Chairity - Arts & Design against Cancer

Have I caught your attention with the above picture? It's a shot I took a few weeks back of actor-deejay Bobby Tonelli as The Thinker. The past few days I have lost count of the number of questions directed to me by clients and friends who have seen the image on newspapers and The Studio Loft's facebook, asking from the innocent "What was it like shooting your first male nude?" to the more cheeky "Did you see it?!" Haha!

I was rather intrigued that of all the four shots I took for this project, it was this one that garnered the most attention, even more so than the other nude shot of Linda Black as Venus. That got me thinking, would there be as much hype if the model was say Moses Lim? (Ok bad visual but you get what I mean.) I doubt it. That's the difference with cancer, whether you are male or female, fat or thin, beautiful or plain, black or white, young or old, there will be no discrimination with this disease. It can happen to you.

Do you know that cancer is the number one killer disease in Singapore? One in four Singaporean dies of cancer.

The Singapore Cancer Society is proud to announce the launch of the inaugural 'Chairity - Arts & Design against Cancer' campaign, an initiative by local design furniture company Back Rest.

It is the first and one-of-a-kind collaborative effort by 30 Singapore-based artists, designers and media personalities who have come together to express their interpretation of cancer using the Louis Armchair as a canvas. Based on the theme of Empathy, Sacrifice, Love, Support and Dedication, each designer tells his/her own cancer story through an exclusive design. Hence every chair is unique. The chairs are available for pledging to the public at an exhibition next month.

Celebrities such as Bobby Tonelli, Linda Black and Angel Teo have also come together to support this arts and design campaign as they front art inspired posters of famous artworks - to engage the public to give thought to and support cancer awareness.

Paula Robinson as The Mona Lisa

Angel Teo as Rosie The Riverter (shot by Zurina)

Bobby Tonelli as The Thinker

Linda Black as The Birth of Venus

Please help in this cause by sharing the details below. Thank you! And if you must know, the answer is no. Of course Bobby was properly covered and in the pose till we photographers were ready to take the shot. What were you thinking? :p

Public Exhibition:

The Market of Artists and Designers (MAAD) – Showcase 35 Chairs

Venue:

red dot museum, 28 Maxwell Road

Date :

Friday, 1st June (One Day Event)

Time:

5pm – Midnight

Donation

SimplyGiving:

http://www.simplygiving.com/Chairity

Give.sg:

https://www.give.sg/TeamGIVE/BackRest/chairity-arts-and-design-against-cancer

or

Send cheque to Singapore Cancer Society and mention Chairity Project

Duration of Pledging

·         Now till End June / subject to availability of chairs

·         Minimum pledge 3.5k

(As Singapore Cancer Society is an approved IPC, your donation minus the cost of the chair, is also eligible for tax exemption.)

To Pledge for Chair and view the catalogue of the commissioned chairs available for pledging

Please contact Vanessa Loh at 6421 5861 / 9799 6664 / vanessa_loh@singaporecancersociety.org.sg

*Chairs subject to availability

A photography special in tribute to all Mothers

Happy Mother's Day to both my mummy and my mee!

Shopping

Most ladies I know would perk up at the word SHOPPING! But not me. Since Dylan was born, I have not been able to lose the baby bulge and I now wear two dress sizes bigger than before. Nothing looks good on me when I am in the fitting room thus shopping has become ZERO fun (hey! I'm sounding like most of the husbands out there). If I do shop, it's for my kids or I'm at the supermarket. Yup! You know you have attained "Aunty" status when you would rather shop for groceries than clothes :D

Anyway, you can imagine my apprehensive excitement when Esprit invited me to go on a shopping spree this Mother's Day with my kids at their Liat Towers store with a personal stylist to boot! Oh wow! Me? They must not have seen me before I thought LOL! And hmmm, I wasn't aware that Esprit has a kids range! You must think I live in a farm far far away but seriously I haven't been shopping, and even when I do, it's all done online.

Ok, so I walked into the store and was greeted and introduced to my Esprit stylist Peiling. I wasn't sure what to expect and tried my best to look trendy (ya right! in my daily shorts and tee!) but who am I kidding! Haha! Thank goodness Peiling was a pleasant girl, wasn't pushy at all and gave me lots of suggestions while I picked out clothes for my sons and myself. She took note of my problem areas (read: 5months pregnant looking tummy and fat arms) and my occupation and selected appropriate outfits for me to try. There were a couple of times when I thought nah, that colour/style wouldn't work on me but she insisted I try it and what do you know? It was lovely on me! I even got myself a jumpsuit which I never thought I could carry off but it worked and that ended up being my favourite of the lot! Yay for Peiling's discerning eye :)

Back when I was of school-going age, Esprit was a brand synonymous with the young. We saved our pocket money for weeks just so to buy that rectangular drawstring bag with the ESPRIT logo on it (oops! now you know how old I am :p). I never thought that now, as a mother of two young children, I would still be able to shop at Esprit! Not only for me, but for the kids as well. Walking around the Liat Towers store, I noticed that Esprit also retails footwear, handbags, bodywear, belts and accessories. So really, you can get an entire outfit (top to toe) all at one stop. For someone who don't really like to shop, that really appeals to me :)

Do stop by an Esprit store the next time you are out shopping and check out their smart, affordable and stylish apparel for the entire family. Yup, they have clothes for daddys too! I'll update in another post pictures of the boys and myself in our Esprit gear but meantime, here are some shots I took during our shopping spree :)

 

 

A Skippy Breakfast

So, how many of you skip breakfast even though we know it's important? *me!* The usual "no time", "nothing to eat", "not hungry" excuses. I am glad to say that I have not passed this habit of skipping breakfast to my children. They do eat, at least drink a glass of milk.

Do you know that eating breakfast will lead to better behaviour in kids? Not hungry = happy kids :) They get higher test scores as they can concentrate better in class with a filled tummy. And this next info will interest us mummies, eating breakfast can help in weight control by regulating caloric intake! We won't get hungry till lunch time - means less snacking. Makes sense!

But there's no time in the morning! Those of you with kids in the morning session, I hear you! Try preparing a handy and easy to eat breakfast to let your child eat along the way. Plan ahead and prepare ingredients the night before and assemble in the morning.

It's always sandwiches! The child groans, even I groan. It's BORING! So avoid repetition. Be creative by preparing different cuisines. It can be asian porridge, a continental breakfast of scrambled eggs and baked beans, roti prata, a slice of banana cake, cereal or oats etc. Some kids find it hard to swallow in the morning, in this case, you can prepare a nutritious beverage such as a fruit smoothie or milk shake.

Ok ok so you have a fussy child. Here are some helpful tips:
1. Set a good example, you eat too!
2. Make sure the food is tasty.
3. Children thrive on routine, serve them their favourite meal a few times a week with some variations.
4. Do not bribe your child, you will run out of ideas and money LOL :D
5. Instead, find a substitute for food your child doesn't like eg. muffin instead of bread.
6. Kids are attracted to colours, offer a variety of food with different colours.
7. Keep offering new foods even if they reject them at first.
8. Keep eating fun by involving the children in food preparation.

Now the last tip really worked on my sons. My younger boy Dylan, who doesn't eat peanut butter at all on it's own, chomped down a couple of these delicious peanut butter cookies which we baked together over the weekend!

Some interesting facts on peanut butter...it is not butter and neither does it contain any! It is actually a spread made from roasted peanuts. Peanut butters are at least 90% peanuts and does not contain any additives such as artificial preservatives. It takes 850 peanuts to make 500g of peanut butter! Peanut butter is an excellent source of protein and dietary fibre, containing healthful unsaturated fats and other vitamins and minerals. One tablespoon of peanut butter = 30g meat protein! Kids need protein for normal growth and development, building and repairing of tissues. So wow! I didn't know all that about peanut butter! I thought it was just a few peanuts mixed with loads of butter! How enlightening :) So peanut butter is good for you and an easy breakfast choice, spread over a slice of wholemeal bread or you can try the two recipes I am sharing with you below.

No more excuses, do try to start your child's day (and yours) with a nutritious breakfast, don't skip it! Have a Skippy breakfast instead :p Here are two peanut butter recipes to start you off. One is the peanut butter cookie *yum yum* and the other is a peanut butter milk shake *double yum*! Enjoy!

This is an extra step I did, to roll the cookie dough in some cinnamon sugar :) 

 

 

 

 

Skippy Classic Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:  Makes about 3 dozens cookies.
1 cup unsalted butter, softened (i used half cup instead)
1 cup Skippy crunchy peanut butter
1 cup granulated castor sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (i used 1 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:                                                      

1          Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars. Beat in eggs.
2          In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into batter.  
            Put batter in refrigerator for 1 hour. 
3          Roll into 1" balls and put on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern. 
4          Bake in a preheated 180°C oven for about 15 minutes or until cookies begin to brown. Do not over-bake.  

Skippy Banana Milk Shake

Ingredients:

1 medium frozen Delmont banana, peeled
4 tbsp Skippy creamy peanut butter
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1 cup chilled fresh milk

Garnishing:  Chopped Nutty Bars  and  chocolate chips or shaves

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in blender.  Cover process until smooth.  

Pour into chilled glasses.  Top with crumbled Nutty Bars and chocolate chips.  Serve and Enjoy!