Lucky Winner Is...

And the lucky winner to the Product Review/Giveaway (22-27 March) is .... *drumroll*.....CHRIS!!!!

*clap*clap*clap*clap*

Hehe....

Thank you so much everyone for participating! I've sent an email to Chris for the shipping address, and if there's no response within 3 days, I'll choose another winner to replace.

This was my very first attempt at product review/giveaway, and it has proven to be fun, and the support & respond has been tremendous, with a total of 20 participants, some of you entering 2x, 3x and even 4xs, making a total of 29 "entries".

If any of you would like me to do a product review/giveaway for you, please feel free to contact me at pingsping@yahoo.com and I'd be happy to feature your item for the next review/giveaway. So, till then... :D

Last Chance to WIN!!!

It's already Friday, 27 March here in Singapore, and the chance to win the featured UPCYCLED LONG WALLET ends today!

So, hurry and sign up b4 it's too late :D

I'll collect all the names, and for those who had multiple entries as well. All names will be mixed, and randomly picked for ONE lucky winner. I'll post the name/handle of the winning person in tomorrow's blogpost, and contact her/him for the shipping address.

Meantime, I'm still busy editing & uploading the pictures taken from my vacation to Taiwan. I've uploaded almost half of them onto my FLICKR account.

For those who are curious, you can CHECK IT OUT HERE and see the lovely homestay we lived in when we visited Cingjing Farm, a mountainous region in Nantou Country, central Taiwan.

Product Review & Giveaway

I had the privilege of reviewing this Upcycled Long Wallet from Notty Pooch. It's a simple & sturdy piece of long wallet that'll meet your basic needs, not to mention, a really cool piece to have!

It has 3 card holders, and 2 main (long) sections for your dollar notes. Totally slim & compact!

It's interesting to know how the artist/crafter behind Notty Pooch actually got inspired to make this Upcycled Long Wallet. She has a background in graphic design, and part of her work back then includes working out banners & streamers for customers. As these materials can't be recycled she found them a waste to be just thrown out, and somehow decided to make use of them to make something useful instead. "It was one of those days when the graphical patterns they portrayed when they were folded, stacking on each other on the floor attracted me" ... and that's how it all began...

The whole process starts with identifying the perfect graphic, washing, brushing, and searching through the unwanted pieces to find a perfect match, before these materials are cut, & sewn. Seems like quite a tedious process to me. But hey, look what comes out of it! 

Stand a chance to win this Upcycled Long Wallet from Notty Pooch, worth $18.00

 Details described below. Deadline: 27 March 2009, Friday 

* Visit Notty Pooch, and choose 2 favourite items from the shop. One of them must be from the "Recycled/Upcycled" section. Explain why you like the item, and put a link to it, in the comments section. 

To earn extra entries:

-----------------------------

::> Blog about this giveaway

::> Subscribe/Follow this blog

::> Add my blog button on your blog

::> Promote this giveaway either through: Twitter/Facebook/Etsy Forum etc.

Leave a comment for each extra entries, & make sure to add a link for verification purposes. Please have a valid email address, or other means for me to contact you. I'll select a winner by random, and the he/she has up to 3 days to claim the prize, otherwise I'll select another.

Thank you for joining, have fun... & Good Luck! :)

I'm back from Taiwan!

I'm back from Taiwan since yesterday, and find myself loaded with stuff to do...well, its mostly household chores to "catch up" with, hehe...

Firstly, the trip was really great! Weather was good, kids were healthy & having fun....the scenery was awesome, we have no "complaints" except for one (which I'll share in the future).

I've prepared a "to-do" list here:

1. A product review/giveaway (on my next blogpost)

2. Upload Taiwan trip pictures & stories (on Flickr, & blog as well)

So, check back for the product review/giveaway soon...as you may be the lucky winner! :D

Taiwan Itinerary: 13-21 March

My family will be in Taiwan for vacation from 13-21 March. I'll still have internet access, so please feel free to contact me during this period of time. However, I may not reply as quickly as, I'm on vacation after all :)

We got a pretty good deal with Cathay Pacific, for an adult fare of S$450 (tax inclusive) to Taipei, and children fly for S$390 (tax inclusive). The downside is, we'll have to transit at Hongkong. But, in my husband's opinion, it may not be such a bad thing after all, as the kids will be able to take a "break" in between the flights.

Initially, we bought a "free-easy" deal (air fare + hotel) through Chan Brothers, however few days later, the agent called us and said that he's unable to book any hotel for us, since most of them were fully booked. So, I agreed to book the hotel ourselves through online bookings for a refund.

It was really fun sourcing for different hotels, and this also leads me to learn more about the map of Taipei, and the different places we hope to visit. Unfortunately, all the hotels around the Taipei Main Station & Ximending area are fully booked. So, I chose something that's in between the 2 main financial & commercial districts.

I'm quite happy with what I've planned, and got:

13-15 : Fullerton 41 Hotel (4* Hotel @ S$150/night) it's a pretty new hotel near Daan mrt.   It has great reviews, cleanliness, comfort, service & location as some of the plus points mentioned by previous guests.

16 : Taipei ---> Nantou County  @Cingjing Farm (dubbed the Little Switzerland in Taiwan)  We'll stay at a homestay, for about S$115.00/night.

17-18 : Cingjing farm to Sun Moon Lake, staying at another homestay (Laurel Villa) for about S$115.00/night. This homestay has received rave reviews on Tripadvisor.com , and my experience liasing with them thru email so far, has been really good. The owner, Mr Wayne Wang, is very friendly & helpful (at least, thru the mail so far, hehe...)

19-20 : Sun Moon Lake ---> Taipei (Beauty Hotel, HsuanMei about S$130/night) This hotel looks good on the site, and has got great reviews from previous guests too.

21 : Taipei ---> Singapore

We'd wanted to include Alishan as well, mainly cus of the train ride through the forest, and up to the mountains looking "down" at the clouds! However, we decide to do away with this spot for now, as we're bringing 2 kids along, and don't want to tire them out, hehe...

All in, airfare & accomodation for these 9 days, costs us less than S$3k :) for the 4 of us! Of cos, we still need to spend on transport, food, shopping etc. So, I suppose it's safe to set aside an extra of S$1k ? We'll see...

I'll come back with lots of pictures, and stories here after I come back. Meantime, please keep our family in prayer, for God's protection, wisdom & blessings over us during this trip. So, till then! :)))

Missing In Action

These past few days, I've been M.I.A (Missing In Action)...yea, to the hospital! My 2 kids were down with Rotavirus infection, and had diarrhea and vomiting. So their pediatrician said it's better for them to be warded, and put on drip to replace the fluids and to give the body what it needs.

2 nights became 3 nights stay, and after the 1st night, I was feeling quite fatigued, and started to show symptoms of the same thing...uh-oh...

Yes, I was infected as well. And their pediatrician said that I might as well be warded, in the same room as well, put on drip so that I'll recover quickly. I did that, and glad I obeyed. Cus, just before I was warded, I was shivering terribly from the cold (not the temperature), and had severe diarrhea like them as well, so I was weak, and feeling miserable too.

To all my customers & friends alike, please excuse me if I'm late in replying your messages/emails/convos etc (for obvious reasons) we're all back home now...but my younger one is still quite weak, and so am I. But I'll definitely get back to you, sooner or later...if you're not sure I've received your messages, feel free to give me a "nudge" hehe...

Meantime, please keep our family in prayer? For God's complete healing & restoration, and protection from all harm & evil. My husband has been the strong one all these while, and I'm so glad he's around to take care of us, while all of us are down.

Thank you so much, & see you later!

Carnival Bloom

This is Michael Miller's Carnival Bloom fabric, which I'm "tagging" here for a customer who'd like to custom order a Bible Cover. I've just stocked up on new fabrics recently, so I won't be getting anything new for the time being.

Just so I won't forget which designs to look out for on my next fabric shopping spree :) 

If you have any special preference to any particular fabric which are not available in my stock (Check out my available stock on my FLICKR account), feel free to let me know. And I'll most probably get it, provided it's still within my budget.

Thank you for the continued support to The Laughing House!

Long Accordian Purse

Introducing our "new" design, the Long Accordian Purse!!! Well, it's not an entirely new design, as it's actually exactly the same as our highly popular Mini Accordian Purse, but made longer, and slightly deeper :)

This piece as shown on the pictures was actually a custom order for a customer who wanted it to be this size (8 x 4 inches, with a 3 inches deep pockets) so that it'll fit her cheque book. Now that it's completed & ready for shipping, I thought it's a good idea to "launch" our new design, hehe...

If you are a frequent flyer (business or leisure) you'll love the sections and space in this piece. It easily organizes your big & small notes, various currencies, air tickets, passports, cheque book in a hassle free one look, sees all fashion! It also has a zippered full length section for your small change, keys and small trinkets ;)

Now, are you convinced yet?