Decorative Painting Books....

It has been a few years since I bought some of these books...the latest ones being the book from Zahir "Decorasi Seni Lukis & Decoupage".. he mailed 2 autograph books to me since I couldn't wait to get them next July. Zahir is an old friend from the Amcorp Mall Saturday Craft Bazaar.. It has been more than 7 years ago... The book by Nora, Aniza & Zaitun "Decorative Painting"was also mailed by sifu Nora and autographed. I am so proud to have these 2 books by our local crafters/authors..Hope one day..maybe I can come out with one of mine..he..he... Before that the only reputable craft book available was Aneka Kraf Tangan by Aishah Kamarudin... There were many crafts lessons given in the local magazines but none was compiled fully.. partial compilation was found done by Karangkraf..I have that too... You see...I am that bit crazy about books...

The other books that I have are Donna Dewberry @ One Stroke Method, Priscilla Hauser "Roses", Ros Singleton "Roses", Ros Stallcup "Grans Series", Tera Leigh "The Complete Book of Decorative Painting", plus various Northlight books. I also have about 3 or so DVD's... so with these and abt 4 classes with sifu Nora.. I manage my learning. I wish..that I have more moments irrespective of available time to improve my skills in decorative painting.....

But...thru all these..one of my designs was appreciated and done for somebody's customer who also do decorative painting. This is my a-ha moment when I was told about it...

Brushes For Decorative Painting... Daler-Rowney, Plaid, Langnickel, Loew-Cornell..

These are the brushes that I am currently using whenever I am painting.. I find that the brushes perform differently...within same type and brand and to different type and brand. Some have been used more by way of feeling that the results are better.

I got the Daler Rowney from Art Friend at The Gardens - MidValley. While Loew-Cornell from Craft Haven and also a painter who has a stall at Subang Parade every Sat and Sunday.. oops.. sorry..I forgot your name..

Plaid & Langnickel brushes I bought it from Zamil & Jarir in Al-Khobar..

I find that the holding of the Daler-Rowny brushes is more at ease for my hands and my way of cleaning the brushes seems the hairs holds better to a sharp point as compared to the other ones...I feel that due to the hairs are softer..I can shape my roses better..this is only what I feel....I do have favorite from the other types. For now..I am painting my roses using the Daler Rowney...Daisies using the Loew Cornell...while the rest will come in as and when needed.

I use separate brushes for base-coating, varnishes and rough surfaces.... as the experts has advised us to do......

Now..I am still in the adventure of figuring out further..brushes & strokes, brushes&cleaning, brushes&types..and of course life & costs...

Roses & Hydrangeas...In Progress...

Nothing is finished!!! Am still thinking to add some final touches before varnishing them.....

Hydrangeas...

This is half-way done at the moment.... need some touch ups....

Painting On Different Surfaces..Leather & Plastic

This is actually a leather box cover...what I found was that..I had to paint really fast on this surface as the paints seems to absorb into it. Finally...this was achieved..I tried using a 3/4 inch brush to paint and found that i dont have control at all...it was a mess and I touch some area up with a smaller brush... Since the cover was drak brown brown almost black..I had a hard time getting the colors for the leaves to come out..aside from the paint absorbs into the surface. next step will be..how to varnish this..Only the painted areas??

This is my bathroom bin..it looks so grey and dull..so I tried painting it this morning..Hmm..I use a sea sponge to put the different greens..bits of white and yellow..all over the cover..Dried it using a hair dryer..Next I painted the purple small flowers..I was thinking either hydrangeas.. lilacs..etc... I was painting it in the powder room so movement was limited....

But..I am please that it turns out better than I expected....after its done than I was in the kitchen cooking lunch...

Practise..Practise..& To be Reworked Some...

This one has been reworked with a bloom to replace the leave&smudge ribbon a sbotton pic..

Actually...this has been reworked by adding some leaves and petals.. need to learn to use patterns...so that more consistent..now just eye-balling and some chalks points...

This need rewirk on right side..but maybe repaint if I couldn't figure how to do it..he..he..

While clearing my garage up..to make space..just incase wanna do makan2..so far takde ilham datang lagi....There were some pieces already gessoed b4 summer..so do some basecoating..hair-dryer helps tremendously to speed up drying..and I practise again my roses.. still haven't moved to other flowers...Available items to be painted also limited..unless I want to move on to paint some of my wooden cabinets or quilt hanger....Not sure coz'I haven't get the skill to transfer patterns and follow them accordingly.... What I can say at the moment..most of my stuffs were painted without transferring patterns..I just use a chalk pencil and sort of sketch the placements....Shortcuts coz' I am pretty impatient to see how it is.... Since my aim is to practise the skills..I haven't really put things up for sale yet... If anybody just by chance like them and want to have it..than I will sell...if not it stays in my garage corner.. i am hoping with enough painted stuffs..I might joined some of the craft sale or mall-day etc... But for the time being.. I am in no rush... I still need to do some for my own..... he..he..

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Selamat Hari Raya Eidul Fitri...

Selamat Hari Raya Eidul Fitri to all..... Will be going back for a week to Msia tonite. See you all soon with more created and creative stuffs.

Maaf Zahir & Bathin..

Rusty..rusty... Clothes Hanger

This clothes hanger I have bought it for quite a while from SACO..biasalah dok ngimpun dulu baru tau nak guna macamana... Anyway..since i was so rusty in DP bcos of the long summer break business..to start of the tempo..I finished of these two pieces... Gambar tak terang..nanti tukar lah..sebab dah lewat nak pergi class dah pagi nie..guna handphone je...

Decorative Painting Supplies Malaysia

It's been 3 weeks just...so far I have only manage to attend one class with Nora...I have bought some supplies at Creative Cottage at Amcorp Mall in Petaling Jaya, Craft Haven in One Utama and at Art Friends in The Gardens...beside Mid-Valley. The craft suppliers although with similar but different set-ups..My opinions :

Supplies :

• Creative Cottage in Amcorp Mall ...this has more personal touch..I like the ambience of friendly coaching and admire and get stuffs you want. Zahir the owner of Creative Cottage also gives classes. He does not stick to one style or stuffs..but he is flexible in teaching you what you want..the ones he's not able to..he will get his contacts to do so. You can see the stuffs that he do himself in decorative paintings covers various artists..like Ros Singleton, Ros Stallcup etc... He is quite regularly presented in magazines too. The supplies he carrys include Americana and JO Sonja...some brushes, rubber stamps, wood bases..and you can get him to show some steps if he do not have a clss going on.

• Craft Haven in One Utama is one of the new establishment I frequented whenever I am in Malaysia.They have many supplies although some I feel is quite expensive but than again if you really need them than there's not much choices except to get them. If you ordered from internet supplies than maybe you can compare the variances. They have Jo Sonjas, Decoart Americana for DP supplies, wood boards,brushes, books..they also carry painting materials for other methods plus scrapbooking supplies. They have membership cards although the points you accumulated does not go towards any discounts of your immediate purchases...They have classes on specific days with teachers coming in. The ladies who are in store especially the one with short hair is pretty knowledgeable in advising and showing you some tips.

• Art Friends in The Gardens....the mall itself is marvellous...the shop is the first time I have been there. Specifically to get Plaid Chalkboard in jars for RM35...but I got a 10% discount for applying to be a member for RM10 for 2 years..I believe paying the fee is worth it this time for the discounts on my total purchase. They have extensive supplies from wood boards, papers, brushes..and not for decorative paintings just. The paints for DP they have are Plaids&Applebarrel..I forgot if they have others but they don't have Jo Sonja's and no books...

As for individual classes...you can get Nora to teach you with a very reasonable fee and methods that you can understand to duplicate once you can get your bearing right. Her published book co-writers also conduct classes..beside that they are regular instructors for Laman Folk-Art workshop...which this 26th. July and sometime in Aug is held. If I am not mistaken...a decorative painting/folkart classes are conducted by another publisher of magazine. Got to check this out. Even prior to all these...when I first had an interest..I went as far as Balakong to a warehouse of craft supplies...

I bought some books this time around..am thinking of how to haul it all back to Saudi... Kinokuniya, MPH...I found Painting Tiles by Dianne Trierweiler...Grand Summer Place from Creative Cottage and according to Craft Haven..they are getting some supplies this week... Although..I cannot complete my projects...due to insufficient supplies..I enjoy browsing the books I bought....

Summer Break..!!!

Time flies soo..fast.... I will be packing my stuffs...ready for flight to Msia on Monday.. Although will not be painting in the enxt 2 months... I hope to get some classes with sifu Nora.... and jalan2 in Klang Valley & also get my house ready... insyaállah to partially occupy in August... Living room curtains dah in the making while the other rooms still thinking....

See you all soon..I hope I can present better stuffs in my painting development.... Stay safe & selamat menyambut Rejab..Syaaban..Ramadhan soon....

Painted Ikea Mirrors..Unvarnished..

Start doing the two IKEA mirrors...( Hi Nora..just got to clear all these IKEA wood stuffs )... Simply hands free design...As I was painting the roses...it somehow got sticky..the paint on the brush dries up..still lots of paint on the brush though..myb the room was a bit cold.. I still have to learn how to eyeball the rose size so that there'll just enough space for the petals..not too many or too little. Although some blotches of paint as it dries up fast as I was painting them...it turns out quite uniform....if nak buat placemats lepas ni myb boleh lah sbb dah dpt consistent shapes and colors....Still tak reti nak bega2 kan the background...Nanti lah balik Msia nanti tanya sifu...

p/s..Mona..How do you like them???

Napkin Holders, Signage..In Progress...

I have been trying to get a few days of painting each week..usually frm Sundays till Tues. The other days have to be distributed for my other passions or chases.... I believe the strokes are getting consistent whenever I want to structure a rose. Although it is not the type I really one but it'll do for now. I guess..brushes do play a big part of it in getting certain forms of strokes just right. Other than that..knowing all the stuffs that get into it and practise..practises...

These are the things available around the house now..once finish with wooden surfaces ( Ala.. sifu.. it gives me confident la at this moment..) I will learn the other surfaces. have just got a fabric medium the other day...

Painting Try Outs..Utensils Holder..

I am trying not to leave painting for too long should I forget the skills. For me it's learned techniques thus I need to do it often..I will practise either on paper if I have no other surface but it seems to drag whenever I do it on paper.. I still need to have better choices of brushes, loading the brushes with enough paint etc..etc... But anyway.... I will keep on trying... This current attempt is to get a better hydrangeas & leaves..I couldn't forgo the roses still... I havent done anything that actually follow any pattern... I do them free hand to get the techniques rather than the design..so you can see in terms of placement..its neither here no there. I am limited with the products to be painted on...Beside IKEA..I just have to rely whats in the market that I can find...

Swags & Cinnamon Flowers

These are some of the accents completed today..all in all 2 swags and 8 cinnamon flowers. Than off to the gym for 1 hour treadmill..kene paksa by scoutmaster as part of healthy lifestyle... Now.. kaki rasa macam hilang..

p/s..Sold all above pieces this weekend..alhamdulilah....Bunga2 tu pun dah takde lagi instock rasa nya at SSF. I bought it from 3 years ago...yes..baru la ni dapat nak buat..

Topiaries & Signs In Progress...

It seems I am mostly doing this now...Basically because not many material options like trays, letter boxes etc... I need to go to IKEA soon and see what are available that I can paint.. Still..I don't have enough courage to paint bigger stuffs. Got to learn the steps better. Maybe another round of lessons with Nora and I can get going... If I have enough painted materials thought of putting it up in the community website.. will see how that goes or the craft show in Dec....

Stuffs..stuffs...

Ayman's Exhibits for the IB examiner... I like his chicken wire man & self potrait in blue.

The bluish duckie that caught my eye..there's a few more..chefs duckie & brown duckie..but I left those out and now it's in my mind..hmmph...

The bluish&pink edge handtowel with hydrangeas motifs..

Cutesy ya..!

Sophie Kinsella's books...3 for the price of 2..

Yesterday..we were in Bahran for Ayman's IB exhibits...basically the showing of his art work for today's examiner visits. I hope that he will fare very well...as he has been facing quite some hard walls recently...

Anyway..we had about an hour b4 getting to the school...so hannah wanted to drop by at Seef Mall...Here we tried out some crepes...which is basically lempeng tepung which the French had evolutionized..from the store's history script..it did mentioned that crepes originated from Asia a long..long...time ago. When I was in Paris in 2007..we did have some sweet crepes/lempeng at Bal's house..she said it can be bought in packs at the bakery...

I was slightly tipsy yesterday..wanting to find something sweet nd new...sort of an attack mode.. but I did have to stop myself into buying more of the cutesies....just bcos I was with Zayd who keeps shaking his head...arghhh...

So..this were it plus Sophie Kinsella books which goes for 3 for the price of 2...when I will be reading it actually..beats me!! But many seems to enjoy reading her books plus the first few pages I skimmed really sounds interesting....

Comfort Living...After 5 years..Some Shifting Around Was Done..

I have been living in this house for close to 6 years now..the house itself was built sometime early 80's..but for every 5 or so years it will be refurbished...so we had to ahve it done immediately upon returning from Zurich. If postponed, our turn might not come till another 2 or 3 months maybe...Anyway..it took about 10days to complete..with carpet & tile change, repainting, kitchen table-top change and outside painting too... Once it's done..till today..I haven't really complete putting back all the stuffs. Man..there's soo much small stuffs I don't know where it should be...probably bcos we are minus 1 shelving unit and bookcase..so stuffs have got no space now..Thinking a visit to IKEA is good now... The photos shows what I have done so far....still need more work..but probably once I got the extra shelves...