Ok close friends who know me well know I love doing stuff with my hands. Back in Singapore during our JC and uni days, I love coming up with beautiful birthday cards for my girlfriends within my group so much so that Cin told me to "please stop now Bel, we are getting stressed thinking of what birthday card to DO for you!" Lol I thought that was really funny.
If you have read my blog often enough, you do know that I have dipped my hands into some Groupon sort of deals, going for classes once in a while learning what I term "life skills". One of the memorable ones was going for my first silk screen printing class with K where we produced a cool looking artwork each. (I was thinking I could probably be the next Warhol?) Then I went for a soap making class because I was intrigued and thought it would be pretty cool to learn how to make soap. (Not that I use them anyway.) Subsequently I went to a macaroon making class which I would like to say is the most useful course of all because I do love a macaroon anytime. That said, the amount of work going into it, I think I might be better off buying it off the shelves. (A little indulgent from Laduree won't hurt once in a while?)
So what did I learn today? I went to a floristry course with Gabby! It is somewhat my dream to own a pretty shabby chic/ vintage looking flower shop selling pretty flowers everyday. You would think K is supportive but alas - he looked at me and said "please can you sell something that can actually make us some money?" (Gee, thanks!) Parking aside his encouragement, I thought I should start learning. Starting from Groupon. Today's class was at this florist in hip and up coming Brixton. It used to be a dodgy place where people avoid but these days, Brixton Village is so hip and happening that the image of yesteryear is slowing eroding away. There we would learn how to do a simple flower arrangement and bring home our handicraft.
To be honest, yes I did learn something but it was not as fun as I thought it would be. See we started at 10.30am and we all stood round this hip looking lady observing how she did a sample for a whole hour. Starting with a green spongelike thingy called an oasis, she started cutting the greens and sticking in the oasis. It's not as easy as it looks to be for a first timer because you need to be careful of the length. I was often chided for having too long greens by the florist when I was doing mine. She took almost an hour filling up her oasis before we started. One hour of standing on the spot looking at someone sticking leaves into a green sponge was not very therapeutic I must say. I started shifting around and looked at Gabby beside me who looked pretty bored herself. C'mon let's start doing it already I mouthed to Gabby.
Finally, it's hands on time and we started doing it. Some photos to share of the progress.
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| My oasis |
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| Start sticking in the green leaves |
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| Halfway there |
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| Looking like an organised forest |
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| My finished product |
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| Another shot of it |
Nope that wasn't it. After the morning course, we were to meet up with Sarah and Kine and do some ceramic painting! We girls have not met up for a long time with Sarah and two months ago Sarah suggested doing something crafty and suggested this ceramic cafe in Greenwich Village called Biscuit. This is such a lucrative and good business idea. Basically they are a cafe selling tea and cake, and on one side of the cafe you have shelves of what I call raw ceramic stuff - plates, bowls, cups, mugs, vase, etc. You pay for an item (starting from GBP10), grab some paints and brushes and off you go. You sit there, enjoy your food and start painting, taking as long as you like.
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| Full concentration |
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| Gabby chose a gravy bowl and painted it the same green as her kitchen colour scheme |
You definitely need some inspiration for this one. It's akin to a blank piece of canvas, waiting for your creativity to happen. I debated for a long time over which item to get. Finally, I bought the heart shaped bowl - this shall be my snack bowl. Next, what design? I looked around and saw my shopping bag with a Cath Kidston design. Ok let's do this then.
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| Kine thought I was painting clouds initially lol |
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| A closer look |
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| I was so proud of this - compare it with my folded shopping bag! |
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| My finished product! I was one beaming Bel. |
We left our masterpieces at the cafe because they need to glaze it and put it in a kiln, and will be ready in one week's time. I really hope the colour doesn't change too much and I will have my own Cath Kidston inspired snack bowl! This was so fun, I would come back again but depends on how it turns out. I can't wait to get it back now!
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