The Creative Minds Series: Listen (+ Freebie)

Last June, a blogger from France, Elsa, from Totally Elsa, came forward and wanted to collaborate on a project together. Totally Elsa is a place where Elsa shares her very delicate and detailed nail art as well as some of her pretty impressive drawings and portraits. She was unsure of what exactly we should work on, but proposed that since both of us had a common interest of art and creative things, we could create an art piece that featured her illustration and my lettering.

The downloadable wallpaper for this July is something that both of us had created together, with Elsa's intricate and delicate illustration of a beautiful crown and jewels, coupled with my lettering. I also decided to try out something new, and created my own gold foil to use with the crown that Elsa had illustrated.

The late Princess Diana had mentioned this beautiful quote worth a reminder to all. She would have turned 54 recently on 1 July, and will be remembered for being kind and down-to-earth, and indisputably, an inspiration to many.

Version 1 // Black Background Phone (Android/iPhone) 1080 x 1920 Laptop 2880 x 1800 Desktop 2560 x 1600 / 1280 x 1024

Version 2 // White Background Phone (Android/iPhone) 1080 x 1920 Laptop 2880 x 1800 Desktop 2560 x 1600 / 1280 x 1024

From this collaboration initiated by Elsa, I also decided to introduce a new collection/post series called 'The Creative Minds Series'. After the introduction of the Loopy Doodles, it seemed appropriate to also include another series in this little getaway to go on wilder creative adventures. The series will be a type of collaboration where it will feature the wonderful work from the contributor, and where the contributor and myself will create an artwork or a piece together. :)

I'm very grateful for Elsa for her initiative to start this collaboration that sparked the idea of this series. It was very kind of her and she didn't mind if this idea was used with others. She was very accepting, open-minded and happy that she gave the idea of the series as well, so I'm very much appreciative of her support. :) It was wonderful working with Elsa, she had great ideas and it was such an amazing experience to be able to work with someone from across the globe once again.

Finally, we often listen to the voice of reality of our heads, rather than listening to our hearts that harbour the growing list of dreams we constantly wish for. Let's remember that choices lead to destiny as well. We have the ability to cross off those items on our bucket list and find solace in even the smallest of things, if we just keep a close ear and listen to the whispers of our hearts.

Until next time ♥ 

Illustration by Elsa, lettering by me. Wallpapers created by Elsa from Totally Elsa and Dian from The Happy Candle. For personal use only. Not for sale or distribution. If shared, please link back to original post.

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+ The Creative Minds Series is a collaborative collection where a contributor and myself will create an artwork or a piece together, featuring the original works from contributor about art or any other form of design, including photography, and anything creative. 

Corridor (+ IBR)

There's the familiar savoury aroma of curry from the neighbour a few floors downstairs, the indistinct tune of Hokkien karaoke music from the elderly couple across the building, the colourful blinking lights on the window pane of the family in the apartment opposite to celebrate the upcoming Eid - a variety of cultures that ignite senses.

People are moving in and out of their homes either to dry the laundry, buy their groceries or water their plants in their 'gardens'. The serenity doesn't get any more flawless than hearing children's laughter from the playground downstairs. It's a typical weekend in the heartlands of this island city-state.

Since we're a relatively tiny island/city with about 6 million people, we have high population density (as most cities do). This means we have a large number of people living in a particular area. As a result, most of us live in apartment buildings and high rise flats with no backyards.

Corridors are the common spaces that we have - spaces where we see our neighbours and their homes (about five to ten metres away from our very own front door), where children ride on bicycles from one end to the other, and even where people start their own little 'garden' at its sides. Most of these 'gardens' are healthy but they clearly weren't large - usually they were five potted plants lined along the concrete floor against the low walls of the corridor to reach over for sunlight. It seemed to enjoy the sunlight from the highest storeys in the building.

You must think that the corridor seems awfully narrow, but there's indeed a wide area for people to walk and reach the lift lobby from their apartment. Nonetheless, what perhaps is the most important aspect of this common corridor is its role to bring a particular entity together - the people.

It is certainly a different atmosphere in other parts of the world, but what remains most similar is the community that lives in neighbourhoods. There's no doubt that neighbours can come in various forms. Some are reeked in envy, others are as polished as gold. Yet it's important to realise that though there are some who might be putting us off a little, we stay courteous and considerate.

Wherever we are in the world, despite any troubles we might experience, there is indeed a little 'corridor' in each neighbourhood - something that brings people together, something that allows them to live with comfort in the knowledge that there are people who care. It doesn't have to be a place or a tangible item. We can be that little 'corridor' ourselves - the person who just remains as kind and courteous to everyone and makes that little first step towards building relationships regardless of how difficult or awkward they might start off.

Neighbours are people we need, let's aspire to be good ones, for if we love our neighbours as ourselves, we gain nothing more than home sweet home.

Until next time ♥

Lettering and photo by me

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+ The notebook with the beautiful watercolour print featured in the photograph is created by Nancy Tichborne, a talented watercolour artist from New Zealand. I bought the notebook a couple of years back at a local stationary shop, and it is part of the Nancy Floral Series Journal. 

+ This post was also written for the linkup 'Inspired By Random' (IBR), hosted by Fatima from That Delete Button. The linkup includes a writing a post based on a random book title chosen without it being related to the book. 

+ 'Corridor' is the title of a book written by a local Singaporean author Alfian Sa'at, and I picked out the book at random from my to-read list. I've always wanted to read his books because of all the positive reviews I've heard about them, but needless to say, I never took the chance. Here's me taking that opportunity - I'm making it a point to read the random book I've chosen for the linkup after this post. :)

You can also find me on Goodreads.

Completed Project: A Little Yarn Blossom

When I first started off this journey, it was never my intention to offer any design 'services'. The main reason to it was that the thought of disappointing others or not living up to their expectations was frightening. I didn't think I was capable of coming up with something that people liked, and didn't believe in myself. Then, during the project back in February, I realised that it wasn't very much of a service at all - it was a collaboration - we help and learn from one another. I loved working with people because sharing ideas would lead to learning, which is one of my favourite things to do. 

In May, Bryleigh from A Little Yarn Blossom approached me after she saw the project I worked on with Sophie from Sophie Smith, and I was excited to help her out. This would be my third time working with someone and it was going to be another adventure. :) A Little Yarn Blossom is a knit and crochet lifestyle blog, and one of the topics on the blog includes life learning where Bryleigh shares her experiences and lessons she's learnt from them. There are also honest book and music reviews, and if you're a Panic! At The Disco fan, you can give Bryleigh a hi-five. :) Ultimately, I admired Bryleigh's passion for her hobby.  She has a knit and crochet shop called Yarn Blossom, offering various services and products including iPhone and iPad cases. This was a unique hobby and was perhaps the niche of the blog that made the project interesting to work on. :)

It was a pretty fruitful collaboration, with brainstorming and exchange of ideas. We explored an indigo/midnight blue and goldish yellow palette, as well as other options that Bryleigh also liked, including blush pink and black. Finally, we narrowed down the colour palette and worked from there. The indigo/midnight blue and goldish yellow palette was interesting to work with because they were contrasting trinary colours and complementary. Here's a moodboard with some images and colours that inspired the project. 

(Clockwise from top-left) Eva J Art Print / Jotun St Paul's Blue Paint / Watercolour Flower + Lettering by myself / Ginkgo Fabric Print / Calico Wallpapers Gold Foil 

The word 'blossom' in the header was special, especially because 'blossoms' was also the name given to Bryleigh's readers, so the element of a watercolour flower was added to give it a personal and inclusive touch. Here's just some of the headers that were explored during the process, along with some submark options. 

Since A Little Yarn Blossom was based on Bryleigh's interest of knit and crochet, we decided to use this to add a more unique feel to the header variations, including the thread-like flourish. I also added some of my hand-drawn watercolour graphics of sewing and knitting in the design elements to give more character to the design. It was created with watercolour to give a made-from-scratch feel, just like her hobby.

(Inspiration: From left) Ginkgo Fabric Print / Jotun St Paul's Blue Paint / Calico Wallpapers Gold Foil / Eva J Art Print 

As mentioned in the previous project, I'm no professional, just a self-taught young adult keen to learn more. This is just a hobby I enjoy and love doing, it was completely non-profit, and I'd love to hear suggestions and make improvements about anything. It's an interest that I'm exploring everyday and I'm still learning. Bryleigh was very open to ideas, easy-going and enthusiastic, it was enjoyable working with her. It couldn't have been possible with her feedback and ideas as well, so it made the collaboration a very pleasant one. :)

I was almost fully booked with projects for the month of May, and I've been extremely busy. There's so much more to come such that there's a limited space left for collaboration opportunities in June. It's been a hectic month, which is possibly a good thing. I'd like to thank everyone, readers, for their continuous support and I am ever so grateful for every single one. This has been such an incredible journey and I can never be thankful enough for it.

Until next time ♥

Lettering + Design elements by me, Photos as stated in links

Check out the project I worked on with Sophie from Sophie Smith here. 

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On another note, if you're following me on Instagram, you might have learnt about the devastating news I shared that occurred last week. To give a little insight, here's a link to a photograph from one of the news reports, and you may read more details and updates about it on other reports about the tragedy. Innocent, promising lives have been lost, and the country is shaken and mourning. May the souls of those who perished rest in peace.