Sunday 31 May 2015

meet my little plant | introduction

Hello!

So I have been wanting another succulent or a cactus for a LOOONNGGG time now and I've finally bought a cute little Echeveria succulent! (I'm still planning on getting more to expand my little family of plants ^_^")

Ta-dah!


Save paper, save trees, save the environment!
I've also been experimenting with a DSLR camera (I borrowed it, not bought) instead of using my little Nikon point-and-shoot. I might be planning a future post on that, so make sure to keep up with future posts!
Stay awesome.
~ Judy x

Sunday 24 May 2015

how to shove aside a creative block

A handful of cupcakes :D






































So you're about to draw something for fun, and as you are a millimetre from touching the tip of your pen to paper, you freeze. Because you're stuck. No, not from super gluing your arm to the desk (well, hopefully not)... from the lack of ideas.

Lately when it comes to making polymer clay charms, I've found that I've had
a) Much less free time to actually make stuff
b) No ideas on what to make
c) Felt unmotivated as I wasn't getting results I hoped for, even if I did start trying.



And so because of these reasons, I haven't really made a proper charm in months. And leaving a hobby or skill out of practice for too long leaves it rusty and old and horrible and that just uninspires you further and urgh. Yuck. One of the worst feelings ever for me is feeling uninspired!

But luckily for you, you have these few handy tips to get out of the creative rut and  motivate you to DO STUFF and polish your rusty old skills to perfection :D

Note: Creativity is not limited to only art, so I'm pretty sure these tips can be applied to anything to do with creating :)

Here I went from practicing eyeballs, to doodling a turtle, to procrastinating my maths homework by drawing what was in front of me...

1. Keep an outlet to let rouge ideas lose.

Okay, this sounds a bit weird and kind of reminds me of electrical plugs going haywire (see what I did there c; ) but lemme explain. I personally have a small notebook, with blank white pages and I'm able to carry it with everywhere (if I chose to of course. I mean, I wouldn't suggest bringing it to the toilet or whatever) and with a spiral bound, easy to slip a pen in. This notebook is what I doodle and draw in, and the great thing about it is that I've kind of made an agreement with myself to try and not show anyone the insides of this book. Other people's judgement is what we can thrive from... or why we shrink away.

2. Be on the lookout for inspirations, and record them!

I keep a Pinterest board for inspirations, and I'm able to pin any picture on the Internet to that board with a few clicks. I also keep a YouTube playlist for any polymer clay, art or DIY video I see, to be used on those days when I want to tear my brain out as it's not working. And on my phone, I keep a folder full of screenshots of images from Instagram that inspire me ^_^

Not only did the donuts get better, but the photography did as well! xD

3. If you fail, try again! And don't destroy the fails.

When you've tried something, like a drawing, and you aren't satisfied or it turns out HIDEOUS, I suggest you don't burn it like in the olden days, to be kept private from any human eyes ever again to save you from embarrassment and facepalming. But you know what they say, "Success is only from failures" (or something like that). If you don't keep your progress, you'll never really improve because you won't have anything to learn from. And it's also fun to laugh at your fails later on down the track. Maybe that's just me...



4. Use art as a way to destress and get away, not as a reason for stress.

Sometimes, it's okay to stab at paper a lot of paint and kaleidescopes of colours, because you're angry and want to fling stuff around. Sometimes it's okay to visualise your problems on a medium, and draw out what's bothering you. But what's not okay is for you to think art is a chore, and you need to pull together some amazing idea together in two seconds or your life will cease to have meaning. That got drastic pretty quickly.


5. Redo the old stuff.

When I'm stuck on what to make for charms, I tend to make old stuff again, because let's be real, coming up with original stuff these days is hard, when everything that could possibly be thought of has already been done. Almost everything. As seen in the picture above, when I don't know what to make, I tend to just make cupcakes over and over again, each with a different colour pattern, a new technique, a new topping or a slight variation.





So yeah! :)

Hopefully these tips help in some way, shape or form ^_^

Stay fabulous!
Lena xx





Sunday 17 May 2015

max brenner || more waffle-tastic adventures

Hello again!

Here's a continuation of the waffle adventures I've been going on recently ^_^ This time, I visited Max Brenner, the famous worldwide chocolate restaurant known for their AMAZING CHOCOLATE. I would say that the food is a bit overpriced, but tasted amazing nonetheless. They were also giving out free samples of chocolate to us waiting in the very long line, which was very nice of them :)

Choc waffles with a side of icecream and fruit. 
I ordered the Tutti-Frutti Waffle which includes Belgian waffle served with icecream, fresh strawberries and bananas. I actually ordered the 'double', (which included two waffles instead of one) but the cashier was confused and charged us nearly $50 and everything was a disaster and the world collapsed yeah long story short we finally figured it out.

YUM.
Fruit dipped in icecream tastes so good...
The waffles were crunchy and delicious, and the addition of drizzled chocolate made them a thousand times better. I did not eat all of the food if you were wondering by the way, (I shared it with someone else.)

Well I hoped you enjoyed this super short post, and you might see more of these waffle-tastic adventures soon. Thanks for tuning in!

See you later :)
~ Judy x

Sunday 10 May 2015

Beijing , China (i) - dumplings, exercise equpiment and chinchillas

ALOHA!

Throwback to December-January 2014/15 , because I'm always posting things a few months after they happen xD

Just a collection of photos from a week in Beijing, China. I'll be splitting this into a few posts, because I take waaaaaay too many photos :P

Hehehe all the teeny tiny houses are cute
First stop: FOOOOOOD <3
 

BOKEH IS THE BEST

Grapefruit, persimmons, apples and the cutest mandarin ever :D

It's pretty funny how there's exercise equipment everywhere, and they're fun to play with haha

I walk a lonely road ~ ♪

I would never be brave enough to ride in one of these things.


Inside Tianmeneenenen ssquare.

Brace yourselves for the whole bunch of silhouettes because I really love them hehe

Humans everywhere

There are a lot of random dogs and cats in Beijing. Not sure why.

SILHOUETTE #2

The things on the back of the trolley are these fruits called hawthorns (to me, they taste like mini apples with a few little seeds in them), coated in sugary stuff. THEY'RE SO GOOD! Although best not to buy them off random people selling on streets because might not be hygienic heh.


At first, they look pretty cute. But after a while they start looking a bit creepy.

When the milk from McDonald's is adorable <3

Does anyone know what animal this is?! I've never seen it before :O Is it a chinchilla?
This is one of the first posts in the Travel category of our blog... hope you like it, because there'll be a few more to come! ^_^

Hope you're having a great day!
Lena xx

Sunday 3 May 2015

april favourites

Aloha everyone!


If you can tell from the picture, it's time for the favourites of April!

I have chosen to show you this month's favourites on my bright orange, stripey bedsheets (if you didn't know already, orange is my favourite colour ^-^) Yep, they're from IKEA if you're wondering.


Inspired from pins on Pinterest!
Little Sketch Book
Ok, I'll be honest. I bought this book about 2 years ago, ready to start filling it up with great drawings and paintings, but totally forgot about it until this year. It's a great time-filler, and acts as your own little private place to let out your ideas.



Burt's Bees Lemon Cuticle Cream
I bought this a long time ago in a pack with the Burt's Bees peppermint lip balm (which is fabulous by the way), but never got to properly try it out, until now! It's easy to apply and makes your nails and fingers feel great.


Animal Crossing New Leaf (3DS)
YAY. I've been getting back into this game recently. I basically either play it for 3 hours a day continuously for 2 weeks, or neglect it under a pile of work for 6 months. My main motivation to get me back into it are the flowers that I've spent so much effort on. Please don't die. And another thing, the weeds. PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE. (If you play ACNL, you'll understand the pain.)


Mini Mouse
I was in need of a mouse for a very long time, as using a tiny touch-pad that doesn't' let you tap half the time isn't very efficient. So I bought a mouse annndddd IT'S ORANGE! It's called 'Mango Tango' from Logitech. The mouse is called mini for a reason, as it fit's in the palm of my hand, which is tiny to begin with. 


~April Antics~

Favourite App at the moment...
Cow Evolution. (it's just so funny to watch them grow and poop. That sounded weird.)

Anything new?
I've recently been braiding my hair instead of tying it up in a ponytail, which is really different to what I have always been doing (you guessed it, a ponytail). I now usually throw it up into a French braid, which is practically the only braid I can manage to do.

What I've been listening to:

Sledgehammer - Fifth Harmony
After hearing this song absolutely everywhere, I finally decided to do a search on Google!
Heartbeat Song - Kelly Clarkson
I have recently gained a lot of respect for Kelly Clarkson, after listening to her singing live.
Katie, Queen of Tennessee - The Apache Relay
Funny story, I actually discovered this song from a Buzzfeed video.
Escape - Megan Nicole
I love the beginning of the song so much, and the music video is beautiful :)

Goal for May:
Pass my piano exam. That is all. (And probably try and wake up on time for school again. Hurrah!)

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Well that's all for this month! What have you been loving recently?

See you soon!
~ Judy x