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

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

Ebony set

I am blessed ... I was commissioned to paint a set of items for a lady who has everything ...that her friends feel that my paintings would be make great personalised items from them to her. And thus the journey began ...


She's a teacher retiring today... and her colleagues felt that personalised paintings on household decorative items would be most befitting for a lady who has everything that money can buy. I hope I lived up to expectations... have a look see here ya... a wall mirror teamed with a tissue box, a wall plague and a tea-box ... set painted in black with hydrangeas ....











The wall mirror and the wall plague









The tea-box which can actually be used as a jewelry box too









The tissue box as seen at different angles







Have a great day ya... am facing writer's block today ... haven't the words to story-tell hehe

Ai Kuan's Vol 52

I was commissioned to paint a b'day gift for Ai Kuan by a group of friends who were lost for ideas on what to get for a lady who's got almost everything! I'm honoured that they feel that my paintings are good enough to present as a personalised gift from May Lee, Anis, Eli and Jennifer.

On this book-box, I painted a design I adapted from a serviette (something I took off Zaitun's table just a day before ...hehehe), a design by Kathryn White ...done my way. I fell in love with the design the moment I laid eyes on it, and Ai Kuan's gift box seems to be most timely and appropiate for me to paint it. Spent marathon hours over a period of 3 days ... but I love the final look. I do hope Ai Kuan finds it precious enough to treasure :)

To this... I end with a good day to one and all. I need to continue another marathon of painting... to complete a set of gifts for a retiring teacher and cutlery boxes for a house warming... BY 30 JUNE!!!!! 6 items in all ... to sigh? or to smile??? ... I shall choose to smile :)))

Have a great week ahead ya ....

A gift for you?

Have been painting on small items currently... friends wanting personalised gifts for their friends. Simple items ... but still an heirloom of course ;)

Here's a book box painted with roses ...gosh...when was the last time I painted roses??? It's always an effort to paint roses again after a long period of no-roses hahaha ... anyway, Nita was very happy when presented with this box ... or so I was told ...



Azura bought this bell-jar thingy for her friend's house-warming ... lucky friend *sigh* ... with it she has a cheese cake to grace the board. Had a simple linen lace design with distressed effect on the plain wood ... turned out to be very rustic looking ... again *sigh* ... lucky friend .... errrrr ... do I sound jealous????

hehe ... that's it for now... have a great day ya ;)

Labour of love...

It was a brush box that was once a property of Mas's late father-in-law (may he rest in peace). It is now a jewelery box to be presented to Mas's ma-in-law. I had the honour and pleasure of converting it :)

The design is an original by Yuki Nishizawa done in oils... but I had it done my way with acrylics. I'm still not too happy with the perfume bottle ...still does not look authentic enough ...oh well... back to the studio ...need to paint more glassware hehe...

As usual... it's not varnished yet.... muahahahahaha

Nite2 y'all... sleeptite

I'm poofed....

For the past month or so, I've been concentrating on completing a set of gift boxes and tray stands for kak Masnah's son's wedding this July. It's tedious, requiring full focus and concentration and I'm now up to my last piece. Each piece is an individual ...different from the next but are all tied up with a similar concept. They definitely require my full attention and demands my creative juices to flow. Today... I'm feeling the strain down my back, neck and shoulders... but I'm satisfied with my work as is kak Masnah too. This last piece is however a killer.... I stare and dream about the design and finally today... I've an inkling of an idea of what I want to do with it. Unfortunately... I'm not able to show them to you yet... until permission is granted by kak Masnah ... sorry ....

However ... in between sessions of the "secret" project ... hehe... I have managed to divert from my usual mode of painting. I painted lemons on a jug-shaped kitchen towel holder .. a design that was inspired by Ros Stallcup. I have always loved Ros's style of painting ... especially her sceneries. It is ... not varnished yet (...but of course!) ... but yours truly here feels that need to show-off again ... muahahahahaha *evil laughter haha* ... so here goes nothing ;) It's a belated gift ...yup!yup!yup! ... who for??? *lalalalalaalala.... keep guessing...

Have a great week ahead ya....

The Book Box

Completed the box over the night and had it varnished this morning ready to be given as a wedding gift tonight. It was a hurried job ... due to lack of time (got the dates mixed up... trust me memory haha!!!!) ... and upon completion, I knew I could have done a better job. Oh well ... *sigh*

Painted a simple scenery on the cover .. a Ros Stallcup original....had always wanted to paint it for myself... but I guess it's not meant to be. It's always like this... I bought the book for a particular design that I liked... but somehow, I never get to own it after painting ... the story of my life hahahaha

Just for you Elita ...

I would like my dear friends to have something personal and meaningful from me... something to remember me by. It started with May Lee's birthday ... and now it's Eli's turn. I paint when the mood and urge comes ... and I paint what my heart tells me to paint. There will be more to come ... though it may not come in time to coincide with their birthdays... but it will eventually come... God Willing.... ;)
Elita... it's hydrangeas for you ya...

The Ring Box

I have the utmost admiration for people who can make something out of nothing ... it's just amazing how the creative minds work. Here is a classic example... I painted this small box for kak Masnah (view "The Ring Box" posted Nov 7 2009) as requested ... but just look at how she has decorated this item... simply lost for words!!!!



A small box can be simply but elegantly dressed ready to be presented as a gift fit for a queen!!! Kak Masnah... I salute you!

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 :))

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 ....

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...

Phew.... finally...

Finally finished.... but unvarnished!!!... hehe... as usual. Just three boxes but it took me a long time to complete for lack of ideas. Simply no inspiration. Roslan requested them as samples....and he had to wait oh... maybe 3 or 4 weeeks? Didn't take me long to complete them once started... but to START was THE problem ... muahahahaha. Hehe... sorry Roslan. Anyway, here I have three different boxes of differing shapes and sizes ... I sure hope it's up to his expectations.... will know tomorrow when he comes to collect :)

Just a small box, great as a door gift... sorry the pic isn't clear. No fault of the camera though... probably I focussed it too close.... haven't the skills of a photographer hehe. Probably the reason why I need a user friendly camera... focus and click away haha.... no problemo. Haha inspite of that... this pic is not clear... hmmmm... wonder why????


Next is a book box. Painted pink roses with filler flowers and blue ribbons. Notice that it's without hinges yet?... well that's because it finished but unvarnished. I have all hinges fixed only after varnishing. (I was "trained" to remove all hinges an screws before base coating, so it has become a habit) Anyway...this too would make a great gift box... for assessories, chocolates, candies...wtv




Finally.... another box but with 2 compartments on the inside, simply painted with pastel roses and scrolls on the cover and the front of box. Nothing fancy here... but I like it... gives it a touch of elegance... (if I may say so...ahem...hahaha)





So that's it for now... next will be a post on more plaques. Will do that later... currently having problems to upload the pics..... very very very slow!!!!... hitting my nerves!!!! aarrrgggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh


P/S: took me 2 hours to upload the pics!!!!!

Boxes, boxes, boxes...

After the last 2 boxes shown in my last post... I had a few more painted. They were actually an in-between thingy... was in the midst of painting this dustbin, ran out of ideas... but to maintain my painting mode and mood... I had the boxes painted hehehe....

As usual I MUST show.... right???? I mean... hey, I'm an artist... I paint to show.!!!.. muahahahaha. Anyway, look away ya... here's a small jewelry box in pastel green with pink roses painted on the top and inside cover of the box. Box is for sale... any takers here?


Here's another knick-knack box but with a dark base. I had cherry blossoms painted on them... kind of liked how the pastel colours stand out on a dark base. Painted in the same tones and manner as the cutlery and tea-boxes in my last post... but because of the dark base it gives such a contast to the blossoms....



And finally... a gift box for my student from my teaching days in Hartamas who is getting married this weekend. Had part of her invitation card decoupaged on the inside of the top cover. Unfortunately... my camera does not allow me to have sharp pics to show-off!!!! Indah Wahyuni... this is for you dear.... may you have a wonderful life ahead of you ;)

Busy...busy...busy

I have been busy these past two weeks ... completed 120 pieces of hydrangeas on mengkuang hamper boxes for raya for Yati. It was an easy job... but something I don't quite enjoy as I hate repetitive work...thus it became a monotonous chore. It was a HUGE sigh of relieve when the last piece was finally done.... *SIGH*

Before these mengkuang boxes, I finished a couple more boxes and lazy susans for Zurina. They were also meant for raya hampers. How lucky can the recipients be? I remember those days when hampers came in plastics baskets or plain rattan ones!!! Gift hampers now come in fancy creative containers... more often the containers costing more then the contents itself.... yup!yup!yup! Prior to Zurina's jobs ...I'd painted 2 stools (painted geraniums on 1 and violets on the other), another lazy susan and a tea box for Kak Nomi ... yup! I have been very very busy ;) What you see below are what I'd painted in the past 2 weeks.... I'm happy...