"Vintage" Jelly Roll Dress

I hope that you all had a lovely Memorial Day Weekend. Ours was very "eventful." Nothing how we planned it:o) Of course things never are;o) I had plans to do all sorts of crafty things on Saturday, but my hip went out, so I spent most of the day laid up in bed while the hubs "watched" the children...let's just say that chocolate milk was involved and I wish that we had had padded walls at the time;o) Anyway, before the ole hip decided to go berserk, I was able to make S.R. a precious little jelly roll dress. The fabric is pictured here in this post. Vintage was the name....and I LOVE IT! I wanted her to have a special dress for her cousin's graduation, so I decided to finally make a dress out of the jelly roll that has been sitting in my craft room ever so patiently awaiting the day it would become something Fan-Tab-U-Lous...

I think it turned out so sweet. My little darlin' just loved her new dress. She had to try the dress on several times for me to make sure everything was fitting properly. The last time I had her put it on was for me to figure out how much to take up the bottom for the hem...she had a conniption fit when I had her take it off...it was UGLY. She didn't want any part of taking off her new pretty dress. Needless to say, I did get it off of her and did get it hemmed. She is so proud of this dress and so am I;o)

The back view...aren't those little curls the sweetest??? That's the only thing she got from me;o)

The blue blur in the photo was a toy being dropped. She likes to be on the move, so catching a shot where she is still is near impossible.

The matching head band. She really liked this too. I think she's catching on....accessorize, accessorize, accessorize;o).

Another shot of those curls....LURVE IT!

Have you used a jelly roll lately? I would love to hear and see what you have come up with:o)

All eyes on the Bank of Canada

With GDP YOY growth at over 6%, the highest of the developed countries.

With the jump in personal debt spurred by zero rates.

With the bubble in housing across Canada, not just in Vancouver.

Will Carney and his band have the balls increase 0.25% tomorrow? Remembering that neutral would be nearer 3%

6.1%

Malaysia Best Rates 2010 May 26 update

1 month Fix Deposit

Generally now banks are offering 2.50%. Affin bank offers highest rate at 2.55%. However, there are still a few banks offer lower rate than 2.5%. JP Morgan is still offering the lowest at 2.0%

1 year Fix Deposit

Highest offered rates is 3.05% by Affin Bank; followed by 3.0% from AmBank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and RHB Bank.

Base Lending Rate

Most local banks stand at 6.05% now with JP Morgan offers the lowest at 5.65%.

Saving Accounts

Bank Islam offers 1.35% through its Mudharabah and Pewani ( for women above 18 years old ). Women can enjoy up to 1.58% in Pewani saving account if saving is more than RM 5,000.

CIMB's Air Asia Savers Account offers 1.2%.

Don't forget you can get a simple widget

like above to show on your blog / web site.

Just visit here to see how.

Car Loan : NEW Car

Maybank continues to offer the lowest car loan rate starting from 2.7%. However, this is NOT a standard rate apply to all applicants. The actual rate can range up to 4.3%.

Bank Muamalat offers 2.85% for both New and Used cars but it requires an admin charges of RM600.

Most other banks rates offer are 3.25% for New cars.

Car Loan : Used Car

Bank Muamalat offers 2.85% but requires admin charges of RM600.

CIMB offers 3.25% used car loan rate.

Don't forget Car Loan rate is Fix Term Rate

which is effectively a MUCH HIGHER

than variable term rate

like House Loan and Fix Deposit.

House Loan

Affin remains as the best house loan offer at BLR - 2.3%.

Standard Chartered offers BLR - 2.25%

Multi-tiers house loan offers are excluded because it would be impossible to simplify their pro and cons without knowing the actual details of your particular loan details. Hence, only simple and straight forward house loan offers are compared.

Cherry Outfit

Here it is. Remember me telling you the other day that I visited a high end children's clothing store and found the CA-UTEST cherry outfit. Remember I said it was over $70? Well this is my version. It's not exactly the same, but it's close enough. I had a pattern that would have matched perfectly, but S.R. is 2 inches too tall for that pattern...my lil girl is growin' up:o( So I used another pattern I had on hand. I LOVE how it turned out.

Since the fabric is so thin, I made pants instead of capris. I think the ruffles are so sweet. 

 To make the cherries, I ironed on some stabilizer to red fabric, used a circle stencil, cut them out, and appliqued them onto the fabric. I used itty bitty ric rac for the stems.

When we were in the store, S.R. loved the bow on the front of the other shirt, so I had to make sure I put it on this one:o) I really wanted cherry buttons, but Walmart didn't have any, and I was too lazy to drive around town looking for some, so I used green buttons that I already had. Here's a close up of the medium ric rac.

While shopping at a consignment store the other day, I ran across this hairbow and had to purchase it.

Can we say perfect???

Speaking of hairbows, check out these sweet little things...

Are those not the cutest things??? Thank you Sheila!!! Now I have to make froggy outfits for S.R. That doesn't hurt my feelings one bit;o)

California Dreaming...

Super Cape for a Thomas the Train Lover

Well I survived the weekend. All I can say is WOW! I am sooooo glad that it's Monday. There may be a few of you out there that are saying to yourself, "What is she thinking???" Just trust me:o)This week is so much slower paced than the past 2 weeks have been. So now I will be able to post more for those of you who have nothing better to do at work;o)
So here is the super cape for the  sweet little boy across the street. He LOVES Thomas, so I figured I would use Thomas fabric. I will have to say, I think this is the best super cape I have made thus far. Not to brag or anything;o)

I finally figured out how wide to make the zig zag stitches to make it look really clean. I think it was 0.3mm x 4.5 mm...something like that. Anywho...it took me a while to get his name on the yellow fabric b/c my machine only embroiders a 4"x4" surface area. Stinks, but I am grateful for my Brother(machine that is...I am grateful for my real bro. too):o)

Just your basic red fabric for the interior with a velcro enclosure. I think his mother was more impressed with the cape than he was;o) E was the same way. It took him a year before he would wear his:o) I got him to model Stephen's cape for you guys:o)

 Sportin' the Buzz Lightyear jammies. He LOVES those things...thinkin' Ima gonna have to go get him some more...just in case he goes thru ANOTHER growth spurt.
I can not WAIT to share with you S.R.'s new outfit I made for her in tomorrow's post. I. LOVE. IT!! And I found a matching hair bow on Saturday. EEK!

Did China just Blink!!

Ok folks forget my last post.

It looks like China has the Western disease. They cannot quite bring themselves to burst a bubble. You see, there is no property tax in China, so a lot of wealthy people buy homes and just sit on them. They don't even rent them out so they can stay pristine. It's like a property savings account.

The carrying costs are low..due to low interest rates and no property tax. Well the Chinese government who has always been tough and heavy-handed with speculators in the past said the tax was a-coming. Not fun if your holding half a dozen apartments in Beijing. God forbid- you may to sell one of them.

Well they may have blinked.

Tonight there are reports that the tax would be delayed for three years. Shares are soaring on the Shanghai exchange, led of course by property companies.

No one has the guts to kill or even pluck this goose until the dang thing is so big, that it plucks us!

DID CHINA BLINK?

Brace Yourselves...

Chinese RE melts down

This is what happens when a government decides to burst a speculative bubble.

Of course our governments can never do that. There would be too much of a back-lash from all those who would lose out..so much better to do whatever they can to keep bubbles inflated.

Yes, that's a much better policy. Pass that hot potato along and hopefully it will burn the next administration.

The problem is we never know what the fair value for an asset is when policy makers have decided that the asset needs to be supported at all cost (and future liability via the CMHC)

More and More Projects

What a week! I have hardly had time to think straight let alone post anything. Things around here have been super busy, and I am so ready for Monday to be here. This weekend we will continue the nut-so insanity:o) So to ease my mind with the upcoming weekend, I purchased MORE things for me to do...I have no sense! But I am so excited about these projects. In fact, I finished one last night.

Last night's project involved the top 3 fabrics in the above picture. I made another super cape for a special little guy across the street who is celebrating his 3rd birthday tomorrow. I am really happy with how it turned out, and will share the finished product on Monday. Don't want to completely spoil the surprise;o) The bottom fabric is for S.R. I saw the CA-UTEST outfit on Wednesday in this little boutique shop with red and white gingham. They wanted 70-something bucks for it. I am going to try to duplicate it...can't wait for that one either! Thinking I will work on it today. I also found this fabric at Walmart:

Since the little guy across the street is a Thomas the Train fan, I figured it would come in handy:o) And check out the price I paid for it:

You  read correctly...47cents for a yard of fabric. THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I love those little remnant bins:o)

 I. LOVE. JELLY. ROLLS! We don't have a Joann's here, so when I went to visit the fam, I made sure to make a pit stop to see what goodies I could collect. I didn't have a whole lot of time to browse, but I did find this jelly roll with some sa-weet fabrics. I have a few ideas on what to make sweet little S.R. with this fabric. I also found this fabric for E.:

He is definitely ready for me to make something with this. I am planning on making a rag quilt with it. Hoping to get started on it very soon. I'll even do a tute for you guys so that you can make one yourself. They are super easy. The plan is to have it lay across the bottom of his bed.
Well I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend, and I will see you all back here on Monday, that's if I survive the weekend:o). Remember that the wallets will be available for purchase thru Sunday, and then I am going to move them to Etsy. Holla!

Wallets for Flood Victims

 I told you about a week or so ago that I wanted to make a few wallets with the left over fabric for the grad gifts. I also said that I wanted to sell them and send the proceeds to the Red Cross. Well here they are. I decided to name them after the grads that I initially made them for.

The Carley:

Sold.

Here is the inside:

The Jessica:

With Bow or with Flower

The Ashley:

With ruffles

The Samantha:

with bow or ruffle

All wallets come with a cash pocket and 6 slots for credit/debit/store cards. I am selling them for $20 each, with FREE shipping. What is pictured is what I have to offer. If there is enough interest, then I will consider taking special orders. I accept paypal, and have the  "Buy It Now" Buttons on the top left of this page ready for purchase. I have also included a "Donate" Button if you don't want a wallet, and are only interested in helping the flood victims.(Hopefully I did it right:o)) If you have any questions, just click the Email button, and send me a message. I will reply as soon as possible.

ALL proceeds will go to the American Red Cross for the flood victims of Nashville, TN.

***************

The sale of these wallets will end on May23rd.

In answer to Chad...

I think Chad's point in the last post's comment section was that inflation was rampant from money-printing CBs and zero rates therefore Gold, which is limited and Vancouver RE which is also limited should be priced against each other. At least I think that was his point.

And he said that gold was indicating inflation.

Well the graph above shows inflation for the US. Even if assume some manipulation, there is no inflation.... and apart from China, I think the chart would look the same for most large economies.

Meanwhile here is gold over the same period:

http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=$GOLD&p=D&yr=3&mn=0&dy=0&id=p52154258457

Not much of a correllation.

The only thing we should measure Vancouver RE against is:

1) Local earnings

2) The cost of carrying debt

3) Government incentives to buy

4) Add in a % for Out-of-Province buyers. eg Albertan retirees and Asian buyers who may not show up in the earnings stats.

1) is way off the charts. 2) is as low as it can get. 3) the government is coming to it's senses after helping drive us into this bubble. 4) who knows?

I do think the end game for all this debt, and we are amongst the most indebted in the world, is high inflation to wash it away. However we are some way from that.

A winner, and Grad gifts

I want to say a special thank you to CSNStores.com for considering Fussy Monkey Business to host the gift card give away. We had good participation, and even got a few new followers out of it. Welcome new readers!!! So I used Random.org, and it generated #10, which is Carolsue! Congratulations!!! A CSNStores.com rep. will be contacting you soon!

I hope that you all had a great weekend. I surely did! I got to spend some time with my family. This is the first time in 6 months that we have all been within a 10 mile radius of one another:o) We got to take the kids to the zoo and to a baseball game. They had a FAB time! 

*****

This time of year is crazy wild when it comes to social gatherings. And those social gatherings usually involve bringing a gift. Graduations and birthdays hit us hard this time of year. So I have been working hard at getting gifts together. Today I am sharing with you another one of my drawings. Alabama fans...avert your precious little eyes;o) My friend Amy just graduated with her Masters Degree. WAY TO GO AMY!!!!! She is the kind of friend that everyone would die to have. I have never met a more strong, caring and giving woman. Amy is a HUGE University of Auburn fan...I know, try not to gag;o) Although I am not a true Alabama fan, the hubs is..hence the Bama themed office...he actually scoffed at the idea of me drawing a tiger:o)Anyway, I drew Amy a tiger. 

I don't think it turned out as well as the elephant I drew for the hubs, but this one was a lot more difficult. I had fun drawing it, and she said she liked it....:o) Regardless, I'm very proud of her and her accomplishment!!

 I will have the wallets posted tomorrow. I will be selling the extras for $20 each. All proceeds will go to the Red Cross for the flood victims of Nashville, Tennessee.

Individual Tax exemption in Malaysia

Below shows an extraction from Malaysia Income Tax department. Some of the highlights are;

1. maternity expenses, traditional medicines exemption are UNLIMITED !
2. if you were terminated with compensation, some are exempted !
3. Scholarship is exempted, so study Hard !
4. Income derived and remitted from oversea is exempted, so globalize your business !

Do take time and go through below details, I am sure it will spark some innovative ideas if you are in the midst of optimizing your tax plans.

source

Leave passage

Leave passage within Malaysia not exceeding three times in a year and one leave passage outside Malaysia not exceeding RM3000.

Medical and dental benefit

With effect from the year of assessment 2008, medical benefits exempted from tax is expanded to include maternity expenses and traditional medicine like ayurvedic and acupuncture without limit.

Retirement gratuity

The full amount of gratuity received by an employee on retirement from employment is exempt if:

i. The Director General of Inland Revenue is satisfied that the retirement is due to ill health;

ii. Retirement on or after reaching the age of 55 years/compulsory age of retirement and the individual has worked 10 years continuously with the same employer or companies within the same group

iii. The retirement takes place on reaching the compulsory age of retirement pursuant to a contract of employment or collective agreement at the age of 50 but before 55 and that employment has lasted for 10 years with the same employer or with companies in the same group.

Gratuity paid out of public funds

Gratuity paid out of public funds on retirement from an employment under any written law.

Gratuity paid to a contract officer

Gratuity paid out of public funds to a contract officer on termination of a contract of employment regardless of whether the contract is renewed or not.

Compensation for Loss of Employment

This is payment made by an employer to his employee as compensation for loss of employment either before or after the date of termination.

This compensation is exempted from tax

1. If compensation received is due to ill health
2. Compensation received in other cases:
1. Termination before 1st July 2008 - exemption of RM6000 for every completed year of service with the same employer or with companies in the same group
2. Termination on or after 1st July 2008 - exemption of RM10000 for every completed year of service with the same employer or with companies in the same group

Compensation received by a director (not service director) of a Control Company is fully taxable.

Pensions

Pensions received by an individual are exempt under the following conditions:

1. He retires at the age of 55 or at the compulsory age of retirement under any written law; or

2. If the retirement is due to ill health and the pension is received from the government or from an approved pension scheme.
   

For an employee in the public sector who elects for optional retirement, his pension will be taxed until he attains the age of 55 or the compulsory age of retirement under any written law. Where an individual receives more than one pension, the exemption is restricted to the highest pension received.

Death gratuities

Monies received as death gratuity is fully exempted from income tax.

Scholarships

Any monies paid by way of scholarship to an individual whether or not in connection with an employment of that individual is exempted from income tax.

Income of an individual resident in Malaysia in respect of his appearances in cultural performances approved by the Minister

Money received under this category is exempted from tax on condition it is approved by the Minister.

Interest

Income in respect of interest received by individuals resident in Malaysia from money deposited with the following institutions is tax exempt with effect from 30 August 2008:

1. A bank or a finance company licensed or deemed to be licensed under the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989;

2. A bank licensed under the Islamic Banking Act 1983;

3. A development financial institution prescribed under the Development Financial Institutions Act 2002;

4. The Lembaga Tabung Haji established under the Tabung Haji Act 1995;

5. The Malaysia Building Society Berhad incorporated under the Companies Act 1965;

6. The Borneo Housing Finance Berhad incorporated under the Companies Act 1965

Dividend

The following dividends are exempt form tax:

1. Dividends received from exempt accounts of companies.

2. Dividends received from co-operative societies.

3. Dividends received from a unit trust approved by the Minister of Finance such as Amanah Saham Bumiputra.

4. Dividends received from a unit trust approved by the Minister of Finance where 90% or more of the investment is in government securities.

Royalty

Royalties received in respect of the use of copyrights/patents are taxable if they exceed the following exemption limits:

No.	Types of Royalty	Exemption (RM)
1	Publication of artistic works/recording discs/tapes	10,000
2	Translation of books/literary works of Education or Attomey or General Chambers	12,000
3	Publication of literary works/original paintings/musical compositions	20,000

However, the exemption stated above does not apply, if the payment received forms part of his emoluments in the exercise of the individual's official duties.

Income Remitted from Outside Malaysia

With effect from the year of assessment 2004, income derived from outside Malaysia and received in Malaysia by resident individual is exempted from tax.

Fees or Honorarium for Expert Services

With effect from the year of assessment 2004, fees or honorarium received by an individual in respect of services provided for purposes of validation, moderation or accreditation of franchised education programmes in higher educational institutions is exempted.

The services provided by an individual concerned have to be verified and acknowledged by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA). However, the exemption does not apply if the payment received forms part of his emoluments in the exercise of his official duties.

Income Derived from Research Findings

With effect from the year of assessment 2004, income received by an individual from the commercialization of the scientific research finding is given tax exemption of 50% on the statutory income in the basis year for a year of assessment for 5 years from the date the payment is made.

The individual scientist who received the said payment must be a citizen and a resident in Malaysia. The commercialized research findings must be verified by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment.