Valentines Day shop update

My small archival quality run of my fruit and vegetable charts are now available in my shop. At 50x70cm, they are considerably larger than my usual A3/A4 prints. But they'll look lovely framed up as a wall centrepiece.

A smaller A3 sized version of these prints are also available upon request. Likewise, they'll be of archival quality but priced at $75 ( Free shipping ). Much more affordable. They are of a limited edition of 20. So feel free to contact me at dawntanwenyi@gmail.com if interested. Thank you!

Top Photo by Daniel Ng! Thanks so much Daniel and Fiona for taking the photo and sending it to me! I really do appreciate it : )

Dubai

One-day stopover, post Turkey holiday. It was lots of fun while it lasted!
PS: Thank you so super much for all the lovely comments about my new haircut!

Haircut

Thanks to all of you for your lovely advice, tweets, Facebook messages about my hair. I went for it! I snipped my hair off! A whole 5 to 6 inches! A whole year of growing it out. I must admit, I chickened out and went in with a reference picture. I requested for shoulder length hair, so I could still tie it up whenever. But alas, after lots of trashy hollywood gossip magazines, I put on my specs and Tah-dah! I got a shock. Haha. I don't hate my new cut, I just wasn't prepared for this length. Not at all! I ended up walking around the shopping mall post-hair cut and mumbling to myself and possibly pouting. I walked past countless girls and EVERYONE had nice long tie-able hair. And all I could think of was "I miss my long hair.. I miss my long hair.." Haha. Thank goodness for friends who reassured me and commented that my new cut was really nice and that it suited my face more. So yup, I'm growing to like it a bit more. I don't know. I don't hate this cut, just not used to it I guess! I think if I actually asked for a shorter cut, I would be mighty pleased with this! Haha. What do you think? Prefer me in long or short hair?

*I do apologise for the crappy iphone photo. It's so much easier though and way lighter to use for self portraits, as compared to my trusty but chunky SLR!

To cut it or not?

Alright! Totally non-travel, art related. But I am going for a haircut this Thursday. And I think I need some advice. For the past year, I've been trying to grow my hair out and have finally succeeded, though still not long enough to do a full proper braid or any of these fancy hairstyles. But yup, for once, I can actually tie my hair up! I've been having short hairstyles since I was 7! I even had a little 'fin' ala David Beckham style when I was 16! Obviously, it was the worst cut ever, plain crazy! I've had asymmetrical hairstyles, pixie-cuts, ugly boy cuts topped with so much wax,boring 'susan' style cuts, DIY bangs, and yep, the list is endless....

So last year after being so sick of having short haircuts for 18 years, I decided to grow it out. The problem is, I have one of the thickest hair ever, it's amazing. I always joke how if the world ever runs out of paintbrushes, I could probably get some made from my hair. I have such thick hair, every time I get a haircut, I get charged double the price. And sometimes when I dye my hair at home, a box isn't enough. I have to use 2! ( And that's when I have short hair! ) The past year, my hair has started to become SO heavy and thick and bushy, it's not fun anymore. I've often dreamed of having beautiful long hair, like those ladies you see on Satorialist. But I have such a squarish/round face, everyone tells me I look so much older with my long hair. Sigh! And truth be told, I miss having my short hair quite a bit.

So I'm thinking, perhaps I should just go for it. Chop it off! I don't know why, but I'm nervous and totally chickening out! Perhaps I've grown used to having long hair? I think it's a love, hate relationship. I totally need guts like Ilona Royce! Ah! What should I do?! To go short or not? I'm thinking maybe an inch or 2 just below the ears? With a side parted fringe? Hmmm.

Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

Just a few of my favourites from the Grand Bazaar. I decided too much colour on a single page would make anyone go nuts. I think it takes away the joy of looking at things, when there's too much going on. So yup! Here's my favourites all on a page. As you can tell, I couldn't just pick one!

I bought 2 cushions from the Grand Bazaar. See the third picture up above? I walked past the shop and it was LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT! I exclaimed ' Oh my god! ' ( Bimbo I know! ) and went bonkers! But the guy tried selling it to me at a really ridiculous price. I think it was like 45 USD for one? So we ended up leaving it as that. I then spent the next hour walking around the whole Grand Bazaar, hoping to find another stall selling the same cushion. Long story short, I ended up returning to the shop and getting 2 round versions of the cushion! But of course, not after lots of bargaining. We got it at about 55 for two, along with inserts and all. I figured, it's handmade, and coming all the way to Turkey, it's only once in a lifetime right? Hehe. I bought a white and a navvy/black one. I think they'll look really really nice along with a mustard coloured velvet cushion!

Happy Australia Day!

Enjoy your day out in the sun with lots of beers and sausages!

Out and about in Istanbul

Throughout our entire Turkey holiday, I found Istanbul to be the most exciting place of all. Perhaps cause it's the city and I'm quite a city-girl. I found the colours, smells, crowds and signboards to be pretty fascinating. I totally hated the traffic though! Oh... We were stuck in jams and there were just cars and buses and motorcyclists all around! Everywhere! Super polluted as well. But I tell you, the colours and patterns I found in the city totally made up for it! I took so many photos while at the Grand Bazaar! I wanted to share it all here in one big post, but nope, they won't fit! So next post it shall be! If you think these pictures are colourful, wait till you see those I took at the Grand Bazaar. Just re-looking at them makes me want to go straight back to Turkey!

Happy Chinese New Year!

It's the festive season here in Singapore and I'll be away celebrating with lots of good food and laughter with my family and friends. Chinese New Year is all about family and good food! Pineapple tarts and love letters. Oh my oh my! I won't be around much on my lap top but will be posting pictures up on instagram. So follow me if you're curious to see what yummy food I get my hands on! My username is handmadelove. I'll be back here, towards the end of the week! ( That's if I don't end up in a food coma! ) See you around! And if you do celebrate Chinese New year, have fun with all your loved ones and eat lots! Lots! Lots!!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Blue Mosque

Hooray! After weeks of working and stressing out like crazy, not sleeping proper and eating while working, I am finally DONE with my work! Oh my goodness. I thought this day wasn't going to come. Haha. So I'm back to blogging. Sorry for being away!

I still have so many pictures from my Turkey trip, so just thought I'd keep sharing them with you... All the stories, and sights. I wish I could somehow magically upload the smells too! But nope, I think technology ain't that advanced yet. One day I think, it'll happen. Somehow! These pictures here were all taken in Istanbul. At the beautiful Blue Mosque. In Istanbul, if you ask the Turks where the Blue Mosque is, they honestly won't have a clue. They know the mosque as Sultan Ahmed Mosque. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque amongst Tourists because of it's blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior. Those tiles were so pretty. I wanted to just lie on the floor and spend a day staring up at the ceiling. So dreamy! I cannot for the life of me figure out how they hand painted everything. I wonder what sort of paint they used. It's pretty great paint if you ask me! The colours are still there after so long!

Buried knee-deep in work!

Just popping in to say I'm still here, still alive! Just buried knee-deep, or maybe even chin-deep in work!! I'll be back as soon as all this work clears up! Ah. Still on my holidays. But I'm working away everyday. Starting work at 7.30am and finishing at sometimes 10..11pm! I'm going to work as hard as I can today till noon and then go hang out with a friend in town. I need a break! I'm going to have fun relaxing, we're watching a movie and having lots of popcorn! I'm so looking forward to it!

Cave home House Tour!

One of my personal highlights throughout my Turkey holiday was when I visited this elderly couple's cave home! I'm all for beautiful homes in unexpected places. I've often dreamt of living up in a tree, or in a hut by the beach. Or maybe even in a cosy house made out of logs, right in the middle of a lush forest. Anyway, who would have thought one could live in a cave?! I never ever thought that's even remotely possible. I mean I know we've got our cavemen ancestors from long dinosaur years ago. They did live in caves after all. But knowing someone living in a cave in today's modern world?! That really sounded impossible. So here I am today, sharing with all of you the cute unit 18! ( Yes they have a unit number! )

Belonging to one of Kapadokya's/the world's last still-in use cave home! Not sure when, but pretty sure it was decades ago, the Turkish government came up with a ban stating that these caves were not safe for living in and that everyone had to move out. But of course a few elderly couples disregarded the law and till today, still live in these cave homes! Most of these still-lived in cave homes are now modernised. The one we visited even had PVC windowsills and toilets. They lead pretty normal lives, they have cable tv and a great stove, just no wifi! Hah.


Kitchen details. I especially love their fridge! SF! Who would've thought! The elderly couple have been living in this cave home for almost all their life. The husband carved it from scratch a long time ago and they've been living here together as a couple all their married life. They've got kids who are now adults and  they live and work in the larger cities like Istanbul and Ankara.


My favourite room was their bedroom! 10 times better than any of the hotels we stayed at! So bright and airy. With lots of plants! And yes, they've also got a panoramic view to boot! It looks tiny but it's actually pretty decent-sized and big enough for a couple!

Amazing bedroom view. Sorry my iphone picture does it no justice at all! Note the modern PVC window. Haha. Cute! And also a picture of their very cute cave window sill! I didn't take any photos of their toilet. Didn't want to invade that much of their privacy. But just imagine a modernised PVC toilet with proper plumbing system and all. How did they manage to do it and link it all up in a cave? Who knows!


Interesting knick knacks in their home. I don't know the story behind the tortoises, but I found them cute! Maybe they were bored and the husband decided to draw some tortoises so thew wife could colour them in? Husband and wife activity maybe? Hmmm.

Some iPhone photos which I took to post on Instagram! Seen here is the couple's living room. It can seat up to 30 and more. I think it can fit 40! That's if some of us sit on their carpet. Considering there were 28 of us! I'm pretty sure we could fit 10 more!


Our local guide chatting with the wife of the house. DIY broomstick, handmade chair rug, super lovely hand knitted socks - made by the wife of course! She spends her time hand knitting, weaving and cross stitching little bits to place at local shops. Her skills are pretty amazing. We don't understand each other but we both ended up 'talking' about knitting! She could tell from a distance my scarf was machine-made! Haha. And you should see the ribbons and trims you made. I forgot to take a photo!

I was so excited when I was at this cute couple's home. Unfortunately, due to language barriers and my sheer state of excitement trying to take it all in, I forgot to remember their names. Oops!See how tiny they are! My sister and I looked like giants standing next to them. Thank you so much cute couple for opening up your home and wanting to make 30 cups of Turkish tea!