Sunday, December 30, 2012

Better Late .. Than Never !



 
 
December 2012 ~ Dec. holiday travels, before and after Christmas events , up- coming New Year's celebrations ... busy, busy, busy....OMG ! So many events had passed and I was never able to write anything about any of them... awwwww. I was even supposed to write a blog about the outcome of the X-mas tree my daughter and I had set up for the 1st time here in Perth. We had been living here since Aug . 2010 and never did I ever put any Christmas tree  or trimmings anywhere in the house for Christmas. So Dec. 2012 was somehow a bit different than the previous years.

It's because of the existence of a Christmas Tree ! Wow ...

 A promise is a promise ...as a continuation of my previous blog,  here are some pics of the Christmas decors and the Christmas Tree itself :



Color theme was Red & Gold
 
 
 
 
Brand New X-mas Tree was out of the box for assembly ... Tacha was excited to help me set it up .



 

Almost there ... good job Tacha !

The tree in its spot ...

with a bit of trimmings ..
hmmmm this tree needs more decor in it ...doesn't it ?

Now it's looking much much better !

Looking much much better after all the nice things hanging in it ...

but still, this tree is missing on something ... can u guess what ?
Of course, how can we miss the life of it ... the lights what else ?






Yeheeeyyyy... now the Christmas Tree is finally complete.


 
Kids & I were happy to see it well lighted especially at night. It actually gave more life in our boring looking dining room.
 
But I was not able to maximise the aura of it coz I left for Philippines on 22nd Dec. Few ays before Christmas. But anyways, kids and hubby were home to keep the Christmas tree some noisy company ...
 
I'm sure they enjoyed Christmas with a Christmas tree lighted up in a spot that used to be a dimly lit bare corner.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas with their families & friends . I had .... and I even got 2 lovely gifts from my cute 2 year old grandson and a nice Diary from my daughter Tacha. Ohhhh.. my son Tristan got me a nice bag for Christmas gift too.

 Thank You !





 

Friday, November 30, 2012

Somewhere Along The Way ....




Nov. 30, 2012 ~ I'd been missing seeing new places. Been a while since I'd been on a holiday.

 
 Last trip I had was out of Perth to Philippines, to my hometown last July 2012. About almost 6 months ago. I had fun and was very busy keeping my cute 2 yr old grandson some much needed company during my stay there.



 I miss the little guy and I know that he's missing me too. Siggghhhhhh ....

Anyways, I am now again gearin up for the next upcoming holidays . Few weeks from now is Christmas and here in Perth, I can see the festive season approaching real fast. Malls and shops are now filled with glittering x-mas decors , well packaged x-mas goodies , giftwrapped chocolates and other delightful gift items ranging from perfumes, bath items , candles, etc. Oh how i wish i could get some .... it would be nice for sure !

What kept me busy wandering around over Perth over the last 3 weeks is my mission of  scouting for & collecting some decors & x-mas tree items to put in the house. Funny part is, most of the things i had checked in shops are either made in China and guess what ... Philippines ! Well,, I'm proud of my country being able to compete in the international market. Good job fellow filipinos ...



 I never decorated the house for christmas since I arrived here in Perth last Aug 2010. We never had a x-mas tree here in Australia .But , for this year, I'm gonna put up one x-mas tree i had bought in BigW shopping center. Just a cheap plastic tree but hey... it makes a lot of difference once all the trimmings and lights are there. You will see once we had set it up ... I'll show you the outcome  in my next blog comin in the next few days.


183cm Albany Pine Tree (Tree No. 3)
183cm Albany Pine Tree (Tree No. 3)

Just a simple x-mas tree that is a bit taller than me LOL.  It will be filled with red and gold trimmings / ornaments. Some of them I had made myself out of plaster of paris painted with gold  acrylic paints and wirewrapped beaded items like wreaths I accented with ribbons and gold strings.


 
 

 I'm sure my kids would be very excited to hang the trimmings and decorate the tree themselves for the very 1st time here in Perth..

My beading had come to a slow pace this time of the year due to my back ache which is until now not being healed by my physiotherapist. So I was not able to make any Christmas themed jewelries much due to my back pain . Nevertheless,  I made sure I had made a few pieces for this year 2012.

 Nothing can just stop me from doing my passion... ... so with or without pain, somewhere along the way I would  still be here with my beads & crafts to cheer you up ...

 
 
 

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Paradise Found !




Oct. 31, 2012 ~ I had been trying to rest after the hectic schedule I had over the last weekend. 2 Fundraising events were  done ( A garage sale / Subiaco Community Fair ) and my handmade angel creations  didn't fail to raise some money for the poor like as usual. I was so happy even till now.




 I had created several items with angel theme like key chains, bag chains, car charms and earrings.


Earrings priced at $10-$14 per pair



Key Chain $10 / each






Car Charms $15 / each


 Setting up the table for the UWA fair last Sunday was a lot of work but I was so proud to see my banner hanged up there inside the tent for the very 1st time in a fair .



The booth always have people .. young & old.


I even overheard 2 ladies  while they were browsing that they feel like they're in paradise the moment they stepped in my tent LOL!



There was a moment when i watched 3 young girls aged 7-9 y/o commenting  beside one of the jewelry tables that their most favorite stall was my jewelry stall and one of them even dragged her mom to buy her a bracelet for her birthday gift . The girl was so happy holding the bracelet as I took a final picture of it before I let it go . She left with a very happy smile ...






 My happiness was shortlived by the fact that the made up tent almost flew away after a strong passing  wind. After everything was already displayed and  we were starting to sell to buyers.  I was hanging to 1 of its legs to keep it dowm Oh Dear !  I was very thankful to all the people who helped picked up the jewelries flown unto the floor and my broken mirror and some broken beaded jewelries. Lucky no one was hurt when it fell on one side too. Well , jewelry damage was no big deal though .. lucky me noone got hurt except for a damage of 3 broken necklaces that's all so it was ok. I just need to re- string them again.

All the loading and unloading and walking here and there before and after the fair , my  backache was now far more painful than before and I had to rush to BigW to buy this massage mat I saw online last Monday in their new catalogue . I told myself it's a must to get hold of one of these  inorder to relax myself  at home . 30 mins of pure bliss when I'm on my own in the morning. Yahhooooooo !
Conair Relaxation Massage Matt - Silver

   Conair Relaxation Massage Matt- Silver



 Costing me $60 is not too bad for  a piece of tool that can somehow help trigger my nerves to pump my blood all over the place and ease my spasms that had piled up on my upper right back. I had been having a hard time with my right back and it triggers a stiff neck and numbness on my right arm. I can't sleep well at night for  several weeks now coz of the pain and I felt horrible. Neurofen/ Panadol is now my constant companion at night before trying to get some sleep. It helps ease the pain temporarily during the night.

Anyways, back to my beading events, the fund raising for "The Backpack Of Hope Project " for the poor  kids in Kenya  is starting to do well. I admire the kindness of my friend Anne Janssens who had organized this fund raising to help the poor kids who can't go to school due to lack of school supplies. Anne had been to Kenya last year and saw the plight of the kids . I do support her for this endeavor as much as I can .

She had organized a garage sale in her own front yard to raise some dollars for the project with the help and support of her loving adorable husband, Paul. She personally made delicious homemade curry paste , chilli paste & achar sold during the day aside from some old and new Knick Knacks donated by friends and of course some of my handmade angel earrings too !


Achar  $10 /  Big jar 


Chilli Paste $8 .00 /Small jar 

Curry Paste $10.00 / Big Jar 


Nowadays, I can always say that , It's not what you have that would make you feel complete at the end of the day. The real paradise is when you have a light feeling in your heart  when you know what you had given away  for mankind.

A simple token of affection goes a long ... long.. way !

Let's keep up the good work Anne ... I salute you my friend !

'

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Never Give Up ...








Oct. 18,2012 ~ It's been 2 days since I had seen a video of a young pretty 15 yr old ~ Amanda Todd , from Vancouver, Canada, who was found hanged in her home on October 10,2012.

I actually saw her face picture on yahoo news and wondered what her story was all about. Until I saw the word "Bullying" so I got more interested to dig deeper into her story . I have a daughter about her age as well and I'm sure Amanda's story would be a good wake up call for girls her age.

As I continued on the news article that led me to her self made silent video, I start  having a creeping  pain in my heart.  Everytime she flashes a note about the events she had been through , each and every note card is a sharp dagger, like a thorn hitting me to the core. Dear heavens, this girl is just 15y/o and she has a long future ahead of her. But due to the fact she didn't have any help when she was calling out for one, her precious life was cut short. People who had bullied her are cold hearted animals with no sense of mercy at all. They're nothing but vicious sharks lurking in the open sea for an innocent helpless prey.


Amanda Todd, Anti-cyberbully video


 All she wanted is to be accepted and be a friend . Is that too much to ask ?  Is it that hard to give her a chance to be a friend ? And to those who had "befriended" her but just took advantage of her trust & friendship ... shame on you !


Amanda Todd, Anti-cyberbully video


I just wondered why there was no one there to guide her and give her the support she had asked for during the time she had uploaded her silent video. This really bothered me . I even wondered where her parents were when she wrote she needed someone. Where's everybody ?

Are people these days just don't care for what's happening around us ? Just taking people for granted and do their own business instead ? I would have been there for her if only I had seen her video the moment she had uploaded it. I know what she was going thru .. her agony, her pain coz I was also a victim of bullying . I was even younger than her age that time I got victimized but I luckily managed to push through. I fought my way through it all. All i had that time was a strong belief that their bullying will come to an end one day. Keeping to myself and forever telling myself that Time will come when a lamb would become a lion and chase them all away. 

“Some people won't be happy until they've pushed you to the ground. What you have to do is have the courage to stand your ground and not give them the time of day. Hold on to your power and never give it away.”
― Donna Schoenrock 

Just have to keep strong ...and have trust within yourself that  nothing can put you down... noone can ...


Photo: To all the people who feel or have been through what Amanda went through
- T


 Being bullied infront of a lot of people with those even taking videos of it while laughing and even provoking more physical abuse be inflicted to the poor victim infront of everyone in a school ground is no big joke. This is way too much to be ignored . Poor Amanda ... she badly needed someone for help but noone was there. What a Pity !



All I can say is ... it's too late now to put a precious life back. She had lost her battle for belonging and simple happiness because of a cruel society. Yeah, true she had committed some mistakes but she doesn't have to loose her life in return. 

As a parent concerned about the welfare of my kids and others' ,  I advice other parents with kids getting online most of the time to monitor their activities. Be there for your kids no matter what ...  parental guidance is the most powerful tool that would keep our kids away from being harmed in this modern awful society. Being there can change the outlook and prediction and steer them clear from self infliction.





This is in memory of Amanda Todd  ... R.I.P...My heart goes to all your loved ones , family and friends ~ this is not where your inspiring story ends.

Photo: What the bullies were doing to Amanda.
- T

Monday, October 01, 2012




1st October 2012 ~ Time had been running fast . I need to keep up with the times ... ugghhhh.. I had just realized around noon today it was already the 1st of October. OOh gosh ... that only proves I'd been very busy indeed !

I was so concentrated on teaching my new students in the comfort of my home and in their homes privately as well. I love even the views I passed along the way as I drive to their place when I come to bead in their homes !







A river view by Applecross, Perth WA 







 My students were all so talented and I enjoy every single moment I was beading with them. But during the times I wasn't teaching, I was creating new cuff bracelets and keep myself busy creating the flat spiral bracelets in several color combinations and adding more colors to a previous design I had created before with a different stitch.





 I am running out of box clasps especially in 2 stranded gold tone color as pictured on the photo above.. I had desperately checked  Pandahall , Fire Mountain Gems and a few other beading shops online but I couldn't find what I really particularly need . Waaahhhhhh I hate when this happens !  How can that be that my bead stuffs are not available anywhere ?

The only good news I have for the moment is that my 15 y/o daughter would be travelling as unaccompanied minor to Singapore tomorrow for a week holiday and she can pick up some of my crystals and other beading materials I would easily & conveniently order online from my favorite beading shop in China Town in Singapore. Isn't that awesome ? I just hope she doesn't loose my items them during her travel back to Perth. You know what I mean with teenagers ... fingers crossed !




Oh, She can even go get and grab me some pashminas I need to take to the school next week when the school starts again too. Just Perfect ! Hurray, Hurray ...Yehheeeyyyy !

Wish I could come with her to Singapore but oh well... I still have my 13 y/o son to look after here in Perth and I've got so many things to do and finish. Got a few more videos to upload to YouTube ( check this one out as I had just loaded it few hours ago :  " My Beaders in Singapore " )  and create more necklaces for my upcoming bazaar set for the 28th of October.






Note it down if you're from Perth so you can pop at my stall no. #162 just right by the main entrance 1 in Hackett Drive. I'll be putting all my latest creations there so don't miss it ! Most items are just 1 piece or 1 set.  So you are in for a real original only piece treat !




So , for me , October is another busy month to look forward to. My hands would be stiff and my nails would break & chip here and there as I go with my pliers and wires, needles and everything else. Not mentioning being pricked by needles too. Oucchhhh !




But it's all ok .
 I don't mind at all if my fingers are bleeding, and my back hurts like hell coz I could see the end results of my beading giving me satisfaction at the end of the day !





Thanks For Visiting My Blog 
I wish you all a very pleasant day !


~ October Birth Flower ~

 Marigolds are often given as a sign of warm or fierce, undying love, or as a way of saying that you're content with being with the recipient. The other October flower is cosmo, a symbol of order, peace, and serenity.

 
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