I Am Highly Sensitive


I am a HSP (Highly Sensitive Person). After living for such a long time till this age, I just learnt this official term, scientific term is SPS 'Sensory-Processing Sensitivity'. 

This is not a disorder according to what I found from Google. But according to my life experience with this 'unique' trait of mine, it causes me to live uncomfortably and irritated with myself and my environment from time to time especially during my working years. But on the other hand I also built a skill and career out of this trait. I was a graphic designer, especially sensitive to colours, visual, alignment, feel and mood of imagery.

I wish I had known that I'm a HSP, this would be so convenient in explaining my behaviour and express my discomfort to people that care for us. 

• I get distracted in conversation easily and the opposite party get annoyed by my 'rude' body language respond. 

• I get agitated when I'm hungry but colleagues still dilly dally and dragging their feet to lunch. 

• I had to block my right ear with my finger in a cinema theatre when some stranger somewhere on my right side is twisting the straw in the plastic drink cup.

• I get startled easily by sudden touch, noise or appearance of someone.

• I get shaky in school or even among my colleagues when I need to do simple presentation in front of people.

Now, I'm quite amazed with myself how I survived all these years... I actually survived so much scared and irritation to my sensors without ending up in a mental ward. LOL
life

Etsy Made Local 2017


PippiRabbit participated in Etsy Made Local 2017 in Singapore from 25-27 Nov 2017. It was a curated event, so we were very lucky to be selected as one of the lucky vendor.

I usually try to avoid outdoor selling booth because Singapore's weather is very unpredictable with occasional rain as and when it likes. But because it was organised by Etsy, I really want to try it out this time.

It was a very well organised event, thanks to the organising team which some of them are vendor themselves. The layout of the site are well separated and balance, allowing every booth to have a fairly equal exposure. They even give out free tote bag to customer if their total expenditure exceed a certain amount. The visiting crowds are average..not too busy or too quiet.. and I did manage to sell enough to cover for my 3 days rental fee and left over for profit! Yeah. My only regret is I wish I had more things to sell. And I also wish I had brought big plastic sheets to cover my products when it rain on one of the occasion. The site located at Capitol Piazza actually has a very high shelter on top of us but it was quite useless... Anyway, it was a great experience, I'm happy with the outcome. :)
Events

Making a Photobook for my craft market booth


One of thing that got me interested when I visit the Flea market was to flip through the portfolio or 'Lookbook' of other crafters. It gives me a quick idea of what the brand is about and what are the available products other than those on display. However, I quickly realise that the usual practise of compiling the portfolio in a A4 clear folder could be presented in a more professional way, simply by creating your own Lookbook through a professional photobook printer! Believe me, it's totally affordable because I'm a poor crafter too. I source through the internet and read all reviews, compare prices and finally settled on Photobook ( Mine was printed through their Singapore branch website) By the way, my first vacation photobook was printed through Apple using iPhoto, so it's not my first try to print photobook so I know how expensive it could be.


There are basically a few reasons that I decided to recommend and write about this Photobook website:

• For other crafter, I think this is a good way to promote your brand on site, especially if you're the quiet type like me. It is also a great memento to keep for life.

• It's affordable with the highest discount available for a 40 pages, soft cover booklet. At that point of time about 1 year ago, I spent S$16 or about USD$12 (inc. shipping fee) on my 40 pages, 11"x8.5" Medium Landscape Softcover book.

• This company have the best website design among the other online photo printing company. I'm a webpage designer and I take that into consideration whether the page is user-friendly and provide the necessary information for consumer. I also use their 'Photobook Designer' software to compile and layout the photos. My added advantage as a graphic designer was to add my own logo and background patterns to my layout even though the App did provide options for clipart to decorate your page.

• You can buy the promotional voucher first and decide when to use the promo code later (within a period of time, about 2 months) while you get your photobook layout ready using their App. The quality of the paper and print is acceptable, even though the color contrast is a bit darker than I expected, but my computer screen wasn't calibrated for print so it's okay for me. Next time I'll remember to make my photo brighter.


Photobook
All the best to your business and making your first Lookbook!










crafts

Wall art for your living space

My most recent wall art was a black cat with the quote "Home is where my cat is". I've always imagine myself living with a pet (rabbit, cat or dog) but due to some personal reason I have to hold back my desire. The present of a animal in the house makes the home a more welcoming living space when you come home from work or oversea holiday as I imagine. I used to own a rabbit when I was living with my parents, she was the first thing that I want to see when I arrive home actually (sorry mum/dad). So when I was conceptualising for this cat poster, I don't want it to look like a clip art for the wall only, she has to look as thought she is already living in the same space as me.

Here's the Link to the printable poster where you can purchase the digital file and print it yourself or bring it to your local print shop for a professional print.
crafts

PippiRabbit's Illustrated Models



A series of illustrated models for PippiRabbit’s handmade bag. In the beginning of business, we were searching for ways to demonstrate the bag’s proportion to body figure. With a lack of resources for good photography and budget, we decided to use our trained skill; drawing to create our own digital model and photoshop them with the real bag in proportion. Looking back at it now after a few years, I was still a bit touched by the pure innocent that it shown, even though it was not a mature and commercialise outcome compare to everybody else.
Bags

How to prevent canvas fabric from yellowing after washing


Recently I was doing an experiment on washing my acrylic painted pouch to see if the color will come off or stain the fabric. The paint colors stayed fine after washing but the white canvas were tainted with some uneven yellowing color.

I searched the internet for solutions and realize  this is actually a common problem for canvas products e.g. Canvas sneakers especially. And luckily I found the answer here http://bit.ly/1RTztgc Thanks to them for sharing the tip.

So here's the simple instructions for my painted pouch:
- Wash the pouch in mild soapy water.
- Rinse the pouch until water runs clear.
- Extract excess water.
- Wrap toilet paper all around the pouch tightly while it's still wet.
- Air dry the pouch under shade.
- Wait for at least 24hrs to unwrap the toilet paper and let it dry completely.
- Iron the pouch with a ironing cloth on top with medium temperature.
- Continue using the nice and clean pouch! :) 
Bags

Participating at MAAD on 1st April 2016


I'm not a avid flea market seller, so when I choose to go to MAAD (Market of Artists And Designers), I tried to do my research online about other seller's feedback. But apparently there wasn't enough accurate information online base on my own experience from yesterday night.

After registering on MAAD's Facebook page form 3 weeks before the event, I received a reply to confirm my place about 1 week later,  which left slightly less than 2 weeks to prepare my stock.

A reminding email from the organizer was received 1 day before the event, stated that participants were to report at 4.15pm. So I 'naively' arrived at 4pm, only to realize later from another vendor that there're many experience vendors who arrived as early as 2pm (or even earlier which I do not know…) to register their prime booth spot base on a first-come-first-serve system. So you can imagine that I feel like a 'cuckoo bird', choosing from the remaining 'unseen and unwanted' table at the 'back lane'. (This reminds me of our country's housing system many years ago when people camp 2 or 3 days  to queue for a number in order to choose a housing flat unit base on a first-come-first-serve system. Now it has become a fair and square draw lots system. ***Applause)

Again, the email also mentioned that the event is at 'full capacity' this month, but from my 'back lane' photo there're about 6 to 8 empty tables… so I wonder now if the email is a template file which they forgot to update. The empty tables at the 'back lane' is a eye sore in my opinion because it's discouraging people to make the effort to walk inside and explore more. Some people who came to look for my booth actually couldn't find my table as they totally miss that 'back lane'….. :( (I paid the same fee ley..) I think they should just remove the 'back lane' tables.. I know I'm being naive again, it's money-making-tables for the organizer.

At the end of my stay (5pm - 11.20pm), my 2 sales record did not even cover my rental fee.

In conclusion, I don't think I'll join MAAD again unless it's a 'Draw Lots System to Choose Your Booth' and without 'Back Lane' tables for vendor.

*I know perfectly well that people generally dislike those who write negative remarks or feedback on social media about another party, but let this be my little sacrifice in the hope for something better to arise.
Events
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