Lego Lunchbox

This blog has been many things: a journal, where I post pictures of whatever my camera finds interesting; a diary, where I write stories about my everyday life; an inspiration board for all things that pique my interest...  but mainly - a place where I share all the things I create. 

I've been paying a lot of attention to myself for the last couple of months. I wanted (and still want) not only to improve my skills in drawing and designing things, but improve myself in the process as well. I've taken up running. I cook a healthy meal whenever I can (cook meaning I try really hard and fail almost every time but end up eating the food anyway, a little ashamed. Which actually motivates me to do a little better next time). I read a good book before I fall asleep and watch a good movie when I find one. I try to learn something new everyday: a recipe, a new skill, a fun fact, a complicated German saying... sometimes all four things at once. I try to be a better person. Do good, be nice.

Last week I bought myself a lunchbox. I saw it in a children's toy store and fell in love with it immediately: it's a big red shiny Lego brick and it is admittedly the coolest thing in the world. I hadn't used a lunch box in my life. I hadn't brought lunch anywhere. But I knew this might just be my newest hobby. 

And it is.

I now try to prepare myself homemade lunch as often as possible. And since I have the coolest lunchbox in the world, I also want the content to look and taste just as cool. Which keeps me motivated to prepare better, tastier and healthier food. 

I've grown so fond of this idea that I decided to keep track of the things I put into my lunchbox. I promise I'm not transforming Little Birds into a culinary blog. I want to share with you a couple of lunch ideas, maybe a recipe or two that I've invented in the process, and - let's be honest - brag a little about how cool I look in the cafeteria eating lunch out of my Lego brick. And who knows - you might want to buy yourself a lunchbox too and we can all join forces and start a revolution together. In the pursuit of good homemade food. 

Lego Lunchbox today:
Rucola + Spinach Salad: rucola and spinach, black olives, crab sticks, chia seeds, mozzarella.
water (yeah yeah, I had to share a photo of my super high-tech water bottle which non-intentionally matches the colour of my lunchbox. Ok I lied. It was all carefully planned.)
pomegranate seeds for dessert.

Symbols

Оctober has been nice.
Uni has started and I'm having fun attending lectures and writing homework once again. I try to eat more healthily, to run more (all about that - in a detailed post real soon - i promise!), I try to read more and draw more and, of course, learn Illustrator as promised.
Тhis is a set of illustrations I did just for fun, inspired by one of my homework assignments (the things I get inspired by, huh?). I used typographic symbols as distinctive woman features and as little free forms as possible. Let me tell you this: it is highly addictive. Now I want to transform every single thing that exists into a symbol illustration.
And I might just do it.

Enjoy what's left of October and here's a secret: November would be even better. I know it for sure.

Flowers

I have a list about pretty much everything. Some things I check quickly after writing down, others... just take a little bit longer.

Something that has stayed for waaay too long on my "To-learn list" is vector illustration. It is completely different from what I'm used to in digital drawing and to be honest - I've been afraid of it. I've been so afraid of it that it took me a couple of years to get out of my comfort zone (Photoshop) and try new things. Turns out vectors - like every single other thing - aren't that scary at all, once you get to know them. I've been watching tutorials and playing around with tools in Illustrator and I've been enjoying it so much, that I've come up with a resolution: I've given myself three months to learn Illustrator. I say it out loud so that I feel guilty whenever I watch a Regular Show episode instead of another tutorial. I'll keep you updated on my progress and let's hope this flower vase - my very first attempt in vector illustration - will look a lot better in a few months' time.
Some wise words before I leave you for yet another tutorial: don't be afraid to try things. Starting is always the toughest. It gets fun afterwards. ;)

Paper lantern DIY

Here is a fun and quick way to turn your ordinary paper lantern into something much more fun. You only need an hour or two... and your imagination.

There are plenty of ways you could transform a paper lantern. You could apply vinyl stickers, transfer a favourite image using mod-podge or cut different shapes out of tissue paper and glue them on. I chose to draw a simple pattern using poster paint just because I rarely get to use paint and it's always so much fun. 

I started by marking the spacings and drawing light guidelines. Тhis makes the pattern a lot more consistent but it is a little tricky, because a pencil that is too sharp may damage the lantern. Try to find a softer pencil for the job - one with a rounded tip would be perfect.

The colouring is very easy and quick, because the paper from which the lantern is made is super thin and the paint dries off for seconds. I added two, sometimes three coats of paint to achieve a solid colour. 

Because the surface of the paper lantern is a bit wrinkled here and there, it's sometimes nearly impossible to come up with a perfect contour. I used a thicker brush for the colour filling and a thinner one for contouring. Don't get too serious about it, though. We go for pretty, not perfect.

An hour or two later (depending on the complexity of the pattern you have chosen) the basic paper lantern has magically turned into something much more interesting to look at. Play with shapes and colours to create the perfect lantern for your place and most importantly - have fun making it :)

KOI illustration

This illustration is available on my Etsy shop.