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 ....

The 20-minute job...

*Sigh* ... painting mode ...OFF. Been pottering around in my garden... presumably giving TLC to my plants (hahaha! big joke!!!) ... yup! my poor neglected pathetic looking plants ... guilty as charged!!!! ...

Anyway... will show you my garden later ya... am slowly but surely giving it a face lift, adding more colour here and there. It's like a weekly affair now... there will be something different somewhere somehow ... minor but yeah! different ...hehehe

Age is also definitely catching up with me. Am not as energetic as I used to be. If my mornings are spent in the garden or filled with classes... then, by afternoon I'm almost listless ... and by nightfall... I'm DEFINITELY lifeless, seeking the comfort of the bed for an early night!!! Oh well ... life goes on.. anyway, for now... I only have this plague to show off.

Had it base-coated almost a year ago... but left it alone for lack of ideas. Roses were the order of the day... but somehow the mood never came. For one thing, the base was a colour I had experimented with. Loved the effect but since it's a unique colour (don't ask me what colour I used ok... errr can't remember hehehe!!!), I found trouble in getting the correct colour tone for the roses. SUDDENLY a few days back... I had the urge and just followed my heart... and frankly... I love the look. Very pastel, romantic tones to match the background. 20 minutes!!! That was all that was needed to paint the roses... and to think that I left it alone for a year!!!! Sheeeshhhh!!!!! (what else is new huh???) However... the look is not complete. I'll have to give it back to the rightful owner as she'd like to paint in the letterings herself.... over to you, Ita

So now, I need to seek the ON button again... have two major projects to complete before end of month... YIKES!!!!!

Have a great weekend y'all .... nora over n out!

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 ;)

Washing today?

I love it when I'm challenged to paint other than flowers. It stimulates the brain ...at least I know dementia has not set in as yet haha. This time I was given a laundry board .... hehe albeit many many many moons ago ... but it was only this week that the urge to paint on it sets in. Finally finished it just before midnight ... oh well... I won't exactly call it finished for as long as I'd not varnished it... the tendency to add or change is still there .... hmmmm ... anyway... we shall see ;)

Monalisa ... you are not going to wash on this are you????

Nite nite y'all... off to bed and lala land ... muah

Who called the kettle black huh?

Completed another project today :) .... yup! completed .... BUT yet to be varnished hehe ...

Painted strawberries using a design from the Portmeirion collection ... had trouble painting the grape leaves on the cover as I couldn't really see the design from the printed image ... oh well .... nobody's perfect right?

Have a great Sunday ya ....

The Bread Bin

Actually finished this last January... but somehow was not quite satisfied with it. It stood on the shelf for a couple more months ... staring, calling at me to complete it. Toyed around with many ideas in my mind... but in my mind they remained haha. Anyway, finally last week, I told myself I MUST get it done ... it was gnawing onto my conscience too *sigh* It's a long overdue project for Noorazma. The bottle of flowers was added yesterday ... did the final touches ...and now it's done ... but of course... yet to be varnished !!! Noorazma ... this is for you...

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