My first Christmas card of 2021

 

Happy Friday friends! May I present to you my first Christmas card of 2021? *winks*

Gotta say that the bulk of the card was already done by someone else. The Christmas tree with the pressies along with all the cute shaker bits were part of a pocket letter I got years ago. It was stitched up so beautifully that it did not make sense to take it apart. So I added a coordinating patterned paper to cardstock and just glued the whole pocket on top of it. Even the matching washi tape was part of that happy mail. But I did add a ribbon tab and a gift bow to make it a little more me? *LOL*

Well, I did get off my lazy butt to use a corner rounder...that's effort! Hahaha!

I think this turned out quite pretty. And will be making someone else happy this Christmas. Gotta make sure that I don't send it back to the person who sent me the pocket letter though.....that would be embarrassing. Hehehe..

Enjoy your weekend friends! 

My week in eye drawings...

 

Another week has gone by and here are my eye drawings for #the100dayproject. :)

Meet 83/100. 

And 84/100.

Tried an angled eye for 85/100.

Here is 86/100.

A different angle for 87/100.

A sleepy eye because I had a long day..88/100.

And today's eye..89/100.

Almost to the finishing line...can't wait to finish up the last 11 days so that I can draw something else. *LOL*

Workspace Wednesday - a day in the mess of my desk

 

Happy mid-week friends! Just wanted to share a real-time snapshot of my messy desk. Yep...it's either piles of paper and embellishments OR paints, water containers, brushes and coloured pencils. OR both. I've tried to be more neat and organised but this works better for me because I can process something else when one project is drying. Plus I created the right conditions for "happy accidents" to happen. *LOL*

What about you? Do you work on ONE project to completion at a time or work on a few projects at varying stages of completion?

This week's quick card to match a previously decorated envelope

 So I decided to challenge myself to make a card to match a previously decorated envelope. *dramatic music plays in the background*

Actually I didn't have any of the same elements of the previously decorated envelope so I added the same patterned paper design to the back of the envelope to tie the two together.

I think the butterflies and flowers kind of make them look intentionally coordinated but different? *LOL*

What do you think?

Make Stuff Monday - bottle makeover

 

Today's Make Stuff Monday is a bottle makeover...which I intend to use as a photo prop...an addition to my "signage" collection for family photos. *winks*

I started with this red sake bottle....and blinded it up with some patterned paper, lace and pearl trim.

And finished off with a bow and cute birdie on a plastic garden stick. I could add some actual flowers in the bottle or make some interchangeable signs to slot in for the appropriate occasion. I love my existing signages but sometimes people don't hold the props correctly and ruin the picture. A prop on the table next to the food will mitigate the problem. *LOL*

Happy week ahead friends!

The one about my birthday lunch 2021

 

So I was out for a quick lunch with the family at a nearby mall on my birthday last month.

I am thankful that I got an "off" day from cooking lunch. *winks*

And I got fun photos to scrapbook...

Like my folks posing with their food.

And my sister with her "can I get a toothpaste ad? smile. 

I had so much fun mixing patterns on this layout. :)

Playing along with The Studio Challenges.

Getting into a comfy drawing routine...this week's eye drawings for #the100dayproject

 

With less than 3 weeks to go on #the100dayproject, I am finally getting into a comfy drawing routine. And by does it take discipline. I'm not going to lie, the first few weeks were hard and I fell behind by 10 days and did really want to give up. But I failed miserably in 2020 and decided that 2021 was NOT going to be the same. I finally caught up by the halfway mark (I had to draw and paint 2-3 eyes per day in a week). And I have not fallen behind since. *triumphant music plays in the background*

Not every eye is a masterpiece...like 77/100.

Or 78/100.

But every eye is a learning journey and a chance to show my art supplies some love. :)

And an opportunity to try out different angles..79/100.

Within a self-imposed time limit on each piece so that I'm forced to complete it as best as I can within that time frame of 90 minutes max...80/100.

When you fuss around less, you get things done a lot faster...81/100.

One of the greatest gains of this project is that I've fallen back in love with watercolours again. A good thing since I spent a fortune on my "collection" *winks* You can really do drama and transparency with watercolours....82/100. :)

Happy Thursday friends! :)

Workspace Wednesday - fresh flowers

 

Hello friends! How has your week been? Are those fresh flowers you spy on my already overloaded desk? Well yes. :) Got this bunch at the supermarket for $10...for maybe 6 days of floral bliss. *winks* But totally worth piling my stuff at the other end of the desk for a couple of days. *LOL*

Okay so the lilies made it to Day 4 and I transferred the remaining blooms into a smaller vase so that I can move it off my main desk area. And of course promptly filled up the desk with my mess again. *hahaha*

What about you? Do you like having fresh floral arrangements at home?

The one about the reunion of cousins

 

So my mum's cousins came over last month for a quick reunion - a little chit chat and catching up over afternoon tea - since they didn't meet up during CNY 2021 because of all the home visitor restrictions that were in place (still currently enforced - 8 guests per household per day) because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These were the cousins mum grew up with so she was really happy to see them. :)

Needless to say, they had to pose for photos with my handmade signages of course. See photo 1 versus photo 2...can you see the difference? *LOL* 

Since it was an all girls' reunion, I decided to play with some sweet pastels.:)

Make Stuff Monday - making a receipt holder pretty

 

These days I'm trying my darnest to use up whatever packaging I get after watching several documentaries and learning with dismay how much of the stuff we put into the recycle bin actually gets recycled. It's less than 10% in my country. *sad music plays in the background*

So today's Make Stuff Monday is my attempt at making a receipt holder pretty.

Here is how it looked like before the makeover...

Inside is a flap to hold the receipt...which is perfect for a handwritten note for a special someone.

I adhered some paper scraps, then went in with some trim and pearls to pretty her up. That big bold bloom just helped to tie everything together. :)

Yes, that pearl trim finally came back into play again. Since I no longer get a steady supply of it as part of the Maya Road Design Team (I don't think they are in business anymore), I had been hoarding it. But I've decided to use everything up and just move on. I'm sure I will find another pretty trim to replace that. :)

Happy week ahead friends! :)