So I hope your Christmas was magic and blessed with family, friends, love…and good food! On Christmas Eve, Rich and I had a quiet dinner together. We put all our presents under the tree and bought a bottle of wine to celebrate. I think with the excitement of having our first tree this year, we may have got a bit carried away with the presents. Although half of the presents under the tree are for his family too:)

In the evening I prepared steamboat for dinner, we had slices of meat, vegetables, tofu and noodles to simmer and cook in our hot pot broth.

We ate so much! After dinner, we sat by our tree and gave presents to each other. Rich spoiled me with so many gifts! I will have to do a separate blog post on it because it’s just so awesome.

On Christmas Day we went down to his family’s place and we had more food and presents! I’m always amazed at how much effort people put into Christmas over here. Growing up in Asia, Christmas is just like an extra public holiday. It isn’t as festive and merry (although we do decorate the streets with tinsels and lights and occasionally put up the Christmas tree). More often we just have a quiet family dinner and maybe attend Christmas Mass at the local church. We never gave out Christmas presents at home, it just wasn’t a tradition at my house. But I can see how excited people get over here at Christmas time, especially Richard and the boys. I guess to him this is like his family tradition and he’s grown up celebrating Christmas in a loud and merry affair. The wonderful thing about this occasion is that there’s a lot of giving and sharing…and a lot of family and friendship bonding.

Ok, I’m sure by now you’re just itching to see some of the wonderful gifts I got this Christmas

A duck teapot from my sweetest friend Niina. She also gave me a gorgeous vintage casserole dish with a warmer stand (I will share that in my next post).

A gnome painter kit and cutest planter from my lovely friend Allana. Some gnome picture books from Richard.

Another gnome from my father-in-law and a new chili plant. My vegetable corner garden is coming along quite nicely this Summer.

He also gave me a new planter with some tomato plants!

Everything is just so awesome and everyone knows me so well! I always get excited when I receive gardening or kitchen gifts! Thank you so much for celebrating Christmas with me this year!

I really love this time of the year because I get to wrap up pretty presents and indulge in lots of papery goodness! I like collecting paper and usually buy one or two to add to my stash. This year I decided to stick with my DIY theme and make my own wrapping paper.

For my Christmas wrapping project I used a roll of brown paper, a white marker pen (my favourite new pen), twine, doilies, assorted papers and stickers.

It’s pretty obvious I have a special fondness for gnomes so I couldn’t resist drawing some smiley gnomes this year! They don’t look too bad (I think)! Happy wrapping everyone! My illustrated gift tags and stickers are available on my online shop.

I decided that this year I really wanted a tree! We’ve never had one before as a couple…and we always assumed that every Christmas we’ll spend it at our parents place (they have their own tree). But I didn’t want a fake tree…and I didn’t want to chop a tree down either…so what were my other options? A friend suggested the old tree branch idea and I was sold!

The very next day I went hunting for my dead branch and found a huge pile of chopped up branches on the verge. I’m sure people who saw me scavenging around the wood pile must have thought I was a loony!

I also picked up some pinecones and gum nuts and sprayed them all white with a $2 spray can from Bunnings.

For my tree ornaments, I hung up some baby pinecones with bakers twine. The rest of the ornaments are vintage treasures or gifts given to me.

I found a red flower pot in my father-in-law’s shed and filled it up with sand. Then I decorated the pot with more pinecones, gum nuts and tinsels.

So there you have it…my first ever DIY Christmas tree! What do you think? Hehe

In the beginning of the month we had our first day of summer. It was crazily hot.

I took a detour to the garden aisle at our local shop…

And came back with a tub of purple creeping flowers for our balcony.

Aside from flowers, my gnome family seems to be growing. The latest member being Santa gnome, a gift from Richard’s aunt.

This week rich took the train and picked me up from work.

We met a mermaid…

And watched the sunset together…

And just the other day…while catching the train home a bear sat opposite me! I kid you not!

Last weekend, we went on a South West trip to film a documentary for the Shire of Kulin. Kulin is a small town situated in the Upper Southern whealtbelt area of Western Australia. It took us 4 hours to get there and it was quite a picturesque drive with rolling hills, open farmlands, cattles, sheeps and horses throughout. I even spotted some alpacas!

While Richard was filming, I wandered around taking a few snapshots. I think the pictures kind of sum up the classic Australian farming lifestyle!

I’m looking forward to returning to the town next month. We’ll be filming Kulin’s famous Tin Horse Highway so I’ll post more pictures then. I hope you are all well! xox

I also spent a few hours cutting up price tags from old card stock for my Little Mo jewellery…only to realise that I could have bought ready made tags at Officeworks!

I think I’m satisfied with my overall packaging, it looks minimal and natural like how I want it to be. But maybe you can let me know your feedback, do you think it works with my art?

I find that it can be a challenge trying to run my business as environmentally friendly as possible. Whilst I’m passionate about the cause, I’m also limited to the choice of materials that I can use for my stationery and gift range. Usually I have to think twice before introducing a new product in my shop. I have to find the right materials to use, preferably sustainable and recycled. When it comes to packaging, I also have to avoid fancy packaging, plastics and extra paper materials.

In saying that, this has led me to hoarding a nice collection of stamps! They’ve proven to be my best friends for all my eco packaging needs, particularly my Little Mo shop orders. Some of these stamps were bought at flea markets, holidays trips or given to me by lovely friends from snail mail packages. I love each and every stamp!

Germany was our first stop in Europe. My mum and step dad lives in Stuttgart, in the state of Baden-Württemberg so we spent most of our time touring the Southwest of the country before making our way up north. Southwest Germany is beautiful for its mountain landscapes, lush Black Forest and half-timbered towns. The region is also famous for its cuckoo clocks and needless to say, we wasted no time in purchasing one for our house:) I’ll share pictures in my next post.

Rich found that the longer he stayed in Germany, the more he grew to love the sights and its people. We agreed that Germans are hands down one of the funniest and friendliest people!

Since we were always on the go, we would start our day with a freshly baked pretzel from the bakery. I like the pumpkin seed ones the best.

One of our holiday highlights was a road trip down to Bavaria with some friends. The sight of the Bavarian alps were just incredible!

Now, being in a country where it’s famously known as the ‘Country of castles’ (there is around 25,000 castles in Germany) you could say we were spoiled with choices. Hence our trip to Bavaria because there was only one castle that we REALLY had to visit; the Neuschwanstein Castle.

Built in the 18th century by King Ludwig II, Neuschwanstein Castle is also known as the “Fairy Tale Castle” and is said to have inspired several Walt Disney castles. The castle was breathtakingly beautiful and to see it up close and walk through the rooms that Kind Ludwig II visioned himself, was an unforgettable experience!

On one of our day trips out of Stuttgart, we visited a university town called, Tübingen. The Neckar river runs through the old town which makes this scene look postcard perfect! We strolled along the river and park, before venturing into the medieval town centre. We bought fresh raspberries from the marketplace and for most of the afternoon I had sticky red fingers.

In Esslingen which is just on the outskirts of Stuttgart, we hiked up the steep cobbled hill to check out the town’s castle. Once up at the lookout tower, we were treated to an amazing panorama of the village and the vineyard. Walking down the cobbled road later proved to be a challenge itself!

Aside from castles and alps, Germany is also famous for its wide range of beer, sausages and currywurst (hot pork sausage seasoned with curry ketchup). The serving size in this country is ridiculously huge and most of the time I was contented with eating one meal a day!

Next stop Berlin…in my next post!

I was a bit nervous when I collected my film because I’ve heard of horror stories from other lomo photographers about their first roll being a total disaster! But wow, I was pleasantly surprised to find how much I loved my photos for all its quirks and imperfections. I was lucky that most of my photos turned out well (thanks to my film enthusiast husband).

The first few photos I took overlapped or overexposed too much because I didn’t realise that I had to wind the counter all the way till it stopped, before taking my next shot. But some of the accidental exposed shots came out lovelier than I expected! The beauty of the Diana Mini is you can take endless multiple exposures, usually 2 or 3 is good enough. This one had 5 images overlapped! So do it at your own risk!

After I realised my mistake, I started winding the counter properly! Here are a few of my favourites.

Nothing beats a blue blue sky

On a good day during my lunch break, I like to take my packed lunch and sit out at the park or by the beach. I think this is the best view to look at when I eat my sandwich!

My first long exposure shot with the train and cars passing by. All I remember is shouting “one alligator…two alligator” while holding the shutter open.

With me that night was a very hungry and cold husband who modeled in for me while I played with my camera!

Last weekend we celebrated my birthday early and I requested a massively candle-lit cake

Niina brought back a suitcase full of toys from her recent Hong Kong trip

It was a great night!

Film stock used: Fujicolour Superia 200

I took out Olivier’s moleskin and worked on my last contribution for his book. I painted a blustery scene amidst the blue sky since we’ve been having some of those lately.

I used my new watercolour brush pen and watercolour kit. I think it’s one of the best things I ever purchased…besides my Diana mini and imac:)

Then I walked to the post office to mail off Olivier’s book.

And on the way home, Autumn wished me goodbye through the trees.

Here are some of my favourites:

- Use fresh herbs or flowers ideally cut from your own garden to fragrance your home than synthetic air fresherners. Indoor plants act as natural air conditioners and can remove up to 87% of indoor pollution in 24 hours.

- Wash your fruit and vegetable in a bowl rather than under a running tap. Re-use the bowl of water on your garden plants.

- Once a week have a candlelit dinner to save energy. Use vegetable-based candles.

- Grow mint in pots around windows. Mint is a natural insect repellent. Make a package of cloves, eucalyptus and peppermint to hang in kitchen cupboards and drawers as a deterrent.

- Every time you boil an egg, make sure you save the leftover for your house plants. The nutrients released from the shell of the eggs during cooking are particularly beneficial. Let water cool before using.

- Bake your own bread. Go back to a simpler time when bread was made of flour, salt, water and yeast. You will be able to avoid additives and preservatives found in shop-brought bread.

- Substitute pulses (legumes) for meat. Add them to stew, casseroles, soups and sauces. They are high in fibre, helps to lower blood cholesterol and is a good source of iron.

- Buy free-range, organically raised meat and poultry products. The animals will have been raised humanely and on untreated feeds, resulting in chemical-free food. You can also be assured that the soil from these farms is treated well, reducing the impact on wildlife habitats.

- Avoid products with “meat protein” in the ingredient list, it means you’re buying heavily processed food.

- Water is the best toner for your skin.

- Buy local and handmade.

- Plan a green picnic or a healthy and green holiday. Enjoy nature!