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Documenting life in Shanghai

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  • hello!
  • Online Courses
  • #the100dayprojects
  • Art Journal Projects
  • Creative Happenings

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  • December Daily,  Documenting Life,  Scrapbook

    December Daily 2018 | Year 10!

    December 31, 2018 / No Comments

    Cannot believe this is the 10th year that I have been doing December Daily! I need to also rearrange my bookshelf to accommodate this latest album. As always, this has been one of the “event” I look forward to every year. Putting all the Christmas-y goodies into an album has been fun. I just love the glittery magic of it all. Anyways, a few things I want to share on what I have found to what has worked for me to be able to finish this within December. I use handwriting as much as possible – I found that sometimes typing out and laying out texts takes more time and…

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    December Daily 2016 | Ready?

    November 30, 2016

    Documenting | December Daily 2014

    December 30, 2014

    December Daily 2016 | Part 2

    February 6, 2017
  • Currents,  Documenting Life,  Scrapbook

    Currently…in October

    October 18, 2018 / No Comments

    The crazy work schedule has kept me away from my blog and posting updates on Instagram has been easier to do. Here’s a recap of the different creative stuff I’ve been doing the past couple months… SEPTEMBER: Typically the busiest time for me with birthdays and first day of school. So glad I managed to include some time to do some paintings, doodles and documenting. I joined at the last minute the #30daysoflist challenge and also an epiphany to combine this with a #30inks30days challenge. The last time I joined the 30 Days of List challenge was probably 4-5 years ago! This time I wanted to just simplify the process and…

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    Artist-in-Residence at Alila Anji

    August 8, 2018

    Join the Adventure!

    August 28, 2022

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    November 23, 2023
  • Art Journals

    #the100daysofnumberedbits Part 4

    August 11, 2018 / No Comments

    This is it! The final installment! And here is how thick it has become! What’s next? catch up with Project Life colour in the sketches I made in Saigon do some more art journaling/collage finish the 30-day watercolour class from CreativeBug We’ll see… watch this space for more stuff. SaveSave  

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  • Art Journals

    #the100daysofnumberedbits Part 3

    July 18, 2018 / No Comments

    So close… the third installment of my #the100dayproject. So love some of the spreads I ended up with. And I have even made a video of my process for #67. Here’s a look. Can’t wait to show you all the last installment. Thank you so much for following!

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    get messy Messy Lists

    Art Journal | Get Messy Season 8: Messy Lists Part 2

    April 26, 2016

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    August 8, 2023
  • Art Journals

    #the100daysofnumberedbits Part 2

    June 4, 2018 / No Comments

    Halfway and somehow I feel like it’s only been not long ago when I started this project… To be honest, all this play has been addicting. I keep getting distracted from doing other stuff and instead just want to keep cutting up papers and painting backgrounds. Acrylics are not easy for me to use as I’ve always been a watercolour fan since my university days, but on this creative journey, it gave me a chance to learn how to tweak it to my needs. So here’s a look at the second quarter of pages… Thank you for reading. SaveSave SaveSave

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    #the100daysofnumberedbits Part 1

    May 17, 2018

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  • Art Journals

    #the100daysofnumberedbits Part 1

    May 17, 2018 / No Comments

    Somehow this project has got me all wrapped up in a good way; I cannot seem to stop once I get started… Just the notion of playing with paper and paint somehow is kind of calming. Everything has been all done intuitively, nothing planned, just whatever I have on hand and what I feel inspired to cut and paste and paint together onto the pages. Thank you for reading. SaveSave

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    watercolour challenge

    #foxandwatercolour Watercolour Challenge: April (Part 2)

    May 3, 2016

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    July 18, 2018
  • Art Journals

    #the100daysofnumberedbits

    April 26, 2018 / No Comments

    We are 22 days in since the start of #the100dayproject this year. In my mind, what I had planned is easy, but got a bit sidetracked with work and now still playing a bit of catch-up. So I thought I’d start this year’s blogpost series with a bit of background. I knew for this year’s project, I wanted to get my hands dirty with paint and glue and play with collages of collected bits and pieces. A bit of art journaling and license to just go and express whatever creative ideas I have. Inspiration stems from these amazing artists: Julie Hamilton, Katie Licht, Molly Anthony and my good friend Vanessa Oliver-Lloyd,…

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    Art Journal | Get Messy Season 8: Messy Lists Part 4

    June 4, 2016

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    February 25, 2022

    MessyMay 2023

    September 8, 2023
  • arlyna Philippines 2014
    Documenting Life,  Scrapbook,  Travel journals

    Postrip Part 2: Philippines Travel Album

    September 15, 2017 / 2 Comments

    This is a 3-part series showcasing the travel albums that are currently on exhibit at the Shanghai Mass Art Gallery (上海群众艺术馆) in Shanghai. You can also read more about this event at the Postcrossing blog. This second post is about the our trip to the Philippines. Originally we were to go to my hometown Tacloban City, but Typhoon Haiyan/ Yolanda happened and we could only get to Manila. So this travel journal documents what we ended up doing during that year’s Winter Break during the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year. This cover is made from acrylic which I ordered from a local online store, cut to a 6×6 inch…

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    Project Life 2021

    June 7, 2022

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  • Documenting Life,  Scrapbook,  Travel journals

    Postrip Part 1: Europe Travel Album

    September 8, 2017 / No Comments

    This is a 3-part series showcasing the travel albums that are currently on exhibit at the Shanghai Mass Art Gallery (上海群众艺术馆) in Shanghai. You can also read more about this event at the Postcrossing blog. This travel album (I can’t exactly call it a journal anymore as it’s so so so thick that I had to make and customize a new album as soon as we returned from the trip!) commemorates our – me and my 2 kids – first big trip together. Yes, this was made back in 2013 but still love leafing thru these pages every time I get a chance. I also just realized that I did…

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    Destination | Sambawan Island

    May 8, 2018

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    March 31, 2017

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  • Sewing adventures

    An HST Quilt for Patricia

    October 1, 2016 / No Comments

    So happy to share the quilt I finished up for my friend, Patricia, last August. This took too long to get started and finished but it when I did finish, I couldn’t help from feeling oh so giddy! Patricia is a very dear friend, our friendship is one I cherish a lot. Her son was in the same class as my kids in a local kindergarten. Somehow the only foreign kids in the class gravitated towards each other! (Don’t know how that happened at their young age!) After her family moved to Hong Kong from Shanghai, we have managed to keep in touch and feel lucky that we still got the chance to have…

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    Creating Art During Quarantine

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    Quilts of 2015

    December 18, 2015
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Latest Instagram Post
Walked around with my friend, Mo, and ended up in one of Shanghai’s most touristy areas yesterday. I think the sheer amount of people suddenly felt overwhelming 😓. We were lucky to find a place to sit, sketch, and chat. 🤦🏽‍♀️ Plus, I broke my pencil ✏️ in half 🫣.

Member of

Shanghai Sketching Groups

Blogposts

  • Oct 15, 2026 Documenting Rome: A Travel Journal Filled with Memories
  • Jul 02, 2026 Travel Journal | Singapore
  • Feb 25, 2026 Embarking on the #100daysofmailcollage
  • Nov 13, 2025 Sketching Rome: Two Sketchbooks, Ten Days, Countless Moments
  • Aug 21, 2025 A Whirlwind of a Summer
© 2025 Arlyna
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