A birthday for Damascus...

...my darling big eyes finally turned 5 on 15 April 2010... Alhamdulillah...

And his specific requests were : a new bicycle and a Mickey Mouse Birthday Brownie with a twist. So, the first was quite easily achieveable. Then came the matter of the twist in his birthday brownie. It wasn't just Mickey Mouse, it was Mickey Mouse with Speed Racer's Costume at the School Spirit Event. Well, not exactly his entire costume, just his hair : afro style in red, white and blue. In Damascus' exact words, "so, it is Mickey Mouse, with a big round hair, and the hair is divided into 3which is red, white and blue. You can make the red and blue either on the left or right, it doesn't matter; but the centre must be white! Can ya mommy...yayyy!!!"

With that said, did you think I had a choice?

Just out of curiosity I did ask him, "But why do you want Mickey Mouse with Speed Racer's costume hair? Isn't it weird?" He answered, "Acus suka. Acus nak."

Bewildered, I googled and youtubed and googled some more. Nope, no red, white and blue Speed Racer hair. Not even that particular episode of the School Spirit Day Event. So I sought help from Esfahan, to illustrate Damascus' request and shed some light unto mommy's blurry path. So drew Esfahan did...Mickey's head and face, with complete features and colour specs, and then the hair - one big, almost complete circle from ear to ear, with 3 parts, red, white and blue.

You think???!!!

So, with mommy being mommy, not Carlos the Cake Boss or Wiz da Wiz, but with the unconditional love a mommy has for her son, here was what Damascus eventually got... :)
Do you see the "Hidden Mickey"?! Hehe...





In a matter of minutes, Mickey's "ears" disappeared, and so did Speed Racer's red, white and blue "hair"! And there was enough left of Mickey's "face" for ayah to tapau to Muar, for his event that weekend... :)



...Damascus with his new, red mountain bike. It has to be red... :)

I'm getting old...

...I was sitting, looking at my site, and my eyes got stressed. Too......pink! And close together! And.....oh, so many outdated things.... but.... aaahhhh... the flesh is too weak... lame... but weak. I digressed to E!News for a while and this fashion program was on. Oh, how ever do they put all those clothes together onto one body? I wouldn't dream of doing anything like that. Yeah, sure, of course I wouldn't; it wouldn't be "age appropriate" for me! Oh yes, I am getting old...

...ER...old-ER...that's the key. Oprah says that 50 is the new 25; so, I'm only just about what now? 20? LOL!!! It's just been that time of month, when my hormones go yo-yo, and every little thing becomes so critical. Finding out that my old classmate, Bob (Kheiri) from matriculation just died from a heat attack yesterday didn't help with boosting my spirit. But, when things like this happens, we start to hear from other old friends again, just calling in to share the news, we catch up and end up in long, meaningful conversations. Then, you are revived and recharged... :)

Well, Damascus and Marrakesh are back to their normal selves, in gud health, Alhamdulillah. No more meds. Esfahan's gud, but his 13 year old bicycle (inherited from kak dina) just finally expired, and there was an episode of tearful, gloomy silence; but thanks to Trickie TV, he's all perked up, trying new magic tricks, and also hoping to get a new bike. Damascus too, "InsyaAllah a new bike for my 5th birthday...please Mommy? Ayah?" He's simply outgrown his present one, inherited from his Abang Long. okay, okay, we'll see, we'll see........ :)

So, as I look forward to being 25 again, I shall busy myself next week to prepare the necessary for my darling big eyes Damascus' 5th birthday on Thursday, InsyaAllah. I also hope you will enjoy my site's new look and feel, well, it's still "Julesy pink, purple, and black&white", but I hope the cleaner layout will give you more ease in reading. And you can now click on the pictures on the left column to see more of Jules' work. The lefty perspective is for my darling Marrakesh. I must now shower, feed the boys, and switch to my creative mode and start working to meet my deadlineSSSS!

Thank you for staying with Jules...may you always be blessed with good health, good fortune and peace of mind... :)

...al-fatihah to bob...

Breaking the silence...

Assalamualaikum...selamat sejahtera...hello..........

Hi there! It has been a while, and I am truly sorry for being silent for so long. I hope you are still here with me and that you have not given up on Jules...

The truth to the matter is that my boys, Damascus and Marrakesh, had been seriously down with bronchopneumonia and we had been in hospital for almost 2 weeks since 15 March. Kesh had prolonged fever from the day he was admitted until last Wednesday, when his fever finally broke. That was when good old Doc V gave us the green light to return home. They're still wheezing somewhat, but alhamdulillah they got past the fever, really spiking fevers they were, circa 39-40. Alhamdulillah they are out of danger now...

So...Ok, I did manage some projects shortly before the hospitalisation and soon after returning home. But I must admit that I'll have to keep it low for about a week or two more, just to diligently finish off the boys' meds and physio.

It has indeed been very challenging...my timeline has digressed way off course and I must now seriously work at realigning things back into perspective.
Meantime, here's sharing some photos...something more colourful than bronchopneumonia :)




Specially customised Jules Casablanca Tins ~ Selamat Pengantin Baru Arpah & Kamal, semoga berbahagia hingga ke anak cucu... :)


...Jules latest fondant...a single fudgy recipe, presented in a 3 tier tiara tower, for a very special Bella. I still owe her a special birthday box, insyaAllah, will have it done soonest now... :)


...Jules latest Bling Fudgy for sweet Arissa ~ Jules Petra motif in rouge


There is a new Alexandria box that I have been planning since last December, the original launch date was my 40th birthday, but that too was stalled due to circumstances beyond my control. The prototype has reached me, but I'm thinking that it needs some fine tuning before it makes its actual debut. The exciting thing about this latest Alexandria box is that I will custom decorate it further upon order/purchase, ie with bling, flowers, frills, to perfectly suit it's new recipient/owner... Here's a sneak peak at the rough cut... :)



Some projects in February...

...a special engagement brownie...



...something for a Black,White&Red Birthday Bash...





...brownie in a tin for an engagement...




...birthdays and babies are always delightful!


Dearest, dearest family, friends and patrons... I sincerely appreciate your faith in Jules...stay tuned, and please do bear with me ya... :)

Happy International Women's Day!!!

To all the fab women all over the world, I Salute You!!!

Jules at 40...

...is overwhelmed by emotions...

Alhamdulillah, Allah has blessed me with 40 wonderful and meaningful years, no words can justifiably express my feelings... Thank you darling family and dearest friends, for enriching my life so beautifully thus far, thank you for all your kind wishes and doa... And thank you everyone who has been with Jules and supported all that Jules has to offer... May you all be blessed with love, happiness and good fortune... :)

...a gift from my darling Medina... love you... :)


...from Nadhrah, whose scrapping domain never ceases to amaze me...thank you so much dear... :)


Darling husband and goons had so lovingly treated mommy to a wonderful, wonderful time at the Jentayu Spa...aaaahhh... after 2 hours of excrutiating pain, now mommy's urat-urat and otot-otot "sudah bisa lancar..."...hehe...

Things that keep Jules busy...

...this special gift pack contains Jules coffee, Fazer chocolates and a pelikat...



...oh, how I love my tins... :)...thank you Nadia for loving them too...




...for CNY, with Giftmagique...




...some birthday brownies for some Jules addicts...! love ya ladies... :)




...special brownies for engagements... :)





...and the latest tonight... and how i love weddings too :)





And for the next few days, I shall be paying full attention on my darling mom, who is recovering from a cataract operation. My greatest challenge would be to make her sit back, rest&relax and take things easy... :)

Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!

Jules wishes all Chinese family, friends and patrons a very Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year, have a meaningful and safe holiday!

In The Purple...Girls Really Do Have Fun - SOME MORE!

...hehe... and this time it was Nora and her fab G15 ladies!

Nora requested for her birthday party favours to be something lilac or with purple hues, and each to be tailored to the individual recipient, where no two are the same. So she gave me a list of all the fab G15 ladies, which has now increased to 21, including a brief description of each wonderful lady (something I'd normally ask for when I'm customising gifts). With purple being my favourite colour too, I didn't want to overdo the hue nor let it become a cliche. So I fused some basic colours and designs together, and let everything blend harmoniusly, but each item would have at least one shade of purple... :)

As for the birthday brownie, I did my best with the very little skill I have with fondant, coz Nora wanted fondant, so I kept it simple and sweet... :)











Each tin contains a handmade mini hanging photo album, and the tin is then placed in my organza gift pouch. All paper used are acid free, from Scrappingglitz...and thanks so much Nadhrah, for the valuable tips on creating those really cute photo albums, and for lending me your inker and super puncher! I must surely get one of those punchers for myself, coz I'm hooked!

I must say, I love all the tins and gifts I make, and I never want to part with any of them, really... But, it's always best to share this love... :) And what makes everything all worthwhile is that my gifts help to spread joy and cheer many times over... Alhamdulillah...

Girls Really Do Have Fun!

...For Aqilah and friends, hope you had a blast! :)

Jules This February 2010...

...Is desperately chasing deadlines, and not doing very well at meeting all of them...AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

But, I'm healthy and well, my family's well and fine, and so are my relatives, friends and patrons, and my brownie and gift orders are going well, Alhamdulillah, so, I guess, there's no need to obsess over it, right? Life's precious, and too short to dwell on something that's out of my control. Like Kimora says, "You want something done well, you've got to do it yourself!" Well, I do wish that I could do it all myself, but I've not yet reached that level of supremacy...! Hehe... so, I'll just take everything in stride... :)

So, I'm now trying to adjust, replan and reschedule, and make the best of everything.

We're well into February, and this year, being very significant to me, I actually had a few special things all lined up for Jules this month. But, since my deadlines have all run astray, there's not much of these special things that I can share with all of you at this point, and I do hope you understand and bear with me ya... :)

Anyhow, I'd managed to create a music playlist made up of my alltime favourite "layan" songs. I've always loved Ella Fitzgerald, especially when she's scatting her stuff with Louis. It's just something about Ella, the same thing I see in Saloma, the voice, the talent, the soul, the inner strength and beauty, something I wish I had... I hope you'll enjoy this playlist, or, if not, at least you know the kind of music that really lives in my soul... :)

Lastly for today, I leave you with my latest creation, My Harlequin Romance... a special anniversary gift, from a husband to his darling wife... :)

Jules this CNY2010

Hi! Good morning... Just a quick update on what's available this Chinese New Year...

A collaboration with KerepekLa...



CNY brownies will go out latest on 12 Feb 2010, then 13-17 Feb 2010 Jules will break for CNY, resuming on 18-22 Feb 2010. Then, 23 Feb 2010 - 1 Mar 2010 Jules will be away... :)