happy lucky 7th birthday!
… to my tax-paying registered business, Forestprints Design! okay, this post is 2 days late. but hey! i am entitled to be as belated as i want to, since i’m wishing my own baby happy birthday… heh ;p
don’t forget the following specials we have going on specially for you this month! -
ONE :
A SGD$10 Discount Code* will be given away to each person for every lovely photo of you posing with your LOF wares, emailed to us at info[at]forestprints.com this entire month of August.
*terms & conditions applied;
*can be used for all orders above SGD$50;
*only 1 allowed per customer.
TWO :
Free Worldwide Shipping for 7 Days
no minimums required : ends 15 Aug 2011
CODE : LUCKY7
VIFF customers, simply use your VIFF codes & you will be entitled to BOTH your regular 10% discount AND free shipping
*terms & conditions applied;
*not to be used with any other specials;
*strictly no reservations.
Be sure to go to the Shopping Bag page to enter the code before checking out order.
XOXO
first, it was couture. now, it is bespoke…
bespoke or couture? apparently, for some, it is not an option. they use both : Bespoke couture. that tickles me so much. it seems i will never get those people and their love for trendy words. not satisfied with just one ‘in’ word? why not hash both together? brilliant! ha!
Bespoke Too Soon
Dear Word Detective: Suddenly I am seeing the word “bespoke” everywhere I turn. Magazines are running articles gushing over some actor’s “bespoke boots” and singing the praises of “bespoke wedding gowns.” Everything is suddenly “bespoke.” What does this mean, and where did it come from? — K. Mercurio, New York City.
It means that the Great Media Herd is on the move again, that’s what it means. Most people don’t know this, but after the Great Plains buffalo was hunted to near-extinction in the 19th century, worried conservationists began to search for a species to replace the beleaguered behemoths. After extensive testing, the Department of the Metaphors settled on magazine writers as replacements for the buffalo, noting their docility, lack of imagination and, most importantly, their allegiance to the herd mentality.
The only problem with magazine writers as a species is that they are extremely suggestible — to paraphrase a metaphor, it’s strictly magazine writer see, magazine writer write, over and over and over again. Once a particular trendy word has seized the tiny collective mind of the herd, you can rest assured that you’ll be seeing that word, be it “meme” or “trope” or “gamin” or “waif” or “soigne,” from now ’til next Christmas in every imaginable context. In other words, brace yourself, because the herd has just begun to “bespoke.”
Not that there’s anything wrong with “bespoke,” you understand. It’s just the past participle of the verb “bespeak,” which means “to arrange” or “to order.” Something that is “bespoke” has been made to order, as opposed to being purchased ready-made. It’s a slightly archaic term, heard until recently almost exclusively in British English.
“Bespoke” lately seems to have caught the fancy of people for whom just saying “custom-made” does not provide the “frisson” (1995′s buzz word, by the way) it once did. The wealthy (and the journalists who watch them) are as fickle (and silly) in their choice of trendy words as they are in other matters of fashion — what else explains all those Range Rovers in Beverly Hills? Of course, now that every magazine reader in Des Moines is being bombarded with “bespoke,” Mr. and Mrs. Gotrox are going to need a new word.
[ taken from : http://www.word-detective.com ]
i miss the happy birds…
i confess. i have no love for birds. at least, for those here in Singapore. they never sing. they don’t do cute little chirps either. at most, they give off boring single note chirps. chirp chirp chirp. they make loud annoying noises and steal the cat food we leave out for stray cats in our neighborhood. and they crap all over on our corridor and ledge. well, fine. these happy birds i love, they crap all over too, i suppose.
i love ‘fake’ birds. birds on print. birds in design. birdy stickers. bird plush toys. bird drawings. birds anything. and that chicken on the dinner table. just not the real live ones. the last time i visited the Jurong Bird Park was 16 years ago, and i have no plans to visit it anytime soon.
but then, i discovered the happy birds of eastern europe. i have not noticed them before. they did not seem to be abundant everywhere else, in all the cities i have lived in and been to. but they were everywhere we went to in eastern europe. i miss the happy birds we met in the gorgeous Czech Republic, beautiful Budapest and our favorite Land Salzburg. they were everywhere, these happy birds. singing happily and melodiously in their sweet voices.
i’m sketching out something new that is bird-related. and it made me think of and miss the happy birds….
why, oh why, singapore…?
what is “van gogh” doing at this void deck : http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/news/66180.html
“” because… it is NOT van gogh.
i love you, my country, Singapore. but you really can be such a disgrace many times, with regards to the celebration of originality art and design. For generations (and more to come), the children in Singapore are being taught that endorsing ANYTHING famous in ANY WAYS possible, including being “inspired by” (which, come on, let’s be real, is really “COPIED from”) is nothing but good.
Buying a painting? – is the painter famous?
Buying a bag? – is it a famous international brand?
Painting the void deck? – there’s nothing better than using a famous artist’s work.
Singing at the NDP? – the best option would be to plagiarize a commercial hit song.
SO.GOD.DAMN.PROUD.OF.YOU. and very very saddened….
i remember this post i made 2 years ago : http://littleoddforest.wordpress.com/2009/04/02/sick-to-my-stomach/
i’m not sorry to say that i really hope the shop has folded long ago…
the bags i use
many of my lovely customers always ask me what bags i own, and which littleoddforest ones do i use.
these are just some of the newer littleoddforest bags which i use on a regular basis. okay, not regular. ALL THE TIME. lol. i obviously own at least one piece of every single design i come up with, so i’ll just share with you the newer bag designs which i have been using since the start of this year 2011.
i have not bought any bags for the past 5 years or so. probably only used some others which i really really love, a couple of times here and there. those who know-know me, will not buy me any bags as presents, unless it is by another small handmade label, something really exquisite, or really utilitarian, by, say, some japanese designer. i am extremely anti big brands. so forget about getting me a prada or gucci. i will admit that i was one of the many lost sheep way back then, and owned a series of lvs and gucci (horror of horrors, i know! haha!), which i have since sold off to fund my business when i first started out :p The only time I will ever consider buying a bag? probably when traveling abroad, one that’s really unique in design, an indie or niche label, and only available at that particular place.
i was quite disappointed recently, when an old friend excitedly got me a cheaply mass-made in China bag. oh well. a measurement of our friendship? mayyybeee… ha.
so! i use all of the Hoot The Owl series, especially the Messenger version, which fits my 13″ laptop perfectly, and is great to use when i’m traveling, since it comes with a double zipper and flap closure. i love using my Hoot The Owl Slings when going out to have some fun, and the handBag version when i need to go for business-related meetings.
the one bag which i have been using almost every single day for the past few months? the Forest Garden Tote!
i absolutely love how i can lug and throw this around, and how big and spacious it is. if you have noticed, i have started using plenty of bull twill cotton fabrics since early this year, and coming up with a more utilitarian range of bags and purses using mainly this particular fabric. i fell in love with this super duper sturdy and durable fabric at first touch, on one of my sourcing trips. they are thick and soft to the touch, and extremely good for rough use. i love love love them, and will be using this for a long while.
the other bags which i rotate with are The Petalon, the Tree Lovers Messenger (which very recently accompanied me throughout my one month wanderlust in europe, together with In The Woods tote ), and the Pixie Leaf Bag.
p.s. it has been extremely difficult for me to start blogging again! my aim is to start with 1 post a month… haha.. can’t wait to share with you the surprise which has been brewing since late last year and causing me to have migraines, signs of hair loss, blood-shot eyes, and panda eye rings :p
littleoddforest’s 7th birthday present
thank you so much for the interview, Grace, and Yannling for the colorful photographs 
The New Paper : Living their passion : 9 June 2011
adding colour to the world
her childhood fantasies come alive
add-on :
and we were on again, this time in the Straits Times, on 12 June! 
thank you so much, Grace! and an early Happy 7th Birthday to us!
final donation of $153.97 made : In Aid Of Japan
Singapore Red Cross : www.redcross.org.sg
2nd & final donation of $153.97 made to the Singapore Red Cross
Thank you so very much to all of you who have supported this fundraiser (details in previous posts below). I especially enjoyed doodling faces with the word ‘ganbatte’, and thought it was most meaningful.
Ganbatte, Japan! We have faith in you.
Ganbatte! Ganbatte!
i have not been able to do the usual social-networking as per normal, so if I owe you any email replies, facebook responses, tweets and so on, please forgive me and i will get back to you once i can. xo!
Ganbatte, Japan!
the world knows you will bounce back a-okay in no time..!
My humble 1-week fund-raising efforts In Aid Of Japan has ended this Friday 25 March 2011, 2 weeks after the terrible disaster struck Japan. A round total of 80 doodle-face fabric buttons have been adopted. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, to all who have supported and got yourselves some buttons, not once, but twice (after loving it when your first buttons arrived). Thank you!
As I won’t be back in town until 5 April, all special requests for doodle-faces will be most promptly worked on and mailed out once I am back.
Below are the current updates, and another post will be up once the 2nd donation to the Singapore Red Cross by this weekend has been made.
TOTAL : $214.49 (1st donation made) + $153.97 (2nd donation to be made) = $368.46 (click More below for details). Thank you so much for giving from your hearts! The final batch of doodle-faces will be mailed out by this Mon 28 March 2011. *special doodle-faces requests will be mailed out once I get back on 5 April. Arigato!
three more days
Ganbatte! Japan!
Adopt your doodle-face fabric buttons here! In Aid Of Japan
A total of 70 hand-pressed hand-drawn doodle-face buttons have been adopted so far! (I will be updating the final amount again later this week) – thank you all for showing your support for our Japan Relief Fundraiser. Sew it on or pin it on to show off your support! Kindly note once again that Full Proceeds from the Net Sales of these buttons will be donated to the Singapore Red Cross. Besides the cost of materials and so on, I will also be paying for all the etsy fees from my own pocket, so no worries about that.
This Surprise Doodle-Face Fabric Button fundraiser In Aid Of Japan, one of our favorite places in this world, will continue until this Friday 25 March 2011, marking 1 week since I started this fundraiser in aid of Japan, and 2 weeks since the terrible tragedy struck. Because I am out of town, it will be pretty difficult to attend to all your doodle-faces requests. Honestly, I am having so much fun attending to all your faces-requests – I have not had such freestyle, freehand fun in quite a while, and that is one of my favorite things to do, ever. And I also did not expect you sweet peeps to enjoy having a requests option so much! Thus the decision to end the fundraiser this Friday. I think it has been a pretty successful 5-day run so far on, considering the buttons are going for only $5 each Please continue to show your support if you can and help spread the word. 3 more days! Thank you, and Ganbatte, Japan! Our friends there have been reporting their safety, and we are very sure that our favorite Nippon-land will get right back up on its feet really soon. I want to visit again real soon for some fabric shopping!
CURRENT TOTAL : $214.49 + $92.40 = $306.89 (click More below for details). Thank you so much for giving from your hearts! The second batch of doodle-faces will be mailed out today (Wed 23 March 2011). *First batch of doodle-faces have already been mailed out! (Mon 21 March 2011)
first payment of $214.49 made : In Aid Of Japan
$214.49 (first payment made) to the Red Cross Singapore
Singapore Red Cross : www.redcross.org.sg
A BIG Thank You to all of you who have supported this fundraiser. We hope to do more to contribute to the Japan Relief Efforts, please help to forward the message if you can. Many more doodle-faces await!
- Adopt your very own Doodle-Faces Fabric Buttons here -
Work In Progress : Doodle-Faces Fabric Buttons
Pin It On – Doodle-Faces Fabric Button
Sew It On – Doodle-Faces Fabric Button
Sew It On - Doodle-Faces Fabric Button
