Giveaways

Some pretty sweet giveaways happening over at Design Mom. It's the annual Design Mom Giveaway Week. 

And, of course, don't forget Bright Side Project, where they have lovely giveaways every single day!

You can find links to both these websites on the right.

Adobe CS5 Roadshow

Hiya! Today I went to the Adobe CS5 Roadshow - we got taught a lot of new tips and tricks, and CS5 looks amazing! I especially loved the Content Aware and the Puppet Warp tools in Photoshop CS5. I wish I could try them out... but I have good old CS3... hehe...

And. I kept nodding off in one of those talks. Yikes! :| Not because of the content or the talk, mind you, it was brilliant.

p.s.: Btw, Brajesh, don't give this post that blank stare :P . CS5 = Creative Suite 5, it's a package of programmes that are design, web, and movie/video related, such as Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash, Lightroom, and so on.

Alexa Meade

You didn't think these were real paintings now, did ya?

Naw, of course not! Alexa Meade paints on her subjects itself! Look and read more about her here. Alexa's website here.

Anzac Day

Today, i.e. 25th of April, is seen as Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand. It is on this day that we remember all those soldiers that served in the military during the World War 1 and 2, and other operations. 

Poppies are a symbol of remembrance, and Poppy pins are given out in the city for a small donation. Three young men dressed in military uniform also came in to our lecture asking if we wanted the Poppy pins. :)

Click here to read more about Anzac Day.

Click here to read about Simpson and his donkey [they transported wounded soldiers to safety, and the donkey, named Duffy, kept doing this even after Simpson was killed in an attack].

Earth Day!

Well, a happy Earth Day to you all ... Are you doing anything to save the Earth today?

Say ... doesn't that forest remind you of J. K. Rowling's description of the forest when Harry, Ron, and Hermione escape from the Ministry?

Firsts..

I'd written the first welcoming post here in October 2008. Then, after a gap, I really started writing in this blog. On April 22nd last year. It was my clips tutorial post, written for my best friend. I'd only started this blog for my bestie, to let her know what I'd been up to... but then - and I love this part! - others joined in, like Stephanie, Abby, Brajesh [who I would've never dreamed of reading this blog! He's all futbol and running around], Rachel, Sam, Robert, Silviana, Rashmi, Ruthie, Maia, Marinho, Kunal, DT, Akshay, Karishma, Quinn, Laxmy, Devil, Kitty Cheese, and last but definitely not the least, Jingle! Yay! Thanks all!! :D

And here's another first. My first-ever photograph taken in the flash-as studios we've got up at university:

Please don't just take that photo away, ask me first. :)

Look at these!

Mmm. And you thought I was showing you photos?! Hah! Nope, these are hyperreal paintings. Aren't they hyper-awesome?! 

Check out more here.

Oh, and sorry about the title. I couldn't think of a better one without giving something away ;)

You.

If you could write a letter/postcard/note to your five year old self, what would you write in it?

Epicute

Hiya... been a little busy with uni work... but wanted to share a link. Epicute. Very, very cute food.

Like this lunch box...

I want to gulp these down!

Eep! I wonder if it's real, though?

Oh wow, I can't wait to make these!! *summons bottles of food colour*

Thanks, Morgan!! 

Pictures from Epicute.

Ink Calendar

Spotted: Ink Calendar [it's just a concept though, not a real 'thing' ... yet]

Where: DesignMom

What it is: The numbers soak up the ink, so the dates are filled in each day! Cool, huh? Would you like it in your abode, or would you go for a traditional flip-me calendar?

Sweet sneaks.

Nice. More pictures and info here. [I know you like them Rachel!]

Erik Natzke

Think this has been done with paint and brushes? Think again. Photoshop? Nope. Erik Natzke uses computer code to design these fabulous pieces of artwork. More here, on his site.

Love 2010!

Ooh, check out these 2010Love t-shirts. Really good play with the words 2010 and LOVE. From DesignSisters.

Picture from DesignSisters' Etsy shop. If you're the owner of this picture, please let me know if you'd like me to take it down, and I'll do that pronto!

I've been painting ...

... my nails, of course! tee hee ... :P

This is me and Glow Fishy [my little sister] in December '09 [Edit: No, sorry, I think this is on the 4th of Jan, 2010] . I'm on the left. She's leaving for the U.S. as I type this. I'm going to miss you, Laxmall!! :')

Macarons!

Why did I not know about macarons earlier!? They look super yummo!! They're at Grey Lynn farmers market ... mmm ... [that picture is not from there though, it's from Wikipedia!]

We get good Turkish Delight at university however, and the other day I bought so much, I felt like Edmund!:

Jingle!

Hey, I've received an award over at Jingle's blog! Thanks, Jingle, although I don't know how to take it and post it here ... and I don't know how to follow you, but I want to! Hope you comment back with some help! :)

Froggity Plop!

So there are five frogs squatting on a log.

Four decide to jump.

How many remain on the log?

PS: Akshay, you're not allowed to reply :P

Spielberg's The Pacific

Interactive advertisements are fun and they definitely attract onlookers. The first one I've seen around Auckland this year was for KitKat, where you could take off parts of the wooden advertisement and assemble a chair - have a break [have a KitKat] and sit on it!

The second one is an advertisement for Spielberg's The Pacific miniseries. The one I've seen is behind the university bus stop, on Symonds Street. Here are some photos [click on them to see them better!]:

Hardly anyone passes the wall without pausing here. The letters are written by soldiers fighting in the war to their family. They're real, as far as I know ... I talked to the person putting them up on the wall, and he kindly offered me some. :) I also got some photos from the wall. Ooh, and there's a poem too, I wonder if I should post it here?

Bird Cages

Ohh, I just love those double bird cages from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Don't know what I'm talking about? Take a look at this still:

Yeahhh. I have a bird cage necklace, but unfortunately the bird has come off it. And the kind lady who I bought those Lord of the Rings books off by offered to fix it for me! Yay!!

Movie still © Warner Bros, you know it's not mine!!

Where's Waldo?

Where's Waldo?! [Found this through a friend, artist unknown]

Buzzback - comment - on this post if you find Waldo! :)

3D Dude

Have you seen that new 3D Dude on Google maps?! I thought it was an April Fools' thing, but he's still there, smirking and wearing his cool glasses. Luckily, I had some 3D glasses at home [thanks, Adobe!]. Here he is, just outside my house:

3D glasses are really annoying though, when you have to put them over your normal ones. Yes, I have myopia, I don't know if I've mentioned this before.

Autumn

Orangey leaves.. dead branches.. hot soup.. mmm, hello, autumn! [yep, facebook friends, this was my status a while ago]

I also got second-hand copies of the Lord of the Rings trilogy from my university [we have market day every Wednesday]. This will hopefully make me read them finally ... ha ha ... I've watched the movies, and I love them! Just got to get around to reading the books now!

And yes, Aparna, this is the mug that you gave me! :D Aparna gave me the awesomest mug ... it's got my photos on it!

Speaking of awesome mugs, how's this one for multi-purposed?! 

Although, no use for me, mind you ... I like to have at least four of those nom-noms with my tea! Aaand, they have them mugs for right-handed people, as well as left-handed people! Of course! From Mocha. Also check out their wall pots, and sky umbrella.

Wow, doesn't seem as if it's been a year, but it's been almost a year since I posted this Autumn post! [My images from that post are so, well, blue!]

Lotr book photo and soup photo © Gandhali B 2010

Goat Island

We went to Goat Island a while ago, and I just wanted to share some pics. These aren't from Goat Island, but from somewhere we stopped by while coming back. I can't remember what the place is called, but it's got a whole lot of rusty tractors and other things. Naturally, I went mad photographing :P And there was also a barn with the Elvis Moo (below) and a ginormous Buzzy Bee.

Click on the picture to view it in it's full glory :)

Aah, the Nineties!

Lisa Frank!! [I'd forgotten about Lisa Frank and her psychedelic pencils, until I read about them on Facebook recently!]

I wonder if they're still as popular?

Picture from Lisa Frank!

Bulgar gold

Hey! Be sure to vote for your favourites for the Time 2010 Most Influential People! There are more lists here on Time's website.

PS: Bulgar gold?! Those are just two words Time made me fill in to make sure I'm human. And, turns out that I am. ;)

Image from the Time website.

smh.

And what does Rachel mean when she says that?! I always thought it meant something along the lines of ... "ugh", or "meh", but it's actually:

Shaking My Head.

I can't believe I couldn't figure that out. Hmph.

Easter!

Yay for the Easter break! Here's a nice Easter wreath tutorial that I stumbled upon earlier today, if you're interested. 

Okay. Half-way through writing that, I remembered: Today's April Fools Day! And ... it's 8:30pm! Damn!!

So I whipped up this easy prank:

Dried-up blood and wound:

Take some glue. The kind you get in sticks. I used Amos Baton de Colle. It's quite a soft glue. Scrape a bit off, and apply it to wherever you want the wound to be. Paint over it with a red gel pen/pilot pen/whatever you want. I used a vivid [a permanent marker] because I was in a great rush, but I'm not sure how it's going to come off now! So think before you paint :P

It's awesome how glue looks just like dried up blood. I did mine on my palm [it was "a cut from a blade!"]. And yes, if you are wondering, my little trick did work, though I think the person who I was tricking was a tad annoyed. Okay, maybe more than tad. But that's because my "wound" was huge and pretty awful-looking. Hahaha ...

By the way, someone from school taught me this four years ago :D

Also. It's George [and Fred *sob*] Weasley's birthday today! Happy Birthday to the master pranksters!

PS: This post was only supposed to be about Easter and eggs and such. But one thing led to another ... ha ha ha ... funny how that happens!

Edit: The time down here ↡ lies.