Pauper's Wishlist

There's a new blogshop reviewer in town ladies! Go check out The Pauper's Wishlist for Amanda's personal picks for all things stylish. In Amanda's own words: With opinion and review in the blend, The Pauper's Wishlist includes interesting finds from her daily blogshop browsing, finds she covets but can ill afford. From apparel to accessories, from bags to books, from brand new to handmade, from pre-order to pre-loved. Commentary, musings and, get this, actual reviews! No feel good, free publicity, buy-buy-buy here. All in her humble and honest opinion. Prepare for long-windedness and smileys :P

A big THANK YOU to Amanda for reviewing Mimpi ;)

YOUTH'09

Mimpi is taking part too folks with all new designs! Don't miss out ;)
More info here.

Little Paper Planes

I obviously shop online quite a bit & contrary to what people may think, my major purchase online is printed artwork. One of my favorite places to hunt for new prints online is Little Paper Planes for its eclectic variety. Here are just some of my current faves (& some pieces that I'm thinking of getting soon).

[l - r: Flowerburst Print & Little Sparrows Print] I've been a fan of Aline Yamada's work for ages. I just love her gorgeous illustrations of birds & flowers done with ink, pen, watercolor & digital tweaking. Do click on the images above to fully appreciate the prints.

[l - r: Lovely Jewellery Print & 1 Dollar Store Print] I was immediately drawn to the Lovely Jewellery Print for obvious reasons (I sell jewelry, duh!) & then I saw Janice Jong's other prints & fell hard for the bright colors, detailed pen illustration & digital coloring.

[l - r: Little Gathering Print & Goodnight Sweet Print] These prints by Alena Hennesy are just too adorable to pass up! I love the soothing tones of blue & browns used too.

New This Week!

Top row (l - r): Kumbang, Lalu & Kamera
Middle row (l - r): Melodi, Kian & Sara Eva
Bottom row (l - r): Rama Rama, Rasyida & Comel

Hey ya lovelies! Here are some new designs I've been messing around with. Click on the links above for more info and don't forget to check out Earrings, Necklaces, Bracelets & More!

Do note that Mimpi will be taking part in YOUTH'09 under the Youth Designer Festival aka Bijou Bazaar's Creative Mafia! It's going to be the biggest event Mimpi has ever taken part in & it promises to be the best so do drop by & show me some lovin'!

Date: 9 - 11 January 2009 (Fri - Sun)
Venue: PWTC, Kuala Lumpur
Operating Hours: 10:30am - 9:30pm
More info here.

Threadbanger

To kick off the new year I thought I'd share with you a really awesome website I recently discovered (like 3 days ago!) while looking up ways on how to make an applique to spice up a little t-shirt I've had for ages. I naturally turned to Instructables & found an awesome video from Threadbanger. It was love at first click.

Here's the vid that started the whole love affair.



Can you see why an indie crafter such as yours truly in head over heels in love? The creativity, the off beatness... it's addictive I tell you! I've been watching episode after episode on the Threadbanger YouTube channel for almost the whole morning now (it's faster to download but sound quality is a little iffy)! Need to get off my butt soon lest I meld onto my office chair.

Here's some info taken off the Threadbanger site: Threadbanger is a network for people who love to DIY, recreate, refashion and craft. Forget about corporate stores, we’re here to help you create and find your own style! From our episodes, forum and blog to our newsletter and contests, there is something for everyone. Our goal is to bring together people who can share their ideas, tips and advice with others and help make the world more fashionable – Threadbanger style!

I love their motto by the way: DIY or Die! Have a great weekend everyone! Snip snip ;)

Hello 2009

It's official lovelies... Happy New Year! How was your celebration last night? I'm still trying to recover so I can only muster a sentence or two before I need to head back to bed again. Here's hoping you have a great year ahead of you & that you stick to your new year's resolution at least until February. Cheers!

Psst... It's my blog anniversary too!

Thank You 2008

It's been a crazy year for me. Here's my 2008, short & sweet:

+ I sort of officially launched Mimpi at Bijou Bazaar. Yay!
+ I made it into KLue twice (Second time has yet to be posted... eeps!)
+ Made it into Malaysian Today too
+ I was on 20 Questions
+ Was on Astro Awani's Wanita Untuk Wanita thanks to Bijou Bazaar!
+ I became a PADI certified scuba diver!
+ I went white water rafting twice this year
+ I got to go to India (my dream destination!)
+ A hamster showed up at my doorstep
+ so much more...

Like I said, it's been crazy... but wonderful. I'm awfully grateful for the numerous blessing & lessons bestowed this year & so with an open mind & an open heart, I look forward to what 2009 has to offer.

This is how I spent New Year's Eve last year. I think it's going to look pretty much the same this year as we're spending it with our close buddies. Hope you're gonna have fun tonight too. Be safe & Happy New Year!

Going Indie

I've been getting quite a few emails from readers of this blog asking me for advice on running a small, independently-run business. Be it online or offline, I really don't consider myself an expert so I'm pretty stoked that you would even think to ask!

Although I've been running this small little business of mine for awhile now (part time for more than 4 years, full time since August 2008) & I've experienced plenty of the ups & downs that come with running your own business (all by myself I might add), I still have quite a lot to learn & a looong way to go before I even consider myself a success. Although going at it all on my own (hence Going Indie) was not a conscious decision I'm really glad that I took my own initiative to launch a business that I'm passionate about without relying on anyone else thus enabling me to learn really fast on my own two feet. All that aside, I'll be more than happy to share with you what I know & have experienced. If that's not your thing then be rest assured that I'll still be posting lots of my internet finds & designs as usual.


What I'm really hoping from posting my ideas & experiences is that it'll open up an avenue for more indie business owners to share as well, plus encourage more creatively minded people to run an independent business based on their passion or art or fantastically original ideas. There's really nothing more fulfilling than building a business from the ground up... Trust me.

So all you business minded folks, stay tuned for Going Indie which will be up on every other Tuesday or so (I don't think there are enough topics to cover every week anyways) right here at Mimpi.

Journal, Planner or Calendar?

Being a person who constantly has all sorts of things to make & do, I would naturally love to have the Things To Make & Do Journal from The Little Happyshop. It's a match made in heaven don't you think?

But despite being a person who has a list for every little thing, I really hate to plan so perhaps this Non-Planner Datebook from Fred Flare would be a better fit?


Or should I just stick to good ol' Google Calendar which is FREE & easily accessible online? Oh, the dilemma! With 3 days to go to the new year I better decide soon!

Planting Herbs

Even though I don't usually blog during the weekends, I thought I'd just pop in for a bit. It's been a really slow & quiet weekend for me so I did some gardening this morning repotting some plants I bought yesterday while out with the boyfriend's mother. They were all mostly herbal plants which I've been meaning to grow for the longest time: Thai Basil, Chives, Asiatic Pennywort & an Aloe Vera plant (which is a succulent & not an herb).

I love having a few sprigs of Thai Basil thrown into a salad or eaten with fish soup & Chives are excellent when added to a mushroom omelet or sprinkled on some hot cream based pasta. Well, in my humble opinion at least. Asiatic Pennywort (pictured on the left) is really easy to grow as long as you heap on lots of water & is used for all sorts of medicinal & therapeutic purposes but I bought it simply because it looks really lush & spreads like crazy which I like. I plan to grow mountains of it & give them away as hostess gifts. Aloe Vera on the other hand holds sentimental value for me as my late paternal grandmother was very fond of growing them & used the cuttings for all sorts of skin ailments... Kind of like the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding with his Windex! Just thought it'd be nice to carry on the family "tradition" with the aloe (not Windex).

I'll let you know how my little garden is faring from time to time. I'm dying to get my hands on some really nice handmade planters so I'll be on the lookout for them locally & I'll be sure to share my finds with you too. In the meantime, I'm lusting after these Grobal Self Watering Plant Pots designed by Karim Rashid.

Grobal Self Watering Plant Pots spotted on Delight.