Once Upon A Time...

There was a girl named Dawn. She loved drawing and painting and was lucky to be able to be part of a giant fairytale story, involving 37 other fantastic prince and princess artists! Under the magical blessings of two fairy sisters Angela and Renee, each of these 38 prince and princesses were told a fairytale bedtime story, so they could live and daydream and create artworks based on the stories. Princess Dawn got to listen to 'Thumbelina' and these were the artworks she came up with whilst daydreaming....

Yes yes! I am back from Sydney! Wooohooo! It was such a blessing to be able to fly up to Sydney to attend our giant fairytale opening! It felt like I was going to a ball!

Anyway, my artworks are now available for sale online here!
There are also 4 limited edition prints available for each of my drawings. Only $25 each! : )

So, for today, as I'm still recovering from my crazy whirlwind holiday, I'll just post photos from our opening night!

I had so much fun minus the crazy heat inside the gallery! I was able to meet Renee and Angela, the wonderful curators of the show! Thank you girls! You both did a magical job! : ) I also finally got to meet Miss Ebony kawaii Bizys of Hellosandwich! Along with her funny friend Eloise who works as a fabric designer! ( how cool is that! ) Ben, Chrissy Lau, Amy Borrell, Sarah Mcneil and so many more!

I was so excited before the opening and had butterflies in my stomach! But I'm glad it all went really well and sweet! Just like a happy fairytale indeed! Nice! Anyway, if you would like to purchase any works, or take a look at what the other artists have done, you could pop over the the Once Upon website and take a look! My works are up for sale and I've got just 4 prints available too! So go take a look! All our art pieces would make such nice christmas presents, don't you think? : )

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It was so much fun! Being in Sydney and all. I was a bit sad to have to come home so fast. But you know, I still love Melbourne, so it wasn't that difficult to leave Sydney. Haha. I took so many photos! Over 400 actually! Yes, I went snap snap snap! All the way : ) And to show you all the wonderful places I've been to in just one single blog post, that's impossible. So I've decided to break up my entire Sydney trip into a few posts. So do keep coming back daily ( I'll try ) for new Sydney adventure photos!

Alright, off I go. I need to get some stuff for tonight's dinner. I'm making hainanese chicken rice! It's now almost 3 and I should run off. Also, to get myself lunch!

See you soon!

xx

Dorky outfit post! + Too excited for Sydney!

Guess what? In 24 hour's time, I will be jumping around like a happy excited girl, in.... where else but... SYDNEY!

Yes yes! I'm going to Sydney! Waking up at 3am tonight so we can catch out really early flight and be in Sydney at 8am tomorrow morning! I can't wait!

The reason why I'm flying up to Sydney is because... I'm going to be at the opening of this awesome awesome art exhibition. if you haven't heard about it, it's Leeloo's birthday party! To celebrate, they've invited 38 different unique artists from all over Australia to submit works based on fairy tales! I am so happy to say that I'm part of the 38 artists! I get to exhibit alongside well-known artists such as Catherine Campbell, Sarah Mcneil, Amy Borrell, Caitlin Shearer, Jessica Hyde, Bec Winnel and so so much more!

You can take a look at sneak peeks of my work here! My story was Thumbelina. And I was really inspired by this cute video clip which Amy Borrell recommended. ( Hi and thanks Amy! )

Anyway, the reason I did this dorky little outfit post was because I wanted to share with you guys what I'll be wearing to the show opening. There has been a bit of discussion going around amongst some of the artists about what we're going to wear and stuff. Haha. Quite fun to play dress up I guess. Haha.. So yes, that's what I'll be wearing! : )

Alright, I hope to see you Sydneysiders at the show opening! And of course I can't wait to FINALLY meet the lovely Miss Ebony, and my fellow Melbourne artist blog friends, Amy Borrell and Benzen, and catch up with Sarah Mcneil!

Alrightyo! Yay to the power x 10!
See you when I get back from my wonderful super speedy three-day Sydney trip!

: )

Thinking of happy thoughts

My evening is turning into such a lousy night and I feel so blah. If you know what I mean. Feeling this way, is such a horrible feeling, so I try to cheer myself up, and think of happier thoughts instead.

Of nice smelling flowers, baskets of freshly plucked lemons, and nice treehouses, such as this one here. PS: I would love to have a studio just like that, in the trees, in the woods!

Found on flickr

Ahh.. Keep dreaming...

xxx

Saturday's Craft Hatch!

So many people came! I was told, about 600 visitors popped by! Apparently Craft Hatch was featured quite a bit both on the online world and I heard, in The AGE too!? Woweee!

I must be living in a hole to not know about anything at all! Haha.

Thank you if you came! I sold quite a bit of stuff and had so much fun! Meeting and making new friends. I met Miss Evie of handmaderomance, Sharon Russell, Miss Fiona and a few others!! Most of whom have bought my previous zines! It was so nice meeting owners of my zines. Haha.

I'm now crossing my fingers, hoping I can be part of next year's March/ April Craft Hatch!

Thanks Kim for the opportunity! : )

Now, off to take a walk to the cinema. Darren and I are watching 2012 tonight.

PS: I'm a disaster film geek! I'm not sure why, I just love em!

Edit: Just walked all the way there and back. The queues were so long, not even funny at all. Came home and wanted to cheer myself up by making nice warm dessert but ran out of ingredients. Nice. Tonight is not my night...

Cooking the Julia Child way + Fabric packs and zines!

Last night, I decided to be a little more domestic and I tried roasting a whole large chicken! Julia Child style! And let me tell you this, the recipe was super! Darren finished an entire thigh, wing and picked the bones clean off half the chicken! And he still could eat. Anyway, you guys have got to try the recipe! It's so easy, and so good!

Apart from enjoying a good crispy roast chicken, Darren decided to make us some lemonade. He's been playing too much Lemonade Tycoon on my iphone, and he's been busy perfecting his very own recipe. And his lemonade now is sooo good!

I reckon he should really go set up a lemonade stand and become a lemonade tycoon. He can then buy us a lovely townhouse with a red roof, front porch and a veggie patch garden. Nice!

Lemonade dreams aside, I'm going to try and save up for a cookbook now. Just that I can't decide, Apples for Jam or Mastering The Art Of French Cooking. PS: I'm dying to try making Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon.

Alrightyo, I need to stop dreaming of roasting another something ( I love roasts! ) and walk to the city. Need to post out fabric packs and buy some ramekins for my sister.

Oh and just to let you know, I've updated my online shop and my new zine and 6 more Hellosandwich-inspired fabric packs are now available online! This time there's really only 6 packs left. No more after that! : )

So don't hesitate, pop over to my little shop and buy yourself or a friend a present today! Christmas is coming, so you're allowed to splurge just a little. Heehee!

Alright, time to leave the house!

Cheerios!

xx

A to Z: These are a few of my favourite things!

Hello everyone! Here's a peek at my newest and latest zine! : ) It's a full coloured zine, with 26 pages of my favourite things, while living in Melbourne!

I will be selling it at the City library tomorrow! You see, I've got a little booth set up, as part of Craft Victoria's Craft Hatch! I will be there from 11am - 4pm, along with my trusty booth-setting, adventure seeking partner, Darren!

Along with my 2 other zines, I will also be selling my prints and a few original drawings, and of course, my handbound books! So do drop by! : )

PS: If you're in Melbourne and can't come tomorrow, I will be placing some of my new zines at Sticky Institute and on my online shop soon! : ) I promise to keep you all updated!

xxx

See you tomorrow!

EDIT : These Zines are now available at Sticky institute and on my online shop!

Little Miss Fabric packs! - *All Sold!*

Most of you know how I love fabrics and collect them. I use them to make books, create art works, etc. But I've got way too much fabrics. It's getting out of control.

Recently, I came across this super idea from one of my cute friend, Miss Ebony of Hellosandwich! She had these super cute pre-loved packs! You can buy them online here : )

So this afternoon, I decided to pack some of my favourite fabrics into packs too. All the fabrics come from all over the world. Some from Japan, Singapore, Australia, America, Canada, etc. And they come in all shapes and sizes! They will be great for crafting, sewing, making collages, etc. If you don't sew, you could give this as a little present to someone crafty! :D

So, each pack costs just $14 Aud with free shipping. I'll only be shipping within Australia this time round. So if you would like a pack, do email me! I only have 3 packs available!

Edit:/Oops! no more left! I'll be making more soon, so don't worry! : D

with love,

Dawn xxx

{dawntanwenyi@gmail.com}

My secret weapon!

This looks like a lot of fun so I'm joining in! You see, the thing with me is, I'm quite fickle minded. I don't just have one secret weapon. I have seven! I carry around my water colour palette ( which is now 7 years old, turning 8! ), a size 8 brush, super sharp pen knife, as well as a pair of scissors, an eraser, a mechanical pencil and an Ikea pencil. These are things I use every single day.

When I travel, go for road trips, sometimes I bring them along. I went fishing in Geelong once and I brought my watercolour palette and brush! I know, I'm weird. Haha.

But yes, sometimes when I don't bring them along, I feel a bit emptier, thank goodness I still have my pencils. I bring a pencil and a pen everywhere I go. It's like my second wallet or something.

So there you have it, my not one, but seven secret weapons.

Not so much a secret anymore. : ) What's yours?

PS: And yes, I'm working on a new little drawing!