Freebie: Love + Kisses PS Brushes

Sometimes the world wide web offers up some pretty neat freebies & this Valentine themed brush set from Creature Comforts is perfect for Valentine's day which is just around the corner. So if you're like me & enjoy playing around with Photoshop, this is right up your alley. Enjoy! 

Merry Christmas!

It's that time of the year again to make jolly with loved ones, give thanks for the wonderful year we had & to make resolutions for the year ahead. Cheers to you lot, hope you're having a blast wherever you may be!

DIY: Holiday Mobile

Wow, it's been awhile since I shared a DIY craft project huh? This is one I found over at the Freepeople blog & thought you folks might like it as it's something that can be easily adapted for any season. 


 

Festival Of Lights

Happy Deepavali, dreamers. A festival that celebrates the triumph of good over evil is just awesome in my books. Found a great post here with some info about Deepavali, plus it's where I got this fabulous picture of traditional oil lamps. If you're celebrating, eat an extra muruku for me k?

Cameron Highlands Family Trip

I took a couple of days off over the Merdeka weekend (Happy belated Merdeka, fellow Malaysians!) & traveled to Cameron Highlands with my very large, fun loving family on my mother's side. It was heaps of fun & we stayed at Wuthelam Villa of Tanah Rata which I haven't visited since I was 5 years old! Judging from my childhood pictures, the place still looks the same except for a few minor interior changes but the lovely garden has not changed a bit. The Villa is kept pristine by the same housekeeper since it was built in the late 70's & she does all the cleaning & cooking for guests as well so we were properly pampered. Man, her cooking is fantastic! We were fed 4 times a day & I think I easily put on a kilo or two over the weekend.

Above are some pictures I took during the trip. Clockwise from top: 1. The sprawling lawn & garden of Wuthelam Villa overlooking the only golf course in Cameron, 2. A lovely Zinnia bloom, 3. A corner of the Villa's roof & the blue, blue sky we were blessed with during the trip.


On Day 2, our group of 15 (ranging from 16 - 60+ years old) agreed that a nice, easy trek would be a great change from all the eating we've been doing. Little did we know what was in store in the supposedly "easy" trek we were pointed out to which was trek # 3 & 5 of Cameron's well marked treks. Altogether, it was approximately 5 km & took our group a good 3 hours to complete with a lot of huffing & puffing, a stumble here & there plus a tonne of sweat. Needless to say, we were very sore at the end of the trek but elated even though we ended up in the middle of a chilli farm by taking a wrong turn! Clockwise from top left: 1. Sign board at the start of the trek, 2. On the way to the trek, we were already a little winded thanks to the uphill climb which was a precursor to even more obstacles ahead, 3. My up-for-anything family, 4. Sun filtering down to the jungle floor, 5. A caterpillar on its merry way through the moss & ferns.


More pictures from our trip. From left to right, top to bottom: 1. A piece of old brass machinery used for making tea on display at the Boh Tea Plantation & Factory, 2. The ultra-modern Boh Visitor's Centre overlooks the sprawling green hills of the tea plantation, 3. Old quarters of the tea plantation workers, 4. A trip to Cameron wouldn't be quite complete without a stop at a plant nursery to pick up some cacti.

Loved spending time with my family & wish there were more opportunities like this to bond over laughter & memories.

Raya iPhoneography

Hello folks! How was your nice, long Raya break? The photo above was just something I whipped up in between courses of lemang & rendang on the 1st day of Raya thanks to a nifty little app, Phoster. It's USD1.99 if I'm not mistaken but well worth it, especially if you like to play around with graphic design & want something simple on your iPhone or iPad to create posters, announcements or just to jazz up your pictures with some text.

Anyhoots, the hubby & I spent the first day of Raya quietly stuffing ourselves silly at his parents' place here in KL & giving ourselves major tummy problems. We keep falling into the same trap year after year, I'm afraid. After a month of fasting & abstaining from rich, fatty food, all the good work is undone in a course of a single day. Don't get me wrong, I love Hari Raya but I wish I could exercise some self-restraint when faced with lemang & rendang which are my favourites (including my father's ketupat daun palas with nuts. Yums!). It's futile & even to this day, I'm suffering the consequences. Yup, it's not pretty but do I learn? Never! Hah.

Here are some pictures I took over the Raya week with my iPhone. Do look me up on Instagram (@mimpimurni) if you'd like to see more.


The picture above is me at my in-laws' in my Siobhan baju kurung by the talented Nurita Harith. I'm not usually one to cam whore, but I love my classically elegant baju so much I just had to (at least I'm not pulling a duck face, ok!). Ladies, if you ever want an impeccably made baju with top-notch service, I urge you to set an appointment with Nurita & her assistant, Ian. I only had one fitting with them & my baju fit me so well, I was ecstatic. Yes, the prices are a little on the high side, but do what I did: save up. It was well worth it.


This is what happens when adults get a hold of some sparklers. The "boys" were attempting cheerleading moves & I think I split my stomach open from laughing. I wish I took a clearer picture but I do have a video that I'm saving for the right moment *wink*wink*




We also spent a few days at Redang island for some R&R plus being avid divers, a little diving of course. I brought along my travel hammock & planted myself in front of our chalet at Redang Mutiara Beach Resort in between dives with Seamonkey Dive Centre. Now, the resort itself is not much to shout about but there are only 2 resorts in this particular stretch of beach (the other being Amanagappa which we love but couldn't get a room) plus it has one of the only two proper jetties in Redang. Needless to say, the beach is not overcrowded like at Long Beach (where most visitors to Redang will end up in), it's quiet & clean and most importantly for divers, getting on & off the dive boat is easy thanks to the jetty. Also, if you are a diver, you'll want to dive with Seamonkey at some point. They are one of the few consistently good dive centres in Malaysia & they usually have some pretty awesome deals & packages. If you're thinking of diving, do check out their HQ at PJ Palm Centre, next to Shah Village, PJ.



And just for good measure, here's a cute kitty demonstrating various yoga moves in its sleep. So, that was my break, how was yours?

Selamat Hari Raya

May all your ketupat & rendang dreams come true this Hari Raya folks! I'd also like to take this opportunity to say sorry if I’ve ever hurt, upset or angered any of you, my dear readers, friends & family members. Hope everyone has a great break! 

P/S: I have some freebie prints available for you to download at the Mimpi Murni FB page, including the little design above. You're free to use it however you like for PERSONAL USE ONLY. Knock yourselves out folks (& "like" my page while you're at it k? Thank yoooou)!

Salam Ramadhan

This may be a little late as we're already 6 days into the holy month but better late than never, so here's wishing all fellow Muslims out there a very happy Ramadhan. May your prayers this month bring you more peace, happiness, prosperity, faith & divine love for Allah.

XOXO

Here’s wishing you dreamers a day filled with chocolates, kisses & hugs. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Gong Xi Gong Xi

As I am half-Chinese, I celebrate the Chinese New Year which means I get to enjoy a large feast filled with auspicious dishes with all my relatives on the eve of the new year & the whole of the next day is spent playing one card game after another (to hopefully double one’s “fortune”), trading jokes, gossip & life stories while eating lots & lots of cookies & mandarin oranges. My hubby & I will also be giving out ang paos for the first time to my unwed cousins & as newlyweds, we have to give out DOUBLE than usual! Uh oh… :P

Anyways, I’d like to wish all my Chinese readers a very hearty Gong Xi Fa Chai (click on the link to read a pretty nifty article on the origins of the term)! May all your mandarin oranges be sweet & the year of the dragon brings you much luck & prosperity. Gong xi, gong xi!

Hello 2012!

Wow. It’s 2012 already huh? I thought I’d have some time to breathe after Christmas but before I knew what hit me, we were ringing in the new year. I haven’t really had time to reflect on the past year nor time to come up with a list of resolutions for the new, but I can safely tell you that I had a wonderful time in 2011 filled with amazing memories & expect more of the same (if not better) in 2012. Cheers to that!

Now, I’m usually the type who breaks resolutions as soon as I make them (hands up if you relate), but I think with a little help of this DIY New Year Manifesto by Creating Clever hanging somewhere conspicuous, I might actually fulfill a resolution or two. Have a go & hey, have a happy new year while you’re at it!

Let's Make Merry

Here’s wishing you lovely folks joy & happiness. Cheers!

P/S: I'll be back blogging as usual on Tuesday. Happy holidays!

DIY: Wrapping With Kraft Paper

With Christmas just around the corner, I’m sure a bunch of you have your presents for loved ones sorted out & ready to be wrapped so here are 12 brilliant ideas to wrap with kraft paper compiled by Emmaline Bride.  I personally love wrapping with kraft paper, be it for the holiday season or for birthdays. As kraft paper is very affordable & easily obtainable, you can never go wrong by adding your own personal, handmade touch. So, go nuts with ribbons, doillies, laces or hey, why not scribble your own pattern?

The Last 2 Weeks

I missed this blog. How have you guys been? I've lots of new & exciting things in store that I can't wait to share but all in good time ;)

That Last Slice x Mimpi Murni Collaboration!

 
That’s right folks! I teamed up with cake maven Aishah of That Last Slice to come up with a sweet little something especially for this festive season: sugar cookies with customised Selamat Hari Raya messages packed in a fabric box & topped with a grosgrain ribbon!

Aishah is well-known in KL for her yummy cakes so when she approached me late last month before Ramadhan to help her come up with a packaging for her specially made, limited edition cookies, I immediately jumped on the opportunity. I am after all a dessert maniac so this is like my dream project!




The sugar cookies are made with the best quality ingredients & customized with Selamat Hari Raya messages in assorted colors & in two different shapes. There are heart shaped cookies in bright happy colors with the message “Salam Aidilfitri” & scalloped rectangular cookies in sweet pastel colors with the message “Selamat Hari Raya.” I can attest to the fact that these cookies not only look good but are very, very yummy as are all of Aishah’s delectable creations!

In all honesty, it took me a good long while to come up with this idea to make the fabric box packaging. I wanted something that was useful yet looked just as good as Aishah’s cookies so it took quite a bit of trial & error before these boxes were made. They are made with two layers of Japanese cotton fabric & are reversible. You can fold down the top of the boxes to any height you want & as they are soft, they can hold almost any shape of items. I’ve made a bunch of these boxes for myself to hold my little trinkets & bits and bobs around my house so I find them exceedingly useful as I hope you will too :)

If you’d like to purchase a box (or two) of this limited edition Cookie Box, click here for more info. They are RM60/12 cookies + fabric box. Feel free to email thatlastslice@gmail.com or hello@mimpimurni.com for more info or to order.

P/S: Please note that these are limited edition & are only available while stocks last. You’ll also need to pick up them up at either Ampang or Bukit Jelutong.

The behind-the-scenes shots we took of each other & a shot I took of Aishah’s adorable 1 year old niece


One last shot of the cookies + fabric box! ;)

Happy Easter Sunday!

Hope you're having a great Easter my darlings! The prints here and other great animals shots are by Sharon Montrose. Her baby deer is my personal favorite of the lot but the bunnies are so darn adorable too.

Bunny Year! Yay!

Happy Chinese New Year folks! It’s the year of the bunny & the year I end my singledom thus making this the last year I’ll be receiving ang pows. I’m drowning my sorrows with pineapple tarts, baby mandrin oranges & spending the last of my ang pow playing Cho Dai Di with my cousins (to hopefully generate more money! Hehehe). Anyways, hope you’re having a great break wherever you are & whomever you’re with. Ang pow lai lai!

Happy 2011!

Wishing you love & blessings for the new year my lovelies. Wherever you are tonight, ringing in 2011, I hope you will be surrounded by loved ones & that you stay safe. 2010 was a blast & I look forward to 2011. Bring it on ;)

xoxo,
Murni

Christmas Lights

It’s Christmas tomorrow so here’s a lovely new song called Christmas Lights by Coldplay to get you in the mood (the video is pretty rad too with vaudeville stage decor & the Elvis impersonators!).

To those celebrating Christmas, I hope you have a very merry one filled with wonderful & thoughtful presents, good food, good company & good cheer!

Love,
Murni

Aidiladha

Sorry for going MIA on you these last couple of days. Been trying to spend with some quality time with my family while trying to juggle orders takes superhuman effort sometimes & something just had to give. In this case, I had to put this here blog on the back burner for awhile so I do hope you’ll forgive me.

And hey, while my back was turned, Raya Haji crept up on me & a small group of my family + close family friends are fulfilling their Hajj as I type this. I  really couldn’t be prouder of them & one day hope to go on the pilgrimage too. In the meantime, here’s wishing all my fellow Muslim Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha! May Allah bless us all.