Last month we visited the Chilli Festival for the first time. It was quite a fun affair with rows of stalls selling chilli plants and chilli infused food like chilli sauces, chilli wine and chilli beer.

We bought some spicy condiments and a box of very fresh and hot mixed chillies. In the box were some Bhut Jolokias, Fatalii, Morugas and even the fiery Trinidad Scorpion!

I was really inspired after our day out to make my own chilli jam!

Chilli Jam Recipe (makes 1 jar)

1kg ripe tomatoes
250g caster sugar
6 hot chillies, sliced
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
3 tbs fresh lemon juice
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp cranberry sauce
2 tbs fish sauce

Firstly, peel the skins off the tomatoes and chop them up. Place the tomatoes and sugar in a saucepan, cover and leave at room temperature overnight.

Add the rest of the ingredients into the saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat and let it simmer for 1 or 2 hours until the jam thickens. Don’t worry if your jam seems watery in the beginning. As you cook it longer, it will gradually start to get thicker. Adjust the taste and chilli heat to your desire.

Let the jam sit in the saucepan, in a cool spot for 5 minutes before pouring it into a sterilised jar.

This sweet chilli jam makes a lovely spread on sandwiches and crackers, served with cold cuts. Enjoy!

Another horoscope print that I worked on this weekend:)

A bit about Taurus Mo:
She is sweet, loving and enjoys showing affection to those around her. Whilst she may be known for her stubborn streak and strong willed nature, deep down a Taurus Mo is a confident child, determined to act upon her hearts desire!

I thought you might like to see the insides of our moleskine sketchbooks when they are all opened up:)

As the sketchbooks travel around, the pages gets filled up with drawings and paintings. I recently completed two books and have another 3 books to paint. I feel like doing something a little different with my contributions this time. Stay tuned.

Good Moly! A stack of moleskine sketchbooks arrived this week from Olivier and it prompted me to work on the Moleskine Sketchbook Exchange this weekend.

First off, Jen’s book. Jen’s moleskine theme is “Pretend” and even though it sounded fun and simple, I couldn’t come up with any decent ideas!

And while thinking hard, I was imagining myself in a different place (I know, so bad of me!). I imagined if I could be anywhere right now, I would love to be sitting in a room with a pretty view. Before I knew it, I was painting my ‘pretend’ window.

A couple more leaves later (and a cat)…

I finished the piece with an Emily Dickinson poem. I think it’s a lovely poem that describes the first blush of the day. I hope you like it Jen!

Dawn
When night is almost done,
And sunrise grows so near
That we can touch the spaces,
It’s time to smooth the hair

And get the dimples ready,
And wonder we could care
For that old faded midnight
That frightened but an hour.

Some snaps from our Sprocket Rocket. I really love this camera. Sometimes I forget how wide the lenses are!

Hay stacks and blue skies in South West Kulin

We spent most of our time filming on this stretch of highway for the Tin Horse Highway documentary.

A picnic at Lake Leschenaultia

Us at Lake Leschenaultia

Late nights at Richard’s gig. He’s on the far right.

Film stock used: Fujicolour Superia 200

My Matilda painting is finished:)

A freshly brewed Billy tea with a Coolibah tree steaming out of the teacup. I also managed to fit in a jumbuck (sheep). I hope you like it Ewian, I had fun working on your Waltzing Matilda theme.

For those who don’t know, Waltzing Matilda is a famous bush song in Australia. It’s also been referred to as the unofficial national anthem of Australia.

Ok, moving onto my next moleskine book, which belongs to Jennifer from Germany. Stay tuned!

Quite a few exciting projects going on this year! Our Moleskine Sketchbook Exchange has picked up momentum and I’m really excited to see my moleskin book travelling to various countries. Check out the beautiful flying man that Jan has painted on my moleskine and the wonderful flying mushroom monsters that Em has added on my book.

When I posted off my moleskine book, I realised that I didn’t give a theme to my book but amazingly enough everyone else and me included (unconsciously) have incorporated a flying/floating theme to my book. I really like the idea!

Recently I received two moleskine books. I’m working on Ewian’s book at the moment. Her theme is “Waltzing Matilda”. I listened to the song and picked up a few key elements to draw. A teacup filled with Billy tea and a steamy illusion of the Coolibah tree. As I’m typing this…I realised I probably should have painted a jumbuck instead of a rabbit in the cup!! Argh!

I’ll share pictures when I’m done with my Matilda painting!

My Horoscope project continues and I’ve finished Leo Mo. I hope you like her:)

A bit about Leo Mo:
She is warmhearted and charismatic, making her the social butterfly amongst her friends. Never one to shy away from adventure, she loves seeking new challenges and risks. Others may find her exuberant energy a little intimidating but you can always expect a Leo Mo to be led by her adventurous spirit!

While doing some spring cleaning today, I came across this May issue of I.M magazine.

There’s a lovely write up of my business in here and it was at the time when I had just launched my wearable art collection. An ex colleagues of mine from the advertising industry gave me this magazine. It turned out that she had just started her new job at the magazine (she designed the cover), and she was surprised to see my work while putting the magazine together. What a happy coincidence!

Thanks I.M for the nice feature!

Before I start afresh for the new year, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing 2011 with me! Thanks for your continued friendship and your comments on my blog. Also thanks for your support and generosity in my online shop and art making! I’m so blessed!! THANK YOU!

So I thought 2010 was awesome, 2011 was more than awesome!

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary

We went to Europe for our honeymoon…we spent some time with my parents and richard’s family.

I met up with one of my Little Mo customers in Paris! The lovely Nathalie and I ate macarons and sweet parisian treats together.

I became an aunt for the second time to my most adorable nephew. His name is Cameron and his older brother is Tristan

Little Mo and Friends turned 3 and I’m so grateful to all of my customers!

I expanded my Little Mo and Friends collection

I turned 30!! (And had 3 birthday parties, one in Australia and two in Malaysia with my family and friends!)

I opened up two pop-up shops with my friends, it was so fun!

I bought a Diana Mini and crazily enough won a lomography competition and won a new Diana F+ kit!

I had some lovely write ups this year but being in a newspaper was really nice!

I met new friends online and through Instagram (I’m so addicted to this app)

I cooked Spaetzle for the first time on Richard’s 30th birthday

and….I now own a Black Forest Cuckoo Clock!!

So yes, it was a really good year! I think the day after I celebrated my 30th birthday, I told myself I was going to embrace life wholeheartedly, whatever the ups and downs. I will draw and love passionately, I will laugh with my family and friends and I will make more Little Mo goodies! There is also a quote near my desk that says, “Live your life with purpose”…which I will try to remind myself from time to time.

Happy new year everyone, may it be filled with lots of creativity, love and dreams! xoxo

P.S: The thank you cards above is handmade by my friend, Allana. You can get your own vintage fabric cards in her shop.