0 Chocolate Mousse

Craving for a not so sweet dessert. In the end, the rack of dark chocolate at the supermarket practically lured me into making this for my family. It actually goes perfectly well with the morning cappuccino ^^.

You can see the recipe here.

Enjoy the chocolaty flavour everyone ^^

- T1 -

0 Penne Alfredo

First variation ^^ :

Second Variation ^^ : With veggies.

Made this for the meal of the day (plat du jour) and another variation of it for the next day. Instead of fettuccine I used penne. Warm, creamy and delicious. ^^

For the recipe, click here.

Enjoy ^^

- T1 -

0 Creativity Spotlight: Ivahona Shop, Antananarivo, Madagascar

Hi everyone ^.^

This is the first post under the category Creativity Spotlight, a category that will feature creative works that we come across both offline and online. It's basically like a mini report and our opinions on the creative works that we have decided to share. 

So without further ado here's the first one by T1 ^.^ 

On the fourth the day in Antananarivo, my family and I went around town to see the main sights. Our first stop was the old train station that has become a museum with small gift shops. It was here, that I came across a small souvenir shop that caught my attention. From the outside it seemed very normal but when I took a look inside, the atmosphere was so pleasant and nice that I wanted to take pictures and share what I've seen. Fortunately, the shop assistant gave me permission to document this beautiful small shop.

The Ivahona shop from the main entrance of the train station.

What I love about this store is how the interior is designed in a clean modern way but with a local and vintage touch. This can be seen from the use of the neat ordered racks and displays but filled with local details such as the woven baskets and bags. 

Aesthetically, this is one of the most pleasant shops I've seen. Everything here is just perfectly balanced. Local, clean, modern but with a vintage feel. Homy. Simple yet stunning. 

Displaying items in the local way.

Mats for hot pans from bottle caps, simply creative! :)

 A balanced combination of wood, natural colours and other accessories brightens up the whole space.

My favourite shot. How putting flowers into a can, can simply brighten your window :)

 What I learnt from this small walk through experience is that with creativity you can always turn something simple into something stunning yet still humble and memorable.


Hope I can do something like this for my own home one day :)


Hope you enjoyed this post, see you next time :) 

0 My Lunch: Cheese Omelette on Toast

Well, actually I wanted to make it into an actual omelette but during the process I changed my mind so hey, why not scramble it a bit :). 

Anyhow, I was inspired by my sister when she told me she made omelette with cheese. Here, I decided to try it myself. Nothing hard here. Firstly, you heat the butter and cheese in a non-stick pan and after it melts you put in the eggs, sliced tomatoes, red and green paprika, a clove of minced garlic, with salt and pepper to taste. A word of caution, use less salt because the butter and cheddar cheese is already salty and stir it up real quick in the pan (if you want to scramble it). After you get the creamy texture, it's ready to be served. To top it off, another tip from my sister, sprinkle a generous amount of oregano.

This makes a warm and fresh dish ^^

Hope you enjoyed this port ^^

- T1 - 

0 Creative Photography with Toys

Green Tea Party ~ by idoru

There's a whole lot of creative fun when it comes to toys and photography. Why? Well, you can make and take so many shots that could either be conceptual or just for fun! =) You could use any type of toy and pose them to different scenes, or whatever occasion that comes to your mind. 

The best thing about this, is you get to share your love for toys! 

What do you need to make a toy scene?

• Any toys you have. 
• A pocket camera/DSLR
•  Photoshop/other enhancement photo programs if you want.
• Ideas + bring them wherever & whenever your heart's desire.   

That's all. The rest is up to your imagination! 

Many pictures speak for themselves, but some others... you can make a photo comic out of them! 

Also...

0 Learning Creatively

As a language teacher, many students of mine have asked me over and over again, "Miss, how can I be able to speak English fluently? What's the secret of being able to learn a foreign language quickly?" Well, like Mr. Ping (Pho's Father) of Kung Fu Panda said, "the secret ingredient is nothing, to make something special you just have to believe it's special." Meaning, that the secret lies in you. It's in your hands. It's up to you to conquer the language or not. This is because, honestly there is no fast track in learning a language. The fastest track is to actually go to the origin of the language itself. Want to learn English the fast way? Well, go to England and stay there for at least 3 months. Interact with native speakers only and I can guarantee you, you will speak English fluently afterwards. Either than this method, you have to self motivate and work hard. Yes, you got to hit the books, dictionaries, thesaurus, idioms, you name it, basically anything that you can get your hands on in terms of language. Why? Because currently there's still no technology of uploading and downloading what you know and how you know to other people's brains ;D. Moreover, you're not living in the actual or native language's environment. You want to learn English but wherever you are you see and hear Indonesian for example? I'll say it again, there's no fast track. It's basically up to YOU ;)

So having this in mind, here I would like to share some tips and tricks when it comes to learning languages. I like to make learning fun and enjoyable. The better you feel about learning, the faster you understand. Therefore, please people, don't make it a burden. It does things to you, trust me.

First thing first, we should be aware of our senses. What I mean by this is our basic human senses; sight, sound, and touch. Let's optimise these senses as much as possible. Here, I usually categorise into 3 learning methods which are the audio, visual, and audio visual.

The Audio

If you remember what people say more compared to any other action then you are an audio learner. Actually, most Indonesians fall into this category believe it or not. I guess listening is still one of the fastest ways to learn. How? Just simply record all of your material on to a cassette tape or mp4 player. You can even make it into a song if you're that creative ;). Seriously, it might take a bit of work at the beginning but in the end, all you have to do is listen. I did this for my GCSE French exams. Did wonders, got that A ;D *no showing off intended at all, just sharing hehe.

The Visual

1 Tomatoes: Fresh Way To Start Your Morning

Looks fresh right? ;)

Tomatoes are in season. Not only that, they're cheaper too. A kilogram of tomatoes currently only costs IDR Rp 4,000.- now. Fresh, cheap and very healthy. I mean, can anything top that people? ;)

So this is what I've been doing in the mornings. Right after you wake up, you know how there's that uncomfortable feeling in your mouth and your dying for something fresh? Well, I finally found a way to get some awesome freshness. How? Tomatoes! Especially when they're put in the fridge. Nothing beats the cold and flesh flavour. 

Basically, all I did was chop the tomatoes up into small pieces, sprinkle a bit of sugar (optional) and voila you have one fresh and tasty snack. If you put in too many tomatoes and you can't finish your dish, you can use the slices of tomatoes as a facial mask where you simply rub the slices on your face, let it dry and afterwards rinse with water.

See how multi-functional tomatoes are? hehe.

Hope you enjoyed this one, try it out ^^

Cheers ^^

- T1 -   

0 Tools n Tips for Papercraft Making (^_^)>"

My current workstation for Papercraft. 

Hello again everyone! 

In this post I'll go over the basic stuff you need if you're going to make Paper Craft. It's fun, simple to do, and hopefully this will help you in the long run. 

Vocaliod Paper craft I did on a tight budget. XP

I'm not the true expert or the crazy paper craft maker, this is just the few basic things you need to get for the basic but with good quality results (especially when you have budget restrictions).  

Other than a PC and a printer I'll give the rundown on the things you'll need and a few helpful tips when making paper craft. 

As you can see in the picture above, I have a Wall-E template already printed out. It'll help me explain things about the tools of how to make paper craft.

Here we go...

0 Hijab Accessorising

Hi everyone, this post is mainly about the essential accessories that you need to style up your hijab and also accessorising your hijab. Since the hair, ears, and neck are covered, what is left to accessorise is the hijab itself. Here, I'm going to share what I and most Muslim women in Indonesia use.

First of all, I guess the most essential accessory is the broche. It comes in all shapes, sizes and colours. You can practically mix and match with any kind. However, I think the must have is the neutral coloured ones or the ones with white studs (the left one in the picture below) or stones in light violet or light beige. After that, you can choose any colour you like. Since I'm obsessed with blue, as you can see, I bought the blue one ;). Here, the broche is usually placed at the front of the hijab near your cheek or shoulder or at the back of the hijab (at the back of your head).

The next type is the chain broche. This type has been a major trend lately in Indonesia. Believe me, it's everywhere! You usually place it at the back of the hijab or at the front near your cheek or on your shoulder. Below is my collection that I bought myself but most I got from my family and friends. :D

Contrast or Match:

Once you've got your accessories, next up is to contrast or match it with your hijab. As stated in the previous post, here, accessorising you hijab is also about C.R.A.P. First of all, you should have the basic colours to work with.

0 C.R.A.P = The Basics of Aesthetics

Don't worry people, C.R.A.P doesn't mean the 'bad' stuff, actually, it is the acronym for Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. Yes, these words are the key essentials to any good or even great design whether it's in art, architecture, photography, design products, graphics, fashion, typography and many more. If you can balance these key elements beautifully you get one great design that's attractive enough to catch your eyes. 

Don't believe me? Well, let's check out some of the examples below:

Contrast:
Contrasting, especially in colours really does make something stand out. You would notice the red petals right away on this picture, right? :)

Source: http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/hot-cold-contrast-1-floriana-barbu.jpg

Repetition:
From the verb repeat, yup, it's about repeating a certain element to give that extra emphasis or wow effect.

0 Hobby to the extreme: Super-sized Paper Craft! 0_o

Hobby to the extreme? Definately. XD

Like many hobby enthusiasts, it's just not as enthusiastic until you take it to the major extreme (Note on how it's in bold letters). How extreme are we saying? I'm saying extreme in size and in some cases to the amount of detail put into their art... and the lengths people go to - to be the very first.   

The best thing as many of us know when you make paper craft is that it's a pretty cheap hobby but you get similar results to an actual figure that you buy in toy stores, or a replica of the desired object. Basically, all you need is a printer, paper, cutting tools (scissors, cutters), tweezers, a ruler, a blunt pin/run out ink pen and pretty much a pc/laptop to print out your templates with. Not that hard, right? 

This one's still small, wait till you see the Super-Sized one!

Well, my friends, here I give you some of the extreme things people do for paper craft.

 Optimus Prime Movie Paper Craft

Paper Prime: "I am Optimus Prime, Leader of the Autobots."

What's better than the big Huge Autobot Commander Optimus Prime himself? Since, you know, he's pricey if you buy him as a toy, why not make him out of paper and welcome him to the family? 

0 Noodle Omelette

Dinner time ^^

The whole noodle omelette :)

Hungry and need something instant but with lots of vegetables. Aha! Noodle omelette! (I know, omelette again hehe).


How to make this? It's pretty much the same as the fusilli omelette recipe but instead you use noodles and more spices like chilli and shallot. You can also add a little bit of oyster sauce and sweet soy sauce for that extra flavour.


Hope you enjoy this one food lovers ^^

0 Fusilli Omelette

Spice this omelettle well and you have a whole meal :)

First of all, I am an egg lover and the omelette's been one of my favourite meals of all time. It's actually my favourite breakfast since I was a child. The smell of the cooked eggs and fresh vegetables will always be fresh in my memory. There I go again exaggerating food hehe.

One night, for dinner, I wanted to cook up something quick and easy. I wasn't looking for something heavy either so I decided to go down the path of the omelette, but with a slight twist. How? By adding fusilli :)

In the end, it turned out great and more than I expected. Not only that it tasted really delicious but also looked pretty because of the twirling fusilli and the colourful vegetables. I guess cuisine is also a work of art. With food, you paint your meal with the colour of your ingredients.

So, my fellow food lovers, try this one out and enjoy your meal ^^

Ingredients:

0 Healthy Bruschetta

Fresh meal for any time of the day :)

Up close and personal :)

First of all, I am not a nutritionist or a dietitian so I don't know how healthy this recipe actually is. Nonetheless, this is one of the freshest dishes ever. No cooking involved, just chopping, slicing and mixing. I've always had a thing for bread and vegetables and after browsing for bruschetta recipes, this is what I came up with. 

Hope you enjoy this one, try out the freshness people ^^

Ingredients:

0 Styling Up Your Hijab

Me, styling it up a bit for my friend's wedding :).

The thing about us, ladies, is that we take ages in preparing for certain events or even daily activities while most men take about only 5 minutes to prepare (I know, the gap between the time differences is pretty huge). Nonetheless, I guess that's the basic nature of us, we just love to beautify things and in the end the time spent was certainly worth it right? ;).

On a daily basis, I'm usually the casual type of person. I don't take much time when preparing to go out. I usually go for the basic blouse, shirt, and the basic hijab style. A little bit of loose powder and a beige or nude colour lipstick with extra moisture (my lips dry easily, it can get kind of annoying and look a bit freaky ;p) to top it off.

So, for my friend's wedding, I decided to style it up a bit. Took the extra step out of my comfort zone. I wasn't sure of what style I was going to try so I searched on my favourite search engines (you know them all right ;)). What I found was more than what I hoped for. Here, I found a Youtube channel from Ms Yuliasih  with lots of styles to choose from. I just love how she makes these easy, simple, yet beautiful modifications. I became her fan instantly hehe.

For the occasion, I chose the one in the video below:

In the end, I didn't have to go to the beauty saloon to prep up for the occasion thanks to this tutorial. I think, trying things out and being able to do them yourself certainly feels much better than paying someone or some people for a service.

So ladies, if you want to style it up or try something different, just go to her channel. There's plenty to choose from. ^^


"Selamat Mencoba" ^^ 
(Good Luck) 
-Yuliasih-


- T1 -

0 Go Typo with Typography! ;)

Typography is an art that is based on typos or what many of us call text.

It's a rather simple and straight forward art than that of the basis on drawing skills. So if you're not good at drawing with a pencil or any other sort of art utensil then this is the art for you. As I said, I can't stress you enough how you only use just text, but can make the cutest, most awesome and even inspirational pictures.

Here's a few I've done:

You can do it Cute ^_^ :

My fav Norton Hear's a Who quote.  

You can do it for Quotes:

One of my fav quotes. 

You can even do it if your a real fan of something: 

All names of the Autobots (cartoons, comics, toys, and heck the movies)

I'm a real Transformers fan. Sue me. =D

So basically, Typography is mostly about positioning and editing letters together to make it into an artistic picture which requires a lot of patience at times but can be really fun + addictive too. If you're feeling bored and don't know what to do, try making something like Typography, it keeps you entertained for hours. :D


Hope you enjoyed this post~!


- T2 -

0 Fulfilling Salad

One whole meal salad :)

Salads are one of the easiest dishes to make. All you have to do is cut, slice, maybe boil or steam a bit here and there and voila you have something to eat. It doesn't require chef talent, just chopping skills and basic logic. Not only that, your body needs veggies so it's pretty much healthy for you.


At most times, salads are normally considered as a light snack or appetizer. Here, a thought came into my mind, "hey, why not make the salad into a whole one stop meal?" It could work I suppose. Kids might like this since most of them are on anti-veggie side.


So, one morning I gave it a go. I only used extra virgin oil and garlic for the main dressing and it was delicious and fulfilling. Fulfilling as in by the end of the meal, my stomach was full but not stuffed. Simply just right.


Here's my recipe and what I did, hope you enjoy this one ^^


Ingredients:

0 Fettucinne Alfredo

Chicken Spaghetti Alfredo for the whole family :)

I think most of the people on this planet has or at least at one time had had a craving for Italian food. With the Pizza Hut franchise going worldwide, nearly everyone in this world has tasted Italian cuisine. Whether it's the genuine recipe or not, the tomato paste, cooked beef or chicken, and melting mozzarella cheese certainly has done things to you. On the whole, Italian cuisine makes you crave for more. 

Rather going to Pizza Hut or Izzi Pizza or even Italy ;D, I went on Youtube on a journey to find Italian recipes so that I can make them myself. Please note that living in a tropical country makes it a bit tricky to actually get the right ingredients. But nonetheless, with extra food obsessed spirit, use of local and imported ingredients  and smart budgeting, the success in the end of being able to make the recipes is one worthwhile experience.

Fettuccine Alfredo is one of my favourite Italian dishes. I just love how the cream and the garlic flavours melt into your mouth. On a cold rainy day, fettuccine alfredo certainly soothes you inside out.

So ladies and gentlemen, this is my journey with fettuccine alfredo :D

0 CFC - Crazy for Cuteness

Small is beautiful especially when it's in cuby and chibi style. I've been browsing a lot on paper craft and so I thought, why not make them too? There are plenty of paper craft templates that you can search and download on the internet. It turns out that doing this activity is a lot of fun and soothing too. The best part is in the end, you get to go crazy over the cuteness. Yup, the figures are so cute that you would go, "aww, so cuteee!"  

Hope you enjoy the cuteness people ^^

-T2-

Indonesian Theme:

Legong Dance

Barong Bali

Kumi Firefox

0 Create, Creative, Creativity

Can we stand out from ordinary? Yes we can, by being creative.

Hi everyone ^^

Welcome to our blog. We are Tiwi and Tyas. We are sisters and we both love creative works. From art, design, music, cuisine, photography, to fashion, our love for creativity is limitless.

Here, we will share things that we have created or done. If you think about it, the word creative has the verb form of create which means that as long as you create you are creative. The more you create, the more creative you are. That's why we believe that you shouldn't be afraid of starting or doing something especially the things that you love to do.

So this is us doing the things that we love to do. We would also be sharing other people's creations and tips on certain categories. 

In all, we hope to share a good variety of creativity.

Hope you enjoy our blog ^^