Holiday Greetings from Us!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

This is an early holiday greetings from us(Me, Dear Hubby and Koda the Dog) Happy Christmas(as the Brits say it) and Happy New Year!

with love and a warm big bear hug,

J,C,K

I hope this video brings a smile to your face! And don’t forget to ElfYourself! I remember wanting to ElfMyself last year but I was too late. Well I made it this year!

A little update. I mentioned in my last post that I’m on  the move again. Well, due to some technical issues with his work, since hubby is working overseas, we are still in limbo. Hubby is in Korea, Koda and I are in Thailand. I don’t want to get into the specifics about the problem because I want to respect his privacy. Let’s just say if this doesn’t get worked out for the better I will be stuck here and he has to go back to the US.

A US visa for a spouse takes a long time. So it will be a long separation. At this point we will be blessed to just get to spend the holidays together. Our anniversary is coming up on January 10th. Right now I can only day dream about being reunited. It sucks to be separated and it sucks even more to not know when you’re going to see each other again. Enough with my moping.

Just want to remind you to cherish your loved ones and enjoy the holidays together. Sometimes you might take it for granted, because you’ve been spending the holidays together for years. When you forget, think of people like us and remind yourself how blessed you are to get to spend Christmas and New Years with your family!

Kanchanaburi Trip and On the Move again!

I haven’t been that active on my blog lately. Since my husband came back from Iraq, I’ve been spending a lot of time with him and we’ve been chilling with friends and traveling. We went on a little river adventure trip in Kanchanaburi province of Thailand, and we had such a wonderful time visiting historical sites like the Hellfire Pass, War Cemetery, and the Bridge Over the River Kwai.

We stayed at this on a raft house right on the river. It was just so peaceful. WE left the resort on a bamboo raft to get back to the real word. One of the best trips we’ve ever taken in my opinion. It was no luxurious getaway but a lot of fun Better do it while we’re young !

The highlights of the trip was the morning bath with the elephants and hiking and cooling down at Erawan Waterfall. A lot of people who come to Thailand always want to ride elephants. We’ve done a lot of elephant riding and while it’s a great experience.. Elephant bathing was just awesome! ! The elephants enjoyed it too, which made it so much better.

These are the friends we made on the trip, great people

Another update from our side of the world is the BIG MOVE. We’re heading back to Korea this time to Osan AB. Look forward to being done with moving! Ai! haha I’m going to take some time visiting some of my favorite blogs now

 

****************OHH BIG NEWS(FOR ME) Martha Stewart Living is available in Thai language! Which means it is cheaper! The imported English issues are 425 baht or 12 bucks each. YIKES! I couldn’t grab the first issue because I’ve been in Korea the first half of November and they are all SOLD OUT at the magazine stand near my house.. And I think pretty much every where else.. BUMMERS! Thai people love Martha too Since I will be in Korea and on a US military post I guess I will be grabbing the originals soon!

A Sweet New Addition to my Crafting Tools

Okay… Let me introduce you to a sweet addition to my family… are you ready ????

Here we go!

good-bye to my “no-longer- gonna-work-after-those-drapes” hand held sewing device.

This is an Elvira “Sweetie” sewing machine, courtesy of my sweet hubby. She’s my first sewing machine. I did a lot of research online, went through a bunch of reviews and sewing sites, to see what kind of options I would need. I went for the Sweetie because I’m only a beginner at sewing and don’t want to spend a lot on a machine yet, but I think this is a good investment, because it does a lot of what a decent sewing machines do : ) I spent a good 4,950 baht(USD 150) on her. Elvira is good brand if you are in Thailand, because they provide excellent after-sales services. They have learning centers around the country, where you can book your free sewing classes. They have a very good website too if you want to take a look. http://www.elvira.co.th (i just checked and couldn’t find the language options- so the website is only in Thai)

****A little side note, I bought my machine from Central Chidlom, Chidlom BTS station(it is very close to my house and it’s the best mall in my opinion because it’s a good size and it’s got all the good stuff). The sewing machines are located on 5th floor near the electrical kitchen appliances. I’m posting this in case there’s a foreign craftster in town. I know it can be hard to find relevant search results on certain topics when it comes to local Bangkok lifestyle.You can also find other brand names there such as, Janome, Brother etc.

This is my fabric stack, so far I haven’t gone insane yet. Just taking it slowly but surely. They are very inexpensive to get though, but I didn’t want to get more than I need.Fabrics like these go for about just over a dollar per meter to about 3-4 USD. I buy my fabric at Sumpeng/Pahurat(they are close to each other, one is a wholesale market but you can find some crafting supplies there too and another is a fabric market with lots of sewing supplies.) There are lots of fabric and supply stores, one after another, it is so much fun. If you go there with a budget to splurge you will end up with some good stuff! You should try to get there before noon because it can get hot. The “cool” season is coming up so it’s a good time to walk about in Bangkok, without getting all sweaty and smelling like a pig afterwards

This is a wallet I created from my newly acquired sewing machine and sewing skills This is all self-taught, well some online tutorials and common sense nothing is impossible.This wallet is not perfect because I didn’t leave enough seam allowance, so after I turned the right side out I didn’t have a lot of fabric to tuck in and clean up the work nicely – hence the fabric patch on-top. But no worries! You learn from your mistakes ! I’m using this wallet now though.. The inside is very nicely done(bragging) it’s got 2 credit card pockets(fit all my cards), a bill pocket and a coin pocket I oooveee the design. You want it, you make it!

Here is my first boxy pouch, with badly sewn zippers, I’m not used to the zippers foot yet. I’m getting used to the regular foot though

I’m happy with my progress   I’m using this imperfect boxy pouch to hold the zippers that I bought

Here’s the tutorial I followed. It’s very basic, so there’s no lining, but it’s good for a beginner like me.

I lived with my grandma until she passed away when I was nine. I grew up watching her sew, and listening to her sewing machine at night, she would sew at night before bed. She made all sorts of things. She quilted, made her own outfits an even made me some barbie outfits. I wish I inherited her sewing machine, but I think they put it in her office, along with her other unmoved, unchanged things as a monument. My grandma was no ordinary knitting and sewing grandma. Yes she did all that and she also went to church every day and also ran her multi-branch bakery business.  Hearing the sewing machine brings back a lot of memories, although hers was louder

Enough for my sewing obsession for one day.  It’s time to go get ready for my beauty sleep!  Did I mention my grandma was a beautiful woman on top of all that ! ?

here she is on the right in her igorot costume (according to my dad)

Here’s her older and very accomplished self with grandpa of course.

Good Night(or day)Where ever you are !

Phuket

Here are some pictures of our island getaway.. that didn’t involve much beach bumming because it was raining 90% of the time We had fun though.. and that’s all that matters!

Here is hubby chillin’ in the sun on the first day. I though I was going to jump in the pool and

enjoy the sun later, since we were going to be there for a week.Turned out it rained every day after that.

Here is from my friend’s themed birthday party polka dots and bow ties We ate at a restaurant called

The White Box, food was great and also nice atmosphere and a lovely bar above the restaurant.

We went to my highschool for a avisit.

We also went horse riding on the beach. This is me and Nadine, she was a race horse

and was really fast!

This is more of a guy-thing but it was fun for me too! A little scary at some points but I made it!