We Heart It

We Heart It is one of my favorite online tools. It lets you create an online album with your favorite images and videos & at the same time you can see what other people are adding to their own hearts and save it on yours to grow your collection! Here's my account & check out a few of my favorite images below...

Kareena Zerefos

Sometimes I get lucky & stumble on an artist that manages to capture snippets of my dreams & childhood memories on paper & makes me so very happy indeed. Kareena is one such artist. With pencil, gouache, tea and ink she creates sweet, storybook narratives where friendly animals and curious children play. I'm in love.

Buy her artwork here.

Bug Under Glass

Like many women, I'm drawn to the imagery of butterflies. There's something just magical about them, don't you think? As a teen & my early twenties, almost everything I owned had some sort of butterfly on it. However, it's been my dearest wish to own a real butterfly display like the ones made by Kevin Clarke of Bug Under Glass. The beautiful insects in his shop are not killed for displays but raised on insect farms that give locals in rainforest areas an income and incentive to protect the rainforest. Clarke’s displays are the only ones of their kind that are sealed and use archival materials. Now, if only I can persuade Clarke to ship to Malaysia....

Spoonflower

Have you ever heard of Spoonflower? I came across this neat little service I think sometime last year when it was still in its infancy & was blown away by the concept. Read on below:

(Taken off the site) Spoonflower makes it possible for individuals to design, print and sell their own fabric designs. It was founded in May 2008 by two Internet geeks who had crafty wives but who knew nothing about textiles. The company came about because Stephen’s wife, Kim, persuaded him that being able to print her own fabric for curtains was a really cool idea. She wasn’t alone. The Spoonflower community now numbers around 70,000 individuals who use their own fabric to make curtains, quilts, clothes, bags, furniture, dolls, pillows, framed artwork, costumes, banners and much, much more. The Spoonflower marketplace offers the largest collection of independent fabric designers in the world. The site has appeared in the New York Times, Associated Press, Vogue, Martha Stewart Weddings, Make, CRAFT, ApartmentTherapy, Photojojo, and many other terrific publications and blogs.

Neat huh? These are some of my all time favorite fabric designs....

Monsieur / Mademoiselle

Good Monday morning lovelies! Here are more Blanca Gomez loving to chase away any of those nasty Monday blues: These simple little prints are part of a cute set she did called Monsieur/Mademoiselle. I'm especially enjoying the colorful rainy one, since it is so rainy during the evenings these days! See the whole happy set here.

Blanca Gomez

I just love Blanca Gomez's work. I've been meaning to blog about this artist before but it always seems to slip my mind although I don't know how! I just love the simple lines used by Gomez that evoke the 50s & 60s which is hands down my favorite era. You can check out the rest of this artist's work here & buy them on Etsy.

Happy Earth Day!

Hello lovelies! Sorry for the late post but we had a noise issue with our neighbor last night which resulted in me having to sleep the morning away to catch up with my sleep... I tweeted about it if you want to know what happened.

Anyways, today is Earth Day in case you didn't know. How are you spending it? I've been looking up some amazing recycled art & came across this awesome post on the Free People blog. Check it out!

These mandalas were created by Virginia Fleck from plastic bags of all things! A mandala is a universal, non-religious tool for meditation that is composed of carefully chosen symbols and imagery with a specific meaning said to provide guidance. How a mandala made from plastic bags supposed to help you on your spiritual quest I'm not really sure of but they're very pretty don't you think?

Created by artist Josh Blackwell, these are plastic bags you would want to use over and over again! He carefully wove thread and other materials into plastic bags to create these “plastic baskets” as he calls them.

DIY Kirigami Flowers

I never heard of Kirigami until today & I must admit that I'm very intrigued & can't wait to try it out. Thanks Threadbanger! You never fail to make my day.

Hmmmm... come to think of it, these Kirigami flowers just might make an appearance at my wedding! Will share this post over at my new wedding blog, Murni & Jamil ;)

Blik

Vinyl wall decals as decoration is pretty stale news by now as loads of people have jumped on the bandwagon. But the folks of Blik have somehow manage to keep their designs fresh & drool-worthy like this Classical Must Haves & Mid Century Gothic below.

And although I love & appreciate fancy designs, I'm the kind of gal that just gravitates to simple, classic lines like this Nessa headboard in yellow below. It's definitely something that I can see in my home.

Via Decor8.

Titan Planet

Being someone who has been comfortable traveling alone from a very young age & loves being immersed in different cultures, I instantly perked up the moment I read "homestay program" on one of those FaceBook sidebar ads. Titan Planet Homestay has been "involved in the cultural exchange program abroad since 1999. It is an organization committed to facilitating intercultural understanding, global competence and friendship. The main purpose is to provide the opportunities, platform and gateway for people to experience home stay; promote cultural exchange; enhance mutual understanding; learning the language and friendly relationship between Malaysia and other country." I'm liking the sound of it, how about you?

I'm eyeing Japan & Korea right now as applications are still open. Hmmmmmm.....

Don't Forget!

Saturday: 17th April 2010: 2.30 pm - 6.30 pm
Chic POP: Shower Fresh @ CHI Fitness, Damansara Perdana (MY)

An exclusive all-girl soiree brought to you by Tongue in Chic and Rexona! Expect pampering activities such as Pole Dancing 101 by Viva Vertical; DIY Body & Facial products by Mimpi Murni (yours truly); self-styling booths by Lah'Lah'Land; and makeovers by Smashbox Cosmetics! For more information, visit the Facebook event page.

Blogged about here.

Murni & Jamil

We're getting hitched folks! That's right... me & my boyfriend of 7 years are finally tying the knot :)

If you've been following me on Twitter, I actually shared the news last month almost right after his proposal so this might be stale news for some of you. I restrained from sharing it here because I wanted to wait till we could somewhat pin down the important dates & until our families have met & given us their blessings which they did, alhamdulillah.

Anyways, I've created a new blog as a way to document my wedding ideas & plans. And so if you're curious of what this gal has been so busy with, have a looksee at Murni & Jamil. The design & layout is still very much a work in progress but I'll be adding & tweaking as we go along.

Sekeping Tenggiri

I was at Joyce's blog, catching up with what's cool & happening in KL, and I saw some pictures from a house party she attended. First of all the name Tenggiri was well, different (Tenggiri is the Malay name for Spanish Mackerel) & not a name you would associate with a house of all things. Secondly, the pictures Joyce took had little glimpses of industrial coolness so being nosy, I clicked on the link. As soon as the site loaded, I was mesmerized.

The very cool entrance

Welcome to paradise

Gorgeous landscape with an organic vegetable patch

Equally gorgeous at night.

Fancy sleeping in a tree house?

I love a good open air shower

It turns out Sekeping Tenggiri is from the man responsible for Sekeping Serendah, which is another paradise out in Rawang. The man, Ng Sek San is a landscape architect cum art collector who turned two neglected houses on the serene residential lane of Jalan Tenggiri, off Jalan Tandok in Bangsar into this minimalist & eco-friendly oasis. With brick walls left exposed, doors scoured from old kampung houses, an organic vegetable garden, a cosy common area with lots of DIY light fixtures made with recycled Yokult bottles & cat food tins and home to two dogs that I think were rescued off Pulau Ketam as they are named Pulau and Ketam... I think I found Mimpi Murni heaven. In reality however, ST is part warehouse gallery & part retreat for guests with rooms to rent (rates start at RM200 per night). If I could, I would move in right now.

Do check out the Sekeping Tenggiri site for more gorgeous pictures & info. And while you're at it, have a looksee at the renovation process. You'll be amazed at how two humdrum houses were converted into sophistication.

All pictures are from Star Property which also has a nice write-up about ST.

Cate Parr

For some reason, paintings & illustrations done in watercolor hold the most fascination for me. I think it has something to do with the dreamlike quality that such works usually embody & Cate Parr's work is very dreamy indeed. I especially love the diaphanous mix of colors & simple innocence of Dandelions from her Garden Series.

Via The Bright Side Project.

Kakefuda

I love furoshiki. What is it you ask? Well, furoshiki is the Japanese term for a simple square cloth that is used to wrap anything & everything while being eco-friendly at the same time (I've blogged about it here & here before). But the Japanese being Japanese, they have elevated to something as simple as wrapping to an art form. And if Furoshiki is an art form, then the folks at Kakefuda are artisans.

[Taken off Kyoto Guide] Kakefuda is a small but an unique furoshiki shop in downtown of Kyoto. Of course they have many furoshiki but that's not just like other souvenir shops - they manage all process in making their products by themselves. They design, take a pattern, dye and sew... thus workshop is rarely seen in Kyoto. When you enter Kakefuda you see an old sewing machine at the shop front, and at a back room, they dye a variety of cloth stuff like asfuroshiki , shop curtains and flags.

Check out the video below for a little sneak peek into this shop & how furoshiki is done.

Apak Workspace

I'm loving this series of sneak peeks into the workspace of artists. My fave has got to be Apak's which is filled with whimsy & quirkiness with bright pops of color which I must say is such a lovely combo. Plus you gotta love creative clutter... Oh, and the dogs are just so adorable too! Seriously, what's not to love?

More pictures of Apak's studio here on Share Some Candy.

Via Blah Blah Blahg.

Mimpi ♥ Chic Pop Shower Fresh

Hey lovelies! You're invited to an exclusive exclusive girl’s soiree organised by the awesome folks of Tongue In Chic in collaboration with Rexona. Instead of the usual retail therapy that's just gonna burn a hole in your purse, this event is all about recharging your batteries (& no money involved too!). It's gonna be a fun filled by with activities like pole dancing, DIY beauty treatments with Mimpi Murni (yours truly), self-styling with the help of the ultra stylish crew of Lah Lah Land, makeovers by the brand new cosmetic company from LA Smashbox plus endless chances to win fantastic prizes. You know you want to be there!

Just click on the evite above, print it out, RSVP & don't forget to bring a friend too!

Date: Saturday, 17 April 2010

Time: 2:30 - 6:30 pm

Venue: CHI Fitness, PJ Trade Centre,

Damansara Perdana (map above)