Love Note #1

We had a fabulous little holiday in Redang a couple of years ago, our first together. We loved swimming in their clear waters but I'm not a strong swimmer so when I got tired he piggybacked me and swam back to shore. When we got back to shallower waters, the sand was covered in pokey little coral pieces, not piercing but still uncomfortable to walk on. He refused to put me down and carried me even though it meant him walking very gingerly through all the sharp pieces with me on his back, just so I won't hurt my feet.

Great find!! iDiY - design goodies for 'i-Do'-it-Yourself weddings

I'm so excited!!
I found a great webbie with loads of free DIY templates and goodies, tips, tutorials and inspirations!!
What a goldmine!

It all came about when one of my besties posted a pic of an organiser cover I made a couple of years ago for Christmas pressies. I had bought inexpensive organisers from Popular bookstore and jazzed it up by scrapping the covers. Looking at the designs now, I find them so amateurish but she treasured it and cut it out from the organiser and kept it as a bookmark *so touched*

So I resolved to make them something better this year. Something useful and gorgeous and totally customised for each of them as a Christmas present. I was googling for ideas and chance across this site

'i Do' it Yourself

It's filled with truckloads of free templates and clip art and soooo many pretty things!!

Since I've been itching to get my hands deep into glue and paper and all things craft but it's still waay too early to get started on my DIY projects for my big day (i always hear a loud 'Siao ah!!' and eye-rolling big enough to move boulders when I say I wanna start buying supplies), so I thought a good project to keep me busy would be handmade invites to the 8 lovely ladies I wanna ask to be my jie meis. Most of them know that they'll be part of my entourage but I've always feel it would feel nice to be formally asked and if it's through a gorgeous handmade card, it'll be all the more memorable and sincere wouldn't it?

Just a little sampler of the goodies available on the site:

A gorgeous apple green striped stationery set featured on the website.

Garden Stripes Invitation Suite by J. Bartyn

CD template from Benign Objects

this is so dainty, lovely for a simple card

This is so exciting! There are so much stuff that I couldn't even begin to introduce them all. Anyone interested in a little DIY must visit the site!

I can't wait for the weekend to come again so that i can sit all at my lappie all day and DIY! 

DIY Project: Small Light Tent for Photography

So happy with my little successful DIY project!!

I've been wanting to get a small light tent for taking photographs of the small items I'd bought. It beats seeing my ugly sofa, tablecloth or floor tiles in the background. I was thinking of going down to Funan Centre to get one but as I was researching shops that carry them, I found that they are sold on ebay too.

A light tent kit with 2 lamps costs $199!!! That's a little pricey for me.
So what's a poor artist gotta do?
Luckily for me, I found a post on someone's blog where they DIYed it themselves!  So I followed the instructions from this link and made my own light tent!!

Here's my materials:

1) Cardbox box. You can use any box you may have around your house or from your office. Size is according to your preference. Like for myself I prefer a slightly larger box in case the items I buy may be a little big. Found this box in my house ad it measures an average of about 29cmx25cm.

2) 2 large pieces of heavy paper. This can be found in Popular at the paper section. You'll need one black and one white. They only cost $1.70 each.

3) Tracing paper. Also found in Popular. Costs $1.50.

4) Black tape.

5) Other tools: pen knife, long ruler, marker and Blu-Tac. Easily found in many homes.

Firstly, you cut out holes in 3 sides of the box, leaving a 2 to 3cm border around the edge so that your box will not collaspe. If your box is made of a stiffer material then 2 cm will do.

I reinforced the border with black tape to make it more sturdy.

Next, you cut out 3 pieces of tracing paper slightly bigger than the holes you've cut out and tape them securely in place. Make sure it's tight. Like this:

Then you cut out a piece of black paper to line the back of your box like so:

Using the white paper, cut out a piece measuring only the width. You do not need to shorten the length to fit  the box. Secure the white paper to the back using Blu-Tac.

Tadah, the box is done!!

Now you'll need your lighting. If you have any desk lamps at home, they'll come in handy. But I did not have any so trusty Ikea comes to the rescue.

Only $14.90! Cheap cheap! I bought a pair.

Ready for shooting!

Easy to do right? And it only costs me about $37!! That's like a fraction of what it'll cost me to buy a professional one.

Now to see my test shots!

Heehee Wall E at work.

The One about gown shopping

Yesterday was the eagerly awaited appointments with the bridal studios!!
Arranged to meet the gals at Tanjong Pagar MRT at 12.30 to have lunch at a nearby hawker centre and then proceeded to the first studio, Di Gio Bridal.

The place had a nice deco and they were gracious enough to let me try on quite a few gowns and styles. Pity they didn't allow me to take any photos so that I can share them here.
Their package was pretty reasonable and the staff was ok but we didn't really feel comfortable there. It felt a little too formal and stifled in that place.

We left Di Gio at around 2.30 and since my next appointment at The Aisle was at 3.30, the others got me into Sattine which was just a couple of shops down. We walked in and requested to look at some of their designs. There were a couple on the racks that already caught the girls' eyes. The first one I tried was quite wow. The design was very unique, unlike most of the ones we usually see. But again they do not allow any photos. Pity. The experience here was worse than at Di Gio. They had an auntie there that was all sales talk and they didn't allow me to try more than 2 gowns. They just gave us a feeling that it was very fake and rigid and probably the kind who would change your package at a whimsy citing management decision and charge you exhobitantly. We left the place as fast as we could.

Arriving at The Aisle was akin to coming home. I was there previously on a few occassions with Weiling, helping her with her gown selections, so I was already familiar with the staff there. I also got good vibes off Eddie the designer, who was friendly, animated and fun. The moment we went in, we were already chatting with the staff and wandering around looking at the gowns on the rack while waiting for the other brides to be done. It was homely and casual and we felt very much at ease.

Here are the gowns I tried at The Aisle!

the first dress i tried, eddie got this out for me as it was similar to one of the designs i showed him. i thought the layered effect was quite pretty but the girrls thought it looked like curtains. all veteoed lol.

2nd dress. i loved the shimmering effect the tulle had. it seemed to have little bits of glitter woven intto the material so it sparkled whenever I moved. pretty!!

3rd dress. loved the light flowy effect and it has a very nice train. the gals loved this one too

it'll look very nice going down the stairs of the ballroom.

a short dress i tried. good for either the tea ceremony or for mingling with the guests during lunch.

i have this very strong idea that HTB will NOT see me in any bridal gown before the big day. I've always felt the moment when the doors open and you see your bride standing there with the gown and veil, hair and makeup done nicely, you'll be awed by how beautiful she looks and how big the moment is. that image will be seared in your memory forever. however these days most couple go to select the gowns and suits together so most grooms would have already seen the gown. when their bride steps out of the changing area in the gowns, they are already quite wowed by how beautiful she looks. every bride looks gorgeous. but in the studio her hair's probably messy and her face is unmade so the effect dims a little. then after multiple fittings, the wow factor's already gone.

i want him to have to have this wonderful moment so i was adamant not to let him see me in the dress. since the wedding gown was meant for the march in at lunch i was wondering what i should wear for the morning fetching of the bride. i had thought of wearing a traditional Chinese Kua but when i tried one at Di Gio, all the gals veteoed the idea as I looked funny in it. I then thought of the short dress I tried earlier but the others said I'll look like the rest of them and not like the bride. So Eddie suggested that i wear a simpler dress for the morning and a more wow one for the march in. All of them said that the unveiling of the bride is a very important moment too and I should be dressed beautifully for that as well. Come to think of it I agree. Thus Eddie brought out this simple sheath which when coupled with the stunning chapel veil created a ethereal effect.

Eddie demonstrating the effect of the veil.

We had such a fun time yesterday and Julia as usual got along with Weiling and the rest like old pals. I'm so glad I had them with me. Can't wait to go down to The Aisle again!