All I want for Christmas

I can think of a hundred or so different things that I'd love to have- a fashion illustration/ visual history of fashion book, more clothes and accessories etc. All these require a significant amount of money. Then it occurred to me that for many years I've been making and giving cards to others, and hardly receiving any in return. Hence I honestly say that the best Christmas present I can have is a handmade Christmas card from someone I love.

6 reasons why I like Christmas

(Not necessarily in order of preference)

1) Food. I know Christmas conjures up memories of low-grade buffets and tough turkey meat for some people, but for me it's a time for feasting on delicious food. Maybe it's because my family nearly always spends Christmas with relatives in Malaysia, who'd provide good food for us. My mum's roast turkey is divine. And any leftover turkey is used to cook turkey porridge. Mmmm... my mouth is watering by just thinking about it.

2) Company. It feels perfectly natural to get together with family, friends and relatives during Christmas time. An elaborate party setting is not even required.

3) Shopping. Somehow the phrase 'Christmas shopping' appeals to me, even if I'm not shopping for gifts. Any purchase for myself is excusable- it's Christmas after all! Everyone's on a high and that means retail indulgence.

4) Outfits. Christmas is an excuse to wear pretty, glittery outfits. No outfit is too shiny/ glitzy/ extravagant. It's all part of the festive mood.

5) Christmas cards. I enjoy making and sending out Christmas cards. Unfortunately it's not something I'm able to do every year. Some people find the whole process of writing and sending cards tedious and contrived, but I think it won't be so if it's for those that one truly cares about. Besides, nothing beats the feeling of receiving mail on Christmas Day, and opening the envelope to find a beautiful card. It makes one feel appreciated.

Most of all...

6) the Festive Spirit. Isn't it contagious?

Vintage-style

These were taken some time ago hence the hair. I have short hair now :)

My favourite shots from our photography trip

It was raining later that day, as you may observe in some of the photos.

I'll be going to Malaysia to visit relatives this Friday, and will be staying there till 1 Jan. I may find time to blog there. I'll show you the stuff I'm packing for this trip sometime tomorrow.

Desert

A little something I did today...

Odilon Redon (last)

Last batch, I promise!

His use of colours is truly inspiring.

Sheer cage skirt

Three Polyvore outfits I created with this skirt. What a cool skirt! If only I actually owned it. I'd have so much fun playing around with it.

A painting I did today

I just merged my previous blogs with this one so anyone can check out the archives if they want to.

News: I had my hair cut short yesterday. Whew! So refreshing to have hair feeling lighter.

Odilon Redon

Hope you're not getting sick of these paintings because I find them exceedingly beautiful :)

A new TV show I'm hooked on is House. That guys's sense of humour is SO wacky.

You can see my favourite shots from my photography trip with Hui Jun at my Flickr (link on the right of this page).

Figure drawings from today

My sis posed for us. With each session we decreased the time until it was only 1 min (the first drawing). Conclusion? I need more practice.

Layering Lalalala...

I like looking at fall collections to see how layering can be done. Unfortunately with Singapore's tropical climate layering is not very feasible :( Still I can at least try it in the confines of my room. In the photos I'm wearing three layers on top- a long-sleeved floral-printed top, a brown silky shirt over that, and finally a short-sleeved white crochet cardigan to top it off. Frankly I hardly wear this pink skirt because pink, especially this shade of pink, is not really my thing. It was my sis who bought it for very cheap. I think she likes the dusky hue but if I want to wear pink I'd wear a bright, clear pink.

I think I'm going to cut my hair soon. Seems that I like short hair best after all :) Besides, cutting my hair short at the end of the year is kind of like a ritual for me. This was how short my hair was at the end of last year, when I cut it right before leaving for Japan:

I included that stupid photo in the middle because it's the only one that shows my hair from the side. And the last photo with my sis is for length comparison. The guy from my japanese class can say that "guys like girls with long hair" but I don't care, I think I look better with short hair. A bit boyish I suppose but cute.

By the way, from looking at these photos I don't think lavender's my colour...

Drawings

I was sorting through stuff for my portfolio. Here's some figure drawings from the beginning of last year:

And here's the still-life in charcoal I did two days ago with Hui Jun at my house.

I thought it was not bad considering that I haven't used charcoal for about a year-and-a-half. Then we went to Little India, Chinatown and Bugis area today to take photos. It started raining halfway, though, so we bought nail polish from Watson's and sat down to paint our nails in alternating colours of hot pink and yellow :) FUNKYYY.