Sunday, January 01, 2012
Hello 2012 - Goodbye 2011
I'm kind of speechless today ... a new year had started hours ago greeted by fireworks seen from the 2nd floor terrace of my humble home here in the town of Sta. Cruz, Laguna Philippines .
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Sta. Cruz , Laguna Philippines![]() |
This is the 1st time in 16 years that I had celebrated Christmas & New Year with my own family back here in my hometown.
Relatives from even far away places came to visit and I was able to see them after so many years ! The best part is seeing my mom happy being with her sisters . My aunties whom my mom hardly see and be with. Even the gathering of young children in my family is fun and wacky to see ...
I felt much happier compared to the last few years ! Indeed the feeling of happiness is overwhelmong although in a corner near my heart I have this pain knowing my 2 younger children where back in Perth away from me and were not able to join the fun.This is the very 1st time I ever left them for almost a month . Leaving them on their own with their father makes me sad coz I know it's not easy without me managing with them. Oh well .. time is moving on and they're growing up. About time they learn to manage themselves too. I'm sure they would do ok . Soon I'll be home anyways .
2011 is now over but memories of the year that had passed would forever linger and bring back the smile as well as tears spent with certain events in my life . The last 2 years had been a constant roller coaster ride for me and I did held on tight to whatever for dear life and constant search for happiness.
My stay in Perth for over a year now yielded more struggle to overcome loneliness and stress brought about by personal problems. But as a cliche goes " No one can put a good man down !". So I'm here proudly with my chin up high to prove that I'm still firm where I stand !
I 'm well blessed to have the strenght to keep my wits together and have my loyal good friends scattered in different parts of the world always running to my side. How I love them all dearly.
Preparation of beads for a crocheted wire design . |
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The finished wire crochet beaded necklace proudly worn by a good friend of mine who bought it while I was travelling in Singapore. last Dec 2011. |
My beads ... how I love my craft materials which are my constant companion in the wee hours of the night. They are my most trusted buddies distracting me from thinking about my personal problems and helping me somehow financially. Not only I gained materially but I also earned respect and admiration from friends I had known before and to new friends I meet along the way when I attended the bazaars to sell my handcrafted jewelries.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-jM6M4b1XOXJRiQ03OaFtndnGUwcshkqldRoMj3drP5WVorkmyf92wT8qvjqDT4zEk6bYqaczPreheTvL8Jlm9Qa-BNmaEYTIFKyHevrSYbqcbTIr3EiDAp7-1zsiw3NNo8E/s400/%2523SPN206+%253D+ESPERANZA+AUD%252460+SET+2011-10-19+17+%25282%2529.jpg)
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Not only these people adopted me but they also supported my jewelries. For the month of Dec., I had sold almost all the angel themed car charms, key chains I had made to support some charities.
I do thank you all for your support and wishing everyone a
Happy New Year 2012.
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Flowers on the front entrance of the International School Of Western Australia |
Monday, November 21, 2011
My phone rang around noontime while I was by the kitchen one late afternoon. It was my friend Anne telling me about a lady called Stefanie who's interested about my jewelries and willing to share a table in a community fair. I was delighted knowing I can again put my stuffs on public display ..Yehheeeyyyyyyy!
Anne gave me her contact nos. and told me to give her a call the soonest possible. I did gave her a call after 2 days and we agreed to meet up on a Monday aroungd 9am after I drop the kids off to school in the place where the fair would be held. The fete as they call it would be inside the premises of a community church located in Grant St., Innaloo.
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Twilight Crystal & Pearls earrings with 925 Sterling Silver Flower Hooks Price : AUD$35 Design Comes with Matching Necklace & Bracelet Which are Sold separately ! |
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Swarovski Crystals & Pearls Weaved Bangles $25 / $30 |
Anne gave me her contact nos. and told me to give her a call the soonest possible. I did gave her a call after 2 days and we agreed to meet up on a Monday aroungd 9am after I drop the kids off to school in the place where the fair would be held. The fete as they call it would be inside the premises of a community church located in Grant St., Innaloo.
She gave me a few info about the area surrounding the "Living Faith Community Church " & what the fair is all about . It's the very 1st time they're conducting a fair in there so she doesn't have that much ideas what to do and how to get more people to come into the venue yet. It's good that they have some printed flyers ready for distribution . I can have some given to parents in the school during kids' pick up in late afternoon.
The place for the fair is well lighted with ceiling fans, lots of hanging cabinets for New & 2nd hand clothings and other bric-a-brac ! It's indoor but well ventillated and has good airconditioning which I had felt while sitting there for a while talking to Stefanie . There are clean & nice toilets plus a little cooking area on the side by the end of the hall where the food for the fair would be handled for the guests & attendees. Nice grass patched areas outside on the church's front lawns where vendors' and the buying public can easily park their cars during the venue too.
I saw the trestle tables piled neatly in one of the corners and had seen some electrical outlet which is perfect for my lightings. She told me that the table would cost $50 for the day and the money goes straight into the church fund. I had decided to get 2 tables since I 've got loads of stuffs and she can as well put some of her bags for sale into one of the tables to mix with some of my bags & shawls . She only got a few pieces so I don't mind giving her some space on my table.
Based on my years of experiences attending numerous fairs, I gave her some tips on raffle draw prizes and should mandatory tell vendors for a gift donation to go to the raffle draw prizes. She was happy to learn more things from me and I was more than glad to help their community fair.
It doesn't cost much to be of help to others ...
It's always better to give ... than to receive !
So folks , again , don't forget the date ... it's for this coming Saturday , 26th of November.
Bring your family , kids , friends even pets along for a fun filled day full of surprises and gifts ...
Thanks again for your upcoming support and see you there !
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Gifts , Collectibles & More Beads in the Craft Fairs ...
0 comments Posted by My-SECRET-Corner at 6:27 PMNov 19, 2011 -Saturday ~ I woke up this morning at exactly 9:45am and I told myself ... gee it was so quiet in the house today ! My 2 kids were off to a sleep-over and hubby had gone a long time ago for his half day office work. Hmmmm what an alone time where I can enjoy every minute of it LOL. But anyways, I leisurely took a quick shower coz I wanted to visit a fair " Craft , Antiques & Collector's Fair " in Claremont showgrounds which had started yesterday. I don't want to miss the opportunity to see the event and the numerous stalls they have in there. It must be sprawling huge having about 350 vendors with all sorts of stuffs to sell. Must be an exciting fair to see hmmmmm. Wanna have a look if they got any jewelries similar to mine too . He-he sneaky me !
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http://www.treasuredcraftcreations.com.au/ |
Before I could get out of our house my mobile phone rang. I said oh no ! Who can be calling me on a Saturday morning when kids n hubby were not home . I answere and it was my daughter asking me to be there in 15 mins to pick her up n her brother . Oh well ... here we go again with kids asking me to go here there and everywhere aarrgghhhhh! So poor me has to go directly to them and pick them up ... got no choice do I ?
Running out of gas on the way back, I have to fill up the gas tank coz my meter was already blinking and son was nagging to take him to the skatepark nearby. I firmly said no coz now is time that I do something for myself . So tank is full and off we went to the Fair ... no more questions asked huh !
I know I would be seeing lots of interesting stuffs in the said fair coz I'd never been in any Vintage Antique fair at all. Surely what I like would not be interesting for my kids. Vintage & Antiques ? For me some are really wow ... but my kids ? They just hate it ... oh well , the new generation prefers more techno n modern look these days . Everytime I touched n looked at something ... they say oh no mom ... don't even think about it ! Oh Dear !
Browsing here & there, stall upon stall of handmade wares by local designers and artists delighted me. I noticed several jewelry shops too. Pearls and glass beads are all over the place. But, they don't have the type of designs I make . More intricate handiwork with Swarovski Crystals like I create is not a common site there. Most of the pieces I found are simply strung or with Focal glass pendants hung in a cord. I Love the glass focal beads and several shops are doing their own glass beads really well. Interesting pieces ! Although What caught my eye on the last row of the Arts n Crafts section was the wirewrapped pearls very similar to mine.The shop was called "KEEP UP WITH THE JONES" by Elaine & Sarah Jones. Interesting Necklace sets and the prices are very affordable. Pity I didn't take any picture in the said stall coz I'm not sure if I'm allowed to take any in the venue . I'm not sure if they have a website ... shame . They really got good stuffs in there. Their items looked very similar to mine pictured below :
A few mmore stops here n there and I discovered several beading components shops in the fair just like Galaxy Beads of galaxybeads.com.au which has a shop in Morley .I had already visited their beadshop several months ago. Oh wow I'd been all over these bead shops in Perth LOL.
My kids are complaining " Mom come let's go ... we are bored ! " I said " hey ... if you can help me find what I need here , then we can go home soon." I said I need to find Pigs or Angels for my collection. So off we went to the Antiques part of the fair and started searching in all those cabinets and piles of stuffs on display. We finally came to a halt when I saw these pigs in just 1 shop ! Hurray ...
The Big Pig about 1.5 inches and 2 mini ones about 2 cms only cost a total of $7.00 ... well, not bad ! I was happy to get out of there with my pigs in hand ha-ha . So are my kids too who had started walking back to the car while nibbling on the Chocolates & Fudge we had bought from one of the chocolate shops ...
they are absolutely yummy and good for those with a sweet tooth like my daughter and me !
Wanna have some ?
Just don't forget , tomorrow is the last day of the Fair and last chance to get some real bargains.
Good word of advice :
Bring enough cash !
Friday, November 04, 2011
Oh I thought it's still month of October. Gee... not until I found out on my schedule two days ago that I again have to bring my jewelries for display and sales at the Parent's Group meeting at International School Of Western Australia ( ISWA) on the 3rd of Nov. 2011. Hmmmmm ... time really flies fast these days!
I still have loads of newly created beaded jewelries so I didn't worry much on creating new pieces for the event.
What I'd been worried about was the cleaning of our house the last few days coz I have the real estate agent coming over the same day for the inspection of our place.
I had swept the whole backyard garden all day exactly 3 days ago. Oh, God knows how my back ached like hell at the end of that day. Never again i will sweep that yard coz 2 days after, the dead leaves came back on the grass again falling out from the trees all around. What a waste of all my efforts. The garden was messy again especially yesterday after seeing it in the morning littered with almost half of a tree that fell down due to strong winds during the night ! Oh My God !
Anyways, I have to rush to school with kids and all my stuffs in the car at 8:15am. So no time to worry much about the fallen tree. I can't do anything about it anyways. The agent will surely deal with it and have it cleared for us.
The parent Group meeting being done every 1st Thursday of the month started at 9am. The jewelries were laid on the velvet covered table I had brought in myself and everything was fully set up when the meeting started. I even had viewers and buyers even before the meeting had started! Wow ... what a show of support . I appreciate the attention given to my creations. It's heart warming really.
2 hours of selling in the drama room where the meeting was held was again successful just like the 1st time I came to this venue to sell. I even met new parents who just arrived in Perth with their children enjoying their 1st weeks in ISWA.
Welcome again to all the new families in ISWA!
I wish you all a pleasant stay in Perth just like me & my children do.
Anyways, I would like to thank again the organizers of the meeting for allowing me to be there with my jewelries. A million thanks again and I'm glad I can contribute a percentage of all sales to the school charity fund.
Many, many thank you ladies for all your support & patronage !
Photo courtesy of : http://www.birthstones.org.uk/birth-month-flowers/november-birth-flower.htm |
November Birth Flower
The November Birth Flower is the Chrysanthemum
The meaning of the November Birth Flower, the Chrysanthemum is With Love and Cheerfulness
Information about the November Birth Flower, the Chrysanthemum
Definition of the Chrysanthemum: A genus of composite plants, mostly perennial, and of many species including the many varieties of garden chrysanthemums (annual and perennial)
The November Birth Flower, the Chrysanthemum is also called the 'mum'
The flower has been cultivated for the last 2,000 years
The name "Chrysanthemum" is derived from the Greek words "chrysos" meaning gold and "anthos" meaning flower
According to the beliefs of Feng Shui, chrysanthemums are believed to bring laughter and happiness to the home
An ancient Chinese city was named Chu-Hsien, meaning "chrysanthemum city"
Sunday, October 30, 2011
It's been exactly a week since I had attended for the very 1st time one of the biggest known Craft Fair here in Perth, Western Australia.. The Subiaco Craft and Community Fair, the Biggest Outdoor Craft and Community Event in Western Australia was held last week , 23rd October 2011 at the Oak lawn of the University of Western Australia.
I considered myself lucky being able to secure a stall for my jewelries and I am really thankful to the organizers for accepting my application to be one of the stallholders there during that day. I was a bit nervous coz I didn't have any experience being in any Craft Fair yet here in Perth so this event is gonna be totally new to me I don't have any idea what to expect. I just told myself that it would be a trigger that would open a whole new door of opportunities and an eye opener for me.
I consider myself as a Jack of all trades, doing a one man show . Why ?
I was all alone during that day multi-tasking on my own. That's why. From the organizing of what things to take for display until 4am of the day of the event ( geee... I need some sleep don't I ? ) , to the packing and loading into my car on an early morning of Sunday ( I had even over slept coz I went to sleep only at around 4am after I had boxed everything I'm gonna take to the fair . I was thankful to my dear 12 y/o son who woke me up at 7am in the morning of Sunday , he was asking me " Mommy, isn't your fair for your jewelries today ? " I immediately flew out of bed hearing him ! whew I was running late . Was supposed to be at the unloading place by 7am ... arrrgghhhh ! ) , hurriedly ( without even thinkin og breakfast at all ) , I drove my poor car for the delivery of my stuffs to the venue ( thanks a lot to the volunteers who wheel barrowed my boxes to my table while I go park my car... good job guys , Thanks so much ! ) , to the setting up , to the never ending sales talk under the heat of the burning sun all day long ( I got no gazebo at all so I just hid under my neighbor's shade LOL ! ) and again to the packing up at the end of the day. Indeed i was very tired ... very, very tired ! So tired that i didn't have any energy left to cook dinner. I just dozed off on my bed even before dinner was served ! Hubby took care of my kids food that night ... yupppeeee ! I was snoring like an angel ha-ha !
But i had a great smile despite of the fatigue and backaches after all the work coz I did great with my sales and a friend with her family came to visit and support me too. Hey Dolores, many thanks for lending me your umbrella ... but I can't hold it all the time coz I need to talk and fit the jewelries to my buyers . So holding an umbrella is not that easy ha-ha. I guess, i will have to invest for a Gazebo next time ... good idea !
I am so glad I had met a lot of awesome people who really liked my jewelries that day too . To all my buyers and jewelry admirers, many thanks for being there for me. I will surely be coming to the next fairs especially just for you guys ... muaaahhhhhh!
My most admired items and sold fast were my hand weaved crystal bracelets and beaded rings .
Here are some of the sold items :
Note down on your calendar :
My next big Fair would be on the 3rd of December , 2011
Craft Thyme - Perth's most unique gift & craft extravaganza
Craft Thyme - Perth's most unique gift & craft extravaganza
Xmas
Gift - Craft Home Fair
Saturday December 3rd
9.30am-3.30pm
South Perth Community Centre
Cnr Sandgate St & South Tce
Come & Visit
My-SECRET-CORNER's
Stall There ...
Admission: $4 adult’s - kids FREE
October Birth Flower
The October Birth Flower is the Calendula (Marigold), as shown in the above picture
Meaning of the October Birth Flower:
The meaning of the October Birth Flower, the Calendula (Marigold) is sorrow or sympathy
Flower photo excerpt from : http://www.birth-flower.com/Library/OCT/
The October Birth Flower is the Calendula (Marigold), as shown in the above picture
Meaning of the October Birth Flower:
The meaning of the October Birth Flower, the Calendula (Marigold) is sorrow or sympathy
Flower photo excerpt from : http://www.birth-flower.com/Library/OCT/
Friday, October 21, 2011
Friday, 21st October 2011 ~ 8:00am ... at last I was finally driving beside the front lawn of 20 Bourke St. The place of " http://www.wishwarebeads.com.au/ " in Bunbury , WA. I had first way passed it and ended up in Target Shopping center. But most of the shops are still closed along that strip coz it's way too early still so I have no chance to stroll around knowing for sure I won't be seeing anything anyways. Sigghhhhhh. So I took the round about back to other side of the main road looking for Rose st. somewhere to my right side connecting to Bourke St. where the beadshop was situated. Lucky , I easily found Bourke St just being a street behind the main road .
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http://www.wishwarebeads.com.au/ |
My kids are in camp for 5 days and only back today late in the afternoon while my hubby was in Melbourne for business trip. Our house was big enough to keep me real busy but still, housechores bored me to death and I'm tired of seeing the things to clean lol. I am all alone so I need to be out somehow and see something new around me to entertain myself. So I decided to drive to Bunbury for 2 hrs straight to check the Beadshop I had been longing to visit since last year.
My butt was hurting from 2 hours of sitting in the car driving straight there and another 2 hours driving back to Perth hoping I have enough time to pick up the kids from school after thir camp drop off at 4:30pm ... OMG! What even made me nervous was I just stole my hubby's car which is newly polished and cleaned uh-oh really naughty me. It was full tank too ha-ha. Well, my car cannot drive so far coz aside from an empty tank, the threads of the front wheels are already sticking out like porcupine lol!
I guess today is really my luckiest day, I made it back to Perth early enough despite of my single journey with the car & my smart phone taking pictures here there n everywhere ... what an accomplishment lol!
Anyways, back to my beads mission, WishWare Beads is a bead shop I saw in Australian beading magazines many times before. I also checked its website where I happen to even saw a special pendant made of resin with Eiffel Tower in it as the theme. I got my eye for that piece ... and hoping I could get hold of it and also find an angel charm or bead or anything with an angel in it for souvenir from their shop.
Unfortunately, The Eiffel Resin pendant was not in the shop despite of Louise ( the young owner ) was personally assisting me with her mom.
I just found a pair of Eiffel themed resin Earrings in antique gold tone hanging in an eiffel tower wire stand on top of a glass cabinet . The earrings looked so fantastic and uniquely mounted on a wodden scrabble tile . It made me so happy as a puppy ha-ha. I prefer to have these unique creations and go home with it rather than be there in the shop and come out with nothing .
I also found a nice oval resin pendant with an angel in it ( pictured above with their business card ) . The Angel pendant was only 1 piece in the glass cabinet and it's a sure absolute WOW!
Nice view, friendly people and excellent souvenir to cherish .
Many thanks to Louise of http://www.wishwarebeads.com.au/ for being helpful & accommodating , my regards to your lovely mom & dad for assisting me too and also to your lovely adorable fluffy cat .
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Flowers in a garden in Bunbury ... |
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