Join me at my new blog and a GIVEAWAY!

After three years as Forgotten Fancies, I have decided to move on and start a new creative playground. To celebration this small milestone, I have decided to do a giveaway for anyone who joins me in my new site carmenhui.com. Please click here for more details.

Fancy illustration: red panda

Hope the long weekend is treating you well. Saturday was spent nursing a hangover and finishing up this little fluff ball buddy. Red pandas can be such funny animals, I wonder what they dream about at night.

Desktop fancy: June calendar

Winter in finally upon us. Finally I can look forward to sipping hot cocoa all day long, snuggling in chunky knits with the cat and weekend walks in the brisk winter air. This month, I am planning to make my own sassy librarian blouse from Craftsy, as well as doing some drawings with my newly acquired oil pencils as inspired by Paul White from Semi-Permanent. I am sure I will think of more projects as June progress, but in the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy this month's desktop calendar.

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Desktop fancy: May calendar

Another month has sneak up on us. What have you got planned for May? This month, I am determine to finish my Colette Pastille dress. It is the most difficult dress I've worked with and I have been hearing lots of horror stories regarding the fit. Hopefully, all will go well and something decent will come out of it. Apart from that, I am also working on a new crochet project, contemplating a short weekend day trip and hopefully sort out all our US happy snaps. Geez, lots to do! Hope you enjoy this May calendar. Don't you just love lovebirds?


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Illustration fancy: songbird

Have been really into drawing birds lately. I love seeing the myriads of colours which you wouldn't pick up at first glance. Already on the lookout for another bird to practice my watercolour on. One do wonder when my obsession will end. In the meantime, expect to see more bird illustrations on this blog.

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Desktop fancy: April calendar

Can you believe my last post was in January? Oh, how I have neglected this blog... Many things has happened since. Highlights included an amazing trip to the US as well as being interviewed by the lovely Ciao magazine in their Art Month issue. I do promise I will make a more regular appearance from now on. In the meantime, please enjoy this April desktop calendar. You know the drill, right click and hit download.

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Illustration fancy: new work

Been playing around with lots of new styles and subject matter lately. At the moment, I can't seem to get enough of cute looking girls with animal faces. Thinking of creating a series of the animal girls and maybe turning them into postcards for sale. Do let me know if this is something you would be interested in.

In the meantime, this illustration is available for purchase as a framed print at Sweets Workshop in Summer Hill. Em and John run the sweetest little shop/gallery, so do make a visit if you have a bit of time. I also have a couple of tea towels and a framed Breakfast Line-up available which I think would look lovely in a cute little kitchen. Hope you guys are having a super fun Australia Day and I will leave you with a picture of Miso hanging out with the new print.

Fancy illustration: 365 sketching project update

The 365 sketching project is now well underway. I have to admit, this project is a lot harder than I imagined. Don't get me wrong, LOVE the idea of sitting down and drawing something each day, it is the deciding what to draw that I find challenging. Very often I would search high and low in our apartment for hours just to look for something decent to draw... On a positive note, I am already seeing snippets of how my style is evolving in just 11 days. What started off as detailed pencil drawings has turned into quick watercolour sketches. At the moment, I am content with experimenting with watercolour, but I do wonder what this will lead to.

These are some of my favourite sketches so far. I will be doing an update here every couple of weeks or so. I do however, do a daily update via Instagram and facebook. So look me up if you are interested.

Fancy sewing: Cactus top {part two}

As a result of the over-indulgence on Christmas Day, Boxing Day turned out to be a super productive day in the Fancy headquarter. The sewing fairy must be on my side as this top turned out perfectly. Even though I was using the less than easy to understand BurdaStyle instructions as my guide it only took me less than 3 hours to put together. I love the idea of designing your own fabric and turning it into something which you can love and treasure. This top will no doubt be on high rotation in my summer wardrobe. 

You can read about part one of my cactus top sewing adventure here.

Fancy announcement: Merry Christmas

Wishing all you crazy kids a merry merry Christmas. May your belly be filled with yummy puddings and chocolate coated goodness. Thank you for all your lovely comments throughout the year and I look forward to seeing you all again next year.

Fancy design: Hammer & Hook brand identity

A little while ago the lovely Luke asked if I was interested in doing the brand identity for his craft and jewellery business Hammer & Hook. Being a certified crafty and branding geek, I jumped at the opportunity with no hesitations. For this project, I wanted to play around with the idea of modern and masculine contrasted with the notions of artisanal and warmth. The materials used in his craft is highly important, so it is only appropriate to turn it into a big part of his brand identity. I am always in awe of people start a business to pursue their dreams, so please if you have a minute, drop by Luke's shop and help support all things handmade.

Fancy sewing: Cactus top {part one}

My custom print from Spoonflower arrived the other day. It came a lot quicker than expected, which was a big bonus. The fabric ordered was the organic cotton voile and it is absolutely beautiful. The pattern came out a lot bigger than intended which was totally my fault. I was rushing and didn't read the fine print properly. For future references, unless specified, the default DPI for Spoonflower is 150, so if you were to design your pattern in Illustrator with a 300dpi resolution, your design will come out double the size as your original. 

In this instance however, I would definitely classify this as a happy accident, I love how bold the design end up being, and think it would be great to turn it into a little shift dress or pleated skirt if I have more fabric available.

Since I have only ordered a yard of it, a little top will have to do. This is also the first time I am trying out the BurdaStyle Print at Home patterns. It is a pretty neat concept, you buy the pattern, print the PDF at home and join the pieces of A4 together to create the dress pattern. I don't think it is a good idea for complicated patterns as it uses a lot of paper and can be a pain joining up the different pieces together. But for basic tops such as this one, it is quite convenient. This top consist of two layers, so I am thinking of getting a light blue or lemon cotton voile to go underneath, but will probably change my mind when I visit the fabric shop.

To be honest, I'm not totally sure whether this print will go with this top. What do you think? Do you think I have picked the right design? What would you do with this fabric?

Fancy adventure: Watercolour class {week six}

On Saturday, our watercolour teacher bought some fresh flowers from her garden and we were given the task of painting the flowers freehand. Meaning no pencil marks on paper, just paint as you please. Must admit, I was a bit nervous in the beginning, worrying about the proportion and placement. However, once you have battle away the fear, it was rather enjoyable. Painting this way forces you to really focus on the subject matter and although still unfinished, this painting is by far the best I've done in the six weeks. Am already planning on doing more free hand painting practice during the Christmas period. Here is a close up of what I've done so far.

Fancy illustration: Spiracha sauce

Date acquired: We are never without it

Emotional worth: 2 stars

I'm more of a Tobasco fan, but Mat could not survive a day without Spiracha. It's funny how people can have such a tight emotional attachment with their spices. Some people even take their spice of choice everywhere they go, just in case there is a need for it. I have known people who bring their own chilli flakes to outings and I'm pretty sure I've read an article where this girl has her own miniature version of Spiracha for her handbag. I guess everyone has their own level of addiction. What's yours?

Fancy adventure: Watercolour class {week 4 + 5}

The past two weeks of watercolour class has been on the topic of underwater creatures. Couldn't believe it has taken me a whole class to draw up this little creature. Doing this class has totally re-ignite my love for drawing, I love the intense concentration, and how it places me in a completely different mind frame which I crave. Pretty happy with my watercolour effort too. It is not entirely finished, but not too sure what more I should do to it. Am contemplating on outlining parts of it with black ink. Any thoughts?

Illustration fancy: Cactus print for Spoonflower

The print is finally complete and made it just in time to be sent off to Spoonflower for printing. It looks dramatically different from the original design. I always find the design process quite fascinating, the first option is not often the best, and sometimes an idea can lead you to a totally unexpected outcome. 

I have ordered a yard (just under a metre) of this in cotton voile. I think it will look really cute as a little summery top. I do hope the finished print will look the way I've imagined, can't wait to get it back and share it with you guys. 

Fancy announcement: Spoonflower free shipping day

In case you haven't heard, Spoonflower is having a free shipping day from Thursday 15th to Friday 16th (American time). This is extremely good news as shipping fabric to Australia can be quite costly. For those of you who don't know what Spoonflower is, it is essentially an online printing company where you can upload your own fabric designs and get them printed on different fabrics.

If time permits, I would really like to design a couple of prints and get them printed. I have many ideas, however haven't really had time to work on them yet. Above is all I have so far, not entirely happy with it yet, but I do believe it is very close to completion.

I don't know about you, but I think it is often nice to see other people's sketches before their designs reach fruition. As you can tell, I am quite a messy sketcher. 

Fancy illustration: Korres Watermelon Sunscreen

Date acquired: July 2012

Emotional worth: 3 stars

I have never heard of Korres until a few month ago when I read a post by Michelle from Eat Paint Sniff Glue. Although she was mainly reminiscing about the greatness of their lip butters, I thought I'll venture out and try something a bit different. I have always been lazy when it comes to skincare, particularly when it comes to sunscreen, so when I read that their sunscreen comes with a hint of watermelon scent, the teenager in me knew I have to have it in my possession. How could you say no to a fruity scented product which also has the added benefit of protecting your skin from those nasty sun rays?

I have been using it for a couple of months now, and have to say am pretty impress with this little sun protection in a stick. It has a wonderful fresh watermelon scent which is not too overpowering but just enough to bring a smile to your face every time you use it. It is non-greasy and compact enough to fit into your handbag. Who needs boring chalky sunscreen when you can smell like a watermelon every morning?

Illustration Fancy: Digestive biscuits

Date acquired: whenever I need a biscuit fix

Emotional worth: 4 stars

What's your favourite nanna biscuit? Mine would have to be McVitie's Digestives followed very closely by Arnott's Scotch Fingers. It has the perfect density for dunking into hot milky teas, and is not overly sweet like majority of the biscuits out there. Mat is always making fun of me when I buy them in the supermarkets, calling me an old nanna, but I know he too has a special spot of them but just too shy to admit.

I'm trying a new illustration style by mixing photographic and hand drawn illustration. I think with this style the colouring need to be more pared back and not too detailed. What do you think? Would love to hear your feedback.

Fancy adventure: Watercolour class {week two}

We spent the second week of watercolour class painting pieces of fruit. It was quite therapeutic and I found it very interesting seeing each student's painterly style peeking out just after the second class. We were given instructions on how to build up texture by experimenting with different layers of paint. I am quite happy with the result, but to be honest compare to the others in the group, mine didn't quite look like a piece of watercolour. It doesn't have the translucent quality that I was hoping for, hopefully I'll be able to improve in the next session. The lovely Erin has also recommended the Cotman brand to try out, apparently the paint quality has a lot to do with its translucency. I have already ordered a set from ebay, lets hope that it'll arrive before the end of semester.