Bye 2008, Hello 2009!

It's finally New Year's Eve! I can't wait to usher in the New Year, yet feel sad that the holiday will soon be over ... hehe ...

I'm looking forward to 2009 for many reasons, and believe that it'll be a good year (despite all the gloomy economic forecast), for in Romans 8:37 the Word of God declares us to be more than conquerors &  "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him" Romans 8:28

Have you considered what you're looking forward to in 2009? Any "New Year's Resolution"? Things to do, goals to achieve, new skills to learn, relationships to be restored?

For us as a family: 

• We're looking forward to buy our very first family home (flat) & hoping that the property market will be at an ideal pricing when the time comes (btwn Feb-Jun) for us to buy, and sell our present flat.
  
• We've not had a trip together for almost 2 years now, so we're saving & looking forward to a vacation sometime around Sep-Nov.

Personally:

• I'll make another attempt at learning how to sew when my mom next comes to Singapore. 
• Glad that Hans will be in K2, and Natalie old enough for Nursery. This means, more time to myself, hehe... :P 

What are you looking forward to do/learn in 2009 ?

Great Marketing Exchange

It's time for another week of Great Marketing Exchange. Please check out the shops here, which I'll "feature" on the right hand bar: --------->>> check them out daily!

Monday- www.glitterstarz.com (Please make sure to promote the .com not Etsy site..Thanks:)
Tuesday- www.Juliafinucane.etsy.com
Wednesday-www.monkeyheaven.etsy.com
Thursday- HAPPY NEW YEAR
Friday- www.winniel.etsy.com
Saturday- www.busterandboo.etsy.com
Sunday- www.kraftykrew.etsy.com

Have fun "window-shopping" & show some love please ;)

Happy Birthday LJ ;)

Birthday "boy" Layminto Jubilee, 38 years old :D

Another family snapshot... *yay* ;)

Friends we invited over: (from left) Joanne (friend from church, who's also our neighbour), Wanjun (my old friend from school), Ria (my husband's sister-in-law's sister...confused? lol) Erlyn (Harman's gf), Harman (a friend my husband met during his stay in China)

We had thought of inviting a few friends over for Christmas, but since our church was already doing a big event on the 24th, I suggested doing it as a birthday for my husband instead, since his birthday is on the 27th.

He refused doing it on the grounds of his bd. So, "let's have a *thanksgiving* party?" With that, he readily agreed....haha

We decided to invite Harman & Karvi, 2 of his closer friends, while I get to invite my long time friend Wanjun, and Joanne who's a friend from church, that lives very near us. He decided to invite Ria as well, since she's kinda like a relative that we get to know not very long ago, and who's still pretty new to Singapore.

I'm not really an expert at cooking, and all the more preparing food for more people than our own family members will be a challenge for me. So, we decided to order some "Christmas Special" food instead. Unfortunately, it didn't really suit my "usual" taste bud (I guess) as I still prefer the typical asian food of rice, and simple home cooked dishes. Not too sure about the guests, but they said the chicken with apple sauce was pretty good.

Joanne brought the yummy chocolate birthday cake over (very much to Hans' delight), and we had the usual "birthday fanfare" of singing a birthday song, blowing candles, photo-taking etc.

The group may be a bit "mismatched" in the sense we had Indonesians, and Singaporeans, personal friends from my side, his side, church, distant relative etc...but fortunately it was a small group in a small house, hehe...so, everybody warmed up quite easily to each other.

This is probably one of the few (if not the only) birthday "party" he ever had, as he's not very much into birthdays or celebrating it. So, he don't quite understand why birthdays are a big deal to me. Which is, a "once in a year" affair where we can gather with friends/family to just make the person feel special & appreciated. He can easily argue that we can do that anytime & day of the year, which is true. But practically speaking, we don't practice that all the time, and birthdays are just a very legitimate day to do this ;)

I hope the birthday "boy" enjoys this day, and will start to look fwd to his next "thanksgiving" party (?) ... Happy Birthday LJ!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Here's wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!!!

This picture was taken outside the ballroom of Marina Mandarin Singapore, where we had our church's Dazzling Christmas Celebration. We hardly get any chances to take family pictures together, so I really love this one ;) Too bad, Hans is not looking at the camera (as usual) hehe...as he reallllllly disliked being photographed!

It was already midnight when we reached home, and Natalie kept pestering us to give her a banana. We refused her, cus of the late hour...but she being the feisty persistent girl kept insisting. And we were already too tired to reason with her, so we gave in.

So, here's Natalie enjoying her midnight "snack" & loving it! hehe...

I hope your Christmas was an enjoyable & memorable one too. Here's wishing everyone Merry Christmas, & may your NEW year be fruitful & Blessed!

From: The Jubilees ♥ 

Great Marketing Exchange

It's time for another week of Great Marketing Exchange. Please check out the shops here, which I'll "feature" on the right hand bar: --------->>> check them out daily!

Monday- www.bluetricycle.etsy.com
Tuesday- www.pearlsquiltedcrafts.etsy.com
Saturday- www.npsunshine.etsy.com
Sunday- www.bythewayside.etsy.com

Have fun "window-shopping" & show some love please ;)

Christmas is Coming!

I love the month of December for many reasons, 3 of our family member's birthday falls on this month: Mine (2nd) , my daughter Natalie's (8th), my husband Layminto's (27th) 

And of course, Christmas, year end holiday... all rolled in one! ;)

My husband is starting to clear his leave, about 1 day each week... either on Mondays or Fridays. I requested it that way, so that "my week" becomes shorter, and the weekend longer! hehe...

Today is one such day. And I'm loving it so far, even though it's only 11am ... it really feels like Saturday already :D

We also plan to go and start our Christmas shopping today, hopefully we can get everything in a single trip. Will that be possible? Hm...

Have you done your Christmas shopping yet?

Cold/Flu Remedy

The common cold is so "common" that we tend to take it for granted, that if we dont take the necessary actions, it may just drag on and on... becoming infected, and dubbed a "stubborn flu" that refuses to go away.

I had just went through such an episode, which I hope will make me wiser in the future. Started with a dry itchy cough, innocent enough. But as I continued to eat whatever I desire to eat, and not sleeping early enough, soon it festers and developed into an infection.

To cut the long story short, I went through 2 rounds of antibiotics, and went into a cycle of "almost recovered", and back to square 1, at least 3 times. I was getting tired and frustrated with this "stubborn flu".

A friend in church was surprised to find out that I'm still "suffering". She mentioned that I should "fortify" my immune system with Vitamin C. A simple advice, but like a lightbulb that suddenly light up in my mind, I realized why didn't I think of that??? (Or perhaps, I knew what all the right thing to do was, without really following it)

I went home, down a cup of Vitamin C effervescent (1000mg), and did the same the next morning, cooked porridge for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Another dose of Vitamin C, and multivitamin at night. 2nd day, same routine, porridge for all my meals again.

Now that I'm into the 3rd day, I can confidently say, yes... that worked! I have long ran out of my medicine, and only took cough syrup (DuroTuss Forte) these 2 days. I made sure I slept more than usual, take my Vitamins, eat my porridge obediently, and stayed away from "sinful" food religiously.

If you are suffering from a "stubborn flu" as well, perhaps its time you take charge and be a responsible steward of your own body/health. Drink lots of water, take plenty of Vitamin C (it cant be stored, and will be flushed out of your system anyways), eat porridge *smile*, and SLEEP!

Hope this simple advice will speak to you, just like how it spoke to me through my friend in church. :)

Great Marketing Exchange

It's time for another week of Great Marketing Exchange. Please check out the shops here, which I'll "feature" on the right hand bar: --------->>>>>> check those out daily!

1. www.xabiajewels.etsy.com (Monday)
2. www.pawsforpeace.etsy.com (Tuesday)
3. www.lavenderdragonherbs.etsy.com (Wednesday)
4. www.abridger.etsy.com (Thursday)
5 www.tapestryarabianfarm.etsy.com (Friday)
6. www.mariesvintage.etsy.com (Saturday)
7. www.unicorngem1994.etsy.com (Sunday)

Have fun "window-shopping" & show some love please ;)

Ametrine Endless Style Necklace/Bracelet

Pretty as a Multi Strand Bracelet

Ametrine Endless Style Necklace/Bracelet

Ever fancy an "endless style" necklace? If you're not sure what it means, it's simply a necklace with no "beginning or end", clasp-free! It's a piece that you can simply loop over your head, and you're set to go ;)

Such necklaces are usually very long (28-34 inches) and are called "Opera Length" necklace, which is the "Queen" of all lengths. However, this piece is a tad shy of that length, at 27", it's at most, a "Matinee Length", which is usually the perfect choice for both casual & business wear.

I just found out that Ametrine is actually a variety of Quartz, that contain both Amethyst & Citrine (it's more "famous" counterparts) sectors in the same crystal. And I nearly mistook it for an Amethyst the first time I saw it.

It's just a simple & delightful piece, fuss free too ;) It's best described as a "skinny" necklace, because of its simply stream lined design, and not "too short" length, hehe..

This piece can easily double up as a multi strand Bracelet when you wrap it around your wrist 3 or 4 times over, depending on the size of your wrist.

Ametrine Endless Style Necklace/Bracelet is now on sale at Winniel's. Check it out ;)

Snow Drops & Silver Cloud

Snow Drops, made with rough cultured coin Pearl drops. Challenging to photograph because of its length (3.5") ;)

Silver Cloud photographed on a "model" to give an idea how it'll look when worn.

The black background brings out the elegance of this "bold" earring.

The past few days has been raining and cloudy, so I was unable to photograph my new earrings. Thankfully, the sun decide to rise and shine this morning :)

I have tons of items to photograph, but the priority will be these 2 new earrings, which I've promised my customers to list them as soon as possible. Now that it's up, I hope it's not disappointing. Well, I LOVE them and I hope you do too!

Snow Drops and Silver Cloud are both on sale now at Winniel's Signature Jewelry. Check them out now for more details!

Great Marketing Exchange

Hello, it's time for the Great Marketing Exchange again! Please check out these wonderful shops on Etsy, as organized by Neatostuff:

www.eviestoolemporium.etsy.com Monday

www.foofooandmore.etsy.com Tuesday

www.WhimsicalStar.etsy.com Wednesday

www.housewifecollection.etsy.com Thursday

www.lynniebbags.etsy.com Friday

www.vixenware.etsy.com Saturday

www.doreenbatesart.etsy.com Sunday

Good Luck everyone featured! ;)

Expect The Unexpected

It's strange how November flew past and The Laughing House was on a roll...or so I thought! With Christmas coming, and December a typically busy month, I was bracing myself with more custom orders and is working to get more Organizer Purses stocked up at home, so that customers can get them in time for Christmas.

1st December came and went, and by now.. it's the 6th. Not a single sale yet for the month of December. My other shop (Winniel's Signature Jewelry) on the other hand, just sold 2 big ticket item this week alone!

Naturally I was thrilled, since the necklaces were the work of my own hands, not to mention that sale at Winniel's is usually slower (much slower) compared to The Laughing House.

Well, I was down with a bad flu as well, and till now not quite ready to actively do any promotional work as well. I just borrowed 2 paperbacks (The Templar Legacy & The Alexandria Link) by Steve Berry (one of my current favorite author) and know that once I start on a book, I probably won't be able to craft or do any other "serious" work until I finish it, which given my commitments at home, can take days, hehe...

But hey, it's December! I think I deserve a break, enjoy those books, go out more, and "do nothing more" lol... However, this (sale-less) can't go on an extended period of time. Well, I'll just "expect the unexpected" (hopefully in a positive way) for the year end, and to welcome the NEW year. ;) 

Christmas, here I come!

Birthday Month Special

Are you a customer (or fan) of WINNIEL'S SIGNATURE JEWELRY and THE LAUGHING HOUSE? I've got great news for you! ;)

I decide to compile a birthday list of ALL my customers, and starting from year 2009 onwards, you can enjoy a 20% storewide discount (except sale & promotional items) when you make your purchase during your birthday month.

But before you can enjoy that special, I'll need you to "register" your birthdate here with me first before the year ends. So that when the time comes, I can simply check my list to verify. You can still "register" here even after the year 2008 ends. BUT, I won't be able to comply with the 20% discount if you decide to make your purchase and "register" during the same month.

As there are countless friends, fans & customers of both shops, I need to protect my end of the deal as well :) So, if you want to enjoy this Birthday Month Special, make sure you "register" your birthdate BEFORE the birthday month itself.

I hope this is clear & simple enough, but in case you're not sure about something, please feel free to contact me to verify.

Have a HAPPY Birthday to ALL my customers in 2009 :D

*PS: please enter your Name, State/Country, & Date of Birth in the comments section.

eg. Fanny Tanioes (Singapore), 02 Dec 1976

I'm officially 32 today ;)

Yes, it's my birthday :) 2nd December.

I woke up, and my son told me, "Mama, we have a surprise for you!" My husband & I looked at each other and laughed. Trust Mr Jubilee (Jnr) to keep the surprise *grin*

My husband was on leave to be home with us today, so we went out for a leisurely walk and a Mc Donald's breakfast, to the delight of 5yr old Hans again.

It has been a relaxing and pleasant morning, with birthday wishes pouring in from friends & family from afar.

A good friend of mine also came by to spend the afternoon with me, touring the new mall near my place (the extended area@Northpoint), visited the library, and finally, to Mc Donald's there again, for coffee this time :) It has been a truly wonderful day today!

I feel so blessed & thankful cus I have my family safe & healthy with me, friends who care. I was telling my husband this morning, to let's start a new family tradition for Christmas. Which is, each of us, will give the other a card, and write on it, 10 things we are thankful for about the other person.

As Hans is only 5, he'll be asked to write 3 things only. I think it'll be fun, and definitely will give us (Papa, Mama, Hans, & eventually Natalie when she knows how to write) a great encouraging boost to know what we're appreciated for by our own family members.

Once again, thank you my family & friends for making me feel so special today :) GBU2!

Spring Amazon (Matching Set)

This is how it looks as a set, inside a sweet & pretty jewelry box. Great to go as a gift!

Love the sweet & gentle colour of Amazonite beads, paired with the Swarovski Crystals.

Sweet Amazon (Necklace) hanging from a display frame.

I'm so pleased with the new addition, Sweet Amazon's matching Necklace! What I had set out to do was, a set of 5 or even 7 Amazonite carved flower beads as the centre piece. But, I realized that as a single lone bead, it's pretty enough to carry its beauty alone.

Moreover, more people love a simple & sweet design when it comes to necklaces. I know I'm one such person :)

I hope you'll love this piece as much as I do, and feel free to contact me if you want to get this a set, which I'll usually give a 10% discount when customers buy a matching set directly. With it's pretty packaging, this is perfect to give away as a SWEET gift :)