late

So sorry for the lack of updates. If you dont know, i have been buying a lot of scrap stuff that my Dad 'claims i can set up a shop' but yet i have been super duper lazy to do anything. The most recent stuff done was to make notebooks and display items for friends during Christmas day. Unfortunately, i was unable to take pictures of the notebooks because i stayed up till 3.40 am on Christmas eve and i forgot to take the pictures. In any case, the following was inspired by this picture of Kate.



Haha. Kate's picture reminded me of the princess and the frog. Dont ask me why but i ended up finding really cool frames from ikea.



I love it, they are like mini frames which i can put small pictures inside to use them as great gifts for friends. Thanks for looking. Hoping to do one more layout before the birthday arrives. Wanted to mark that '1 year older' journey. (:

School is starting. Will be scrapping less, considering that i have 30 periods this year. Wow..... okay bye. (*:

long awaited

I think FB hates me! it does not allow me to upload the pictures without crashing my firefox. Darn it! Haha. But in any case, i am back from Hong Kong and i took quite some time to recover since i had a couple of 'cg' outings i had to attend. (which i had the most fun with) I realised that spending time with them always puts my heart at ease knowing that there are no boundaries of who i need to be. I can be myself and that is all that matters.

in any case, pictures from Kuantan and HK trip. (:





Lovely pictures to scrap about. I cant wait to get started on them. I need to enjoy my last 2 weeks of freedom before going back to teach. Rawr. (:

be still

I have not been scrapping for 2 weeks. I just left this layout on the table and left for the Kuantan trip. It was a rather memorable trip where there were so much to learn and see. But lets just say i am not a big fan of the outdoor. i hurt myself (toenail got cut deeply), food got snatched by wild monkeys and i had to overcome my fear of heights of climbing a cockpit karst! Haha. Will share the pictures soon.

Anyway, i have been wanting to scrap a scenic LO in relation to God. I have been scrapping so much on friends and family but truly, i have always wanted to scrap about my relationship with God at different stages of my life. Right now, i must say that i have come a long way since the beginning of this year. There were so many moments where i felt that i was so far away from him and He was no longer in sight. But it is my prayer that i will be still in the midst of all these tribulations and to trust only because He is God and he has a perfect purpose for my life.




I also had this really interesting talk about religion among my friends recently. I must admit that there were a lot of questions that i needed to ponder about and i realised that at the end it is so important to have respect for my friends' religions and just to be open and senstive in all aspects. (:

Okay, i am off to Hong Kong next week. I hope i can do one more layout by this week. If not, take care! (:

much more

Warning! This is going to be a rather long post! Really cold day today, dont you think? Managed to finish the album and i am so proud of myself because of the amount of effort put in. Okay, so as i said before. I used the farm fresh papers and decided to do the album based on the Old Macdonald's Song. I am sure everyone should know it.

The purpose was to create a song book based on that song because kate is at this age right now, who simply loves reading books. She is such a bookworm. She likes to pester us to read her books and she can sit down for ages looking at the pictures and flipping the books. She is also extremely brilliant in pointing out the different animals in books. So this was purely inspired by Kate's Books to create a similar song book for her.





Did i mention, that she absolutely loves taking out 'hidden pages' from the story books to see what is inside? So that was what i tried to do. Using the 7 gypsies cards and overlaying it with farm fresh papers, added a brad so that it would be easier for her to pull out the hidden page. Inside consists of the 2nd part of the song. So as you can see, i stamped every single letter to the song and i nearly died. But i got to admit that it was a rather enjoyable process.

I just love that i did something educational with Scrapbooking.

;

Managed to sit down and clear my scrap desk. it is always in a mess. Bought more storage facilities and packed them all nicely. I am going to get a new scraptable soon with drawers. I am so excited. My table is practically bending. It must be from all the weight. HAHA. (: Some pictures:

Basket for Thickers and Unaltered albums
Holy Moly! Look at how much pearls i have. This is an absolutely YES YES!
Ribbons section: I like to keep this section messy. Seems easier to find stuff.
Embellishments section: Sorted out all by size.
Punches, Adhesives, extra replenishment. (:


Overall room : Its so much tidier now. :D

;

One more thing before i end. Did i tell you how much i love the TPC brads? I was so thankful when i saw it on the shelf yesterday. I tried to find high and low for them but the store said it was sold out. I was so shocked to see it on the shelf yesterday. Yipee. :D

an update

I have been in and out doing my last essay for my course. Can you imagine this will be the last essay i will ever write in my whole educational course? Okay, thanks to YW for pointing out to me that the comments box was not working. It is all fixed. (: I am so happy that there are actually people who reads my blog. It makes my day.

The ABC story book album is almost done. I should be able to finish it by tomorrow. Will be the posting the pictures soon. off to laines later. :D

sneakies and something to share

First up, i am finally going to use the farm fresh papers from OA. I thought long and hard of what to do and i finally know what i am embarking on. I am so excited. Still got a long way to go...



Will share about the idea when it is done. Thank you 'STORIES BOOKS' from Kate's that gave me the inspiration. (:

;

Jo and i did a good deed yesterday. We had fun scrapping at our LSS since it was 4 for 40 for any products and boy, did i go crazy buying stuff. Then we headed to the other LSS and had cheesy prawns. OMG! Please try them if you have not. Okay back to the point, some dude was having trouble buying a 'SCRAP' present for his gf. He wanted to buy a shadow box and papers so that we can mat 12 pictures down in one LO. So there we were, helping him out..

I guess, we have seen countless of guys walking in the shop being completely clueless about what to do and what to buy. I mean, it is overwhelming to walk firstly in a shop filled with girls and also be stunned by the number and variety of products the LSS has. We have seen countless of times of clueless guys being ask to buy lots of 'products' when all they are actually aiming for is one LO! You dont really need that many products for one LO. So as practical as it sound, we told him what were the bare necessity he needed to buy and that was it.

The guy probably only spent 10 bucks on papers & thickers and 30plus on a frame : To me, that is wonderful. Against all odds, we are not trying to steal the limelight off the LSS staff but i guess in a way, we are also trying to be practical. I wish i had the same amount of advice when i first took up scrapbooking. I was just as clueless as all the first timers walking into the shop and what happened? I ended up buying lots of stuff not because i knew how to use them, but simply because i thought they were pretty. So in a way: Yes, we did a good deed for some dude who will probably only do this once in his whole life. (:

Hope this post is of no offense to anyone. We just wanted to share our knowledge of SB on people who arent sure of how to start off. It was fun experience, nonetheless. I will do so for all my friends who want to do some one off LOs for gifts' ideas. (:

Off to scrap again.

christmas box

Just wanted to share the christmas box done during papermarket's class. What i love about this class was that we were allowed to create our own box using the supplies we had. There were no fix regulations to follow the sample since everyone's materials were different.

So i can say that the idea was not mine (box) but creating the box was up to my originality. Sharing one picture from my Iphone. Love the Polaroids effects. :D



Today Merdrey introduced german glitter and i was like OMGOMGOMGOMG! Okay, so i am off to get my own share tomorrow since i got great discounts. Absolutely love the effect of german glitter.

On a side note: It was really weird seeing my students at a scrap store and then letting them see me going for a scrapbooking class. ZZZZ.

thoughts

I mean, after reading P's blog : i have come to realise that i struggle with alot of those scrapbooking issues she mentioned. I guess it is human characteristics that desires to seek for acknowledgment and encouragement which impedes true reasons on why you scrap. You fail to see that everyone is subjected to their own views and in a scrapping world, it really boils down to whether you like the LOs or not. Everything is subjective.

So why bother then?

I mean, i am still grappling with issues like these truthfully. There is no point denying that i am one that does not care or get affected. I do. I guess I need to learn how to think outside of these issues. Why bother when the most important thing is that you're happy? I know i am happy when i scrap, i know i am when i'm at the shops, i know i am when i buy stuff that i love, i know i am when i relook at all the LOs that are recording memories from the past.. These are more tangible things that stay.

Okay enough about that emo talk.

;

Took a really long time to complete this LO. Put circles in the background and then glimmer mist it with brown mist. Love love the effect. Took time to piece the crystals on the PRIMA paper as well as adding stickles on the words. I always love putting interesting corners because i am so into those. Love that the journaling was done as a tag. I think the best part that made me happy was the OA birds rub ons.



Till then, have a good weekend. (:

full review

Journal - You are one smart girl. You love picking up the phone when it rings, put it in your ears and not say anything. The funny thing is that your dad cant call home because you are hoarding it.

;

I love that the journal-ing were separated on 2 journal cards. (: Scrapping is so tiring but it is fun! I love to see how each LO comes to life. Now that school is almost over, i got more time to scrap. By next week, i will be a free person to scrap! Did i tell you that Laine & MWL are having great promotions this Nov? I am so excited. I am already eyeing the TA and MR mists. (:

paint attempt

So i did not go to school today! Doc gave another 1 day MC because i was still having a fever and running nose. Darn, i missed like 3 lessons from this particular module. I think i am going to get a warning letter for too many MCs. I guess i got myself to blame! I fall sick too easily.

So i stayed at home and attempted to start on a new LO! Wanted to try out painting after seeing so many wonderful creation on forum. I knew the colour scheme i wanted and it was really messy! I never thought i would actually like the outcome of it but i did! it is about 3/4 done! Just need to journal, add more embellishments etc.



Painted the base blue, sprayed sliver mist to make black base shiny and used this paint splatter method that i used to do when i was in secondary school! Put paint on a comb and use an old toothbrush to go over the comb! Out comes splatters. There were some mistakes here and there but overall, i tried my best!

I am glad to see myself venturing out more now.

;

Wanted to capture this wonderful moment of Kate picking up the phone. She is one smart girl. She loves it when the phone rings and goes to pick up the phone. And she loves putting the phone in her ear but will not utter a sound. Sometimes my brother will not be able to call in because she is constantly picking it up! We recently bought a fake phone for her but she knows it is fake! She only likes picking it up when it rings. Hahahah. Funny Girl. (:

cold windy day

The weather is really weird. Just 2 weeks ago, i was complaining that it was so freaking hot and right now, it is just raining non stop. I guess monsoon season just arrived in Singapore.

This LO took forever to complete since i was sick during the week. I was so forgetful that it was so terrible. I mentioned that i lost my scissors and guess where i found it? LOL! Found it inside one of my thickers pack. I must have like accidentally put it in while i was insanely sick. Looked high and low for it but never occued to me that it could be in that place. Zzzzz. (:



Attended a papermarket's class for the first time yesterday. Enjoyed it very much and i am so amazed by the creativity level and the choices they have for classes. Not that the other store isnt that good but classes at papermarket are cheaper since i have the VIP card. :D:D:D:D:D:D

It got me thinking...What kind of scrapper am i? I mean, it is good to expose yourself to classes and learn techniques. But after the classes, what techniques do i still apply and use in my daily scrapbooking time?

I was very much a non-technical scrapper (i believe i still am) but i can see myself wanting to experiment all and use more types of medium in my LOs and albums. I am trying at the end of the day and i think that is of importance. (:

since

okay, i am feeling much better today. Managed to finish most of the LO i am working on. I lost my precision scizzors! I cant believe it! Am still looking high and lo for it since i have a class tomorrow. Darn it.

Some pictures to share. Last sat, we went to Lia's house for another class! Love to have classes with her. Small group and it is always effective work being done, with all the fun talking and getting your project done together. Managed to finish the whole calender at her house in 5 hours. Thank God. I was so tired after that, my neck and arms were aching from all that cutting, pasting and glittering. (:

We had a pleasant surprise. Leena joined the class and i was so star-struck for that moment. i could not believe that someone whom i admired for scrapbooking was actually taking a class with us. :D :D :D

Okay pictures time. Will be back to share more.

rawr

Have been sick for the past 2 days. I wish i could find the energy to scrap finish the LO i started. Right now, i am just piecing it up with whatever time i can find to scrap. Assignments for this week are over so by right , i should have more time to scrap.

i guess not. I hate it when i fall ill.

Lets hope, i can finish it up by tonight and start on another one. (:

a good cause

So if you havent heard, one of the members from MWL is going on a volunteer trip to Yunnan and she is collecting SB stuff to be donated to a hospital there. For more details, check it out here:

CLICK CLICK

I got so excited when i heard about it. Here i was talking about destashing so i took some time today to sort out things that i did not want. I put them into 2 categories: things to throw and things to donate.



These will be the things that i am going to donate and put into MWL next thursday. I feel so happy knowing that even though i hate parting with my stash, but the truth is i will never used them ever again and it is going to go somewhere where it will benefit the people there. (:

It's all for a good cause.

;

The full reveal.



I love the pretty garden with fences, with a tree and birds. Just like how i imagined the LO to be. (: Had fun with the webster pages once again.

I am Going to work on the new NUTMEG collection next. I love you, COSMO! (:

reveal

I am so proud of myself. Haha. I used up all the webster pages bought and that means, i can throw the remaining scraps away. No more webster! Now, i can safely say i will wait for the next batch of webster pages to come before i work on them. (:

Managed to finally scrap the pictures of kate sleeping. This girl refused to sleep and mum had to try to get her to sleep on the bed. Suddenly, she just fell asleep at where she was on, the bolster! Super cute. It must be quite painful to sleep that way but she must have been so tired.

When i bought the webster pages, i knew i wanted to scrap these pictures with it. Had a concept and acted on it. I am glad i did not give up. I tried once and it ended up crappy so i tried it again. (: The inspiration came about from the words 'We grow by our dreams' from the webster pages. Perfect!

Sneak:



;

i have been scrapping alot this past 1 month. That's good but i guess i have been procrastinating finishing up my assignments which are due next week. Crap. Okay, going back to finish my lesson plan. (:

School mates

The full review. I am glad that i have made good friends in NIE. Lets hope the connections wont die even after i graduate. Cant wait for our year end Kuantan Geog fieldtrip together. (:

disappointment

The funny thing : Sometimes, the scrapping community can be that discouraging. While appreciation and encouragement is highly rewarding after you have finished a LO, but it makes me question whether we are scrapping for appraisal or are we scrapping to 'document' certain stages of our everyday life?

Although the ideal answer is the former but who does not like appraisal and encouragement? It is so much easier to gain all those if you know the scrapping community better. But the truth is, i dont. I question whether i am scrapping well or whether i am 'improving' on my techniques.

It seems like i am going around in circles. I need to tell myself that the most important thing is to be happy! The most important thing to do is to develop pictures that i want to scrap for memories sake. Approval can come later.

Sneak Peak: Could not resist the new OA papers. (:

What you mean

..to me

A heartfelt letter to my niece, the love of our life.

Dear Kate, you were born exactly a year ago at approximately 9.55 pm. We awaited for your arrival with joys in our hearts. I make it a point to visit you every single week because i truly enjoy seeing you grow and learn. you're such a cheery baby, that everybody loves to play with. you have developed such a cute personality that it is hard to ignore. It is hard to pend down in words but all I know is that I love you dearly and I just want you to know that we will always be there for you at every stage of your life. You have taught me how to love and i'm glad that you know who I am and how much I love you.

Love,
Xiao'Gu'

part 2

So, i finished up the album and the LO i was working on. As i was packing my scrap stuff today, i was quite curious to see what i had in my 12x12 paper stash. I used to sort them out by colours or pattern types but recently, i have grouped them according to their label names.

I got to this stack and it was labeled 'polka dots'. When I first started scrapping, i would go MWL quite often to stock up. I was very much in love with polka dots so i will buy them and hoard. It was a pretty sight to see them. But now, i am like thinking...WHAT WAS I THINKING! This is one of those moments where you buy the papers because they are like 'pretty' but in the end, you dont use them at all.

And that is exactly the case. I dont even think i touched that stack since ages ago.



So if i am not wrong, i have ..

3 stacks of OA
2 stacks of Cosmo
2 stacks of Sassafras
1 stack of hambleys
2 stacks of cardstocks
1 stack of polka dots
1 stack of AC
1 stack of misc

So you get the point. I havent even sort out the papers i have in my other shelf and this is atrociously horrible. I wish i was in denial of how much i have and how much i have spent...

Destashing, I need to destash! (:

;




Did a mini album for Kate. Figured that if i could make one for her for her bday, that i should also do the same for myself. Used mostly old papers, MM paints, Glossy accents, AC/Cosmo rubons. I am pretty proud that i did not use anything new in this album.

Have a good week ahead, everyone.

Destashing

In the light of Lia's latest post, i have come to realise that although I might not have as many scrap stuff like she has, but i am guilty for hoarding way more papers than what i can scrap. Think about it: who does not like to buy new papers and new products to use when there is the temptation of Trendy Thursday? I am someone who actually likes to get my hands on 'new stuff' so that 'i keep up with times.'

The problem is that my rate of buying new products is more than my rate of scrapping.

I am going to rethink the way i buy my products now. I will get my hands on them, buy the most minimum amount of stuff, use them up as soon as possible and not feel too guilty at the end of the day. Because the truth is that there will always be new arrivals. I do not like the idea of forgetting what i have bought and leaving them one side to rot.

In the meantime, i will try to use up my old products and mix them up with my new products.

Some sneaks waiting to be shown:

Jumpshots

Felt the inspiration yesterday and i immediately worked on my new Sassafras papers. Luckily i bought two papers of the Sweet Marmalade. Felt abit sad using two of my current favourite papers but figured that i can always buy more anyway.

Documenting Jumpshots made in Guilin, on Geog Field Trip.
Memorable but Tiring Day. (:



Have a great week ahead. (:

yet another

So, it was a rainy day today and i started working on this LO since last night after hours of shopping and i finally completed it tonight. Just needed to sew the edges to make it look more define. I am loving the colourful side of this LO which brings out the beauty of my niece.

She was so freaking adorable. She would sit still and when i asked her to smile, she would give me her brightest smile. I need to work on that so that i can take more pictures together with her. I got a feeling that she is more fascinated with the camera and seeing herself in the camera rather than taking pictures with me.



As you can see, i am trying to do as much scrapbooking as i can before school starts on Monday. :(

Webster love

I finally got around using the latest collection of webster papers. i was quite apprehensive to buy them at first because they are just so pretty without me doing anything to them. they are hard to use too, in my own terms.

But i am glad i tried them out and explored the possibilities of other forms of style.



Till then, i really hope i can start on another Lo tmr. (:

Cosmo update

So the practicum days are over. I do hope i can find more time to scrap now since i am going back to NIE soon. Here to share the cosmo album i did using all the new arrivals. (:







Am working on the new sassafras, prima and webster pages. I need to get my photos developed asap so that i can slot them into the LOs. (: Will share a private class's layout tomorrow.

Changes - why not?

First off, I changed my blogskin. It looks slightly brighter right now. I am loving that change. Managed to complete a LO today. i figured that i was too lazy to do my marking and lesson plans. First time having sewing on my LO and i love it. Thanks to the big sis who helped. ( i am afraid of the needles)





I LOVE THE EARTH LOVE, COSMO LINE!
Yeah yeah, managed to cut some die cuts out to form the bulk of the tree. Used lots of rubons to fill the gaps here and there. I realised that i have a preference for certain items over the course of this scrap journey. First, it was paints, then it was stamps and right now, i am just buying lots of rub ons. (: No wonder i have no more place to stall my stuff. Help!

Have a good weekend.

one more to share.

I managed to finish one more LO on Friday/Saturday.





I love the new AC papers. They are so colouful and refreshing. (: Hopefully, i will have time to scrap this week once i clear all the lesson observations.

Its all about putting things in perspective

After a long and tiring day today, I really wanted to just sit on my scrap desk and scrap. I think Step Howell put it nicely into perspective. It is not about what you put on the LO and how pretty it should be but it should be about wanting to document parts of your life.

So this time, i just wanted to scrap because i just wanted to do some 'Me' time and to scrap whatever that was true to myself. I am really happy by how it turned out and i feel so darn satisfied just spending 1 hour completing it. (:







Title : My favourite twins (2008)
PP : Lily Bee (French couture)
Rubons: Lily Bee
Pearls : Prima
Punches : Martha Steward's Dolly Lace, Classic Butterfly
Stickers: AC and DoodleBug