turnip

"Aurelia, you don’t watch football?!?"

This question is typically followed by looks and gasps of astonishment when asked by American friends.

And it reminds me of a similar question asked by Canadian friends:

"Aurelia, you don’t watch hockey?!?"

And yet another similar question asked by South East Asian friends:

"Aurelia, you don’t watch Sepak Takraw?!?"

Sepak Takraw, by the way, in case you don’t know…

… is a type of volleyball that’s played with the feet instead of the hands… which means that you have to do tons of somersaults and backflips in the air in order to spike the ball with your feet… which also means that it’s more like a combination of acrobatics + volleyball + soccer.

I don’t really watch it.

But my hubby thinks those Sepak Takraw players are pretty cool.

I agree.

The only sport I like to watch?

Synchronized Swimming!

Because those swimmers are all so artistic!

Well, with the artistry in my blood, it’s natural that I’m drawn to more artistic forms of sport.

Other things I enjoy watching, but aren’t really sports, include stuff like:

– Ice Sculpting
– Sand Castle Sculpting
– and even… Snowman Building!

Which brings me to today’s creation…

I’ve been drawing a lot of wreaths recently.

Especially Christmas wreaths.

But then, I thought I’d try something different and do some story-telling in my designs… combined with the subtle art of… Snowman Building!

If you’re a fan of my frames, and…

… you also like illustrated stories, and…

… you like building snowmen too, and…

… you’re getting ready to fill your store with Christmas art, just like most of my fans are right now, then…

… this new illustrated window frame might be something you’d like.

Check it out here, and let me know what you think of this new experiment!

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"Synchronized Storyteller"

I’ve been having a lot of fun.

On Instagram.

In a previous letter, I mentioned how I was starting a new project. And featuring our fans’ amazing masterpieces using our illustrations.

I then mentioned how you could (potentially, if you’re lucky) get your artwork featured too, if you used the #turnipco tag, or even just tagged me on Instagram. But I wasn’t expecting to be so blown away by all the beautiful artwork I’ve been seeing!

Fans have been sharing the most incredible ways of using my illustrations…

… from pyrography (wood burning art)…

… to embroidery…

… to wood scrollsawing…

… to even making key chains!

Well, this project is just starting off.

More lovely stuff is on the way. 🙂

And I’m SO looking forward to seeing more.

You know:

Some time back, I received some messages from fans letting me know that Etsy’s review feature was broken.

Normally…

… Etsy allows you to upload a photo of your artwork that you create with our designs when you post your review.

But for a lot of fans, they told me that the feature was broken.

And that they couldn’t upload their photos.

Which bothered me a lot.

Because I knew I was missing out on seeing a lot of lovely art. And fans were missing out on sharing their lovely artwork too.

Well, problem solved! 🙂

I hope this continues working great.

If you haven’t checked out all the lovelies from our fans so far yet, just gently massage your eyeballs and bring them over to this direction here.

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"Curator Of Fine Art"

P.S. Instagram isn’t the only thing I’ve been having fun with.

More fun just released over yonder here…

Growing up, I did have some perverse tendencies.

For one:

Whenever I gifted someone a present…

… whether it be for their birthday…

… or Christmas…

… or some other events…

… I liked to see them working for it. 🙂

After buying my gift, putting it in a nice little present box, and wrapping it up finely… I would often take the packaged gift, and then… put it in another bigger box, and… wrap that up too!

And then I would find another even bigger box.

And put the packaged gift into that even bigger box.

And continue wrapping it up again.

You get the picture.

I like to make my gifts as hard to open as possible. Because it’s fun to imagine the look on people’s faces when they try to open my gifts. It gives me inspiration for creating my art. He he.

Around 5 to 10 layers of boxes and packaging is normally my ideal range.

Boxes within boxes within boxes.

So…

Why am I telling you this?

Well, I just recently created a new packaged present box. Just for you.

But unlike the ones I normally gift my family and friends, this one isn’t going to be gifted to you, so you don’t have to worry about me pranking you and imagining as you pull your hair out while opening it.

I will have a little less enjoyment, no doubt.

But, no.

No prank here.

This is something a lot easier for you to open and use, and you’ll enjoy using it too.

If this sounds like fun, and you can’t wait to get your hands on it, just clicky here to feast your eyes on my new creation…

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"Santa’s Most Blacklisted Bunny"

I’m looking outside my window right now.

Sitting in my home studio at Noble Bunny Manor. With the window open. I see the stretches of forest before me. I hear the birds singing. And see the squirrels climbing.

But I also see that it’s about to rain soon.

And that means I can’t hang my clothes outside to dry today.

Oh, bother…

While a lot of the world is doing their laundry using washing machines and tumble dryers, I’m still sticking to the old time ways of washing my clothes by hand right after I shower.

And hanging out the clothes to dry too.

A little physical labor is good for the body and mind.

One of my mentors, who is a farmer, once said:

"In the modern world, people keep looking for ways to get rid of their work. They make machines to do everything for them. But the end result is that they have nothing left to do. And they sit around bored all day. You don’t want to be too bored. Because then, you start doing dumb stuff."

And I believe in many ways, that’s true.

Now that I think of it, it’s hard for me to find time to even BE bored. Which I’m grateful for.

Practicing and creating art takes up huge chunks of my day.

Doing the housework takes up another chunk.

And reading takes up yet another chunk.

I enjoy what I do everyday, and every moment of my day. But sometimes I wish I had more hours in the day so I could enjoy even more stuff. Because there’s still a lot of hobbies that I don’t have enough time to do regularly.

What hobbies, you ask?

Well, for one, sewing.

Hand sewing. Which I love. And find relaxing.

But haven’t really had a lot of time to do recently.

In fact, sitting on my ironing board right now is a dress that I hand-stitched all by myself, one stitch at a time. With my bare paws and string and needle. Without any sewing machines or any robotics whatsoever.

It isn’t easy.

But it is meditative. And relaxing. 🙂

And I know a lot of my fans who enjoy a little stitch-work too.

So I’ve just put out a lovely little design you can use for your Sewing Room. You can even use it to make a sewing uniform for yourself to wear everytime you start stitching. 😉

Don’t really do sewing?

No worries.

It can be used to make a great gift for those who do.

If the thought of any of that excites you, then all you gotta do is click here to check it out now…

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"I Wish I Had 8 Hands"

I’ve been spending the last few nights watching…

… survival videos on YouTube!

In preparation for the worst-case scenario where Etsy doesn’t like me anymore and shuts my Art Store down (maybe because of something I said that used to be normal but turned offensive overnight after a new movie came out), and my career as an artist suddenly takes a turn for the worse, and I get tossed out onto the streets, having to draw and beg for pennies and scraps.

Hey, you never know…

Artists always seem to have a tendency to go starving for some reason or other.

For example:

Sometime back I read Vincent Van Gogh’s biography.

He spent most of his career starving. And by starving, I literally mean that he had no food to eat. What little money he did have (which his brother kindly sent him), he used to buy art supplies rather than food. And he numbed his hunger pangs by painting.

Eventually, he starved so badly… was so malnourished… and on top of that also struck bad by heat stroke… that…

… he did some terrible things to himself.

Things that I won’t mention here.

Because all my letters are rated PG.

But:

What would I do if I were in a situation like Van Gogh and only had $1 a day to survive on?

Some stuff I learned from watching YouTube videos:

– You need to be good at foraging for wild fruits and vegetables.

Unfortunately, I’m ashamed to say that… even though I’m a herbalist, foraging is not one of my strong points. I’ll have to work on that…

– If you live next to the beach, you can go hunting for live oysters.

Unfortunately, I’m mostly vegan. As most bunnies are. But I guess you can’t be picky if you’re starving.

– If you hang around fast food places, or even food courts, you’ll always find extra condiment packages on the table that people didn’t use.

Good for using with whatever you’re cooking. Extra flavor.

– You can get reduced price, stale bread for pennies at a local supermarket.

You can also can get tiny portions of vegetables (like a single tiny mushroom!) for pennies. Get lots of those different tiny produce items, and you can make coleslaw. Or soup.

– Some coffee cups people litter on the ground have stickers.

And if you collect 6 stickers you can get free coffee at McDonalds. And if you give the lady at the counter a sweet enough smile, she might even give you some free butter.

I think I’m prepared enough now for any worst-case "starving artist" scenarios in case they ever pop-up.

Hmm…

But now that I think of it…

I don’t really need to do all this stuff. Do I?

Even if I lose my store. And my business. And everything else…

… I still have…

… my greatest asset…

… which is my existing stock of artwork.

And unlike the typical artwork that can only be hung on a wall, with my digitalized art, I can always take them and:

– Put it on T-shirts and Mugs and sell them for a profit. Nowadays, you can even use Print on Demand sites that do it for you, so you don’t have to keep any inventory or do any manual labor.

– Learn to scroll saw. Or carve wood. So I can carve my designs on wooden blocks and turn them into signs. And offer that as a service to make money.

– I could always use my art as a template for an embroidery piece. And sell that too.

– I could probably even print my art on greeting cards and sell those for a profit.

Hmm… the possibilities are endless.

Well…

It’s good to know that I have some assets that I can fall back on in an emergency.

And you know what?

As long as you have my art, you have an asset that you can use to do all that too.

So you don’t have to starve on the streets when disaster hits.

Or have to learn how to forage or fish for food.

Life’s good!

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"Artist Turned Survivalist"

I’ve been doing some weird stuff recently.

For example:

On Instagram, you may or may not have noticed that sometimes I just spontaneously burst out into poetry on the fly. And so, you may be scrolling through your Instagram feed, and all of a sudden, you see some rhymin’ from Aurelia, and you start to think…

"Uhh… Say what?"

Yeah.

I know I’m weird. But I’m supposed to be weird.

I’m an artist.

But bear with me. There is method to my madness.

Some time back:

I was watching a recording of a retirement seminar given by one of the world’s top writers.

In the seminar, he decided to share all his top secrets for becoming one of the greatest of writers.

One of the biggest secrets I learned?

Be an artist. Not an athlete.

While the athlete peaks at a certain age because of the physicality of his profession (and so the never-ending mad scramble to achieve as much as possible before they hit their prime), the artist doesn’t have this problem.

As artists, we are athletes of the mind.

We don’t have to care about the prime of our physical bodies passing us by.

So all we really have to do is to keep sharpening our minds while not putting too much stress on our bodies. Theoretically speaking, the mind doesn’t really have a peak. Which is probably why the saying goes… with age comes wisdom.

This also means that…

… as long as we keep honing our minds daily…

… and take proper care in maintaining our bodies…

… the older we get…

… the more mentally amazing we become…

… and the more incredible our art becomes!

In other words:

If you’re in any creative profession, don’t try to rush things. You don’t need to. Take your time. Relax more. Rest more. Spend more time daily working out. Mentally and physically. And just have more fun.

We don’t need to burn ourselves out at both ends.

Because we don’t peak at a young age like athletes.

As long as we keep improving, the older we get, the more powerful our minds get, and so does our art.

One of the things I do to improve my mind daily?

Spontaneously bursting out into poem.

Sometimes even song.

Other weird things I do in an effort to improve my mind:

– I always eat and brush my teeth with my non-dominant hand (left hand, since I’m a rightie).
– I spend time practicing and writing out positive affirmations in cursive everyday (helps direct my focus while building my brain, aka homunculus theory).
– I like to fall asleep to the sound of Christmas music (hey, it helps me relax and I just love Christmas).

I guess I’ll stop here.

If I share anymore, I’ll REALLY start to get embarrassed…

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"Weird But Wonderful"

P.S. A little random poem from me today:

"A fishin’ I will go.
Because of how it relaxes me so.
But skies are gray.
And the storm doth stay.
So inside I play.
Drawing about fishing today.
To the store I now add this.
For those who would reminisce.
About a fishin’ day gone by.
Missed out because of dark skies…"

Making money is Art. Working is Art. And good business is the best Art."
– Andy Warhol

When I was a kid, one of my relatives was an amazing baker.

She’d often bake all sorts of cakes, cookies, and tons of other pastries for us and the rest of the family. And her baked goods were uber delicious!

One day:

She decided to start her own business. Making cakes for birthdays and other events.

I still remember her first order.

It was from one of her friends.

This friend had a kid whose birthday was coming up soon.

And so…

She ordered a delicious chocolate birthday cake. Just for the event.

My relative was delighted!

And she got down to working. Preparing to make a delicious cake, like all the others she was known for. And soon, as the day approached, the cake was done.

But it wasn’t over yet.

There was one more thing to do.

Before she delivered the cake, she still had to…

… decorate it.

I still remember I was in her kitchen at that time. All of us there suddenly had blank looks on our faces as we stared at the almost-finished cake on the counter.

Uhh…

How do you decorate a cake?

Turns out that my relative had always been making delicious-to-eat cakes. But she’d never actually had to decorate them before. Now that this was the first time, she’d never thought about what she’d do.

It’s just decorating a cake?

Couldn’t be that hard, right?

A short while later, out came the whipping cream.

And:

With an unsteady and untrained hand, she made a really unsightly-looking "Happy Birthday" squiggle across the top of the cake that was hardly legible, along with a couple of hearts.

To be honest…

… it was hard to look at.

But the cake was delicious. And that’s more important right?

Well, shortly after… the cake was delivered to the client. We left right after dropping it off. My relative had a smile on her face. She didn’t think that the design really mattered. But in the car, I couldn’t stop imagining the look on the kid’s face once she’d open the box and saw what her Birthday Cake actually looked like.

Yeah, it was a delicious cake. For sure.

But:

That’s not really what most children look for in a cake, is it?

They want it to look fancy. Cute at least. And maybe even get a gasp or two from their friends at the party.

Needless to say:

My relative’s friend never ordered another birthday cake again.

And the cake business…

… rather quickly came to a halt.

So it is for most businesses out there.

There are so many well-meaning business-owners with a great product or even a great service. But then, they underestimate the importance of having great design and packaging to top it all off. And they try their luck at doing it themselves with their unsteady hands.

The end result?

Their customers come once for a taste…

… and…

… they never come back again.

(Some kids even end up getting scarred for life in the process too.)

And while there are businesses out there where looks don’t matter at all, and no matter how ugly your goods are customers couldn’t care less about how it’s packaged and only care about the end result…

… those businesses are a rather… tiny… minority.

But if you’re not in that minority?

And you don’t wanna risk scaring all the kids away with an unsteady hand and watch as your customers never come back?

No worries.

As always, I’ve got your back.

All you gotta do is drop by anytime… 😉

Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"The Steady-Pawed Princess"