the flash.

Crested pigeon

This is a crested pigeon. I love how blue it is and how delicate the crest feathers are; constrasting with its red eyes.

We seldom visit local attractions. The last time I visited the zoo was when we were hosting overseas visitors. The last time I visited Sentosa was when I was representing someone attending an opening ceremony for a Seahorse Exhibit. Why do we travel thousands of miles and visit zoos, theme parks and other attractions else where when we have not even seen what we have at home? Well maybe sometimes we just need to be a tourist in our own city.

A few weeks back, two girlfriends and I decided we should do just that. It was a refreshing visit to the Jurong Bird Park. The last time I visited was for a field trip a long time ago. It was a weekday and we were probably the only locals there among tourists from all over the world. We saw the crested pigeon among other things. We sat on a wooden swing overlooking a man-made lake and thought of what we were going to have for lunch. It was a tiring but good day.

Caesar's salad dressing

I have been enjoying my salad this week because I just love this dressing which I got recently. If you do see it on your supermarket shelf, do try it.

Regular visitors

Every day I get two visitors to my balcony garden and they visit several times a day. They have been regular visitors for sometime now, probably years but I am not sure whether it has been the same two birds. They come to feed on one of my plants with tiny red inconspicuous flowers. They seem to love it.

In the past few weeks, I have noticed my balcony floor littered with pieces of bark. They have been busy trying to build a nest on my bamboo plant. I hope the nest building is successful. Umi & Tsuru gets a whole lot of bird watching. I keep the glass doors closed and the bamboo is very close to the glass doors so Umi & Tsuru gets a very good view of the birds. This is what the nest looks like now.

Moulin rouge dotee

This is my version of the Moulin Rouge dotee doll. It actually looks more like a Spanish dotee. I wasn't sure how to make it more Moulin Rouge. Oh well!! I tried. I really hope that Crystal M will like it. She's made with fuchsia Thai silk, black lace, Delica beads, Czech glass tulips, Swarovski bicone crystals, square sequins, fuchsia faux gem and cotton threads.

Rice with beans

A friend and I lunched at a restaurant which was recommended. We particularly liked the rice with beans. We were so inspired that we went straight to the supermarket and got the ingredients. Brown, red and white rice with black and red beans. I soaked the beans overnight and the brown & red rice for a few hours; cooked it in a rice cooker with chicken stock. It turned out fine but I still prefer the one in the restaurant. What's the secret?

Gifts from Lana

Thank you Lana for these incredible treasures. I can see the thought and effort you have put in it. I received them today and really enjoyed myself opening them. It came with a card which put a smile on my face. Lana asked whether my tatting was for sale. I told her we could do a swap. I sent her some of my tatting and requested for anything she handmade. I hope she receives my package before the end of this week.

Lana sent me a quilted heart pin, a little yellow bird with such pretty long feet, a fabric butterfly and a lovely handmade doll with a charm that reads "I love cats". Oooohh . . how it made me smile. Thank you so much Lana.

Water plant

I first saw this plant in Bali and loved it. It looks graceful the way the flower hangs. The photo does not show the flowers clearly but it is a precious colour of white and a touch of purple. It is actually an aquatic plant called water canna or Thalia geniculata.

Formula One Car

A yellow formula one car on the top of a bus stop in Orchard Road. I took this photo from across the road with my phone. I'm not a Formula One Race fan but I thought this photo was interesting. One other person was also taking a photo.