Sunday 31 January 2010

Sukasuka Giveaway

#1 Totally mangosteenskin

#2 Mangosteen's Blues

#3 Sweet Pulp

Something humble. Something simple. And the theme is Mangosteenskin. So each of the crystal bracelet has purple or mangosteen-maroonish color on it.

It is also random. I will not burden you with request to make a post in your blog to win this giveaway. Just leave comment. Yeah, just write a comment with a title "suka-suka" or "just for fun". Easy-peasy kan?

I will randomly choose 3 winners, urmm...perhaps on my birthday, on the 8th. Yeah February 8th.

:)

Thursday 28 January 2010

Hello Readers!





Above are the stamps I made recently. The first two are commisioned by Raja Ila, and the second one is for her dear husband's 32th birthday.

Alif Lim's is a gift I made for our special friend. He is a mualaf, just like me. Alif Lim, nice name right? Like alif lam mim.

And the last one is for Sarah and Adli's wedding. Hm, I think I have made three stamps using the same design for three different couples. It is not my original design actually, it has been suggested by my previous customers, Nadia & Hafizan.

I want to say THANK YOU, coz I know many of you keep visiting here. I only have around 50-60 visits per day, but that's good enough for me. I really appreciate it. Sometimes I do give return visit, only perhaps, minus the comment. But trust me, I really adore your artistic hands and delicate arts/crafts (while some of you have unique way of writing too). If you know me, I like handicrafts/survernir shops. I can spend hours in there (and boring my best buddy), observing and touching this and that. Adoring the cuteness, creativity, talent and workmanships.

I got the same feelings when visiting your blog. And I know it borings my husband, coz I can get freezed in front of the monitor for hours! :D

:)

Psst... I'm planning a giveaway. It is called Suka-suka Giveaway! It's not stamp, that's why I call it sukasuka. Haha. Dedicated to my regular readers. Watch out for my next update alright!

Wednesday 20 January 2010

Earthquake Victims in Haiti

Photo is taken from FT.com. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010

Di tahun baru ini kita meletakkan harapan agar segalanya lebih baik dari semalam, tetapi bagi mereka yang ditimpa musibah seperti di Haiti sehingga kehilangan ahli keluarga, sahabat-handai dan tempat tinggal, sudah pasti apa yang mereka alami pada saat ini sungguh memilukan. Tapi bak kata pepatah, berat mata memandang, berat lagi bahu yang memikulnya. Kepada siapa mereka hendak mengadu, jika infrastruktur utama di negara mereka sendiripun telah terjejas teruk. Pastilah mereka sangat2 mengharapkan bantuan dari pihak luar.

"A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog when you are just as hungry as the dog".

Mungkin kita bukanlah orang kaya yang mampu memberi sumbangan besar, ataupun menderma setiap kali berlaku musibah atau melihat kesusahan orang lain di sekeliling kita. Sekecil manapun pemberian kita, yang penting adalah keikhlasan hati. Hulurkanlah bantuan walaupun sekadar menyebarkan maklumat ini kepada rakan-rakan.

In response to the recent disaster in Haiti, Humanitarian Appeal for the victims is officially launched by Islamic Relief Malaysia (IRM). The appeal is launched on humanitarian ground apart from raising awareness and contribution from the people in this region.

For any contribution and further information on the appeal please visit Islamic Relief Malaysia website at www.irm.org.my or contact IRM office at 03-89486334.

Kalinka, Balalaika and Keroro

Nothing about stamp today. Hihi.
My mind has long been intrigued by the rhythm of Kalinka, eversince I heard it first time as nokia 3310 ringtone...Few years ago i googled it and I realized that it sounds familiar. It's Russian folk song. Meanwhile, if we're friends in Facebook, you may noticed that this two three days (haha) i was youtubing (haha) Keroro and one of the episode's ending song has a related video to Balalaika. Balalaika? It sounds cute. :) Of course it reminds me to "elephant trunk" or "belalai" in Malay. Kukukuku.

Balalaika. Balalaika. Balalaika. The word's echoing at the back of my mind.

I was so entertained by the dance performed by Keroro and his platoon. I even try to follow their dance step, while sitting in front of the computer. Ahahaha...they're cute, and funny.

Ok, Balalaika is actually a stringed instrument; just like mandoline or guitar.

Here's a beautiful arrangement of Kalinka song played with a Balalaika.

And, what is Keroro I talked about just now? Just watch these videos...kukukuku..




Ahahahaha...I don't know what's happening with me or my hormones but suddenly I see things as cute and my brain makes me think that I'm craving for any food that came across my mind. Even when I saw people write c.h.o.c.o.l.a.t.e in their FB status, it makes me feel, "Oh! I want to eat chocolate!". So please, don't mention about food okay. Baju-baju dah tak muat ni kang terpelanting pulak butang. Ahahahaha.

Tuesday 12 January 2010

Self-taught

Actually a very simple one to do. I just scan my drawing and fill in the colors.

Saturday 9 January 2010

No Title

I'm still in debt with many people...I mean work, services I promised them. If one day I die and fail to deliver them, please halalkan k. I also still owing email replies. Kerja-kerja pejabat pun banyak yang menunggu, kepada yang mempunyai perniagaan sendiri, mereka akan tahu apa yang perlu dibuat sebelum 31 Januari setiap tahun. I promised that I will arrange payment for zakat perniagaan, dan (baru teringat) lesen perniagaan perlu diperbaharui. I have mentioned to my boss, that I'm willing to cut 1/3 of my salary if he can provide an assistant for me in the office (so I can concentrate more on Mangosteenskin) but he said, "We'll see". Based on my experiences, that would most probably means, "No". Nevermind, I take it as a challenge to overcome my own weeknesses.

Maybe this year I need to create serious guidelines for myself and future customers. I need to come up with certain rules for Mangosteenskin, like restricting up to 10 orders only per month. Or, maybe 5 for a beginning. I want to reserve more time for reading, chores, religious-aspects and family....or maybe "family-planning". Haha. I have great experiences trading creative products and services in 2009, and hopefully this year I will be more mature when dealing with stuffs.

I made a drawing recently. It supposed to be for one of my customer but since she wants to put her order on hold, now my idea is, maybe I can use this drawing for other purpose. Not sure yet. I just hope I can do more drawing in 2010.

I had problem sleeping due to bad flu and cough few days ago. So I woke up and started carving. No mood to carve actually, but it's just something to distract my mind from discomfortness. I've prepared the eraser for carving earlier but I was so scared of the small wordings. Afterall, I can't go back to sleep so took the chance to continue my work. I love the silence and yeah, I really took all the time. When finished, I tested the stamp on paper and


They turned out quite well! It's a new achievement and I almost teary! You know, sometimes when I commit myself to a customer's request, I don't even know whether I can do it or not. But I like to give a shot first, before saying no.



Below are my other completed and progressing works.






Okay, that's all for now. Till next update.

Friday 8 January 2010

A Blender



Yeah, you looking at it. Hehe. If you still don't know, Blender is the name of my cat.
I love watching cat sleeping. They can look innocent, dreamy or so worn-out as if they have worked all-night-long. We don't know where they've been when they dissapear at night,
maybe they become superhero or something like that.
Who knows?

Tuesday 5 January 2010

The New Year


...is still so brand new.


Just my humble experiment with Coreldraw. I'm progressing so slow..

:(

?

Usahalah lagi!!

:D

For Muslims, I hope it's not too late to say Salam Maal Hijrah. May all the new days be better than the days before.


Thanks a zillion to friends, customers and visitors for your continuous support to Mangosteenskin. I had a great 2009!