Making your own rubber stamps and loving it!

When I am stressed, I find working with my hands to be very therapeutic and relaxing. It takes my mind off my stress and I just concentrate on getting my piece of craft done. I get a sense of happiness and achievement when my craft piece is done. My latest craft / hobby is making my own rubber stamps. 

I started off with craving on soft rubber blocks or erasers with a regular pen knife but that did not turn out well. I can only do straight lines and that is quite limiting. So, I ordered the Speedball Linoleum Cutter from Amazon and now I am really enjoying the craving! =)

My first home-made rubber stamp!

There are numerous blogs and youtube videos online that can show you how to make your own rubber stamps. And I am going to add to it by sharing my easy steps:

1. Have an idea of what you want to make. I am starting off with simple words like 'hello', 'OMG!'and 'xoxo'. I have also made a checklist stamp to stamp on every page of my notebook and that would be my checklist of things to do / buy, summary points of my meeting, etc.
2. Draw your idea out onto a piece of tracing paper with a 4B pencil.
3. Stain your rubber block with an ink pad. This will make carving much easier because you can see that areas that you have craved out. Allow time for the ink to dry or you can stamp the stained rubber block on a piece of paper a few times to fast track the drying.
4. Transfer your image from the tracing paper to the rubber block. You do this by laying the tracing paper faced down onto the rubber block and rub the back of the paper with your finger tip.
5. When you have the whole image traced onto the rubber block, start craving with the linoleum cutter. Start with the #1 cutter (the thinnest cutter) first to carve out the lines of your image. Follow with the thicker cutters to complete the rest of the carving / stamp.
6. Ink your completed rubber stamp and start stamping! =)

My rubber stamping equipment. I bought everything locally in Bangkok except for the linoleum cutter.

I love rubber stamping!

I have my very own checklist stamp now! =)

See more of my rubber stamps here!

Till my next blog post, do some stamping! =)

Coke and its sharing can

I love this! Can't wait for it to come to Bangkok! Must try when I get back to Singapore next. Hope they have it in my favorite Diet Coke and it is here to stay, not just a fad!! =)

Check out their video here and my visit to the World of Coca-Cola here.

Till my next blog post, have a Coke!!
 

Green tips ....

I came across the H&M magazine while waiting at the bank some weeks ago and saw some green tips in it. That set me thinking about the green things that I do to create less waste in this world.

NO. I do not do this. I just buy. Although .... most of my clothes are in boring black, white, blue and brown that anything I buy would match with most of my clothes, shoes and bags.

YES. I do this. I carry around my Envirosax reusable shopping bags everywhere I go. I also love my Rootote bags. Since I discovered Envirosax and Rootote, I have a LOT fewer plastic and paper bags in my house.
The only time I take plastic bags is during my weekly grocery shopping. I need the plastic bags to throw my trash.

NO. I don't do this. I am NOT a coffee drinker. I have a huge mug in my office and I use it to make myself a giant cup of green tea every morning.
Even when I buy an occasional hot chocolate during lunch, I just use the disposable cup provided.
I do carry a reusable water bottle around but my motivation to do this is to ensure that I drink enough fluid during during the day.

I really do not see how is this a green tip. This is more like an endorsement for the Health Promotion Board.
NO. I am not a vegetarian, I do not use organic products and I do not have a dog.
I do hot yoga in a very heated room but I do not see how that is being green. Maybe I should stop doing hot yoga to be green ....

NO. I do not do this. But I think this is a FANTASTIC idea. I will bring back all half-used bottles of shower gel and shampoo starting from my next trip.

Some other things that I do to be green:

• I bring my own light-weight bath towel when I stay in hotels. Not because I want to reuse the same towel for my entire trip but because I have heard horror stories from my colleagues about what they use hotels' bath towels for.
• I only use the hotels' shower gel and shampoo. I pack and bring the rest of my toiletries.
• When I am checking out at hotels, I tell them NOT to put my hotel bill in an envelope.
• I do not take receipts from ATM machines and tell my banks not to send me paper statements.
• At work and at home, I use both sides of my plain paper. I print what I need on one side and use the other side for other purposes .. like my son's maths practice.
• I jog outdoors, not on treadmills.

There is still a LOT that I can do, like ... use less toilet paper, use a cloth towel and not paper kitchen towels, walk and not drive to work, buy soft drinks from a fountain/tap instead of buying them in cans/bottles, etc.

But I am taking one small step at a time in the belief that every small bit helps.

Till my next blog post, do something green! =)

My Seoul Snacks

Food is a big thing in our lives. When I share my Seoul travel experiences with my friends and colleagues, it is inevitable that the food question will pop up. I will highly recommend that they go to my favorite ginseng chicken restaurant (Korea Samgkyetang) and also ask them to pop by Lotte Mart at the Seoul Station to stock up on snacks.

Sharing with you some of my favorite snacks in Seoul ...

#1 on my list of favorite snacks is this wafer fish with ice cream and red bean. I love red bean! I love wafer fish! I love ice cream! What a perfect combination. It is very affordable .. about Won 1,000 at 7-Eleven. When I am in Seoul, I take this every night as my dessert after dinner. =)

#2 on my list is the Korean Citron Tea. The tea also comes in sachet format which makes it easy for me to carry around. The big glass jar is too dangerous for my butter fingers. Add a sachet to cold soda water and you will have a very refreshing beverage. Super good for a hot and humid day. Spread it onto bread like marmalade and have a sweet breakfast. You can also add this into agar-agar powder and water and have yuzu agar-agar / jelly. I know some people use this to bake cakes but I am not at that expert level yet. =)

#3 on my list is this moist and chewy soft cake that has sweet red bean chocolate cream inside. Did I mention that I LOVE red bean? Try it! Believe me, you won't be able to stop at one. I always tell me my friends that one piece of the fish is so tiny, you have to take two or three at one go to feel the satisfaction. =)

#4 on my list is this lightweight, water cracker with chocolate. This is supposed to be the healthy and tasty range from Orion. But how to be healthy when I eat a two portions at one go?!? Orion, in general, makes good snacks. I also like their potato chips. But I don't like their brownie which is very popular. I find it too sweet for my liking.

My snack basket from Lotte Mart! =)

Till my next blog post, have a snack! =)

Top of mind mentions for Singapore

When I say 'Singapore', what comes to your mind? Most people, I believe, will say "Merlion, Orchard Road, Changi Airport, Sentosa, shopping, Marina Bay, chicken rice, Universal Studio, Night Safari". 

During my recent trip to Seoul, we had a taxi driver who drove us to the Pyeongchang Trout Festival. His name is Mr Park and he spoke English. We told him that we are from Singapore and the first thing he said was "Ah! Singapore! Jumbo!". JUMBO?!? Are you kidding me? Jumbo Seafood Restaurant is top of mind for Singapore to Mr Park! I guess their chili crab must be quite good to have left quite an impression on Mr Park. =)

So, I spoke to a few foreigners and locals and apparantly Jumbo is like a tourist attraction in Singapore. So, when you visit Singapore, a one-day family adventure will look like this: Botanical Gardens in the morning, the Singapore Zoo in the afternoon, dinner at Jumbo, followed by casino at night.

I like the chili crab, fried man-tou, scallops in yam ring, stuffed you-tiao and mee goreng. Loaded with calories but good. My husband likes the pepper crab but I don't. And do wear the bib that they provide. =)

Till my next blog post, have some seafood! =)