Looking for Singapore hand made crafts

So much to do, so little time! My mind has been swirling with ideas on how to 'refresh' Cartoon Lagoon. As many of you will know, we've been selling our hand painted shoes more out of passion than money. The encouragement we have received from our customers and friends are enough to keep us going (hopefully for a long time coming). So, what have we been up to and what do we have in store?

It's a vicious cycle of sorts. We don't make enough from painting on shoes to do it full time so we continue to have our day jobs. Because we have our day jobs (and of course the kids), we have little time to participate in flea markets etc, much less market our website or products! But there's so much we want to do! Thank goodness I've tried my very best to update this blog though.

Mike and I talk all the time about what designs would look good on shoes. What themes we should base our painting on etc. Our recent Australian trip (yes, I will try to upload more pics soon) has also inspired new designs into our minds. Now to only find the time.
Since our return, we've been busy unpacking, developing and sorting out our photos. Did up a new wall of white photo frames at home (which we've been wanting to do for so long). Finally did it! Then the school term is starting. That means homework for 'us parents' again.....

Hey! Did I say that we've bought some genuine PC programmes which will probably allow us to finally do up our website properly ourselves. All this time, I've depended on a third party company to design and maintain it for us. They've done a pretty good and decent job but I'm keen to take over. IF and WHEN I do it, you'll definitely know. Hopefully it's soon since genuine programmes aren't cheap to come by!

On a personal level, I intend to write. My family and friends would probably know that I've wanted to 'write' for the longest time. Some very cheekily ask me when I'm ever going to complete my book. Hmmph! I keep telling myself I'll start in October (once my son's PSLE is over) but it's really just poor time management. It's what I've wanted to do since I was young. I'm not going to say what I intend to write. It's too confusing. My mind jumps way way too far ahead of myself sometimes! I've got an idea brewing in my head but will keep it to myself for now. Too 'malu' (ashamed / embarrassed) if it never surfaces.

On a business level, we'll definitely be coming up with more shoe designs.

Ok, to the nitty gritty. I know there are many of you fellow Singaporeans out there who also hope to sell your hand made stuff online. We're looking to showcase your stuff. I'm not looking for the usual bought trinkets commonly found. I'm looking for creativity! The unusual! Sickeningly cute stuff. Best if you're creating it with your own hands. Get my drift?

Drop me a line and we can explore further.........
fiona@cartoonlagoon.com.sg

Hope to hear from you!

Cartoon Lagoon on Twitter

Cartoon Lagoon is on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/CartoonLagoon

Back from Western Australia

We're back from our holiday in Western Australia! (still H1N1 flu free for the moment)

(Above & below shots taken at Fremantle where we had delicious Fish n Chips by the water)




Spent a week with my brother's family in Perth and then in Margaret River, probably screwing up their family routine, what with twins, 3 dogs and 1 cat on their hands!!! I've gotta say, don't ever try to tell people how to look after twins unless you've had twins yourself. It's really not easy to handle two babies at the same time and my bro and my sis-in-law have their routines down pat! The twins are adorable! Really adorable! Not sure how their parents feel about having their pics posted on their aunty's blog but here goes anyway!





On the left of the above pic, we have the older but tinier sized, Elizabeth (Libby, for short) and on the right of the pic is Jasmine (Jazzy, for short).

Above pic taken outside what we call the 'Fairy Shop' in Freo. It's actually called 'The Pickled Fairy and Other Myths'. It's been 10 years since we last stepped in. Told my bro we HAD to have another go. They haven't stopped their glitter sprinkles over your gift wrapped items! Lovely place for the kids and adults-who-refuse-to-grow-up (like myself) to visit. (See below pic of life-sized fairy!)

Drove a couple of hours to drive from Perth to Margaret River and stayed in a lovely cottage with a fire place. Mike, my mum and the kids had fun chopping the wood. We also had kangaroos, possums and colourful birds dropping in at our doorstep!

The cool (and sometimes chilly) Winter weather made for lovely walking about the town and other places of interest. I might try to put up more pics later but for now, I've only put up one below of the kids at the animal farm.

Although we've been to Margaret River before, it was only a stop over back then as we were on our way down to Albany. This time, actually staying 3 nights at the cottage and being accompanied by my brother and his family was different as they were more familiar with the surroundings and offerings. The fact that they had lent us a car (we'd all driven up in 4 separate cars!) to use meant we could get by with their instructions and that very sexy voice in the GPS!!! (yep, my son and hubs are probably very much in love with that lady's voice after hearing her yell, 'Route Re-calculation! Route Re-calculation!) everytime I took a wrong turn!!!

We took in the sights at Canal Rocks, a Cheese Factory, The Berry Farm, Jewel Caves, an animal farm, Margaret River town centre, a Sat morn market at Cowaramup (think it's spelt like that) and along the way home, we stopped at a bakery at Dunsborough for lunch (delicious pies) and also dropped by the longest jetty in the world at Busselton.

And remember, all this while, my bro and wife had the twins to cope with. All I had to do was drive!

Website link working again

Since my last post, our very efficient webmaster at Cybersite (no, I don't get paid for saying this) has changed the 'faulty' link at our website (no thanks to Photobucket for that sudden disruption) so that it works again.

To see the pictures of our hand painted shoes, please visit our website
www.cartoonlagoon.com.sg
select 'Products' and click the link.
To come back here, select 'Updates' and click the blog link.

Meanwhile, the Cartoon Lagoon office will be closed from, 7 June till 17 June 2009.
Business as usual on 18 June 2009.

Fiona & Mike

Picture link not working

Just went to our website http://www.cartoonlagoon.com.sg/ and realised the link to the shoes pictures was faulty.

Will get that fixed as soon as we come back from leave.
Meanwhile, to access our hand painted shoe pics, please try this link instead:

http://s218.photobucket.com/albums/cc76/cartoon_lagoon/

It should bring you directly to the photobucket site hosting our pics. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Fiona