♥ HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

HUGS ALL! I am in Melbourne for the 4th day now and I must say  I am so busy shopping here ( loads of great buys!) that I almost forgotten about Mother's Day.

So to all of you guys, I wish you and your family a great day.:)

I am exhausted ! Just shopped straight for the last 6 hours! Don't worry, I will show you guys what I have bought when I get back! 

HUGS!!!!

♥ Down Under Down Under I Go Down Under !

MARKED DOWN Vintage Luggage Train Case with Spanish Monopoly Money and Coins  By DSSDesigns

Love this luggage bag! So quaint!!! She as loads of even prettier ones in her store!

Ok, flying off to Melbourne today. I am all packed and very excited! I feel young again. Yes, I know I am not that old but I felt like 20 years old again, with my trusty backpack! Ever wonder what does a Singaporean pack in her bag? *smirk* Tell you, Singaporeans have got to be the best packer ever! 

Consider the case of my mother dearest. This lady had never once flew on an airplane all her 55 years of her blessed  life. Her first trip was a grueling 14 hours flight to Paris on a a wintery January for my wedding. I was worried to death about her and keep nagging her to pack more warm clothes  and heat packs. Well, I should not , see my mum WITHOUT advice , WITHOUT A GUIDEBOOK, on her OWN , packed the usual and

a) rubber bands 

b) loads of safety pins which she use to pin her money packed in a small plastic bag to  the inside of her pant's pocket. 

Chilly Cat (upcycled paper bead and safety pin bracelet with glass cat bead) by TheBeehive.etsy.com 

Honestly, this bracelet is really way cool. I can look good and if I need a safety pin, voila !

c) 2kg of rice which honestly guaranteed the survival of my father, auntie too. I mean, they cannot eat bread everyday like the French! LOL! 

Mystery Set Of 2 Heat It Up Or Cool It Down Rice Bags Pick Your Skin and MineralMagic Scent

by ccquilter.etsy.com

I love these pretty rice bags! Another good travel item! I can first use it to rest my neck or back. Then if I am homesick and miss rice, I can open it and cook the grains inside!

Moi, for my Australia trip, I always am very proud of my packing skills and this time I would be staying in a mix dorm hostel ( I told my God sister this is like a fabulous opportunity to observe various human behaviors and learn about one's own too).  I had

a) 3 different sizes of locks for locking my valuable in the lockers givens.

b) 3 universal plugs. Why 3 if it is already universal in the first place?Anyway  I am lazy to remove the other two from my backpack.

c) Loads of plastic bags and ziplock bags

SnackSleeve- aGreenSleeve, snack bag, reusable bag, baggie, fabric bag, lunch bag- Alexander Henry's Folklorico MINI Calaveras Pink by agreensleeve .

Next time, I swear I would buy these reusable bags! I never though it can come in so many colors, prints and awesome prices!!!! 

d) a pair of flip flops for those shared bathroom. It is important to really air your feet and keep them dry at a shared bathroom!!!

PInk and Brown flip flop and bow set by Amberkhokhar83

Pretty pretty pretty! It is always nice to have something pretty to wear on travel.

e) First Aid, I have enough to treat for insomnia to gonorrhea ( I do not ever have gonorrhea but someone else might) . LOL!

f) A cloth mouth mask to protect myself from , heard that whooping cough is doing it's round there. I know I know there is little chance of me catching it but I have a responsibility to make sure I am healthy. After all, there really isn't that much true blooded Singaporean on this planet you know.

g) I always believe when backpacking, one should allow oneself one luxury item. Once I pack my LV small handheld tote as my luxury item to Nepal.. yeah... not smart.. but because it can be frightening at night ( gunshots heard!) , I hug it for comfort.  

I also once packed my favorite diamond ring on a trip to Europe, did not wear it at all, everyone's seems to have bigger diamond ring than me. LOL. This time, I am bring my hair dryer!!! Honestly, to be able to have warm wind blowing around my head for 5 minutes after shower in winter is like the greatest treat of all!

So sweeties, thanks for checking in and for reading my blog. I would try to update in a few days with my fab finds on this trip.

Oh yes, look check it my store in 16th May , if all goes well, I should have my 3rd Good Thing Comes To Those Who Wait sale.  If I can't find very secure internet access in Australia, I might not hold the sale. We'll see but either way, check in and see the store announcements. Have a good day all!:)

♥ Busy Busy Busy !

Yes, that is how I felt often! Well there is always the honey. 

cotton drawstring pouch bag -- busy as a bee -- idiom bag by chasinglightningbugs

I bet you guys had forgotten about me! I don't blame you! I  am so freaking busy these days ( then again I am kind of always busy!).  Let's see what I had been up to ::

♥ I am spending a lot of time with Halley Boo (my 9 weeks old kitten), brought him to the vet and yes I know I told you guys it is a female but the vet felt his miniscule testicles and happy told me "It is a boy!!!!" ( after all, we are in China). I was shocked! GOODNESS!!!!! I had been raising  him like a girl all these weeks! I had been combing his hair 100 times before he sleeps, accessorizing him with little clips and ribbons ! His litter box is pink, his small cushion is pink , his food bowl is pink and his nail polish is pink ( just kidding but THERE IS nail polish for kittens!!!!). 

Duhz... well, at least that explains his super speedy growth, his pretty aggressive nature and his sloppy eating habit! LOL! I am not too bother really, he is such a fun and affectionate kitten, it is a really pleasure watching him grow! 

I love to watching him sleep. It is nice when I can see he felt safe with us and love sleeping near us!

My friend bought her cat over for a play date. Dimanche is a four year old handsome tom cat! You can see Halley is trying to steal the food! LOL!

♥ I am preparing my trip to Melbourne ( YAH!!!!!) , gosh  I need a break so badly! I am a little worried though because I am not sure if it is easy to get around there. I need to Google abit more. Anyway, the idea of chilling out with Lilien, my super fun God sister really makes me very happy! I know the both of us is going to hunt down the best bargain in town and make everyone back home super envious!

Lovely necklace ! By Arete

♥ I am finally able to find a decent supplier for my deco tapes! Perhaps because I am an expat here and my Mandarin is not very good, I might been deem as not one of the local hence the suppliers are abit wary to deal a lot with me. 

After 6 months of spending a lot of money at their stores, I am so happy to say I had established a good relationship with many of them! The last batch of tapes, I manage to get it at wholesale prices! God, that means, approx 40% to 60% off!!!! Yeah!!!!!! It sure took awhile but perhaps I did not buy in bulk so that is why they are reluctant to give wholesale prices.  

I am in the mist of reducing my prices for my deco tapes and changing my listings. I hope to complete it by 30th April but changing 1800 listings can be a daunting task! Lucky for me, I have loads of coffee, cds and a warm kitten to keep me company!

*ROFL*

♥ I had been officially selling on Etsy for 4 months  and it is really an experience for me. I find this site to be really quite different from eBay in all ways pleasant.   Etsy buyers are much more polite, friendly and positive!  I truly enjoy selling on Etsy.

I do learnt a lot too. I mean, I had used various ways to give discount to buyers and it did worked but after doing some serious calculations and studying the buying trends in my store. It seems that 75% of my buyers typically buy less than 10 items.  They buy 6 to 8 items per order on average.  

I received approx 21 convos asking me to explain the old discount rates.  I do not blame them really, it is really quite confusing even to me. 21 convos in 6 months is not good, I know I need to do something about this.

So I was brainstorming and with the supplier's wholesale discount, I gathered I can merge these two events together. I can lower my prices and this would benefit 75% of my buyers who buys less than 10 items.

For those who buys 10 items, I can give them a 10% discount and if they buy 20 items, it would be 15% discount. Just giving two discount rates, I hope it would help to make it easier for buyers to calculate and more free ways to include any items, instead of specific categories.

I have approx 30 IHeart members now and I really appreciate them a lot!  They should not be to affected with the new rates. I hope this would make them happy too! :)

This cartoon is taken from http://www.shannonburns.com/cartooncatalogbusiness.htm

♥ As I had mentioned I would be on holiday soon and my stores would be closed from 4th May to 21st May.  I am using this time to recoup, regroup and re-troop ( I don't think there is this word but it kind of rhythms so I use it).   I have many many plans for May to July, read on ::

a) There would be a Featured Seller here every weekend till July. I am reviewing the sellers as we speak. I love doing Featured Seller posts and I hope it is a way I can help give back to the Etsy community.

b) The last Blog Giveaway was really a lot of fun! The next one would be in June.  Do look out for the details here late May.  

c)  This blog is about 3 months old I think and I also want to use my vacation time to see which direction I want this to go. The purpose is to promote Etsy and it's sellers , I want to see if I can do a store directory here .  Perhaps a weekly update about each store's special offer or new items. 

d) I am going to source for more stuff for my IHeart eCrater store. I love listing there! So easy and I am starting to come out of the Handmade/ Supplies mentality and see if I can list more categories like headbands, hair clips and more household items!

Indeed, I am blessed to be in this place, this time, this era and this body! Thank you all for being so nice and read my blog!

COMING UP THIS WEEK :: I am featuring  a vintage seller and look out for the next Finder's Keepers !