GAZA: Let There Be Love Fundraiser

Hey folks! Sorry for the late post. I've just been confirmed to participate as a trader at the RANtai Fundraiser for Gaza. Here are the details as taken off from the RANtai event blog:

With the world recently been devastated with what has been done upon the Palestenians, we at “RANtAi”, feel the urge to lend a hand, or as many as possible, in our way by creating a fund raising event. We, as the young generations of young artists and professionals, come forward to you with this; A charity event is a combination of a fundraiser for Gaza, booths consisting various types of products, performing arts/music, and charity auctions.

Objective:

• To raise funds with a target of RM10,000 to help those in need in Gaza;
• Produce awareness, comprehension and appreciation of love and peace;
• Sharing the practice of kindness and tolerance amongst each other;
• As gateway to young artists to expose their artworks;
• As a gateway to get connected with each other and by expanding one's network;
• To provide guests with information about arts and entrepreneurship;
• Young artists are given a chance to showcase their personal idealism;
• Giving a chance for art lovers and online shoppers to share their opinion, knowledge and potential with everyone;
• An opportunity for the public to mingle with artist, inculcate a better understanding and a concern for our local art scene and nourish the development of local art while contribute to charity;
• A percentage of the sales will be proceeded to the fund.
  

Date: 7th February 2009
Time: 10am - 10pm
Venue: Buzz 'R, 3rd Floor, Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya
(near LRT Taman Jaya & A&W Restaurant)

Mimpi along with the other traders at this Fundraiser have pledged to contribute a percentage of all sales & proceeds towards helping the Palestinians so come shop to do good folks! Here's the Facebook event page if you'd like more info. Hope to see you there!

Miss Dior Cherie

I just spotted this dreamy ad for Miss Dior Cherie over at Fashiontography. The commercial below was directed by Sofia Coppola & it's as equally dreamy as the print ad if not even more so. It makes me want to drop everything & leave for Paris right now.... or at least wait until the summer. But before that I'm going to drop by the Dior counter and get a whiff of the perfume. Yes, I am that susceptible to great advertising.

Ink & Spindle

Ink & Spindle based in Melbourne, Australia produces some of the loveliest handprinted textiles I've seen... And the best thing is that all the fabrics produced are printed with environmentally friendly solvent free inks! I'm totally crushing on the Birch print in Robin's Egg Blue above & the Antique Keys print in Black below. Do you think they would be suitable replacements for my current tablecloth? Hmmmmm...

Going Indie: Don't Hover

Today's tip applies to those who do offline sales by taking part in bazaars or operate a brick & mortar business. Being an avid shopper myself, I hate it when a sales person shadows my every move & watches over me as if I'm going to steal something! This happens to me a lot at Guardian Pharmacy for some reason & so instead of comfortably taking my time browsing the selection & looking for new products, I end up just grabbing whatever it is I need or leaving empty handed just to get out of there as soon as possible. The constant hovering just irks me to the point of exasperation & I know I'm not alone when I want to scream, "back off!" in this sort of situation.

And so now listen up all you intrepid entrepreneurs, if you want to be an effective & attentive sales person, you could always approach the person who has wandered into your stall or shop with a smile & a hello or ask them if there's anything you can help them with. Once you get your response, help your customer if needed, answer their questions if any then give them the space to look over your products. You really don't have to stand at their elbow & follow their every move with your eyes. Trust me, it's awful shopping when you feel the sale person could've been a Rottweiler with a grudge in their past life.

I generally give my customers a couple of minutes to let their eyes wonder over my designs then strike up a conversation when they pick up something or touch something by giving them a little background info on the cabochon or charm used in the design. Sometimes this attempt falls flat but more often than not, it generates more interest in my products & even if they don't buy anything from me right then & there, I make sure they grab one of my business cards before leaving my stall at the bazaar so that they know how to find me or to contact me. No stress, no muss & you might even end up being friends with your customer at the end of the day!

Life's For Sharing

I was grinning from ear to ear & giggling delightedly when I clicked on this fantastic new T-Mobile advert which was filmed at 11am on Thursday 15th January 2009 at Liverpool Street Station in London. Watch out for the grooving grandmas gettin' down on it. Oh by the way, Happy Federal Territory Day to everyone in KL, Putrajaya & Labuan!

(Here's a link to the vid on YouTube for a larger view)

New This Week!

Top row (l - r): Lemah Lembut, Sabila & Barangkali
Middle row (l - r): Maimun, Tersirat & Maimunah
Bottom row (l - r): Gemalai, Hayati & Kirimkan Kasihku

So sorry lovelies that this update took ages to put together as I've been kept busy with events & orders. My inbox is filled with all sorts of requests for new designs & remakes... I'm simply overwhelmed with your support & love folks! You all rock my socks off.

As some of you have complained that my jewelry sell out too fast for you to grab (wow!), I thought I'd give everyone on my mailing list fair warning of when I'll be updating the blog hence those of you who've signed up got an update & sneak peek yesterday. If you'd like to be in on the action, simply register on the left side bar under Mailing List or drop me an email with the subject header "I Want to Join the Mimpi Mailing List!"

Besides the new designs above, I've also remade some of the most requested necklaces from my old collection. Click on the following links for a peek: Samarinda, Sofia, Pengunci & Dikunci. You can also simpy click on Available under Categories on the left side bar to see what's up for sale including the remakes. Easy peasy!

Oh, and don't forget to catch Mimpi at the following events:
Paperbags
Date: 31 January 2009 (Sat)
Time: 12:00 - 10:00 PM
Venue: 17-2 Jln PJU 5/12 Sunway Damansara
Map

Romancing 1950's Malaya
Date : 14 Feb 2009 (Sat)
Time: 12:00 - 6:00 PM
Venue: Soho KL, Solaris Mont Kiara
Theme: 1950’s Malaya

In more exciting news, Mimpi Jewelry can now be found online at PattyBelle! Once you get to the website, click on Art then Mimpi Murni's Handmade. Go check out this adorable website filled with plenty of handmade items sourced from many other crafters & artisans predominantly from Malaysia. You're gonna love it! Oh, and there's a FREE SHIPPING promo for orders of RM100 & above. Yay!

::update:: There was a technical glitch earlier on. My settings for Blogspot were set to PACIFIC TIME so the posts which were scheduled to come out between 12:00 - 12:10PM MALAYSIAN TIME didn't get posted! Luckily I was online to spot the problem so I managed to get all the posts out by 12:30-ish. Sorry for the inconvenience folks!

Map to Paperbags

Tomorrow Mimpi will be taking part in Paperbags. It's a mini-bazaar with only a select few traders. There's Mimpi Kita, Heartbeats, Mimpi by Murni, Dresscode, Marshmallow, Zaihani&Zaidy & Project Earth. Light refreshments will also be served.

Date: 31 January 2009 (Sat)
Time: 12:00 - 10:00 PM
Venue: Heartbeats Boutique, 17-2 Jln PJU 5/12 Sunway Damansara

Click on the image above or here for a bigger view.

If you're like me, totally clueless as to where Sunway Damansara is, then you'll find the map above useful to make your way down to Paperbags. According to the map you gotta go past Ikano & head towards the shop lots highlighted in red. Look out for Kayu Nasi Kandar as it's on the same row & Heartbeats is right above Haven. See you there folks!

Les Miserables

I just finished reading Les Miserables & all I want to do now is lament & sigh for poor ol' Jean Valjean, the main character in this amazing classic by Victor Hugo. I'll spare you my melancholy though. It's such a great read for those of you who like a little heart wrenching every now & then. I generally stay away from these sorts of books as I like to view life in a positive light but if you've seen the movie or read the book you'll know what I mean that it's quite morally uplifting to see Valjean grow in character & his stoic sense of good. If you haven't seen the movie, go watch the one with Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman & Claire Danes... it's almost as good as the book & Mr Rush as Javert is incredibly compelling.

Oh by the way, I'm in the midst of updating this here blog with my new designs & remakes as promised. It'll be up by 12:10 PM folks so stay tuned!

Yuna

Ah. Yuna. So incredibly poignant & endearing. I'm totally loving her voice & lyrics. Thanks Bijou Bazaar for sharing the clip.

Check out this talented lady's interview on KLueTV below.



In case you're wondering about the promised update, it's coming very very soon lovelies. Stay tuned! ;)

Back In Business!

Hi ya lovelies! How was your looooong Chinese New Year break? Did you get lots of ang paus? The older I get I seem to receive a little less heft in my ang paus & for the last couple of years have been filially obligated to give out gifts to my aunties & uncle including ang paus to my mother & grandmother.... Ah, such is the responsibility of growing up & earning an income (not to mention being the eldest amongst my cousins). I'm happy anyways to fulfil my part & very proud of myself that I can earn a little something to (hopefully) enrich the lives of my loved ones in a small way.

We still have another public holiday coming up soon here in Malaysia, Land of the Perpetual Festivities in the form of Thaipusam... So for the lucky few who get to stretch your holidays till then well, lucky you!

In the meantime, I have an update coming very very soon with lots of new designs & your favorite pieces remade for purchase! To all the men out there, do be reminded that VALENTINE'S day is fast approaching & to those who've signed up for my mailing list, you will be updated at least one day in advance of the update so keep an eye on your inbox. Are you as excited as I am? I doubt it ;P