The tempayan make-over

Tempayan?..... tempayan? ...tempayan ???? ...eyh...what's tempayan in english huh??? Been trying to recall what's it called (and too lazy to go look for my malay-english dictionary... actually can't remember where I last placed it... muahahahaha) ... *sigh*

Anyway... this tempayan here belongs to Salmi's grandmother ...errr or is it great-grandmother ??? (oh dear ... memory failure ...again!!) I had painted 3 different topiaries around it with butterflies and bees flying in between. I antiqued it to give it added value hehe ... not realising when I did that, the tempayan is already actually THAT old... a real piece of antique!!!! Only knew that it's an antique when Salmi came to collect it haha.... honestly... the tempayan looked very new... just smooth and shiny!!! Credit to the good old days when things were made to last forever !!! I'm satisfied with this piece ... did some research to get ideas for the topiaries hehe.... look see at the other two topiaries ya.

Salmi is happy... I'm happier ... I still have that nagging fear that my artwork is not up to expectations :(

That's it for now... off to the studio whilst I'm still in the painting mood. Need to get a few pieces ready for Christmas :) Have a great day ya ...

The Batu Gang

As a young child up to my teens, I led a nomadic life. Abah was with RISDA and was always on the move... getting transferred from one state to the other every few years. We, the kids, had to tag along... uprooting ourselves from one school to the next. It was hard to bond with anybody... but on the plus side, we made many friends ...yup!yup!yup!

Recently in the past few months...as destiny dictates our lives... I've been blessed with the past... meeting up with friends who remained fresh in my memories but have no inkling where they are. Names that I can recall... faces that are still young and fresh haha ... and sometimes just situations or events I recall but can't remember where they occurred (hahaha ... that's of course due to this thing called m-e-m-o-r-y ... which sometimes I forgot where I put.... muahahahaha) Anyway... yesterday was a great day.

After 36 years... I managed to catch-up with another batch of friends. Mashita found me in facebook... then came Liza and Aini. The biggest surprise was when Amin showed up at Lake Club where we gathered. Thank you all dear friends ... I am blessed. Alhamdulillah....

May Lee's ...

I mulled over the design for May Lee's gift box... toyed around with sooooo many ideas... none of which I found satisfactory. It's just not May Lee!!! ...until one fine day... I just let go and let the brush take control. Started base-coating with one colour... didn't like it... then changed to another... and another... until it became a colour that I didn't know what to paint on with *sigh* ... but God is Great!!!... I remembered that May Lee loves to scuba dive... and the dark blue background is perfect for a sea-bed scenery with colourful coral reefs... and that's what I did. May Lee... this is for you... happy b'day dear :)


The inside cover of the box says it all. I treasure this long-lost-found-again friendship. After Form 5 in 1975, we went our separate ways ... only to meet again last year at a reunion of Assuntarians '75... and from then on, the rest is history. We were never even close in school, not even in the same clique ... but the bondage that we have now will last forever... God Willing. May Lee .. thank you... for everything :))

Jati Furniture

A friend would like to sell her current almost brand new Jati furniture set. They were used solely for guests thus are still in great condition. Please feel free to contact Pn Rohaina (013-6134567/ 06-7632906) for further enquiries :)




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The Gift Box

Just a short note this time .... a gift made to order by friends for a very special friend... happy b'day Boon Kee. We love you....


Painted sweet lilacs on the cover







... and more lilacs on the inside ...



...sorry... everything seems so fuzzy this time... hands were not steady I guess.... :(


Nighty-nite ....

Great grandma's ....

Nope... no paintings to show-off today... nothing is finished yet hehe... BUT I do have something else to show off. I've been blog-hopping these past few days ... (hmm... THAT actually explains why I can't complete my paintings... muahahahaha)... feasting my eyes on the many beautiful items that are collected and cherished.

Anyway...I see sooooo many bloggers that are really into porcelain antiques. Well ... I am not a collector per se ... but I do have some that I'd inherited from my grandma. They were her mother's..... so you can imagine that these items are at least 100 years old. Grandma passed on at 93 and that was way back in 1999... great grandma had them even before grandma was born!!! You do the maths....

Just 2 items for today... will show more later when I have nothing else to show but have the mood to blog hehehe. First item is a small pot .... the body is just slightly bigger than my palm (and my palm IS small!!!) I'm guessing they might have used it as a milk pot ... should have asked grandma what it was used for... but I didn't *sigh*

The back has shown some wear and tear where parts of the gold trimmings had faded. Must have been a well-utilised ware here hehe...

The other item is a butter dish with a lovely domed-top and a delicately serrated dish. I see no trademarks on both the milk-pot and the butter dish... so I'm guessing they were made to order. *sigh* I wish I'd asked for details ... now it's too late to know the truth behind these antiques :( I was too elated to have them that I didn't bother to ask more.... !!!! ... or maybe I was too naive to understand antiques except for the fact that hey... I have something from great-grandma that my cousins don't hahaha...

Anyway... that's all for today... antique lovers have a feast :) My antiques are family heirlooms... I treasure them... and I hope my kids will cherish them too.... good day y'all

Fruits n veges ...

It's fruits and veges today... Azma these are yours :)

Strawberries painted on a utility holder made from galvanised tin. Made it look rustic with strawberries on both sides. Simple though...

Next was the killer haha. Took me a loooooooonnnggggg time to complete this huge picnic hamper. It was a feat trying to make the veges look real ... am actually quite happy with the outcome. I have no formal training on painting veges, so what you see is the outcome of my trial and error style based on the various techniques I'd learned in the past hehe.... *pat pat patting myself on my shoulders.... yeay*

The base I painted to make it look like a basket. That too I'd taken time to paint...Aida was my critical consultant ... she'd go... " ma....your basket does not look woven, too much space, not enough shadows ...... " urghh!!!! but thanks anyway honourable daughter #3... your comments are most welcomed :)) These 2 items I have finished but not yet varnished .... so Azma... call me 2 days prior to collection ya hehe...

Currently, I'm simultaneously preparing 2 items... Azma's metallic bread bin and Salmi's glazed earthenware pot. Both items need thorough preparation prior to painting .... otherwise it would be a wasted effort since the paints won't stick well on such surfaces unless pre-primed ....

... wait for the results.... whenever that would be hehehe.... have a great day ya...

The Ring Box....

Kak Masnah's baby is getting engaged sometime next month. Being a very creative lady she has tons of ideas that we normal mortals won't even think of!!! hahaha. Anyway, she has commissioned each of us (Aniza, Zaitun and I) a task to complete. I am to do the boxes and the trays for her son's engagement and wedding. So far... I'd completed the ring box and the basic marbled top for the 7 trays (for "hantaran"). In this post... I will show just the ring box. The trays will be shown later when I complete the whole design after the engagement. The other boxes?... yet to start :) The box is a normal MDF box ... painted and made to look like woven mengkuang to match the rest of her decorated gifts for the son's fiancee-wannabe. On it I'd painted lilacs since purple is the theme colour for the engagement. As for the base I'd done some very simple textured design with basic strokes at random. The box is with her now...

The grape stool ...

Another personal item to show off today. Had this stool done pronto as I needed more stools for a fish bbq gathering last Oct 31. Had the stool base-coated ages ago and left it under my table waiting to be painted one fine day. Well... the day finally came... and again it took me only an hour to complete the stool... the things I can do ...when i need to ... muahahahaha. Anyway... I do have a few more stools in stock... but one was all I could do due to a tight schedule*sigh*


I am now currently painting for Azma.... I'm almost done with your picnic hamper :) ... pray that I do not get interrupted ya.... interruptions get me off-the-painting-mode..... *sigh again*

That's it for today ... more to come later on :) ...have a good day y'all

On small items ...

Just a small item, took just an hour to finish 2 days ago...but it took ages... AGES!!! ... for me to start on it. Bought the empty plaque ...errmmmm maybe 6 or 7 months ago hehehe. Had leaves and a nest with eggs painted on it... not doing flowers here.

I have decided that I will only paint roses when I need to complete PRONTO haha ... like for instance, I'm having guests in the evening and I have maybe 2 hours left to spare ...haha... did just that for my hand-soap dispenser .....


Right... that's it for today... seems to have lost my flair for words... writer's block!!!

Take care ya...

My Shoe Cabinet

Hehe... wanna see my shoe cabinet? It's unfinished (details are missing here and there) thus it's unvarnished ...BUT .... it's already outside with shoes in it !!! yup!yup!yup!

Struggled to get some trompe l'oeil effect there .... getting ideas from everywhere and finally decided to just put in minimal drawings because I didn't want to hide the faux finish that I'd created and loved ....muahahaha. "Not finished?...and why is it outside and used?" you asked??? Weeellllllll ...that's because I had to clear the house for Raya ...wouldn't want to have an unfinished shoe cabinet in my hall, would I ???(because that's where I painted the cabinet...in my living room hahaha) Anyway ...here is more of it .....

I have yet to put in details on the piece of note paper "attached" on the door. At the moment it appears to be just an empty aged yellowing piece of paper pinned onto the door... so we shall see as to when this piece will really really really be completed .....*sigh again*

....have a great day y'all....

Hellooooo... :)

Last post was 8 Sept... today is 2 Nov...oh wow!!! Have I been away THAT long???? Was I THAT busy or was I THAT lazy huh??? Haha never mind... hey, I'm back ...

True I've been BOTH lazy and busy. Took a long break from painting to catch up with other things that I'd neglected whilst painting. I'm finally back in the mood... but unfortunately the old habit is still there. That much of me is still asking to be changed... when will I ever learn to finish one project before I go to the next ????? Never??? May be hahahaha.... oh welllllll....

I have a collection of latest UFOs ... finished the main and major part of the painting, just needing the final touches here and there ... which of course (I think! You think?) will eventually finish and be varnished.... Yeah!yeah! I know... I have pieces from umpteen years ago that I'd still not completed ... *sigh* Anyway ... here goes ... will show you just 1 project per posting ya... the internet is rather slow. Uploading the pics take ages!!!! ... good suspense for you too yes??? muahahahahaha


This tea-pot I bought at a reduced price from Ikea... sometime last year. It was a reject piece as the cover was broken. I saw it as a potential flower vase, but it was only recently that I managed to sit down to paint on it. Toyed around with various design ideas... and this was the outcome... a simple monotone design (actually... it was a good excuse to do a quick cover job... muahahahaha!!!)


A simple country-side scenery on one front and a kerchief dropping from the rim on the other... a real lazy-man's job hahaha... but I like the effect. It's mine... and I'm not complaining :)

sooooo... that's it for now ... another project on another post ya...

nite-nite muah....