post #

Kinda, sorta, unbelievable. :D

p.s.: Thanks for following, Marie!

"500 posts" visual designed by The Graphic Bee, please do not copy.

Gilded Glass

Okay so I have a slight obsession with shiny metallic gold things, and when I saw these, I wanted them very much (but had absolutely no need for them):

And guess what. Today I came across a Martha Stewart tutorial to get the same gilded glass effect. Yay! It's not as shiny looking as the one in the photo, but I'm not complaining. Bookmarking it as a holiday project. I need time to work on my assignment for now. :-)

I'm back!

Hi hi! Sorry for the long absence, but I am back with full internet!! :D

Check out the Specific Light series, by Youngna Park

First week back + hair bows

Wow, so, the first week of the last year has swept past in talking, giggles, and catching up on updates! It was fun to see everyone after a long four month break, and I feel like I have talked more than I did all February! People have updated their hairstyles, and I saw a lot of fresh nail colours!

I thought that after such a big holiday, I'd be reluctant to get into the working/designing mode again, but I am actually really very excited/inspired to get designing and working towards assignments.

Anyway, I thought I'd show you what I've made in the holidays!

I'm so proud of my hair bows. Such a step up from this!

Lemon Curd; the cooking part

I told you earlier that I would be making some Lemon Curd, which I did, yesterday. I think that it's turned out good for a first time try, although if I were to make it again, I would add some more sugar (... or less lemon juice ... it's just trial-and-error!). Other than that, it is quite similar to the one we bought. Here's the recipe that I followed, and I've written it out if ya wanna copy+paste+print it!

Lemon Curd:

You will need:

1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons) + 1 tbsp of lemon zest (I added more 'cos I love lemon zest)/

3 eggs, lightly beaten (yup the white and the yolk)/

1 cup of sugar/

1/4 cup butter/

The preparation:

- Melt the butter over a double boiler.

- After the butter is melted, add all the sugar and mix properly with a whisk. Let the sugar granules dissolve.

- Add the eggs and mix it. 

- Add the lemon juice, followed by the lemon zest.

- Mix everything, and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

- Remove from the heat, and pour it through a strainer to make sure you don't get bits of curdled egg in your lemon curd!

- Keep it aside and let it cool. It will thicken as it cools.

- Spread it on bread or scones, use it as a pie-filling, or if you're like me, take a spoon and start nibbling! ;)

Notes:

- With the zest, you don't want the white part. It's bitter.

- I didn't want to lose any of the lemon zest, so I didn't strain the curd. Puny bits of (scrambled) egg wasn't that much of a problem as there were only a couple, which could be easily taken out by a spoon.

- I was just telling mum that this would be a good gift for Secret Santa's!

Ahhh, this recipe by Gordon Ramsay looks especially scrumptious! So tantalising!

1/1/11

I hope that all of you have an ah-mazing, happy, and safe new year! Do you make resolutions? I'm making a few (this is a first for me!). And woohoo, this is the year I graduate!

(new years' announcement designed by me)

NZ is the place to be!

According to this, NZ is the place to be next year, what with the Rugby World Cup and shooting of The Hobbit! Kinda sorta cool! It's going to be a fun year!

Is anyone thinking of coming to Auckland next year?!

p.s.: We used to live really really close to the place where the World Cup is going to be held. Like... five minutes walking distance close. Like... we could hear the crowds roar close!

I bought it!

I finally bought that top. Here's some good tips on how to wear sequins without looking tacky!

Deathly Hallows

Possibly the most awaited movie for me this year (who am I kidding—it was the most awaited movie for me). I watched it this morning.

Aaaaaand?

It was amazing. Really. I loved it. I laughed, I teared up (Dobbyyyy!), I laughed some more, I was frightened ... wow. The other thing that (pleasantly) surprised me was how true to the book it was. Yes, it's because they got time to spread it over two movies, but still. That was nice. I wish they'd stayed more true to the book with movies 4, 5, and 6 as well.

Have you seen it? What's the verdict? :D

(Now the wait is for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which, I think, releases 9 Dec)

Edit: Click on the image to see it better or to save it as a desktop wallpaper. It's been my desktop wallpaper for months now!

Image © Warner Bros and Harry Potter, of course!

Tactile Illustration

Amazing tactile illustrations by Shotopop. I wish I'd found out about them earlier! I definitely would've done some for my last assignment! I'm not taking illustration next year (I'm majoring in photography), but I want to try these out anyway! Also check out Shotopop's Munny (it's in the tactile illustration section), it's cuh-yute :)

On a side note, are you excited for Deathly Hallows Part 1?! And The Voyage of the Dawn Treader? I can't wait for both! My friend and I will hopefully be attending the Deathly Hallows midnight screening. Eep!!

Like I said, all images © the amazing creatives at Shotopop.

Hiya!

I'm back, we've settled in well, and we finally got internet! I shall be blogging again!

To start off, here's a photographer I found on another blog that I'd like to share. She does amazing and ethereal underwater photography, and I hope I'm as good as her one day!

Elena Kalis

We've moved!

Exciting!! Downside is, no internet/phone till at least Tuesday =( {I'm writing this from our friend's house}

I'll be blogging from my new room from now on!

Edit: You've probably noticed. Still no internet. So sorry.

empty drawers and cardboard boxes

The reason for the lack of posts? We're moving! I've gotten rather attached to this house of four-and-a-half years. It's extremely convenient to the city, shopping malls, railway station, bus stop, dairy (also called convenience stores anywhere outside of New Zealand!), etc. It's crazy to see the empty drawers and the cardboard boxes strewn around my room. Soon, it won't be looking like my room anymore...

And ahh, the joy of finding something that you've had memories of holding, playing with, as a child; something that was given to you by a special person; something you thought was long lost... Today, I found two sweet little porcelain-like dolls that I've had since I was five (maybe even before that). They were from a set of three, and one I lost at Hong Kong airport when I was nine... I'm going to proudly display these dolls in my new room. :)

Semi-Permanent

I won't be able to update much this weekend, because -

Semi-Permanent is on this Friday and Saturday! It's a two-day design conference, and people say it's brilliant. And very inspiring. 

We spent all day today packing 1800 goodie bags for Semi-Permanent tomorrow. Fun, fun!

I am also attending Subtlemob. Now I've never been to Subtlemob, so I don't really know what to expect, but there was an mp3 file that we downloaded, and all the people who gather for Subtlemob will start playing the audio exactly at the same time. Should be interesting!

And there is also another very amazing event that I will be photographing for, on Sunday!

See you on Monday, peeps!

p.s.: I did try linking Semi-Permanent and Subtlemob to their respective websites, but Blogger won't let me!

Seed-Nee Part 2: The other things

This is one of the only two photos with me in it from the entire trip ... here I am standing over a model of Sydney, at the Customs House.

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You can't get out of the station without feeding your tickets through these. Naturally, I was very excited, and very Mr-Weasley-from-Order-of-the-Phoenixish. Auckland trains have ticket collectors in them.

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The biggest IMAX from the previously-mentioned Darling Harbour.

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A train ticket = no need to buy souvenirs. =P

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A very retro loo at City Extra. I had creamy omelette on toasted bread for breakfast there. Yum!

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I had read about red velvet cupcakes on Kandee Johnson's blog. I tried them at The Cupcake Bakery, but they tasted just like cupcakes with red food colouring in them. Have you tried red velvet cupcakes? Do you like them?

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A white tiger brand advertisement that warns against imitations ("Tiger is not a Donkey, Horse or an Ass... Do not get confused with White Tiger 'look-alikes'.") but uses a photo of a Bengal tiger. I just thought it was hilarious.

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An inside street at Pitt Street Mall. Isn't it beautiful?!

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Beautiful Victorian buildings are scattered throughout Sydney. They are vibrant, and some of them have the most intricate ornamental metal-work on them! I also saw one with gold paint. It was really interesting and easy to see how much older Sydney looked, than Auckland.

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Taken from the aeroplane, on my way back to Auckland. Isn't it cool, how the runway goes over the motorway?!

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Seed-Nee Part 1: The touristy things

Come with me on a small trip to Sydney!

Edit: Please click on the photos to see them a bit better! I didn't realise they'd look so ... small. The next batch will be larger. I promise.

Sydney Tower. First photo taken from a moving Monorail, second from George Street (I think).

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Darling Harbour. Home to the biggest IMAX theater in the world. Pretty, isn't it?

with

Monorail Station (I was eating Movenpick Strawberry Ice-cream, a flavour that I haven't found in Auckland, so missed this particular monorail!), and a Monorail!

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This is, I think, the ferris wheel of Luna Park. But I could be wrong.

with

Chinese Temple (both photos taken from the moving Monorail)

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The infamous Sydney Harbour Bridge. First photo at around 9am, second around 5pm (it's winter here!). The evening picture definitely reminded me of Finding Nemo! It's taken from a train stopped at the Circular Quay station. Doesn't the station have the most beautiful view?! Seen from this point, the Opera House is to the right, and I think the bright area on the other side of the bridge is Luna Park.

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No Sydney pictures can be complete without the Opera House.

with

Some people that are eternally carved on to the Opera House!

Some more photos to come tomorrow!

Trailer!

Doesn't it look absolutely amazing!? I think I saw everything there, except for the Lovegoods. Did you catch 'em?

Ahhh, so can't wait for the release! HP! ❤

Oooh, a friend and I are going to watch Eclipse day after tomorrow! I'm not a fan of Twilight, and this is the first time I'll be watching a Twilight movie in a movie theatre. Think I'll be mobbed by pre-teens screaming for Edward?!

Room things

Um. Like. I totally want to make these!! I found the tutorial here. I do have some pink crepe paper [from the time I bought it to make these, but never made 'em because I didn't get any floral tape or wire ... my bad], but I want to use it to make the pom-poms that I always rave about. Pom-pom link here. Ooooo crepe paper pom-poms!

I also made some pom-poms for my room. They're red, and I'm going to make some gold ones too [I'm waiting for a friend, she wants to do them with me]. Yes, yes, Gryffindor. :P

Also. Today, my mum bought for me, the most loveliest of body mists ... Moroccan Rose from The Body Shop. Rose is one of my most favourite smells [along with lemon ...], and I am totally in love with my new mist. It reminds me of the Tea Rose, a perfume my mum used to wear when I was much younger ... I actually spent so long in the store, debating over whether I should get the Moroccan Rose body butter [but I found it too oily for my liking], the Cherry Blossom mist [too ice-creamy, my mum said ... I agree], or the Sweet Lemon body butter [good smell, but again, oily] ... I guess I was just being a typical indecisive Libra!

Oh yea, that photo is from a series of photos that I took while making my Apple and Rose Ice-Cream. And guess what, I totally forgot that I'd taken the pictures till I had to upload some assignment pictures from my camera today.

{Oooo, my first post on Rashmi's blog! Not including the introduction, of course!}

Geninne's Art Blog and Rashmi

Geninne's Art Blog. Is. Super. Amazing. She's soo talented! Definitely my favourite new artist/blog.

I can't help but stare at her beautiful artwork for hours! She hasn't been tutored on how to paint. She just ... paints! She says that this has helped develop her own unique, independent style. I believe that, too. For example, if I were to design a brochure, I try not to look at what other people have designed already, because that would stunt my creativity, and I'd just try to design something that lots of other people have done. Yep, just my two cents for today!

Geninne also inspired me to paint some today ... :) Also, watch her paint.

Edit: Can you guys find a Follow button on Geninne's blog? I do so want to follow her, but I can't find the button!!

Aaaaaaand introducing ...

Rashmi's new blog! I'm contributing! We don't have anything up yet, but we will, very very soon! It's a different type of a blog than the Graphic Bee, for sure!

Possibly the most funniest joke I have ever heard

And possibly my longest blog post title to date ... Anyway, here's the joke:

An English lady, while visiting Switzerland, was looking for a room for a more extended stay, and she asked the schoolmaster if he could recommend any to her. He took her to see several rooms, and when everything was settled, the lady returned to her home to make the final preparations to move.

When she arrived home, the thought suddenly occurred to her that she had not seen a "W.C." around the place. So she immediately wrote a note to the schoolmaster asking him if there were a "W.C." near the room.

The schoolmaster was a very poor student of English, so he asked the parish priest if he could help in the matter. Together they tried to discover the meaning of the letters "W.C.," and the only solution they could come up with for the letters was for a Wayside Chapel. The schoolmaster then wrote the following note to the English lady:

Dear Madam: 

I take great pleasure in informing you that the W.C. is situated nine miles from the room that you will occupy, in the center of a beautiful grove of pine trees surrounded by lovely grounds. It is capable of holding about 229 people and it is only open on Sunday and Thursday.

As there are a great number of people who are expected during the summer months, I would suggest that you come early; although, as a rule, there is plenty of standing room. You will no doubt be glad to hear that a good number of people bring their lunch and make a day of it. While others who can afford to go by car arrive just in time.

I would especially recommend that your ladyship go on Thursday when there is a musical accompaniment. It may interest you to know that my daughter was married in the W.C. and it was there that she met her husband.

I can remember the rush there was for seats. There were ten people to a seat ordinarily occupied by one. It was wonderful to see the expression on their faces. The newest attraction is a bell donated by a wealthy resident of the district. It rings every time a person enters.

A bazaar is to be held to provide plush seats for all the people, since they feel it is a long felt need. My wife is rather delicate, so she can't attend regularly. I shall be delighted to reserve the best seat for you, if you wish, where you will be seen by everyone.

For the children, there is a special time and place so they will not disturb the elders.

Hoping to have been of service to you, I remain,

Sincerely,

The Schoolmaster.

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I had first read it in a newspaper, when I was about 12. I've tried to find this copy for so long! And then it struck me - it'll be on the Internet! D'oh! And here it was! And for those who didn't get it, the W.C. that the English lady was asking about, stands for Water Closet, or in Indian lingo, a Western Commode.