My life | michele ng | fashion . beauty . craft . lifestyle

Best shoot ever

On May 19, 2013 In My life, Wedding Permanent Link to Best shoot ever

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Although I’ve been involved in many photo shoots, yesterday’s pre-wedding photo shoot with my fiance was one of the best shoots ever.

We explored new areas in Singapore that we’d never been to but only saw in photos, had a rare full Saturday spent together, and had lots of fun and laughter.

pre wedding photoshoot location

The shoot also made me realize I have been blessed with a wonderful husband-to-be, who comes with superhuman strength, the ability to juggle balls, triple-curl his tongue, and flick insects away from me. (This photo was a sneak taken with my trust iPhone camera… Hang on for the actual shots once they’re ready to know what I’m talking about!)

But in all seriousness, I’m thankful for someone to share all my life experiences with, a constant encourager, and someone who embodies so much positive energy to the point of turning my grumpiness into laughter.

Happy weekend everyone, and I hope you get some time to spend a great day with your loved ones :)

Clay ring plates

On May 3, 2013 In Craft, My life, Wedding Permanent Link to Clay ring plates

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We’re pretty much three months away from our wedding and things seem relatively calm for now. Or so we’d like to think :)

This past weekend, I managed to squeeze some time to make something for the wedding – a clay ring plate. I liked the idea of a plate as we’d be able to use it in our new home instead of tossing it aside after the wedding.

make a clay ring plate | micheleng.com

This was my first attempt which is far from perfect. But the imperfection slowly grew on me… Somewhat organic and beautiful in an unpolished way. :)

How to make this:

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Shoes of prey

On April 27, 2013 In Fashion, My life, Wedding Permanent Link to Shoes of prey

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Over the years, I’ve developed a love hate relationship with my feet. They are both tiny and wide, which means shopping for shoes at regular shops usually leaves me sad and disappointed.

My feet usually fit into a UK2 or 3/ EU 34/ US 4 or so, but shoes in shops often come stocked from a UK 4/ EU 35/ US 5 onwards. Padding sometimes works, but most of the time they leave my feet feeling very uncomfortable due to the poor fit. In Singapore, there are only a handful of shoe shops that may occasionally have my size but most of the time they don’t have it in the designs I like.

But over the years, I’ve learnt to see it as a blessing in disguise. To be honest, if I were an average shoe size, I don’t know how I’d find the self control to limit the number of shoes I own!

For our upcoming wedding, I decided it’s time to hunt for a pair of heels that actually fit nicely. With no chance of me falling out of them, padding and all.

shoes of prey beige leather heels

And that’s when I discovered Shoes of Prey. Here, you get to design your own shoes online with a rotating 3D view. You get to decide the material, color, trim and heel height on your shoes! And best of all, you can specify your shoe size and wide or narrow fit upon checkout.

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Stand-in engagement rings

On March 26, 2013 In My life, Wedding Permanent Link to Stand-in engagement rings

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It’s been a pretty hectic month and I apologize for being so absent! Trying to launch a camera handbag business, planning a wedding, finding a new home (and now learning about renovation) has certainly made life a little… different, for lack of a better word.

But one thing that has been following me around on occasion is my stand-in engagement ring. What’s that again? There’s probably a better term for it but that’s what I’ve been calling it for now :)

This is the one I decided on from LulisPlace on Etsy:

I love how it’s a different type of knot in a simple but classic type of way. It was the only one I couldn’t stop thinking about after searching through countless product pages!

Lulu, the shop owner, was also really patient and prompt in answering my questions about international ring sizes, nickel allergies and having it shipped to Singapore. It even came with a polishing cloth. A month of bashing it about and it’s still perfect. I highly recommend her and her shop! :)

Here’s the full story of how it came about:

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Save the date!

On February 7, 2013 In Craft, My life, Wedding Permanent Link to Save the date!

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Things have been a crazy whirlwind and it’ll probably be even crazier over the next few months. But the good news is that the date for our big day is set!

There’ll be even more DIY projects to come as we prepare for our wedding and I’m excited to share them with you. :)

First up, a brief version of our save the date card design:

(I’ve removed some details for privacy but you get the general idea.)

More about the design

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The proposal

On January 21, 2013 In My life Permanent Link to The proposal

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Hello everyone!

Tiny disclaimer: this post is more to do with my personal life and not a fashion/ beauty/ craft post (although I can assure you there will be plenty to come in preparation for the wedding!)… In short, we’re engaged!

As we won’t be setting up a completely separate wedding site, we’ve decided to share it here for our friends and family who have been asking for more details.

So if you are interested, click here for the full story of how my best friend, a very amazing man, asked me to spend the rest of my life with him :)

For everyone else, hang on tight – I’m quite excited to do more DIY wedding tutorials to share with you!

Flower series

On October 12, 2012 In My life Permanent Link to Flower series

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Things have been pretty crazy recently but flowers from a loved one always makes my day! There’s just something about the gentle folds of the petals and the beautiful colors. Adds a little bit of magic to the room…

Each time I receive flowers I can’t help but snap photos of them. I’ve decided to turn them into a series of images – for memories and to share with you! If you’ve had a hectic week too, hopefully these will help make your day too :)

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Weekend trip to Malacca

On September 3, 2012 In My life Permanent Link to Weekend trip to Malacca

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Hello friends! Had the opportunity for a wonderful roadtrip to Malacca from Friday to Sunday. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008, the historical city centre was a truly throwback to the old days. With a ton of yummy food and pretty sights, I’d highly recommend a visit! :)

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Pop a happy pill

On July 10, 2012 In My life Permanent Link to Pop a happy pill

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I am so sorry for missing out on posting recently – been dealing with some crazy sickness. Coming up soon though will be a post on easy necklaces so stay tuned!

In the meantime, here’s some happy images of pills for anyone else who’s been dealing with a bug lately. xx

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Happy Fathers’ Day!

On June 14, 2012 In Craft, My life Permanent Link to Happy Fathers’ Day!

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Fathers’ Day comes early! For my family at least – we try to celebrate days like this a week earlier so we don’t have to deal with crowded restaurants and overpriced set menus.

For quite some time I’ve been in charge of getting the card/ present together and organizing family dinners out. This year was certainly no exception.

The only problem is that I generally can’t find cards that I’m happy with – most of them tend to be quite tacky and expensive. Conclusion? Make my own cards. After all, it’s the heartfelt words written inside that count right? :)

Cards for males usually don’t include flowers and hearts – things that I’m best at drawing. So this time I turned to the computer, whipped up a geometric design and slapped on the words. Printed it and pasted it on thick blue card that I managed to find (phew!). All in about 15 minutes before rushing to the dinner.

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Gorgeous eustomas

On May 6, 2012 In My life Permanent Link to Gorgeous eustomas

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For someone who loves flowers, I’m especially bad with differentiating types and names. But yesterday I just discovered my new favourite flower (and its name) thanks to someone really dear! :)

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A village full of painting talent

On April 30, 2012 In Craft, My life Permanent Link to A village full of painting talent

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I’ve always had the utmost respect for painters and nothing is quite as wondrous as watching them in action. While in China recently I had the opportunity to visit the oil painting village in Dafen and it was simply out of this world!

While the streets look like any other in the area, a peek into each shop shows a ton of paintings and many painters in action.

First up, my favourite photo taken with my handy iPhone. If I could paint, this is what I would want my painting corner to look like:

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Sourcing in China

On April 12, 2012 In My life Permanent Link to Sourcing in China

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It’s been a week since I’ve been in China for business and sourcing here is truly crazy and a new experience altogether! Not to mention trying to absorb all Mandarin terms like a sponge.

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Behind the scenes – ‘Artistic Journeys’ (part two)

On March 1, 2012 In Fashion, My life Permanent Link to Behind the scenes – ‘Artistic Journeys’ (part two)

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(Watch the episode of Artistic Journeys, Batik here and read part one here)

Based on some of the designs shown in part one, the patterns were drawn out on paper to size to send to Pak Hendri and his team in Indonesia.

Due to time and cost constraints unfortunately, only the centre collar design utilising the Sawat motif was selected.

The trip to Solo and Jogja was a whirlwind, with only two days total spent in lovely Indonesia. The team was very nice and I couldn’t have asked for better company! Here’s a peek at them in action:

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Behind the scenes – ‘Artistic Journeys’ (part one)

On February 20, 2012 In Fashion, My life Permanent Link to Behind the scenes – ‘Artistic Journeys’ (part one)

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(Watch the episode of Artistic Journeys, Batik here)

For the longest time I’ve been happy behind the camera – doing styling, make-up and the works. So my first time in front of the camera proper was definitely an interesting and fun experience. And not to forget, totally nerve-wrecking due to the need to speak in Mandarin THE WHOLE TIME. (In the past, most of my Chinese was limited to the ordering of food.)

I was first contacted by the casting director, Joscylnne, on my interest on being on the show. To be honest, being on TV and speaking Chinese wasn’t a huge draw for me but the opportunity to fly to Indonesia to learn Batik certainly was! After a few rounds of meeting with the director Eric from filmat36, approval was given by the station and team and work commenced.

In my designs, I wanted to capture the beauty and history of Batik while fusing it with modern aesthetics. After reading up on Batik (the library provided more info than the internet this time), I decided to focus on the Sawat for some of the pieces.

Sawat or “large wings”, represents the garuda which according to legend was a birdlike creature with the body and limbs of a man and the beak and talons of an eagle. In the past, this was a sacred motif that only royalty could wear and not the common people. If I were producing these clothes to sell, I would definitely put the history and meaning of the motif on the hangtag so everyone could learn more about the design and culture. Super interesting!

This was my drawing of the Sawat motif by hand, scanned and digitally coloured with a modern and fun palette:

The next was my interpretation of the lotus motif which was to be used as a large Batik design as well as a smaller Batik collar piece:

The production house wanted casual designs that were a bit friendlier to the masses so I decided to go with ready-to-wear designs for the initial proposal. Here’s a peek at some of them incorporating the two motifs:

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Nothing says trust more than a haircut

On February 1, 2012 In My life Permanent Link to Nothing says trust more than a haircut

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A lot of people I know are picky with their hairstylists and how their haircuts turn out. In fact, I’ve noticed that many conversations around hairstylists often involve the word ‘trust’!

So imagine my surprise when my teenage brother asked me to cut his hair last night!

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Make up for TV dramas

On January 5, 2012 In Beauty, My life Permanent Link to Make up for TV dramas

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A few months ago I had the opportunity of doing make up for two episodes of a Channel 5 TV series called ‘In Cold Blood’. And boy is there a world of difference on set for photoshoots and drama TV!

For TV, the fans and air-conditioning is often turned off and temperatures soar when crammed into a tiny room with intense emotions or when standing in our crazy afternoon sun. So out comes the tissue and powder ever so often to ward off sweat and shine!

Furthermore, everything needs to be dead quiet and still during filming which leads to a whole bunch of people trying to stay out of the way and not cast shadows, but keeping close enough on standby in case anything else is needed when the director yells “cut!”

Scene changes are fast and furious and hair and makeup have to change equally quickly to match the character and script. This and the shoot often lasts way more than 12 hours at a go (and filming for these episodes was two days in a row). Talk about intense!

The fun thing though is that you get to see the story unravel before your eyes so it’s like watching a play live (in disjointed parts. and on repeat). It’s also great to build different dimensions of a character with hair and makeup compared to beauty or fashion looks for photo shoots.

Sharing the end-credits here and kudos to the great team that made this show awesome!

Painting at arteastiq

On November 20, 2011 In Craft, My life Permanent Link to Painting at arteastiq

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Things have been crazy for the past few weeks and when they do get crazy, it’s always useful to have a different creative outlet to refresh yourself.

Thanks to Groupon, my friend and I got a session at Art Jam at Arteastiq for only $28 (the usual price is $48 though they have different packages such as two-for-one romantic Mondays). This includes one drink, a 50 x 50 cm canvas and brushes to take home as well as free flow acrylic paint.

They provide books and pictures if you want to pick a reference. Alternatively, you could email them a picture for them to print out on the spot.

Admittedly, this was the first time I have painted on a cotton canvas (or painted properly at all) so the experience was a teeny bit more stressful at the start. Or at least until my favourite whiskey hot chocolate drink was served.

So here’s my first attempt at painting some flowers. The purple didn’t come out as bright as I’d liked cos clearly navy blue + red doesn’t equal to bright happy purple…

Just a quick tip – it’ll definitely be useful to think about where your light source is. Or rather, you should definitely plan how you paint things in advance rather than dab on random gradients which I did! :X

And of course, plan your background before you start! I only decided to paint it a lighter colour on a whim and that resulted in much pain in filling everything in carefully. Love the seafoam green though!

Would have painted the sides of the canvas a different colour if I had more time. When asking my friend if I should paint them in the first place, she quoted her AEP teacher in Secondary School telling her that it should look beautiful on all sides. That definitely applies to many other things in life!

When done, the peeps at Arteastiq staple your canvas frame into a handy box that allows it to dry without touching anything. (The photo actually shows me holding it altogether afterwards cos I got too excited in ripping it open and forgot to take a photo!)

So there we go, my very first canvas painting experience. :) Would recommend everyone to try it out whether you think you’ll be good at it or not just because it’s fun, relatively affordable and a great opportunity to try something new!

Shooting with cellophane and tulle

On October 3, 2011 In Fashion, My life Permanent Link to Shooting with cellophane and tulle

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Collaborated with Irvin and Shiqin from Meese Studios recently to do a shoot for two looks. The first was an outfit made of reflective silver cellophane. The way the lights were set up were perfect and the material looked absolutely electric!

The second look involved lots of tulle in bright contrasting colours with a japonesque make-up look (had mentioned wanting to do this in an earlier post and it has finally happened!).

The studio at The Pond was one of the coolest I’ve worked in so far. If you couldn’t figure out the above image, there was a trap door from the second floor that allows you to shoot from up top!

Not only was the studio really cool, the make up and dressing area in the back was simply divine.