Workspace Wednesday - sharing my floral pieces from #the100dayproject

 

15/100

Okay friends. Your gal is experimenting and exploring her creative floral expression techniques. Some are laughingly bad but I will still share them (so that nobody does the same...*LOL*)

16/100

I actually like this but blue is really hard to photograph.

17/100

This one had some serious stem issues.

18/100

Which was why I omitted them from this piece. *winks*

19/100

Decided to leave the safety of watercolours as a base and explore other mediums.

20/100

This is actually my fave of the lot. I love the mix of colours and the scribbly/sketchy look. And I'm back in love with my Liquitex acrylic inks. :)

There you have it. My progress over the past weekend. What do you think?

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Tuesday night's dinner

 

Hello friends! Just thought I'll share with you what we had for dinner...on a Tuesday. :)\

Well, my sourdough pizza dough which had been fermenting in the fridge for 5 days needed to be baked so we had freshly baked sourdough pizza!  Three flavours tonight...all with 3 cheeses and homemade tomato sauce - bacon, chicken and salmon.  With fresh basil from the garden.

And an organic mesclun salad with roasted baby carrots, tamarillo, mini mangoes and cherry tomatoes in homemade vinaigrette dressing. Sooooooo good. *happy music plays in the background*

Tell me what you are having/had for dinner.

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Make Stuff Monday - this week's upcycled decorated paper bag

 

Last week I got some happy mail and you know how I just had to start using them right away. *winks*

Like on this paper bag from my undecorated paper bag stash. :)

This came together fairly quickly...I just built on the decorated cluster by adding a doily mat, a ribbon tab, a metallic paper clip, washi tape, bling and a patterned paper base with gold glittery bits. 

And finished with a spritz or two or three (hehehe) of gold mist and a ribbon bow. :)

Happy week ahead friends!

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Friday's florals - my pieces for #the100dayproject

 

11/100

Well my friends, this gal is still wayyyyyyy behind in her paintings for #the100dayproject but she is still persevering....*wipes off sweat from forehead*

Yep, despite the need to play serious catch-up, she even tried a still-life painting of tulips. Clearly, she was fluffing over it too long because you can see that the petals have already fallen off the flowers. *LOL*

12/100

Seriously though,  I was tempted just re-do some of my previous paintings with slight modifications in colour and composition to close the gap since I'm about 12 days behind. But I really wanted to push myself to try different styles and art mediums.

13/100

I have a tendency to go for the blurry look when I've made "mistakes" and can't lift the colour off. *winks*

14.100

If you are wondering..."Wow, this girl really likes red flowers..." ...actually it's because I always paint with leftover paint on my palette (you know I hate to waste stuff).

Anyway, 14 mixed media blooms in and I'm still exploring my style options. But I'm seriously loving the Koi watercolour markers. I've had them for years and never used them. So glad I started. Now, I might just need more colours. *dramatic music plays in the background*

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Incoming- Happy mail!

 

Hello friends! Just wanted to share some incoming happy mail from my sweet friend Lizzy in Australia. :)

She's the queen of packing goodies really flat. Look what I uncovered once I untied the ribbon! Can't wait to play! :)

She also gifted me some Aussie organic makeup. :) And interestingly enough, this package arrived on my Chinese birthday (based on the Lunar calendar) so I was "allowed" to open it. 

P/s: Did I celebrate my Chinese birthday? Of course I did! Any excuse to have cake! *LOL*

When you can't decide on 1 flavour, you can have two! *winks*

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What nephew #1 ate for breakfast last week

 

So I've been told that no 17 year old needs breakfast to be made by his aunt every morning (said his other aunt...*winks*). But you know me, all about embracing "unplanned parenthood" and taking the opportunity to express my creativity while doing it. *LOL*

I've decided to up my presentation of my eggy breakfasts...

First up, Monday's brekkie for nephew #1: Japanese style egg - tamagoyaki with minced pork (technically challenging...*sweat*) served on toasted and buttered sourdough sandwich bread, topped with bonito flakes and sesame seeds.

Tuesday was the one where the aunt decided to give her arms a workout at 6am in the morning by whipping egg whites to medium peaks manually (hand whisked) to make a cheesy egg soufflé omelette for  nephew #1.

Wednesday was the "aunt had to wake up extra early because kid leaves at 6am" day. Added two eggs to leftover macaroni stir-fry from the day before and made a "new" dish. He didn't eat the macaroni dish the day before so it was all new to him....hahaha.

Thursday he got freshly made sourdough pancakes with chia seeds and dried cranberries.

On Friday, he got omurice - Japanese rice omelette (Of course because I had leftover fried rice..hehehe which he didn't eat the day before so it was a "new" dish for him).

In case you were wondering, the kid eats his breakfast then comes to tell me that he's leaving for school. I then give him a hug and wish him a good day in school. Can I tell you that next week is the start of the one week school break and I'm really looking forward to waking up with the sun for a whole week? 

*happy dance*

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Another week, another super quick decorated paper bag

 

This year I'll be working on some simple decorated paper bags because:

1. My stash of undecorated paper bag is HUGE.

2. It will be much easier for storage.

3. Most of my decorated paper bags are too "fancy" for quick gifts to non-creative recipients (who may not appreciate the effort).

This week's quick decorated paper incorporated a piece of patterned paper, reused packaging ribbon for bag handles, trim that I made for a previous project (end of life for that project but I kept what I could to repurpose for other projects), a piece of decorative chipboard and gold mist (for a lovely and subtle all-over sparkle). Not too shabby for a non-creative recipient and it didn't take much time at all. :)

What about you? Do you gift your more fancy projects to people who might appreciate it a little more? *winks*

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Mixed Media Monday - more abstract florals for #the100dayproject

 

7/100

So playing catch-up on #the100dayproject is hard to do. I'm just trying to paint in-between little pockets of time I do have. But I really like bold abstractions...which are fast to do. 

8/100

When I try to go soft and sweet, it doesn't really work for me.. *winks*

9/100

And when I really fluff around with the details, it gets progressively worse. *LOL*

10/100

Messy with bold colours is what I like and what feels natural to me.

P/s: Happy week ahead friends! :)

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Workspace Friday - plans for March

 

Today's desk view

As you know, March is my fave month of the year because it's my birthday month! *high fives to all the March babies* And of course, I have plans for March! 

Like revamping my craft area to make it more efficient, changing up my gallery wall to reflect my current obsession (abstract florals). getting all caught up with #the100dayproject and finally get going with my goals for 2022. Yep, better late than never! *LOL*

What are your plans for March?

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This week's upcycled paper bag project

 

Oh well friends, you know this was coming after I showed you my recently discovered stash of undecorated paper bags....*winks*

I really wanted to use this product packaging card that came with a recent beauty buy...and used it as a starting point to build my design cluster. :)

Yep...as usual...a bunch of mish mash unrelated stuff put together...*LOL*

One paper bag down and only a gazillion more to go! *positive music plays in the background*

Happy Thursday! 

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More abstract florals for #the100dayproject

4/100

 So I was on a roll and painted 3 abstract florals for #the100dayproject! Still behind but slowly but surely catching up! *high fives all around*

5/100

It was really lovely to paint in natural daylight from my desk by the window (plants have been relocated so I have the whole desk to myself..yay!)

6/100

Are these the best abstract florals I've ever painted? Far from it. Hard to get masterpieces done in 10-20 minutes...*winks*

But am I getting some "me" time? Am I getting the momentum going? Am I having fun? 

A resounding "YES"!

So bear with me friends as I try to find my abstract floral style in #the100dayproject2022. Expect to see the ugly, the decent and some extraordinary ones (gotta have some confidence...hehehe).

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