Postcard Weekly 01-14-2013

Last week, I received two postcards.

The first postcard of the year was not posted but personally given by my friend who's on vacation from Australia. It's an odd-shaped card of Uluru (a.k.a. Ayers Rock). He even got people of different nationalities to write greetings in their own languages at the back side of the postcard. Cute, isn't it? Talk about effort. :)

Here's my first postcard from Slovakia. I found this non-laminated card in the garage last rainy Saturday night (more like Sunday morning), soaking wet and face-down on the pavement. I'm quite sure it arrived last Friday (as there's no post on weekends) but I don't know why I only saw it that night. However, I'm so glad  that I was still able to recover it. I just let it dry and then pressed it in between some books. There are some tears at the sides and a few stains but no ink bleeds.

Organizing Ribbons and Lace Trims

Two days ago, I bought some ribbons and lace because an orgmate asked me to do some costume accessories (hats, cuffs, chokers) for her and for her sister that they'll be wearing to the upcoming AME 1UP.

The next day, yesterday, I really wanted to start working on them because inspiration was there and I wanted to take advantage of it. However, my OC self was also kicking in. I couldn't start sewing unless I had all my ribbons (old and new) organized neatly.

This is how I used to organize my ribbons: the thin ribbons are kept together by paper tubes or tape while the thicker ones are simply rolled together and then I put everything in a box. It's not that bad but I knew that something better could be done and that was my goal.

I'm sorry for not showing the photo of the whole box. I was too excited on organizing that I forgot to take a "before" photo. I've already started organizing when I took the photos above. (See the cutting mat?)

Before, I've seen a ribbon organization technique that involves a basket and wooden sticks. This technique, however, is not feasible for me because I don't buy ribbons by the spool-- I buy them by the meter, depending on my needs.

photo from web

Yesterday, I felt a bit more motivated to organize my ribbons and found this site [at the top results]. Finally, I found something that will work for me.

1. I cut some cardboard (recycled).
2. I wrapped the ribbons around the cardboard.
3. I secured the roll with a rubber band (recycled too).

See, it was easy and costs nothing! I'm so happy that my ribbon box is finally organized. I should probably put some dividers inside the box next time but this will do for now. 

Trying Out Tous les Jours

It was my little brother's birthday yesterday and he's been asking me to bake something. Unfortunately, I had a meeting the whole afternoon yesterday so I had no time to bake a cake and I just decided to buy a cake from Tous les Jours.

Since this cute bakery that originated from Korea (despite the French name) opened a branch at SM North, I've been telling myself  "I should try that." but I never really got around to do so (what's new?) until recently. I bought an Apple Inspiration cake (PhP548). It's a strawberry-flavored cake that takes the shape of an apple (odd, I know).

It came with cute long candles (like the birthday candles we see in Korean TV dramas).

Here's how it looks like inside. There's little sponge cake inside and some real strawberries. It's a very pretty and adorable cake (the whole family agrees) but it's not exactly our cup of tea (or slice of cake?) 

I'm not dismissing Tous les Jours though! I want to try their cheesecake and the mocha crunch cake next time I feel like splurging and too busy to make my own cake.