Resist Nothing!

This painting was for my first customer's order - fulfilled and delivered today! :) 

I guess it's safe to reveal who my first customer was since the painting has been given to her friend already (^-^) It was Phuong! and she called me up over a month ago asking if I could paint her good friend, Viet-My, a painting that would lift up her spirits. She noted that the words - "Resist Nothing" - is Viet-My's favourite saying. I was a little slow on understanding what it meant, but Phuong helped me along the way. She gave me a handful of ideas of where I could start off illustrating the concept of 'Resist Nothing'. 

It basically means, go with the flow, set yourself free from trivial matters so that the bigger picture of life can be appreciated more. The more I worked on the idea, the more I grew to like the idea of 'Resist Nothing'. Whenever I would think about those two words put together, I could feel a small feeling of empowerment growing inside me, giving me confidence that I'll be just fine if I were to allow things to just be, and keep moving forward. There's no need to make a fuss over small matters right? :) Just let it roll off your shoulders and appreciate how great it feels to not carry such an unnecessarily heavy burden on yourself everyday. Life's too short! 

In the painting, Viet-My is happily falling with her arms up high, not caring wherever the wind may take her through life. A flock of birds accompany her through her free falling because what represents freedom more than seeing birds flying free through the blue skies? ♥

This commissioned painting was definitely a challenge, because there were so many ways in which the concept could be drawn out.  It was tough, but I'm really proud of the outcome, and I'm really happy that Phuong and Viet-My were very pleased with it too! :D I didn't think that when I was delivering Phuong's painting today that I'd be there when she gives it to Viet-My! Yup.. I was definitely nervous (>_<)" but she was happy with it! Phew* :)

Btw, Viet-My is a freaking awesome digital illustrator! 

If you have time, check out her deviant page (ravenskar) for her wonderful and intriguing illustrations! You'd be blown away, I promise you! Was definitely inspired by her work. It's impossible not to be :)

& Thank you again Phuong for giving me this opportunity! :) 

Definitely pushed my boundaries with this one! Now I'm excited for my future paintings :D 

***

It just struck midnight, and my tummy is just rumbling and grumbling like a washing machine.. (=_=)" but I should definitely hit the hay early tonight. Been sleeping at 2am or later lately, and it's kind of messing up my sleeping pattern lol, and I'm just exhausted when I go to work too! How silly of me! 

Well I guess one of the reasons why I've been staying up so late is due to me really getting into setting up my online shop for Julie's Little World. :) When I think about it normally, it's nerve-wrecking, my mind is just buzzing with ideas and I can't believe that I'm actually going ahead with this! But when it comes down to it, this nerve-wrecking feeling, I believe it's actually excitement and it's exactly that that's feeding me the strength to continue with this new adventure! 

I'm aiming to have it opened by the end of this year, ready for the new year 2012! :) 

And also in the meantime, I'll be kept busy with more commission painting orders that have come in this week (>.<) Ohhh.. *big smile!* I can't help but smile, knowing that this is really happening! (>_<) Rah, I'm a little goofy like that haha! 

Alright, enough of my rambling.. as per usual! Time for me to get some rest! Hope everyone is having a good week so far! Seriously, the weather in Melbourne has been so emotional lately lol (-__-) I just hope this Saturday will be a beautiful day for my sister's wedding! (oh yeah, the train for my dress is gone now, it's so much easier to walk in :)) 

Love, from Julie xox

P.S. If you're living in Melbourne and you've got hidden talents in music/arts/creative arts or any art you can think of!!, take some time to check out this wonderful event (link below) that my friend Phuong, Viet-My and a few other of her friends is organising for next year in February! 

STAGE FRIGHT

February 18th 2012

Cross Culture Church (Swanston Street)

Cute name ay? I'm definitely going to be a part of it! (^-^) I'm actually very excited about this! It's basically a festival day that artists anywhere can showcase their talents to boost their confidence in themselves, and to allow the community to learn more about them. Any money that we've raised for the day will be going towards charity :) Everyone is welcome to be a part of this event! 

Let's get over our stage fright together, shall we? :)


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Camera roll update!

1. Life can be amazing when you take risks (so don't let them pass you by <3) - one of my latest Little Julie paintings, I liked it so much, it's one of my framed favourites for my own wall :)    2. origami crane photo #1 for the Red Cross Target: 1,000 Cranes Photo Competition     3. Another beautiful bouquet of yellow friendship roses from my lovely friends for my birthday! (love from Cat, Kim, Juan, Alice, Sarah and Tri! >.<)     4. A birthday present from my best friend back in Adelaide, Steffie, miss her so much >.< It's a Dior charms bracelet, with a little secret lip gloss compartment :)    5. Happy Birthday balloon from Julz, in Adelaide, and it came with a box of yellow flowers too! (>.<)   6. origami crane photo #2     7. My lita replicas purchase from Badbarbie shop from a month ago for $75aud :) I wore them for my birthday night out, and they were comfy for most of the night! :D definitely going to buy some real Jeffrey Campbell ones in the future!  8. A Mimco handbag from my sisters Anna, Jenny and cousin Vinh for my birthday (>___<) omg, you have no idea how shocked I was to open up this present from them... they really did spoil me this year (>_<) Thank you guys!!   9. My love for Mimco started years ago <3   10. origami crane photo #3, i likey the shadows in this one :)   11. my little paintings watermarked with my 'Julie's Little World <3' stamp! hehe, so in love with it~  

***

Less than a week away from my sister's wedding! 

Time's just flying by now, and the first wedding in our family is fast approaching. It's this upcoming Saturday for crying out loud! XD I'm excited, and yet all over the place feeling unprepared still i.e. what make up I should do, what earrings to wear, how will I do my hair?! 

Maybe you girls can help me out :) My dress for the night will be silver/grey, and it's a longggggg one! My first ever long gown dress (^-^) Here are some photos! 

I'm pairing this dress with some black heels that I bought on sale from Forever New a couple of nights ago! :) But really, it doesn't matter what shoes I'll be wearing since they'll be well hidden under all this!! You can tell from my 2nd photo that there's a massive train going on there LOL, looks like I'm the one getting married lmao, but sad story, my mum will be cutting it off when she's altering the dress to be shorter (coz I'm a lil shortie :)) - oh well! it would be majorly difficult to walk around like a normal person with a massive train behind me LOL. My brother didn't want to be the one to follow me all night, and hold it up for me :( no love. 

And I guess the wedding prep is finally coming together! Not so much drama anymore for the past week, so it's all good! Anna, Quang and I started putting up decorations around the house for the morning tea ceremony :) Anna found these awesome tissue paper puff balls, that we had to assemble and puff ourselves, to hang around the house! They're actually really easy to make if you've got enough tissue paper! :D Don't you just love them?! They seriously remind me of the scrubbing thing you use to wash your body lmao x) We'll also be sticking on red flowers all over the staircase :) These are all great ideas from Anna, good work man! :D 

Hehe, my mum just came into my room asking what shoes should she wear!  XD and went through my lil heel collection :P so cute haha XD 

*** 

On other news! :) 

I've recently completed a painting order for one of my good friends, Sarah, to be used for her xdollhouse blog! She asked me to create a little doll character for her blog header as it'd suit her site's name. It was a lot of fun for me since I'm not really accustomed to drawing dolls, but I am with drawing chibi characters! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out after finishing :) hehe, I added Tony Tony Chopper from One Piece because I know she's a fan of One Piece, I mean seriously, check out her car! XD I'm a big fan of Chopper too! So anyway, I thought it was very appropriate to have him as a little toy as part of the painting :) I love adding personal touches to my paintings. 

Check out Sarah's blog :D

 http://xdollhouse.blogspot.com/ 

Thank you again Sarah for this opportunity and for being such an easy going customer (^_^) 

It was my pleasure being able to paint for you! Muah xox

***

I'm actually up to date with my commission orders :) And I'd just love to post up my photos of them, but I won't until their intended purpose (i.e. given to the friend I painted for) is fulfilled! I wouldn't want to be the one to ruin a surprise gift :) 

You know what my favourite part is when I do an order? It's the moment when I can place my painting into a frame that just compliments it <3 I feel quite accomplished when I see my paintings in pretty frames :) That's probably why my room is currently filled up with a bajillion photo frames at the moment... (=_=) I might have gone a little overboard with the frame shopping... but it's only because I've got purposes for them now! :D And I'm excited to when I can fill them all up and find them good homes (^____^)

Haha, I make them sound like lost children.. :P 

***

Alrighty then! this was a major update with images galore! Just so much has been happening lately, and it's a little hard to keep up and have energy to blog about it >.< Next 5 days will be working, and then BAM wedding time! :D Can't wait to see my cousins again from Adelaide too! 

Hope everyone's having a lovely weekend so far, and got plenty of study done if you're under going exam revision! Make it count and good luck for your exams! :) 

Love, from Julie xox

P.S. My 22nd birthday was the best ever because I was just spoilt rotten with love from all my family and friends, from Adelaide and Melbourne (>_<) Definitely felt the love that day and well worth the wait all year long because you're reminded in an overwhelming wave of gratitude on how important you in everyone's lives. Even if it just lasted for a day, how everyone made me felt, I can still feel it now just by thinking about it :) Thank you guys <3

(hehe okay, I'll stop with my essay writing! :D)

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Spare a mo` for me?

Hehe, a little painting I specifically did for my birthday today (^_^) and please excuse my little mistake.. feel so fob haha (>_>)

And I thought the mo' was somewhat appropriate as we are now entering a new month, November! :D or can also be known as Movember! I'm not a man (well, duh..even though I like to say that word a lot..) but raising awareness for men's health is definitely a good cause. Thumbs up to all the guys who are participating in this worthy event :) good luck! 

***

So today is my 22nd birthday! <3 

I actually nearly forgot it was my birthday till I started getting Facebook notifications on birthday wishes on my wall! hehe Thanks a lot everyone! :) you guys are all very sweet! 

It's hard to believe that a year has come and gone already since my 21st birthday. So much has changed, but I'm happy that I've been able to achieve things that make myself proud. I guess now I'm well on my way into adult hood..waahh! Before I know it, I'll be 30! (>_<) So I definitely should make the most of what I've got now, and enjoy life as it comes. And if I'm not satisfied with it, let me find the courage to make things happen for myself so I can continue to move forward :) 

haha, this was my event display photo for my birthday :P lovely isn't it?

***

And I've made a good deal of progress with my commission paintings this long weekend (>_<) Very happy with myself, and I sure hope my clients/friends will be happy with them :) Best for me to get to bed now, since it's back to work for me tomorrow! (>.<) let's hope the chef will bake up a batch of my favourite muffins for my special day! :D 

Hope everyone is having a lovely week so far! *fingers crossed* the sun will continue to shine today! 

Love, from Julie xox

P.S. Hello hello to my new followers! :D Thanks for dropping by and following my lil blog! Don't be a stranger and say hello! I won't bite hehe (^_^) xox

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My 22nd Birthday Celebrations!

My favourite photo of the RMIT Uni kids before clubbing <3 taken by Dantay's iPhone!

***

This long weekend so far has been 

one of the best for me in a long while! ^-^ 

I had such a great and fun time on Friday night with friends for drinks and clubbing @ Alumbra for their Halloween night! As soon as I got home from work at 4:30PM, it was a major rush to get all ready by 5:30pm so that Cat, Juan and Kim could come pick me up! But alas, traffic was bad, the weather was bad, so that made us over an hour late for drinking at Alumbra before clubbing (>_<) 

My outfit for the night, I'm blueeee da da di dum! hehe <3

We got there at 7:30PM, an hour left before the bar kicks us out before clubbing starts! Serinna, Cindy and Isaac were there already waiting (>.<) sorry guys for making you wait! But it was so good to see them again, it's been so long! And Dantay and KK joined us soon after! So exciting! :D Haven't seen them for months! Rah rah rah. Bought some food for everyone and shared a couple of 2 for 1 champagne drinks hehe :) Keith and Dinh arrived soon after! 

The night was still young, but I was already buzzing with excitement (>_<) 

1. Kim and I with the beautiful flowers that her, Cat and Juan surprised me with! ^-^   2. Me and Keith, such a girl haha :P   3. beautiful Serinna, Kim and super Tall meeeee!! :D

***

The weather was a little crappy though, was raining non-stop when we left Alumbra at 8:30PM. Thank gosh we were able to find shelter at the Channel 7 building across the road! We were soon joined by Alice, Tri, Ciara and Ian! :) 

Naww, I was jumping all over the place! 

***

We  headed back to Alumbra for clubbing at around 9:30PM, waiting in line for their doors to open! The rain was still going at it hardcore, but we were inside the club not long after! Thank you Cat for organising Free entry for me! (^___^) whoop whoop! After freshening up with the girls, we were ready to PARTY!!!! <3 I honestly didn't need to be drunk to be already dancing like a loser LOL 

For the rest of the night, it was just FUN :) like you just let loose for a night, and just deal with things as they come. I had a few work mates come join soon after too! I'm so happy they were able to make it! ^-^ Shame about Marco though (-_-) who wasn't wearing proper clothes! But other than that, I had so much fun dancing till my feet hurt, drinking with my friends and laughing at everything! No kidding, I fell over into this hole (which I thought was a seat), and I laughed. x) I guess I'm a happy drunk hehe! 

Here are more of my favourite photos from the night from my camera! <3 

1. Cat shouting me my first shot! It was actually really nice! :D orange something.. hehe!  2. On the dance floor with Kimu and Vivies! <3  3. I think I was a little drunk by the time this shot was taken with Serinna haha!  4. photowhoringgg!!  5. Ciara and Ian shouting me my first ever ABC shot! LOL that's seriously poison.. (o_o)

***

Thank you for everyone that came out 

to celebrate with me for my 22nd :) 

I know the weather was so bad, and it was cold >.< but it was definitely one of the best nights for me! And I want to personally say thank you to Cat and Juan for being so kind and taking me home safely after such a buzzing night! I just fell asleep after some food after clubbing, and as soon as I know it, I was safely home, and Kim was helping me in! hehe <3 

But can you imagine my surprise when I looked into the mirror to wash my face, and Serinna's lovely art work was all over my face LOL! :P I had a freaking moustache, hearts all over and a bloody mono brow LOL!! I won't forget this girls.. (my drunk self couldn't stop laughing for a few minutes XD)

You've all made this birthday girl very happy :) Thanks again everyone <3 <3

Love, from Julie xox

P.S. I'm finally up to date with all of my drawings/paintings for my commission work! (>_<) finished doing the last sketches today, and started to paint them! I'm aiming to finish them all by the end of this long weekend so I can start giving/sending them out to my lovely customers :) Thanks for your patience guys! I'm really excited to show the end products to you soon!! <3

1. drawings that need colour! :)  2. the current state of my little arty corner <3


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Buff, Tough & Manly Stuff!

This was a saying that I made up when I was younger to encourage myself to get through tough situations. :) I think I really liked it because it rhymed LOL Oh..corny rhymes always wins me over. I swear, every time I would write up song lyrics (for good ol' music classes in school), they'd always rhyme in some way! And when I say 'manly' stuff, I don't mean I've literally got a little something extra in my pants.. :P 

Made a little painting out of it, to push me along with being able to handle all that's been on my plate lately. I can do this, yes yes I can. Can't wait to finally finish all of my commission paintings :) 

***

This is just a quick update, can't believe I haven't updated since last week (>_<) Rah! 

It's been busy for me, and there are just times where I'm just knocked out from either working/waking up early and other commitments that I just hibernate in my room for a few hours to catch up on some sleep. It's kind of tiring, this sleeping habit of mine lol. Don't think I'll be shaking it off any time soon with my BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONNNNNNNNN weekend that's coming up, along with my sister's wedding coming up with the weekend after! :D 

This weekend, the cafe will be closed for 4 WHOLE DAYS due to Melbourne Cup! That's like a freaking holiday for me! This Friday I'll be heading out to the city for drinks and dancing with friends for my birthday, coz I don't have to worry about work the very next day! Sweet! I seriously can't wait! It's going to be a Halloween themed night as well at Alumbra, so that'll be interesting :) I've got my dress all ready to go, so I sure hope the weather will be kind to us that night! Also, Cat's idea is to have everyone wear a lil yellow something on them, since that's my favourite colour! Love it <3

I'm getting a little shaky with excitement just thinking about! Just 3 more sleeps! (^_^) It's been so long since I've went out drinking out on the town, so what's a better occasion than for my birthday! :D and knowing that people, who are important to me, doing their best to make it, it means so much <3 Thank you guys, you know who you are :) muah* It makes me feel more thrilled for the night to come!

Hope everyone is having a lovely week so far, and keep warm if you're in Melbourne! 

(What's with the random chills lately.. -__-) 

Sweet dreams :) 

Love, from Julie xox

P.S. Do you notice my little 'Julie's Little World <3' trademark thing for my painting scan? That's actually a real stamp that I got custom made! :) I love using it now for my paintings! 

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Anna's Graduation!

(found via tumblr) 

***

My graduation gifts for my sister Anna :) A painting to act as a reminder to always bring her own sunshine, her own special qualities to light, wherever she may be headed in life. And a memory board to hold all of her graduation instax/photos :) 

*** 

Today I finished work early for once @ 2PM! Had to quickly get dressed into pretty clothes so that half of my family and I could attend Anna's Graduation @ Deakin University in Geelong! That's nearly an hour's drive away from Melbourne (>_>) but the weather was nice, a little windy, so it was okay! I was able to grab a quick nap before arriving, which was very much needed because I've been exhausted lately from working and late nights. 

The ceremony started at 5PM, but my parents and I were allowed to go in earlier because my dad's in crutches, so that makes him special :) It was probably a little boring for me only because I didn't know anyone but my sister that was graduating, plus, it wasn't my own graduation! But I was very proud to see my sister stand up there on stage, receiving her diploma for her bachelors :) She had the dorkiest smile on her face once she had spotted us sitting in the audience, waving to her! LOL 

1. She's like my best friend <3  2. She loved her gift (^_^)  3. Anna reading the Deakin Ceremony guide, looking for her name ~  4. Found it! :D  5. My gifts for her ~  6. Graduates standing up at the beginning of the ceremony, everyone looking so spiffy!  7. My sister on stage, smiling for the camera after mum embarrassing called out to her while all was quiet (=_____=) lmao  8. One day it'll be my turn! :) Let's hope it's next year!  9. My little memento from the evening <3 

***

This week has been hectic, and I feel a little behind on a lot of things, but after getting home tonight from Geelong, I've been able to take care a few things. My heart is a little more at ease now, especially since my room is much tidier than it was the previous night! Don't you find that you're more stressed when your room is a mess? I always feel a lot better once I start folding all my clothes again, pack them away, and just sort things out to where they belong. Less clutter, less stress! 

On top of everything that's been on my plate, I'm napping more than I should after work :( so I tend to wake up at 10pm, when everyone sleeps! (=_=) and I miss dinner.. and yeah, better take better care of myself! Come on Julie! You're not a freaking machine! (>_<) 

Welp, best continue with getting things done, so my weekend won't be so jam-packed again! :) And I can't believe it's not even 11PM yet! Woo! I might even be able to get a good night's rest tonight! 

Have a lovely weekend everyone! :) 

Love, from Julie xox

P.S. Watched Crazy, Stupid Love with my cousin on Tuesday night, and I LOVED IT! <3 Ryan Gosling is so freaking hot...I couldn't help but punch my cousin with excitement when he first made his appearance LOL. So sexy (*__*)

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