Bead It!

Had the opportunity to join a beading workshop last night. Just in case you didn't know, Sarawak is located on Borneo Island and it consists of many different races and tribes so we are basically a huge mix of different cultural ideals. We are very lucky to be living in complete harmony and last night I had an opportunity to learn how to craft a bag out of beads, a specialty of one of the races in Sarawak and apparently I learnt the hard way that it is not so easy to bead!

So, in case you're interested, this is how it's done:

Step 1: Prepare some beads. Actually it's better if you prepare a lot since you might be running out of them. And you may want to prepare in different colors (depending on the designs that you'll be making)

Step 2: Thread in and out. This is a wee bit complicated to explain on a blog. If you're willing to learn more, do buy a book on beading *sheepish smile*

Once the base is complete, all you have to do is continue beading and it will naturally go upwards (if you're not a pro, like me, sometimes it falls limply to the side instead of going upwards) *geez*

Full concentration is a complete must. Otherwise, it may not develop into what it's supposed to be.

The unfinished product after three hours of labor. That means that it takes a very, very long time to complete your beading. This is certainly not for the impatient :-/

Cheerio!

xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo

Batik Workshop

Yours truly (which means me by the way) had the opportunity to participate in a Batik workshop at Kuching Waterfront. For those who do not know it is, batik is a handpainted cloth. It is a traditional art, considered as a symbol of cultural heritage for the Malays both in Indonesia and Malaysia. Although I must say that the batik designs for both Indonesian batik and Malaysian batik are very, very different. Even for us in Sarawak (by the way, I am a born and bred Sarawakian), the Sarawak batik is also very different as it showcases very distinct Sarawak motifs life the hornbill and such. The background color of the cloth is usually white, though not necessarily so. But for this workshop, we were given a white cloth to begin with.

Here's the process of batik making (or at least what I had gone through):

Step 1: Prepare a blank piece of cloth. Make sure it's tightly held. This is to ensure that the colors will not spread all over the place.

Step 2: Prepare hot wax. The wax will be drawn onto the cloth to create a divider on the cloth to display the different designs and motifs.

Preferably you are supposed to draw a draft of your design with pencil on the cloth. Afterwards, layer the lines with wax. In this case, I had to forgo drawing on pencil as I couldn't even see what on earth I was drawing. I decided to chant the lines with wax freehanded.

Step 3: Fill in between the lines. I was told to fill in the motifs color first (although I do not know why). At this moment it seems like my motifs consists of fern leaves and eggs (do you see the resemblance?)

Voila! This is the finished product! Although I must admit that it does look very colorful, initially I did not intend it to be that way. However, I am still very, very happy with the end result.

So, what do you think? Not too shabby for someone who's a total lefty brain. I think this would look well in my bedroom.

Cheerio!

xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo

Homework

Attended another session of Mandarin class last night. As I am now currently in intermediate class, I have to do sentence construction and also complete my homework.

Homework?

The homework consists of sentences (it could be in the form of essays or dialogs, whichever suits your fancy) that will hopefully improve our mastery of the language. Luckily I am a Malaysian. The advantage? Well, Mandarin sentences sound somewhat akin to Manglish (if you don't know what Manglish is, it's a combination of Malay and English words put together in a sentence). An absolute rojak of terrible English grammar but it actually suits us just fine. This is a sample of my homework:

Wo you yi ge mao.
I have one unit cat.

Wo de mao shi liang shui.
My cat is two years old.

Ta hei se.
It color black.

Ta hen fei.
It very fat.

Wo de mao xi huan chi yu.
My cat like eat fish.

Ou er wo de mao xi huan shu.
Sometimes my cat like mouse.

Wo hen xi huan wo de mao.
I very much like my cat.

(Disclaimer: My Mandarin is not perfect and nor is this an example of good usage of the language. Definitely my lao shi had to correct a few sentences and those corrections are not shown in the sentences above).

So, what do you think? Funny English right? Well, it sounds perfectly alright in Mandarin and if translated, it is are perfectly usable in Malay.

Cheerio!

xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo

Another Outing

So I went on with another photo shoot today. Was scheduled for a workshop at Alvin's but unfortunately it had to be cancelled due to the lack of numbers. Well, that doesn't mean that we can't practice, can we?

Although I really want my skills to improve (in terms of mastering the manual adjustments of the camera) I decided that it is more important for me to know how to capture first rather than mastering the technical side of the camera. Besides, I am a wee lacking in the skills of being able to read and comprehend a manual (a female habit, I assume) so I'll take the easy way in learning how to photograph.

So we went scrounging the streets of Kuching and this is what I got so far;

Went to a Chinese temple. I totally love this shot!

And I love the details of the roof. I really like this shot!

Really like the bright red background.

Somehow I fancied the window =p

Raden loves this shot. I told him it's gray upon gray upon gray.

We also liked this shot.

Tried my hand at silhouette photography.

So, what do you think? Am I getting better?

Til next time!

xoxo Fashionista in Action

For the Love of Photography

So I attended another talk on photography.

No, I am NOT addicted.

But, I am INSPIRED.

These amazing speakers, with years of experience showing fantastic pictures (or as Peter Tan would put it; showing off) but whatever it is, the WOW factor is definitely there.

Hopefully one day my work will be as good as that. But for now, it's back to practice, practice and practice!

But one thing I know for sure, I want to join a photography academy!

Not now though, the dosh is not there yet, but definitely somewhere in the near future. And, I've set a date. It must be after I've completed my Mandarin classes. So, hopefully by next year I'll be in a photography academy. Let's revisit this post by July next year and see whether I've enrolled in Alvin's academy.

That is a picture of me!

Raden submitted it as his work for the competition =p

So, these are my photos for the competition. I am so proud of myself! I know the photo quality is not as a pro but I am so proud that I managed to put aside my self-consciousness and participate. Although I am usually very confident of myself, but as for photography, and knowing to the fact that my skills are very, very basic, I am self-conscious of my work. But I managed to put those feelings aside and submit my application. I wished that I had submitted more pictures. But then again, I know I'll try again in the future.

This is the photo that I submitted. What do you think?

To dreams and realities =D

xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo

Wedding Photographers Seminar

Had an opportunity to attend a wedding photographers seminar last night organized by Alvin Leong and WPPM (which stands for Wedding and Portrait Photographers Malaysia).

No, I am NOT a wedding photographer.

Not because I don't want to (that would simply sound arrogant now, wouldn't it?)

It's because I simply don't have the skills. At least not yet.

So the talk featured three speakers, Peter Tan, Patrick Low and Alvin himself. As a newbie (and the main reason I came was because there wasn't enough workshops/ trainings in Kuching for me to go to as starters), I was impressed with the amount of camaraderie these guys had between the three of them (considering the fact that they are competitors in the same industry). I was also touched by the fact that they were willing to share their methods and practices which is a great tip to any novice photographer like me.

This is Alvin. You can check out his website: http://www.alvinleong.com/

Couldn't find proper links to the other two's photos but you might also like to visit their website:

http://exes-studio.blogspot.com/

http://petertanphotography.com/

The talk really inspired me to be better and to improve my skills (or whatever that I have now).

Wished there were more aspiring photographers who came to the seminar but then again, for those who didn't want to come, it's your lost.

Cheerio!

xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo

Fashionista's Movie Review: Inception

Went off for a girl's nite out last night and we decided to watch Inception, the new movie that has been rolling in big bucks in the box office. I was a bit intrigued by the trailer so I decided to give it a go and see what the movie is all about.


Hmm.. Where shall I start? Definitely the main star is Leonardo Dicaprio (starring as Mr. Cobb) who seems to have issues with his wife. His dead wife. Who seems to be bent on revenge (which will later be revealed in the movie) and seems to be stalking him everywhere.

So, what do I think of the movie? For one thing, the whole movie lasted 2 and a half hours (which to me is a very, very long time). The movie's theme is more towards suspense added in a bit of drama and thriller. Although it is a very heavy movie (which what I mean by that, has a serious plot and is not for those who are looking for a relaxing time at the movies). But then again, Leornardo's pick of movies has always been very intense, emotional and the plot is usually very thick. But I do like the way the film play's with your imagination and sort of questions the reality that you live in.

All in all, I'd recommend the movie for those who loves drama and suspense. There are many twists and turns in the movie which makes the movie an interesting watch.

Happy watching peeps!


xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo