dreamy dwelling ...

i have a thing for houses. can you tell?

as far back as i can recall, houses + apartments + hotels + schools (specifically, playschools) have always captured my interest. living spaces in general, i suppose. i'd do a little imaginary exercise along the lines of "what if i were in that house/room/school/space, how would i live in it? how would i arrange things in it?". cities too. travelling, i do enjoy. and when in a foreign city, i'd start imagining again.



.....................................................

when i saw this image, i had to post it here. too cute to let it just pass by. tell me you're drawn to it too. yes? no?

:: art by Ethan Hayes-Chute; image via The Red Thread ::

such a cute + clever piece of art this is. very child-like, modern, a little whimsical too. put simply, kinda perfect if you ask me. makes me want to create a whole little village of varied-height houses and office blocks and what-have-yous just for fun.

Zayaan's famous phrase!

if you've met (or heard enough stories about) my lil girl, you'd know why this print reminded me immediately of her. i swear she speaks much too much at this tender age. i foresee her teachers calling me to say she's taken over the class. and this at preschool level, mind you. ah well. keeps the house (and school for when she starts) jovial. :-)

:: by Wonderthunder Etsy, via print and pattern ::

memory game : BIRDS

when making favours for the Zs' parties, i always try to turn something ordinary a lil different, by personalizing them and/or customizing them by theme. for this particular favour item, i decided on making an updated version of a traditional family game. the memory card game. i spent hours as a child playing these. below, is my whimsical take on a BIRDS theme to the game.

beach bliss

i'd love me a home like this.

:: The Samaya, Bali ::

or, if time + Mr CFO (read: the husband) permits, a holiday there perhaps. ;-)

Baby Z's BIRD-day party!

for some reason unexplained, i was drawn to birds during my pregnancy with Baby Z. not birds in the life form though, but rather, the design motif. i made some origami cranes and turned them into a simple wall-hanging thing for her corner in our room. and i even persuaded the husband to get her a stroller with bird motif. so by the time she was about 6 months, there was no other theme in mind. it just had to be a birds theme for her FIRST birthday party.

below, photos of few of the things i made for her first BIRD-day party ...

:: the invitation ::

:: the opened guest book ... ::

:: which really were 3 sheets of scrapbooking layouts mounted onto canvas boards ... ::

:: detailing her growth over the 12 months ::

:: the party packs in pink + brown ::

:: detail of the bird motif ::


:: browns for the boys; cookies + paper bird plane + handmade BIRDS memory card game ::

:: pinks for the girls; cookies + birds fan + handmade BIRDS memory card game ::

:: balloons in theme colours ::

:: store-bought bird softies + homemade-handmade BIRDS gift tags as prizes for Quiz game ::


:: 'pass the parcel' prizes; all BIRD related + Quiz prizes ::



:: the party's centrepiece with the wall art i made back when she was still in my tummy! ::

:: homemade-handmade origami cranes adorned cream + pink butter cupcakes ::


:: part of the completed 'guest book' ::

:: Baby Z kissed by Big Z = love! ::


photo credit goes out to the talented Nadia Fauzi.

personalized 5th

i can't believe i never got to posting photos of the favours i put together for Big Z's 5th birthday back in August last year! only moments ago when i was about to post Baby Z's birthday photos was i reminded of this one missing entry.

a very much back-dated entry this one is then ...

..................................

there was no birthday party in the grand scale of his previous parties. for his 5th birthday, we decided to celebrate it in Hong Kong Disneyland instead. so, at exactly 1:36pm (5 years to the time and date of his birth), he was with us having our lunch at Hong Kong Disneyland.

prior to his birthday though, there was a little celebration among his classmates. and then another small celebration with the immediate family members. for both occasions, i managed to put together some very simple favours. below are the photos of them (favours).

:: celebrating his 5th with his classmates ::

:: favour boxes with personalized tags ::
:: for the girls ::

:: for the boys ::

:: personalized (by first initial) favour bags for Z's cousins ::