Saturday, November 30, 2013

DIY painted wall stripes

Hello loves,

I know I know... I'm way past my actual daily post date. Extremely sorry about that, but I just had a lot of going on since it was Thanksgiving and all (mostly studying tho). Hope you all had a lovely break with your loved ones(:

Today i'll be talking about my room!
A few years ago, my friend and I decided to paint both of our rooms together over the summer. We always plan to do something a bit overboard and creative so... why not paint our rooms, right?
Let me tell you though... it was a PAIN. You have to be dedicated and have tons of patience to do it. But honestly, it was a fun experience and i'm glad I got to do it. 

My friend and I were both taking drivers ed classes together over the summer so we made an hourly schedule to paint right after our class (which was 4 hours long). I don't even know how I survived that.
We started painting my friend's room first since she simply wanted to paint her room purple, because it was plain white before. After we were done with hers, we moved onto mine... which was much more complicated since I wanted stripes on two of my walls. Before the stripes, the color I had was baby pink. I started getting bored of the dullness and wanted to add a bit of pop to my room with a bold color and design. I decided to pick dark pink because it would contrast greatly with the baby pink. Once we were finished with my room, it looked amazing! We felt so proud of ourselves for completing such a massive project. Whenever people would come over and see my room, they would automatically assume I got it done. The looks on their faces were priceless when I would tell them that my friend and I did it all by ourselves (no parental help). All in all, it took us only 4 days! 2 days for her and 2 days for me. It was time consuming but it turned out amazing at the end and totally worth our precious summer.

For my stripes, we first started off by using a ruler to measure out the distances between the lines. We used a pencil to put a little line to where we could come back and completely finish the lines from top to bottom. Oh and FYI, the stripes I did on my walls were vertical. We did about 4in for the lines, but it depends on how much thickness you want in your stripes. After using the ruler to draw out the lines, we used blue painter's tape to cover the ceiling, door, closet, windows, bottom borders, and outlets. Then, we went ahead and used the tape to go over the pencil for the lines to separate the stripes. I alternated obviously, so one strip was baby pink and the other was dark pink. Since my room was already painted baby pink, thankfully my work was shortened down and my attention was all on the dark pink. Also, since I only painted two walls it shortened my time as well. Personally, I think that painting stripes around the whole room can make it seem a bit smaller (only because I chose a bold color), so that's why i only stuck to two walls since i had a light color on my other walls. It's a fact that light colors, especially white, make the room look bigger than it usually is. From there, we painted throughout the days and finally finished. Once the paint was dry, I took the tape off and went back to erase some of the dark pencil lines that were left from the beginning.

Funny moments we had while painting: Trying to sing Opera for all the pop songs that were a hit back then, Skyping our friends and acting like freaks (which we already are), Paint fights, Drawing on eachothers shirts, Dancing like maniacs to the songs on the radio, and talking in British accents.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and a great bonding time with one another.
Pictures down below!

Enjoy!
Till next time,
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Much more tape was used!



   
FINISHED! You can see both of my different walls in this picture.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Chi Town (The Windy City)

Hello lovelies, 

I am truly sorry about not posting yesterday. Since today was the last day before Thanksgiving Break, I have been busy trying to finish all my homework so I can just study this whole break. Finals UGH.
WOAH, its break! Finally can get a breather. Hope you all have a wonderful break with your loved ones(:

So, today I was planning on blogging about how I painted my room with the help of my wonderful friend. Sadly, I couldn't find the pictures I took of my room and every step I did.
I promise I will find them by tonight and hopefully blog about it tomorrow, if not, then on Thursday.
Keep checking back for updates!

On to the main topic of the day. Photography!
I visited Chicago last year during Thanksgiving Break and took tons of pictures of the different designs that the buildings had and of course, the beautiful waves of Lake Michigan.
We (as in my parents and I) took the "Architecture River Tour" since I was in love with the architecture there. I wanted to learn some history about the buildings as well, which is why it was a perfect tour to take. If any of you plan on going to Chicago in the future, take this tour! It's an amazing experience and  not time consuming at all. Also, the tour guides were very friendly and they provided delicious baked goods and beverages below the deck, which made the tour even better.The boat ride was approximately an hour long. Not bad at all. I definitely recommend it!


I've included some of my favorite shots that I took on my trip to Chi Town.
Enjoy! Till next time,


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This is my favorite picture that I took out of all of them! Doesn't it kind of look like Venice?
I always wanted to go to Venice.
It's on my bucket list so hopefully.. Fingers crossed!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Sketch #2

Hello lovelies,

Hope you all are having a splendid weekend!
Sorry about not posting yesterday, I was studying throughout the day since finals are near. Keep me in your prayers and good luck to all those who are studying as well.

Today i'm posting one of my favorite sketches.
I did a sketch of a flower with my name written in Arabic near the stem.
It was during the Spring time when I did this sketch, which gave me inspiration by all the flowers my dad and I planted in our garden during that time. The flowers were blooming and it was a beautiful sight to see.

Enjoy!
Till next time,
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Friday, November 22, 2013

Henna

Hey there lovelies,

WOW. Since my last post, I have received tons and tons of views! Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart. It seems as if many of you enjoyed my "Earrings" post the most, which is why today I will be posting another "Fashion" post talking about Henna AKA Mehndi.

What I love most about my culture is the unique art that is involved.
Yes, Henna is one of them. When I was little, I would absolutely hate the smell and look of Henna.
I know I know, what kind of freak hates Henna, right? Well, I just had different opinions back then.
I still don't like too much Henna on my hand, so if you see me post pictures of Henna on my hands or see me at occasions, I won't have it done on both sides of my hand or have too much. I just feel as if my hands can't breath. Don't laugh at me.

Anyways, Henna is usually worn for special occasions such as weddings and religious holidays (mostly on Eid and Diwali). Not only used as body art, Henna is also used as hair dye. Fun fact: It has been used as a cosmetic hair dye for more than 6,000 years! Henna is very popular in Asian and European countries. Now that the US has also been captivated with the beauty of Henna, many designers use it on their models for shoots and runways. For more history and information on Henna, click here.

Below are some pictures I took of the Henna i had done. The first picture is from last year when my friend and I went to a mela (festival) and got them done for Eid. The second one is also at a mela for Eid which was this year. The last picture is from 2 years ago on my cousin's wedding, where my cousins friend did the beautiful design on me.

Enjoy!
Till next time,
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Thursday, November 21, 2013

"Nature" Take 1

Hello lovelies,

Hope you're all having a wonderful day! One more day till the weekend. We can do this.
Referring back to my first post, I said that I would be posting weekly... Well, that's the general idea but since I have tons and tons of things to blog about, I decided to blog daily for now.

I've been working on my blog the whole day today, trying to make it more appealing.
Hope you all love the background I put together and my new signature(:
Give me some feedback on them!

Today I am posting a few pictures that I took around our garden and neighborhood pond.
I started taking interest in photography 4 years back. Back then I would always grab my camera wherever I would go and take pictures of things that would catch my eye. Recently, I haven't been doing that since I started college and barely have time. Hopefully in the near future, i'm planning on taking a photography class that will help me establish my love for it and build a solid ground around the different techniques that are used. Then, I could maybe even take it to a whole new level and start by doing Senior Shoots, Events, Personal, etc.

Enjoy!
Till next time,
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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Sketch #1

Hello lovelies,

Hope you all are having a good week! The weekend is almost here. FINALLY. T-2 days(:
I'll start off by thanking all my viewers who read my first two posts. I get so excited watching the views rise every day. Thank you tons, I really appreciate it.

Anyways, this post is regarding the sketches I do in my spare time. This specific piece was one of my first sketches in my sketch book. Nothing too special, but I was obsessed with kittens at that time (which was 3 years ago). I'll be posting more of my sketches once I see how many views this one gets.

Enjoy!

~M.A.





Monday, November 18, 2013

New Earrings!



Hey Guys! Hope you all are having a wonderful start to the week.
Now, lets talk earrings.

These lovely earrings are called "Boho Queen Cutout Earrings." I bought them from Forever21 last month and they are still in good condition (since i wore them a lot on different occasions). Also, they are not pricey at all, only $4.80. I was originally looking for silver earrings but came across these in the store and fell in love. Shockingly, these were my first pair of big round shaped earrings because I don't usually wear anything like this. Since these babies came into my life, I am in love with big earrings. These specific one's don't weigh much either. I received tons and tons of compliments on these.

As you can see in the picture on the top right, I wore them with my hair up in a simply pony tail. Big earrings ALWAYS look good when you either have a bun or simple/high pony tail.



Since I fell in love with my first pair of big earrings, I went back to Forever21 today and bought a pair of some simple hoops along with studded earrings. Guess how much? $4.80 once again! Amazing, I know. The hoop earrings have a twisted design to it and are very light. 

The earrings in the middle are a big trend now a days. They're called "spike stud earrings." I've been seeing girls wearing them with their hair up (especially buns) and it looks amazing! I'm not a big fan of spike studs because I thought they looked trashy, but when I saw others wearing them with dresses and heels, it gave off a classy vibe to it with a touch of punk. The spike studs I bought have silver rhinestones around them which gives them a bold and elegant look. 

The earrings on the top are just simple studs that can go with an every day look. They're easy to carry and look cute as well. I wear these most of the time because they are less time consuming easy to handle.



Hope you all enjoyed!
Till next time lovelies,

~M.A.