Canva Practice + Free Digital Paper

If you're here for the free digital download, scroll down till the end...

I suddenly felt like blogging again.

And who knows, this time round I'm here to stay eh?

So.. We're blessed with a 2nd child, another boy! The last few weeks have been mostly me snuggling with him in the daytime and staying up at night just to have a bit of me-time and regain my sanity (by playing Nintendo switch haha).

I'm going to work in 1 more week.. i think it could be the reason why i'm suddenly having this a moment of clarity that I NEED and WANT to do something before my maternity leave ends.

It's not perfect but it's done.
Like how the grid is actually not equally divided in thirds...

I wanted to learn Canva so i created my first Pinterest template. i actually created real printables :) The digital paper is designed on Procreate and it can be used them in instagram, as wallpaper or anything really. They are of high-res quality too, so they can be printed out as well.

I'm was excited to design more things with Canva.

So i tried out my digital paper and also created some templates .

Here are some of the uses of digital paper on Instagram:

Personal IGstory

I like this actually.
cos i always forgot to water my plants lol

I hope you like my sharing. Thanks for reading :)

Here's the link for the free digital download:

12 x 12 Digitalpaper_blues

Let me know what you think!

-Hazwani

Read More

Activity: Make Your Own Terrarium

So, what is a terrarium?

I've always wanted to create a terrarium of my own and my mini dream came true when UNISIM offered a 'Make Your Own Terrarium' workshop held by Little Green Pot.

Early Saturday morning

The workshop was only a short 1 hour so you can definitely tell that making a terrarium of your own isn't hard work. But i can tell you that the workshop definitely opened my eyes to the world of miniature plants.

My chosen plant

The workshop instructor was also really good. He provided useful details and information (so that our terrarium wouldn't die by the next week :p). Theory-wise, it was a short jog of memory to my Plant Biotechnology days in Singapore Poly.

We were given a jar filled with the items needed and a plant each

The 'ingredients' - Small gravel, charcoal, soil, decorative pebbles and decoration

I'm so lucky that I got a snowman deco! I call him Olaf hehe

Before the hands-on, we had a mini theory session. A terrarium may live as short as 3 days to 3 years depending on how well it is maintained. (Which is really little as it is self-sustainable). These are the 5 useful tips I've learnt from the workshop:

1. Keep the environment closed: A terrarium is self-sustainable meaning the entire water cycle and photosynthesis process will happen within the jar without any external help.
2. No direct sunlight: Natural light is enough. Office desks work as well.
3. Minimal water required: Only water once every 6 months.
4. Condensation is normal. If big droplets appear, air the container for around 15 mins
5. Once the plant is too big for the container, you can either:

           - Trim the plant

           - Open the top and grow as an open condition

           - Leave as it is, the plant will find a way to grow within the container

The tools

Our hands on sessions was facilitated and we followed the steps together.
The workshop instructor was there to make sure that we're doing it right and good enough.

My favourite part was when we had to dig a hole as big as possible for our plant to be placed in. Soil was then scooped in from the sides to make sure that the roots are fully covered.

The challenging part was to flatten the soil around the plant. This will make sure that the plant stay rooted and stably upright. I had uprooted my plant once during this process HAHA but luckily i managed to get it nicely covered again without destroying my plant. 

I love this tool, it's like a stirrer but with a flat scoop used to flatten the soil.

The next step is simple - DECORATE! We were given colourful decorative pebbles and a mini deco item each. And then it's done! It's so simple right?

My happy Olaf in a tropical climate

Here are the summarise steps with pictures:

I really loved the workshop and I would recommend it to everyone. You don't even have to have green fingers and the maintenance required is almost none! These mini gardens are definitely pleasing to the eye and will make a wonderful decoration for home or office.

I am planning to decorate my future house with them! heh :D

My terrarium alongside one of the other student's

If you want to find out more about terrariums, you can visit Little Green Pot or their Facebook page to take a look. They usually hold 2 workshops per month and you can find out more information by e-mailing them.

Hope you've enjoyed this post! 

Please let me know what you think in the comments below and share the post if you like it :)

Read More

Recipe: Mandarin Orange Cookies

Happy Chinese New Year to all our Chinese friends and readers!!

It's a long weekend, what are you guys doing to enjoy these few days? Probably collecting hong baos right? :D If you're like Mr @amsyarstifler, he's currently at work. Time doesn't stop for our Singaporean heroes like him ;) Well as for me... I had a lazy morning and then baked some goodies for tea! 

In the spirit of CNY what best to celebrate it with other than Mandarin Orange Cookies!

Orange butter cookies

You can use any butter cookies recipe. Scroll down if you're interested to use the recipe I used. To get the orangey flavour, I added about a tablespoon or two of grated orange peel and half the juice from a mandarin orange.

After that, the dough is chilled in the freezer for about half an hour while I preheat the oven and prepare the frosting.

Into the oven they go

Place the cookies on a cooling rack once they're out of the oven

The orange frosting recipe is very simple, the recipe is provided below but I didn't do any exact measurements. I kept my frosting very thin (it's almost like a glaze) and not too sweet. The orange flavour is intense and the smell is really wonderful!! I love this frosting so much, I will probably drizzle it on cakes next time :)

Remember to place a sheet of plastic below to catch the excess drips!

I would recommend to add a bit of cinnamon powder, it really does wonders!

Hehe. My cute orange cookie!

...and half of it! :D yumms

Mandarin Orange Cookies Recipe:

Serves 5-6 45 minutes Butter Cookie mix
250g unsalted butter (softened)
220g sugar
1 egg
Squeezed juice from 1/2 of mandarin orange
2 tablespoons of grated orange peel
1 teaspoon vanilla
300g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of salt

Combine butter, sugar and egg in a bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Add orange juice, orange peel and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix well. Add flour and baking powder, beat at low speed until everything's combined together.

Divide dough into thirds and shape each third into a ball. Cover each ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate (by right, it's supposed to be for 2-3 hours but I couldn't wait that long). For the last third, add green food colouring. (this will be for the leaves). Meanwhile, preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Roll out one ball of dough on lightly floured surface. Keep it at about 1/2cm thick and use cookie cutters to cut it into round shapes. Place about 3cm apart on baking sheets and bake for 8-11 minutes, or until corners appear slightly golden brown. Once done, remove to a cooling rack immediately. Cool completely and apply frosting.

Frosting
Powdered sugar ~80g
Butter ~20g
Juice from the other half of the mandarin orange (Add lesser for thicker consistency)
1 tablespoon of grated orange peel
Red and yellow food colouring = Orange!
Cinnamon powder

Mix everything except the cinnamon powder and it's done!
Frost cookies and sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon powder.

There you did it! Your very own mandarin orange cookies!

*applause*

Best enjoyed with a mug of homemade Ice Lemon Tea!

Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it :D

Happy holidays everyone!
And happy baking ;)

Read More

Activity: Nightscape Shooting

This is an alternative activity for those late nights. Other than the prata suppers, shisha-ing (hookah) and pubbing/clubbing. 

Things you need for this activity:

- A camera

- A tripod

- An excellent buddy who will take turns in helping to carry the stuffs :p

Sometime last year I had this assignment for school in which I was supposed to take a panoramic photo of Singapore's night skyline. It was quite an exciting task because:

1. I have never tried something quite like this. 
2. I had just bought myself a second-hand Canon 500D
3. It gives me an excuse to give my parents to be able to go out late at night. Haha!

Thinking about Singapore's skyline, you will undoubtedly think of Marina Bay Sands, The Esplanade, and our very own 'Ferris wheel', The Singapore Flyer. All these photos were taken sometime in May 2013.

What you had to do is to actually take a series of photographs as above - each photo should have an overlap of about 20% between adjoining frames. You can't use your camera's auto settings for this. Using Photoshop or any other editing programs you can easily find online, just stitch them together and wait for it...

()""()

( -.-)
             (,) )...  zzzz 

TADAA! (Actually it's not as simple as described above. LOL)

After I'm happy and tired with the shots we had taken (because I'll be graded for this), we decided to set up the tripod but this time for ourselves. :) It was already close to 2am and there were very few people around so we didn't have to feel awkward or paiseh.

We didn't imagine that it would be so fun. It's like having our very own photoshoot with the scenery behind us. (Actually you can see most of the buildings had their lights out by now). After that we walked around and looked for things which we can see at that particular hour.

Of course all the shops were closed.

We then headed to Marina Bay Sands. It was my first time in there so I was quite fascinated with how reflective the floor is. HAHA

  

We headed up to the 57th floor because well, there's not many choices we had since most of the floors require room passes to access them.And we were greeted by this beautiful view!! It's almost as shiok as being on the topmost floor. I had problems taking a better photo because of the reflections. Both of us were so tired by then but the view was certainly a wonderful end to our day. :)By the way, if you wanna catch the light show, you can view them every night at 8.30pm and 9pm. And on Saturdays, there is another show at 11pm too. You can find more information about the Marina Bay Sands Light and Water Show HERE (pretty awesome pictures!)

These photos of the MBS light show were taken using my iPhone 5. Quality was not good at all so I did some editing to them :p These were taken near the Merlion at Merlion Park.

Overall, it was a memorable outing for the both of us. What drove me to write this post was when he recently mentioned that he missed this particular time we had our night shooting. :)

I hope you liked this post. Tell me what you think and maybe try it out too! It is indeed a nice keepsake at the end of the day, having your very own panorama of Singapore's skyline. Even if it doesn't work the first time, take it as a challenge yup! And if all else fails, you can always set up your tripod and take some selfies. hehe Happy Shooting!

Read More

DIY : Heart Surprise

Hi everyone!

Want to surprise your partner or your friends with something cute and easy to make? I'm sure everyone agrees that a handmade gift or card makes us feel extra loved, so why not make one for someone today! Read on to learn today's make-it-yourself craft :)

2 years back, I made this for the Mr. It was the same idea, but I didn't have a proper way of presenting it. He kept it inside his wallet for some time... So today, I'm doing an improved version of what I did before.

These are the materials you need:

Coloured paper (I'm using post-its, you can use anything you have)
Pencil

Black marker

Scissors

Glue stick

Eraser (optional)

With a pencil, draw any character you like on a piece of coloured paper. It can be an animal, a boy, a girl or even a cartoon/anime character. 

On another colour paper, draw a heart shape which is approximately the size of your character's tummy.

I drew a cat because we both love them. :) Keep it simple for now. You can follow exactly what I have done so far. 

Next, outline with a black marker. Add on details for your character. I'm giving my cat a tuxedo. (!!) On the heart, draw a paw on each side. I erased my pencil lines after this. 

Just cut out the two pieces with a pair of scissors.

Trace out the paws using the leftover coloured paper and cut them out as well. Glue them in place over the heart.  

You're almost there! So you have 2 pieces now. One of a cat with his hands behind his back. And one of a heart with paws on the sides...

But if you align the heart on your character like this, it will look like it's holding the heart! :)

So next is just finding a way of presenting it to your loved one. For me, i'm doing a mini card today. 

I glued my cat on a small piece of paper and added some dialog. You can be creative here. 

It's better if you are using a thick paper or card material. I'm using normal A4 paper so the ink had seeped through. I solved the problem by gluing another piece of paper to the back.

Now we need to make a mini envelope for the surprise. Draw lines (using pencil) similar to what I did above. The idea is to contain the heart in the middle box. Do not make it too small because it will be hard to take it out later on. 

Cut out according to the top line that you have drawn. Fold in according to the 3 sides (left, right, bottom).

Apply glue to only the 3 folded edges. Paste it to the back of your card like this:

Draw an envelope design. Any way you like. 

Here you can faintly see that i have slotted my heart inside the 'envelope' through the top. Write a mini note somewhere so that your partner will know that there's a surprise inside! You can also write a letter and slot it in together. Or throw in some stickers,etc. if your friend/partner loves them.

So when they receive your card, they will be like, hmmm.. Okay.. What is it? Where is it?

It will not be obvious to them at first. But they will definitely be surprised after realising that these are like 2 pieces of puzzle. ;)

It's especially lovelier that you had made this for them yourself. You can also replace the heart with a rectangle banner with the words 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' for example. 

So why not try it today? It doesn't have to be a special occasion for making someone smile, right? And shhhh... I only used the stuffs i found at work. :p 

Hope you liked the Heart Surprise tutorial. Try it out and let me know what you think! I would love to see your creations and characters too. :)

Happy crafting~

Read More