Guess who's back? *winks*

 Can you guess who's back in action? *winks* Take a closer look...

If you guessed last year's Santa, you would be right! Found a few remnant ones in my Christmas stash! Hehehe...

So here he is on a decorated paper bag. :)

Mixed Media Monday - the overworked vase of blooms

 

Cam you tell that I might have overworked this vase of blooms a little? Too much...*LOL*

Yep, I had vase and leaves problems and did my best to "cover up". *winks*

I went in with white gouache and gel pen...

It looks somewhat decent from a distance..hahaha.

Anyway, I know it's because I was sitting when I was painting. I always paint better when I stand. 

Happy week ahead friends!

Friday's florals - wreath problems

 

The struggle is real my friends...this gal has wreath problems. It always starts off promising...and then there would be a spectacular "oopsie" and the entire painted wreath is ruined (okay, I'm sure I could save it with some white gesso cover-up...but this gal is trying to be a watercolour purist...emphasis on "trying" *LOL*). Yep, the watercolour palette was strategically placed to cover the "blob" and you can see that I took the photo in portrait mode so that the background is blurred and makes the painting look better than it is in real life...hehehe. 

But this would be wreath #10 that was a watercolour fail. Now I even tried sketching out the wreath in pencil to give it a higher rate of success...unfortunately, this gal paints intuitively and colours outside the lines maybe a little too much! *cue laughter*

Happy weekend my friends! 

P/s: Hope I survive the weekend without making my bank account cry because of all the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. *winks*

This week's Christmas project - a cute decorated notebook

 

This week's Christmas project is a cute decorated notebook! :)

Just a mish mash of random stuff from my stash...you know, the way I roll. *winks*

Washi tape, stickers and fussy-cut elements....

Happy Thanksgiving to friends in the US! :)

Workspace Wednesday - a walk down memory lane...a page from an old journal

 

Happy Wednesday friends! I've been decluttering my bedroom and found my old journals. I was flipping through the pages and found this...possible designs for my watermark...back when I first started blogging. Of course, once I started joining design teams, I had to use the watermark they provided so I never actually used any of these.

Maybe I should? Maybe expand on one of the designs (since I can draw much better than 10 years ago...haha)? What do you think?

The one about the Mid-Autumn lantern

 

Remember back in September when I took part in my neighbourhood's lantern-making contest (with recycled materials) and won 4th place?

I didn't do much to clinch a prize actually. Just added bubble-wrap to cover the "windows" of a mooncake box, fussy-cut some flowers from a paper-bag and pasted all over the "lantern", hot-glued some other upcycled tin lids and the paper bag cord to create the handle for the lantern and threw in an Ikea USB-powered string of LED lights.

Turns out the judging committee didn't do much for my prize too. I got a collapsible food container, a box reusable plastic cutlery, a flat reusable water bottle, a bottle of insect repellent and a $5 supermarket voucher. 

I already have all these items (and of better quality aka non-plastic) but it's hard to give/sell them because my neighbourhood's name is printed all over the items. They were probably leftovers from some other event and thrown in as part of the prize package. *LOL*

I think the committee really missed the mark/point. A person who will take part in a contest that only utilises recycled materials is probably concerned about the environment and already owns these basic reusable items. Plus they marketed the event with "attractive prizes to be won".  

Oh well, I did use the lantern on Mid-Autumn's Day to create the atmosphere at home while we ate mooncakes. Plus I'm sure I could use it as part of the decor for CNY 2022. *winks*

What about you? Have you ever been disappointed by a prize package? 

Mixed Media Monday - what I painted in a 30 minute absract painting session

So I signed up for this virtual abstract painting session that my local Sephora organised in collaboration with March Jacobs Fragrances for the launch of the new scent Perfect Intense. This was the kit I collected.

Which contained art supplies....

Along with 2 miniature bottles of the new scent Marc Jacobs PerfectI intense with a coordinating hand cream, a travel spray bottle of Perfect (the previous scent), 2 hair pins and a pouch.

They were pretty generous with the kit...which is why I enjoy being a Gold Member at Sephora. Back in July I attended a watercolour session with Sephora and Jo Malone which led to my recent watercolour florals obsession. Will this rekindle my love for acrylics again? *winks*

Anyway, the host spent 20 minutes talking about the new scent and the meaning behind it..which is about self-love and self-acceptance. Then the art "teacher" went through the art supplies and then asked us to sketch out a physical body part as part of "self-acceptance". 

Who is not surprised that I went with an eye painting? *LOL*

It was a fun session albeit a bit short. I wish there was an actual teaching you about abstract art component aspect to the class. But since it was a free event with freebies, it wasn't all that bad.

Happy week ahead friends! :)

Friday's desk view - roses in a vase

 

It's Friyay! Sharing Friday's desk view - roses in a vase. Yep...really because I wanted to paint the glass vase. *LOL* Really enjoying painting at my desk by the window. :)

Enjoy your weekend friends!

Another quick card for the birthday stash

 

Happy Thursday friends! Sharing another quick card for the birthday stash...:) 

I usually keep the birthday card simple because you know I go all out with the decorated box/paper bag. *LOL*

Guess who's 17?

 

Did you guess correctly? *winks*

Yep...that would be this dude...nephew #1.

He has been living with us since he was 13 going on 14. So, it's been a while. If you are wondering about how and why he came to live with us, it remains a mystery to us too. My parents refuse to ask my brother because he has a heart condition. They just say he has too many kids...we'll help with one. 

But he's a good kid...and I only have another year to "spoil" him before he heads off for 2 years of mandatory military service.

Anyway, I made him the peanut butter mousse crunch cake because I really wanted to eat it. *LOL*

Playing along with Stick It Down.

Tuesday's quick Christmas card

 

Just a quick post to share a super quick  Christmas card this Tuesday. A piece of patterned paper, a strip of gold glitter paper, a holly sticker and a chipboard Santa...and I'm all done. :)

P/s: Hope you are having a great week so far. I got my booster jab yesterday so the arm's a little sore. But tomorrow's my day off from home cooking *yay* so I'm looking forward to heading downtown for a little retail therapy.

Make Stuff Monday - a decorated notebook with packaging bits

 

Happy Monday friends! Today's Make Stuff Monday is a decorated notebook with packaging bits. Can you tell which are the bits? *winks*

I really like the border design and the white space on this.

Perfect as a mat for my main design element...

Which was cut out from cardboard packaging...:)

I finished with a tag, rub-ons and stickers. I think it turned out quite cute...what do you think?

This week's Friday's abstract florals

 

Well, today was the only day I actually painted this whole week. Finally used my own reference photo (you know, out of the gazillion I have on my phone..*LOL*) because I really wanted to paint a glass vase. And I remembered that I always got fresh flowers in my hotel room back when travel was a real thing. *winks*

P/s: If you are lucky enough to travel, stay safe and enjoy! Happy weekend friends!

Tips on paper bag decorating (Part 1)

 

 

I love decorating paper bags. The possibilities are endless. You can make it really clean and simple, or really elaborate and dramatic. Here are some tips to help you with your paper bag decorating. :)

1. Use sturdy paper bags with lots of "white" space.

Choose paper bags that have minimal brand/printing on them so that you have less "cove-up" to do. 

2. Switch out the bag handles for texture and interest.

Paper bags usually come with matching handles. You can coordinate your bag handles to contrast with your design for added texture and visual interest. 

3. Consider eliminating the bag handles completely.

You could have a decorated paper bag with no handles at all as part of the design.

  

4. Try a matching box and paper bag set.

You could create a coordinating box and paper set by repeating similar elements on both items. 

                                       

5. Make it bright and cheery.

The paper bag is the first thing the recipient sees. Why not try a fun and cutesy theme to put on a smile on the recipient's face? 

There you have it. Part 1 of my tips on paper bag decorating.  :)

Do you like to decorate paper bags?