Frame of Mind

 

I am inspired by Lara of Kirin Notebook to start framing the prints that I have collected over the years.  And maybe get my own mat cutter too!  Looks like I'm off to good 'ol IKEA soon.

In other news, the shop will remained closed till I whip up a fresh batch of cards and other products.  Does anybody know a good, non-tearful (and non-alcoholic) way to put an almost 4-year-old  to sleep by 9pm?  I will be forever grateful to you!

Digging Kikki K

I am loving this Scandinavian stationary right now.  I remember drooling over it in Melbourne sometime in 2006, and was completely stoked when I heard it was coming to Singapore.  When I first visited the store at the swanky Ion Orchard during Christmas last year, they were giving away freebies at the entrance - it turned out to be paper clips, but not *just* any paper clip ... they were white hanger-shaped ones!  I have yet to use them for they are so precious to me!

I was out at the Ion again today, to stock up on Nespresso capsules, and could not resist a stroll through the Kikki K store.  These cuties caught my eye; if I could find someone to make me customised wooden stamps, I'd be designing up a whole bunch for sure.  Sigh!

 

An apple a day

In the course of my Day Job, I was informed of this Chinese artist, Luo Mingjun, who lives in Switzerland. Happy to have something to distract me from drafting *yet* another agreement, I merrily clicked on the link. And found this.

How profoundly sad it made me!  It screamed of a desperate attempt to fix what has been irreversibly damaged.  Or worse, oblivion amidst certain destruction.  Be it a missed deadline, a broken relationship, a devastated planet, do we try to salvage it because that's the only way we know how to deal with the situation, all the while knowing that our efforts are futile? Or do we make some cursory gesture to patch it up and fool ourselves into believing that everything is alright again?

Pictures sometimes do speak a thousand words.  And yet, sometimes, they just leave you speechless.  Like this one : is it a photo or painting?

Answer : Oil on canvas

Unbelievably amazing, right?  Be sure to check out Liu Ying Zhao's other works here.

#1

It all started one afternoon after school.   I had peeked into Mum's (I know she prefers M-U-M to M-O-M, "Mummy" is ideal and "Mother" is prohibited - which I use only rarely for maximum effect) brown velvet dresser, a veritable altar lined with bottles of oils, perfumes and other concoctions marked with faraway names.  And there amidst the creations of gods and goddesses - Estee Lauder, Christian Dior, Yves Saint-Laurent - were a stack of cards handmade by me to her and/or Dad.  At the time I could not understand why - I wished that I could afford the glossy store-bought cards (Hallmark was a lot more popular then) with the clever words and pretty pictures, not just for her but my friends too. 

As I grew older, and had more cash in my pocket, I began to realise how easy it is to buy something.  You could get a cookie-cutter gift or card for not very much, and the occasion would be taken care of.   However much that bothered me, I was also inundated with school, then work, then life in general - so I compromised and bought the gifts and sometimes the cards - but made sure that at least I wrote a personalised message somewhere.  

Now that I have a little spare time on my hands (i.e. when the kids go to bed, and if I haven't brought work home to do) I hope to revive what Mum treasured so dearly.  That is the motivation behind this project, and subject of this first entry of The Sprout Store blog.