Weekend of the Talented Friends

This weekend has been nothing short of awe-inspiring as I met up with the most amazing of people and their tenacity and passion for their craft really puts me to shame!

Saturday afternoon was spent at Space Out Cafe for a little tea party held by Weilin's friend Chris who is a fine patissier if I may say! She sells her delicious cookies and cakes online at Chris' Pantry but like me, everything is under construction, so you can see her goodies on her blog instead! We had a taste of her Christmas log cake, chocolate banana cupcake, apple pie and my favourite, Earl Grey cookies. Trust me, they are out of this world! Chris personally handmakes all her pastries from scratch using the finest ingredients and it shows in her pastries. She is now my official wedding baker :)

Tea and chatter on a lazy Saturday afternoon ~ ah that is the life! But wait, there's Sunday too!

Oh, look at what a gorgeous dolly I got at the Maad sunday market! Just got permission fr Xin (the uber-talented crafter & painter of the Maki SquarePatch duo) to use her photo cos everyone knows what a sucky photog I am heh ~ And check this out! My very own one-and-only Makiki flat dolly!! It's wholly handmade, stitched with much love and reconstructed from vintage fabric. And before you think it's a kiddy thing, let me tell you Matt and I have been fighting over who gets hugging rights over this bright and cheery dolly!

Xin makes purses and other non-flat teddies, gingerbread man pins, reconstructed clothes and she's a mixed media artist as well! Her sister Enqi makes lovely vintage and retro jewellery. Their website is still under construction so you can check out their creations on their Flickr album here.

Hmmm... let me think what else I got during my 1hr spending spree.... had a little tiff with hubby which was soon resolved but hey, shopping therapy is still therapy! He had footie, I had shopping. And oh yes, I met a talented glass artist Ling of LingGlass who sells her beautifully soldered fused glass pendants on Etsy. I got a gorgeous blue and orange ring and a beauitful pink pendant from her. Don't have pictures of them yet but soon!!!

Last but not least, I picked up a children's book The Elephant and the Tree written and illustrated by Jin Pyn right near the end. We chatted abt our fave children's poetry writer (Shel Silverstein), abt bookshops that are publishers' nightmares and just books in general! She's a talented writer who was chosen out of 34,000 worldwide applicants to be groomed in the natural history filmaking by Animal Planet. Her first book, The Elephant and the Tree is about the endearing friendship between an Asian elephant and a tree, and 5% of the proceeds from the sale of this book will go into funding elephant welfare projects. I like how aptly she puts her inspiration for the book, that life isn't just about ourselves, is it?

Yes indeed, life is more than about just ourselves! And today, this post, is about the people who make all the difference.