Bird With a French Fry

Autumn is approaching us, how do I know that for sure? I always look at the big tree on the street near my house for indication, and trees never lie. Recently it likes to wave its long branches along with the wind and allow its rusty coloured leaves to be blown into my back yard. Oh no you didn't! Yeah, you stand there and smirk while I go get the rake and clean it all up.

♫ ♪ Kyson - Ocean Tides

Last christmas, I received a beautiful picture with the quote "Today, I will be happier than a bird with a french fry" from a friend. It was such a whimsical little saying that inspired me to make this illustration. 

Every time I read it, it reminds me how important it is to stay positive everyday and not let petty and unhappy thoughts get in the way. It's funny, because it's actually pretty hard to live by. Sometimes when you are so deeply immersed in a negative emotion, you kinda forget about all the wonderful things around you. But, thats okay, as long as we make the effort, something will change for the better.

Rainy Brunch

It's been a long time since I could sit down and post something. I've been really busy with work and as soon as I get home the only thing I could think of is to starfish on bed. I'm offically declaring sunday as my personal creative day. The day when I could just sit and draw or take photos or DIY. 

♫ ♪ Sparklehorse - Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain

After weeks of good weather here in Auckland, it's finally starting to go downhill. I've been thinking about what kind of activity I could do on a rainy day. Something that's easy to make and doesnt take that long (I'm one of those person who looses interest really quickly when something takes too long, bad habit). So I decided to make some pancakes, I remember my mum bought this pancake set and she uses the pancake pan for every kind of frying imaginable other than for pancakes. Time to put it in use for what its actually designed for mum lol. One egg, flour, milk, baking powder, sugar, a pinch of salt, some messy batter and 15 minutes later, I have some decent looking heart shaped pancakes and some really ugly looking round ones. When I just about to dig in, WAIT. I forgot the important pre-dining ritual. Takes out phone, opens Intagram. Then I thought hmmmm this deserves a better photo, went and took out my dslr. This light is good, a tripod would make it look even better. So basically mucked around for a hour and a half trying to get the composition, lighting, focus etc right. Ridiculous right? But I really enjoyed it, It's also been a long time since I did some photography, time to pull out those rusty skills. Still life photography has got to be my favourite.  It's a great feeling when it's just you and the object, and you can take as long as you want with it. 

Art and Craft Fair

Lisa from Puffitque invited us along to the Auckland Art and Craft Fair to get some inspiration for our own D.I.Y projects. Fully immersed in the realm of creativity and design, we went camera crazy and here are just some of the things that caught our eye. We are really excited for future craft fairs as we are planning on setting up a stall with Pufftique sometime next year, or possibly helping out with her stall. There is still a lot of research and planning to do as well as a display case that needs to be designed and built... good thing the next Auckland Art and Craft Fair is six months away.

The Fancy Book Club

Lemon Whiskey being a huge fan of Jessica Hische, found her illustrated covers for classic novels in a leatherbound boxset on the Barnes and Nobles website and just had to have it. It took an eternity for the books to arrive in New Zealand. The books give off the feeling of grandeur and snobbery and now stands proudly next to our workspace. Later  I ordered my own two books that I have been dying to have in my collection, The Complete Sherlock Holmes volume and The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The quality inside isnt too bad and pages are given the glamour treatment with gold or silver painted edges. Only downside was the cover of the Hitchhiker's Guide which was odd because instead of an embedded surface, it had a sticker of the illustration instead. Eek... Not classy.

OOTD: Spring's winter chill

Auckland just has a hard time shaking off the winter chill as the weather demonstrates its split personality. It's hard to figure out what to wear as we approach the end of spring. One minute it feels like the tropics and the next, it feels like someone forgot to close the freezer. The winter jacket is still within arms reach while we wear our short shorts and tshirts in hope of a "good" day.

This is our first attempt at OOTD. It still feels like we are dressing up for winter.

One thing is for sure...modeling is hard.

Lemon Whisky
Top: ONLY jacket, Country Road sweater    Bottom: SUKIIRED shorts, UNIQLO tights     Shoes: Kisscat     Bag: Vintage

XYZ
Top: H&M blouse     Bottom: DIY peplum skirt    Accessories: H&M Belt/ Platinum Stockings    Nails: OPI Hot and Spicy

 XYZ: Recently I went to Kmart to have a look around for a bargain. I knew they had cheap shoes but I didn't realise how up to date they were in turns of the styles they offer. Spent a few hours just at the shoes sections and tried on all the shoes. Even the rediculously high ones, a good 15cm heel, were surprisingly comfortable. Tried these babies on which lead to an impulse buy. Only $29 so it wasn't too painful on the wallet. Simple design and comfortable enough that they didn't try to murder my feet. Sorry boys, I'm officially taller than all of you this summer.

Lemon Whisky: I bought these shorts online, I just love the spikes on these suckers. If I am wearing a neutral colour palette I like to choose pieces with subtle but interesting details just to edge up the outfit abit.

Art in the Dark

Recently I got recommended a "job" from a friend, who introduced me to the annual event that is held at Western Park called Art in the Dark. I blindly volunteered to be the event photographer, not realising the obvious that the event is 100% in the dark. So the first thing I turned to was Google. Read as many tutorials as possible. Not like they helped much since my ISO on my Canon 40D can only go up so high and my Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 was probably not the most suitable lense for the occasion. I made the inevitable conclusion... I will definitely need a flashgun and tripod.They say the best camera is the one you have at that moment in time.... I certainly felt the weight of it. I was assigned to take photos of the performances, so I spent the two nights running around with my gear up and down Western Park. To my horror I found out Western Park is located at the point where two gullies merge and slopes downwards to create one mother of a steep hill. Lets just say I got quite a workout over the two nights and afterwards I celebrated by not moving very much for the next few days.

A dramatic performance by the Tamashii Taiko Drummers

Gently Through The Veil I Heard You Call by Tiffany Singh. One of the most popular installations at Art in the Dark. With the wind, the sound of wooden wind chimes calls to the visitors.

Halo by AUT students. Little paper boxes that have LED lights inside which turn on when you blow them up.

Art in the Dark Cinema

Left: Light Gate by Interrupt Collective & Kim Newall
Right: Enigmatica by Kit Webster

I'm really glad I went because I got to meet some amazing people and got the opportunity to actually talk to artists about their work and learnt how they would like their work to be photographed. Would I do it again though? Maybe, if I train a little before the event next year...

UPDATE: I recently went back to the website to have a look and I spotted this! Now I got the warm fuzzies YAY!

Travel Diaries - Shanghai, The Cool Docks

Recently I went to Shanghai for a two week holiday. I've been back there many times during the summer holidays when I was at school, I usually stay for months. During those times, I tend to be lazy, I'll be either at home all day playing games or out shopping. However, this time, I want to explore this city properly, peeling away the materialistic and modern city facade and step into the heart of the culture. I hope when you guys have the chance to visit this magnificent city, you will also get a chance to experience not just the well known sites and popular destinations but also the small cafes, unique restaurants and other hidden gems of Shanghai.

The Cool Docks or 老码头 in Chinese is the first place I went on the day I landed. It is extremely close to where I live. I just need to take the ferry across the river to Pu Xi and walk 200m and I'm there. They've recently finished transforming the river side into a long walkway for the public. People can take casual strolls and admire the spectacular scenery across the river. Shanghai is known for its night view, so its best to go there during the evenings which is perfect because you can select one of many sophisticated but affordable bars and restaurants situated right next to the side walk. From New York styled pizza to fresh raw oysters bars. You name it, they've got it.

On the ferry crossing the river

There's many varieties of boats on the river (I think this is a traditional fishing boat? I love how in this modernized city, you can see traces of old traditions still being practiced, engraved in the lives of those who live there, those who's unwilling or unable to leave it)

Shanghai can be a maze but you will never get too lost because many streets can lead you to the place you want to go.

This is inside a hip furniture store/cafe, they have the coolest lights (hope they are all energy saving light bulbs)

Before it turned commercial, the buildings beside the river were factories, now some of the top floors are rented to artists or designers.

 If you walk far enough, you will find a large complex filled with more restaurants. Boy, it is busy that night, most of the restaurants are filled with people. (I was lucky enough to take some shots without people face-bombing my photos lol)  

Btw I had the best Malaysian curry and picked vegetable, oh my lord, was it great.