Sarawakian Penan Handwoven Bags

I have always made it a point to donate or support a local charity during my birthday month whenever I could. Be it street donations to beggars or supporting local creatives, big or small, it is a way for me to give back to the community. Like the saying ''sharing is caring'', giving is satisfying in my book. 

This year, I have decided to support the Penan families in Sarawak. The creative Penan folks have been weaving bags for sale and I have decided to purchase a set of these beautiful handwoven bags! A set consists of 3 different bags weaved by 3 different women hence feeding 3 different families. It is such an awesome project lead by Yasmin who can be contacted via her Facebook page:

Sarawakian Penan Handwoven Bags - Home | Facebook

Yasmin has been promoting them tirelessly over the months I have been following the page and she has overcome many criticism especially from negative naysayers. I truly applaud her for continuously helping the Penan folks selflessly. It is a win-win situation where you can support a charity and also shop for a lovely bag for yourself LOL!

Here is mine :-)

Such a huge parcel!

Surprise!!!

Pretty bags in a row!!!

PS: If you are not genuinely supporting this cause or do not appreciate handmade, please refrain from buying. I've seen questions like ''What is it made of?'' and then not buying sounds half-hearted with a closed mind in my book. I cannot fathom why you would want to know the material when you are supporting a charity especially since it is handmade. If you did not like it upon receiving it, you could just give it away right?! I didn't mean to be rude or offend anyone but this is just my 2 cents.

RMO: day 58 CMCO: day 11

Today is my sis' birthday, celebrating her first in the new normal LOL!

RMO: Day 2

A very happy birthday to my dear baby boy! He's 18 today but we are in a lockdown so no celebration this time. Just being home, spending quality time together is much more meaningful in fact. Light bantering and laughter, life's most precious medicine! Hubby also cooked lunch, in a way to celebrate, especially for the birthday boy! I'm sure it is a memorable one, not only for him but for all of us too LOL! Creating lovely memories is much more valuable than gifts itself, in my opinion.

Another work from home day, laptop has been crashing down as usual though much lesser than yesterday. I'm getting the hang of it but I do missed my reading times in the train. Yes, I'm one of those weird ones who reads during commute. My 'me time' so to speak LOL! Anyway, lets pray and hope this pandemic curve will be flatten and we can proceed with our daily lives again... soon.

Happy Birthday Everyone! (人日)

Just so you know, today is 'Yan Yat' (人日) which translates to 'Everyone's Birthday'. It falls on the seventh day of the lunar calendar thus everyone celebrates their day, or rather their birthday, today! It's an ancient belief where human beings were created on this auspicious day. Hence this is the reason why all Chinese restaurants are fully booked with lots of 'yee sang' sold on this particular day!

Also, I've just realized I have not shared this. As this year is the 'Year of the Rat', there is a special offer for my handmade crochet rat bookmark, while stock last! So grab it fast ya!

For more details or to purchase, please click on the link below:
https://nycnatnook.easy.co/products/handmade-crochet-mouse-bookmark

My Birthday Month

This is a long overdue post, a compilation of gifts received in my birthday month! It's a yearly compilation and I know it's a little self-absorbing but I do want to remember it 20 years down the road! Memory is not as good as it was hence this definitely helps in the long run so here goes...........

I was gob-smacked when Ai Jou fulfilled my ISO and gifted this for my birthday! It was a "KLBAC International Book Giving Day 2019" event held in March and I had requested for this, thinking that no one would fulfil since it's a new and expensive book. Lo and behold, Ai Jou answered and fulfilled it!!! I was so humbled and thankful for her generosity plus she remembered my birthday! Thus it is very important to blog it down!!!

Next is a yummy lunch treat at Jamaica Blue Fine Coffees, GMBB Mall from sis Alvina and bf Vince.

Not forgetting a yummy Japanese dinner plus a lovely Red Kettle dessert from bro Ryan and wife Sixin.

A yummy Renaissance cake from my neighbour.

An unexpected gift from my Pokemon Go kaki, Alice.

Another unexpected gift from my colleague, Ben.

There were another 2 more from my BFF's Joyce and Adrianne which I've Instagram and deleted the photos hence not able to share it here!

Last but not least, a huge treat from hubby... a short getaway to Bangkok :-) Photos for this would be featured in my Bangkok related posts as it's a lot!

Thank you, everyone, from the bottom of my heart!!!

At 47, with irregular mood swings, I've been trying to psyche myself with lots of positivism... reminding myself to be humble, be grateful and be thankful for everything in my life... not forgetting to let go of the negativity surrounding me. Amen.

A yearly excursion to Cameron Highlands.

A quick throwback to our recent trip to Cameron Highlands. One, to celebrate mom's 70th birthday. Two, dad's 6th memorial anniversary. We've gathered on Saturday to celebrate mom's birthday first. Good food and great company... such a blessed and thankful evening to be with family.

Headed to Cameron Highlands the next morning after breakfast. Surprisingly, it was terribly jam! No school holidays nor public holidays... harrumph! Anyway, we had a lovely time visiting dad's site and family quality time! Another year has passed... it's an early one this time as we were hoping to avoid the rainy season but got into the peak period instead. Will see how again next year... until then...

My 46th birthday!

So here's a round up of my birthday this year, nothing short of memorable moments and tears of joy!

Sun, sea and shop in Phuket! Thanks hubby!!!

Happy to celebrate it with my Angels!

Not forgetting Pokemon Go had community day then with Squirtle as it's shiny with sunglasses Pokemon! A memorable family quality time for sure!

Our family of Pokemon's with sunglasses in a Gym!!!

With PH Pokemon Go team! Thanks Alice!!!

Thanks Ai Jou for this lovely journal! It's so pretty I sayang to use it lah...

Thanks Adrianne for the lipstick and beauty class! Can't wait to start on this beauties!!!

Thanks Joyce for this crochet tools!!!

Last but not least, a treat for self. Last batch before "Book buying ban" takes effect again

Overall, I'm so thankful for all these lovely celebrations and gifts! It was truly a surprise and it's a memorable 46th for me! I'm grateful too for such thoughtful best friends... without them, I'm a nobody! I'm blessed with such a beautiful family... truly am happy to celebrate my birthday with them! Amen!!!

Sweet Sixteen!

On this day sixteen years ago, a little baby boy appeared in our lives, giving us so much joy! With a blink of an eye, sixteen years has passed and he's a teenager now! No matter how, he's still my baby, forever!

A very Happy Sweet Sixteen Birthday, my baby! Mommy loves you much! xoxo

Happy Birthday Mom!

Good food, good ambience with great company! An enjoyable evening with loved ones celebrating mom's birthday! Naughty Nuri's sure knows how to make it a memorable evening!

Mom, hope you had a blast, enjoyed yourself to the max... may all your wishes come true!

My 45th birthday recap

I have been blessed with a loving husband who has gifted me a birthday trip away from home. This has garnered me a tick on my bucket list - celebrating birthday away from Malaysian soil! Though a tiring walkathon in Bangkok, I've so enjoyed it and wondering will there be another next year? LOL!!! After arriving and depositing our luggage at home, we headed out for dinner at The Foodies Cafe and hubs surprised me with a cake! And he 'serenaded' me with the birthday song! A first ya! *blush max*

Our yummy dinner @ The Foodies Cafe

Please excuse my auntie look as I wasn't expecting anything... just dinner LOL!

Tiramisu cake yay!

I am so thankful to have lots of genuine caring friends and relatives who sent their well wishes via Facebook, Whatsapp, Line Chat, Wechat and the many other social medias. I felt overwhelmed reading it all! So much love!

I have also received an unexpected surprise from a special friend... thanks so much Ai Jou! Your #cubecrate of love has brighten up my day!

Cubecrate of love from Ai Jou!

As grateful as I am for every thing positive that has happened, I did wished for my Angels during my birthday. Unfortunately, we were away and it wasn't school holidays yet... they were in hometown for school. So a belated birthday is better than nothing! Who would have thought they had planned with hubs for this?!!!

Nothing beats a book gift and a written note!!!

All in all, such a simple and quiet yet memorable 45th birthday... with abundance of love from every corner of my universe! Thank you so much loves!!!

Pa, Happy Birthday

My birthday recap!

I am truly a happy camper! At 44 years old, I am still a child inside! Though no frivolous celebration, receiving all these wonderful birthday gifts was a blessing especially since it was mostly unexpected! So this is a recap for my older self to view by in the future :-)

Firstly, I wanna say thank you to Line Fun for gifting me this cute Cony doll! I've tried winning a prize for ages and finally this happened... it was unbelievable as it happened just a few days before my birthday!

It's so adorable!!!

Hub's actually gave me my gifts way earlier... the first lah... a couple of Starbucks tumblers from overseas and then he did this... *drooling*

Hubby cooked sambal prawns for me! Yummy max!!!

Bro Ryan and wife unexpectedly dropped by and gifted me with this!

Both fitted just right and I'm loving it!

My colleague, Patrick, unexpectedly treated me with these sinful yummies!

This is to die for... my favourite!

Last but not least, another unexpected gift as I didn't like announced to the world my birthday but Ai Jou suddenly gave me one a week prior when we met up! I was truly surprised! And I was even more surprised after opening it on my birthday!

A book gift!!! What more can I say??? Instant joy in my books!!!

Also, thank you to all the well wishes I had received via Skype, Whatsapp, Line Chat, Wechat and Facebook. I am forever grateful to all who remembered my birthday. I felt truly blessed and thankful to have so many real friends. You know what I mean...

#sparksjoy #thankful #grateful #blessed

Adding more gifts received:

Yummy home baked macarons from Ann!

From sis Alvina with love!

A lovely box for my accessories from Joyce!

Nashi ya riNgo - amigurumi #atozchallenge

Cool title eh? Well, I just thought of translating it to Japanese since ami-gurumi is from Japan (あみぐるみ).

Nashi ya ringo (梨やリンゴ) literally means pear and apple LOL! Yes, it's my new amigurumi which I've made for my sister's new fruit bowl, adding to the oranges she had gotten from me previously.

I've gotten the patterns from:
Apple: http://www.garnstudio.com/pattern.php?id=5888&cid=19#pattern_content
Pear: http://www.garnstudio.com/pattern.php?id=5889&cid=19#pattern_content

What I've used:

• 100% acrylic yarns
• Polyester fibre fillings

Amigurumi: Charizard

This is a special birthday gift for my boy which I've started since last year! Stopped for a few months due to lost of interest as there were many finer details which got me demotivated. Anyhow, I've finally managed to complete it, albeit a few weeks late, for his birthday!

Charizard happens to be his favourite character from Pokemon. I've managed to search and got the nearest resemblance from:
http://www.miahandcrafter.com/atelier/charizard-pattern/

Tyger, hope you like it!

This is a very challenging design for me, though it's big which should be easy but it's fingers and toes and horns are sooo small!!! I definitely had a hard time crocheting these plus my hyperopia was not helping at all! Finishing it definitely made me felt relieved and accomplished another milestone!

What I've used:

• 100% acrylic yarns
• Polyester fibre filling
• Stick-on felts
• Some thin wires

Amigurumi: Sleeping Totoro

I've actually made this for NIL's birthday :-)
However, I never expected it to be so small!!!
Small = tedious ya...

What I've used:

• 100% acrylic yarns
• Sewing thread
• Sticky felt (to replace the nose and brads)
• Fibre filling

And another one... for another NIL...

This free pattern is from:
http://amigurumei.com/2013/07/01/free-sleeping-totoro-amigurumi-pattern/

Another cutie handmade, hopefully they like it!

Btw, I've finally opened my Etsy shop! Slowly filling it up with my products, I have to appraise it and retook the photos so this will take sometime ya... here's the link:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/susanstitchstuff

Please like my shop or add to your favourites :-) Thank you!!!

Amigurumi: rose plant

Recently made this for a friend's birthday gift!

Ai Jou, I sure do hope you like it :-) Happy 'early' birthday!

What I've used:

• 100% acrylic yarns
• Fibrefill

I've actually combined 2 patterns to make this rose plant. Below are the links of the original patterns:

Plant pattern from:

http://craftyiscool.blogspot.my/2014/05/free-pattern-pull-and-grow-amigurumi.html?m=1

Rose pattern from:

http://stitch11.com/stitch11-rose-and-headband-pattern/

Suri's birthday party

I've never been to a birthday party in ages! Recently went to one, a dear friend's 2 year old daughter's party. It was low key and private with family and a few good friends. I felt so blessed to be surrounded by them, glad that I've agreed to attend and thankful to have known them.

Truly a memorable evening with lots of good food and great company!

Suri, may you grow to be a beautiful lady and remember to always take good care of your mommy. Hope you have a memorable 2 years old!

Happy Birthday Princess!

A birthday shout out to my dear Princess! May you grow and bloom into a beautiful princess. A smarter yet sassy one! Here's wishing you many happy returns of the day, hoping all your wishes come true! Mommy loves you lots, lots, lots!