Seedling

I am obsessed: I want to garden again. In what used to be my bachelorette's pad, I had a compost bin under my kitchen sink (and friends can testify that there was no stink usually associated with composting) and a window garden. I grew tomatoes, basil, sweet bell peppers, ficus bonsai, holly bonsai and some other plants. But it's been two years in this new apartment and I have not yet tried my hand at growing stuff.

Okay, to be totally honest, I did impulse buy a couple of herbs during last winter season but they quickly died from exposure. But that urge to plant plus this growing, nagging guilt about throwing biodegradable items in with general garbage has really made the itch to practice my green thumb so bad!

Like a seed trying to sprout, this urge grew out of dirt or thrash to be exact. Without any conscious plans to start a garden yet, I started segregating biodegradables again. And because I did not have any gardening materials at hand, save for a set of garden tools which my uncle gave me, the segregated wastes quickly turned into a stinky mess. So I had to get a sack of soil to cover it up. Luckily, my mom gave me a shredder a few months back, so I also had shredded paper that I could toss in to control the smell. More brown materials in the compost like dried leaves, paper and dirt helps avoid stink. If you're interested to get more information about it, here's a very nice infographics about what you can or cannot put in the pile. You can view the full version here.

Since I lived in an apartment complex, I was very concerned about the compost bin becoming smelly. I took extra precautions, specially since I did not (and still do not) use any special bins designed for this purpose. I placed my compost in a garbage bag inside a garbage bag, inside a plastic bin. This makes it possible for me to tie up the first bag to contain the smell, tie up the second bag over it for a second layer of protection and then close the plastic bin cover over the whole set-up. I'd go in, check moisture, add water if needed and try to rotate everything at least once a week. Though mostly anaerobic, the compost turned into dark, moist, rich soil.

This time though, I am using a standard bin composting design because we have a balcony where I can store the compost. I used a cheap plastic bin from the hardware store, punched in some holes for air circulation and filled it up with browns and greens.

If I have the space, I would love to make this DIY rotating composter. This would give my compost that much-needed aeration. A quick Google search led me to this simpler bucket project: DIY on using Home Depot buckets.

Some composters would have a pretty tub that they'd leave by the sink where they can deposit their biodegradable materials before dumping it in the compost pile, but if you're not finicky, then any tub would work. If you don't leave it too long, even a small open top dipper would do. I use an old coffee tin can with a plastic cover.

This waste segregation reduced our garbage immensely! In the first week, we only threw out a couple of small bags of thrash, mostly product wrappers. It was a huge difference to see how much less garbage there is.

Unfortunately, I don't have that much space. I've already started storing some biodegradables in the freezer. I read that freezing them first then thawing and placing in the compost bin helps degrade them faster. However, I would need to stop collecting compostable materials soon.

There's a vast difference between the amount of brown (carbon-rich materials) versus green materials (nitrogen-rich) you can throw in. The Compost Guy says the ratio range of Carbon to Nitrogen (called C:N ratio) is 20:1 to 40:1, so that's a lot of browns (which are my paper, soil and errant dried leaves that drop in the balcony) versus greens (my kitchen scraps). That math just means one thing to me: everything adds up to a full bin and I have no more space. A backyard would be lovely, fairy godmother.

It will definitely not be quick. Composting guides say compost can be ready in three to four weeks (I wish!) because normally compost is ready to use in six months to a year. And I do like to err in the side of caution. I left my first apartment compost in the previous residence for a year before I started using it.  I'm also considering vermicomposting to get it done quicker.  In the meantime, I can start germinating seeds and arranging the space for our burgeoning garden, which right now is just a compost bin and some seeds.

I do wish my apartment community has vegetable gardens or pea patches. Found out recently that Liv Apartments, one of the newer apartment communities in Redmond offers pea patches and for me, that's a stroke of genius! I've often mentioned it to hubby, that with all these landscape grounds around apartments, offering residents vegetable gardens and composting space should be a staple. I hope it works out for Liv Apartments so that hopefully, the trend will catch on.

Recycling, composting, gardening -- ahhh... it feels good to be back in touch with earth.

10% Discount for OrangeJar Caricature/Cartoon Portrait!

Holiday season is in the air and it's time for the shopping frenzy again! So, just to throw in my own works in the mix and to make your gift unique, colorful and fun, I'm offering a 10% discount to my custom caricature/cartoon portraits. 

If you notice, the expiration is March 2015 - that's because I hate it when there's not enough time to use a discount code. So, just click and drag this discount voucher to your desktop to save it (or bookmark my blog). Once you're ready to order, just send me an email (details of what to send below) and I will create a custom list for you in my Etsy Shop. 

Voucher Details: 

Discount: 10% off, valid for one artwork

Expiration: March 31,  2015

One voucher per client

I'm starting to redirect payments to my Etsy Shop, so if you're using this voucher, I will ask you to pay through Etsy. To use the voucher, please email me at OrangeJar (@) OrangeJar.com and send:

• a copy of this voucher
• the number of people you want in the artwork 
• 2-3 clear photos of each person (face/features and tops of the heads must be clearly visible, persons do not need to be together in the same photos),
• A brief description of what you want them to be doing and wearing, 
• Description of the theme/background (for orders with backgrounds only),
• Send photos or links if you have specific requests (for clothes, backgrounds, props, whichever is applicable to your order). If you do not have a preference, I will choose this for you based on the theme or what they are wearing in the photo),
• Specify what print size you want the final digital file in (A3, A4, A5).

Feel free to email the voucher to your family and friends. If you have any questions, just send an email or comment. 

Thanks for viewing! 

Note: Process, order and delivery details described in my my OrangeJarArt Etsy Shop applies.

Alternative contact for OrangeJar

Hi there! For those trying to contact me through orangejar (@) orangejar.com, I cannot apologize enough for the full inbox automatic messages that you have been receiving. I am having a bit of technical difficulty at the moment. I do still get the messages, and I respond with  my personal email.

In the meantime, you can also contact me through orangejar (@) gmail.com or though a convo/message in my Etsy shop.

Thanks and looking forward to hearing from you! 

Group Caricature for a Going Away Present

I feel like I won an award every time a client emails me their feedback on a clay work or caricature order. More so, when they also share how much their recipients loved the caricature gift.

Nermeen, contacted me from the UAE. They wished to give their boss, who is moving to the USA, a memorable going away token that will remind her of their group, their department and all their hard work and successes. She also requested for the background to reflect the journey of their boss through the landmarks in the background: from Egypt, to the UAE to the USA. After I sent her her the finished artwork, she had it printed on canvas which turned out great. 

To Nermeen, thanks for sending the photos and leaving such a lovely review in my OrangeJar Etsy shop!

5 stars from Nermeen:
"Ria is a super Artist with very accurate, fast execution and time management. While others provided longer periods with very exaggerated prices, Ria is providing a very professional service with impeccable timing as well as super attention to details with very cost effective prices. The portrait was for my boss's Farewell and enough to say that my boss said: "This is the most amazing gift that I have received in my life"!! I would recommend Ria to my friends and co-workers"

Legal documents & zombie apocalypse

I have been facing a monstrous amount of documentation in the last few days and yesterday's good news brought it to my attention that I needed them all, last month.

It's surprising how so many official government offices needs to authenticate each other, and not just in my home country the Philippines, but also here in the UAE, and in Cyprus. It's a chorus of the same line: obtain certified true documents, authentication at the Ministry of Justice, authentication at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

It's overwhelming when you really sit down to think about it. Thank goodness for the Internet and people posting in forums and websites - so most everything now can be found online.

But  think about it, when the zombie apocalypse comes, all these will be moot anyway. So, to calm myself down, I indulged in a little tension/stress-relieving zombie shootout while I take a break from all the online research and while waiting for my little hearts to cool down from the oven (nope, didn't have a violent breakdown. Made a dozen heart brooches which will be going with me to ARTE Souq Timesquare this Friday).

I removed the embedded game and replaced it with this screenshot.
The actual game started automatically, sounds and all and eventually became irritating.
You can find the games here http://www.freeonlinegames.com.

In case you stumble on this post because you're researching about attestations (and you know what that means) here's how to get documents attested in the UAE. Note that Dubai Notary will not notarize documents they did not issue (info also sourced online) so if you have any legal documents that you need notarized, you need to go to your own Consulate/Embassy. In cases of marriage certificates, you need it certified in the country where you got married before it can be legal for use in the  UAE. So in my case, in Cyprus (enter chorus) before I do the UAE round of attestations.

And I found out, just now, that VFS also handles attestations. I've used them before for visa application but this is also welcome news.

My journey to clear this mountain of documents before me is just starting but hopefully, I'll get it cleared soon enough - with the help of a lot of people and dead (again) zombies. 

Say Cheese UAE Photo booth goes to Ras Al Khaimah

We were in the beautiful coastal town of Ras Al Khaimah yesterday to provide the Say Cheese UAE photo booth service to the Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone's Annual party. We left Dubai at around 12:00 noon and entered the T-junction at the end of Emirates road an hour later. Our final destination was the Hilton RAK Resort and Spa.

Ye programmed her GPS - set with a male voice - to direct us to the hotel and soon after entering RAK, it told us to make a left turn. That move brought us to a small street in a residential area that looked a bit run down. Deciding to trust in technology we followed the road till we reached the corniche area and joined a street snaking by the side of the beach. After a few meters Mr. GPS announced: "Your destination is on the left side".

On our left were sand, pebbles and the wide, open beach with absolutely no buildings near it. We burst out laughing! Now, I really regret not stopping to take a picture - or a video.

So I brought out my map, found a main road, found the few landmarks I had marked on it and drove while Ye figured out what happened to Mr. GPS. Turns out it tracked the wrong Hilton - which is quite curious, since there were no structures in the area it identified. She put a new one in and that led us again, to the wrong Hilton. Luckily, the Creek Plaza's sign - one of the few landmarks on my map - was visible so I knew it was the wrong destination. After a few more turns we finally found the hotel. My low tech map won over GPS!

The venue was gorgeous! The whole party was set on a terrace overlooking the sea. Everybody there was busy setting up and practicing so we joined the fray. After we found our allocated space, we hauled our stuff in and prepped for the party. The management required privacy for the photos so there will be no online uploads from us but here is a sample, one of the test shots we did:

Test shot

The afternoon light was just fantastic and I have to say, very flattering indeed. The photos all looked fabulous. The Say Cheese UAE Photo Booth was open from 3:00 - 7:00pm and there was that short window when, as the sun was going down, the sky was going dark creating a very dramatic background for the pictures. Ahh... too bad I cannot post any of those photos.

We barely had any time for a breather. There was only a few minutes after the program officially started when the photo booth was emptied of clients, but even that was quickly replaced by a queu. It was great fun - the party was a blast, all the guests were smiling and happy, and we are simply glad that Say Cheese UAE Photo Booth was part of it.  

Making cake toppers fun

For ARTE Souq Timesquare, Dubai, this coming February 8, I want to display more options for cake toppers. The most recent one I finished is this couple who apparently just fell down. In my mind the groom slipped when he stepped on the cake and they both fell, huge expressions of surprise on both their faces. I just love it when humor and action are injected in the usual traditional ceremonies. My hubby and I had a small civil wedding in Cyprus so we did not go the traditional route but if we did go the way of multi-layer chiffon with white unblemished fondant - I would have loved it if it had a likeness of us in our wedding formals doing something funny. It's not too late, we can always do it in one of our anniversaries, so I'm already racking my brains for the perfect fit.

Another cake topper I finished is a themed one, for Harry Potter fans (which can be customized to any theme - Star Wars, Shrek, etc). The great love that built over the years, through friendship, rivalry, war and magic - that of Ron and Hermione. This cake topper sample shows them both standing in the same action-packed stance, wands-a-ready, and flicking it off to some unseen, yet happy, object. 

Of course, I can't forget the traditional route. So here I have a lovely couple, just waiting for the ceremony to start. The bride has a lovely violet bouquet, a silver tiara and silver trimmings on her gown while the groom looks on, standing proud in his tux, silver tie, and matching violet corsage.

Photo booth animation

Say Cheese UAE Photo booth is the newest service of our sister company, TKC FZ LLC. With photo booths having exploded in the market in the last 2-3 years, we thought everybody in Dubai would know what a photo booth is, so we were quite surprised to find that many were still unfamiliar with it. Many were also not sure if they will get their photo printout and if they did know, they assumed it will take time to print. 

So my next project for the photo booth is to make a short animated introduction which we will publish in the Say Cheese UAE Photo booth website (www.saycheeseuae.com) and of course in the FB page (www.Facebook.com/saycheeseuae). 

Just to have an idea of how we will go about it, I created a very basic animation in Photoshop:

We're still playing with the idea of stop motion, using actual people with the photo booth props. We'll decide soon and produce this. But at least now, we have a picture of how it should look.

Say cheese!

Cake toppers and more in Dubai

I am not allowing myself to buy new supplies without finishing up what I have. It's a weakness of mine... I go gaga inside arts or crafts shops. Like many artists and crafters before me, I end up going home with more than what I originally planned on buying.

Some say it's better to get your supplies online, because you just order just what you need. Wrong! I go to an online craft store and I end up putting more in my cart, again, more than I originally planned on buying. The good news is, most sites have "wish lists" now. So I just tag the ones I like and put them in the wish list. Creates a little cushion for my pocket. Sigh. Don't you just love buying art supplies? I really do.

Anyway, back to work. I've been nursing a headache these last three days so my world has been really quiet. My hubby and I got into a discussion about the term "nursing a headache". If you nurse a baby, you make her/him grow bigger, so if you nurse a headache, does it mean you want it to last longer? Rambling...

I've been working on keychains. These little cuties have a hook on their little heads that allow me to strap on silver finish key hooks on them. They'll be available on Etsy or at ARTE Souq Timesquare this coming February 8: UAE collection, Star Wars inspired collection, Harry Potter inspired collection, and the new line I've been developing - Wedding Cake Toppers. All of these are handmade with non-toxic polymer clay, with no molds used. (Insert advertisement: You can order your own custom made wedding cake topper or birthday cake topper - cake topper for any occasion! - just email me at orangejar @ orangejar.com.)

I really enjoyed working on this Ron & Hermione-inspired wedding cake topper sample. Adding all those small details was really satisfying. There are a couple more that I am working on: a Hans Solo (in his usual garb) and Princess Leia (in her ceremonial gown) and a traditional bride (white gown) and groom (tux). All of these couples will be displayed at ARTE Souq in Feb as samples of custom made wedding cake toppers. My next project will be another bride and groom but the bride will have a more elaborate gown.

Feels great to working with clay again.

Personalized Santa hats

I have a confession to make: I have been a very bad crafter.

I have not made one new item in the last two weeks. Ideas play in the mind but non-crafting work keeps pushing them back.

But I did have time to personalize these two Santa hats for the new men in my life :)

I've been looking for letters or colored felt that I can stitch on these Santa hats but couldn't find any. The felt I found were not very cheerful in color (black and dark blue), guess the shop was out of stock. So when I made a quick stop to Fida's in Satwa last week, it was a nice surprise to find this cute chequered green ribbon.

If you don't know how make blanket stitches, I found this cool vid that shows how:


I used white thread and blanket stitches and tadaaa -- Santa hats with initials! I'm not great at sewing but I love the final look. What do you think?

Amnesty in the UAE

Just a quick community service announcement: The UAE has offered illegal residents amnesty. People who have been living in the country illegally can go home without paying the penalties or if they want to stay, they can pay the fines and apply for a valid resident visa.

People come to the UAE, mostly to seek better opportunities. Most expatriates here have high hopes: earn good, send money back home and live their dreams. Unfortunately, not everybody is lucky enough to fulfil all that, many try but end up broke, in debt and without permits to stay. So I hope this news reaches all corners of the UAE so those affected can take advantage and start afresh.

For reference, here are links to articles online:
Gulf News: Illegal immigrant joins amnesty after four decades in UAE and

The National: No flood of illegals as UAE amnesty opens.

And as a guide to Filipinos affected by this, here's the official announcement from the Philippine Consulate General, Dubai, UAE:

Ang lahat ng mga Filipino sa Dubai and N. Emirates na maaaring makinabang sa programang Amnesty na ipinagkaloob ng United Arab Emirates ay inaanyayahang tanggapin ang kapakinabangang ito.

 ANO: Amnesty/ Libre o walang kaukulang bayad na penalty para sa mga illegal na Filipino na nasa Dubai and N. Emirates. Ang mga tatanggap ng amnesty ay kinakailangang bumalik sa Pilipinas.

PARA KANINO: Mga Pilipino na naririto sa Dubai at N. Emirates na hindi nagtataglay ng kahit anong visa/walang bisa (non-visa holder), visa na matagal ng paso (long expired visa). Hindi kasama ang mga Pilipino na may pending criminal case.

KAILAN: 4 December 2012- 4 February 2013 (60 days)

PAANO:

1. Magtungo sa Consulate General of the Philippines sa Al Qusais upang masiguro na ang inyong pasaporte at Travel Document ay valid at maayos. Kung wala kayong pasaporte/ Travel Document, higit na dapat na magtungo sa Consulate General.
2. Ayon sa balita, mainam rin na may dala ng valid travel ticket pauwi ng Pilipinas. Ito kasama ng inyong valid na pasaporte/ Travel Document ang inyong kailangang dalhin sa Residency Department kung saan ang inyong visa ay ipinagkaloob (where visa was originally issued).
3. Magtungo sa Residency Department ng kaukulang Emirate

• Dubai – Al Aweer
• Sharjah – General Directorate for Residency and Foreigners Affairs
• Khor Fakkan – The Office of Naturalization and Residency
• RAK- General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Al Hamra Island
• Ajman – General Directorate for Residency and Foreigners Affairs
• Umm Al Quwain – General Directorate for Residency and Foreigners Affairs
• Fujairah – General Directorate for Residency and Foreigners Affairs

1. Ang General Directorate for Residency and Foreigners Affairs ay magsasagawa ng proseso para sa inyong pag-uwi sa Pilipinas. Ito ay maaaring kasama ng iris scan at finger prints upang matiyak na walang pending criminal case laban sa inyo.
2. Ayon din sa balita, ang mga nagnais na ipagpatuloy ang pagtatrabaho dito sa UAE, kinakailangang bayaran ang buong penalty o fine para maka apply ng malinis na visa.

 Para sa karagdagang impormasyon, tumawag sa 800 5111. 

5th Annual Bayanihan Festival celebrations

It rained all morning yesterday, it was unbelievable. A stormy day, complete with thunder and lightning in always sunny Dubai. We got stuck in the car, unable to bring the Say Cheese UAE Photobooth materials down, les the rain messes up with the set-up specially the electrical systems. When the rain stoped up, we still couldn't bring the stuff in because the ground was wet and the park management has cancelled authorization for electrical supply.

Finally, at around 3pm, we got the go signal that we can set-up. We found a place and the fun was on! We had not time to relax since the queue did not stop. It thinned at times, but there was always somebody in line.

Here are some images from the event. If you were there and had your photos taken, you can download, tag and share your photo from www.Facebook.com/SayCheeseUAE.

And some photos of around Dubai and the rain. :)

5th Bayanihan Festival in Dubai

Yikes! I should be in bed, but instead, I'm still preparing for tomorrow's gig - we're going to be at the 5th Annual Bayanihan Festival in Dubai. Say Cheese UAE is the official Bayanihan Photobooth so if you have time, please drop by. Program starts at 9am and photobooth opens at 12:30. See you there!

Say Cheese UAE logo design

If I'm not relaxing with clay work, I'm working on a wide variety of projects - logo designs, websites, banners, backdrops, posters, videos, whathaveyou. With The Kitsch Company launching a photobooth, I have been concentrating on its branding. So today, I want to share with you the results so far.

The brief: simple, clean lines, easy to remember.

With the name Say Cheese UAE, the obvious choice was a smiley and with the service being a photobooth - fun hats! So Mr Say Cheese UAE was created. The first font we used was Party Let but we eventually changed it to the open font licensed Spicy Rice, created by Astigmatic.com - it has a solid but playful feel that fits with the brand.

My first draft had a very cheesy, toothy grin. 

Next came Mr Say Cheese UAE without the ear to ear smile and a smaller more spotlight-y yellow background. 

And here we see the final.

We wanted the website to contrast dramatically with the clean lines of the logo, so we ended up with a boudoir inspired combination of deep red and dark grays. The image below is from the actual Say Cheese UAE instruction slides (the images that show in the LCD when you have your photos taken) and it also reflects the overall theme of the website.

We're still tweaking the site so it's not ready yet to show. But Say Cheese UAE Photobooth Fun is up and running so, if you need photobooth services in the UAE, just contact info@saycheeseuae.com.

In the meantime, I'm off to work on some frames - Say Cheese!

Like the Say Cheese UAE Facebook page, by clicking here. 

ARTE Dec 14

I was supposed to be at ARTE this Friday at Timesquare, unfortunately, I will not be able to make it. So instead, I've rebooked for December 14, also at Timesquare. 

But please do go to check it out. Tons of creative people at work to offer your creative and unique items. :) Happy shopping and happy crafting!

ARTE Souq Ikea (Nov 2, 2012)

It was a Darth Vader day. My day opened with the sale of cutie pie Darth Vader (about 1.5" tall) and ended with the bigger Darth (about 4" tall) being broken.

A group of teens passed by and saw the Star Wars inspired items and immediately bought lil Darth. Yey! First sale of the day.

Unfortunately, towards the end of the evening, not much people were passing through so I started reading my book. A lot of kids from all ages have grabbed the clay collectibles, particularly the one in the red shayla and Darth Vader, so I don't mind kids holding them. They are sturdy and will not break easy.

So there I was reading, when I heard a couple of kids gab excitedly about Darth Vader (he is such an attention getter!). As I looked up, I saw one of the boy's hand grab Darth Vader and use his other hand to bend the light saber the other way. He quickly put it back, still talking to what I assume what his sister, and walked to the other side of the table. I took Darth V and sure enough, the light saber was broken, I looked at the kid and all I can stammer was "You broke it". Kid promptly turned around and disappeared in the crowd that suddenly formed going out to the parking. There goes 4-5 hours of work in a blink. I can repair it but I don't feel comfortable selling items that have been repaired.

Sigh. Guess I have to be more vigilant about warning kids to be careful.

That said, I got a good sale from my Gingerbread and Camel Christmas tree decor, so yey again! Lots of people found the Shrek Gingerbread man during torture and after torture adorable and bought them as sets.

By the way, thanks to Rohini of Ragmatazz for including my little mummy in the ARTE Halloween blog entry. Little Mummy also found a new home yesterday, as an adorable little boy promised his dad that he will keep him beside his bed and not be scared. Awww.

Big shoutout to all my friends who dropped by to give their support (and much-needed bathroom breaks!).

Here are some images from my table yesterday.

In the morning after set-up

Near closing time

Gingerbread and Camel Christmas tree decor. I also have "Shrek" Gingerbread Man during and after the torture versions.

I was also super duper lucky with my highschool friend Dea coming over to say hello before going off to sniff out great jewelry finds at ARTE. Her hubby, Chef Andrew made sushi and I got two full boxes! It was yum, I gobbled up the first box for my sit in dinner, since the souq yesterday was until 9pm. 

Yum!

Anyways, one more week till the next ARTE Souq - gotta get busy again creating more Christmas Tree decorations. Hope to see you at ARTE Souq Timesquare on November 9!

Make it Vintage

Went to the Deira fish market today expecting it to be congested but it wasn't! We were able to park easily and in the row nearest the entrance too. Didn't see much locals or Arabs but a lot of Asians were shoppping. I guess the locals have done their shopping early and are now celebrating with their families.

I love shopping at the fresh fish market. People are so energetic selling their seafood and produce, the fish are fresh (and very affordable!) and there are so much choices. We ended up with two kilos of crabs at 60AED, two kilos of shrimps also at 60AED, two kilos of tilapia at 40AED and I got an extra kilo of small galunggong for only 5AED! A bunch of different vegetables was on the last of the shopping list and three bags full only cost us 13AED.

We went straight back to Abet & Malen's flat and started cooking lunch. By 1pm we were having a spectacular seafood fest - there was so much, I had a pack to take home with me to enjoy later. Yum. That, however, took up most of the day -  so it's 3:00pm already and I'm just starting my day.

For the last few days, I've been pouring over dozens of digital albums I've collected through the years to select photos that I will put up on OrangeJarArt Etsy shop. I can easily select photos (and artworks I like) but I try to keep one of the Etsy tips in mind: make your shop look cohesive, which I interpret as styled, which means there is a certain look to it. The items and the corresponding product shots should have a signature that when clients see them, they can identify later that it's from your shop.

That is a very good tip. And from an Etsy newbie like me - with tons of products I want to market - very challenging.

OrangeJar started about seven-eight years ago as my portal to offer caricatures online, a place where people can find my samples and get my contact details. Since the beginning I have an integration of various services there, everything I can do - illustrations, paintings, photography - but I never concentrated on marketing them. Until now, and with the addition of other products such as the sculptures and clay-themed postcards. So OrangeJar is officially a mishmash of my services - all related but still very varied.

For example, when it comes to photos, I love portraits -- family, friends, pets, random people I meet through my travels. But I cannot use those photos without a model permit. So I started collecting photos of places I've been to featuring everyday subjects that I wanted to keep forever - red boots on a wet brick road in Denmark, a rusty ship sculpture in a fisherman's wharf in Canada, camels lounging at the Dubai beach and so on and so forth.

Then the next question became, how do I offer these? Which style? "As is" doesn't seem to cut it for me. Black & white? Retro? Vintage? There are so many options. I guess the best way to go about it is to choose the ones I like best, the ones I will hang on my wall. Then the questions came flooding back again - black & white? Retro? Duochrome? Vintage? I like a lot of styles!

But if I put in a number of styles, then my shop will not look cohesive. So, decide I must.

I do have one favorite that I had printed out in canvas and stretched, it's a duochrome image of Malaysia. It's a dramatic scene of the Twin Towers taken from The Revolving Bintang Restaurant on the 18th floor of The Federal KL. It was a cloudy day and while we were waiting for the lunch buffet to start, the sky started to open on the farthest right and you can see the rain starting to pour, the middle panel only had low-hanging burdened clouds, the leftmost panel had the twin towers and beneath all three, the darkened cityscape of KL. Oh wait, why am I describing it? I can just show you:

It looks better in person (if you're wondering, The Kiss (Gustav Klimt) repro is a gift from my artist friend Ysab, you can find her works here).

So that will definitely be one style. The other is vintage. I edit my photos in Photoshop which allows more control - I can tweak it till I'm happy. So I think I've found my happy medium.

Here's a preview of what I've been working on which will soon be available on Etsy (and hint - if you're interested, before it's up, just send me a pm).

OrangeJar watermark will not be in the final print. This is a photo I took 4-5 years ago near the Hilton beach area, edited for that vintage look.

If you're interested in making any of your photos vintage, you can do it manually in Photoshop - the best way is to experiment with your saturation and color settings. You can also add grain or noise (just go to Filter on your menu). And if you want that real aged print look, add scratches and tear marks (a lot of artists offer scratch and tear photos, just Google for them and check that it's a png file so that's it's ready and easy to use. You just add it on top of your photo as another layer, tweak a little bit more and you're all set).

For quick and easy vintage style photos, here are a couple of websites I stumbled over while I was brushing up on how authentic vintage photos really look:

• Makeretro.com - gives you an option for vintage look, technicolor, lomo and some other tweaks
• Instantretro.com - haven't tried this one, but it seems as easy as upload photo and click the style you want. 

Okay, enough rambling. I seriously need to back up my files first before wading through more digital photos to edit.

Eid Mubarak!

I've only had time to do this now, but I hope you can still find them and use them. They are also available on my FB page - just click here if you want to repost the cards from there.

Please feel free to use these Eid Mubarak cards as ecards or print them out and use them as traditional cards to give to your family and friends courtesy of OrangeJar.com.

Note: All copyrights are retained by OrangeJar.com (and the artist - me!) and these designs are for personal use only. 

I'm also selling similarly styled cards at my Etsy Shop. Those are generic versions (no event, occasion or ties to holidays) and can be used for any time you want to sent that beloved someone a greeting - be it to greet them the best birthday ever or to just say you miss them so much! 

Gangnam Style!

When gangnam style exploded in the world, it really exploded because it reached me under my special corner under my special rock. But, I did resist to look it up until my imp of a nephew kept laughing while we were chatting because he was watching gangnam style videos.

Less than a week later, good friend Ena, makes us watch the actual MTV made by Psy, that new celeb wonder, weird elevator scene and all.

And just a few days later, calls Chat who made all her colleagues dance to the Gangnam style and wanted an MTV of their work/fun times in the office to celebrate their fifth anniversary.

Now, my ears are bleeding gangnam style. Been listening to the music for the last two days, staring at people dancing gangnam style, and nodding to the beat of gangnam style, so don't be surprised if I suddenly stand up and do the horse dance ... coz... I'm a ... sexy leydeeeee!

Darth Vader

Wow! Darth Vader has been really giving me a hard time. I thought today would be dedicated to painting that custom ordered Star Wars set - but instead, I decided to start my day creating a new Darth V so that he looks more in scale with the rest of the group. Well he does look like he's part of the group of course, but I just want him to blend better.

For some reason, the arms were not working with me... had to redo it several times, and when I finally called it quits, the arm with the light saber had the temerity to one up me by falling miserably down - the arm was torn from the body (if it had sockets, I'd say the arm was torn off from the sockets!) and the light saber looked like it received a good beating. My arm connecting skills today were just off.

So, I left home for a break. Went to a teen bopper break (Happy birthday Tetel!) at the Dubai Festival City Planetarium - short movie about astronauts and a pizza dinner with the rest of the party. I was looking forward to the movie because the last planetarium I visited in Singapore was simply amazing! The 3D effect seemed to engulf us.

Sadly, that's not the case here. It was not a real planetarium to begin with - they had a dome-shaped screen at the ceiling inside a huge corner facility of the mall beside Dino Live show. The Dino Live Show was making a lot of dino sounds that were a bit distracting, the place was not properly dimmed and the projectors did not seem to be all in sync so you get fuzzy outlines on the images.

The fun thing though were the bean bags. The floor beneath the dome were littered with bright orange bean bags, and as soon as we saw them, we zoomed straight to the middle and made ourselves comfortable.

I know astronauts do amazing stuff and all these space research has done so much for technology and our lives - but man, knowing that being an astronaut can give you bone density loss, muscle loss, three-day motion sickness and put you at risk of radiation, that mean, horrible vacuum, extreme cold and  other hazards - you have to wonder who would be sane enough to dream of becoming astronauts (yes the glory! the glory! the science! but the danger, the inhospitable environment, the health hazards!).

That said, it was an over all fun night.

Also dropped by Hard Rock Cafe to check in on a friend's event  before heading home.

Now, I'm waiting for the oven timer to go off and tell me that my latest Darth V is a huge success!

I also started a personal project - a chess set. I don't know how to play chess but since I first saw themed designed chess pieces I've been in love. Star Wars, LOTR, and Philippine-inspired pieces are some of my faves. Last time we were in Cyprus, we bought a Greek gods set for my husband's son. Made in Greece (ha! I love that! The stuff we bought from there were either Made in Greece or Made in Cyprus - none of that Made in China stuff).

For my set, I've decided to go with a Star Wars theme. The number is a bit daunting but I'll work on it one piece at a time.

There's the timer... gotta get my Darth V out now.