A rose for Sarah

Sarah is tying the knot pretty soon ... and her aunties, cousins and other relatives are all roped in to contribute in whatever manner to prepare for the wedding. That's how I got roped in... though not a relative but since I'm connected to Zaiyan, her aunty... so I was given a job too hehe. A request to paint a rose on the lid of her box for the Quran was fulfilled about an hour ago :))

Portmeirion ...again :)

Finally.... it's done!!! *sigh of relieve*

I have painted the Tiger Lilies many times ... maybe one too many that it has become somewhat a chore to me ... don't like repetitive paintings :( However Sweet Williams is a first ... so at least that was a challenge hehe ... and a challenge it was!!! At first glance... hmm ... it's just circular flowers with lines, very little colour... so no big deal ya? (or so I thought!!) ... until I had to fill in the details in the flowers!!! I think I screwed my eyeballs together for everything became a blur upon completion .... not to mention my aching neck and shoulders!!! Anyway ... for lack of more words to describe (brain is already drifting away) ... please have a peep below ya ;))

The set consisting of a cutlery box and a tea box

The Sweet Williams on the tea box

*Another sigh* ... back to the studio ... yet to varnish them ... and then on to my next painting on a lazy susan .... nite2 y'all

When the mood fails.....

Hmmm... last posting here was about a month ago. So, what have I been doing? Oh... a bit of painting here and there... having classes now and then but MOST of the time ... just lazing around doing nothing but watching the idiot box!!!! The mood to paint seems to have eluded me once too often *sigh* Though I feel guilty I did nothing to fight the urge to get away from NCIS, Criminal Minds, Bones and the sitcoms on Astro 711.. even though they are just reruns!!!! Hmmmph!!!! Oh dear.... *sigh* Anyway, when the conscience bites ... I'd drag myself to the messy table in my studio ... and paint away hehe. So... for today, I'd just put everything I'd done the past 4 weeks or so in this one post ya ...

I painted Salmi's TV cabinet at her place ... just simple roses to enhance a much loved, long serving TV cabinet. Didn't take long to complete the job though hehe....





Next was a kitchen counter top. Zureen is a cat lover ... her request? To paint cat's fur on the table top ... and that I did. It was a tedious job... took me a week mulling over it!!! ... but it's done and is now with her




And ... in between the 2 jobs ... I painted on notebooks ... just simple roses and hydrangeas. Thought of selling them on my sales blog ... but hehe... they are now gone, with their owners. Will paint some more when the mood comes (one fine day) ... and then I'll post them on www.norastouches.blogspot.com ... my sales blog :)


Currently I'm painting more Portmerion designs on a cutlery and a tea-box. Will put them up once they are done ya. So that's it for now my friends ... till my next post ... cheerio, have ag reat week ahead :))

More doodlings :))

In between major projects or whilst alone with a student I would sometimes do small projects just to keep the mood going. I'd try new techniques or designs or just paint away on simple plaques ready on the go as gifts for whatever reason hehe ....

Anyway ... I'd never painted mums before .... so I gave mums a try on a background that I'd normally not use. I was clearing my paints the other day and noticed that this particular colour will harden soon if left idle for much longer.... that would be such a waste!!! Paints are not cheap ok??? .... so mums it was on a deep purple background hehe ... it's either you like it or you don't ....

Then I also tried a slightly different technique for my hydrangeas ... kind of liked the soft hazy look of the blooms ... maybe will stick to this style from now on ...hmmm ...oh well ... this is Nora... what she thinks today may not be what she does tomorrow... muahahahahahaha .... THAT's soooooo me ...hehehe


Wokeyh... need to go back to my studio .... must finish those tiger lilies (again!!! *sigh*) before the owner calls me for it ... oh dear, when's the deadline again eyh???


Nite2 ya.... muah

Salmi's Topiary

Topiary painted on canvas for Salmi .... it's not often that I get to paint on canvas ... but this felt good. It made feel like a real artist hahaha ... wish I have an easel to place the canvas on whilst I paint....

That's it for this post... it's 5am ... the brain is still asleep hehe

Have a great day y'all ...

Just doodling ...hehe

These gift boxes were base-coated ages ago... many times over!!! Every time I'd picked them up to paint ... I'd end up changing the base colours. Why??? ...uhhh don't know why... just a feeling of dissatisfaction I guess .... until finally one fine day ... I decided to paint just roses (for lack of ideas .... as the brain was on emergency leave on that day hahaha) Anyway, initially thought I'd paint to sell .... but hehe ... I now decided to keep them (fell in love with them colours muahahahaha!!!).... maybe I could use them as samples .... any orders???...for wedding favours, maybe???

Hehe... the story of my life ... fickle minded 'lil ole lady ...hahahaha

The cupboard needs a makeover too....

Rozaini came to me with a real beat-down hutch that she got from some junk shop. I looked at it ... and went .... "OMG!!! What am I getting myself into???" ... oh well ... it was a challenge that I took with much apprehension ... aiseyhman hahaha


I sent it for repairs (I'm no carpenter... just a painter hehe) ... changed the back and certain parts of the doors ... gave it a new coat of paint ... and started doing my "stuff" hehe. It took me many days of staring at it, mulling the designs over in my head, "painting" with my mind's eyes before I could actually decide on what to do ... so here's the outcome after 2 weeks of HARD work!!!! ... ooh my aching neck ... and back!!!!

The final makeover .... ;) niceeeee hehehehe .....

Have a great day ya....

THAT little house at the back ...

A long long time ago before toilets were built IN the house ...we had this quaint little "house" placed somewhere in the backyard... a wee bit further from the house of course (to eliminate any unpleasant smells, I guess... hehe) ... and lo behold if you are alone at home at night and have the urge to attend to nature's call ... hehehe ... I know, I'd never dared to go alone at night without company!!!! Anyway, these structures are a rarity now (thank God for technology!!!)... unless you are in some remote area ...

Anyway... found and borrowed this idea from an Australian painting magazine many years ago... but for the moment I can't quote offhand the original painter and magazine .... and of course I gave it my personal touch....

I wonder whether the younger generation has ever seen such structures.... hmm ????

Spot the difference....

Finally sat down to touch-up ... and re-touch ... and again re-retouch the cats and everything else on the tray ... think I'm happier with this now as compared to the last... but errrrr.... can you spot the difference???

From this.....


... to this ....

Woke up early... VERY early to do this... 5am!!! *yawn* .... have a great day .... ;)

just doodling....

Have not been seriously painting since the last post ...but managed to paint these roses on mum's luggage :) .... As we are told by the painting gurus ...and it has become my favourite quotation... we can paint on ANYTHING that DOES NOT move .... hehehehehe

For those of you who have been following me... remember my old fridge??? Started painting on the old fridge...emmm maybe 2 years ago hahaha ....well ... I'm working on that now (yeay!!!) ... slow progress ... but still a progress :)) .... will show you later ya... so hang on a bit...

Right... that's it for now ... have a great weekend ;)

here's one...

Been toying with this project for over two months now... one of the three projects that I do simultaneously because of overwhelming frustration of not getting anything right.... just had to move on to another so that it doesn't mess up my head ...hahaha

So far... this is it.... don't know how many times I'd painted.. and repainted over the cats' faces and fur... just to get THAT right feeling....*sigh* ... so far not thoroughly satisfied yet... but it shall suffice... don't want to go bonkers over it... muahahahahaha ....oh well...


Borrowed cat designs from Wendy Scott ... but painted them my way with personal touches here and there... lalalalala

Just testing ...

Just testing..... trying new styles and techniques, playing with colours and mediums on small panels of teak ;)) .... I like ... hehehe


Have a great day ..... lalalalalala

Hydrangeas for baby??? hmmm....

Been painting on four different items simultaneously... small decorative household items ... but unfortunately only managed to complete one. The others??? .... the powers of procrastination had me imprisoned!!! ... can't seem to budge to complete them *sigh*

Anyway ... had this utility holder painted for Su Ni. She's just had a baby a couple months back ... didn't want to paint a cliche baby gift... so I thought since she loved hydrangeas too, I'd just paint hydrangeas on this. For now she can use it to put baby things in it... but later... it can be used for almost anything else as baby outgrows it's use :)))

That's it for now ... am having trouble downloading pics into the blog ...wonder what's wrong with the current connection *sigh* .... have a great day ya :)

What's cookin' ma??

Here in this post...you will see a small enamel pot painted for Chempaqa. That pot has been with me for soooo long. In the few (errr... few?????) months that it was with me... it has been base-coated 3 times, in 3 different colours and techniques, with 2 other designs hidden n buried under each base coat hahaha. Somehow I did not reach the satisfactory level that I'd set myself each time I paint for a customer ...*sigh* ... can't say I'm a perfectionist ... but I do need to acquire THAT certain sense of satisfaction upon completion of a project. What you see here now is the final outcome of MY dissatisfaction... I think I'm quite happy with this now... but as usual... it's not varnished yet ...which means that there may or may not be any afterthoughts prior to varnishing hehehehe ;)





.....sooo Chempaqa.... you ok with this???

Till my next post .... have a great day :))

Grapes ...grapes... grapes

A diversion from flowers :) ... it's always more challenging to paint fruits than roses or hydrangeas ... so here's grapes for Nazdatul from Kuantan .... grapes all around the 4 corners of the tissue box ... heheehe ... not varnished yet though .... as usual ;)))





....have three more UFO's on the go.... touch-n-go here and there when I get stuck at a particular spot hehe ... that's just me people ... will leave the painting alone until I get re-inspired God-knows-when *sigh*

The week that was ...

Had another Portmeirion design completed on a cake stand ... lost count the number of times I'd painted this particular design haha ... anyway... hopefully it gets better with practice ;))



Then.... had this garden set painted with hydrangeas at Yati's place .... she had the set base- coated for me, and I had the hydrangeas painted... completed within 3hours!!! The chirpy vibrant green initially appeared ...uhmmm "o-oh what a difficult colour" to blend... but after setting the hydrangeas in... it looked just A-OK hehe ... all in a day's work ;))




Right... that's it for now. Internet connection is depressing... taking a b*****(ooooooopss ... hehe ...with intention tho'... muahahahaa) looooooooonnnnng time to upload the pics!!!! ...catch-up with you later ya... more to show ...yup!yup!yup! ....for now losing patience!!!!!

Tea Time again....

Seems to be in a painting mood this week hehe .... so here's to show off another piece done on a tea pot-shaped plaque ;)) Painting was completed within the day....

So now I pray that the mood remains a lot longer so that I can paint a lot more ... oh dear!!!! MUST focus!!!!!!

That's all for today ... taking time off to go see my girl in Banting ... have a great day ya ;)

The Completed Story...

The mood to paint came back today... been a bit laid back since 2 weeks ago :( doing minor things here and there ... very much touch and go ...

The egghouse finally is complete. Ideas created a storm in the brain ... no worries, no short circuit, I'm still OK hehe... and the hands did the magic (???). If only I'm like this ... can switch on and off at will... wouldn't it just be great??? Unfortunately... most of the times, when I switch off.... I really am groping in the dark looking for the switch again!!!! *sigh* Anyway... refer to my post on Aug4 ... that was where I stopped... and it remained as it was until today...

The egghouse as it is today ...... ;)) voila.....













I also completed the cover of the cookie jars ... which I left untouched since about 2 months ago... just 1 last one to complete...and it took me 2months!!!! Oh dear.... :(


OK...that's it again for now... back to the studio... I think...