Valentines day contest

I want to do everything - paint, design, globe-trot, teach yoga, rescue animals, live on a beach, search for unicorns & mermaids, have my own business, dance like no one is watching, blog & inspire other ppl to find their passion and their bliss. Possible? hells yeah! Just have to learn how to take things one step at a time.

On a vision board, this is the life I am painting for myself. What about you, what do you want from this life???

Contest:

Option one:
Create your own vision board & give a short & sweet description of how u envision your life to be. Send it to my email (cindeeng@gmail.com) as well as tweet saying:

@misscindee my sweet life for you to see. I want to win #cindeecontest #giveaway http://bit.ly/xrFdXR

Option two: Send in by email (cindeeng@gmail.com) a photo of your Valentines Day outfit & tell me why "beauty" is important to you & tag me on twitter w ur photo using this:

@misscindee my Valentines outfit. I want to win #cindeecontest #giveaway http://bit.ly/xrFdXR

*pls also enter ur name & email in the comments section*

Deadline: Feb 26 2012
A winner will be randomly chosen Mar 01 2012

And of course.... the prize. The prize is a Professional Hair Straightener from Hana.




Is it the Best Flat Iron? My Review:

Pros: I like how lightweight this straightener is. Its perfect for traveling - you know me! =) It even comes with a nice black pouch for you to stow away in ur luggage or in ur slouchy purse to bring to ur gf's place as u get ready for a girls night out.
If you're the impatient type, like me you'll be happy to hear that it heats up pretty quickly.

Cons: It slides thru ur hair pretty easily. Im not sure if u'd consider that a good or bad thing but for me I kind of like it when it has a bit more grip. It gives off a bit of a smoky smell. It might go away after a few uses but I cant be sure.

Happy Valentines & Good Luck!

Happy Halloween. Here is my creation.
We stayed in tonight and carved pumpkins.
Our plan was to hand out candy but only one group of kids showed. How sad is that? lol*
What did you do for Halloween this year? I'd love to see your costumes.
Comment with a link =)

╔══╗
╚╗╔╝
╔╝(¯`v´¯)
╚══`. unicorns

Cake artist

One of the things that really excites me is when i meet very talented ppl. You can tell that the things they create and express are coming from their heart. So today I'd love to share with you a piece of sweetness that I think you'd very much enjoy as well.

When I say a piece of sweetness I meant it literally. This girl creates such delightful looking cakes and desserts that are as appealing to the eyes as they are appetizing to the tummy. But then, I always have a hard time eating things that look too lovely =P

See for yourself.

♥ Tell us a little about yourself, what is it that you do?
My name is Jeanie Lam, and I recently graduated from SAIT's Baking and
Pastry Arts Program. I specialize in wedding cakes and special occasion cakes (ex.
Baby Shower cakes, Birthday cakes, etc..).

♥ Where are you from & how did you get into this industry?
I was born and raised here in Calgary, Alberta.
I've always enjoyed baking and making pastries. Growing up, watching my
grandpa make moon cakes every year with different designs and different fillings
and the little 3D piglets. He was inspiring.
I also loved watching all the different challenges they would have on the
Food Network and awed at all the competitors. I wanted to be like the competitors
on those show, or even like Buddy from Cake Boss. They're so inspiring and creative.
My friends would always tell me to go to SAIT and take the baking and pastry arts
program, since I baked all the time for farewell parties or birthday parties. So I
applied, went thorugh the course interview and got in. Survived two years of studies
and hands-on work and now here I am just steps away from fulfilling my dream.

♥ What did you deam of becoming when you were a little girl?
Growing up I always wanted to become a pediatrician. I never even considered
becoming a baker or a pastry chef. Now when I think back to it all, I'm not even
sure why I had that desire dream of becoming a pediatrician. In junior high I had
that dream and even wrote that in the year book and on a piece of paper that went
into our time capsule. I guess we don't know what we really want to be until we
really grow up and think about what we really want to do with the rest of our lives.

♥ What inspires you when you are creating a piece of work?
When I receive a cake order, I ask the client who it's for and if they can tell me a
little bit about the person it's for. Whether they have a cake in mind or a picture
they would like to use as their template and we go from there. I give the client my
ideas and suggestions and draw up a cake with both of out ideas. I always try to
spice up the cake with my own designs and combine that with the persons characteristics
and personality.

♥ What services do you provide (custom, from catalog...etc)?
Most of the cakes that I've created are custom. Some of the others
are templates from catalogs with my own little twist.

♥ Use three words to describe your creations?
classy, moderate, and creative


♥ So if we are interested in ordering from you, how do we go about?
E-mail right now is the best way to contact me.
jeanie.lam@hotmail.com
send me an e-mail, with details about the order and when you
need the cake or desserts. Preferably two weeks before the event,
that will give both of us time to discuss the details of the cake.

The art of Bento Box

When you create, you share yourself with others

When I saw the shape of these loaves of bread, it got my creative juices flowing. I remember seeing some images floating around on the internet before of cute little bento boxes and pulled some inspiration from there.

This is what I came up with up...

This was my first time making it so I still have room for improvement. Its so fun to make esp when you are creating it for someone else. I made this for my sister and her hubby when they were going on a road trip to Fernie. They were delightfully surprised =)

So what is Bento Box art anyways?
In Japan, it is a trend for making cute lunch boxes for children. This form of art is also called "charaben" which means character bento. Instead of the plain paper bag or ziplog container that comes to mind when you think of a packed lunch, ur lunch is packed in bento boxes which contain different compartments for you to place your food. There are different techniques and even kitchen tools you can buy specifically for this. There's even molds to make your eggs heart shaped, star shaped...u name it(you can buy it on . I love japanese pop culture. They always have a way of making everything so cute and pretty.

How can you make your own?

You can start off with whatever containers you have at home. If you wanna dive in right away & invest in some bento boxes, there are so many cute ones you can buy online. Or if you have a DAISO (japanese $2 store. LOVE IT!!!) near you, u can search for one there. They also sell cute toothpicks, chopsticks, napkins....etc.

Some other things you'll need would be cookie cutters so you can cut shapes out of things like bread, cheese, veggies, fruits. Circle or face shaped hole punchers to make the eyes and faces out of Nori seaweed or you can just be like me and use sissors to do it. It takes too much time tho and as u can see in my photo, its not quite even. heh heh

Think of a theme or an idea you want to tie ur box around. "Under the sea", a heart theme, an animal...? Search the internet for examples. There are tons of photos out there. It usually containts 3 parts carbs, 1 part protein & 2 parts fruits, veggies and sometimes a small treat so keep that in mind when building your box.

When its time to pack ur boxes, make sure to fill it completely and tightly so everything will stay where it belongs. You dont want any room for your food to shift around after you close the lid.

So there you have it. I hope someday I can open up my lunch box and be surprised by a cute arrangement staring back at me °(• ᴥ •)° I would gobble it all up in a few seconds....of course after admiring it and take a few photos of it first. You know how asians are. We take pictures of everything - especially of food.

Creating a beautiful bedroom & the art of Damask, Cindee style

Hello hello lovelies. Today I am going to talk about creating a beautiful space for yourself. A place where you can daydream, relax and unwind from the day. I love being surrounded by beautiful things...things that inspire me and lift me up so I've always tried to include items, photos and colors into my space that have a positive affect on me. I've gone thru a lot of chapters in my life that have prevented me from fully creating an authentic space...whether it be not enough time or money but i've always managed to express that need regardless.

Like this one time i painted writing and pictures on the walls of my rented bachelor suite. Scrubbing it off when I moved out was such a pain but also a good memory to look back on and laugh at. lol* Right Rosa??

♥Here are a few photos of the rooms I've had ♥

This prob'ly looks like a little girl's room to you. But to tell you the truth I decorated this when I was 18. LOL*
It was the princess in me. I even had sparkles on the ceiling. It was a very magical space to be in especially when I lit up my candles.

This was when I first moved out to Vancouver on Richards St, downtown. I stubbornly insisted that I was to live in the heart of the city and even tho rent was pricey the experience was priceless. What a contrast to my previous room hey? I made myself some new satin sheets to go with the more "grown up" me.

This was the 2nd place I lived in Vancouver. I had to down grade. I was going to fashion school at the time and my place was always a mess bcos of the many projects I had on the go. Even tho this place wasn't my ideal place I made interesting memories. Like when the girls came to visit me in the summer, it felt like we were inside an oven. Couldnt open the balcony bcos there was a beehive sitting right outside.

Here's a post I wrote during this time: READ HERE

3rd apartment was by Joyce station. Pretty good location and a lot more SPACE!! I loved the view. I could watch the fireworks from my balcony.

And this is my room when I lived in Kits. How would I describe the style?
Well I was inspired by Hawaii. Had interesting patterns, exotic colors and brown furniture to ground it all.

And what does my room look like now?? I had more time to put effort into this one. If I could describe it in 3 words it would be: Modern, arabian, eclectic. I used a lot of dark colors esp grey. I damasked one wall to give it texture and interest to the eye and against the grey canvas I decided to add pops of color. It almost looks like a merging of my first two rooms. Sorry for the quality of the next photo. I had taken it on my phone.

♥How to Damask your wall♥

What you'll need:

*stencil paper
*a pad to put underneath to cut the pattern
*felt tip pen
*exacto knife
*paint
*sponges

-I bought some stencil paper from the craft store and searched online for a pattern that I liked.
-I traced it with a felt tip pen and cut it out with an exacto knife. A bit time consuming.
-It's probly a lot easier if you find one instead of making one.

-I had to stencil my wall one pattern at a time. Not the most efficient way to go about it but I couldn't find a damask stencil in calgary and I was too impatient to order one online
-You can create a lot of diff looks with damask....different colors, different textures like gold or silver. Its really up to you what you like. For me I used glossy black paint
-So when you have your paint picked out you can start by taping the stencil to your wall. Then dip your sponge in the paint and dab at the stencil.
-You'll discover your own technique as you go along. But make sure to keep the stencil pressed up against the wall
-The first few that I did looked messy bcos I picked up too much paint on my sponge so add a little bit at a time

-Here's my progress. Dont ask me how I got them all level. I had no strategy. I just eyeballed it. I dont think I'd want to ever do this again unless I was paid a ridiculous high amount of money lol*
-If you were to do this right, I think the best way would be to use a measuring stick and drawn lines to act as guides on where to place your stencil

All done - after a few days. I think it was definitely worth it. Now for the fun part...putting everything together.

♥It's all about the details...♥

This is my prince charming frog where I keep my rings. You can open him up.

My jewlery drawer

And my lantern to go along with the arabian theme

Memory... is the diary that we all carry about with us. ~Oscar Wilde

I've had this habit of buying calenders every year and filling them up. Im so glad I did because there are a lot of things I wouldn't have remembered. I already have trouble recalling what I did 2 weeks ago never mind what i did 2 yrs ago. This is a great way of keeping record and I want to share it with you guys in hopes that you will start doing so as well (if you don't already).

On each day I also write how Im feeling so its easy to keep track of my moods and my mood patterns. I notice my energy changes during the month and how they relate to the moon cycles as well. When you record these things down it gives you a chance to notice your patterns and energy levels so you can better work with it, not against it. For example, I know that I get irritable and have a hot temper 2 weeks before my period. So instead of doing reflective & inner work at this time and making myself even more frustrated I divert the excess energy into strenuous activity like cycling, or taking a aerobics class. I realized that I can also use this dynamic energy to work & burn thru difficult challenges.

Another great thing about keeping track and recording what I do each day is that if you ever need a specific date you can just go back and check. Say you're going thru your photos and forget what day it was taken. No problem. Or if you want to remember what day you met a specific person or when you and your man had your first date.

These are some of the calenders that I have gone thru in the past few yrs. The first one I started was in 2002. This is the perfect time to start especially since there are mad deals on calenders now. I just got mine for 2011. 75% off! Let me know how this works out for you =)

The solitary candle cast a warm glow as it sat in the middle of the cake. The flame flickered and danced in her eyes - full of promise and fulfillment once it was blown out. She formed a wish in her mind. She felt it in her heart. Smiled and with one gentle blow the flame vanished & in its place, smoke swirled. Her wish was sent into the Universe. This will be the year. Happy Birthday to all my fellow Sagittarians.

♥ My B*day last year ♥

I didnt get a chance to post up my b*day pics from last year so here it is. I wanted to do a posh little soiree with my girlfriends. Jenni did an amazing job planning and putting it all together. I love theme parties =)

♥ My B*day this year ♥

I didnt do a crazy celebration. It was a pretty tamed night. I decided to do an Arabian theme so we went to a shisha bar. Have you guys ever been before? Its quite fun but I dont think I'll be going again anytime soon. I found out that its horrible for your health.
Even worse than smoking a cigarette.

photo credit {eaglella}

♥ What was one of the most special gifts u've gotten on ur birthday? ♥