December Moments....

This is my last post for this year, as I'm heading off to Berlin for New Years.

Here are some favourite moments captured from this month....

Hope you had a lovely Christmas and I wish you a wonderful New Year! xoxo

Goodies in the mail.....

Herriot Grace's hand crafted cloud cookie cutter:

Gift from lovely Melinda Josie:

Polaroids taken on a rainy day at the Christmas Fair at the Distillery:

Swedish Christmas Festival

This is one of my favourite events that I look forward to every year. I love going to stock up on delicious Swedish goodies, and share a quick fika of gingerbread with blue cheese spread and glögg with my best friend.

This year, the "Beaches BakeShop & Café" were there selling the most delicious pastries.  Too bad they were sold out of "vacuum cleaners" when we got there.

Their snowballs were even better than the ones I had in Stockholm!

Traditional carols....

Inventory checklist:

Polaroid captures (this man at the festival suggested I buy 4 packs of these candies - he said that they were addictive....he was right :P):

God Jul to you! :)

Spins and Needles

Last week my best friend (yeeessss, I'm 12... :P) Marisa and I went to Spins and Needles at a bar in Kensington Market.  Spins and Needles is a craft and DJ mixer hosted at random bars, galleries and/or public spaces.

I was keen on going as I've never been to a Spins and Needles event before and it was a lovely evening - to be creative (even though I'm not the crafty sort), to watch a place fill up with groups of friends (yes, boys also craft!).

First we went and collected our materials (which they provide):

Marisa made a bunch of buttons and black felt Christmas ornaments:

 
I made a (bioluminescent) jellyfish:

Polish (Woodland) Creatures -- Matryoshka Dolls ~ Set 2

This is the 2nd set of Matryoshka dolls that I've painted, but with this set, I added a legend as I felt that it was necessary.

It was a lot of fun painting them because they slowly take on a life of their own and the process is made more special when you're thinking of the person(s) whom you're painting them for. :)

Just like the 1st set, here's the entire process, from start to finish.....

Rough Sketches and Colour Study:

Base coat:

Sketched:

Painting in progress:

Paint and varnish completed:

Side view:

Back view:

Front view:

The Legend:

Personalized message at the bottom:

Getting ready for their journey:

Bon voyage!! :D

Getting Back to Basics

Tomorrow I will be returning to Mad Men county....yeesss, back to advertising land.

Honestly speaking, I am completely thankful for this time off because it offered me an opportunity to get back to my art and to feel inspired and happy again.

Here are some things I had the chance to dooooo....

I submitted some artwork to a contest....too bad they didn't get selected....hahaha.... :S
Oh well, it was a good try:

Then, I practiced my drawing skills a little bit.....eeek.....

And to my surprise, I started painting again....

...not to mention, I started this blog because SJ wanted us to do it. :)

SJ's Writing Assignment

Recently, SJ (my good friend...and *cough* *cough* blogging partner..haha) got into teacher's college and had to write a story about herself.  Being the creative person that she is, she wrote it like a children's book and her talented sister Ann illustrated a few pictures.

For those of you who know SJ, her sister did an amazing job capturing all the subtleties and details. 

Please click on each image for larger view.

Scandinavian Animals at the Fair -- Matryoshka Dolls ~ Set 1

This is the 1st set of Matryoshka dolls that I've painted.  In all honesty, I have not touched a paint brush in 10 or so years and I must confess I have now completely fallen back in love with it.  Most art pieces that I've painted in the past are mostly "functional" vs. canvases, and this is no exception.

I will not take credit for this idea because it was originally inspired by Irina Troitskaya who's work is ever lovely and flawless. 

Lastly, I usually never keep what I paint, so needless to say, this set of sweet-toothed arctic animals are now safe and sound in Umeå, Sverige, keeping a lovely little Prince company throughout the winter months. ;)

Here's the entire process, from start to finish.....

Rough Sketches and Colour Study:

 Here they are unpainted:

Base coat:

Sketched and outlined:

Colouring in each animal:

After varnishing... too bad I over varnished as there are some yellow banding on the Arctic Fox, Snow Owl and Snow Hare...... *sigh*:

Personalized message at the bottom:

Here they are getting ready for their long journey: