Inspiration For Living in Style

Fascination For Cheong Sam Gowns

2010-11-11T14:47:00.011+07:00

While web surfing for inspirations for shower ideas, which one of is Old Shanghai Tang theme, I came across Chinese celebrity Fan Bing Bing wearing not 1 but 2 drool-worthy beautiful gowns. They have the emperor dragon emblem, and both are beaded and embroidered (seen from here).
Be still my heart.
I'm reminded of Roberto Cavalli's Ming-vase gown, which until today I'm still searching for it.

Back to reality zone, there are many cheong sams or qipaos that can be found in Jakarta. Adrian Gan's last year Chinoserie Chic Collection was impressive, and a video on it can be found here. Biyan always produces pretty beaded cheong sam dresses in their stores. Etro FW10 has some cheong sam dresses and tops.

All the cheongsam dresses and gowns need a svelte figure to show off the cut of the silhouette and the intricacies of the embellishments on the dresses, which of course is not for me, for now that is, since I'm still carrying the extra 8kg due to nursing my baby and laziness to work out. However, the Etro Kimono inspired dress on the left is something I can picture myself wearing now, it seems easy on the tummy, cover the arms and easy access for nursing.

Ok back to sourcing inspirations on bridal shower...so easily distracted I am..

Bridal Shower Mood Board

2010-11-11T14:02:00.007+07:00

Months before I planned for Cousin E's bridal shower, I had asked her what flower she like, and she told me she likes daisy. After looking around for inspiration, and a venue, I came up with these mood board - a simple, non-fussy, elegant luncheon with small games with the bride-to-be.
Just a few days before, while chatting with Cousin E, asking what requests she have, something I should have done before planning or deciding on the theme, because it seems that what she wants is completely different than what I had in mind. She like roses now! Deep red ones...Move over daisy, we changing the theme.

From left clockwise: Daisy necklace from Kate Spade (selling in KS store in Jakarta), Collete's Daisy Cake, Cupcake box from Meri Meri, Bunga Rampai restaurant, and gold-sprayed flowers centerpiece seen on Orange Beautiful.

November Plans

2010-11-06T01:45:00.004+07:00

Time sure flies by. Its November already and Baby J finally settled in her new school and I'm so glad she's taking in her school routine well. My little girl is only 28 month old and she's going school daily from 8.30am to noon! And my little Baby I is so cute and big for a 4 month old. Its amazing how each month passes by and how quickly our children grows up...
This month I'm going to throwing my cousin a bridal shower, and the week after I'm baking a birthday cake for my dear friend's daughter, and the week following that, I'm baking a birthday cake for my husband!

Will post soon on my plans and inspiration boards for all these three events.

Baby I 1 Month Package - Man Yue

2010-11-06T01:20:00.007+07:00

I started ordering and folding the cupcake and cookie boxes for baby I's Man Yue before his delivery, so I could focus on adjusting to his arrival.
Having budget in mind, I had to carefully plan out costs and also the timing so I could get 60 boxes ready by Baby I's 1 month celebration and sent out to 60 different addresses.
Finally found the pram box last minute and once finalized with the order, I filled with the box with goodies - Chocolate cupcakes with tiger toppers, chocolate chip cookies and Jolly Time popcorn.
2 days before Baby I turn 1 month old and delivering the Man Yue boxes, I started bakingthe cupcakes and cookies. What took most time and effort was the cookies. I only had one cookie sheet and my oven is very small and was only able to bake 1 batch of cookie for 15min.

Tiring but it got fun when cookies were done and I started to package the cookies in the foils and seal it with heat sealant.

The pram boxes were made by Cherchrys Gift.
Cupcake boxes and Cookie boxes from RM Boxes.
Sealer for the cookie wrappers can be bought from Ace Hardware.

Birthday Party Dessert Table Setting

2010-11-02T16:56:00.007+07:00

Setting up the table and using whatever I have to display: cake stands, mixing bowls to elevate plates, pop corn machine (went kaput), music box, photo frame and cupcake cookie jar.

Inviting only family, the dessert menu is small- raspberry peach tart, strwaberry-chocolate cupcakesm chocolate ice cream cake, which was not pretty as it melted but its a great ice cream cake from Rose Levy's Rose Heavenly Cake book. Scroll down for basic Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe.

The top green and pink was just a practice dummy cake (styrofoam base). The rest are: White Peach and Raspberry Tart with Pistachio Frangipane, Mini Devil's Food Cupcakes with vanilla cream, and Strawberry combo Devil's Food Cupcakes were given away as favors.
The pink cupcake boxes are from RM Boxes which I had them shipped from Philippines. I have no problems with local made cupcake boxes but I wanted pretty colors which RM Boxes makes.

White Peach and Raspberry Tart with Pistachio Frangipane can be found here.

A fantastic Devil's Food Cupcake with Cream Filling, a favorite amongst friends who tried, can be found here.
Strawberry Cupcakes- I wanted to use fresh strawberries for both frosting and cakes and found this recipe here.
I wanted to surprise the little ones with the cupcake flavors, so instead of getting just chocolate, they get strawberry plus vanilla filling. Since the Strawberry cupcakes recipe calls for a longer baking time, it goes on the bottom layer then the Devil's Food recipe. I made the frosting out of scratch using fool proof recipe by own instinct.

Basic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Working with 1/2 C butter at room temperature, whipped it till a little fluffy, add about 1C sifted icing sugar (it will be easier if you sift big batch of icing sugar and work as you go) till the frosting looks firm, add about 1/4 C whipped cream to soften the frosting, another 1/2C icing sugar, strawberry sauce, about 1 tsp of pasteurized egg white powder, and more icing sugar to have a consistency for piping.

Basic Vanilla Ice Cream
We love ice cream and there's not an affordable ice cream maker to be found in Jakarta. I bought mine in Pantry magic and it is a big investment, which I have to make full use of. The recipe book provided in the Cuisineart Ice Cream maker was not satisfying so I searched one that I like and adopted the recipe with slight changes.
My Ice Cream Recipe:
2C whipping cream, 2C full cream milk, 3 egg yolks, 1/2C sugar, generous drizzle of honey (optional), about 1 tsp or more of vanilla paste

1. Simmer the cream, milk and half of the sugar.
2. In a large bowl, beat the yolks with the rest of the sugar till lighten in color. Slowly pour the hot cream into bowl and whisk it with vanilla. Pour back the cream and egg mix into the pan and warm it in medium heat, till it thickened or coat the back of the spoon. Add honey to taste. Be careful not to boil the custard.
3. Strain the custard into a big bowl and place the bowl in ice bath to cool down the custard. Occasionally whisk the custard about 5min.
4. Churn into ice cream machine accordingly.

options:
For Yogurt Ice Cream, add Greek Yogurt into the custard after cool down from ice bath and before pouring into the ice cream machine.
For Chocolate Bits Ice Cream, drizzle in melted chocolate (melted from double boiler) when the ice cream is almost done.
For Strawberry Bits Ice Cream, chopped the strawberries into small bits, and toss the strawberries in sugar and lemon juice and leave in about 15min to marinate. When the ice cream is almost done, pour in the strawberries in.

Creepy Fun Halloween Party Details

2010-11-01T13:18:00.004+07:00

The girls from last year's party on previous entry, made another smashing party. They tried to re-use their decor details but look at the details! I think its fantastic with all the standard Halloween spooks mix with novelties- grains and sequins.
The white washed tables and chairs are great combination. Lady E, the creative decorator, mentioned that she much preferred the tables and chairs to be uncovered by the unmatched table cloth and chair covers, and it definitely is nicer so the tabletop decor stands out.

Close-up on tabletop creeps
Really the eyeballs are distracting... I wouldn't pop in my mouth...witch's green fingers... Apparently they are edible.

All images via Eat Browse and Love. Read more here.

Doily Lace Invitation

2010-10-20T17:00:00.002+07:00

Unwrapping the invitation

From outside, the invitation looks pretty with lace details. It was cute when I unwrapped and to know its a doily paper. This definitely inspires me to give it a try to make invitation for my cousin's bridal shower.

Classic, Elegant, Beautiful Calligraphy Wedding Invitation

2010-10-20T16:03:00.003+07:00

The picture does not do this invitation justice- it doesn't show the texture of the cotton paper, the embossed pattern on the envelope and the slight debossed floral pattern on the inside of the envelope.
Its such a simple and elegant invitation. It just screamed 'Posh event!'.

Chloe's Birthday Cake

2010-10-18T19:36:00.006+07:00

Making Chloe's, my very good friend's child's birthday cake was fun for me, even if it was time consuming, I love how everything turn out to be. I tried to draft out how I wanted the cake to be but I just went with the flow and decorate with whatever I had in my cabinets.

Used alphabet cookie cutter for Chloe's name on fondant, painted them with petal dust and glitter. Added fondant daisies (bought China made daisy cutter; fondant cutters and decoration tools can be really steep investments) and glued crystals (again its China made crystals - less than $5 for 144pcs) leftover from Baby J's manyue cake. I really like the effect of little daisies on the alphabet.
The daisies on the cake were first glued using edible glue but after being exasperatingly gluing them, I resorted to use UHU. The hot pink large ribbon was used to cover imperfections of the fondant base and I added more crystals and glued them using double tape.

Oh, I forgot to mention- the fondant cake base is styrofoam so no kids or anyone is eating the cake. Happy Birthday candles were bought from Daisho.
The fondant butterflies are time consuming- dry the cut out butterflies, paint the colors and coat/line the edges with gold dust, then finalize it by putting each butterfly above hot water steam so the colors set and doesn't stain the cupcakes.

Devil's Food Cupcakes and flower petal icing technique learnt from YouTube's goodtoknowcouk. Americolor food gel coloring purchased from Singapore's Bake It Yourself store.

Purchased white cupcake boxes from Loyang or you can try Arkenzy Box.

Cupcakes

2010-10-18T19:21:00.008+07:00

Baking is a joy, decorating is something that requires practice and making nice cupcakes for family and friends is something I just picked up. There's so many wonderful blogs with beautiful pictures and great recipes and I am still testing out both recipes and decoration too.

Easy decoration with sprinkles

Piping with 104 Wilton petals and fondant butterflies

Mini Oreo cupcakes with mini Japanese Oreos

Another Watermark Creation

2010-10-18T19:20:00.002+07:00

I have previously blogged about Watermark, a card designer and maker, and receiving a card from them is always a nice surprise.

Unique Man yue Gift

2010-10-18T19:16:00.003+07:00

A wonderfully packaged photo albums. As explained by Elmo, which I downloaded the Sesame Street podcasts for Baby J, its 'Exquisite'!

Baby I

2010-10-18T19:09:00.004+07:00

Seeing my children makes me feel so blessed and I enjoy every bits of them. Baby I was born in July and only a day difference with his sister's birthday. His delivery was not easy but holding him in my arms right after delivering him is truly priceless.

Now that I am lucky to be able to hire a nanny for baby I, readjusted my schedule to work and gasp! a new computer, I can blog again. Yeiii...

Combo Birthday Invitation

2010-06-02T00:01:00.006+07:00

I got this invitation inspiration from Lehr& Black. Since my husband and my birthday is only a week plus difference, we celebrated our birthdays together with friends and family.

Paper from Office2000, 150gram Concorde ivory paper (really affordable), and fonts downloaded from some free fonts website.

After few pages of printing to get the right size for the harmonica boxes, its time for the cut and paste time!
To gift wrap or not?

Since gift-wrapping takes some time, and I kinda like the raw vintage look, I decided to keep it simple and stick the paper directly to the harmonica box.

Lace Embossed Invitation

2010-06-01T23:29:00.003+07:00

I like this very romantic invi pink mauve+ gray + white color palette with the combination of embossed lace motif.

Trying on Fondant Decoration

2010-05-24T11:18:00.008+07:00

Fondant tiered cake filled with hand-sculpted fondant roses (learnt from Cakingcrazy on youtube).

Yummy Devil's Food cupcake! Topped off with iced hydrangea and fondant leaves.

Mini chocolate cupcakes, matcha frosting and topped off with fondant roses (silicone mould)

3rd Fondant cake. No tools needed- I used different lids, round cookie cutters, and toothpick to frill the edges of the cut-out fondant.

2nd try on fondant decoration. Used rose fondant tools to make the roses. My sister made the flower fairies; we you-tubed to learn the how-tos.

My first fondant cake

Fantastic Manyue Gift - A Dollhouse!

2010-05-24T11:02:00.002+07:00

How lovely! I was excited when I saw the dollhouse- you can peek inside the windows or open the door or simply take the rooftop off and see whats inside.
Voila! A cute pink tiger, since it is the year of tiger, reading a book, and sitting on top a can. Its even more impressive inside - some delicious, quality, Japanese cakes!

Back Blogging

2010-05-24T10:45:00.003+07:00

Its been awhile since I last posted any posts. Personal and work life caught up and bringing up a toddler takes up time.

Will try to post up party pics since Baby J will be celebrating her birthday soon! My sister and I have been busy baking and while she was trying out different techniques in baking, I'm trying out my hands on decoration. Hopefully withing these 2 months, we can whip up birthday cakes for our girls.

Kupu Kipas

2009-11-02T01:55:00.010+07:00

How lovely are these fans? I found their booth in WIC (Women International club) charity event, my mom, sis, and me literally ransacked their booth and bought some fans for ourselves. Jakarta is really hot, even though we are hardly outdoors, the fans serve the purpose to block bad UV rays and of course, fan to cool the heat.
The fans come in few sizes, and they range from - embellished with crystals, embellished with lace, hand-painted, ornate silver and gems on the wood frame, and all of the fans comes with silk tassels. Even better is the packaging, the fans have their own fan bag. For the pricier ones, come with hard gift box.
Price? Fantastic enough to make a great wedding/party favor or even as invitation.

Again by attending exhibitions such as WIC, I'm so proud and happy that many local designers are becoming very creative and original!

image source- Kyona at Kupu Kipas

Cowboy Theme Birthday Party

2009-11-02T00:34:00.004+07:00

How cute is this invitation? Its a tin can with nuts inside and comes with a straw hat cap.

Baby Benjie is cute and so is the theme of the party. Activities consisted of hat decor, bag painting, and tattoo glitters.

Halloween Party

2009-11-02T00:29:00.007+07:00

We were invited for Halloween party at my friend's sister house and we came underdressed. The SMS invitation stated 'costume required' and we party-blooped into the house with normal clothes. They didn't use any EO and they did all the decor themselves, which reminds me that I should get their vendors and share with you guys ;)
There's a children corner with table of fun stuff for them to play with, and a section of story telling space. It was all spooky fun but Baby J was too tired to socialize so we had to excuse ourselves early.

Farm Theme Birthday

2009-11-02T00:26:00.000+07:00

Travelling

2009-11-01T22:55:00.002+07:00

Hi! Its been awhile since I posted any blogs.

First was due to my crazy 12 flights in September, then I was engrossed with my newly acquired Kindle, which from the amount of books I purchased with Amazon, should convince them to extend their newly touted 100 International countries Kindle to cover at least Singapore if Indonesia is deemed to be a small market. Then I have been busy sending my 15mth baby to playgroup.

On the pic are my 2 lovely sisters, posing next to the luggages, while queuing for check-in. Yep, that's all ours. 4cities in China, 10 adults, 4 nannies, 3 toddler and 3 babies, makes about 18 luggages...

Mickey Mouse Birthday Invitation

2009-09-08T15:39:00.004+07:00

Just to share ...

Baby G Turns 1!

2009-08-10T19:10:00.010+07:00

Everyone! Look at this cute invitation!!! This is an artwork done by my sister and I'm so proud of her! I'm persuading her to design invitation and sell the templates online. If you like her work, please comment to encourage a budding designer:)

Baby G's invitation. Inside the felt cake is meringues by Creole.

Bday Party! So thoughtful of my sister to create a baby corner for toddlers to hang out in. Baby G had so much fun during her party!

Cakes done by Hotel Mulia pastry chef.

The 3d background, all is Styrofoam made and its supposed to look like a dollhouse room. Its such a refreshing idea; we are all bored seeing the Disney and Sanrio characters.

After the party ended, the little ones get to play around and take pics with the decor.

Event organizer & decorator - Honeybee