Friday, February 28, 2014

Featured in: Harian Metro newspaper + Pixlr blog (things that I am grateful for in life)

Friday, February 28, 2014
The Artsy Craftsy featured on Harian Metro: Majalah M "Blog Pilihan"

Today was an amazing day. Of course it was the usual busy-as-hell day but the good news that I have been patiently waiting for the whole week since last Saturday really made my day worthwhile.

Last Saturday, as I have announced on my Instagram, I was at local newspaper Harian Metro office to do an interview. I met Faizah, a really friendly and down-to-earth lifestyle journalist and her photographer; I had an amazing chat with them not just about sharing my blog but about other views too.

As the day that I anticipated the entire week finally arrived, I grab the newsstand's last 4 copies and immediately shared with mother, my cousins, and friends, and of course to my readers on the blog's Facebook profile (btw, for those who would like to add me as friend, click on the link).

I was very touched when my colleagues, friends and loved ones shared my joy. Some of them knew, especially Justin, who knew that I have been manifesting for a Media Publicity for a year. And yes it is about time, just like my good friend, Sonia said. =).

Faizah is an amazing story teller. The article was beautifully written. I was touched by how Faizah told my story not just about me as a blogger but as a woman who aspires to inspire others. She knew how to tell my story, a piece that I kept with me all along. Many people thought that one of the reasons why I started the blog was because of my interest in art and creativity. Well that made sense because I always showed interest in those areas. But there is a profound part of the journey, and it is also the reason that prompted me to open up my door and start walking towards that direction called Light and Love. And this is the piece that I have been holding on to.

Anyways, later on the day, I also found out that my all-time favourite App Pixlr featured me on their blog, Facebook and Instagram. It was seriously awesome to finally see the Lotus that I photographed in a template in Malacca last year November. You have no idea how much I have wished for this to happen, to have my photographs featured by Pixlr. I think it is a dash of #Passion, a sprinkle of effort and a dollop of #Believe that made all things happened for me. And I am going to keep on holding it close to my heart for good stuff to happen.
To view The Artsy Craftsy Pixlr Blog + Pic of the Day, see here

As it is the first time in my life receiving such achievement, I am certainly overwhelmed with joy. However, this isn't the only thing that makes me happy; this achievement has also made realized so many things:

1. I am grateful that I believed in myself and my work #Believe #Passion

2. I am grateful that 5 years ago, I made that decision to start living life and doing the things that I love most.

3. I am grateful that 3 years ago, I made that decision to eliminate negativity instead and start being positive. And ever since then, I never saw it as a cliche, or corny. It was #Truth that changed my life all around and reprogrammed my mindset.

4. My cousin posted up my good news on his Facebook and shared with my other family members. Made me realized how grateful I am for technology today because we can finally share ONE good news at the same time with immediate effect. And I am grateful that this exposure allowed me to see how much my loved ones love me and have been supporting me all along.

If you would like to read the FULL STORY (in Bahasa Malaysia), click here.


5. I am grateful for my readers, including readers that dropped by and to those who showed interest in reading my blog because without that support, I wouldn't have reached such high number of page views either. So, thank you! =)

Finally, thank you Universe. Thank you to my loved ones, thank you Faizah for writing such beautiful piece, and thank you to You.


Tuesday, February 25, 2014

How to Make an Easy Natural Detox & De-bloat Drink

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

I am currently watching what I eat and trying to maintain a healthy balance diet. As I am going in to my late 20's, I realized that instead of just watching my body, it is time I eat healthily. I love Coke you see, what more if it is Coke Zero! And as I zoom into this new lifestyle practice, I have started eliminating sugar so that I no longer feel tired or anxious (yes sugar does that, it brings you high up and drops you down fast!). Recently, dreamcatcher-maker Vaishnavi introduced to me a healthy natural detox drink. You don't lose weight with it, but it is a good drink to help you detox and most important de-bloat. I think this is good especially for us girls who tend to get bloated before-after our menstrual cycle.

I was told that it is a super easy recipe. Indeed it is as she passed me this website to refer. So during the weekend, I have decided to try it on my own. I improvised it a little for my preference of course. Because it is so amazingly easy, I have decided to blog about it:

You need:
1/2 Orange
1/2 Lemon
1/2 Cucumber
5-10 pieces of Mint Leaves

Instructions:
1. Fill up shaker / pitcher to almost the fullest. Not too high though, give room for throwing in your goodies!

2. Slice 3-4 slices of oranges and throw it in. 

3. Slice 3-4 slices of lemon and throw it in.

4. Slice 3-4 slices of cucumber and throw it in too.

5. Pluck 5-10 pieces of mint leaves and throw it in. Mix it up. Make sure you wash the leaves thoroughly though. This is optional too, some may not like mint leaves.

6. Close it up tight and shake it to mix it up!

Done! Leave it in the fridge overnight or you can drink it immediately. =)

The next working day, I filled up my shaker with it, and brought it to work. Every time it finishes, I fill it up with water again. It was a good drink! I know for some of us, drinking lots of water especially 2 big bottles is quite overwhelming, but with this recipe, it makes it a little bit more zesty for your water regime. Plus it help flushes out toxins, and certainly helps with you going to the toilet. V also recommended to make sure not to drink with an empty stomach as it is quite acidic.

Enjoy!

Friday, February 21, 2014

How to Colour your Colourful Emotions

Friday, February 21, 2014

In my article on Colouring, I have shared about how helpful it can be to engage in colouring activities once in awhile. Best to do so with colouring books together with your children, loved ones, or during an alone time with yourself. I personally think colours has an interesting way to describe your emotions and thoughts. Even though it is not visible, did you know that we project colours based on our emotions? That is what you called Aura, which gives out a certain kind of energy (of light) when we are feeling angry, sad or happy, etc. That is probably why, some of us are able to feel/sense a low energy when he or she walks in the room. That low energy was probably left behind by another individual, or perhaps something has happened before in that space. Seeing how this is quite an interesting idea that you can learn about yourself, in this blog post, I would like to share on how to describe your emotions using colours and colouring.

Colouring Your Emotions
Colouring your emotions are somewhat like drawing except that you use various colours vividly to express each and every one of your emotions. As this is a personal project that really depends on an individual's expression, to do this, you can compile or record your emotions by creating a 'Mini Emotion Encyclopedia / Journal'.

Why Colour My Emotions?
When you colour your emotions, you would be able to identify your emotions intricately while illustrating how you feel with images and colours. Note that your colours and images varies over time, so it would be interesting if you can record them by date, month, year, etc.


How Do You Start?
I always encourage recycling unwanted books/notebooks or maybe outdated calendars with pretty pictures. You can use them to start journalling your colourful emotions.

For an unwanted calendar: 
  • You can cut out little square pieces and write down every emotion you can think that you are feeling, starting from happy to jealousy.
  • Paste the square pieces in the calendar, in every page depending how you want to arrange it.
For Unwanted Books/Notebooks:
  • You can do the same with little cut-out pieces and paste them in the book OR draw boxes.
  • If you are doing this during a particular moment in your life, you can also include it with some creative writings about your feelings. It can even be a poem! 

Drawing and Colouring
  • Once you have wrote down all the emotions you can think of, prepare your stationary.
  • You can be as creative as possible, with coloured markers, colour pencils or even oil pastels. The idea is to use colours to express your emotions.
  • When working on each emotion, take a moment to identify and acknowledge your emotions and how you feel about it.
  • Recognize the images & colours that are in your mind when you are thinking about that emotion.
  • In this state, allow yourself to freely express yourself. Allow your inner-self to pick out the colour that you want to start with and let your inner-self do the drawing. Be Free!

Besides Colouring...try Creative Collaging!
  • If you find that you can't really express with drawing and colouring, you can also try another alternative- collage!
  • To do this, perhaps your cut-out squares need to be a little bigger.
  • OR if you are doing this in a notebook, you can use EACH PAGE for EACH EMOTION.
  • Again, identify your thoughts when you are working on each emotion and allow your inner-self to pick out the pictures that best describes your emotion.
  • Cut them, match them, paste them to create a composition.
  • There are no rights or wrongs, just results of the piece of artwork that you want to achieve.
Give it a try and I encourage you to spend some alone time with your self in this project. It helps with restructuring certain patterns in your life while you unleash your inner-creativity. If you would like to share with me your work and talk to me more about it, I would love to hear from you, anytime!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

A Visit to Pak John Steamboat, eCurve Mutiara Damansara

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Imagine yourself out for dinner with your family, and there's like more than 5 to 10 of you, practically starving! Deciding where to eat is probably the last thing you want to do. Of course, you want something fast, affordable, with good variety to cater to each and every individual's needs. Some would say, McDonalds? Maybe, but I know some would say No too, you know cos it's not really healthy.

Well, I finally realize that one of the best solutions for this is dining at a steamboat restaurant; its buffet concept with variety somehow caters well for those in a group. In my recent 'food' discovery (as I have said before, I don't just like to eat, I appreciate food), I paid Pak John Steamboat restaurant at eCurve a visit. Personally I don't frequent steamboat restaurants very much, and I don't usually have a preference either. However, after dining at Pak John, I have added it to my list of steamboat preference, and I wouldn't mind recommending it at all.

Here are my TOP reasons why I recommend Pak John:

1. Price is affordable. Especially when you are dining there in a group. Then again, even if its just you and a plus one, or you with your family (I presume perhaps 3-4 more) is actually highly recommended if you have steamboat cravings.








2. It has lots of variety ranging from seafood, to meat, to burgers, rice, noodles and MORE! The burgers are made there and then.



3. For those with sweet tooth, they have a waffle station, ice-cream and a huge chocolate fondue ready for you to dip your sweet things in!




4. Spacious! Very spacious with lots of tables and even private room sections too.





5. You can grill your meat if you don't want to throw your food into the soup. They serve some good meat like beef, lamb and duck, ready for you to grill! Yum! This is my favourite part because not many steamboat restaurants offer this concept.



6. Soup is good and certainly well-prepared. Not salty at all, doesn't make you thirsty too. You can choose from tom yum, chicken or miso flavour. 



7. For those of you who are food-conscious or are on a diet, good news is the food served are not fattening. They are well-prepared and fresh!


8. If you are a vegetarian (not full vegan though), you will like it at Pak John and you don't have to worry about what you can or cannot eat when you are eating with your family or friends. Pak John serves a lot of vegetables and anything partial vegans can consume.

9. One of the things I like about Pak John is its clean and tidy environment. Everything is placed in order and it is not at all messy especially in the food section.

10. They stock up their food fast!

----

As I am a quite behind on this blogpost, therefore I am not able to link up their Chinese New Year specials; nonetheless, I truly recommend that you head on over to any of Pak John's outlet. It is a good place for you and your family or friends to enjoy each other's company while you enjoy their buffet selection. Plus, you know how buffets are especially when you go in a group. It's really fun! So, please don't hesitate to enjoy your dining experience at Pak John.

I also met JQ Lee, friendly beauty and lifestyle Blogger.

Address:
eCurve Mutiara Damansara
Lot LG-13A & LG-15
Lower Ground Floor, eCurve

Telephone: 
03-77333913
018-3863139
018-3893139

There's another outlet:
Wangsa Walk Mall
Lot GL-02 & FL-02
Wangsa Walk Mall, Wangsa Avenue.

Telephone: 
03-41418898
018-2744889
018-2564889

Pricing:
RM28 Weekdays (Dinner)
RM36 Weekends (including eve or public holidays)
Ala Carte is served during lunch Time

Website:

Thursday, February 13, 2014

5 things I love about Valentine's Day

Thursday, February 13, 2014

When I was an innocent teenage girl, falling in love was like a fairy tale to me. When it was Valentine's day, the clubs and societies in school organized a "flower/gifts-delivery" service where you can buy and have it signed, delivered or dedicated to your friends or highschool bf/gf.

I remember this one time, I was somewhere around 13 or 14 years old, I didn't have a boyfriend and it was Valentine's day. As usual the school's clubs and societies organized a handmade-straw rose delivery service and other special dedications. So me and my other friends, who were crazy about boy bands (who wasn't at that time), decided to send ourselves roses, signed by our favourite singer. Hahaha! I was young, and looking back now, I think my Valentine at that time has always been my mother.

This year, Valentine's day is special to me. It feels as if there's a new realization, and everything from last year and before that, seem like a blurry dream to me. Anyways, with this new found positivity, here are 5 things I love about Valentine's day:


1. He gets to pamper me.


2. I get to pamper him.


3. To surprise a friend and make her day.


4. To receive from a friend too, an exchange for Friendship Love.

5. Self-Love: a time to show LOVE to yourself. Be compassionate, kind, gentle and generous to yourself by giving thanks to your existence.


Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Watch: Amadeus (1984)

Sunday, February 9, 2014
via

I spent two days, approximately about 2 1/2 hours each to finish this film. No, not because the movie was a drag, but because it was so darn long and AMAZING that I had to find time to finish watching it! It is one of the most breathtaking films I have ever watched during my weekend movie entertainment.

Even though it has been dramatized, yet Peter Shaffer's Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart took me by surprise with the storyline and plots. It has successfully feed my interest in researching and watching more and more movies about talented and profound people from the past that is responsible for our expressive arts growth today. And not to mention, renew my interest in music once more.

If you enjoy watching biography films like I do, then perhaps you might like this version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is certainly thumbs up for this 1984 made film, earning itself 8 academy awards. WOW!

Here's the trailer, enjoy!

Friday, February 7, 2014

How to Create a Cute Collage Painting with Clear Gesso

Friday, February 7, 2014

So far for some of my DIY/How-to posts, I've been putting effort in making videos so that you can relate to the step-by-steps better. And it has been fun, although I am still learning how to improve myself, therefore I hope that my readers would be more patient with me in my video-making. Not that I am trying to achieve the next Youtube Sensation title, it's just that I like to dabble in this little creative projects and nothing makes me happier than to be able to share it on my blog.

In this project, I will be showing you How to create a cute collage painting using Clear Gesso primer.

Here is another piece I have done previously with this technique. 
For those of you who is not familiar with clear gesso, basically it is a primer medium used to prime your canvases before painting on it; like a base or foundation. Unlike White or Black gesso, which gives a white or black base to paint on, clear gesso allows you to keep your original image (if you are painting over a picture) or gives a transparent result on your canvas.

I like to think that Clear Gesso isn't just for typical canvas painters, but for decoupage projects, or mixed media art. There's alot of use for clear gesso if you take the time to explore. As for now, I have chosen a collage project to show you how you can use clear gesso and turn it into a whimsy and quirky collage-painting.

Enjoy!



Monday, February 3, 2014

DIY Mod Podge

Monday, February 3, 2014

Happy Lunar Year everyone! Things are a little different for me this year's Chinese New Year, nevertheless, no matter how busy I am, I will never forget to post a new craft-related blog post.

In one of my previous blog posts, I did a craft project on DIY Toy Jar project. This time, using back the same upcycled toy jar, I am going to show you how to DIY your own mod podge.

This is great for all budget crafters out there; like myself, I have walked in a craft shop contemplating if I should buy a mod podge for my craft projects, but because I was a little short that month, I decided to create my own. Yes, it may not be as good as PLAID's famous mod podge, but for the time being, your own homemade mod podge will be good enough to last you until you are back on track again on your funds.

Enjoy!
PS: Excuse the video quality. I'm still learning how to make a good video.