22 May 13
— Addendum made on 17 July 2013 —
Hi guys! I edited this post because I felt I didn’t fully voice my thoughts and process in the initial post. I left out the part about this being my first foray into making & selling handmade goods with a business mindset. I made & sold my drapes previously, that, I did on the side for fun. Back in July last year, I started working on some wood pieces, using the drapes as a foundation, to make something bigger more geometric. I ended up hitting a dead end when space constraints got the better of my ideas. I shelved the wood ideas though I really hope I get to bring them to life when we move into our own place and have a proper work studio. I was a bit defeated and it took me more time to figure out what next.
I took two bookbinding classes taught by Pooja of Notabilia to keep my juices going. I played with my paints and embroidery. But I kept coming up empty on ideas. One fine day I decided I wanted to make something wearable and I used that as my starting point. The result is Pomhead! The first person to draw inspiration from is – yourself. It’s so brainless, yes, let’s make something for the girl like me!
I circled three words out of the bunch I wrote down – Fun, Bold and Tomboy Style. Tomboy style because I’m pretty much very unladylike, flowers on my head make me feel like uncomfortable. While Fun and Bold helped guide me in the right direction in terms of colours and design. I can’t say for sure how I finally arrived at pom poms on a headband but yeah, I liked it a lot and went with it.
The Berries Headband | The Black Polka Dots Headband | The Honey Rosa Crown | The Watermelon Crown
The Confetti Headband | The Red Polka Dots Headband | The Navy Blue Polka Dots Crown | The Magenta & Blue Headband
I’m working on a range of smaller pom headbands too. Also, pom pom garlands to liven up any space! I’ve started a mailing list for announcements – the field is up on my navigation bar ↑, join it if you’d like to be updated as I might not always be posting news here.
So dear internet friends, you’re gonna be riding this journey with me. I have hit a few bumps already but still crazy excited for the possibilities. Do share the word! Yknow pin it, tweet it… 😉
Credits to Larissa for her beautiful hand-painted silk tops you see in the photos. She owns curious creatures, do check it out.
| Tags: greenlaundry etsy, handmade, pom pom headbands hairbands
21 May 13
Now onto Halong Bay, the main reason why we travelled to Hanoi. There are day trips or two-days trips to visit Halong Bay though we felt a 3 days 2 nights itinerary suited our preference better. We sailed on the Indochina Sails boat which we booked through Halongsapa Tours.
The drive from Hanoi to Halong took about 4 hours
Couldn’t wait to explore the deck and take in the sights!
Grumpy face but I wasn’t grumpy :>
Activities began after lunch and our first stop was Titop Island. Here’s the view from 200 steps up on a cliff.
Down on the beach and a bummer that it was too chilly to swim
Expect a lot more rocks in part two! Here in real life, I’ll be sharing news about Pomheads tomorrow. It will be ready for sale and I’m so excited!!
| Tags: 50mm/F1.8, halong bay, kodak 400, nikon FM10, vietnam
13 May 13
This morning, Ben helped me shoot some photos for my upcoming hair pieces. I’ll share them here real soon! Don’t laugh tho when you see me in them, it’s been forever since I’ve been in front of the camera. Those days of ‘wardrobe remix’, you remember those?!
I got all my rolls of film developed almost immediately this time. Our trip to Hanoi, especially Halong Bay, was just terrific. It’s one of those places where no photo can quite capture what is before you. Not even a panoramic photo, yo. But before I post those ‘not-quite-photos’, I’ll start with some of Hanoi, particularly the area known as the Old Quarters.
This is St Joseph’s Cathedral
A slice of Paris in the form of the Paris Cafe (13 Nha Tho Street)
Walking around Hoan Kiem Lake, it was close to evening time so people were out and walking, talking, sitting around
A moment of stillness, while traffic is buzzing around the lake like crazy
This is Ngoc Son Temple, connected to the lake by this red bridge
We didn’t go inside the temple but found this guy outside
Walked on some more to get an idea of what’s around us and what to eat for dinner!
The ubiquitous Vietnamese straw hat
I wrote a list of what to eats too but that made this post way too lengthy. Save that for later, pictures of Halong Bay next!
| Tags: 50mm/F1.8, agfa vista 400, hanoi, nikon FM10, vietnam
2 May 13
Took a walk around Gillman Barracks and these were some of the quiet spaces I saw.
The Naked Finn, looks like a great place to hang.
A standalone loo.
A little update on what I’ve been up to, I’ve been working on new products – hair accessories! – which I hope will be ready for sale end of May. I’m really excited and also a bag of nerves. It’s been a while since I last sold handmade work, and I miss it so much. I know people say it all the time but now that it’s happening to me, I can truly say I love making things with my hands.
Now, Ben & I are off to Hanoi for a week. Halong Bay, here we come!
| Tags: 50mm/F1.8, gillman barracks, kodak 400, nikon FM10
10 Apr 13
Before our guide took us to Maya Bay, our boat stopped here for a bit. According to him, this was where Leonardo Dicaprio’s character in the movie The Beach jumped from the cliff. So click click click went all the cameras.
So our boat pulls into Maya Bay and here’s the view from the beach…
And now here’s the view of the beach while in the water! Immediately this hilarious post by krisatomic came to mind and I had to do my Maya Bay version of it. Humans to beach ratio is way off, sadly.
Still beautiful tho, will have to suss out the less popular islands the next time. Till then, Krabi!
| Tags: 50mm/F1.8, kodak 400, krabi, maya bay, nikon FM10, thailand
