Tag: New Zealand

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ash the brush's journey

Ash the Brush’s Journey!

A year ago, after the first Covid lockdown, I started going to art school. It was something I’ve always dreamt of but never really got the chance to do.

At about the same time, I was diagnosed with a chronic disease that drove me to a downward spiral. I thought maybe meeting new people and learning new things at school might help me – and help me it did.

One of the first things my mentor asked me was what type of project I wanted to do, and our choices were pretty unlimited. First thing that came into my mind was a book. I’ve always wanted to write a book – something that’s loosely based on my own adventures and misadventures, thus Ash the Brush’s Journey came to be!

A year after, with my symptoms now under control, and now still continuously recovering, I am happy to share with all of you my first book, written and illustrated by yours truly! Ash the Brush’s Journey is about a paintbrush on a journey to find her purpose.

The whole book was created primarily in vibrant watercolours and ink so anyone interested in explosive colours is in for a feast! It is appropriate for kids ages 6 to 8 and to absolutely everyone who’s young at heart.

It’s now available in both Softcover and PDF format on my shop. Grab your copy today!

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Milo the Chocolate Labrador x GSP

Meet Our New Boy!

Meet our new boy, Milo!

One bright morning, on the 8th May 2021, we met a boy who would change our lives: Milo. He was then an 8-week old puppy bound to steal both my husband’s and my heart. Milo is a Labrador GSP Cross whose parents came from Tangimoana.

This was him when we picked him up from his breeder.

It was hard work during his first 2 weeks at home. I almost lived in the kitchen floor at that time but as he is a smart and eager to please puppy, it didn’t take much to toilet train him and teach him basic commands.

Sitting properly while waiting for his treat.

He is a complete goofball who loves shoes, socks, and any type of footwear he can find.

Milo hanging out at our shoe rack in front of the house.

He is sweet and very curious of his humans. He loves cuddles and eating treats on my lap.

He loves the outdoors and is very friendly with both dogs and humans.

One of our early morning walks at Whitereia Park, Porirua

We get to see beautiful nature scenes because of him…

Rainbow visible from Titahi Bay Beach, Porirua

And no matter how bonkers he may be..

Milo wrestling with Daddy before we sleep.

We love our dear, dear boy.

Follow more of his adventures on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/milothechoclabxgsp/!

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Studies at the Learning Connexion

(Photograms) Power of a Series – Leigh Mitchell-Anyon

Photograms are images produced without a camera. These photograms were done by flashing a darkroom enlarger on a photographic paper with an object on it. We picked up items from campus to use a objects in the photogram. I used some plants, my earrings, and borrowed feathers from the others in my class.

Photogram of my hands
Photogram of feathers
Photogram of my earrings, a plant, and feathers
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Studies at the Learning Connexion

Experimental Drawing – Female Life Drawing

We had another life drawing session last week, this time with a female model. I prepared the backgrounds beforehand and it surprisingly fit the exercises well.

Female Life Drawing – Lines

It’s wonderful how these simple lines can be this expressive of movement. It looked so graceful to me.

Female Life Drawing – One-Line Drawings

This next one was quite interesting, too. We were told we can choose to change the medium we are using. I’ve always been comfortable using soft pastels so using an Indian ink marker is a good change. The poses looked dramatic to me – very very interesting.

Female Life Drawing – Detailed Drawing
Female Life Drawing – Metamorphosis

This part of the exercise was really confusing for me the last time we did it but I took some risks with this drawing and I think it paid off. I quite liked how the parts are fused and how it interacts with the background.

Female Life Drawing – Fire

The proportions were not quite right here but I loved the idea of fusing elements into the drawing. I used the element of fire but illustrated it as if it’s water.

Female Life Drawing – Air

I developed one of the lines in the previous exercise and fused the background I created prior to our life session to illustrate the element of air.

I have been learning a lot of techniques to be more creative with my drawings. I have been more free with communicating my thoughts through drawing. The immediate feedback from those in my class and from our teacher has been really effective. I have tried things I have never thought of doing before and it has helped develop my process in creating. These exercises have been really boosting my confidence in terms of my capacity to create in general.

The term is about to end soon and as I am a distance delivery student, I am not too sure if I will have a slot for onsite classes next term. Hopefully, I’ll get to sign up to at least one onsite class. We’ll see!

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Musings

On Lockdown/ Self-Isolation? What activities did we do in the 90s?

Self-isolation here in New Zealand is imposed on international travellers arriving on our shores. Residents have not been required to self-isolate yet – business as usual for a lot of people here.

It is however, unfortunate, that I have had a tummy bug and flu the same time the first case of Covid-19 was announced here in Wellington. I had to absent myself from work this week for fear that I may compromise my workmates or the visitors I may come across with as my workplace is in the tourism industry.

It is a different story in my home country, though. Luzon, Philippines is already on lockdown and people are required to stay home. There is, of course, a wide continuum of responses to this, which I won’t go into.

This news of my home country and my own sickness led me to thinking of the things I did when I was younger, when there were most people had no mobile phones and no internet.

Was I unproductive then? Did I feel constrained in some way? Was my life limited during that time? Was life boring?

No. Most of the things I did then formed the foundation of the skills I have now. So I did a trip down memory lane and made a list of activities that I and the other 90s kids did then that can probably prompt some ideas relevant to people on self-isolation:


1. Read

There is one quote from George R. R. Martin that captures my personal experience of reading: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”

In reading, I learned. In reading, I have explored a thousand places with my imagination and have met interesting and amazing characters that I would not have met in my lifetime. My world widens when I read and I hope everyone who has time on their hands now give it a try.

Reading can give you a lot of different perspectives about your life and the world in general. Distancing from all the toxic and negative messages out there at the moment is also definitely a bonus!

2. Draw/ Paint/ Do Arts

This is one of the mindless activities one can engage in. There are definitely technical rules in drawing and painting but art does not judge!

Art is one way of expressing your inner realities onto your outer world! Draw, paint, play with colours and the materials that you have!

Though it’s definitely not a bad idea to learn the technical aspects of art if you are keen! Heaps of resources are easily accessible – Youtube (which has free art tutorials most of the time), online libraries, Skillshare (this one is paid but you may use my link to try it for 2 months for free: https://skl.sh/2xNHaXz), and many more! With the access to the internet, you can learn practically anything these days.

3. Learn Musical Instruments

You may have purchased a guitar or a keyboard or a ukelele but have never gotten the time to actually sit down and practice. Now is never a better time to do it!

This was one of the things that took a majority of my time when I was younger. I studied piano for almost 6 years and I was able to use that skill as a side hustle during the time that I did not have a corporate job. It is a relaxing hobby that engages your mind and your coordination skills.

4. Sew/ Cross stitch/ Crochet/ Knit

I did several crossstich pieces as a child but learned crochet just now. This activity is almost therapeutic and at the same time, useful in so many practical ways!

I get to make pieces that I can display at home and I also get to craft useful home items from it. I recently made some soap savers and am now working on a reusable market bag using crochet. You can practically make a range of very handy items using these skills. Go ahead and give it a try!

5. Do Paper Crafts/ Journal/ Scrapbook

If you are someone who loves keeping memories from receipts, movie tickets, plane tickets, candy wrappers, anything you can lay your hands on during a memorable event, now is a great time to properly “document” those moments! Start a journal or a scrapbook.

You may also choose write letters for an old-fashioned, more romantic way of communicating with your friends and loved ones!

Write – write your favourite quotes, Bible verses, your emotions, what’s happening around you. Write anything that is on your mind. It is quite surprising how these idle moments can bring the deepest revelations to you, if only you pay attention to it.

6. Cook/ Learn to Cook

One of the most memorable times I had with my sister as a child was experimenting with food. When bored, we would often scavenge through our cupboard and look for items we can mix and cook.

I was never afraid of the kitchen because of these experiments we had then. As an adult, it helped me become more resourceful and adventurous in learning new dishes that I can serve at home.

And it was fun because not only did we learn to make something we can actually eat, but we built these memories we can still go back to even as adults!

7. Connect with Our Family Members

My deepest conversations with my family members happened during lull times – times when you don’t really have a choice but to talk to each other. Being confined in a space with your family gives you time to ask, to give your opinion on things, to express your emotions and thoughts as home is a safe space.

And wherever your family members may be at this point, the internet has allowed us to be connected. Message them today and shower them with kind and loving words – just what the whole world needs now!

8. Exercise – even at home!

This was one of the things I failed to do as a child but I am slowly learning these days. Nothing can stop you from exercising! There are several places on the internet and apps you can use for home workout ideas. These days, the best you can do for your body is to make it strong and exercise does that for you. Go and get off that seat now and exercise!

9. Pray and Read the Bible

In these trying times when everything may fail you, the one true God who holds your life will not.

Our earthly bodies may fail but one thing that is sure? Eternal life. That is longer than anything this world can offer. Prepare for that life. Get to know God in this life. Ask Him where he needs you at this time. Ask Him what He wants you to do these days.

Reading the Bible can also put your views in perspective. It can console you. It can fortify you.

I raise my eyes toward the mountains. From whence shall come my help? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to slip; or your guardian to sleep. Behold, the guardian of Israel never slumbers nor sleeps.

The Lord is your guardian; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. By day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will guard you from all evil; he will guard your soul. The Lord will guard your coming and going both now and forever.

Psalm 121:1-8

This too shall pass, friends! Keep safe and healthy!

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Work

Trade a Book for a Look at Staglands!

Trade your pre-loved children’s books for a half-priced child’s entry to Staglands.

Staglands is celebrating Conservation Week by giving children the opportunity to learn how they can help nature in their own unique way. The pre-loved children’s books that will be collected will be given to the children that the Salvation Army – Upper Hutt is caring for.

This offer is available for kids aged 4 to 16 from 14th September to 13th October 2019. One half-priced child’s entry ticket per book received on the day of visit.  Not valid with any other offer, including Entertainment Book.

Visit www.staglands.co.nz for more information.

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Work

Go Mad for Marshmallows these School Holidays!

Staglands yummy winter marshmallows are back and for a limited period only, during the July School Holidays, they will be given away FREE to all visitors!

Toast your own on the cosy Barn campfire and enjoy some wild cooking in the great outdoors.

www.staglands.co.nz 

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S K-Beauty NZ Settling in NZ Uncategorized

Startups and the Entrepreneurial Spirit

I have always been fascinated with starting things up and building on it. This is one of the reasons why I love getting into new business ventures.

In the past, I ventured into events management, consulting, and even real estate. I also dipped my toes a little onto tutoring piano with kids and adults. The most successful venture I have had so far was events management but I had to pull the plug when we migrated to New Zealand.

Two years in our new home country, my brain and my hands were already itching to get into a new venture. Given that we are in a totally foreign country, I will have to build everything from the ground up. My planning stage consisted of learning the culture of the people here (which I still have not fully figured out), their purchasing patterns and behaviour (online shopping is popular here since there are a limited number of shops, which meant a limited number of products as well), and what item or service I can provide to fulfill a need.

I did not look far. I looked into my own needs. I got hooked with Korean beauty products in 2016. I found their products effective yet inexpensive. I made sure I was fully stocked when we moved here but I soon found myself needing to restock my items and purchasing from the online shops here meant I do not always have my go-to items available. I would purchase from different sites so I will get the best price for the product that I preferred but it was not sustainable for me.

And so my idea for a new business began. I looked for wholesale suppliers who can provide for the products I needed. After several attempts to contact an efficient supplier with the best price, I eventually found one.

The Website

Having found a supplier, I knew I was ready to start my own online shop (as a physical shop will take more effort and capital which I do not have). I purchased a domain and a subscription for an online shop and I thought it will already get easier form there.

Nope. It did not. I had to learn a lot of other items I did not know I needed. I needed to learn about online security, payment options, etc., etc. The list was incredibly wrong. Being the perfectionist that I am, fear started creeping in because my online shop may not be “good enough” until two years in, I already had to renew all my subscriptions, without ever having sold any item because of the things I feared.

The Movers

Fortunately, I am surrounded by Movers. My boss (at my day job), who is ever-supportive of all my crazy ideas, suggested that I can sell on TradeMe first. TradeMe is an online shop/ auction where you can list the items you want to sell. Given that they already have an established customer base, you are bound to sell no matter how long. I started selling in November. My sales were not astoundingly successful but my products are nevertheless moving.

My second mover is no less than my dear husband. Howell has been assuring me that no matter the turnout, what matters is that I did what I wanted to do, which is an achievement in itself already. I did not need to prove anything to anyone, so I do not have to pressure myself into succeeding with this business. I have the products, anyway and I can always just use them if they are not sold. With this encouragement from him, I launched my website on 1st April this year – indeed a good date to launch a business venture!

The Aftermath

Was my launch successful? Far from it. Yet, I am building myself up everyday. I am learning more about the field I chose to be in (Marketing). I am learning more about managing my own website, managing inventories, managing customer expectations, and more importantly, the culture of the people I interact with daily. I call it the aftermath but I am definitely not done yet. There are still a lot of things to do and learn. I still fear but I shall keep on moving!

The Online Shop| S K-Beauty NZ

So then let me introduce you to my online shop! It’s called S K-Beauty NZ. Given the previous issue I had with ordering K-Beauty items, I designed my products and services to fill the need that most similar shops do not provide here in New Zealand.

Store Pick-Up: Residents in Wellington can pick up the items they purchased. This means no waiting time for delivery for those who need their beauty quick fix!

Product Requests: As limited variation of products is an issue here (merchants here do not really have that much of an option as importation expenses are expensive, mainly because we are literally at the edge of the earth), there is an option for customers to request for products which they wish to purchase for me to include it in my next batch of orders. They can just shoot me an email at info@skbeauty.co.nz or use my website’s contact me form. Easy as!

Best-Priced Beauty Products: Last and the most important bit, whether it be a skin care or makeup product, our prices are competitive, and I dare say, the best-priced items there are. That’s a sure win!

With that, I hope anyone who is interested may find their time to visit my online shop and check out the wonderful offerings we do have!

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Musings Settling in NZ Uncategorized

Welcome 2019!

2019 New year greeting card with fireworks. Minimalist style, geometric thin outline. Vector, eps.10

“…yet in the midst of the chaos, God said, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ Indeed, He is.

Even if I don’t feel it, even if I don’t see it.

I have cried over this several times, asking God to take this cup away from me. I went here with a leap of faith, never fully understanding that it can take a longer time before I fully land my feet on flat ground.

Be still. God will move. God has moved. He paved the way ahead of me, even if I haven’t seen it yet.

I am terribly bad at waiting but this time, I have to be perfectly still and wait for my Saviour who has the best intents for me. I will not whine nor grumble.

I will be still, just as He commanded me.”

This was one of my reflections 2 years ago. We were 2 months in New Zealand and it was a time of complete uncertainty for Howell and I. We just arrived, jobless, and were not even sure of my visa so I can stay in the country.

A month after, Howell got his job, and we moved into our home where we still reside today.

Time flies. It is now 2019.

That was a tough year for us and 2018 was a bittersweet one. Howell was promoted twice, moved into another wonderful company. We found new friends and lost old ones.

I got into a major vehicular accident, had bouts of depression because of the accident, dealt with major health issues because I was in pain for 3 straight months after the accident. After which, it led me to go back to my first love – writing and arts. It was also the year I launched my online shop.

I began to accept that our decision to go here would mean I will be apart from the people I loved the most. We’ve traveled parts of New Zealand and visited the Philippines. We’ve made huge milestones in 2018 and we lost huge parts of our hearts too – some, we know, left a permanent void in our lives.

In all things that happened, God has been faithful. Every pain has its own joys and triumphs.  Every setback has presented us with greater opportunities. Every void was a chance to fill our lives with wonderful surprises.

I know 2019 will present more to me and Howell. May it be good or bad, I know that the Lord will continue to be faithful.

For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope. – Jeremiah 29:11

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Musings Uncategorized

The Myth that is Preparedness

A few days ago, I saw a video on Facebook which talks about time and how not to waste it, basically. I find these videos a cliche sometimes but then this one made sense. It kind of made me look at some areas of my life that I have not been dealing with. Below is a copy of the video if you want to see it for yourself.

I took several steps to fix my schedule and put a structure to it, somehow, but that is altogether a separate topic.

What I’m driving at is that after I took a good look at my schedule and how I am using my time, I saw that I have been spending it on the things that I love doing, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I haven’t focused on doing the things I need to do to achieve what I want. For most people, doing things that they love and doing things to achieve something they want is almost the same thing, but for me, it isn’t.

To contextualize this confusing concept, when I refer to the things that I love, these are my hobbies–swimming, painting, reading, etc. The things that I want to achieve or want to have are: several businesses, good health (yes, it’s something I am working to achieve now!), eetc.

I saw that I have been postponing the concrete things I should do for me to achieve my goals (one specific goal that I am referring to is a business venture that I have been planning for 2 straight years now) because I want things to be perfect. I want to be fully ready before I do anything for fear that I may fail if I were not perfect or ready enough. Two straight years was not long enough for me to be ready, according to my irrational fears.

It was until Howell offered to do ALL the chores at home for this month just for me to have “time” to focus on this business, which was pretty ironic because he works Mondays till Fridays while I work Wednesdays till Fridays. I guess he knows me too much to know that if he gives me all the time in the world, I might eventually get tired of focusing solely on my hobbies. That’s kind of what happened.

So this week, I finally decided to take that step. A few months back, I already secured my supplier for the items I wanted to sell in my shop. I’ve also been paying for a website of my own for 4 months but because of my fear that I wasn’t ready enough, I totally abandoned doing anything to actually push through with my lofty business idea. Due to my indecision, the supplier I secured ditched me already so I had to frantically search for another supplier who should be reliable enough not to leave me. Thank God, I did found one a day after I found out about the other supplier.

When you look closely at your fears, you’ll often see that fears are just a manifestation of something deeper. For me, I do leave things hanging for fear of not finding a next purposeful goal after I have achieved it. Sometimes, I am too fearful that achieving this specific goal may tie me to a spot where I cannot leave. At times, I fear that I am missing out on something better that may still be out there and so I hold off moving as long as I can. Until I’m ready. Until every area of my circumstances are perfect.

Now, I am totally devoted to this cause, in spite of the fear. Why? Because if I wouldn’t take the first step, nothing will actually happen. What changed? The idea that no matter how wonderful and perfect my ideas are, if I do not do anything to achieve it, it will remain as, well, ideas, however perfect they may be. Ideas are good but without action, they serve no purpose.

At the end of my life, how would I account for how I lived? Like every gift given to me, I’d like to use it to the fullest and make something beautiful, something bigger than myself, out of the little or much that I have been given. There is no better time to move but today, now, at this very moment. Being prepared is good, but being fully prepared is a myth. If it makes sense and if it is something that the Lord wants me to pursue, then I’ll take a leap of faith, hoping against hope that what little I have may bear fruit and bless others.

Featured photo from http://passionforfreshideas.com/personalgrowth/leap-of-faith-jessica-mcgregor-johnson/