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Friday 28 October 2011

GIVE AWAY BIRTHDAYS

Having given a thought on the reminiscence of the past birthday celebrations of our ladies group,  I truly feel so touched and proud that we still keep the tradition of  celebrating each others' birthdays but yet we fill this tradition with a unique and creative meaning.

The birthday girl is not seen as someone who merely receives gifts but more of a person who gives gifts, dinners and shares what she finds meaningful and valuable. To gather with frens on our birthdays in order to give and share is much more beautiful than just the old way of birthday celebrations where one is showered with gifts and more gifts.

Last year was a great GIVING event for our October birthday celebrations.  With the help from the other ladies and Ti-Ratana, we gave to the Sri Sayang Home at Ulu Yam what was needed and what they value.  It was indeed a BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION OF GIVING  !!

In view of time constraint, a big giving event was not possible this year. Instead I had a desire to give a lil gift to all my dear buddies as a present on my birthday.  A brilliant idea struck me about putting my old CDs to good use by recycling them into adorable craft items for sharing.

I loved what I have created and every piece is a joy for me to have it painstakingly handmade  with lots of love.  This I found it very meaningful to do,    SO I GAVE AWAY & CELEBRATED IT ON MY BIRTHDAY !

Introducing the One Big Happy Buddy Family
We are a family of  very good and close frens. You may see us at gatherings, having a cuppa, enjoying musicals together, scrapping lessons, yoga classes and even on overseas trips. We come from all walks of life and status and yet we remain close knitted frens, full of understanding, loving kindness and compassion.
This is what I called 'the power of  friendship' which heals, nurture good mental as well as emotional health.
Apart from our own families, I think everyone needs to have emotional attachments to people around us, our frens as it gives us a sense of belonging, purpose and self worth.

 I'd love to share...take a look, enjoy the pieces and let me know what you think.......




 A total of 22 old and unused CDs, scrapped into beautiful works of art for my beautiful frens ......
I 've given them away to my dear buddies after a round of games which we played for more of interaction and fellowship but I did capture the images of these fabulous pieces with the intention to keep them digitally in my blog.
 One side of every CD had the same pix like the one above but in different pattern papers to make it unique.
This is kind of special for a dear fren full of love, care, charisma and charm that can inspire others. I gave her the beautiful peach rosy laces we both shopped at the Melbourne Craft Fair last year.
I am proud to quote Wendy from FB,   "It's prominently displayed to give me inspiration. Now collecting old recycled CDs for projects'. Thank you Wendy for the encouragement!
Another elegant piece scrapped with care and affection for Cat, my artistic Sifu ,who is full of loving kindness & compassion.
Knowing she is a fashionista, I used everything stylo,  from lace pattern paper to black lace trimmings, lacy ribbons and a final touch of a pretty peach lacy flower which I did a tiny bit of stitching at the end to hold it together.  Viola ! This is one of my fave number !
A stylish Granny of 3 grand kids, what more could I thought of but those soft, colourful, velvety & tiny like rounded buttons which I am very sure will catch the attention of Lay Hwa's lil grand daughters.
Betty reminded me of our meet up not at a shopping mall or a cinema but at the Kensington Park, my fave green sanctuary where I go for daily walks.  Those are genuine dried flowers for her, did I pick up from the bushes around the garden ???
Just lurved the lovely green zig zag trimmings for Gee to dangle the CD on her Xmas tree. The green & white colour combo made it so refreshing like our dear fren from  Down Under - Melbourne.
Wonderful to know you and have a good spring!
After toying around with the picture and the rounded CD, I'd say the right picture was selected and nicely cut to fit into the curvy bit of the CD making it kind of special in design. Hope you like it dear Wendy.
My intention was to make Gerry a sweet & pretty rossette, a perfect award for our ex-beauty Queen !
The word ' Thank You'  means more than just an appreciation of kindness'.  Just like 'Terima Kasih' which means 'Received With Love',  I thank Pat, my dear Kedahan, for her wonderful friendship, love, laughter and the happy days we had together.
Orange colour evokes feelings of sunshine and joy.  This colour is so Cecilia, a cheerful, kind, helpful and loving fren. Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes you gave us. God Bless You!
Pearls symbolize the best within us. With her good business acumen, I embellished it with lots of tiny pearls and I believe these 2 combinations  will bring a great effect, lots of prosperity and good luck for Jean in all  her endeavours.
A stunning Oriental make specially for Siew Chea.  The red pattern paper is of Oriental design but what surprised me was the red, frilly chiffon  like ribbon which made it sooooo Chinese feel.  Loved this a lot. Kong Xi Kong Xi in advance !
The pink fabric flower was chosen for Amy with the intention to add her expression of feelings, her feeling of kindness, tenderness and caring, all from her personality traits.Thank you  for fulfilling your game draw of bringing us for afternoon tea. More cuppa when you're back?
,
For  Mui Lan, I chose hot pink which symbolizes her in high spirits and with stronger 'pink energy'.
It was her birthday after all.... Happy Birthday!

The vibrant pink, red and the itsy bitsy polka dotted paper is interesting to have and I gave it to dear Maureen whom I find a fun loving, spontaneous and has an outgoing look on life.Cheers!
Yellow and green so sunshine and fresh is what Sylvia is, an easy going, delightful, a lady with lots of team spirit and makes a wonderful company to be with. Bravo that's our Diva !!
The picture was selected with the intention to fit the curvature of the CD and I did it, looked cool!
Janet is always full of  everlasting smile and blessed with a jovial & happy personality.Stay well !
Simply in love with the red frilly ribbon again, so attractive and feminine!  It conjures a playful Dorisa peeking behind the drapes looking at
who??  LOL

Did you realize the colour, the photo, the blue roses and the stripes pattern paper were all intentionally selected to remind  Li May of her sweet pregnancy of  our cute lil Benjamin! Happy Parenting!
This is so gorgeous just like Teng,  filled with vibrant colours, the shocking pink and red makes the whole piece lively and playful. Enjoy life to the fullest!
I chose pink for Serene as it suits her personality. She is loving, kind, calm, sweet and have a youthful appearance.
Betty Wong, another birthday buddy of mine, is a lady with a warm heart, soft and sweet.
Happy Birthday!
As a keepsake to evoke memories of this birthday event, I made one for myself too. You can see what I am  hot about -  laces, bling bling and oh yes you may catch me in those pearls.....when I am short of  'embellishments' to adorn my outfit,  LOL.
Lil miniature Dior perfume were given away as gifts, a token of appreciation and to express our heartfelt thanks to all our buddies for joining us to celebrate our birthdays. I quote Cecilia " the best birthday party!"  Thank you Thank you!




We are the happy threesome
I often wonder why birthdays are celebrated with cake cutting.Not that I anti-cake but I am just curious if there's any symbolic meaning perhaps. Whatever it may be, we close our eyes, make a wish, blow out the candles and cut that piece of cake !!
At Chinese birthday celebrations we do have 'Sou tou' to express the blessings of living a long and healthy life.  What a lovely and auspicious Chinese delicacy.

It was fun trying out our skills of lifting the cover of the big 'Sou tou'.  OK OK we're blessed with 'Fu Sou' meaning longevity life and good fortune.


Having a good and wonderful evening party......

Ladies did you know that we were having laughter therapy or should I put it as doing laughter yoga subconsciously?  This group laughs a lot!  I like laughing,  it's the best medicine and the best way to release all the stress that has built up inside us.  If it is something very funny don't just smile or chuckle but laugh out loud, hahaha!  hahaha!

 A picture tells a thousand words, there was a TON OF FUN filled with laughter and  MERRYMAKING.  Everyone was taking part gaily. Wow!  What a celebration !!

~  VALUE FRIENDSHIP FOR WHAT THERE IS IN IT, NOT FOR WHAT CAN BE GOTTEN OUT OF IT.

                                                  


If you would like to make any comments or add on, feel free to click  " 0 Lovely people said'  at the bottom of this post. Thank you for visiting!






































5 comments:

Maureen Cheah said...

I could feel the love and passion you put into creating each and every pc of the bday gifts you crafted specially for your bday buddies, what make them more meaningful is that you make sure that they suit the personality of the recipients. Toh Ee sifu , I salute you for your creativity, patience, generosity and love , its definitely a gift that can not be bought with any amount of $$$$$. I am truly blessed to receive one of them and I will cherish it and of course our friendship forever...Three cheers to you my dear friend Toh Ee. Maureen

Maureen Cheah said...

Glad to join the blog

Puan Sri Toh Ee Siew said...

Many thanks Maureen for visiting, your kind words and your support & encouragement. I am indeed blessed to have great frens from our group. Frens forever we shall be! Luv

Blossom inch said...

what a wonderful evening and great bunch of friends...those CDs created by you are so beautiful, I am sure all of them likes it. good to see you blogging again and thanks for sharing your creations. Happy Belated Birthday!

Hugs
yuzz

Puan Sri Toh Ee Siew said...

Thank you Thank you Yuzz. It was the birthday event that made me scrapped again after a lapse of 5 months.
Yes will try to spare some time blogging, fun to pen down our thoughts.
Will see you around in blogland!

Xxxx

toh ee