My Christmas/New Years Cards For 2018

  I'm Eurasian- half French, half Singaporean Chinese... And let's just say my family is really mixed. My mother is Chinese with Christian leanings. My godmother is a black women whom is Jewish. One of my favourite uncle is African Muslim. I married into a Catholic family. And both of my best friends are Christian. I also have another uncle and a dear friend whom are both atheist.. So the holiday season is a little crazy for me... Some people get Christmas cards. The rest get New Years cards because they don't celebrate Christmas.

  But I love making hand-made cards. It's time-consuming but it's a labour of love. I also think in this electronic era, where people often opt to send text messages to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy New Year", a hand-made card is all the more treasured.

  So here are all the cards I made this year for the important people in my life. I thought you might be inspired by them, somehow.

  What I'm showing you are tiles that I then slipped into plain square cards, and then I wrote messages inside the cards. So, for example... This is the tile I created....



  And then on a plain dark blue card, I drew Flux using a white pen, then used a penknife to cut slits along the Flux... Then I slipped the tile into those slits.


  And then I stuck a white tile on the inside of the card, so that I could pen down a message. :)


  Here are the rest of the tiles I created:

  The backgrounds were created using my faux watercolour technique with Tombow's dual brush markers. Here's a link to a video tutorial on how to create your own faux watercolour background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GSeyh3CBeQ

  If you'd like to learn how to draw gemstones, I also have a playlist of tutorials right here.

  The gold paint is Kuretake's Gansai Tambi paints. Shading was added using Derwent's Coloursoft coloured pencils. And the white highlights were added using a Uni-ball Signo Broad pen.

  I hope you're having a great December... I know the end of the year can be a little crazy for some of us, but I also think it's great to remember that the holidays are about spending time with the people you love... making goals for the upcoming year... and being grateful for the wonderful memories you've made in the past year.

  May 2019 be your best year yet.

Much Love,
Stephanie

late night conversations

  Good afternoon, lovelies. The holiday season is upon us. Can you believe it's almost December already? Time flies by so quickly. I've been busy making holiday gifts for my family and friends. I think I'm making the largest amount of presents this year than I have in the past years. I think it's a blessing. It means that there are more people that I treasure in my life now than I've ever had.

Here's my pile of things. Some tiles are already wrapped... Some will be mailed to friends and family living overseas. Some will be given in person. :) There's so much love and joy that I want to spread.

  Here are two of the tiles that I've completed. The Zendala is meant to be a Christmas tree ornament and has the birthday gemstones of the person I'm gifting the tile to (they're sardonyx gems). The other is for a child. I've left the top left area empty because I'm going to be teaching her how to draw my version of Diva Dance- Rock and Roll. It's the simplified version. And if you've not watched my video tutorial on how to draw it, you can watch it via this link. I promise it'd be worth your time. ;)

  Here's my entry for this week's Diva Challenge. It's fragments of Ving. I really like Ving and how versatile it is. The curved version of it reminded me of paper aeroplanes, so I turned them into one. :) The other tile was for an It's A String Thing, featuring Sea Wave. But I haven't finished shading it. I swear, I've been taking part in weekly challenges. It's just that I never get around to completing them.... They're all either half-done, or not shaded. Urgh.

  Lastly, here's a page from my new typography sketchbook. I'm already on my third one. The flip-through video of my second typography sketchbook should be up soon. And I also am going to edit the video for my old sketchbook.

  Thank you so much for dropping by to see what I've been up to in the past week. I hope you have a safe and lovely holiday this season. And until next week... Keep tangling!

2015 comes to a close

  Christmas came and went. The days seem to have breezed by. Joni and I made tiles with little Christmas trees on them for the holiday. I drew the trees in pencil, then gave one of the tiles to Joni to fill in, whilst I filled my own one. In case you haven't see them, here they are:

Here's mine.

And here's Joni's one.

Small update with what I've been up to lately:

I asked my mum what she wanted for Christmas and she said "a money tree".
So I made one for her. The Singapore $50 and $1000 bills are blue and purple coloured respectively. I asked my mum to ask the tree for money; and then to open the little flap on the tree's trunk. Behind the flap was a $50 bill for her to keep. She thought it to be a lovely present. ^-^

A new piece for "Blossoms".
Skull with a dragonfly and a chrysanthemum.

   I taught "Yuma" last week. It's such a pretty pattern, and it comes out differently every time you draw it. Here's Mihika focusing on her tile:

And this week, I did a hummingbird tile with her because the 5th of January is World Bird Day.
The pink is hers; the green is mine. She's just twelve years old, might I add. Such lovely work.

Lastly, a custom drawing for a friend.
He's Christian and I asked what his favourite quote from the bible was, and what colours he like. I then made this drawing accordingly.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

  I also started on a new project which I've currently titled "3.142". (Said as "three point one four two", after pi- π .)

Here's one finished one.

And here are five of its other friends that are currently in the works.

I've also taken the time to get back to drawing on actual tiles.
Some Zendalas I taught this week... And a tile for "It's a String Thing". I'll be posting the finished pieces right after I've completed them.

  I'm so glad you've stuck around and watched the progress of Everything Is Art. This year, we had our first exhibition (Building Bridges). Joni and I made such progress with our artistic abilities. We joined new art groups, started on new projects, and are planning on our next exhibition already... It has truly been a wonderful year for us.

  In 2016, I'll like to focus on doing more commercial works- like selling prints, iPhone covers, and T-shirts... I'll like to make more videos. I'll like to have my second exhibition; and maybe a third one, too. I'll like to teach the Zentangle method to more students. I'll like to make more friends (artists and non-artists alike). I'll like to do even more projects. I've said this plenty of times, but it's worth saying again: I'm so blessed to be doing what I love every day. I hope 2016 will be our best year yet.

Here's a wefie of Joni and I, with me holding a drawing we made together that says "Happy New Year". I'll be posting a clear, close up photo of it along with a time-lapse video of me doing the type. Until then... Keep tangling~

if a tree falls and no one is there to hear it...

  "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

  If an artist creates and no one is there to see it... is she a bad blogger?

  I've missed lots of Zentangle challenges for the past week... I also haven't been posting about what I've created recently. However, I've been creating plenty. Just that I've not gotten around to taking pictures until now. (Oops.)

  Ready for awesome-ness?

  Let's go.

  Sketchbook things:

Originally done for Diva's "African Artist" challenge...

Trying out border patterns.
Featuring "Organic", "Fleavy", and "Bonaro".

"Fleavy" and "Gourdeous".

Half done drawing...

New pattern that I like: "Verve"

  Drawing things:

It's a skull and a dragonfly, and of course some flowers because that's the theme for my next exhibition, "Blossoms".

A custom drawing for a friend with a quote from the Bible. Haven't filled in the background yet. It's going to be in coloured pencils. I'm excited to get it completed.
The yellow drawing at the back is a sneak preview of another drawing for "Blossoms".

  I went to East Coast Park for a walk by the ocean. And I saw these coloured trees:

Really pretty.

  Lastly, some Christmas-y things from the classes I've taught in the past week:

The idea came from Joey's Zentangle challenge.
This one is done by me.

This one is done by a twelve year old girl whose name is "Mihita".

  Interested in learning about the Zentangle method? I teach classes in Singapore. Find out more by clicking right here.

  And that's all you're getting for now. I have other sketchbook drawings to show you cause I've done so much. I've got some artist trading cards for a swap that I've taken part in to show you too. I'll have an update on the drawings I'm working on for "Blossoms". I've got more time lapse videos that I want to film.

  I promise I'll be updating this blog more often.

  I'm still creating things every week. I've just not made the time to update all of you. (Sorryyy~)

  Be back here in two days' time. I'll have new things to show you, then. ^-^

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year~

  Christmas is my most favourite time of the year. ^-^

  I love the warmth of the festivity (and no, I'm not talking about Singapore's humid weather...) I love the good food, the presents, the fact that people have an excuse to be extra nice to other people without seeming creepy...

  I had a wonderful Christmas with my friends and family. We went to the Mona Lisa Exhibition, and then headed to my place to have a Christmas feast. We opened our presents. Good cheer was had. And then we ended the night with eating a wonderful log cake.

I received a parcel in the mail from Under the Ivy.
Look how pretty it's packaged.

They're actually a pair of earrings. It was a nice surprise to have received it earlier than I expected it to. They're so pretty~ The shop is run by just one lady, and she definitely deserves all the support she can get. ^-^ 

The Christmas favours I made for my colleagues.
These are just three of the dozen that I made.
I love chocolates~~~

Pretty birdies in Christmas outfits. 

Christmas present from a friend!
I decided to get the Inktense blocks instead of the pencils.
Also, Art Friend has started stocking Derwent Graphik pens. Read my review of the pens here.

#005 of my Illustrated Poem Series.
"By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower."
I'm still not too sure whether this will be the final poem for this drawing, but I'm very happy with how the drawing turned out. I wanted to portray that death is beautiful in the sense that we should celebrate what each person accomplishes during their life.

  I know the drawing isn't conventionally festive... But I think it's a good symbolism to the end of a new year.


  I'm thankful for the good company I had. For the good food and delicious log cake that my mum prepared. For the lovely gifts I gave and received (giving gifts is fun too!). And I've come to another year of my artistic career... Another year of blogging... Another year of drawing, sketching, and painting. There've been lots of twists and turns this year, and I'm really looking forward to what 2015 holds.

Christmas Special: Scrapbook Materials Haul

  It's nearing Christmas, my ever-favourite holiday of the year. No, I'm not Christian. It's just a family tradition. I buy presents for my loved ones... We get to set up our Christmas tree... And we're hardcore on our Christmas decorations. We have a tree that's almost 180cm tall, and our decorations follow a theme we decide on every year, so every year is different. This year, we're going for a silvery-white Christmas. :) My mum roasts a chicken (cause turkeys are over-rated) and we gather with our friends and family and have a nice dinner together.  We exchange gifts and also reflect on on accomplishments through that year, and be thankful for having people whom we love around us.

  One of the ways I show I'm thankful for my loved ones is through hand-made cards. So in this haul, I'll show you the artsy, scrapbook-ing things I bought to make cards for this upcoming holiday. ^-^

  First off... Cards would not be without pretty, printed paper.

  I bought lots of printed paper from Art Friend. Each piece of paper is printed on both sides so you can make one card from each paper, or choose one side of the design to use. 

Sooooo pretty~

They even sold printed vellum paper. The silver looked so nice against a more solid background.
It was a nightmare to glue, though. I wasted half of a printed paper on botched attempts....
Never again shall I attempt glueing a full sheet of vellum paper to something, ever again.

The snow print looks so delicate and gorgeous. And the "falala" print is so festive. Love them.

Other papers I got for future projects.
The decorated papers cost about $1.50 each, while the plain colored ones cost $0.90.

  You can visit Art Friend to buy plenty of goodies and other craft stuffs. A list of their locations; here.

  Next on the list, is decorations for my cards. Which includes... 

Button stickers! Lookie~ So many designs~

   I bought them from a seller called "$3-$5 DIY Store" on aliexpress. They sell lots of crafty things on their store and provide free shiping to Singapore. Close ups of some of the stickers...

They're all matte, and very pretty.

Plus, they're very affordable.

  Also from the same store, I bought some other label stickers...

You can see that they've shapes punched into them, and they're glossy.

And some other labels and button stickers.
They're of the same designs, just that half of them are solid and thick stickers, while the other half are translucent and very thin.

The store also gave me a free gift- stickers that look like stamps. Very sweet of them.

Moving along... From Daiso; washi tapes, lace tape, and a punch. $2 each for the lace, and travel tape. The punch also cost $2. While the other three washi tapes cost $2 in a bundle. The Tampines Daiso currently has lots of washi tapes... 

I absolutely loved the lace tape but when I visited it again recently, they didn't stock them anymore. Shall buy more if I ever see them selling them again.

They also sold fabric tape. Very Japanese-y. I also loved the gold details on the tape, although I have no idea how I'm  going to use them... But they were sooo pretty~ I had to get them.

  Speaking of washi tapes, a while ago, I bought a bundle of washi tapes from this seller called "prettymagpie" on Carousell. She sells loads of different kinds of tapes, and also sells sampler sticks of tape. What are they, you ask? You can choose 4 designs from all the tapes she has, and she'll put 1metre of those tapes onto an ice cream stick and mail it to you. Each stick costs $2, and for someone like me who likes more variety instead of large qualities (since I'll never get around to using a full roll of tape), it's perfect.

I got myself 2 sticks, and I absolutely loved using the different designs.

   Prettymagpie also gave me a free gift with my purchase- some punch outs for scrapbooking, and amongst them were some butterflies, and I loved them. So I went on a search for butterfly punches and found a very suitable one on aliexpress. I bought mine on sale at slightly under $17, but it usually retails at $18 with free shipping. You can see the listing and buy one for yourself here.

They sent me a purple one, which was the colour I was hoping for and the butterflies are really pretty on my cards. I love it. 

  Here's what I did with all the pretty papers, and stickers, and tape:

Front...

Inside... (of course I haven't written anything in the cards yet... Personal mah...)

Back.

  And of course, with cards come gifts, too. I bought gift tags and wrapping paper from IKEA. Apparently they're stocking up a lot of silver and gold Christmas decorations this year and it was whilst my mum and I were shopping there that we decided we'd have a silvery-white Christmas this year.

Gift tags and a ball of gold string to tie gifts.

I made some bookmarks for a friend, which is somewhat counter-intuitive since I also bought her a Kindle......

Silver and gold wrapping paper (which I sometime use as pretty backgrounds when I review art products... teehee)

Annndddddd~ The silver star we're going to be putting on our Christmas tree this year.

  I argued with my mum saying that star should always be gold but she said we've had gold stars on our tree for the past three years or so, and that the theme this year was silvery-white so a gold star wouldn't match the theme. "You not thinking clearly," is what she said exactly. I had to agree with her, so here is our silver star for our tree this year.

  So! That was all the things I bought with this haul. I hope you've enjoyed this post as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I might even post another haul some other time too. ^-^