May 11 : A Smile

Just one of my many elephant paraphernalia in the house. This elephant helps us keep hands clean. It holds the hand towel and says with a smile, "Dry your hands!" Takes 'service with a smile' to the next level.

Elephants Never Forget

Hi blogger friends!


I know I've disappeared from the bloggy world for almost a month!
I hope you're all doing well and posting more regularly than I have been (gonna go through my blog list and catch up on your lives!)


Just want to take a moment to help spread the word about an fundraising initiative to raise money for a film / documentary that spreads awareness about the plight of elephants around the world.



Please take a moment to go to their website, read up more about it and decide if you want to

1) donate
2) spread the word
3) all of the above.

There is 24 more days to the end of the campaign. If everybody chipped in a little and spread the word, it can be done!

Crafting: Elmer the patchwork elephant Inspired Quilt

Sorry for the long absence!

I have been focusing on my upcoming vacation, and all the projects I was supposed to have done, but procrastinated.

Here's one such project: my friend S ordered a twin-sized quilt from me about four months ago, and one week before I leave for Singapore, I get my ass down to doing it. She wants to gift this quilt to a friend who loves elephants like I do! S told me to design the quilt with Elmer the elephant in mind. I didn't want to make it too childish as it is a quilt for an adult. But Elmer is a patchwork elephant, I have to make a patchwork quilt! The more colors the merrier!! I just hope it's not going to be too heavy. I have to pack it into my luggage.





Day 1 of the Labor Day weekend:
Frantically cutting squares into triangles, only to piece them back into squares again.
I have a vague sense of futility...





Day 2: First quadrant. And then 5 more.





Day 3 : Quilt top is finally done. I have to go get some batting tomorrow, and some more fabric for the back of the quilt before this is completed.

I used Michael Miller's Fairy Frost Collection of 50 different colors. No, I didn't go out and buy 50 bolts of different colors. Thank goodness for Etsy, I bought 4 packs of quilting squares, all nicely cut up for me to use!



But for now, time for some well deserved rest. I need to get back to reading my very exciting Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

This has been one intensive Labor Day (pun totally intended, *guffaws*)


What did you do this Labor Day weekend folks?

World Elephant Day August 12!

Via

Friends, August 12 is World Elephant Day!


If you have even a tiny speck of affection for these gentle pachyderms, please help do one of following:


1. Spread the word about World Elephant Day, to increase awareness. A little action goes a long way. Someone might give a little donation, a teacher might introduce it into his / her class some time next week. You never know. Share the link on your Facebook status, tweet about it. Share it on your blog. Just start talking!

2. Don't buy souvenirs made of endangered animal parts. World Elephant Day is by extension bringing awareness and attention to illegal wildlife trade. Why anyone would want an antelope horn or tiger paw eludes me. Go to WWF to find something you can be passionate about. It don't have to be elephants!

3. Buy green products. Like this Elephant Poo Paper!

4. Support the African Elephant Programme. For most of us, the gift of money is the simplest way of showing your support.

5. Here is one more way to help! To show my support, 50% of my sales on Etsy in the month of August will go towards the African Elephant Programme. If you have been thinking about getting something from my Etsy shop, or want a customized item, here is one more reason to buy now!


Disclaimer: I do not look to profit from option #5! I'm just showing my support through this, it's not a shameless plug! :p

Found: Jonathan Adler

Lovely Jess from Avant-Garde Living sent me this link from Jonathan Adler's collection on Nordstrom.

Found a few more awesome (elephant) ones to share!!

Aren't they cute!



Salt and Pepper shakers




Light of my life!



Darjeeling Tea, anyone?




ok. no more elephants. i promise. just one more from jonathan adler






Whale bookends!

♥ A Valentine's Day special! ♥

My fellow crafter/blogger Joyce of Chic Noir Design sent me a link one day and said

"Hi Chewy, I was searching for weddings at Singapore Zoo and I saw yours here :D"

She sent me a link to a blog post that had pictures of my wedding in 2010! How random is that, but what a splendid surprise!

I guess this is a good time for me to recount my wedding day, I don't think I ever posted about it, not on this blog anyway!

Well, our wedding was in two parts. The first was a traditional Chinese tea ceremony (not so traditional, we had to make a few accommodations, since J's family wasn't in town) and that was held in the morning. The second part, was the evening dinner reception, which I will share with you in this post.

For those who don't know, J and I celebrated our union at the Singapore Zoo. We are both crazy about animals and having it at the zoo seemed like a natural first choice. So couples who have their weddings at the zoo will be offered two choices - to arrive on a horse-drawn carriage in a classic white Victorian wedding, or atop an elephant, Indian Maharaja style! No prizes for guessing which entrance we chose!

On the morning of our rehearsal, my family and friends who were coordinating the wedding were invited to a special breakfast with the orangutans at the zoo! While we were having our breakfast buffet at the dining area, the zookeepers brought out four orangutans who were perched atop a branch the entire time we were eating. Guests could walk up to the apes and take a picture (or five) with them. I loved how they were all so human-like. One of the apes was more intent on grooming my sister's hair then posing for the picture.






We had a theme for our wedding - Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"...



We had about 200 guests on our list seated in an elongated dining hall, complete with ceiling drapes and fairy lights! We were going for a whimsical, rustic, woodland feel. In terms of decor, we decided on more greenery than blooms.





Our seating cards that led our guests to their tables....





...which were named after the characters of the Shakespearean play...





In the play, the fairy Puck anoints queen Titania with a love potion to make her fall in love with the first living creature she sees. Following the playful prank, we decided to give the gift of lavender buds for all guests to concoct their own love brew...




In place of a guestbook, we had the guests sign on these beautifully illustrated botanical cards instead of a guestbook. We wanted to frame these pretty cards after the wedding, but have yet gotten down to it!!


Also, our guests were invited to the zoo on the morning of our wedding, so out-of-town guests could have the time and leisure to visit one of the most popular tourist spots in Singapore and still have time to freshen up for the dinner reception in the evening. 
One of the perks of the zoo wedding was having to spend the night inside the zoo! We were given a room next to the reception area, that was complete with a bed and shower. We were very amused when we awoke to the howling of monkeys in the morning. 



It was such an amazing and unforgettable day, J and I were very grateful to be able to share it with our loved ones. We've been married four years now, (I consider us married the day we signed the papers in Shanghai) and our love for each other grows stronger with each day. I'm glad I listened to my heart instead of my head when I chose this man, I love him with all my heart.

♥♥ Happy Valentine's Day, my penguin! ♥♥

If you drop by, I hope you'll share a love story too!

Embroidery fun!

My first attempt at non-cross stitch embroidery!



Presenting chain-stitched Ellie!

I drew the elephant one day and decided I liked him so much I wanted to try embroidering him. I bought some tracing paper and traced him onto to the fabric before pulling it through the embroidery hoop. But because I used a piece of scrap fabric, it wasn't big enough to be pulled taut on the hoop. As a result, the stitching was uneven and the fabric was all scrunched up. :(

No matter, I'll definitely be getting more embroidering done because it's so much fun!

Animals Galore!

I'm super excited about the following weekend (Feb 18-Feb 21) because the annual Great Backyard Bird Count will take place then. This is a four day event that calls on all bird watchers to come together to count birds!!! Of course, it will not be a pointless activity, but we will have to report our results online which will be tallied to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are across the continent.

Participants can count birds ANYWHERE for as little or as long as they wish during the four day period, but unfortunately this only takes place in the United States and Canada. Otherwise you can be sure I'll be calling all you friends to join me in this activity!!!!

I've already started practicing. I told Dad about it the night before and he immediately refilled the bird feeders. So this morning, while i was chewing on my sandwich, I was also eagerly looking out the window checking out the birds to see what kinds we have out there. Sad to say, because I'm such an amateur, I could only identify the most obvious ones like the cardinal and the blue jay. I scanned the list of birds on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to identify the other mystery birds in the yard to no avail. Partly because I need a pair of binoculars to look up close, the birds fly around too energetically for my liking(!) and I have to be less squirmy. Everytime i got out of my chair to move closer to the window, the birds, sensing movement, fly away. I wonder how i am going to be able to sit outside during that weekend, in the cold, without the slightest movement. But I will persevere!!! The best part about it is I get 3 days out of the 4 off work! I don't have to work that Friday, Saturday and Monday!!!!! And from now till then, I am going to familiarize myself with the bird species and get me a pair of binoculars (i think Dad has one somewhere, for his hunting needs).

So far these are the brightly coloured, easy-to-spot little friends out in the backyard:


The pretty Blue Jay


The Cardinal


The Red Bellied Woodpecker


All images via The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

In other news, I'm also reading this super interesting animal book called The Peaceable Kingdom - A Year in the Life of America's Oldest Zoo by John Sedgwick. The author spent a year at the Philadelphia Zoo interacting with the staff and animals and this book recounts his experiences through the seasons. It's funny and informative, and gives a heartwarming account of the individual animals that live (and die) at the zoo. My favourite section is about the pachyderms -- the elephants (of course) and the rhinos. It makes me want to go work in a zoo now!!!

If you happen to come across the book, read it!

We ♥ Elephants!

To celebrate our wedding anniversary, we took a day trip to...








the Asheboro ZOO! which was about a 90mins drive away. *whew*



and picked up a (to my standard) humungous pinecone! Shall keep it for christmas!



And i've recently discovered Picnik, so all photos are heavily edited! FUN!