Good afternoon!

Two days ago, my parents bought me a new phone since my old one was getting quite wonky. Now I've got an iphone. So much easier when it comes to showing my works/hand bound books/ photos to interested craft shop owners.

Previously, I had to show pictures and examples of my work via my big heavy camera, and slowly scroll to the better ones. Either that or I'd have to lug the entire loot of hand bound books down. Now it's so much easier. And so much more professional. And to add to the professionalism, I made myself new business cards. Each card is hand stamped onto beautiful textured heavy weight water colour paper. Wow, what a mouthful!

Alright, just thought I'd show you my new phone and card. I've got to make a trip down to the apple store now. Getting myself a proper phone protector. 

See you around!

xxx!

Quick update!

These days I find myself busy with all the sorting of my zines, packing of my luggage bit by bit, meeting up with my closest girlfriends, having good food and just fully utilizing what's left of my super short Winter break. I'm returning to Melbourne next Saturday. And I've decided to try and spend the whole of next week at home with my sister and parents. Just resting and prepping myself for second semester of Sophomore year. 

I should really stay at home, catch enough sleep, and start working out my projects for next semester. I know I've got a few lined up already. I just need to sort them out bit by bit. Hmmm.

Alrightyo. Off to bed for now!

Zine Making in Progress!

Hello! How have you been? Having a fantastical weekend so far?

I've been super busy, up to my little toes, making my zines. So exciting, I can't wait to finish all of them, and bring them back to Melbourne and place them at some shops again. Ooh!

PS: There's gonna be two new zines this time round. A little book about sandwiches, and the other, an alphabet book! : )

Alrightyo, you have a good Sunday!

15 Minutes

The sister and I went out yesterday and lunched at this spacious cafe. Melly of Greenlaundry blogged about it before and I made a note to remember to pop by the place myself when I'm back. And so I did!






15 Minutes
1 Mcnally Street
Lasalle College Of The Arts
Singapore 187940

Everyone should visit 15 Minutes if you have the time. Food's not really expensive, cooked just right! I had the Ham and Mushroom linguine in Pink Sauce, and my sister had a Spicy Prawn Aglio Olio. 

The staff are all really friendly and the ambience is great and airy too. I'll be popping by again soon! And this time I'll order something else to try! I'm really interested in their kaya muffins. Haha!

Oh and I almost forgot to mention, students get a discount too!

PS: I just popped by Melly's blog again and saw that I took a somewhat similar photo of the cafe from the inside. Hah. Just thought I'd post the picture up anyway! Hope you don't mind Melly!

xxx!

Too Cute For Words - Friday !

Yup, that's me! Circa late 1980s. Haha

Bakers Dozen!

Hello hello : ) I am pleased to let you all know that one of my little secret projects I was doing a while back, is finally not so secretive anymore! 

Remember a few weeks back when I was crazy stitching and book binding books? Thing is, they were for this awesome little online shop. And I had to keep it a little hush hush first before it went on sale.  Anyway, they are up now and I'm so excited to be amongst the wonderful artists involved! Thank you so much Amy, for this wonderful opportunity!

You can see the books I've done here. 

Each hand bound book is filled with beautiful textured paper. Suitable for watercolour and ink. Each book has an embroidered 'tiny bit of magic' on it's vintage fabric cover. Petite little book, perfect for filling in lovely thoughts! Measures 13 x 19cm. 

PS: There's only 13 of these magical books! So do be quick!

xxxxx!

zap zap zines in the making!

This is what I've been busy with. Hiding at home these days, folding, cutting, stapling, printing, gluing, Woohoo!
I'm super excited to see the finished stacks of zines all ready to be sent out. Still making, still doing.

For those of you who've ordered my zines and paid for in advance, thank you Super much for being this patient! 2 1/2 more weeks and I'll send them out to all you lovely people! : ) Thanks for waiting! I really really do appreciate it! : )

And because I feel like it, here are some nice posts happening around blog land today:

Cute buntings anyone?

Some sweet travelling

Beautiful Cheesecakes!

London and Paris maps. 

(They should make a Melbourne one!)

Enjoy! And see you tomorrow! 

xxx!

Self Portrait

2 1/2 weeks before I go back to my Melbourne home and see myself in the very same studio space, painting my afternoons away. Time flies really fast. Anyway, I got my results today. Alright. Was a bit surprised. I passed my art history! I was struggling so much with my paper and thought I was going to fail. But I improved so it's a good thing.

One step at a time : )

Everyone needs a cup of warmth!

I woke up this morning craving for a good cup of yummy warm hot chocolate. I don't deny it, Hot Chocolate's my favourite drink! It makes me feel better when I'm really cold. Makes me smile on a lazy day. It makes me happier when I'm already happy. You see, I love my chocolates and when I down a cup of really really good hot chocolate, my heart swells and I feel all nice, warm and fuzzy inside me. I know it's weird, but that's me and my love for my chocolaty friend!

You know, just the other day I was making my way to the post office. Clad in my ugly weather-water-proof shoes, mismatched socks and huge ugly jacket, I wanted to quickly make my way there, post out some letter and return home. Oh the dreadful weather on that day! It started to drizzle and the wind was blowing endlessly at my face. It Was so so super cold! When I reached the post office, the queue was just too long and there was simply no space left to stand and wait. So I decided to head over the cafe somewhat across the street to get myself a nice piping hot cup of Hot Chocolate. You know, I reached, all cold and trembling, ordered a takeaway cup, and guess what. I found out I had not a single cent on me! ( I lent a good friend $20 the night before and forgot all about it! ) Gosh. So I asked if the cafe takes eftpos, I know, really silly. And they don't. And I told the cute counter guy I forgot my cash and it's ok, so sorry but I had to cancel my order. And guess what?

.
.
.
.
.

He gave me the cup for free! I guess he knew I was freezing and really needed something to warm myself up. Such a nice guy! And even though the Hot chocolate tasted pretty average, it was by far one of the nicest cup I had to date. Because of his act of kindness. The world needs more people like him!

Thank you really kind cafe guy!

Anyway, I like my Hot Chocolates, thick and made from chocolates and not some lousy powder, from a few places:

Monsieur Truffle
90 Smith St, Collingwood

St Ali
12-18 Yarra Pl
South Melbourne

Fandango
97 Errol St
North Melbourne

Malthouse Theatre Cafe
CUB Malthouse Theatre
113 Sturt Street, Southbank

Von Haus
1A Crossley Street,
Melbourne CBD


Here's just a few. But it should be enough for you to go try out, you Hot Chocolate loving Melburnians!

So, tell me what's your favourite drink! I'd like to know. Is it a soy latte, skinny frapp, mocha, espresso, I don't know! And I would like to find out. You can blog about it, twitter it, simply leave a comment below, or I don't know what else. But just leave your name below so we all know who likes what and where to go for yummy drinks! ( You might like to throw in a few recommendations as to where's good to go for your favourite drink! ) Just so we all know where's all the yummy places to go to! And do you happen to have a nice little coffee/ hot chocolate story ( like myself and the kind guy ) to tell too? I'm sure we blogger all love to know! : )


********************** What's Your Favourite Warm Drink? **************************




Cheers and have fun!
xxx Dawn!

If you're feeling a little blah

Watch this and it'll make you feel better. Well, it worked in my case. Makes me feel like having something sweet! And the funny thing is I don't even like French Toast to begin with. Funny how an English accent and some sugar makes me feel much better after a blah night.

Alright, I'm off to bed. To hopefully dream of yummy sweet crepes and desserts. Ah. 

xx!

Secret Surprise Saturday!

Sarah and I met up today for our very own little secret surprise project. For now it's going to be hush hush. But some sneaky little pictures up here anyway! These little pictures, are meant to keep you all excited! 

Are these cupcakes cute? All of us need a bit of sugar high sometimes too right? 

Sarah and I are alike in a way. And so when you place both of us together with a cute little puppy and pretty fabrics, you're sure to get lots of laughter and funny thoughts! ( In a good way! ) We had so much fun after everything, we threw ourselves a little impromptu garden sort of tea party. 

Yummy food, girl talk, pretty fabrics and this cute little one! Ah it was so much fun!

I can't wait to show you the project when it's done. But for now, it's our little secret. Righto Sarah-O? 

Both Sarah and I were wearing cute aprons. I was wearing some red with white polka dotted apron. It's really cute but you can't see the dots! And Sarah had on a bright turquoise apron!

Alright, you have a good Sunday, go out and have some fun while you can! : )

Cheers!

xxxx!

Dawn!

Cute Girls Love To Crochet!

Images via Sarah London Textiles.

Aren't these granny squares too cute or what? I wish I could crochet too. But unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, knitting, crocheting is really not my thing. Haha. Looks like I'll be sticking with painting and book binding and dreaming I can crochet. Haha.

Circa 1989

This week's Words and Pictures organized by Pip is... Rose!
I was flipping through my family's old photo albums and I found this photo of me! I think my cute rose pink gingham strawberry bikini top is just too cute for words!

I found other funny kiddy photos of myself as well. I'll post some along the way. It's always nice to look at photos when we're all much younger. Right right? Would you like to share your pictures as well? I'm thinking we could post a photo every Friday. What do you think? If you're up for this week, do leave your name below! So others will be able to see your cute little self as well!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Too Cute For Words - Friday ! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx




Have fun!
Cheers!
xxxDawn

North Melbourne

I was walking around North Melbourne last weekend and these were some of the shots I took. The day was cold and slightly gloomy. Sometimes such days are nice. I love these sort of cold weather when I'm indoors, sipping on tea and making little bits of art.

Anyway, my wonderful friend Sarah, tagged me. So here are my answers!

1. What is your current obsession?
Quaint cafes and shops!

2. What is your weirdest obsession?
I like ...... Hmm. Actually I don't know.

3. What do you see outside your window?
Some nice green trees.

4. What is your favorite color?
Don't really have a favourite colour. But I guess I've got a weakness for anything bright red, and polka dotted. I just don't like purple. Never knew why, but never did. Haha

5. What is your weakness?
Pretty fabrics! Needless to say.

6. What animal would you be?
A Border Collie or a Chesnut Coloured horse.  Because both would live out in the open fields/in a barnyard and have lots of space to run around. 

7. What would you like to learn how to do?
I would love to learn how to crochet and make myself a granny square quilt!

8. What do you want to never happen in life?
To not be able to do art or make stuff anymore! Making art is my life. It's who I am!

9. What is on your bedside table?
Hmm. My wooden stationary box, candles on a vintage blue plate, a vintage pair of porcelain chipmunks, some acorns I collected, a photograph, and my cactus. Yes, Very packed. Haha.

10. What’s the last thing you bought?
100gsm Paper to re print my zines!

11. What do you think about the person who tagged you?
Sarah tagged me and she's really funny. She loves floral vintage and pretty stuff like I do. That's why we click ;-)

12. What was your favorite children’s book?
Charlie And the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. It's filled with so much exciting stuff and sweet thoughts. So wonderful!

13. Who do you want to meet in person?
Hmm. Not sure for now. 

14. What did you want to be as a child?
I wanted to be an actress. Because as an actress, I get to 'be' anything I want to be. A doctor, a lawyer, a nurse, a vet, a teacher, an artist, etc. Haha. That was my theory.

15. What did you dream about last night?
I fell asleep so deeply I don't even remember. Haha

16. Which do you prefer, day or night?
Day! So i can walk around and take pretty photos with good lighting! ( See, we're similar this way, Sarah )

17. What’s your favorite piece of clothing in your closet?
Surprisingly enough, this really huge plain boring black Kathmandu outdoor pullover. It's huge, 2 sizes too large, plain and black, boring and not even pretty. But it is the most comfortable piece of 'clothing' I own. And I feel happy whenever I'm in it.

18. What’s your plan for tomorrow?
To continue waking up at 7am and printing my zine. Only 1600 copies and +++++++ to go!

19. What is your must-have of the moment?
Cooling powder ( To prevent heat rash ) since I've just returned to Singapore from wintry Melbourne. The heat here is making me break out in rash!

20. What’s your favorite tea flavor?
Japanese green tea, or Orange Pekkoe.

21. If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?
Hmm. I just came back to Singapore, and am a bit scared of flying again. But if I could teleport, I would be in Sweden right now! 

Can I interest you in something pretty? - Part 2

Thread Den Level 1, 

16 Errol St North Melbourne

If you're in for some pretty vintage clothes at affordable prices, or even just to learn how to sew cute things like your very own skirts, summer dresses, or old school aprons, etc, hop on down to this quaint little shop!

You can check out their website here and sign up for some classes if you like. I signed up for their July Social night. I can't wait to attend!

Can I interest you in something pretty? - Part 1

Arthur's Circus

631 Queensberry Street

North Melbourne 3051

You can read more bout their shop and how it all started via this article on Stylecollective. And if you're into apartments and beautiful interiors sort of stuff, you can view their wonderful home here on Apartment Therapy LA too! I wished I had a home or shop like theirs! And if you're smitten and can't get down to their shop, you can buy some stuff here.

I popped by into the shop twice this week and brought friends along. And at both times, I left the shop feeling really happy. I'm totally in love with this blue globe pictured below. But it's kind of out of my wallet's range. I can only dream about and imagine I have it then. Haha.

Alrightyo! Have a great Sunday! 

xxx!