Doodles of Late...

Couldn't find big enough wrapping paper for my little nephew's gift, I grabbed a 'kertas minyak' and doodled something he liked on it. For his Mom (yes, they have the same birthday), I quickly made a small gift card using pen and watercolor.

A closer view of above gift card.
Her name starts with 'Wan...' in case you're wondering...

This last minute gift card barely made its way to my sis Anna on her birthday as I was struggling with baby Zain while doodling it. Phew!

Oh yes, once in a while... peace and quite doodle while my baby was taking his morning nap.

Bought a new Daler-Rowney A5 sketch book and hope I'll get the rhythm of making more doodles and drawings in the near future :)

Enjoy!

Malaysia GE13_A Wish

The Architects... of Love ;)

I received an order from a talented and friendly girl who's currently pursuing her Master in Architecture and whose boyfriend is a blossomed architect already.

I have the feeling that this active girl is very very good at what she does :)  She has two great websites showcasing her passions in Life... do check them out, I'm sure you'll enjoy what you see and read...  :)

My Scrapbook of Life

My Perfumes & Art

A5 Watercolor & Ink on 250Ib Acid Free Watercolor Paper.

10cm (H) Black & White on Art Card to be kept in the Wallet or turned into a Book Mark!

Thank you Farah...

All the Best to you in Life and Beyond :)

Hot Air Balloon of Love :)

My lovely client has asked me to make a painted 2nd Anniversary Card... that will feature her lovely self and hubby... with lots of love surrounding them.

So, I came up with the idea of them riding on a Hot Air Balloon... with some Love shape balloons flying and scattering in the background. Hmmm... that reminds me, isn't this week's theme at the Illustration Friday Blog  is SCATTERED?

NOTE: The wordings inside of the Card- given by Client.

Anyway, I'm so glad she loved the idea and the result! :))

Thank you Selina... for giving me the chance to create another Card for you and for reminding me how beautiful a love can be.

Happy Occasions!

I've just delivered a BIG Card for one of my favorite clients :). She ordered it for her sister.

The Sketch

It's an A4 sized Card, Watercolor Paper... made for her sister's Birthday which also happens to be on her Wedding Anniversary! Awesome.

One day, One Card with 2 Happy Occasions- who could ask for more?

A Book Mark for Haqeem

Yeah! This is the book mark I made for my cheeky nephew, Rezky Hakim (hence the "RH" on the belt"). He has been asking for it... for quite a while (after I gave his brother, Amin one book mark- see previous post).

And maybe you can guess whose outfit he asked me to do.. ?

When it Rains..

My heart and prayer go to the blessed souls of the orphans who died in the landslide yesterday in Kampung Gahal, Ulu Langat. Many believed the rainfall has caused the landslide. Until today, people are still searching for the bodies. Made me think how fragile this borrowed life is..

At the same time, Illustration Friday theme this time is SOAKED. How appropriate.

Everything in life comes in pairs- good & bad, yin & yang, positive & negative, pros & cons.... etc. That's how God has made things. Depending on the situations.. rain can be either way too.

While the news above made me feel sad, the word SOAKED made me recall a wet kitten in the rain.  It's funny how a fluffy furry cat could be so very thin and tiny when it's wet.

I remember when I was small, I found a wet kitten in the rain. She was all dirty and thin. But guess what happened when she was all dried up? Yup, she was the biggest fur ball & cutest kitten ever :). 

Watercolor & Ink + Photoshop

Take care, everyone...

Look Who's Cookin'

Owhh.. it's Emelly's dad :D.

Size A2, Watercolor, Ink & Pencil Color. May 2011.

Emelly is my one of my sweetest clients whom I did a "Couple Caricature" and a cool illustrated Story Board for her recent wedding.

She wanted a BIG caricature for her dad because he's opening a restaurant.. somewhere.. hmm.. I haven't had the chance to ask her just yet. Maybe I'll let you know after she tells me the details. But it's interesting to know that she'll use this caricature for some banners at the eating place. 

I pray for her dad's success in his yummy endeavor. At her request, I had to draw a fish head curry, a bowl of mee soup, roasted chicken, banana leaf nasi lemak and yellow sticky rice with rendang. Sounds like real 'food' to me :) hehe.

Enjoy!

A Beginner..

A beginner is not afraid to step forward with a stride..

A beginner is determined to breeze through life and be free..

A beginner is embracing life with arms open wide..

A beginner is somewhere there within you and me.

                                                                          ~ ET2011~

A little inspiration from Illustration Friday's theme: "Beginner".

As the beginner of many people's working week, Monday sucks! :(

Yeah.. I understand. You've had a nice restful weekend.. woke up late on lazy Sunday... spent time doing what you love doing most- maybe being a couch potato and watching reruns on TV or just spending time with your loved ones and just doing nothing.

But I hope each one of you ( me too!) will face it anyway with an open heart because each and every day of our short life is very precious.. it's a blessing whether you're in a good or bad situation.

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Unfortunately, it was the day a neighbor of mine lost her Mom. Yeah, that was sad. Need I say more..?


Mom, I love you so much.

  

IF: Lesson

Sometimes, one may wonder what lessons can be learned from life..

Original piece- watercolor, ink & coffee stain

Sometimes, we can learn lessons of life readily and as it is..

Sometimes, we can learn lessons of life through darkness and hardships..

But have we really learned some lessons by now..?

Digitally enhanced piece- plus a beautiful Quote..

Hi everyone..

Illustration Friday's theme this week is "Lesson". I think the theme is very inspirational :)

Actually, I have drawn and painted the above illustration last week. When I saw the IF theme this week.. and then looked at my illustration.. hmm.. I thought they could somehow tie in to each other.

The golden winged fairy was sitting on a high branch... overlooking a forest.. with a silent dead mountain in a distance.. She looked as if wondering.. or perhaps waiting for something... or someone...
The little yellow winged friend with a short horn.. was staring at her.. perhaps feeling sorry for its friend.. hanging out alone on the blue branch... should it go near her... or just let her be..?


Another Lesson: A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.

Just A Little Note.

Come Rain or Shine... HE will always be in my heart.

P/S: My ArtBlog is updated. You're most welcome to drop by, read and leave any comments :) Thanks.

IF: Bicycle

Hehee.. something I heard a long time ago and stuck in my head since.

Enjoy.

Cathy the Caterpillar Card.

A couple of days ago, I made a special Birthday Card for my friend's 3 years old daughter. I thought.. maybe I should share the steps to make it because it's simple and quite an interesting project to make when you're in crafting mood :)..

I call it Cathy the Caterpillar because it IS a caterpillar card! Small.. long.. and cute!

First, find a strip of paper. I had a strip of a watercolor paper left-over which was just great for this little project.

The lenght is up to you. We want to make an accordion out of it... so, if one square of accordion is 6cm x 6cm.. and the wordings you want on its body has 9 letters plus 1 for the head- then the calculation should be 6cm x 10= 60cm (as in my case, here).

Next, fold the strip in accordion folds..

Then, draw an almost half circle shape (or a straight line- the point is, not to make the caterpillar looks too squarish!) at each corner of the square and cut through the layers using a craft knife...

Now, you can write the wordings you've decided on the caterpillar's body.. and if you want to use watercolor, you can use Art Masking Fluid to write the letters ..

..and then mix some cheerful colors on the body!

When the colors are dried, you can peel off the mask to reveal the protected paper underneath.

Afterwards, you can decorate the face and the body! I just made some simple 'dots' because I didn't have so much time that day.

On the other side of the paper, you can write some wishes and what nots :)

TADAAA..!! Now Cathy is ready to meet her new keeper... with a gift!

The fun thing is.. this is not just a card. I mean, if the girl has her own room, she can stick Cathy up on her bedroom's door! Cool huh?


Well, instead of writing a 'name' on its body, you can also just paint some stripes and patterns.. these will look nice too! Just have some fun with Cathy with your own creative ways.

Enjoy!

A Sweet Bee..

Chot is one charming bee.. :)

Something sweet for Diana's Sweet Saturday's.

Since I started my blog about 2 years ago, I got to know Diana's blog by chance and she visited my blog when nobody even knew DoodleDesign existed! I love visiting her blog to look at her unique style of illustration and her sweet adorable son, Cole. Thanks Diana for the inspiration.

If you have something sweet to share from your blog, just go and join Diana's Sweet Saturday linky party.

Have fun!

The Fish that Walks

Something bizarre or weird that has to do with nature always fascinates me because it makes me THINK.

Yes, it makes me think and wonder about the vastness of God's creations.. and how little do I know about the world I'm living in. No matter how much knowledge you could gather while you are living.. there'll always be something else you still don't know.

Have you ever seen a walking fish that has four legs? I saw it in the newspaper once.

Cute, huh?

I wonder..

.. if this fish might be the mermaid's version of a pet? hmm..

" Owhh... you're so adorable.. eeeee...."
"Mmmeooooowwww. "

When the Duck & the Chicken Sing..

.. together..????

Awful.
They make so much noise, really. I don't think they can even understand each other.

Malay has this saying, "..bercakap macam ayam bercakap dengan itik", simply put it means when two people who completely have different languages/ dialects tried to converse with one another.

That reminds me of my auntie's story ( I call her' Mak Long'), during my parents' wedding back in the 70's... My dad's family was in Penang and my Mom's came from Besut, Terengganu. My Mak Long said she couldn't understand at all what my Mom's relatives were saying.. because the dialects and the way they talked (very soft spoken compared to her side- Penangites- who most of the time, very outspoken and loud! Ha.). So she kept nodding and smiling all the time. If they laughed, she followed suit. Hehehe..


Here's one for Illustration Friday's- DUET:

The other thing I'd like to share here is a Gift Tag I made for a family friend's wedding last weekend. Just a simple 'Congratulations' card. Hope this 'duet' will lasts forever... :) God willing.

CE: Small

" Whoa! I can't believe how small you are!!"

"Syyyyyyyyyyyyyhhh.."

The theme for CreativeEveryday- "small"... yet again brought me to the time when I fantasized about the world of fairies and the invisible magical world. The illustration above showed exactly how I would've reacted if I saw one of them. Any bigger than that (or uglier).. I would've fainted, I think.

Back in 1980s.. when I was in a primary school in Kuala Terengganu, there was a little rumors (which later turned to be one of the biggest 'news' throughout Malaysia) that went around the neighboring school- some kids saw 'little people'/ orang kenit who had their own little village under the big trees at the end of my school field. Yes, the kids aged between 7 to 10 years really saw these little people who seemed 'invisible' to the grown-ups' eyes. Some of them saw the little people entering the classroom and playing around while the teacher was teaching. Imagine how the teacher freaked out when the student told her, " Teacher, he's on your desk!." A few of the kids actually met the  little village's Leader and found that the latter had his own aeroplane too! Cool, huh? That year, so many reporters came by the school and interviewed these kids for the newspapers, magazines and TV. Until one day, one of the kids said, the little people finally decided to leave the place because humans came and disturbed their place. So, just like that.. the story ended. Where on earth did they go?

I did wish to check out if it was true but my parents already warned me, "Don't even think about it!"- well, sort of. I wonder why those little people didn't come to my school, sometimes. Such a mystery. Many people think these kids made up the stories to gain attention or they were just their imagination. Hmm.. I don't know why would the kids do that. Sometimes, the only people you can trust are kids. They don't lie. They tell you what they see.. and that's that!

There's so much we don't know about this world.. no matter how far and how many countries you have been. God's creations are so vast & variety. There's no denying in that. When you know so much, there's still so much you don't know. 

Ilmu Allah sangat luas.. 

Nothing is impossible :)

Oh, by the way, if you're interested.. come & join my Contest-Giveaway til 15th April! Just for the FUN of it..

Click HERE!

Find your Wings to Fly..

The Butterfly Girl. Watercolor & Ink.

No matter what you do in life, you can be successful.

If you love drawing, doodling, painting, crafting, singing, dancing.... 

..just keep doing what you love.

We are born with differences. Everyone has her own purposes..

If you're one with FAITH, believe that HE will lead you the way... sooner if not later. 

Don't fret and don't regret.. because the time will come.. 

and things will fall into their places eventually.

But don't just sit around, doing nothing.. 

..just keep on doing what you love.

If you're not successful now, doesn't mean you'll fail later too.

Nobody can take away the passion inside of you..

Each of us is special.

Listen to your heart..

We just have to find our own Wings to fly.

Well, just some thoughts I would like to share this morning because of my little illustration of The Butterfly Girl that I did last night. 

When I was a little girl.. I really enjoyed drawing stuff like that. For many, many years... I didn't just let my imagination fly like what I'm doing recently. Maybe I was too caught up with being a traditional artist who paints 'real' people and life. Until one day, I got fed up and wanted to find a different direction. But I got stuck.. not knowing what to paint anymore. Everything seemed dull and ideas were hard to come by. I always had to ask others for ideas.. because i was sort of, lost it. Then, I began my journey to redefine myself as an artist.. and I guess, I still am. 

Having a blog almost seems like this journey is documented and some day, I'll look back and see how I've developed and progressed in my ventures. It's a blessing to be able to share with people I don't even know in real life.. Not many will find the time to read whatever is being written in others' blogs. Those who are sincere enough will do that and share some thoughts too. Others may look at pictures and move on. Another 'surfers' may dropped by to check out what others are doing and copy it (hey, please don't!) or just ignore it.. That's OK. I'm not doing my blog for anyone but for my own sake and sanity. 

I'm much happier inside now.. that I've allowed myself to explore my imaginative world while doing illustrations and cartoons.. just like when I was a little girl. I really feel good after I painted a little illustration or made a sketch. Even though I'm not sure where this is going.. I know I'll keep on doing it. At the same time, I'll also keep painting some 'real' ones too.. which you can see more of them at Yartstik's ArtBlog. 

So.. good luck everyone in everything that you do :).

Success is not the destination; the Journey is.

P/S: Oh yes, before I forget- let me remind you that there'll be a fun CONTEST coming up soon! hihi.. it's for something that can 'fly'.. but mine, doesn't. 

Whimsy-Pus!

I saw an Octopus mending her Garden this morning... in my head - ha!

Octopus Garden!

I think, if you're an octopus, you'll be one efficient multi-tasker!

Have fun for the coming weekend :).

This one is for Whimsical Wednesday.. it's a bit early but Wednesday is coming anyway.

Enjoy...!

IF: Cultivate...

Dear readers... stay tuned... soon I'll have a really COOL CONTEST for you to enter. And I'm still thinking of what Art Gifts I shall giveaway this time :).

It'll be FUN & exciting and I can't wait to have you join it but not today just yet. Today, I'm making a new entry for Illustration Friday this week with the theme: Cultivate!

What's to cultivate? Friendship! 
Yes... Cultivate and Grow Your Friendship :)...

For everyone who comes here and 'following' and.. commenting my posts; I THANK YOU indeed.
Even virtually, I could sense a pleasant friendship cultivating between us.. although we might be from different parts of the world with different beliefs and races.. and if you are living in Malaysia, I feel so happy to be able to connect with you through my humble blog.

So, thanks again!

Enjoy!