What Now, CMF?

Back in October 2017, for once I had the courage to get back on blogging again. I've been thinking about a sequence of posts to begin blogging again. I had typed an entire post as an introduction, and other four following posts. On January 2018, I edited the introduction post, but somehow another year has passed, and I didn't have the gut to hit the publish button.

There has been something wrong with me. I have been burdening myself with expectations, I was not ready to meet. Other reasons must be that: a transition in life phrased as 'quarter life crisis', and I complicate it with a suck at management. I realised that the core of my problems is that I'm not grateful. With an ungrateful heart, you can make wrong out of anything.

Without further due, here's my introduction post:

Modern Girls Uploaded

If you are also a 'Fashion Bloggers' TV series lover like me, you will be familiar with the title of this post! Yes, it's the title of Fashion Bloggers' S01E02. So, this post is inspired by that episode where Sara and Zanita had a casual street style photoshoot together around the town. And I thought.. It must be really fun to do a shoot together with another fellow blogger, or with your best friend! Then, I saw this post on Topshop Indonesia's Instagram:

A Come Back!

After almost a year with the absence of blogging, hereby I present myself (again) on this personal blog page of mine with so much gladness, and a renewed energy. The month of October in 2014 has eventually became the time for me to rise up, and begin to execute numerous plans for this blog after I had to collect back my blogging spirit—due to some trials I had to pass: one crashed external hard disk and the loss of some important files, including the projects I was planning for this blog. 

This is a fresh restart, and hopefully I can manage myself to be able to constantly be involved in this creative world, and keep on 'the move'. I shall begin this with:

Bismi-llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm, in the name of Allāh most gracious most merciful.

Nouveau Grunge

- A day off in white shirt, pencil skirt, and the joy of blogging -  

Brown Brows

One day, I saw one of my girl friends looked totally different. I was wondering what was so different about her face whereas she didn't wear any heavy make up or something so eye catching. Oh, then I realized that she got her eyebrows plucked. Since that moment, I realized that the shape of our eyebrows has the ability to frame our face. A friend of mine who is also a makeup guru said that makeup around the eye area is the most important part that gives the 'whole' look.

Since I don't do any eyebrows plucking, I wanted to give a try experimenting with the eyebrow colouring brush. Luckily, I have a college friend; Ellysee who sells original Etude House products with cheaper price! So, I bought the Color My Brows product number 2. I chose the light coloured one because my eyebrows are dark, thick & bushy already. This one blends perfectly with my eyebrows because it lighten up but not too striking.   

First Experience: Jakarta Fashion Week 2014

When I saw this post on my instagram feed, I was so excited to win this invitation because I need to get rid of my curiosity about the fashion week event. The requirement to win the invitation was to regram the photo above, alongside with the reason why we want attend the show. So, here's my entry in Indonesian language:   

Assalamu'alaykum kak @fitriaulia_, perkenalkan namaku Mila, asal dari Bandung. Alasanku ingin mendaptkan salah satu undangan Fashion Show kak Fitri karena, selama aku mengikuti perjalanan karir kak Fitri, kerap kali aku terinspirasi dengan karya-karya kak Fitri untuk KIVITZ. Berpakaian stylish namun syar'i itu menurutku bukan lagi menjadi penghalang bagi muslimah dalam menjalankan syariatNya sekaligus mengespresikan diri. Menurutku hal itu tidak mengapa karena, dalam hadist pun Rasulullāh mengatakan bahwa kita boleh makan, minum, dan berpakaian sesuai keinginan kita, namun jangan biarkan kemewahan atau kebanggaan membuat kita menjadi lalai. Dari situlah, aku selalu suka style kak Fitri yang kreatif namun tidak terkesan berlebihan dan sederhana. Dengan berpakaian stylish, aku rasa hal tersebut bisa menunjukkan bahwa Islam adalah agama yang ramah, dan terbuka pada siapa saja. Dengan menampilkan kreatifitas, maka orang-orang yang 'belum' paham tentang Islam lebih jauh, akan cenderung bertanya-tanya dan ingin mengetahui Islam lebih dalam. Mungkin.. *ngarangya aku nih ya kak* hal ini juga bisa disebut dengan pendekatan kreatifitas. Tapi tetap, hal yang esensialnya adalah untuk mendakwahkan Islam. 

Alasan keduanya adalah, karena kak Fitri mengangkat tema suku Moors di Andalusia. Andalusia adalah salah satu tempat yg sangat ingin aku kunjungi suatu saat nanti. Tentunya fashion show kali ini menjadi sesuatu yg aku harap bisa saksikan. Aku selalu tertarik dengan ragam kebudayaan di dunia. Terlebih lagi aku baru tau akan adanya suku Moors di wilayah tersebut.

Dan tentunya, kalau aku terpilih, ini akan menjadi kali pertamanya aku menghadiri sebuah peragaan busana. Dan aku akan senang untuk meliput acara ini untuk menjadi bahan tulisan untuk di blogku. Terlebih lagi, aku ingin bertemu dan berbincang sedikit dengan kak Fitri yang shalihah, cantik, dan inspirasional itu :)

Terimakasih sekiranya sudah membaca postinganku ini. Sukses selalu kak! Go go go #FitriAuliaforJFW!

- @milaanzib (dengan sedikit perubahan)

Briefly, I said that I've been inspired by kak Fitri's design for KIVITZ which is simple, modest, yet stylish. Referring to a hadith: "Eat what you want and dress up as you desire, as long as extravagance and pride do not mislead you", said by Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wasalam, lead me to the thought that for a Muslim to look good in appearance is absolutely fine. Even when we use creativity to represent our identity as a Muslim, perhaps others who don't really acquaintance with Islam would be more interested to know more about this beautiful religion. Through this 'creativity approach', Islam could be felt more like an open and friendly religion for anyone. But still, the main intention is for dawah. Another interesting thing is the theme for Fitri Aulia's collection. It was called "Glorious Moors", the tribe from Andalusia, Spain—one of places I want to visit one day because of its historical sites & cultures. And the last one is I surely wanted to meet the shalihah & inspiring kak Fitri in person too.     

Alhamdulillāh! I got the chance to attend the show. Soon after knowing this, I contacted my friend; Hutri to join my very first fashion show experience to Jakarta. 

Eid al-Adha 1434H

"Their meat will not reach Allah , nor will their blood, but what reaches Him is piety from you. Thus have We subjected them to you that you may glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and give good tidings to the doers of good." Q.S. Al-Haj (22) : 37

Alhamdulillāh, today we all are still able to taste the graceful day of eid. The event of slaughtering which is commemorated every 10th Dhul-hijjah has reminded all Muslims about the great sacrifice done by Ibrahim A.S. He has incised a noble example for us all to show our submission to Allāh S.W.T. On this day, thousands years ago, Ibrahim A.S. was commanded to slaughter his own son, whom he had been waited for years. It was such a huge dilemma, how could he sacrifice his beloved one. More than that, his love for Allāh S.W.T is greater than anything. 

The Arabic word islam means 'to submit' or 'to surrender', and 'to enter into peace'. As the name of this religion, it means submitting and surrendering oneself to God and thereby entering into peace. Islam teaches that the whole of the universe around us, the earth, the stars, the sun, the trees, everything is in a state of submission to God. The Holy Quran says:

"To Him submits whatever is in the heavens and the earth" Q.S. 'Ali `Imran (3) : 83

This means to say that everything in nature is working according to fixed laws and cannot deviate from those laws. Your own body, and all its parts and organs, are working subject to the laws of nature, and have no choice but to work as they are intended to. But God has given the human soul freedom whether to submit to Him or violate His laws. And then through His Prophets, God revealed what that guidance is, to which man must submit.

Have we sacrifice our love to this worldly life for akhirah's sake? From this event, we can learn something really important that must be applied to the way we are living. Allāh S.W.T wants us not to be enslaved by this dunya. Therefore, we must not have an excessive sense of belonging towards everything in this dunya. Even our body, our existence in this world has its own time limit.  

Ikat x Stripes

Ikat is one of the current trends right now. We can see them worn as clothes, and it also works to beautify the interior designs. The word ikat (pronounced 'ee-KAHT') derives from the Indonesian word 'mengikat' or 'to tie'. It is a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles that employs a resist dyeing process similar to tie-dye on either the warp or weft fibres prior to dyeing. 

Double Ikat is created by tying both the warp and weft prior to weaving or more specifically, employs a variety of tie-dye resist techniques. This form of weaving requires the most skill for precise patterns to be woven and is considered the premiere form of ikat. Indian and Indonesian examples typify highly precise double ikat. This fabric has been used as prestigious trade cloths during the peak of the spice trade.

What if these two iconic patterns mixed together? Ikat—pattern that gives an ethnic, traditional feeling mixed with b&w stripes pattern which has the mod feeling. Mod's subculture is where the graphic-printed was so iconic during the 1960s era.

Yes, we surely can put them together to create a beautiful clash.      

A Shade of Dream

Oh. Finally,  after a while!

I can't express how much I missed blogging. Today, I want to start off by posting an art content. In this post, the art itself is a creation of a civil engineering student. She is a lovely friend of mine named Junisa who is usually called Jujuy. 

Are you curious already?

Lets take a look by clicking the link down below to view more! :)

Metanoia

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

السلام عليكم

Some of frequent visitors of this blog might have wondered where all these posts are gone. Well, I did turn all the published posts to be saved as drafts. Here, on this 'come back' post, I'd like to explain the reasons that background the idea:

1. Metanoia—is a noun that represents the journey of changing one's mind, heart, self, or way of life (source). Another source also said that it is: a fundamental change of thinking; a transformative change of heart (source). I recognize that the beginning of this phase was started on mid-2011 when I was just entered my first university year as a freshman. The process I've gone through wasn't a piece of cake. Undeniably, I'm still struggling to hold on to the path I'm about to take. I was like this and I am trying to be like "that". This blog has stored the days where I was still becoming this person. To write is something that I've always do since I was in elementary school. This blog is the media where I use to speak up the ideas inside of me, the media where I need to channel things I want to share, and the media where I can widen the silaturrahim. That's why I started off by emptying this blog. I want to make a fresh restart while staying true to myself with a "cutting-edge" kind of way. Well, I think that the phase of metanoia itself would likely to approach us at any (unexpected) time as long as we live. This life is so dynamic even each second has its own unique moment. Hopefully, those metanoia moments would take us to be a better person, in syā Allāh.
2. I'd like to formulate, and rethink the whole concept of this blog. At first, I was focusing on fashion—with an abundance of personal touch (haha!). For now and later, probably I'd like to generalize this blog simply as a personal blog. (p.s.: the new introduction might be posted separately)
3. Another thing is my consideration related to the law of creating animated pictures in Islam. There's a hadith by Bukhari, Tirmidhi, and Imam Nasa’i that relates the prophetic hadith form Ibn Abbas which says; "Whoever makes a picture (that animate), Allah shall torture him with it on the Day of Judgment until he can breathe life into it, and he will never be able to.” The reason for the unlawfulness of pictorial representation is that it imitates the creative act of Allah Most High, as is indicated by the hadith related by Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim that A’isha A.S. said, “The Prophet S.A.W returned from a trip, and I had draped a cloth with picture on it over a small closet. When he saw it, he ripped it down, his face colored, and he said, “A’isha, the people most severely tortured by Allah on the Day of Judgment will be those who try to imitate what Allah has created,” (source). I've been wondering and making some research about this issue while *sadly* not having anyone highly knowledgeable to be asked for disjointing this law and its relation to the phenomenon of the modern era. I mean, photography is inevitable nowadays (especially for me). To take photographs of the animated creatures has been considered as something normal. I also read in one reference which said that there are two versions of the interpretation from the theologians which related to the hadith of creating pictures. One side highly bans, and the other side permits the existence of the animated photography with the argument: photography does not imitate nor create something new that would be reckoned as an effort to compete with Allāh S.W.T's creations. It's rather a form of capturing the creation itself on another media. Wallahu a'lam bishawab. Another thing is, the inventor of the optic law is a Muslim man! His name is Ibn Al-Haytham, a man from 1000AD who invented the first pinhole camera which is also known as camera obscura. I believe that his invention which contribute to the photography world until today has brought many advantages although it depends on the user itself: human. Even there's another option which I think is making sense—to create animated beings via photographs—I would try my best to decrease the intensity to post un-useful animate pictures. But, I also can't deny that I will post some animated pictures in the future as long as the intention is pure for something good. As we wonder, we can get some benefits from photography, can't we? those benefits can be various for each person. The thing we need always to remember is on how we react towards those pictures. Don't let the pictures "bewitched" us. The one and only who is appropriate to be praised is Allāh S.W.T. So, just keep our focus towards Him ♥ 
4. Messy Writer—what a classic reason. I believe that I must improve my writing skill for the better. On the previous posts, I barely do recheck to edit the writings. And when I re-read those posts again, I found countless grammar mistakes, and some not-understandable writings. 

In the future, I also would like to make some reconstructed throwback posts which I found might be useful to be posted again here. Hopefully, my intention to blog is purely for goodness, to search for His ridha, and anyone who enjoys reading this blog would find some benefits in syā Allāh. ☺

Bandung, 24th August 2013 | 18 Shawwal 1434H  

Thirty Days of Peacefulness

Assalāmu'alaykum ☺

Depiction of how I feel for getting the chance to be alive on Ramadan 1434H

Ramadan this year is like a whole new experience for me. I've never been either so religiously-concerned or been into a religious society in my whole life. Ramadan this year is like a refreshing start for me, a month that is undoubtedly listed as my second first-love on 2013—yeah, you've experienced yourself that kind of first love, right? you will go buoyant, readily accept any kind of challenge whatever in front of you as long as we can be 'near' with what we love—It's just that I've never experienced Ramadan like this before.

Printing the Dreams

"I want to print those prada heels somewhere on my canvas/nylon tote or shirt since I can't afford 'em. They'll be my forever obsession~" - Me, one year ago.

Dream Outfit // 29 by colourmefuchsia featuring a knit sweater

I've always wanted to do my own print, but I don't know where to find my own transfer paper since I only googled them, and they're only available overseas. When I finally found it in this country, I was really glad to start my own dream to print my favourite images on wearable surfaces! So, here's my first project. Printing one of my most favourite image -- ever -- from Vogue US September 2006 issue.

Illustration Workshop

Dear Ramadhan, it's hard to believe a week of you has already passed. Please slow down. Sincerely, Me.

- Pearl Daisy Ltd. 

How come Ramadan has passed faster than I thought? I wish we can make the most of it! Ameen. 

I attended a free illustration workshop at Sekolah Tinggi Desain Indonesia (STDI) with Hutri today. At first, Hutri would like to join the tie die workshop, but it's only available another day whereas we wanted to join the workshop today. So, here we went. We firstly shocked when we arrived at the place because all the participants were guys  (but later, some ladies are joined in too -- yay!), and they were sharing about the manga illustrations. At first Hutri refused to enter the room, but I forced her because I was only halfway there, and all those guys have already seen me. Sooo, err.. it would be so awkward if I suddenly ran away. And then we joined in. Oh thanks GOD they didn't continue to discuss about all the manga thingy. The main material discussed about Norman Rockwell's illustrations. I haven't noticed this artist before because I am more into fine arts, but after I attended this workshop, I finally could feel how it's like to be an art student for a day. Discussing art pieces is like a long long story. It's a proof that a picture worth a thousand words. It was pretty refreshing to me because I hadn't had an art discussion for quite a long time, and it's the first time to me to draw on A5 sized paper, again! Art is no easy business. It needs another kind of intelligence to make, or even to understand art.  

CMF on FB Page

Lets keep in touch! >> Colour Me Fuchsia 

XOXO

90s Prada

One Fair Day

"It only takes one person to change your life: YOU." (source)

Tour de Europe | De Oranje

Here comes the Volendam town; our very first destination located in the north of Holland. The town's architecture recalled my childhood memory of something that wasn't realistic; Doll's house, the scenes in one cartoon show, etc. The houses are organized well, and Volendam has cracked my perception about the view which I thought it's only existed in the toy land. 

Bandung's Mayor Election 2013

Salaam! :)

Yep, lets jump for awhile from the continuous post I had talked previously. Today's big event happened in my town is the mayor election! I'm quite excited about this because it's my prime time to use my own vote for the governmental election. And actually, it's also the first time for me to become aware about the governmental election throughout these years. I became aware that there were so many candidates for this year's mayor election in my town, and I also experiencing for the first time to faithfully support one of the candidates, without being dictated by the others. The freedom is mine, yippie! 

And I think most of the youths in this town are likely to prefer this creative guy because on these past months his campaign is appealing yet creative. The way he engaged the citizens through several mediums and especially social medias has made me easier to do my own research about himself. He also has collected numerous achievements which add more trust for the citizens towards him. There were several distrusts that tried to lower his prestige. When the others talked bad things about this candidate, I just thought, "Oh, c'mon.. to make oneself to be looked bad just does not work for me to change my belief. If you want to persuade me to your side, why don't you try to explain why your chosen candidate is simply better to be chosen". I don't want to talk a whole lot more about politic, or even things related to it because it is not (yet) the right space for me to talk about.      

Tour de Europe | Excursion Studies 2013

It has been almost two weeks since I got back from the excursion studies with my fellow colleagues. Excursion studies is a program held by the External Division of International Relations Student Association, with the purpose to have a brief trip for leisure and education. This year's destination was taken place around some parts of Europe with the theme: Exploring Non-Traditional Issues in International Relations. The countries are included the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Italy.  

This program has occurred for several years in this department, and the program itself has always been accompanied by the tenured lecturer within the department. Unfortunately, this year, our lecturer couldn't guide us throughout the trip due to some stumbling blocks related to the funding from the rectorate on the very last minuetes. At first, that is quite disappointing because the agenda to visit Universiteit van Amsterdam or the University of Amsterdam must be canceled. To have such official visit, we must have our own commensurate representation to the lecturer who was prepared to welcome our visit. Eventually, the show must go on, they say. The program was finally carried out by one tour leader, six program's committees, and nineteen participants (I am included in this group).

Here, I start off my own video documentation which is really amateur.. 

Since it was my first time to be out from the continent I've been living in, I had been documenting things quite excessively along the trip. I was supplied with two 32gb memory cards for the camera, brought notebook + pen wherever I went, some zipped plastic sheets, and an iPod for recording voices. And yes, to have  discovered a whole new world, I'm so grateful to have felt the breeze of a vibrant spirit inside of me that kept me awake of thoughts that fulfill my brain. Even more, when it comes to Europe; one relatively small continent that has bountiful both natural and man-made beauties, and it also has inscribed remarkable developed civilizations throughout history and remains a referral in many aspects until now. 

4th Semester in Review

Final exam was over on last Friday! as I have mentioned on this post, I said that I'd like to share about my life in college. Since 4th semester is already finished, these college stories would turn into some reviews. I also would like to mention about the lectures and activities I had on this semester. The lectures that won't be mentioned from this semester are Conflict Resolution, Hukum Ekonomi International (International Economic Law), and Metodologi Ilmu Hubungan Internasional (Metodology of International Relations Sciences). It doesn't mean that the lectures mentioned previously were boring and uninteresting. I actually found that those lectures I got were mind-stimulating. That is one of the interesting facts when I make comparison on how does the learning process between high school and college is really different. When I was still passing through the 12 years of schooling, I hardly got the 'vibe' like I get in college. In those years, I admit that I also found interesting facts about the world from the subjects I learned at school. I absorbed what I know, and mostly—just it. At college, when I attended some lectures, the knowledge that transfered from the lecturers could electrify me with the sense of excitement!

I remember about my first year of college, and my very first favourite thing I found at college where I'm studying was the Pancasila lecture! It was the one and only lecture on the 1st semester that helped me to build the foundation of love for this country, Indonesia. Before that, I was such an 'easily-to-be-influenced' kind of person—and all I wanted to do was moving out from this country with under the idea that the western part of the world was just seem to be better from where I'm living in, my country had no hopes, and many negative a priories. The point is, that lecture helped me to mature my own thought. Alhamdulillāh. 

After I mentioned all the positive stuffs here, I won't deny that I do have the experience the phases of boredom, being sleepy, letting my thoughts wander inside the class, not being connected when the lecture was lecturing, study on the night before, not entering the class because I was too late, not joining midterm exam because I forgot to bring my student card, wishing myself for the lecture to end soon, being frustrated by the assignments, getting low scores, and so forth. But after all, I am glad to get through these processes. 

Later, I'd like to make a "4th Semester in Review" kind of group post. The format of the post' title would be like this: 4th Semester in Review | <topic of the post>.