Assalamualaikum!
A few weeks ago I was contacted by the lovely Aida, owner of The 114, who wanted to do a feature on us! She teamed up with her hubby, Karim, and has recently launched the 114 all the way from Dubai! Their work is absolutely amazing. Aida and I are currently collaborating for a cool project due to launch before Ramadan/Eid inshallah, so watch this space! In the meantime, do check out the feature published on her blog, The 114 daily.
Hello all! I am running my first every Facebook competition in collaboration with Islamic Moments from UK.
We will be giving away an Islamic Prize Pack worth $60 to one special fan! Entries are open to everyone around the world, postage paid!
This giveaway starts 1st April and ends 7th April 2013 at 12am AEST. Winner will be announced via email, on In my studio‘s facebook page as well as on this blog on Monday 8th April and must make contact within 24 hours or prize will be redrawn.
*Item #1&2 can be customised in your choice of colour.
You can enter here using the Rafflecopter app below
Or
Mobile & Web friendly link: http://bit.ly/XDw7GP
Or
Enter via In my Studio Facebook page tab “Giveaway”
ALL THE BEST!
A few weeks ago (thanks for a friend who mentioned it to me), I entered a competition run by The Interiors Addict blog, “Impress Shaynna and win a course at the International Institute of Home Staging worth $500″. Yes, Shaynna Blaze from The Block on channel 9 is judging, who am I kidding?!
So the nature of competitions are… that there will probably be hundreds or thousands of entries and what would the chances of winning be? But this morning as I scrolled down Facebook on my phone in bed, I saw my photo posted by Interiors Addict! I was shocked. Surprised. Happy – 0f course! I’m very happy to announce that I was chosen as the winner for this amazing competition. As part of this win from Interiors Addict, I am posting this makeover on my blog to show you more photos of my toddler room transformation and how you can achieve amazing results with a minimum budget using recycled materials, found objects with lots of research, passion and determination!
This is a typical 60′s house. Very retro, lots of patterns. It can sometimes be a bit overwhelming to the eye. When I was pregnant with my second, I told myself I needed to finish off the spare room. At the time, it was being used as an ironing room, a computer room, a storage room and what not! So when my morning sickness slowly faded away, I got myself together and started planning for this room. My first borns’ room was a very girlish room. This time I wanted something different. I opted for a unisex look incase I was expecting a boy.
The room is a work of art in itself. All decorations are DIY from salvaged items and recycled materials. From the wall art down to the cushion details & baby mobile, all are handmade! It took me a few months to research, gather and create these beautiful items.
This baby mobile was created with paint chip samples. I have a box of them in the shed so all I had to do was cut probably about 30 of them using a heart template I made. These are then sewn using a needle and a thread, attached onto tree branches that I cut off a tree in our backyard. They are finished with a small bead at the end just to give each string-piece some added weight.
What is a room without cushion? They are ridiculously overpriced in stores, $30-$60! I have made these adorable cushions for only a few dollars!
I have most of the fabrics at home so it was just a matter of buying some felt.
The bottom cushion was made from an old granny jumper! I will put some photos up in another post of how I made this cushion. The table was an old IKEA table that I repainted. The timber tray was bought from a second hand store for $3, again repainted in the same colour as the feature wall. The lamp was bought from Salvos (second hand store) for $10, it even has a chip at the bottom, yes, and I love that it has a chip to show imperfection! Another IKEA product which is the rug, RRP is $49 but I got it for $25 from Gumtree :)
This is a digital artwork that I have created and now am selling in my Etsy store.
The picture below is a breakdown of what in the room is second hand and DIY.
Side view of the room. The bed belonged to my sister in law, 15 years ago. My in laws managed to keep it well in their garage. Its now time for my children to benefit from it!
My hand painted ‘bird silhouette’ oversized canvas.
I am absolutely in love with this no 14 chair! Its an original chair (still has the stamp on it!) Its by Thonet and made in Czechoslovakia! I was pretty lucky to have found this chair after months of searching. The owner didn’t know it was an antique, so she was happy to give it away.
Here is a little teaser of something exciting that I am currently working on. Mood boards are often created as a basis for designing, ie- the research part. Once the designer and client have agreed with the theme/feel/look of the space, then the work begins! Design proposal, design documentation and design construction will take place one after another. So stay tuned!
When the husband wants something, he just has to say the word and then I’ll take care of the rest. This time he wanted an armchair, for more comfort.
I wasn’t exactly sure where else I could put this extra armchair seeing that our living room isn’t a big room, so I had to compromise some things and move around. The photo below was the old living room decor nook, where the floor lamp is. And this is where the new armchair will go.
So when we put the new armchair there and moved the floor lamp to the opposite nook (gotten rid of the magazine rack), the walls behind the armchair looked rather plain. I decided to DIY some art from the stuff we already had and picked up a couple of things from the junk yard. I got this timber tray for $2.50 each.
Above: Sanded timber tray (before)
Below: During the process of painting
The picture below are the 3 DIY wall art.
1- Exsiting Ikea MALMA mirror that I stencil and painted with a quatrefoil design.
2. Junk yard timber tray turned wall art – digital design print.
3. Junk yard timber tray turned wall art – hand painted.
For the quatrefoil mirror, I cut out a stencil and traced it all around the mirror with a pencil.
Then using acrylic paint, painted it with love and care.
Here is a close up of the timber trays, they are painted to make it look a bit rustic
As for art #2, Its a digital design art that I made in illustator and printed it out. I’m also selling it in my Etsy store.
The cushion was purchased online from eBay.
Every December my parents would be in Malaysia for their annual holiday except for last years December 2012. So my sister and I decided to throw a family getaway. We went to Bright.
What makes a perfect getaway for you? For us its, FOOD! Glorious food!
I decided to surprise my parents with this wonderful hamper, ‘Simply Delicious’ from Interflora. It is packed full of goodies to munch on; on our way there, during our stay and on the way back. We had honey coated peanuts to keep us entertained in the car on our 3 hour journey; for our afternoon teas we had those soft melting moments (which are to die for); for our movie night we had chocolate coated honeycomb and caramel popcorn; as for our picnic in the park…we enjoyed chilli & garlic marinated olives with some savoury cheese biscuit straws, wafer crackers dipped in mild chunky salsa and apricot & macadamia dip. This had us pretty much covered for the entire trip. Except of course one hamper wasn’t enough, it was more of a tasting platter for the 7 of us. I did mention that this hamper was originally for my parents, right? Of course it was too good to resist so we all digged in!
There were a few things that I loved about Interflora online. One, their website is very user friendly. The theme is so easy on the eye, navigating through categories and browsing at my own pace was very relaxing and enjoyable. As a designer myself, I find this point really important. The first look is what matters the most – to attact your customers, not push them away from being overwhelmed by products.
Secondly, I liked how they incorporated a few ‘extras’ to complement your purchase to make it even special. I added an extra teddy bear so I could hand it to my daughter during our trip. You can add a flower, balloon etc.
And lastly,Interflora delivers internationally! By a click of a button, its on its way to being delivered without having to worry. This is a big bonus for us as we have a lot of relatives overseas.
Unfortunately I am not able to share any personal photos of the hamper content as my camera phone was stolen! *sigh*
However, hop on over to Interflora and be amazed by what they have to offer. You will surely find something that will suit your needs and budget.
I have just recently launched my Etsy shop. I design modern and contemporary art prints for the home, suitable for adults & kids, some are Islamic based too. Below are just a few samples of what I offer. They are Islamic Kids Personalise Digital Art Print – Daily Prayer – 8×10 (20x25cm). You can customise the colour to suit your decor. I can even personalise them to add names, or if you want it in a different language…it can be done inshallah. Just let me know. Each print costs USD $12 (without frame). If you need it framed, I am happy to accomodate your needs. For more information, please click the images below or visit my Etsy shop.
This is our revamped side table with a quatrefoil design. Lately I’ve been into contemporary Moroccan latticework patterns. They are absolutely pretty! I’ll show a step by step on how to stencil this table. There are a couple of ways to do it, either paint it with your bare fingers (using a template or use a sticker stencil) I’ll show you the stencil way. First, get yourself an old table. We picked this up from an ad on Gumtree for $15.
I measured the diameter of the table and whipped up the patterns on illustrator. Feel free to download the pattern template here. I made it available in a PDF version so the vector works remain if you wish to resize it.
Then print it out onto sticker paper and using a stanley knife or scissors, carefully cut out the stencil template.
Give the table a good sand thoroughly.
Paint the base colour, I chose a light grey. Give it two coats.
Once dried, apply the sticker stencil. Press to make sure they are no bumps. And finally spray it white, two coats again. Leave it to dry for a day before removing the stencil.
Once you remove the stencil, sand the edges using a fine sand paper to enhance the edges and also to give it a rustic look.
And now we’re done!
Total cost of project:
Side table $15
Spray paint $3
Sticker paper $2
Final total:$20. An absolute bargain!
It makes for such a pretty indoor or even outdoor side table.
I swear every Eid is a rush. For some reason, all my raya(eid) grocery shopping, cooking and decorating happens the night before. Its strange considering I am quite an organised person. Must be all the excitement I guess. And as a Malay, I follow the way we celebrate Eid. We don’t only bake various cookies, we do a whole feast. Lontong, rendang, chicken curry etc… though I have to admit, this time I didnt do the whole shebang. One: I just don’t have much time with a 3 month old and a 2 year old and two: my aunty brought us heaps of raya cookies all the way from Malaysia. Yayness!
So it was around 10pm the eve of Eid that I went searching for a chocolate cupcake recipe online and found this. Its pretty similar to the ones I’ve made before and it tasted good. Suffice to say I slept at 3am after all the cooking and baking. But it was such a rewarding feeling knowing that you’ll be celebrating a beautiful occasion with your loved ones.
The tags are also DIY. And yes, I was up designing, printing, cutting and gluing these tags for the cupcakes and goodie bags. You can find them here, printable DIY cupcake flags and gift tags. For these specific ones (in this post), you’ll need to wait until I find time to upload them ;)
These cupcakes are for Aliya’s class. We celebrated with her little friends at Kinda. Oh it was so cute seeing them eat in mess.
RECIPE FOR CHOCOLATE CUPAKES
Adapted from My Baking Addiction with slight modificationsYields: 24 cupcakes
Prep time: 20 mins
Bake time: 20 mins approxIngredients
1 3/4 cups plain flour
2 cups caster sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffeeMethod
1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees fan forced. Line 2 standard dozen muffin trays with paper liners; set aside.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Fold in slowly the dry ingredients into the wet. Then add in the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
3. Using a large scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin cases, filling each up to 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack and cool completely.
RECIPE FOR VANILLA BUTTERCREAM ICING/FROSTING
Adapted from Sweetapolita with slight modificationsMakes: Enough to decorate 24 cupcakes
Prep time: 5 minsIngredients
340 grams unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
600 grams icing sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extractMethod
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip butter for 5 minutes on medium speed. Butter will become very pale & creamy.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 5 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy.
3. Use to decorate right away before it hardens.
