Motif No. 19/25 - Angel Pam for Pamela's Secret Santa Exchange

My Secret Santa Exchange recipent was Pamela Myers. These were what I sent Pam.

Oops, I forgot the snowflake bookmark! Hope Pam won't mind I took this photo from her blog:

Angel Pam will be Motif No. 19/25. I decided to name this after Pamela, so as to differentiate the different angels that will follow in the coming weeks (hopefully).

Actually, there is another version of Angel Pam (photo below) - this was the first one I tatted. There were some slight differences in the head, the wings and the lower part of the skirt. I personally preferred the skirt of the angel I sent Pam (above), but I couldn't really decide which version was better for the head and the wings! What do you think ?

And if you noticed, yep, a ribbon could be weaved through again, to create a bookmark! Ok, I realise I love thinking up of designs that can be used as a bookmark or a motif for hanging or sewing/mounting onto a backing. Versatile is the word!

Christmas Gifts and Motif No. 18/25 - Bell Merry

I tatted and given away a total of 52 tree bookmarks this Christmas, wow, can't believe I actually managed! Received a lot of little gifts too, some very thoughtful ones. Thank you, everyone! I could barely snap a photo with my children's hands all over them!

I sent Vicki another package for Christmas as she sent me twice for the earlier summertime exchange.

Going anti-clockwise from top left corner, there are Christmasy words cut on the pink glitter stockcard using QuicKutz die-cuts, the yellow and black yardages are machine-tatted edgings I bought, a poinsettia motif tatted with Olympus 40 thread (pattern from a Japanese book) mounted on an organza bag, a Singapore Flyer postcard, my tree bookmark tatted with Aida 10 thread, and Bell Merry - a new bell motif tatted with Flora 20 thread. It's not difficult to guess why the name, right ? This will be Motif No. 18/25.
Will post what I sent to Pamela for the Secret Santa Exchange once I find the photos, and in the meantime, waiting for mine to come.

Fahrenheit's Fantasy and All The Trees

I'm not exactly a fan of Fahrenheit, but with Keppel Night's 50% off the tickets for the group's Fantasy World Tour concert on last Friday night, I guess it was a steal. From the crowd, fans were mostly young girls, eager to catch a glimpse of their handsome idols. Yes, all will agree they are young and handsome. The phenomenal 'Super Boy-band' is currently the hottest Chinese act that is taking the world by storm. The group comprises of Aaron Yan, Wu Chun, Calvin Chen, and Jiro Wang. and they are so popular that they have even conquered the non-mainstream Chinese territories such as Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Korea! As I don't follow the latest Chinese pops, I couldn't really appreciate all the songs, though some were nice. I could see the boys put in a lot of effort for their songs, but personally, I felt that 4 person's effort were not as good as veteran Andy Lau. Nevertheless, it was an eye-opener for my 2 children.

And for a good whole month, I'm tatting almost nothing else but all these little trees for Christmas gifts, well, not all finished yet, and still rushing a few more!

New Christmas Shuttle, Heart Coaster and A Wonderful Concert

Received this new shuttle a few days ago, which I won on ebay. Made by the Shuttle Shop using Northern Black Cherry wood, this is the Christmas 2008 edition featuring a hedgehog. This is my 4th shuttle from the Shuttle Shop.

I was packing my stuff and found this acrylic coaster which I bought from Ikea months (or is it years!) ago. I remembered I bought it with the intention to put a tatted heart inside, as the coaster is made up of 2 identical pieces (top and bottom) and with magnets to attach both pieces together. This tatted heart was the one I won in Wendy's blog giveaway a little while ago, and I have attached it with glue dots on a cover of a note book. Now I think it is just so perfect in this coaster, both in shape and size, isn't it ?

And after the long wait, he was finally here, standing on stage, with a full house of 7000 audience on each night, all eyes on him, and I was among the 7000 there on the 2nd night, together with my mother, my colleague and her 3 sisters!

He's so handsome, so manly and such well-toned muscles. Fans were screaming away the whole night long, and were too eager to sit down (at the same time, it was very cramp as the organiser added so many seats!). Though I prefer his Canto pops to the Chinese songs, Andy is remarkable in his showmanship - all the different dances (real dance, not just hopping and jumping around), magic stunt, and a drama performance. I must also add the digital screen effect was fantastic. This was the most spectacular of the 5 concerts I attended this year, and most tiring one having to stand the most of the 2 hour plus!

This jacket was so cute!
Took a few video clips of some of the Cantonese songs Andy sang. Weren't well taken, but watching them brought back fond memories of the concert.

Secret Santa Exchange Sent, Macrame Rose Bracelet and Visit to Singapore Flyer

Phew! Finally, my package has gone out and it's on its way to its recipent for the Secret Santa Exchange. Hope it reaches its destination in good time for Christmas.

Besides tatting more of my tree design for Christmas gifts, I have done 2 more new designs for the season - 1 finished just in time for the exchange, another one is going to Vicki hopefully by next week. Won't be showing any photos just yet. But here's one photo of a bracelet I did a few weeks back. It's designed by Janet Koh, a local jewellery designer. I bought the kit complete with all the materials, it should be quite a quick project, but I took quite a while with it, especially the starting part. Well, it's my first macrame piece, and I'm happy to wear it.

Today, we went to the Singapore Flyer. Completed in Dec 2007 and standing at 165m, the giant observation wheel gives an unobstructed 360 degree view of Singapore landscape. Next time, I'll bring a pair of binoculars!

A Pantomime and Motif No. 17/25 - What's In The Heart

Once upon a time in the Eternal Kingdom, there lived a Queen who wanted everything and everyone to be perfect. So, when her subjects turn 18, they are sent for “Enhancement”— a programme to correct their flaws. The Queen holds a beauty pageant every year where she crowns herself as the winner. One day, her Magic Mirror, who cannot lie without literally cracking up, reveals to her that a new beauty has come of age—her own step-daughter. The poor girl is ordered to undergo a nip-tuck by the creepy Royal Surgeon. But she runs away to the Outer Limits, where she encounters junk, vermin and the rapping, breakdancing seven outcasts banished from the Kingdom for falling short of the Queen’s standards. The plot sounds familar?

That's Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs given a hilarious local twist - W!LD RICE's new pantomime! Hilarious and heart-warming musical comedy injected with the latest current issues like plastic surgury, tainted milk from China, reducing waste and recycling. Written by playwright Alfian Sa'at and directed by Singapore's funnyman Hossan Leong, the one to watch out for is really the Queen (the pantomime dame), played by Sebastian Tan. She (or rather, he) stole the whole show! And the children in the audience were of course delighted to see the children wearing animal costumes playing animals on stage. My children loved the music and the songs are catchy, the dances good, well, my personal review after catching it on its second night (27 Nov), it's a production not to be missed!

Back to tatting.

Like most tatters out there, I am tatting Christmas motifs for exchanges and for friends, nothing much I can show yet. But in trying to finish up some threads on the shuttles, here are 2 small heart bookmarks that I just made up as I tatted. I'm not very satisfied with them, and was contemplating whether to count them as part of the Motif Challenge or even to show them. After blocking, they look a bit better, so here are the small hearts. I will count them as Motif No. 17/25 - What's in the Hearts.

Tatting Meet-Up at Toa Payoh

We had another gathering yesterday afternoon at Sizzler Toa Payoh. Jacky was sick and Wendy couldn't make it. But we still have a new member - Rei, a full time working mom with 2 young children. Rei bakes a lot and just started tatting - here's her blog with lots of recipes and her new blog for tatting. We had lunch and chatted, we were most excited about Jullie's pregnancy, giving her lots of tips on her coming delivery, confinement, baby care, baby food, ....

Ok, we didn't forget to tat. All came prepared to do my little tree design. Here's the 3 of them working hard on it.
And these were what we managed. (From left) Aileen finished the tree and added a star bead at the top - ingenious! Next is mine in pearl cotton size 8. Rei is a beginner and she managed to tat the split ring. Jullie used size 50 (wow) and managed to tat the split chain. Well done, everyone!

Rei brought a surprise for us. Guess what? Hint: Notice the box on the left of the table in the first photo. And what's Rei very good at ? Have you got it ?

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Rei and the cake she baked specially for us!

Close-up of the cake in coffee-chocolate favour decorated with shuttles and tatting needles, threads and tatted lace. Only the threads and tatted lace are "real", the shuttles and needles were hand-crafted by Rei herself! Thanks, Rei !

We took a group photo before the cake-cutting.

By the time we left the restaurant, it was evening. Outside - why was everyone staring up and taking photos ?

Rainbow! There wasn't really any rain earlier, and although it was already getting late and dark, it was a beautiful one painted across the sky. A great ending to our little gathering!

Lucky Win in Collage Competition and Charity Sale

Last Sunday, I brought my 2 girls for a collage competition held in conjuntion with the Tree Planting Day held in Tanjong Pagar CC. The theme was back to nature. It was crowded and hot, and tiring carrying all the materials we brought there, the goodies bags, and looking after the 2 of them by myself, so we left before the event ended. Before we reached home, we received a phone call announcing Kristine won the consolation prize! We had to made our way back to collect the prize on stage, but it was worth it and Kristine was so excited!

This was done by Joey all by herself.

This was what Kristine and myself did together, and won the consolation prize in the K1/K2 category.

Some of the other prize-winning entries in all the different categoies by age. Yes, parents were involved, and some were real good.

I was tatting simple bookmarks and paperclips all week for Joey to sell in her school Enterprise Challenge, and proceeds went to the school's financial assistance for needy families. Nothing to show as she snatched up the bookmarks as soon as they were done, but all in all, she sold all the 22 tatted bookmarks, 10 tatted paper clips and 4 paper weaved hearts! It was a tough week tatting up all these with whatever free time I had, but it made her real happy and for a good cause too!

New Shuttles, More Amazing Works from Vicki, Motif No. 16/25 and Wizard of Oz

The artistic-looking acrylic shuttles made by Craig are pretty to look at, and since they are the bobbin-type, I just have to get my hands on them. They are bulkier than what they looked in the photo and do not come with hook (the one on both ends are GR8 shuttles). Well, I haven't tried using them, so no verdict yet.Dakota Burl in the centre, Acrylic Black And White Pearl on the right and Acrylic Yellow And Gold on the left.

Remember my summertime exchange from Vicki ? Well, we thought it was lost after waiting for 2 months and Vicki is such a gem to prepare another one for me. This time, it arrived much faster. See these treasures Vicki made - a thimble with a tatted holder, an amulet bag starched to look like an ornament! Can't thank her enough!

And here's my latest Motif No. 16/25 for the coming Christmas season - a quick tree motif tatted in 1 round if you can manage split ring and split chain. I haven't managed to draw the diagram out yet, it might be a bit difficult to follow the written pattern. I think the pattern cannot be enlarged, I will try to get the diagram done and re-post the pattern.

(11 Nov 08: Added the diagram in the pattern. I don't know why the following can't be enlarged, so if anyone wants to have the pattern, you can leave a comment with your email address or retrieve the pdf file from HBT's files:

http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/gBwaSWEaKEWEIBgGhhhxktC8P-FvV3ochYZ2Xq70RgtzlgS10fnEU3Zpv-pjcSzxic1SKJ09kTRUmjyvuCxfRoT9IkZICOo5/ALL%20Patterns/Ellen )

We just came back from the muscial, Wizard of Oz, held at the Drama Centre Theatre. The script was developed by John Kane and the Royal Shakespeare Company, this is the best "children" muscial we have watched so far. Stretching 2 hours, the length is just nice. Props, settings and costumes are appropriate, creative and colourful. Songs are delightful. Yes, we enjoyed every moment. Now, we're waiting for 27 Nov for the next musical, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, directed by Hossan Leong!

Singapore Biennale 2008

Finally, we found time to visit the Singapore Biennale today. Singapore Biennale 2008 is the follow up to the inaugural event in 2006. Covering the 3 main sites, we walked from 12 noon till 6 pm, with only a break for a bite. My back is breaking!

These are at the South Beach Development site. The charcoal drawings on the wall show the 3D effect well.

One of my girl's favourites, "The Dancer":

Next, at the City Hall location, "Evolution Mythology" - gourds that resemble human faces which the artist took a year to grow and shaped the fruit almost daily with his hands.

"Operation Supermarket" - photos of common daily products and foods sold in Iranian supermarkets:

I like this best, but the 3D effect could not be captured on film. "I'm Not Expensive", an installation using aluminium plates, fibreglass, urethane paint and neon light, the figures (a dancing couple, a woman carrying a troddler, a car and a boy sitting down) will turn as we walk from one side to the other. Just amazing!

Finally, at the Central Promontory site. My boy and girl like this the best, "Location (6)" - a vast snowy landscape:

"Flight" - 4000 slippers perched on bamboo poles:

These are but only a small part of the exhibits. It was a well-spent day exploring all the exhibits, an eye-opener, just like the theme "Wonder"!