Valentine's Cards

I tried to keep up with Hallmarks and made a few of Valentine's cards already. After all, Valentine's day is only a month or so away. Shipping time itself already takes about 2 weeks in general, so be romantic and get one for your loving one. These valentine's cards are available at more at my Etsy store and more will be listed soon.



Today, we when to the Mall. We always stop by at Mothercare store. It's one of the places that we just 'have' to visit (the other two are Ranch Supermarket and TGA bookstore). It's so fun browsing clothes, shoes, toys, books and feeding sets for Ethan. But this time, we didn't buy anything. But Ethan got a balloon!

And this is a scrapbooked photo material. Ethan has been learning to walk. He gets better and staider in walking. I'd bet he'll be running in a month or so and it'll so hard to keep up with him.

The Joy of Credit Card

I love using my credit cards. Back in Vancouver, we barely brought cash with us. Credit cards seemed to work in everywhere. It's good for even a small $5 transaction. At the end of the year, we redeemed the accumulated points, enough to use them for a night or two stay at a four to 5 stars hotels or for a gadget that was in.

In Indonesia, credit cards are not as common as in North America. Cash is preferred in most places. Nevertheless, credit card users are not only rewarded with points but also a saving on the spot. For example, most restaurants offers big discount when certain credit cards are used. This is absolutely good news for my hubby and I. We LOVE dining out ... oh, the joy of eating! Foods in Indonesia is generally cheaper than in Canada. A meal in Indonesia costs about one-quarter or one-third of what it costs in Canada, but of course its portion is a bit smaller as well.

But can you imagine how cheap it can get when a discount of 51% off on food and beverage applies? Or when BOGO sale applies? The other day, we had 4 different desserts for $5 when it should have cost us $20. What a deal!! So yes, I just love when credit cards companies compete with each other to give us the best deal.

Warning: please know your limit! We always pay off our credit cards balance. We use credit cards simply as a way to enjoy the perks they offer us. We certainly do not want to incur any interest, so knowing how much we can spend determines how often or how much we can use our credit cards.

It's My Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday! Yes, it falls on a Christmas Eve.

The day started with a nice family lunch at TP Mall, continued with delicious oriental dessert treats such as Mango Pudding and Tofu Pudding in Black Sesame Soup to name a few. Ethan loved that black sesame soup, can't you tell?

When we got home in the afternoon, a delicious chocolate cake was awaiting for me. My good friend came by with the cake wanting to give me a surprise. Unfortunately, we were not home. So sorry I missed her.

In the evening, my hubby and I went for a nice dinner at La Rucola, a Ristorante Italiano. We heard so much about this place and would like to try it out. It has been a while that we haven't gone out just the two of us, enjoying each other's company. So, we ordered a bottle of white wine and as the appetizer, we ordered fresh oysters.

The entrees and dessert were exceptional. Everything, from the food to the atmostphere were great. It feels like the old times just like when we were in Vancouver. For a few hours, we were brought back to a Western culture. When I took the picture below I also caught the owner in action, making sure things were in order :-)

AdoreByNat on Treasuries

Here are treasuries that featured my cards. The curators were kind enough, not only including my cards but also letting me know so that I could get these snapshots.

I'm on Tim's Top Ten Picks

Spending time on the internet, is that really a waste of time? In my opinion, that depends on what where we're spending our time. I spend my time reading blogs those that I follow and/ or follow me. I spend my time on twitter too (follow me: http://twitter.com/adorebynat). There, I meet wonderful people and learn a few things about life and business. I made few sales from connecting to people outside my ETSY shops.

This week, I'm on Timothy Adam Designs' Top 10 Picks. What a great feeling! I actually admire his artworks and his willingness to help other artisans. You can find him in Etsy forum with his helpful threads on how to maximize the use of the available resources to market your arts/ crafts.

Here is one of cards that I made yesterday.

Friendship Card

So, I took a little break playing with felt and go back to basic of stamping and heat-embossing. Here is a card that I made yesterday, a simple and yet feminine one. Love the phrase. I literally sew it too! Lol. This would be the first time I used the stamp. I bought it last year and only got a chance to play with it now. Isn't that funny, I have some brand new stamps and papers and yet I can't get enough of 'em. There really isn't excuse to shop, is it?

It's always nice to 'win' all the goodies. That's why I love to win the cosmo cricket giveaway. Do you also want to win some cosmo cricket? Visit here for your chance to win.

Tweet - Tweet O' Little Birdie

Still using felt as main embellishment (really! I can't stop now), here are some of my cards with little birdies too.

Brown is Good

Brown is one of my favorite colors. Just like black but not too dark and yet match with most colors. Here is a card that I created today.

These cheeky monkeys were made about a year ago or so. My husband and I went to Japan for our postponed honeymoon and followed by our visitation to my husband's family in Indonesia. I got bored at that time, not during the honeymoon, just to clarify :-) ... and bought few felts in different colors. I borrowed a tutorial book from my brother in-law and made these monkeys. They have been in a closet, until a few days ago when I found them. Of course, Ethan saw them as well and wanted them right away. They're Ethan's now.

Now, I feel like having some brownies...mmm....mmm...

All About Onesie

My love affair with felt continues and it's all about onesie this time, blue and pink.



Ohhh, I had fun making them, especially on the rainy days like the last couple of days! Each onesie was handcut and handstitched, all by me! They are just too cute and adorable, IMHO. I have listed one in my store today (finally!) and the rest will follow soon. Since it has been raining lately, we hardly got the sun showing up. As a result, I was unable to take good pictures; hence, show of these babies :-)

Now, what is missing? Hmm....onesie in other colors, maybe?

Eating Sushi for First Time

A quick short post today.

I'd like to share this great picture of Ethan's eating sushi for the first time. Of course, not anything raw at this stage! I was the one who fed him while hubby took the picture :-)

When Paper Met Felt

Here is my love story...when my love of paper and felt collides... :-)

While my addiction to papers never ends, I'm always flattered by felts. They are pretty, good to look at and nice to feel. It's something to do with its texture and versatility. I adore those kawaii stuff made with felts, but with so little time I have, I don't think it's possible to explore making other crafts at this time.

So, what I did was to create my cards using felts as an embellishment. The possibility is endless. Paper and felt ... they perfect for each other.


Now, it's time to get back matchmaking them again :-)

To see more of these cards, please visit my AdoreByNat store.

AdoreByNat Featured on Storque Spotlight: Shop Local Asia

I've been keeping my excitement to myself (and hubby, of course) that I was going to be featured on Storque for about a week. Boy, that was hard! Especially keeping a good news!!

Last Wednesday, StarryDesigns convoed me asking if I could share a picture of where I currently live for her article on Storque. Absolutely, I said. I would be nuts to say no, right? :-) I remember her really well as she was actually one of my great mentors when I was just about starting my Adorebynat store.

So, without further a due, read her great article about Shop Local Asia here. You will also get to know more about other Asian artisans and their life behind their fabulous stores.

One Lovely Blog Award

Pao of Art's Little Place has nominated me one lovely blog award. I'm so thrilled to receive this award. Thanks, Pao!


In return, I have to spread the love and nominate others. These are the rules that MUST be followed:

1. Add the logo to your blog.
2. Link to the person from whom you received this award
3. Nominate 7 or more blogs
4. Leave a message on their blog, letting them know they are "One Lovely Blog"!

These are lovely blogs that I truly enjoy to visit (in alphabetical order):

• 3zArt Land
• Bijoux Designs For You
• Indidi Designs
• Just Another Day in Paradise
• Millionminds Art
• PaperCrafting in NY
• The 13th Gypsy
  

Christmas Spirit

It's early December, I can't believe that soon it'll be Christmas, then a whole 2009 year awaiting upon us.

We went to Supermall yesterday. First thing first. My hubby was craving for coffee. Starbucks coffee to be exact. As we headed to Starbucks, from a far we could see its decor in red. That means Starbucks has served its Christmas blends. Yei! We were so excited since it means that we could get eggnog latte. Not!! The barista told us they do not serve anything with eggnog in Indonesia. :-( So, instead we had Toffee Nut Latte and Dark Cherry Mocha. Sitting down at Starbucks store brought our memory back to Vancouver during holiday season. Such a sweet memory.

Those Christmas cards on top are for our dear friends in Vancouver and Japan. Our friendship continues even though we're so far apart from each other. I hope someday(soon) . . .we'll meet again.

Winner of $10 Shopping Spree Giveaway

I have so much fun with this giveaway. I'm sure Sue of CogansCreations feels the same way. Thank you so much to all of you who entered the contest. The lucky winner for this giveaway is...(drum rolls please!)...Shelley. Congratulations! I'll be in contact with Shelley shortly.

Wish I'm There

Okay, here is what I miss about Vancouver the most: going to my local scrapbook stores.

This week, Making Memories with Scrapbooking store will be having the Christmas Card Crunch event on the 5th. Spend $10 and 4 hours, you'll be provided with tons of scrap papers, embellishments, ribbon, punches, templates, etc...That sounds lot of fun, don't you think so?


Clipper Street Scrapbook Store is also offering great deals: 60% off on select patterned paper and 50% off on Lasting Impression products.

But, all I can do is just wishing that I'm there instead of being on the other side of the world.

On a positive note, this way I'm not spending money on things that I don't need. I admit, it's a matter of WANTING, not NEEDING.

Happy Anniversary Card

I looked into my stamp collection today, looking for stamps that I haven't used for a while. I found these two stamps. The "Happy Anniversary" stamp is a brand new one purchase through Etsy while the flower one I hardly used it. I also want to create a card with an earthy tone and here is what I came up with.

For more Anniversary/ Love cards, please visit here.

Cyber Monday Sale

Enjoy 30% off on everything in my Adore By Nat store. Mention "Cyber Monday" on the notes to seller and I'll do the refund.

I went for paper trimmer hunting today and sadly...no luck. I haven't found my paper trimmer yet. I shall do another hunting in the next two days or so. Really, I need to get a new one soon.

Butterfly

Here are my two latest cards involving beautiful butterfly. The word "amazing" and "wonderful" are stamped. Aren't they just simply beautiful?

The butterfly applique is available in my NatSupplies store. I have green color listed, but I also have blue available. The pink like the one I used are only about 5 left, but if you're interested to have them, please contact me and I'll see what I can do for you.


Happy Sunday, everyone!

The Post Office Has Moved

I've been informed by the post office clerks that the post office is going to move to a new location since the lease will end at the end of November. Last Wednesday, I asked them again about exact the moving date. They said it'll be sometimes in December but no exact date yet.

Since I could not make it to the post office yesterday, I asked my hubby to drive me there this morning prior him going to work. It's about 5-minutes drive from where we live, so it's quite convenient for him to take me there, wait, take me back home, and go to work afterward. On the way there, I was thinking that it's the end of November already and today could be the last day I'm going there and I have to figure out ways to mail my orders in the near future.

Who knows that last Wednesday, the day that I took the picture above, would be the last day I mailed my orders from there. When I arrived to the location this morning, the gate was closed and I knew it right away that I won't be able to mail my orders today. Agrr!

There was a piece of paper sticked to the front window. It was quite hard to read from outside of the gate, but the handwriting said that it's closed for good and moved to a new location as of Nov 29th.

Why on earth that they didn't give me a fair warning? It's not even December yet and they moved already?? But again, it's not a surprise since this is the way things are done generally in Indonesia. Rules are bended here and there and we have to be REALLY patient with how things are dealt over here.

Like the other day, for example, I came around 2:30s pm and one of the clerks told me that they're closing. I said it's not 3pm yet and the sign posted outside said that it's closed at 3pm. The clerk told me that I should have come around 2pm. Yes, theoretically he said that they close at 3pm but in reality they close earlier. His argument is that when mails are picked up by the headquarter around 2pm, what is he going to do with the new incoming mails? Well...couldn't they go on the next day pick up instead of asking customers to go back the next day? Duh! And yet, I didn't want to argue. I really didn't want to ruin my good relationship with the clerks. They recognize me well since I come twice a week. I also leave tips which is recommended to ensure that they take care of my mails. I never have to do that in Canada.

The thing with the new location is that it's a bit further away from my home. It's not that convenient anymore to mail my orders. I feel that I have to change my shipping schedule to once a week, but I'm afraid that it'll affect my sales. Do people willing to wait that long? The only other way is to ask one of my dad-in-law's employees to do the mailings when they're available. I, myself, admittedly am quite afraid to drive in Indonesia. That will be another story for next time.

Black Friday Sale

From November 28th to 30th, enjoy 30% off on everything in my Adore By Nat store. Mention "Black Friday" on the notes to seller and I'll do the refund.

It's not too late to shop for Christmas cards and gift tags. Give handmade on this holiday season!