Author Archives: Gizelle Faye Creative Studio

Hi, my name is Gizelle Faye. I am an artist, florist, stylist, calligrapher, letterer, mum, and wife to Harry. I am a bohemian risk-taker who fell in love with an old soul. Three months before our wedding in 2012, I went cuckoo and left my corporate job to pursue my dreams and founded Cuckoo Cloud Concepts. For about a decade, I was the creative director of Cuckoo Cloud Concepts, dreaming up unforgettable and picture-perfect moments from a tropical island called Cebu. I specialized and honed my skills in photo shoot styling, product styling, floristry, calligraphy, and lettering. During the pandemic, I rediscovered my love for painting amidst the dark times. The universe proved a lot more cuckoo than me and sent me and my family on a journey that will find us in Camden, New South Wales. But I vow to always bloom where I am planted. Today, in this new city, I host art workshops and offer social media content styling and creation, and other creative services for small businesses. Here, you will find an archive of my paintings and other works of art inspired by nature, scenes, architecture, and BTS, as well as art events I run in different venues in Sydney.

the beach that’s a block away

this is only one of a few things that i’ll miss this holy week. this holy week, aside from attending church, i’d rather be:

in sindangan zamboanga del norte, in my mom’s hometown, to enjoy the provincial life — eating diwit and mangoes with bagoong (spicy shrimp paste), binignit. listening to michael buble, diana krall and nora jones while reading a book. walking to the beach to watch the most beautiful sunset. thrifting on the plaza (town park) displays and in the local market. eating grilled oysters while decorating the carro for jesus’ resurrection. laughing my heart out with mom, aunts, uncles and cousins. taking a side-trip to dumaguete and walk in the boulevard for a bit while eating street food — tempura and balot.

watch a tele-marathon with my little sister while munching on popcorn and ngohiong. this is from days of watching seventh heaven marathons from holy thursday to black saturday with my little sister. waking up whenever i want to. visiting 7 churches with my sister and dad on holy thursday or good friday.

or be in bantayan island and be a beach bum for four whole days. sleep in a tent amidst all the other beach bums. line up for an outdoor shower and brush my teeth on a deep well. sleep with sand on our toes. eat chicken as hard to eat as rubber. stare at the stars in the darkness after dinner. wash my hands with seawater. rent a motorcycle and tour the island. apply henna tattoo due to boredom in the afternoons. go home unrecognizable by my dad because i have gone too dark with extreme sunburn. LOL.

instead

i am working my ass off this black saturday. working on a weekend. and holy week at that. damn.

black star-printed dress – thrifted

thin white belt – props

white studded flats – so fab (a gift from lil’ sis)

black over-sized bag – mom’s

black star twined necklace – props

blue sunnies – thrifted at carbon

what dreams may come

if i have too many pictures, that means harry is taking the photos and he tends to just click away. if i’m too happy in them, that means he made me laugh and there is also a possibility that i got annoyed at him right after the shoot (or vice versa) — this explains the last photo. LOL.

as a kid, i’ve always had bizarre dreams. not really nightmares (i do get them sometimes) but dreams that are beyond my imagination if i’m wide awake. most of my dreams growing up would entail me flying, swinging or being chased by someone i don’t know. sometimes my dreams would include people in my lives in the most unusual setting (like my family and i getting chased by a humongous gorilla and i have big black wings). at times, my dream would be of strangers i haven’t met before in my life. often times, i’d wake up feeling bothered or shaken but could not remember a thing. the worst dreams are those where a loved one is hurt and i wake up catching my breath, with tears in my eyes.

it has been suggested that i should write a story about my dreams as most great stories come from them. but i don’t know if i want to solidify them in paper. as of now, i don’t sleep with the lights off and i have learned to avoid movies or books with horror, bizarre suspense or violence. i am, however, still drawn to children’s fiction, gothic fiction, absurdist fiction or steampunk genre. so i guess my bizarre dreams will never end.

how about you? how have you been sleeping?

floral top – thrifted

mauve blazer – linea italia

skinny jeans – chillypapa

black suede peep-toe booties – celine (a gift from harry!)

dog tag necklace – custom-made

work watch – swatch

sunnies – thrifted at carbon

what is normal anyway?

the other day, i posted on facebook that i’m weirded out and i don’t know why. somebody joked, “it’s because you’re a little weird…” which should have been an insult for somebody else but really a compliment for me. you see, i don’t mind being weird just as long as i stand out and am not the same as anyone else. i was born a middle child — 8 years apart from my older sister, charm and 2 years apart from my little sister, aimee. being expected to obey my a-te (big sister) and give chances to aimee, i was forced to think on my own and think of ways to be different from them. so while charm was enjoying her high school life and aimee was outside playing with the kids, i read books and played with my stuffed toys. after school, when i didn’t like to stay and play with friends, i’d go home directly and watch ‘captain planet’ and ‘johnny quest’ on cartoon network. i’d write on my diary and draw clothes. my bed and my room was basically a haven for me. and since i didn’t have anyone else to look up to but my a-te, i listened to the same music she listened to as well. so in 4th grade, while everyone else was into disney songs, i was listening to madonna’s bedtime stories and watching reality bites with winona ryder and ethan hawke (loved that movie!). don’t get me wrong, i was still a typical kid most of the time, but i have always loved to be wrapped up in my own world. so now, everywhere i go, i can plug into my ipod and just while the world away with my music.

gizelle is weird. thank you. normal is ~~boring~~.

striped tee – big sister’s closet

grey pencil skirt – thrifted for only P15 ($0.03)

black strappy heels – so fab

long watch necklace – hk gift shop

work watch – swatch

sunnies – thrifted at carbon

inside my oversized bag

i’ve been tagged by cassiopeia to show what’s inside my bag.

i’ve always loved this kind of feature in magazines — as a kid growing up with seventeen mag and now, i’m living by preview magazine (a local fashion magazine that can very well compete with international ones).

in my favorite grey oversized bag are (clockwise):

a notebook with a tin cover — a gift from a very close friend for christmas
my trusty ol’ ipod classic — i am a music fanatic and have about 4000+ songs on my list (so you can see how an ipod touch or nano won’t do for me)
my sony erricson walkman phone w705 — this is a recent purchase from smart as i already turned 18 months with them. always an avid fan of SE phones. the software just don’t have any hang-ups
my samsung corby — a free phone from sun (another phone carrier). for some who don’t know, sun offers unlimited sun-to-sun text and call…perfect if you’re in a relationship. LOL.
black xoxo wallet — also contains cards, id’s, money (of course!) and receipts that i unconsciously keep
lullaby hand wipes — for icky moments..hehe.
maybelline unstoppable shiny black mascara — this is the only brush that can reach my very limited lashes…hehe.
kozie pen eyeliner — it’s fun because it’s like a colored-pen..so easy to apply!
revlon colorstay mousse foundation — i don’t do touch-ups except for lip balm. i hate it when girls apply powder in a crowd. i want my make-up to stay the whole day.
maybelline lipstick — a very light and neutral shade
carmex lip balm — cannot live without lip balm! carmex keeps my puckers smooth and soft!
in 2 it gel blush — this lasts for 8 hours…guess you know why i like it. haha!

ps. if you’re wondering about the weird stuffed animals — they’re trinkets for my phone so i can easily pull my phones out of my bag…haha!

bags of love give-away!

BAGS OF LOVE is giving away one of these fabulous items —- personalized gifts and products out of your photos or designs.
the give-away is open to everyone. to enter, you all you need to do is:

be a follower (comment if you’re following through bloglovin’)
comment your choice among the four items and what design or photo you’d submit

give-away runs until april 8, 2010.

the light girl

nothing much to say today. it was weird at work today. and it’s only befitting that i can’t type too much as i sort of sprained my right shoulder blade causing me pain in my right arm for two weeks now. so i leave you with photos of my friend’s pre-nuptial shoot last sunday at the mountains of cebu and a little of the cebu street. had to tag along to shoot some photos myself and learn a few tricks from their photographer. last sunday, i was the ‘light girl’ and these are some of the photos i took.

i wish i can say that i styled this shoot but my friend chose her outfit all by herself — i am so lovin’ the hat!
the photographer is ‘paul calo’ who is a part-time wedding photographer — you can check out some of his works here.

ps. if you’re wondering about the food we’re holding, those are ‘caramelized fried bananas’ or ‘banana-cue’ as we call them. mine is a ‘turon’ which is a banana wrapped in lumpia wrapper and then deep fried with caramel. yum!!!

navy blue ruffled dress – thrifted

army green vest – thrifted

tan fringe sandals – katrina

canvas and tan faux leather bag – plains and prints (manager’s garage sale)

necklaces: robot – apm | watch chain – hk gift shop

bangles: green wooden – raw materials store | blue and gold polka – hk gift shop | faux gold ones – gifted

sunnies – thrifted at carbon

a little drizzle would do

it rained last friday night and i could just imagine how the plants are smiling and singing praises. it is scorching hot here in the philippines with the el niño phenomenon and saying goodbye to boots and what little leather we can wear is not the worst we’re experiencing. the phenomenon has caused all the plants and crops in our country to wilt and die. cattle are dying too. fish prices are going up because the fish ponds are drying up and fishes are literally boiling in the water. so when it rained last friday, i couldn’t worry about getting mud on my suede shoes but smile of the hope that we can get through this drought. and with this, i’d be happy to take photos inside my bathroom to get good lighting just as long as it is raining outside.

printed dress – thrifted | brown leggings – ??? | tan ballet flats – parisian – sm dept store

vintage car watch necklace – thrifted at manalili | bangles: wooden – raw materials store, faux gold – props and gifts

on another note, i have been following ‘project runway’ for years and this season is my favorite because of jay nicolas sario. he is a filipino who migrated to hawaii when he was 17. his design aesthetic is amazing and i am loving how he surprises me with his creations — especially the black dress he made out of burlap (or potato sack). i have a few designer friends (most are gay like jay) and i can’t help but feel that it is one of my friends on the show — the mannerisms are the same. here is jay nicolas sario and a few of jay’s works (photo credit: google images and mylifetime.com):

proud to be ‘pinoy’!

the irony of ‘our’ daylight savings time

my mom and dad told me that we used to have daylight savings time here in the philippines — during the marcos regime. i was just born at that time so i couldn’t remember. being in the call center business for almost 4 years now, i’ve had daylight savings too as our schedules follow US or Canada time. it mostly also depends on what region the company is in — so far, i’ve worked PST, EST and now, MST. you can imagine how confused i get sometimes when i step out of the office. sometimes, i greet my friends on their birthdays a day late…LOL.

now, every time we start DST, just as some of you guys do, our schedules get moved an hour earlier too. so from 9:00 PM – 6:00 AM, my schedule got moved to 8:00 PM – 5:00 AM. which made me ecstatic as i can go home when the sun is barely out and i can ‘save’ on the cooler part of the day. when the actual reason for DST is to make the most out of the sun, our DST here in the call center is a reason to still go home dark and a bit cold. there’s nothing like changing into comfier clothes, snuggling in bed or getting good ol’ breakfast at sunrise. DST saves us a bit of sanity. plus, who would want to get out of work with the sun scorching on your face, right?

here are photos i took of our street, the road on the way to get my sister (who’s a nurse) at the hospital and the city hospital she works in.

how has daylight savings time gone for you, so far?

black and white polka dress – thrifted

black leggings – ???

black suede peep-toe booties – celine (harry’s gift!)

owl watch necklace – thrifted at manalili

bangles: wooden – raw materials store | faux gold ones – gifts

prim and proper

our grandma has always trained us to dress up for church and on sundays. i remember her standing by the door in our house in the province, waiting to see what we’re wearing. it has to be appropriate — like, it has to have sleeves and the length of the skirt has to be knee-length. it’s not that she was strict about clothes in general — i mean, our mom used to have mini-mod dresses in the 60’s and 70’s and that got my dad hooked..LOL. but sundays were always an exception. so even when we got back to the city, i remember me and my sisters taking our time preparing for church because we always had to look appropriate and presentable. sundays, as a kid, was always a dress-up day. and my favorite was my peach chiffon dress with a matching brim hat.

this was taken last sunday after church and on the way to get a massage at one of our favorite spas here — nuat thai at mabolo. not only is their services good, they have really good interiors too and very affordable — a body massage is at P150 – P250 ($3.00 – $5.00). please don’t mind my disheveled look. it is indeed obvious that i need to relax and unwind. i can assure you i was deeply relaxed after the 45 minute foot massage and 1 hour swedish body massage…felt so good!

grey dress – miu miu (thrifted!)

zebra print bow flats – parisian

black oversized bag – my mom’s

long watch necklace – hk gift shop

‘for the love of accessories’ winner!

congratulations to melissa of ‘dear ella..‘ for winning my give-away!

please e-mail me your full name and your address.

thanks everyone for joining and again, thanks for following ‘vanilla ice cream…’

at the end of the day

….it is healthy to just laugh it off. the last few weeks have been really stressful for me. the culture of my previous company was so warm and filled with guidance and now, i’m the one left in charge of a group with different personalities and managers with very fast-paced lives. maybe it’s because i started out building my leadership skills in my previous company so i was dependent at that time. now, there are decisions that i have to make that i never thought i would have to before. phew! my back is literally aching.

one good news though… i have finally managed to ask to take this monday off — just so i can breathe a little and unwind. most probably get a massage. and just watch dvds. in short, pig out. haha!

wondering why i’m laughing so much in my photos? that’s harry asking me to do his dance.LOL.

i’d like to thank karla bautista, by the way, for getting me these shoes. have been coveting F21 shoes for a long time now. anyone want to send me F21 shoes with free shipping?haha! i’d pay for the shoes.

grey graphic tee – maek by karla | grey pin-striped vest – thrifted

denim jeans – chillypapas | grey platform heels – forever 21 | black twined star necklace – props

blue spade ring – props | circular cuffs – props | pink sunnies – thrifted at manalili

and speaking of PROPS…

there are awesome ring candies on my shop that are for sale from PROPS.

check it out!

opposites attract

this photo was taken last week when i was waiting for the emission testing and annual registration of my car. i wasn’t in the mood to dress up for work so i basically jumped out of bed, took a quick shower, hid my hair in a headband, wore my favorite shirt and black leggings. i think my blue bag saved the outfit (it’s a christmas gift from harry in 2009 — which i pre-chose by the way as he is so clueless about shopping! LOL)

before harry, i’ve been single for 5 years — dating but no commitments. i’ve had my heart broken a couple of times because a guy couldn’t commit to me — intimidated by me, the way i think and my strong personality. i tend to be irrational, sarcastic, be tomboy, a perfectionist, spontanoues, moody, aggressive, and…smarter?haha! let’s just say i laughed at picked up lines to guys’ faces sometimes intentionally. and welp, i don’t dress as simple as other typical girls too. i got frustrated with going home alone everyday that i asked our manager who was a good friend if there is something wrong with me. he told me, “well, maybe you need someone stronger than you. who can control you.”

oh, he was so wrong! i didn’t need someone who can control me, i needed someone who would complement me. i got the guy of my dreams and more. harry and i are total opposites in pretty weird (and funny) ways.

i drive = he cooks the dinner.

i love sports and was an athlete = he was an orator and a student body president.

i love technology = he loves history.

i love punk rock, brit rock, indie and new wave music = he loves oldies and standards.

i am health conscious = he doesn’t even love wheat bread (LOL)

i love change and spontaneity = he likes to be safely where he is now

i love the beach = he loves the mountains

i tend to freak out easily = he stays calm

i like dogs = he likes cats

but you see, even with our opposite loves and personalities, we mesh well because we respect and support each other. and i have never been happier.

grey tee – thrifted

black leggings – ???

denim jacket – lil sister’s

zebra-print headband – props

grey suede flats with metallic detail – so fab (a gift from big sis!)

blue faux leather bag – maldita (a gift from harry!)

necklaces: dog tag – custom-made | gun-metal reindeer – gift shop

sunnies – thrifted at carbon