Sent my first ever order from One Woman’s Junk by hand delivering it to a house in USJ 11. The buyer’s name shall be known as K.

Stopped outside the house, checked the number. Number 19. Check. Road? USJ11/xxD. I’m pretty sure it is.

The house and all its neighbors do not have door bells so I was knocking on their gates. I contemplated climbing into the houses to put the bag of clothes but I thought about my future and realize that it is not wise to stay in jail over one red dress and a green top.

So after knocking on like four houses, a little girl comes out of one of the houses. I explained my situation and asked if I could place the bag of clothes at her house and I would tell K to come collect it later in the evening. She first agrees then runs back out to say that her mummy don’t let. Ok lor. I then ask her maid for a plastic bag and she gives it to me to put the clothes in.

All wrapped up in a plastic bag, I then throw the plastic bag into house number 19, USJ 11/xD.

Satisfied with myself, I reaffirmed the address on my phone and my eyeballs almost popped out when I saw that it was actually 19, USJ 11/xB. B!!!

I stared forlornly at the plastic bag sitting in the garden of the wrong house and thought about foregoing that bag of clothes forever and returning RM58 to the poor K.

I then knocked on number 17 and a girl comes out. She looks like she’s about 16 or 17. I explain my situation to her and ask her if it’s okay for me to come in and borrow a broom and a chair to try to pick up the bag from her neighbour’s garden. She kindly let me in and when I placed the chair to the side of her wall, to my horror, the bag was beyond reachable. I contemplated putting one chair on this side of the wall, and trying to put another chair on the other side of the wall. The plan was to climb over. And perhaps fall and crack my skull.

I put the chair over to the other side of the wall… and because it was on the grass the chair hit the floor and then fell to its side. FML FML! I was freaking out by then. LOL.

So I told the girl that I would explain the situation to the girl who ordered the dress and could she please please get a hold of the bag for me the moment her neighbors got back. She cheerily said okay and promised me that she would do just that.

I then drive over to USJ 11/xB house no.19. There’s a nice big functioning door bell, with people in the house some more. I was about to vomit blood already. And my feet were getting fried under the afternoon sun.

I explained my situation to another young girl in the house who happens to be the cousin of K and to please remind K to collect the bag of clothes from house number 17 on USJ 11/xD. She said okay, totally understanding the whole story.

I then got into my car and quickly emailed K to tell her the story.

She was so sweet!!! After hearing my super FML story, she even said it made her day. So nice of her right?

But she had her own FML story too, though it had a happy ending:

“zomg you know what happened? I went to house no 17 xD, and the girl told me she forgot to take the parcel from house 19 3D. Then I ketuk ketuk the house gate and the houseowner came out, she said she came back home late and she didnt see any parcel. Then she said she will ask her niece when she comes back whether there was a parcel when the niece got back from work in the evening (the niece was out)

Then i gave her my hp num and drove back home. Just when I parked my car in my house porch the lady called me to say her nephew saw a plastic bag and a stool in the garden when he got home from work, he thought ppl anyhow throw rubbish in the garden and he THREW THE PLASTIC BAG AWAY. Into the huge bin at the end of the lorong summore, not the normal garbage can in each house.. So I started my car and drove back again, then had to go find for the bag in the huge rubbish bin! FML Betul. Thank goodness it was just on top! I brought scissors in the car, so i saw one nicely tied bag on top of a pile of rubbish and i just cut the top open and took the clothes out without touching the plastic bag. The bag is still there, the clothes are with me (yay!)

I shall forever remember this night as the night of my rubbish bin malfunction ”

I really don’t know what to do with myself already..

The few sites that we have, namely lowyat and malaysianbabes are quite inadequate.

There are so many questions that I want to ask about having a blog shop and my best bets are to consult top blog shop owners and popular blog shop reviewers. I assume these people are the blog shop connoisseurs.

With The Sticker Monster, I am not sure if a shopping cart will ever work out. I do offline sales too when I have the time, go to bazaars or even meet up with customers one-on-one. So say if an online customer has checked-out her orders and paid via paypal or maybank2u, but at the same time I have sold that exact same piece, the one and only piece, how do I go about it then?! That is why I have not gotten a shopping cart yet as I can foresee all these issues. ;|

I do wonder what people prefer to see when they wanna browse. Do you like it all in one page like how blog shops are? I have seen online stores that have a huge following, registered their business, have a dot com etc all pointing to the fact that they are a real and proper business, yet maintaining the blog shop layout. But doesn’t it give a more professional feel when everything is in a store layout?

I am so confused.

I have plans to register The Sticker Monster..not that I can live on stickers..but better to do so before any authorities come after my ass for the few cents in my pocket. I’ve already got a dot com for it though I wanted it to be thestickermonster.com but it is already taken. SO SAD RIGHT!! T_T It apparently belongs to some dude who sells stickers for bad ass bikers to decorate their bad ass bikes with flaming skulls and the likes. So totally different from cute, pink, glittery, pop-up and puffy stickers.

I feel it is easier for me when the codes come in and I can pack accordingly, I just don’t know which way is most convenient for the shoppers. Would they be missing out on more things if it was in a store layout? Like if it remains in a blog layout, the customers have no choice but to look at everything before they can find what they want. (to a certain extent)

If only I knew a thing or two about programming. Can write my own inventory program..might speed things up as compared to my slow but stable system of excel sheets.

Paypal and maybank2u is like the best thing ever.. actually online banking is like one of the best inventions ever. I don’t know how I can ever live without it! At the end of the day I would prefer to manually give them the payment option details so that I get to interact with the customers and also, I might have to return payments for one or two items out of a long list of say…20 items, if those particular items have sold out and I have yet to update the inventory. Too much to think about!! @.@

Penny for your thoughts, anyone? Any ideas if a store layout is better or a blog shop? If I make it a store layout, is there anyway that I get them to autofill a check-out form instead of a check-out and pay kind of form?

We need a forum for the online shopping scene in malaysia!!

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As we all know and are excited about, the Malaysia’s First Charity Online Fashion Entrepreneurs’ Weekend is happening now! Like, over this weekend, now.

A couple of my friends, Soon Seng and Jan, told me about this months ago and invited me to join their initial meetings to see if I could help out in anyway but unfortunately I was up to my neck with final exams and patients and clinics so I had to sit this one out. But I am so very glad to see that they have created this monster of a blog shop bazaar!! Good job you guys! And your whole team as well!

With a few clever social media marketing strategies (mainly facebook), the MOFEW facebook page has managed to garner like 10,000 fans!! Very very clever. I am very impressed.

Months ago I thought I would not have time to set up a booth but when I knew I could, it was already too late. Spots were snapped up like hot cakes!

So I went there as a shopaholic. Mojo not there though, but I trudged on.

Having a little fun with the camera while waiting for our sushi. Some noms before blowing our wallets. If any of you are wondering, yes, there are real lens on these glasses. These are my casual glasses.

My little Shevie looking so sexy.. sigh. Can still remember the time when she was 2 years old and throwing her ball which was made of cloth at me and me throwing it back to her. They grow up so fast these days. I bet she’s hating me for cooing like that.

Soon Seng grew up so fast too wtf. Can remember him as the Interact president who politely shook my hand and engaged me in a very interactive and friendly conversation, surpassing his 16 years of age. Soon Seng took the day off to tend to his pet project and he was running around all business like with the suit on and all! Good job Soon Seng!

MOFEW! So there were about 100 booths there, apparently lah. But if didn’t feel like it. Maybe because it was well spaced out but who was counting anyway, I was shopping! More like..er.. booth shopping. Can you believe I only came out of it with like a passport holder (nice passport holder okay! Snakeskin!), a bag organizer and a looong bag hanger! So not me. But my bank account is also not in its usual state now that my mother says I don’t need money to pay rent, electricity, my own meals and even petrol. Sigh. Han han yong. Oh yeah, I’m back in Subang now for those of you who don’t know me/have me on Facebook. I’m done with AIMST. I have graduated..yup… there should be a post about it……………there must be a post about it. *stands firm!*

Ahhh okay now we start looking at THINGS. Don’t you love the bags? I love Lush Serendipity’s newest collection of bags. All in patent candy! Yarghh!! She gave me a nice discount…(very nice of you, Grace!!) but as I just survived a big shopping trip recently, I had to decline. Her bags are just as beautiful as the new stocks I have seen around Sg. Wang, maybe nicer even! And cheaper than Sg. Wang too! Go go go!

I won’t be linking blogshops now, because it’s like..4am? So just head on over to the MOFEW website to look at the list of exhibitors!

Some gorgeous red shoes that Mun Teng was lusting after.

How can you get enough of the pretty bags?!?!

I can just look at these pictures all day and be happy and satisfied for the rest of..the.. er.. week. Till the next shopping trip!

Grace and her mum who always helps her whenever she has a stall at any bazaar!

So cute right the umbrella! Brenda, they remind me of you!

More deco the blogshops did for their booths. I think a good business plan would be to set up a service that conceptualizes a blogshop’s layout at a bazaar and then implement it for them. NAIS. I patent this idea first.

Can hang your bags high high also..

More candy coloured bags!!! It’s seriously the trend now lah I think. See it around a lot. I first saw it in Singapore and almost bought one. Luckily I managed to control myself!

Zoomed in! Sorry, couldn’t resist.

I like the tree concept! I noticed a lot of blog shops brought their own little lamps.

More shoes!

Eyelashes and clothes..

Some accessories!

Big, chunky accessories! Not my type though.

So sweet!! I like the idea of hanging it like that and with a chalkboard as the backdrop!

If you like the designs, remember to check out Rose Handmade.

Yunique Paradise is synonymous with gorgeous, gorgeous, shoes. The only thing that has ever held me back from purchasing a pair is 1) the killer 4-5 inches heels 2) the price is out of my budget.. but if the lot of you can justify spending more than normal on a pair of gorgeous gorgeous shoes..then Yunique Paradise, you must must pay her site a visit. The designs are just like the name of the shop, unique. Very very unique. Oh yeah and Yuni, the owner, is all the way from Penang. I have bought leggings from the blogshop before as well!

Love how the spotlight shines. Makes everything look so professional. I don’t think any bazaar has ever had booths like that! In a way I still prefer the old layout of bazaars where everything is at hips level or shoulders level at most. But if you are talking about spacing, MOFEW did a pretty good job with that. And don’t worry, you can’t sweat there at all. No one is pushing elbows to elbows. You can stop anywhere you want to try on shoes, browse items without worrying if you’re blocking traffic.

Love accessories..<3

Almost all the blogshops have mannequins these days.

Ahhh so cute!!! I like!~ Shevie and I were browsing blogshops yesterday afternoon (in preparation for MOFEW wtf) and she was telling me that this Quirky Brown Cow is one of her favourite blogshops!

I bought my gorgeous snake skin passport holder from this girl. She’s really sweet and friendly! And sweetly shy too hahaha..:) But with gorgeous things! I wish she had more designs though. I think she has some laptop bags too!

At least I am pretty sure there were no one else at the bazaar who were selling passport holders or laptop bags even! I got my passport holder at RM24. Okay lah, can lah.

No, they are not Jibbitz but they are made of the same material as the Jibbitz! Hair clips in the cutest colours! Would get some if I wore them.

Enamel earrings which I have seen in Bangkok. Loveee it still!

Don’t mess with this mannequin! Soak Republic always puts so much effort into their booth layout!

Here’s Mei who has her own blogshop yet helped out with Soak Republic’s booth as well. That’s Jeremy from myfavouritees!

Soak Republic is very very popular. I hear that the owners Tiffany and Pei Shan are even doing it full time now! Congratulations to the both of them! Nice name you got there, Pei Shan. I think I’ve told you that before.

Quirky rings is love!

There’s a shop which had like dinner dresses. Was about RM80-RM100++ per piece.

If there was a competition for prettiest booth layout, I think Rara Black probably stand a chance at bagging the grand prize.

Bird cages are a very popular decoration for booths at bazaars.

Ahhhh hairband. I wanted to get some but forgot. Damn damn damn!

You can never have too many accessories.

Look at those lovely numbers.

Even lovelier numbers!!<3

Didn’t really stay long to understand the concept of the necklace…which is apparently convertible. Oh well, if you do drop by, check it out.

AHHh!! Been so long since I saw these at bazaars. They brighten up any bazaar! Or maybe there’s a slight nostalgia to these pixels as they were quite a hit at the very first bazaar I attended.

Too cute!

Ahhhh more enamel earrings.

Gorgeous bib necklaces!

This girl was selling Bumpits! Been meaning to try some but I ended up with this contraption that can help keep my hair in a tight bun! Which is something I needed as well, so got that instead.

This guy was really really good at selling the bag organizers. I was just walking along and suddenly he comes up to me and says, “You look like a girl who would use a bag organizer!” LOL I couldn’t stop laughing because it was quite cheesy, like those 50s cars salesman kinda thing, but at the same time it was hard to say no. So that’s the story of how I ended up with a bag organizer.

And his bevy of female friends at the booth also convinced me to get a bags hanger. So I now have a bags hanger that can hold about 8 bags? I’d take a photo of it but I am too lazy now. It’s like a long belt with buttons and stuff to hold all your bags in a vertical fashion. The girls there told me that the bag hanger should be able to last five years! Promise ah!!

They were like choosing the colours for me based on my spectacles. “You sure like pink one!”

They weren’t the only ones. Every shop I went, girls were like, “How about this pink one?” Ahhh..the glasses are saying too much!

Dropping by Jeremy’s store! My Favourite Tees is doing quite well as Jeremy is really popular!

Jeremy’s shirts.

More of his shirts!

Some heels caught my eyes. Love the way they make the shoe hangers.

More bags, but these were slightly more normal than the amazing patent candy bags!

I like the embellishments on this one though!

Here is Sze May, who was from my school, who was taking care of her friend’s stall while her friend was at work! Shevie bought a skirt from her so while waiting for her to get back from the toilet, Sze May and I caught up!

Managed to grab Jeremy for a picture.

Mun Teng trying on cuteee clothes at Ugly Ducking Closet. If you like ribbons, pastels and the sweetest things, this shop has it!

Some very unique looking stuff!

Ahh so sweet!

I like the mannequin more than the dress. Eh wait, it’s a playsuit! Nicer!

Mun Teng actually found a shop selling black bling glasses. You can’t see it here, but it catches the light at certain angles, like any other self respecting blinged up glasses. Sisterhood of the bling bling glasses! <3

Made the both of them take this lovely photo together!

A nicer photo of myself and Soon Seng.

Mun Teng in the midst of shopping.

Monster bags!

Shevie’s favourite shop – some charms bracelet shop.

More bird cage decoration!

Soon Seng took to the microphone to garner some attention from the oblivious shoppers, announcing Digi’s talk which was happening outside.

Bumped into Kimra!! My junior from uni!!

A blurry photo with Jan, who is the main organizer. The bazaar was his brainchild.

Mun Teng sayangs her new bag until very geram.

She loves her new bling bling glasses too.

I test drive and see. Okay, pass.

Mun Teng’s beard of whimsical painted top.

Polka dots apparently make her happy.

Some black shirt.

A Michael Jackson inspired jacket (you should have seen the buttons).

Something we found in the goodie bag.

Would make for good props for those auction days that colleges have.

With my dear Shevie, after she was done making her bracelet. I didn’t know my little cousin sister loved charm bracelets so much!

Another interesting layout.

Bowing to Shevie’s every whim and fancy.

What a huge selection to choose from!

I like the rose themed things!

My snakeskin passport holder.

TA-DAH!

Shev’s bracelet. Nice right!

She bought two. Head on over to her blog. She’ll probably blog about her spoils sooner or later.

So glad that my cousin is bonding with one of my besties.

Overall, I had a wonderful time browsing through the booths, enjoying the ample space and meeting familiar faces. MOFEW  opens at 11am to 9pm on Saturday but closes at 7pm on Sunday! So hurry up before the goodies sell out!  I had fun sharing the love!

Inside the box was a whole selection of beads you could choose from! The idea is to string it altogether with the chain that comes together and wear it as a funky yet whimsical charm bracelet of sorts!

You’ve seen many other charms, but have you seen a charm bracelet with various charm-like beads to be strung through? These remind me of lanterns by the way.

This is too cute!! A kitten with a whole through its body.

The dangly range would be great for those who still prefer their charm bracelets to swing with every move.

This is one of my favourite charm/bead from the whole box! A rocking horse! Ahh!!

Something more….post-modern?

These ones are nice too. Like what jewelry can escape some blings eh?

She gave me a silver chain for my little project here! Over at her blog, there are plenty more colours and materials to choose from! A pink leather strap caught my eyes.. >__>

After stringing through all the beads!

There is a hook-button-something for you to attach one end of the bracelet to the other. I don’t really know how to explain but when it is your hands, you will have a rough idea how it’ll work.

Since I was alone, I couldn’t ask anyone to do the clasp for me. Oh well, but you get the idea!

Love how the colours go together. Love how there is no set category for this piece of jewelry.

Poor horse!

If you would like to see more of her beads and bracelets, head on over to Colorsbeads! You don’t have to go OTT like me and maybe opt for something sweeter (pink leather strap, NOW!). Enjoy:)

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If you are interested, go join one of this girl’s OPI/China Glaze sprees. Be quick though, OPI is suing online shops selling OPIs at dirt cheap prices (hee!) and thus this particular website called Transdesign is liquidating their stocks. I want to get some…but I really don’t want to spend another RM100++ on nail polishes. Beautiful as they are, but spending RM100 on nail polish can’t be done too often.  China Glaze colours look quite pretty too but I have not tried their products! Maybe one day. I am not sure if they are sold in Malaysia but this girl listed the price at about RM17++ per bottle!

There is no doubting the quality of OPI nail polishes though. Dubbed the Mercedes of Nail Polishes, it is no wonder why every single nail salon out there has a big window display of OPI colours. I hope to have that many OPI colours one day. A girl can dream.

For now, I started off with Malaysian Mist (far left), Off With Her Red, No Room For The Blues, Suzi Says Feng Shui and that is Brenda’s All The Berry Best. If your purchase is above Rm100, then the lowyat forum girl will give you free postage!

I got Malaysian Mist because it is a lovely nude shade and how can you not buy something with the word Malaysia on something so famous in the international arena? It sucks to be a dental student because we will get chastise for our bright and colourful nails. I can’t remember when was the last time I indulged in a little nail art fun. I stopped messing around with nail art around 2004 because my entire bag of 50 over bottles of nail polish crashed to the floor when a college classmate dropped it. I lost my love for nail art on that day because I was so demotivated about the loss of half my nail polish collection.

As a result, I never really caught on to the trendy Japanese nail art designs that are almost everywhere these days. I wish I did though. They are so pretty!

I did however sort of jumped back on the bandwagon when I found out about FIMO Nail Art canes. These canes are made from polymer clay and I don’t blame you if you thought that they are erasers. Apparently FIMO is a special type of polymer clay which is quite flexible.

I took in like 150 designs (about 700 sticks altogether) to be sold on The Sticker Monster and damn, they are going like hot cakes. I couldn’t be happier.

As you can see, it is quite soft.

With a kitchen knife, you can slice the cane into thin slices. I’m quite lousy at that so a few came out rather thick.

Choosing a few canes for myself and slicing them up. Most fimo nail art cane users claim that a stick can get them up to 100 pieces if they slice it thin enough. As you can see, mine are rather thick.

Another angle of the cane slices.

With flash!! *don’t hit me*

To accompany the fimo nail art slices, I used a little bit of my Swarovski Grade YHB Crystals to adorn the nails. These can also be found at The Sticker Monster. Promo abit.

On the thumb I started off with No Room For The Blues, a happy shade of the brightest of blues.

I am not very creative so I simply picked a few slices and slapped ‘em on. For the crystals I used Blue Zircon SS10 and Aqua Bohemica SS6.

The idea is to embed the slices in before the nail polish dries. A top coat can be used to go over the slices but I didn’t use it because it would have made the crystals look murky.

Malaysian Mist for the second finger!

A fruity themed one! I added some Rose SS6 crystals too!

I have always wanted a gorgeous red polish and I am so glad I found it.

Off With Her Red is from the OPI Alice in Wonderland Collection. I wanted to get the Mad As A Hatter which was a kaleidoscope of colour but oh well, another time maybe.

I have bought red polishes from Sinma before (pretty much the only place I can find blood red nail polishes) but ughhhh the quality sucks serious balls and even with an amateur eye, my cheap ass nail polish colour will stick out like a sore thumb (pun intended) with its streaks and blotches. Sorry for being a nail polish snob. I use cheap brands like Elianto too okay! Though I must say, Elianto is not that great either but the colours are all so fun.   You can’t have everything I guess.

My supplier sent me some new Swarovski Grade YHB Crystals in a few other sizes and colours. I used Light Rose SS10 on this one with a few Crystal SS6 and Light Rose SS6 along the sides of my nail. A chanel-love-snowflake themed nail. Okay fine, I don’t really know what I was getting at. :\

Posing with the leftover crystals.

Three done! Two more to go!

My little nail art workstation.

Mmmm..Suzi Says Feng Shui is from the OPI Hong Kong Collection. A lovely shade of teal isn’t it? I am actually trying to recapture the memory of my very first nail polish – a bright blue shade with tiny bits of glitter on it. I was 10 years old and had just discovered the joys one can get at a Guardian or Watsons pharmacy. I remember reading every bit of the bottle and it was apparently made in Paris. I loved it all the more knowing that it was imported from far away and in such a funky colour too. My nails were never any other colour except for the colours my grandmother had which were safe colours like pinkish red, pinkish brown, pinkish pink and a nude shade or two.

As I had ran out of colours to play with, I used Off With Her Red and No Room For The Blues to make a Superman themed nail. A little ribbon to emasculate Superman with some tiny crystals to finish it off.

And there you have it, my entertainment for the night.

I love it! Simplicity is the best.

You know you’ll have to bear with more than one photo of my finished product.

It sucks that I have to remove everything before clinics the following day. Poll TIME! Would you, as a patient, mind if your dentist had funky nails?

Left over slices for another day of procrastination.

There’s another nail art trend called Minx Nails that I am looking forward to try. It’s sort of like a foil plastered onto your nail. Imagine mirror-like sheen on your nails. Glossy is SO out. Mirror, metallic, so so much hotter! And if it is nice, I’ll take it in and put it up on The Sticker Monster.

Oooh ooh, while I’m at it, here’s another product of my procrasination. I deco-ed my Satio:

I allowed some space for the camera cover to slide. Cute right??? Sales are doing well, so I am hoping to take in more designs! Click here for ready stock designs!

Next up, I am planning to do something to my car bonnet. Dad, Mervyn, don’t scream. It’s not permanent.

Honestly, the money is not consistent but it is a total enjoyment seeing all the colourful stickers that I manage to take in. It is just enough to pay the bills on a monthly basis but to go on holidays or to really make a living out of it? Of course not!!

However, some blogshops go on to become real online stores and they actually make enough to quit their full time jobs to focus on the business entirely!

Then there are times when a bazaar crops up and invites you to be part of it (The usual rates are RM70-80 but more sought after bazaar spots have a higher going rate). I don’t know about clothes lah but back in the glamourous days of Bijou Bazaar, a pioneer in the bazaar-online blogshop scene, stalls can make up to a thousand ringgit in one afternoon.

As for my stickers, the best I ever got was about RM500. The worst? LOL A profit of RM2! Sales was terrible and the rental was expensive. Walked around the other stalls and bought RM30+ worth of hairbands and thus the RM2 profit after sitting there for a whole afternoon.

So here is my recap of my bazaar experience at MOS Euphoria’s/A Shopaholic’s Den’s Too Hot 2 Handle:

The night before, I took out all my stickers from their respective plastic bags and arranged them properly in the box so I did not have to do this at the bazaar the next day.

Sensing the excitement in the air, Angel loves to be in the thick of things and decided to sit right in the middle of my sticker mess.

Whenever I am working on  something, she will come and sit right in the middle. If it is soft, she will fall asleep on the pile.

Like how she did with my pompoms which I was working on the night before for my faculty’s sports week (held this week). Mel laughed so hard when I told her I was going to be a cheerleader.

-____- So comfortable right?

She won’t get off no matter how many times I ask her to.

After awhile I decided to give her paperweight duties. She fell asleep and her paws were easily lifted up without rousing the sleeping dog. So one paw held down one stack of plastic bags from a certain supplier and the other paw did the same for another supplier’s stocks.

When that was done, I had to take out my dad’s tool box and find a spanner, learn how to use it and dismantle my mum’s metal clothes hanger. Rolled it out to the front door to make things easier in the morning. Asked mum for some crystal bowls for my display, packed the essentials like strings, markers, plastic bags among the usual sticker stuff.

As I had yet to finish with some sticker inventory work, I was up till almost 3.30am keying in codes and taking photographs with my eyeballs blurring with eye shit because sleep was much needed.

I surprised myself by waking up with exactly enough time to wash my hair, blow dry and have my full make up done. *pats self on the back* This would be the third time this year where I put on make-up. What is happening to me?! Too comfortable with my own face?! How can that be?!?

So hell basically starts after colouring my eyebrows (last make-up step). I drag the plastic bag containing my plastic bags for customers, record book, calculator, scissors, cellophane tape, strings, corkboard pins, disposable chopsticks and plasticine.

I start by trying my best to stuff the clothes rack in to the car with plenty of huffing and puffing and maneuvering, sweating under the slight morning drizzle. I then make countless trips by first putting my biggest sticker box in the boot, followed by my smaller sticker box (i usually have two more small sticker boxes but since I can fit everything into one big box and small box, I guess this is good news which means my stocks are actually dwindling!), then my big carry all with all the random crap a sticker stall could possibly need. Mum’s precious crystal bowls clinging in another bag, settled into the backseat. Kicked two nice heels into the backseat while I put on my 3 year old slippers to drive (and for the many trips up to the stall and down to the carpark).

Finally settled into the driver’s seat. Checked my make-up. Okay, still presentable.

Drove to the petrol station to pump petrol, bought my lunch for the day (coconut buns ftw and mineral water), took out some cash from the ATM. Just in case I saw something nice at the bazaar but I hardly had time to wander around.

Upon reaching Sunway Hotel, I had to make like a thousand trips from the carpark to Euphoria where the bazaar was held, lugging my million and one things. By the third round, I was a sweaty mess.

I looked in the mirror and a gunk of whitish stuff was accumulating on my upper lash line. It looked like eyelash glue applied directly onto my lashes but the problem was I did not even put my falsies on so this was beyond gross!! Melted eye concealer, sliding off my lids because of the sweat and then settling on my lashes!

But the show must go on.

I dragged my mum’s clothes hanger up the stairs and a fellow blogshop owner helped me hoist it up and had to wait for me when I went “oh fuck oh fuck, my eyeshadow just went into my eye” and had to stare at the ceiling and blink furiously for a few seconds. The kind stranger stood there waiting for awhile and then we continued our long tedious journey.

Throughout the arduous process, there were many other blog shop owners who were trudging up with their super big suitcases. Since they were selling clothes, they probably have it far worse than me. Sucks to be them!

After getting everything up to my store, it was time to open up my cloth trays (damn useful) and place the stickers accordingly. Epoxy stickers, furry stickers, big puffy stickers, bling stickers etc.

My display was a little different this time around!

I used my mum’s disposable chopsticks, stuck tiny colour papers on it with the stickers’ description and price on it, propped it onto a plasticine and there you have it! A sign with a stand!

My mum’s crystal bowl were used to keep my decoden stuff. Yeap, they finally arrived. Pictures up on the blog soon!

Nice right?!? So many girls came by to run their fingers through them. I hope interest means good. Damn supplier won’t let me take less than 100 pieces per design.

Clearing out the old stocks. I have plenty new stocks at home which I didn’t want to bring because then they would be distracted by the new ones and my old stock would be like old maids left on the shelf.

I feel so smart this time around. I bought two plastic corrugated er..plastic boards(?) in pink and blue. Stuck corkboard pins into it and hung the stickers all up.

When that was done, I could finally rest. I really wanted to walk around but didn’t because I did not have a friend with me this round. Previous unfortunate souls were such as my mum, Chee Kiang, Mel and Esther. Which is good also since I was not tempted to buy anything.

With the little bit of clothes I had on, I was shivering and tweeted, “Fucking cold in Euphoria!! Any blogshop selling jackets?!?” Too bad the event did not have a hashtag or it would have been awesome communicating with the other sellers.

I saw a few familiar faces like Leeza from Tasty Cherry Chapstick and Jeremy from My Favouritees. Grace from Lush Serendipity is also a familiar face but it was only this round that we got acquainted. Tiffany from Soak Republic was talking to me at my car…..and I really forgot if we have met or not. :( I AM HORRIBLE LIKE THIS. :(:( So I saw her earring carousels and I stupidly asked (to make conversation), “Oh…..you sell accessories!” She gave me an ‘are you kidding me’ look, “I am from Soak Republic la!!”

:( I only dealt with Pei Shan (extra remember her because of the same chinese name) before when I reviewed some of their products and only saw Tiffany at previous bazaars. :( My bad. Awesome stuff..too gorgeous. I lost one bracelet during a drunken night out though.

Tiffany wasn’t the first victim of my lousiness in remembering people. It is not that I don’t care for the people that I meet, but I just have such terrible memory!

Quite a few people walked pass my booth or stopped and said, “HI Jolene!!” and I waved back, “Hi!!! How have you been?” without a clue who they are.

As for old school friends, there were too many that came by my booth! They didn’t even know I would be there that day! The first would be Evelyn who was my senior from school, Chung Lern and his girlfriend Stephanie (whom I bumped into at Daiso Curve exactly a week ago), Kok Ben, Sze May (a junior whom I didn’t recognize because of her funky hair cut. Had to ask her, “Sorry you are?” Malu sial……she was one of the faithful Interact Club juniors), Pui Mun and college friend Matt Ho plus primary school classmate Wayne Adam!!

Bloggers friends too, the usual Kelli, Hsu Jen, Nigel and David who are usually there at every bazaar that I am at! Plus Jess whom I was supposed to send stickers too! Arghh! If only I brought it along, I could have passed it to her. Vivien, Ginny and Natalie were there too!

With Cze-Yin who came with almost her entire family.

And Cze-yin not counted as “wah such a coincidence ah!” because I asked her to come if she was free to teman me jaga stall. She just came to shop and sit with me for awhile. LOL.

There were also a few who came up to me and told me that they read my blog. Some had to pick up my namecard and say, “OHhhh I read your blog.” Hahaha, not instant recognition, but still good enough! So touched! ) Thank you my silent readers!

With Kelli!

Trying to get a wider shot of my stall.

<3

With the RM19 shawl I bought from the blogshop opposite mine. I’m holding up the Swarovski grade crystals which I just received from my suppliers. SO LOVE…!!!

Here’s the only photo of the rest of the bazaar. Apparently there was a long line at the entrance waiting to get in! Didn’t expect the bazaar to be this hot!

My decoden pieces!! Cute right?:)

With Hsu Jen.

Chung Lern and Stephanie.

Yien Yee, the smart girl who runs A Shopaholic’s Den. She was pretty much the bazaar’s organizer though it is an event under Euphoria.

With Wayne and Matt who happen to be colleagues now!! What a small world. One was my class monitor in standard one who threatened to write my name if I spoke another word when the teacher was not in and the other I met in college when I did the make-up for the cast members of a play by the Taylor’s College Society of Performing Arts.

After repeatedly explaining the joys of decoden and bling bling stickers to all who stopped by to oooh and aaaah, it was finally time to go home at 6pm. Since I was all alone, I had to AGAIN make the countless trip up and down.

If my day at the bazaar with all those familiar faces walking by wasn’t enough to make me feel that Subang is a really small place, Justin and Ada were in the car opposite mine. Can’t run away from familiar faces.

Seeing me struggle with my boxes, one of the waiters helped me to carry it all down to my car. “I help you because I like you! You know my name or not?” he said. I was like, “Okaaay…….” but still have to give tips lah. Coz cannot assume people think you’re a lenglui and just play the lady in distress card right?

So I played the lady in distress who will still give him RM5 tips anyway. He took it immediately. Right then…:\

Compliments and help were much appreciated anyway.

Finally back in my car at about 7.15pm with my freebra sliding off my chest due to sweat (yes I know I am the most disgusting girl in the world but such is life) so the bra sat next to me in the passenger seat as I made my way home.

The end.

If you are a blogshop owner or a person who loves online shopping and have really ‘puke blood’ situations when it comes to transactions…

Slap Me Why Don’t You -The Place To Bitch Slap Those Idiots Without Them Knowing It.

I love it so much! Whoever who came up with it is a genius. Total anonymity. And with the tiny “Slap Seller” or “Slap Buyer” buttons akin to your Facebook Like buttons, it allows the readers to judge for themselves if the contributor was overreacting or are sided with.

Got to thank a certain Wen Chean on my twitter list for tweeting about it!

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It’s not too bad really. Just passed my 650th customer mark.

I’m not actually earning enough to go on leisure trips or to buy a spanking new gadget. But it’s definitely enough to tide me over before mum banks in my monthly allowance. Enough to cover my petrol and my handphone bills (I’ve got a postpaid Maxis line and an unlimited data line from Celcom to feed my internet addiction..so i need the extra cash.)

Why am I not earning more? Because I use the money to buy more stickers that’s why.

Why do I keep buying the stickers? Because I like doing this, it’s a hobby of sorts. If you knew my profits, you would not be bothered to get into this business. Too low. I enjoy it though. I love stickers.

But some people don’t get it.

Customers will always ask for discounts.

If you’re buying over a hundred ringgit worth of stuff, of course it is negotiable.
But when they say something like, “Oh if I buy two, got cheaper ah?”

I’ll just sit there, looking at my gmail, stunned, at how people can still ask for discount for something that comes up to RM8.

“I’m too poor to buy this. Please discount!”

Then, please.. for goodness sake, PLEASE, save both of us our time and sell some things/get a part time job instead of whining to me about why I should sell it to you cheaper just because you can’t afford it.

I myself am too poor to buy somethings that I really want. You don’t see me crying to Sony or Machine’s salespeople going, “Please give me a discount for this laptop I’m too poor.”

I really try to be nice to some of the extremely stupid requests i get over the months. But like when my period hits me, hormones and all, I can’t be arsed to be nice.

I really don’t think I’m hurting my business. I’m nice to people who have their two whole brain halves when dealing with me.

This Sticker Business is not my life line. It will all be over in a year’s time. I’ll either have a massive sale in July 2010 or sell the business off. I don’t have a boss whom I need to fear if I’m ‘rude to customers’. I really try my best not to be…. though sometimes, I really feel like letting go a multitude of insults, but to maintain a slight level of professionalism, I have to hold back. it really sucks. I really feel like vomiting blood sometimes.

Best is when some of them ask, “Can give me your suppliers’ contact number?”

… I will roll on the floor and laugh for awhile, call Lie Yuen over to check out the latest Stupid Email I Get From Customers before replying, “No.”

I used to be nicer by saying things like, “Sorry dear (obligatory term to use in the blogshop world when dealing with each other), but I can’t. ”

But over the months, the emails just become stupider and stupider until I either can’t be arsed to reply them or just type a one word reply, “no.”

My favourite would be this:

“Hi! I think it’ll be more convenient for me to buy straight from your supplier. Give me your suppliers’ contacts. Thanks ya.”

I mean seriously, do these people think I was born yesterday?? Why would I want competitors for? Healthy for the niche market and all that economy mumbo jumbo but I intend to keep it this way for as long as I can. If another person starts selling stickers, that’s fine by me. If you can find the supplier, go ahead.

Dirty tactics are such as promoting their own sticker business on my blog.

Damn clever. Damn fucking clever.

Over the months, I’ve invested in quite a sum on advertising. I’d say the total comes up to about RM500? On Xiaxue’s alone was about RM300+. And all those effort into building my network, some just come to leach it. That really infuriates me.

Again, my returns are not as high as I want it to be. But I get so pissed off when some people come to my blog to steal traffic back to theirs after all the effort and money I’ve put in to get it out there. But true, I have no control over it. It’s a free market. (haha, is this how the term is used? I never studied econs okay)

Most recent one is this person claiming that my blings are too expensive and putting a link to some other webstore which sells the pearl blings for a cheaper price. I’ve seen those, they are branded craft supplies from the US, but at most, only 30 pieces of pearls. The price was RM5. I’m selling a sheet of 180 pieces of pearl stickers for RM5. How is it more expensive?! They are two different items and furthermore, mine has more value for money. Sheesh.

On a side note, I think I’m quite an honest seller. Customers who don’t receive their items will either get a full refund from me or have their items sent over again. Most would opt for the latter. I encourage them to use Pos Ekpres, but some insist on the free postage which is by using stamps only. And there have been a few times when these items go missing in the mail. Kleptomaniacs for postmen perhaps? Thankfully it’s mostly for items below RM50. I had this one customer who made me send her RM20 worth of blings THREE times because it got lost THREE times. That’s a total of RM60 worth of stickers floating somewhere in Pos Malaysia. Then after that she laughed, “Hahaha, things usually go missing at this address one.” -__________- I never want to send the thing to the same address if it gets lost the first time. I usually ask for a different address.

One or two people whom I have met up with to sell stickers to treat me like I’m beneath them. As hard as I try to make conversation I’ll still remain as the sticker seller who is not worthy enough to be talked to like an equal. Wow, feeling the plight of a foreign worker.

There are some other more stupid things to write about but perhaps I’ll do so in the future. Too fresh to write about it now.

And if anyone wants to say that I don’t know to do business by bitching, YEA SO WHAT? This is just for fun. I don’t owe anybody anything.

On the flip side, I’ve also met many kind customers and made a few good friends (Paul, Mei..you guys rock. ). A sweetheart named Veronica even designed a button for me! I’ll be putting it up on the sticker blog real soon.

Meet-ups are usually fun because it’s like I’m showing off my babies to a bunch of like minded people who will ooh and aah and pick up things that catch their fancy.

Just needed to get this off my chest. Feels great to write about my ‘job’ and not get fired for it. Can’t blog about the clinics due to professional ethics reasons. Almost bursting with PMS today. Hate periods, HATE.

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Click here to win your accessories!

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And of course how can I leave out my precious sticker monster! (click on the pictures!)

If you fancy nail art stickers, I have really dainty ones!

If you loveeee sponge-felt stickers and wanna press them all day long, I have too many colourful ones!

If you adore whimsical pointless felt and pink in colour stickers, I have some sweet and weird ones!

If you are craving for some good ol’ DIY session, how about some glow in the dark sparkly sheet to complete that craft project of yours?

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This post might look late to most of you but trust me, I’m very proud of myself already at this relatively speedy update. New Year’s Eve post still sitting around somewhere.. heehee.

Back in April, Sharyl had another one of her fantastic Absolute Bazaar aptly named Absolute Bazaar 3 at 3k-inn, Subang. Since it coincided with my holidays, why not set up stall right?

Ei Leng and Charis, my two juniors who are equally gung-ho about the online blogshop scene, took up on my offer to share a spot at the bazaar. So I lugged all their clothes in my car (the entire backseat was filled up with Sweet Toothsome’s stock) and the two of them spent the night at my house labelling their clothes, and me, my stickers.

l-r: Kwo Kuang, myself, Joshua.

Because Kwo Kuang liked colours, I invited him to the bazaar (also because he claims that his saturdays are far too free for his liking and he would rather spend them taking photos and that he is also a good friend for offering to teman me). As for Joshua, one of his friends had a stall and he was there to help out. Bazaars are great for bumping into old friends, I think I met up to 10 people from my high school and college!

Stupid flash. Even Andy came to give support.  He came down to KL with the juniors so since most of them came to offer their support, he came as well.

Say hello to Samuel! He is my Desperate Housewives kaki!!

And Sharyl.. the powerful babe who handles these bazaars single handedly. She’s got another great idea in the works that might actually take the online blogshop by storm. An idea never ever done before by anyone else. It’s all hush-hush but I think I’m allowed to create some excitement! Online blogshopping will never be the same again! I’m so looking forward to it.

Andy helps to hold up the store front. Bless him.

Marketing gimmick. You know how sexy girls are placed next to cars to sell the cars? Hot boys can be placed next to stickers to entice the womenkind. Thanks Kev, you’re a gem.

Me and my partners for the day.

Met Melissa there as well! She’s quite the regular at bazaars too, I can see.

Can’t remember which blogshop this was, but they customize the accessories on the spot for you!

Kwo Kuang standing up to show some respect to my customers.

Jiaa Jiaa, whom I’ve not seen in ages.

Lagi more people I’ve not seen in ages, Tek Yeh and Jolin.

A nicer pic of melissa and me. Much thanks to whoever who helped with this shot.

Reta!!! What’s it been? Like 4 years??

Loving my yellow pvc mini glads.

Stephanie came to help out too. She was the self-proclaimed pre-loved caretaker. She was ecstatic when she managed to sell one of my t-shirts. Never worn before one leh!

Poh Yee dropped by as promised.

Myself and the juniors who were very intrigued with the whole bazaar concept.

Stupid Kwo Kuang putting one of my box on my head before snapping this. Damn you!

Two Saturdays ago, there were two bazaars to attend. Since I had all the time in the world, I decided to check both bazaars out.

The first was A Shopaholics Den’s Birthday Bash at Of The Crest, 3 Two Square. I must say, Yien Yee did a fantastic job at choosing her venue. With each bazaar that is held, future bazaar operators take note of the do’s and don’ts and come up with full proof bazaar that can entice the crowd.

Though most of the sellers whom I spoke to complained that business wasn’t exactly brisk due to the amount of competitors present at the bazaar (note: the bazaar had about a hundred blog shops) but for buyers who were there for a major shopping spress, I couldn’t be any happier!

Seriously, this was the first time that I’ve shopped at a bazaar and ran out of money. The sucky part is that there was no ATM available at the entire place. So another thing to take note is to ensure that the place you’re renting for your bazaar is equipped with ATMs.

See how high the ceilings are? Maximum breathing space for excited shoppers.

Met Eliza and May – the two pretty owners of PHAT Culture.

One with Eliza!

*GASPP* Competitorrrr.. Not that the person was selling stickers or anything. But there’s a blinged hello kitty thing on the left hand corner of the pic, do you see it..?

That’s Jeremy from My favouritees! He is manning the entire business by himself, hats off to him! The guy has the most awesome statement t-shirts ever!

I think I bought my striking purple leggings from My Clothes Affair. I can’t really remember.

Ahh..my infamous Lady Gaga’s liquid leggings were from this blogshop: Bows Lover!

There were jewelries in excess there as well.

Very cute looking things from Just Girl Shop.

As you can see, the entire place was over flowing with clothes, bags, clutches and anything imaginable to womenkind.

Gorgeous heels!

Plus gorgeous bags. I bought like three bags.. hahahaha.

Would you squeeze through that to find that one piece of treasure? I would!

These accessories looked pretty edgy! I like! Too bad I can’t remember which blogshop this was.

The famous Alicewonders and her legion of bags.

After running out of money, I headed back to Subang Jaya where the TwoMADSBazaar was held. It was held at 3k-inn ever since poor Absolute Bazaar came up with the ingenious idea.

The crowd was a little smaller there. Perhaps marketing could have been turned up a few notches and also, it was their first time. A usual scenario for the first time bazaars. You need to carve a name for yourself in the scene before bringing in the crowds.

Met my junior from high school, Sabrina and her blogshop partner there! Check out their blog shop, Lazy Shoppers!

There were even Crocs for sale. 0_0

Got myself a few clever statement t-shirts from this bazaar. Once read: “Born in the 80s”. Another, “I make Boys Cry” and the last piece, “myboyfriendis here *with an arrow pointing right*”.

And from Baby Be Dazzled, I bought a Little Miss statement tee that read, “Little Miss Boobjob.”

Can’t wait to be back so that I can go for more bazaars! You lucky klang valley dwellers, better be appreciative and attend these bazaars whenever you can! Grrr.

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I might put on the odd earring when I ovulate and that’s about it.

But funny thing is that I can still buy and buy non-stop. I need therapy. ( Most recent damage was at two bazaars over the weekend. The ASD Birthday Bash and TwoMADS Bazaar. Baaaaad. )

I’ve seen Soak Republic around for quite sometime as they are one of the more different accessories blog shop in the scene. You know, not the typical whimsical charm necklace/bracelet or dainty danglies that you’ll find from most accessories blog shop.

One of the owners of Soak Republic approached me to review a few of her accessories – she basically asked me to have fun with her entire bag of goodies until I get sick of it. It also helped that her name is Pei Shan as well! ( That’s my Chinese name by the way, you ignorant people. )

Two Saturdays ago was a supposed lunch at Subang Parade with Mel, Mun Teng, V-ng Yan, Liss and Abby. But because of their busy, busy lives, it was only me, Mel, Mun Teng and V-ng Yan. And because of MY busy life, I only saw Mun Teng and V-ng Yan for like 20 minutes. I had a flight to Terengganu to catch. Ahem, more on that later.

Mel pours out the treasures from the paperbag.

Accessorize your laksa!

The rings at Soak Republic are more chunky than dainty. Perfect for girls who are not really into the whole cutesey, petite, princess kind of look!

Wear to the casinos in Genting. Confirm win one. That’s my half boiled egg by the way.

I made Mel model a bit for me. Have to make use of friends like that one. I know I mentioned that Soak Republic’s style does not really embrace girly princess fluffiness, but I think a bit of floral can do so much! I’ve been wearing this hairband for over a week now and it feels light as a feather and it keeps my hair in place! Soak Republic made this themselves. Some of their stuff are bought from suppliers but like this hairband, you can get it custom made. I hope I can get them to make this in another colour! Though black is very classy!

Mel and V-ng Yan! Wish I could’ve stayed long to chat. School commitments suck.

Mun Teng going all out with some of the rings from my pile.

See what I mean by different? I love it because the rings are so quirky!

I’ve got a stack of name cards to give out as well.

See how well my hair is kept in place with the hairband?

Usually my kissing photos with Mun Teng is of her kissing me. She has changed.

V-ng Yan playing with the bendable necklace/bracelet. You can basically form it into any weird shape and wear it on your wrist or your neck. This piece just screams individuality.

Love their ribbon-linked bracelets!

There’s also the lilac snake skin bracelet that I adore!

I was on my way to fetch my classmate from Pudu and got caught in the infamous KL jams.

Yaya nice sunlight, make up, etc, usual excuses for excessive camwhoring, k shadap kthxbai.

The hairband under the sunlight. I really really like the hairband. <3 <3 <3

Like one of those annoying kid ‘princess’ prancing around and acting cute in chinese new year music videos right?

More photos of Soak Republic’s stuff to follow suit in my posts regarding my community oral health research posting to Terengganu! I survived Terengganu. It’s actually not bad at all and the people are so amazingly friendly, we just can’t get over it. Though I wish they brought us to mental hospitals to see how the dentists treat patients there, like how the Johor group managed to see. *grumble, grumble*

But I’ll be putting Johor down as my first choice for my government posting when I graduate. You know why lah kan.

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