MWL - Layout of the Week

I am grateful for my work (altered notebooks) to be posted at MWL - Layout of the Week as of 19 Aug 2012... Thank you Aida :o)

New Start

It has never occur to me that my resignation has caused a number of downstream impact to the team...a few more members have resigned after my act and their reasons to resign may not have caused directly by me but somehow, I feel that I’m kind of “responsible” for this since the "trend" to resign was started by me... The team has now strung from a 7 members strong team to 3 with 1 more on the way to resign.



Altered Note Pad



I thought I could let go of all the baggage after I have met my KPI by implementing the system successfully and as per schedule, but I can’t .. sigh … learning from my colleagues who are still serving their notice that my ex-boss is still unhappy about my resignation because after all I am one of them whom she has “handpicked” to help her to build the system/department.

Altered Note Pad

Regardless, I am grateful to my ex-boss who has given me the opportunity and her support and trust during my course of work; tomorrow will be a new start for me and I have told myself, mistakes made in my last employment shall not be repeated in my new assignment. I need to learn to manage and let go of things that are beyond my control more gracefully and not to take on the negative comments/feedback too personally nor to be too suspicious over things.

Life is short, is important to learn to let go and move on…

提放自如

“Pick Up and Let Go in Perfect Ease – Let the process of picking up and letting go of things be a natural part of you.”

~ extracted from the Words of Wisdom from Master Hsing Yun

Mini Book and Tag

MAAD Event Participated - 13 Jul 2012

It was an experience to participate in the MAAD Event on 13 Jul 2012 and am able to cover the rental cost from the sales :) but most importantly is I have received alot of wonderful feedback and comments from the customers on my creation which will help me to improve on my subsequent creation... and yes, I have started to prepare for the MAAD Event to be held in Nov and Dec 12....

In between, was glad that my contribution to the MWL Idea Gallery was posted in one of the Layouts of the Week :o) Thank you MWL !

MAAD - First Batch of Items Created for this Special Event

Mixed Media Mini Canvas Photo Frame

 

More coming ... :o)



Participating in MAAD Event on 13 Jul 2012

I'm delighted to receive an email from MAAD today confirming my application to register for a booth for the event scheduled on 13 Jul 12 is successful. MAAD is a Market of Artists and Designers. It holds events at Singapore Red Dot Design Museum on scheduled Fridays. Do drop by to their website to findout more. Look forward to join the fun and see you there ! :o)

Move On

April and May are tough months. I have faced alot alot of issues at work…and majority of them I just can't resolve within my own team but need co-operation from the vendors and other teams. After a lot of thinking and deliberation with myself/my family members/my friends, I've decided to resign from my current job and move on.

It is not an easy decision because I have joined this company with the enthusiasm to work on a new project that was assigned to me and my team, moreover, I’m only about 1.5 years old with them. But looking at how the things are managed here, I simply can’t agree and had numerous disagreements with the managers. The reasons given to me merely were because the teams here are small and therefore they do not have the extra "bandwidth" to accomplish nor to impose more processes and governance. I am totally disappointered and disagree with such excuses. I believe as long as the managers are willing to take the effort and first step to put things in right perspective, things could be changed and improved gradually.

My working comrades from my team are demoralised too because we simply have to handle a lot of ad hoc and so called “urgent” requests just because there's no plan, no scheulde and no one takes project delivery milestones seriously. And the expanded scope needs to be delivered together with the main project timeline...

Staying on may be seen as "Negative" and "In co-operative", getting out from the current will be the best way out…is kind of sad but I guess I do not have much options since staying here will not only make myself unhappy, it will also cause more damages to the relationship with the respective teams. Therefore, I have tendered my resignation in early May :); I am relieved and am a much happier person now. I will continue to see through the project implementation in Jul 12 before I leave this company... Is a short encounter - 1.5 years, but I have gained alot of valuable experiences and make a group of good friend => they are my team members whom we have gone through the "thick" and the "thin" and we share the same vision, working methodology...*Hey you know who you are !* Thanks for your friendship and support and do keep in touch ye ! :)

To keep myself up to beat, and to chase away the "blues" in last 2 months, I immersed myself in my hobby and I came up with a new series of home decor items which I name them "Mixed Media Mini Canvas"; they measure at 5cm x 5cm, 5cm x 7cm and 10cm x 10cm and the materials used include : Texture Paste, Glimmer Mist, Arcylic Paint, Stencils, Stamps, Pattern Papers, Embellishments (some are handmade) Have a good week ahead ! :D

Searching for a Peace of Mind...

Feeling miserable and stressed up these days. Project deadline is drawing near but the project vendor still can't pump in enough resources to work on the activities. I started to push the vendor harder but it does not seem to work much. Perhaps it is the difference between the working method and most importantly, the difference in culture..


Internal teams also can't seem to catch up with the speed and alot of time, I simply have to step in to close the activities even though they are not my key responsiblity.

My anxiety level went up as the delivery dates draw near. I feel kind of drained and exhausted easily. I started to lose my cool + got provoked very easily and complain alot too.

Somehow, this project has started with a wrong footing causing the difference in expectations. Scope and schedule remain unchange but instead of using the so called "out of the box" solution, alot of customisation now need to be done.


My expectation and quality control on work drop significantly.. we just have to go with the "imperfect" solution so that the project could be rolled out on schedule, on budget. Can foresee alot of patches and perhaps rework need to be done after the implementation... Well, that's life, I guess...

In order to strike a balance between work, family and personal life, and to rest my mind + to getout from the unhappiness accumulated from work, I gear my attention towards painting and handicraft work to find a serene space and peace of mind =)

I hope you will like my recent work listed and they will be available at "The Art Republic" from 1 Apr 12 ... Have a good week ahead...