lookie-look

So, as promised, let me introduce you to Dottinghill! That's Tammy on the left there, the lady we met at the flea market -- isn't she cute? As I'd mentioned, Dottinghill is a project of her and her husband's company, Dots Connection. Just take a gander at these adorable goodies:

As it says on their website, "[Dottinghill] is an online design community and e-store selling skin-accessories (for people, not gadgets) created by anyone who digs awesome designs and who is not afraid of being quirkily different. People who fit the bill join us as proud residents of Dottinghill to share their love for their design ideas, hang out with one another and shop for the most fly accessories to wear on their skins.

"In starting Dottinghill, we have lofty dreams to popularize skin-accessories as fashionable and wearable little pieces of art that anyone can use as an everyday alternative form of accessory to complement their outfits, moods, events, partners or just because. Our designs come from our frickin' amazing residents, be it our Creative residents who whip up original designs or our resident Spotters who help us scour the www to spot kick-ass artwork that they think will look good on our skin. So really, anyone can be our Creative or Spotter and yes, that includes you!

"The designs that are submitted then go through scoring by the rest in the Dottinghill community. The most popular designs become potential candidates to be printed as skin-accessories that will go on sale on our e-store for the community to get their hands on".

Shop Dottinghill here, or find out more about being a Dottinghill Creative or Spotter.

weekend fun

We were super excited this past Sunday to check out the BBB Arts Flea Market, held at the National Museum. I was mainly interested in the crafting aspect of course, though there were also supposed to be vintage and edible goodies as well. Crafting is not as big here as one might hope, and I was curious to see how many non-Louis-Vuitton-addicted craftsters there were out there.

A kiss before starting anything is always good.

The market covered two floors of the museum; this was the entranceway to the second level. The red chandeliers overhead are engineered to keep swinging in a continuous wave-like pattern.

The floor space was large, but many of the displays were disappointingly small. I heard two ladies describe the crafts as "factory-made" and "commercialised"; I think they meant that quite a few of the tables were displaying things which simply looked like mass-produced stuff you could find at the mall.

We had more fun on the first floor. There were lots of edibles, baked goodies and such; here, the kids choose from some rainbow-coloured cupcakes.

Then we met this lady -- Tammy -- who runs Dottinghill, a project of her and her husband's company Dots Connection (more on this in my next post!). They had this huge table of temporary body tattoos, featuring some really cool and unusual designs; not the usual, run-of-the-mill roses and dagger stuff, if you know what I mean.

The kids, of course, were all over the pieces, because they're just into the whole temporary tattoo thing, so I let them choose a few. They had the sweetest designs -- adorable little characters and animals -- in lovely, soft shades and intricate, henna-like patterns.

The young lady who was helping us introduced me to Tammy, who explained the premise of Dottinghill (which is really pretty cool and which I'll go into in my next post). Then, quite unexpectedly, she asked if the kids could help model some of the tattoos! Well, of course the kids were jumping at the chance to have the things applied to them there and then -- Tammy gave them each a really cute bear standing under a polka-dot gumball shower.

There's Ro admiring Tammy's handiwork, and Becky looking pleased as pie. Tammy was so thoughtful as to give us the tattoos we'd chosen earlier too!

One neat thing about attending the flea market was the fact that the rest of the museum was open for free. Since the kids themselves were keen to explore the place, I let them.

While a lot of the museum's architecture has been modernised, much of its 19th-century features have been retained, like this old spiral staircase.

The girls were fascinated by this poor stuffed toddy cat, otherwise known as the Asian Palm Civet.

It is apparently a ferocious little thing.

Ro listening to information on island ecologies. 

Heading into the photography gallery.

Expatriate children with their amah.

What having two wives looks like.

That's a life-size cutout he's posing with.

Aren't they pretty -- the lady on the left especially exemplifies the look of the roaring 20s.

A puppet theatre in the wayang gallery. Wayang refers to a theatrical performance with puppets or human performers.

Detail of above. I have no idea what is going on.

Antique puppets.

The elaborate costumes of the wayang. 

Fantastic embroidery work.

Becky using the museum's audio-visual guide. It's a handheld thing you use in the history gallery. Every time you reach one of those numbers on the floor, you key it in and the thing tells you stuff. I was pretty tired by this point and didn't bother getting one; I just followed the kids mindlessly.

Those were simpler times back then.

A picture because we were suddenly surrounded by mirrors and some film. Like I said, I had no idea what was going on.

Escalators at the train station. The things man can build...

While the flea market was a bit of a let-down for me, the kids had a grand time, which was the main thing. Here they are sitting in a pretend living room, happy as always :)

monogram Tabby!

I was so happy with how this Tabby satchel turned out. It's for a little girl all the way in Zambia, and it has something extra special -- a monogram!

The lady who requested it asked that it be all in lower case letters, and I chose to embroider this sweet, playful font. It was rather a laborious job, and I was petrified that I'd mess it up, which would mean starting all over again -- repainting Tabby and everything. I can't tell you the number of times I kept checking the spelling lol! Thankfully, God blessed my efforts :)

I got to choose the inner lining, and I picked this adorable monkey fabric...

... and vintage school book print for the pocket :) Yay for vibrant colours and happy endings!

bird thing

My attempt at mid-century modern art. 

Ok, no. In line with recycling and making stuff Kip might actually use, I decided to make what the household now calls Kip's milkstick bird. Milk sticks are those twisted rawhide things you see there; many people give their dogs rawhide to keep the teeth clean and the jaw strong, as well as satisfy the dog's natural instinct to chew. Chewing provides stimulation and can relieve anxiety too.

There are some risks associated with giving dogs rawhide though, in particular digestive problems, and choking and blockage hazards. Some dogs are allergic to rawhide or the other ingredients that go into the treat, and pieces of rawhide can get stuck in the dog's digestive tract. Plus -- and I know this is not very medical-sounding -- rawhide just gets plain gross after a bout of chewing and salivating.

Well, you might recall my post on Kip care; Westies are one of those breeds that are susceptible to food allergies. Thankfully, Kip has not given me any trouble in this area, and to avoid starting anything, I just avoid giving her edible treats in general. However, I do recall how my old Lab used to love chewing those huge rawhide bones, and I know Kip loves chewing things that have a certain smell and texture, so I decided to give her the rawhide twists, but in a form she could neither break down nor swallow. Hence the milkstick bird.

I chose the milk sticks because they have, to me, a stronger scent than plain rawhide, which I felt would be better once they were wrapped up. I chose to make the bird a longish shape so the milk sticks would fit, and Kip would have the satisfaction of carrying it around like those big hunting dogs with the ducks (I chose a black bird because Kip has been having this long-standing feud with the black mynahs living in our neighbourhood).

After sewing the bird shape with canvas and reinforced stitching, I filled a second canvas "envelope" with four milk sticks and aniseed. If you didn't know, aniseed works on some dogs in the same way catnip works on some cats! Then I sewed up the envelope and inserted it into the bird. Easy!

This picture kind of says it all.

Fearsome hunting dog.

Fearsome hunting dog later in the day.

And, toward evening, fearsome hunting dog looking particularly demented. All in all a success I think -- the rawhide is safely chewed, and the canvas dries fast, making it distinctly less gross than exposed rawhide. An unexpected bonus? Chewed aniseed leaves behind a lovely spicy fragrance! Yay for homemade treats!

Coppélia reprised

Well, on a happier note, here are some pictures from a recent performance of Coppélia the girls went to see (well, not from the ballet itself, since recording equipment is forbidden in the concert hall, but close enough). They're both taking ballet, and are very keen on it, so we go whenever we can.

B dancing during the intermission.

An art installation made up of circling paper birds.

It's not often they get to wear their silk dresses! Happily, no one spilled anything.

One half of the Esplanade Theatres.

Ballet -- and a serene night under the stars -- can make one feel quite dreamy (see B's post here).

Becky will be having her own ballet performance very soon; her next RAD exam is coming up in less than a week.

It's good to see young kids taking an active interest in the arts -- of their own accord, and not because they were forced into it (remember those piano lessons you had?).

My sweet :)