Featured: OrientalFabrics

I stumbled on her Etsy store as I go through forums and once you see her colorful asian fabrics...it will just cheer you up! If you don't know what Etsy is, check out the site :)

Meet Tisha of OrientalFabrics. She's a stay at home mom and a new member of Designing Swanky Moms. I asked her a few questions about her and her store as well.

Can you briefly share something about you (aside from being a stay-home mom)?

"I used to work in the Food and Beverage industry before getting married to a
colleague at that time. My husband is now the Food and Beverage Director at a hotel here in Taipei. Our previous countries we have lived in are Singapore, Indonesia and now Taiwan. We also live in the hotel which my friends find so fun and exciting as get the whole works. I speak 3 dialects of Chinese, Malay, English and a little French (through my husband). Now that my girls are a little older and have started nursery, I have started crafting again. Sewing little cushions and wristlets/purses are my passion as I have a fetish for cute fabrics and bags of course! I am not really good yet but
perfecting my skills slowly but surely."

Describe "FUN" for you craftwise.

"For fun I enjoy doing stuff with my girlfriends as I don't get that many nights
these days. Like any other mom, I thrive for time alone just doing my own thing
which includes playing the piano...and of course going for a pedicure once in
awhile! "

Describe what we can find in your shop.

"As I am a self addicted fabric-holic, I decided to sell them on Etsy as well. I love colours and textures, mainly prints that symbolise the Orient. I have some lovely Japanese Sakura (cherry blossom) fabrics as well as locally made Taiwanese Hakka prints that you can only find here. They are starting to become very popular as most people from the west are looking to the east now for inspiration. I decided to also add in some kawaii (cute in Japanese) fabrics as I saw a need for Etsy crafters as they are very popular at the moment. I also have fun retro prints to add a little fun and colour to my shop."

O r i e n t a l F a b r i c s

Etsy Buy Handmade orientalfabrics

Revamped your style

According to David Hicks, "The best rooms also have something to say about the people who live in them." Although I don't "totally" agree with him, I was in the mood for a little organization and reconfiguration of our tiny apartment, to be able to relax.

These past few weeks was a little bit overwhelming emotionally and physically. But glad I still have energy to imagine how I was going to reposition our 'hand-me-down furnitures' and 'goodwill finds' in our living room. Believe me, the most expensive item we have in our living room are the two bibles we got from Herald Bookstore. All other things are basically gifts...yeah even the couch!

It is quite embarrassing but honestly, I even emailed HGTV's show to come to our tiny apartment and redesign it. Unfortunately, I was informed that their casting this time calls for New York residents only and the surrounding areas.
So I finally settled my mind on the kind of arrangement I've been wanting to do.
This picture here was the arrangement of the furnitures before. I posted this at "Rate My Space" to get ideas on what I should do because this is just not working for us...especially we like to entertain.




Now this is the new arrangement Tim and I did which makes the room a little bit bigger than before. Of course, we moved the antique study table inside our bedroom. So far, I love the flow 'coz the bench that used to be by the window is now against the "dresser-turned-buffet" table so people can lean when they sit on the bench.
The bench used to be a bookcase which I turned down and attached an MDF then wrapped in fabric and use it as a cover for the bench. The buffet table was a dresser which I painted and changed the hardware into distressed copper. I don't like clutter and DVDs/CDs showing everywhere ('coz their actually not a great decor) so I keep all of them in the 'old dresser'.




Now that the antique study table is gone, you can actually see the accent wall and bamboo mural. The bamboo murals are hand-painted by me. The key of the arrangement is simply grouping the accessories.




Only problem we have here is lighting. We don't have overhead lighting. But since Tim is not a fan of fluorescent light or bright lights, we prefer to just have 3 lamp shades around the room. Good thing we have a bright big window behind the couch. Although this calls Asian design, I prefer to call it eclectic 'coz furniture are not purely asian (like the retro-style couch. wing back chair and queen anne table).

The fun & best thing about redesigning is having Tim all around giving input in all of these...and of course helping me carry the heavy furnitures. If ever you have something that's broken or just dirty...all it takes is just revamping and a little imagination.

Useful sites:
http://www.dominomag.com
http://www.hgtv.com
http://ratemyspace.hgtv.com