SINGAPORE GARDEN FESTIVAL

Singapore Garden Festival 2008 held at the Suntec City Convention Hall from 25 Jul - 1 Aug. I went there with my mom and ended up with 4 pots of orchids and 1 pot of serracenia (carnivorous plant). Tickets were so much cheaper than the previous festival (which I attended too), and it was half-priced on weekdays! Besides the giant installations, there were also entries for the ikebana competition and inter-school ikebana with a recycling theme,  and lots of retail and exhibition booths.

More pictures here in my ALBUM.

Grasshopper mascot at the lobby.

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Hydrangeas

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I like the giraffes.

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Giant cage with orchids

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Chinese village inspired, there was a fake pond even.

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Marilyn Monroe plant mosiac

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Mao Tse Tung lawn art

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Shiny installation from ceiling to floor.

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Undersea illusion with water ceiling and bubbles. My ex-company's submission. 1st prize in the category.

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Jungle setting with misting & lots of giant nepenthes pitcher plants

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Papua New Guinea's orchid installation, 1st prize in the category.

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Australia's submission with a beach theme.

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ICY CRIMSON ACEO

My latest ACEO called Icy Crimson, made with brown pen and markers. Not much story behind it, just that I felt like drawing blades. It is available for sale here: Icy Crimson

I've been lurking around and checking out other people's awesome art & designs and wonder when I will ever reach that standard. It's such a bugger when you don't make any marked improvements after drawing for so long! So much things to do, so little time, so many distractions! Alright, I'll quit complaining now =P Ever feel that way? 

STOP # 7 ACEO

A retro twist after seeing the Sesame street psychedelia videos (in the previous post)! Also "Stop # 7" means "Train Stop #7". Available in my Etsy shop here: Stop Number 7
The title came about while my itunes played this instrumental:

It also is my favourite scene in the Studio Ghibli's film 'Spirited Away'. So surreal! Oh yes she stops at train station number 6 (Swamp), so mine's number 7. You guys have to watch this film (academy award winning) even if you dislike anime, because this is not really the anime-anime that may get very annoying sometimes (too much exaggeration and noise).

AUSTERE CATS

I messed up abit on this ACEO card but it came out alright in the end! 

It is available in my Etsy shop here:  Austere Polka-Dot Cat

Also remember the newborn kitties in my May post here: Let Sleeping Cats Lie? They're grown up now and sooooo cute!

This is Pluto.

Pluto and a yawning Squeek.

Squeek sucks fingers after just weaned off... doesn't do it now.

Squeek more grown and sleek! Still can't tell the difference between her and Yoshi.

This is Yoshi who likes watching TV on the monitor. They all watch tv really. 

Yoshi sleeps exactly like his owner!

Yoshi looks exactly like his uncle Fuman. That is Fuman's toy he's playing with: a bell inside a gashapon case. With Jojo the dog.

Pluto in his playpen. Amazing how a used box can be fun for him.

Ambushing behind the flaps. We still see him though!

SICK OF SEEING LOW PRICES

I've decided to up my prices on my original ACEOs to what they are worth, well or at least more that what I was offering previously. I spend more than 5 hours illustrating each card, sometimes days on end getting the sketch right and not counting my materials and ideas they are easily worth $80 each. But of course I can't bring myself to increase that drastically for now, so a small step first. Hate earning 20 cents an hour, and much more without sales it goes to show low prices doesn't necessary mean more sales!

Even the minimum wage here in Singapore is S$3.50, that is US$2.59. It's not a hobby anymore (started as one though!). That is all. I encourage any crafters or artists who are seriously underselling their works to consider pricing in your time, materials, skill and time to market it. Oh and the fees (Paypal, ebay, etsy etc)..  Don't lose money on selling ;)

MOST POPULAR DRINK IN THE WORLD

I received a free coke glass while buying a meal from McDonalds, as part of a promotional campaign for the Beijing Olympics. You have to upsize both drink and fries to get the glass (and no I didn't get a coke but iced lemon tea). Coca-cola was called so because they used to contain cocaine and caffeine from kola nuts. Talk about double addiction! I'm glad to say I no longer drink a can of coke almost everyday for the caffeine. Tea does the work now.

Here are some cool coke and pepsi themed items from Etsy sellers:

Coke Candle by jotaysgel

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Vintage Pepsi Cola Magnet Frame by VintageTakings

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Cola Bottle Earrings by inediblejewelry

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Fries and Cola Bottle Resin Necklace by ArtbyMAR

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Vintage Pepsi Can Montage Mosaic Print by finalscore

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Coca-Cola Country Wall Shelf by subman

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4 TREASURIES

Wow! This is the first time I'm in a few treasuries. One has expired so 3 now. Thank you to all who featured me, am always honoured! Sales has been slow and didn't feel like posting today but I'd thought to plug the other featured sellers.

If the links lead to an expired post, click on the image to see an enlarged screenshot, then look for the usernames in pale grey and to visit their shops, just type this in your address bar: http://theirusername.etsy.com. I added quite a few to my shopping list!

This one has expired.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=16698

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=56872

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=16732

THE DIRTIEST THING ON YOUR TABLE...

... is probably this. Clean your keyboards! When was the last time you did it? I clean mine once in 2 months and the dirt accumulated is quite horrible. Partly because the mac keyboard is white & transparent so seeing the dirt really annoys me. The amount of gunk embedded inside the board: skin cells, grease, hair, eraser bits, dust, eyelashes and dead flies even. Don't forget we sometimes sneeze, cough and eat while typing (I avoid eating around the computer area now after spilling sugared drinks onto the board)!

Don't have time to take apart my keyboard this time so just used alcohol to wipe on top and in between the keys. I go through alcohol bottles rather quickly because the mouse is cleaned every few days and the keys every few weeks. Now it's running smooth and don't feel 'stuck' anymore so I can get back to work!

SESAME STREET PSYCHEDELIA

These videos are the shorts I look forward to back in the 1980s and others. They do look 1960-70s made. Some of them introduced me to the world of psychedelia (yes in kindergarden) and cool animations, now you know why I like them so much... inspiration for my next artworks!


Pinball is my absolute favourite. Still remember the song!



I also really like this 1-10.



Ah yes the creators on acid. But it's beautiful, no? 1-20



A pretty alphabet A-Z morphing fairy song



I remembered the creepy music made me stare at the screen (hypnotic lol) 10-1



More psychedelia.

Enjoy. And yes I changed the blog layout (using my ugly handwriting again)

EXPECTING WOMAN ACEO

This is my 2nd time drawing a pregnant woman. The first one I ever did was a horror pic, and it was incomplete and not to be published. Maybe one day I shall reveal it and show you the grotesqueness of it hehe! Anyhow this is my latest ACEO made with brown copic pen, markers and white pen. She came about by accident, when I wanted to draw a stylised girl with a cool slouch but couldn't get it right so after a few editings, the slouch became the pregnant tummy! You can purchase it here in my Etsy shop: Expecting

Also I really need to change the ugly banner header on my blog, always wanted to change it since the one you see now consists of my ugly handwriting while practising using my new wacom... will come up with something cuter!

BATTLE OF THE CLOUDS

Windows wide open:
Dusk arrives as angry dark clouds pushes in. They obscure the brilliant white clouds that caught my attention at the corner of my eye.

Clouds hide as the dark clouds tears on... at least for 5 minutes....!

The white clouds emerge victorious as the stratus rain clouds decide to say farewell. And appear prettier than ever! Sky becomes a deep blue too. Banishing other altostratus-es from the sky, cumulus clouds say hello:


Say cheeese!
The everchanging atmosphere is quite the blog post, something more constructive on my next entry haha!

BLOSSOM IN A BLOSSOM

Made in markers and brown pen. 

Available in my Etsy shop here: Blossom in a Blossom
It does look rather funky huh =P It wasn't inspired by anything again, image just popped in my brain for some time. I made this while playing Scrabble on Facebook lol. Join me there! I also made a Facebook page for my art, although wondering if it is redundant...

CUPCAKES SERVED ACEO

I was drawing a sketch and felt like making more cupcake ACEOs so I gave this girl a huge cupcake bonnet & freckles, then realised it looked so much like Strawberry Shortcake... so there you go, no hat! Strawberry Shortcake is one of my fave 80s cartoon characters, because she was my first doll and smelled of rubberised strawberries! However, am not too keen on the revamped modern version with her in jeans, sun hat and long sleeved t-shirt; I feel it is less whimsical than the original. The ACEO is available in my Etsy shop here: "Cupcakes Served"

Talking about Strawberry Shortcake, I miss my doll - can't find it, I did remember bringing her over with her pet cat when I moved home, but she's missing now =( Anyhow lookie here I am also missing these specific SSC toys from my childhood urghh, available on Etsy though!

Strawberry Shortcake on skateboard

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Lime Chiffon doing ballet

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Butter Cookie in stroller

FINALLY GOT SOME ART GOING

Entitled very plainly "Lightning Strikes"! This wasn't inspired by anything in particular, I just wanted to draw lightning and so I personified them! Also I'd like to try out more night scenes because it gives a more surreal vibe, doncha think?

Available in my Etsy shop here: "Lightning Strikes"


This is "Tangerine Rabbit" an ACEO repro that I recently listed in my shop. It is inspired by Cheshire Cat. There's a joke going around that Alice (in Wonderland) was on drugs... though my psychedelia was more of an element to represent a dimension travel (*coff lol*). It also resembles Totoro characters because Studio Ghibli was inspired by Chesire Cat for the character designs in the film, especially Neko Basu (Cat Bus). I used a gold sparkly pen to add a depth which cannot be observed in the scan.


Lastly, "Mushroom Lamp" is also an ACEO repro I listed today, it is a night scene too but night atmosphere was maroon because if I used black, that would ruin details. I never use black with marker backgrounds because they seldom come out right! It is embelished with sparkly gold ink to reflect light.

BEING SPECIALISED OR DIVERSIFIED?

I really want to do some artworks because of many new ideas (which are leaving me because I keep delaying) but here's the clutter on my table that's preventing me from doing so. All these are posed for using or ready to sell on my accessories shop but I'm just extremely slow, mostly in adjusting photos in Photoshop, taking photos and writing descriptions - the worst of the lot. Of course this is just a small portion of what I've done so far (and haven't done). I shall make it a point to draw something tomorrow, an ACEO at least.

The problem is I diversify too much and end up not being specialised enough to excell in either. An ongoing debate no less on the Etsy forums and I do feel it is better to focus your energies on one craft and marketing works better that way too. I have tried and unable to do so because of my varied interests, I'll lose momentum soon enough if I keep on one specialised job, thus a different endeavour will enable me to maintain that interest and recharge while working on another. Does that make sense (cents)? Naturally everything piques my interest, so making a mental note that I shouldn't waste time trying to try attempt everything helps... for a while!