Kits!

Wheeee! Luv it when I see the Royal Mail van parked in front of my house.... well, this time he brought me Homegrown kit featuring much raved about Crate Papers... reminds me a little of Wild Asparagus papers actually. Papers are kinda distressed and in muted tones. Kit consisted of Making Memories very sought after blossoms stamps (which I now own 2!!! Have to get rid of one), 2 chipboard tags and ribbons. Can't wait to start playing with them!!!

I've been chasing after Rhonna Farrer's Enchanted papers and couldn't find them in the UK so managed to track down a kit consisting of the papers and bellies from The Red Lily. Had to ponder over it for a few day but caved in eventually. What a weakling I am!

The NEC (exhibition centre) just 10 mins from my place is having a Hobbycraft fair this weekend but I think I'm giving it a miss. As I've spent far too much this month on kits and stash, do I really need to get anymore? Moreover the stuff there tends to be more for cardmakers actually. There are no doubt some scrapbooking items but won't say they are the lastest products based on previous shopping experience! Beside I've to shell out £17 (carpark & ticket) before I even enter the fair... I'm sure shopping online won't incur such tremendous amount of surcharge!

Right off to finish my assignment for TSL as deadline is tomorrow.

Competitions!

Whayyyy! Finally completed my ME album for the Homegrown March Madness competition. Didn't think I could do it as it was required to use photos from birth to present. With most of my birth, childhood, college photos and swinging 20s photos in Singapore, hard to do an album. Anyway, searched thru' my piles of CDs and found some photos and managed to create a quick and easy mini album to fit a round tin!

Got a couple more LOs to create for assignments before I can happily scrap my own stuff! Top on my list if I ever do get the time is to re-organise my scrapping area.... it's slowly reaching towards disaster zone and right now I'm able to find what I want but sooner or later, I'm gonna be frustrated! But at least I'm using the kits and not leaving them in stacks of boxes!

Happy Mother's Day!

It was Mother's Day on Sunday in the UK and my sons woke me up with pressies in their hands and a nice handmade card by my eldest! I received a Harry Potter and the Globet of Fire DVD, my fav box of choccies (Mingles) and a pink metallic skinz for my Motorola Raza V3 phone. Then hubby brought the whole family including his mom to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. Had a walk through Birmingham town centre where I was told to go get a pair of new shoes. Anyway had a look around but didn't see anything I fancied (typical.. when you want something, you can't find it!!!!)
Anyway, here's the lovely pressies and card from them:


<<<------ So sweet of my eldest who made the card himself. He literally cut out a figure from the back and paste it in the front and shape the hands to form a hug. Well, one day, I shall nurture his creativity towards scrapbooking!

Anyway, the run up to Mother's Day, my youngest pre-schools had him making Mother's day cards too and they were ever so lovely! ------------->>>

Back to scrapping, managed to do another LO for my A-Z album:

I : insist on respect

Made use of the new papers that came with my Scrapbook Obsession kit. SEI Winnie Walls. The kit included the entire set of Winnie Walls together with ribbons, iron ons and other delicious stuff. The SO forum is currently having a competition using the kit so ya betcha I'll be making full use of the papers!

My next creation is to do a review on the Basic Grey Notch and Die tool for The Scrapper's Loft where I'm a creative member in the E-zine. I was lucky to win the tool but frankly won't buy it. Anyway, thankfully I've an idea what to write on so shouldn't take me long!

Catchya up later!

Getting Inspiration

Think I'm losing my scrapping mojo.... I always do a sketch before working on my LO as I find it easier to know what I'm doing instead of simply shuffling bits and pieces about. Also the cheapskate side of me wanting to cut the paper to exact size instead of wasting it! Anyway, decided to browse thru' my Autumn Leaves Designing with Calendar and armed with a post-it pad, sat down to have a good perusal! At the end of it, there were tons of post-it notes sticking out but best of all, gathered a lot of scrapliftable ideas that I can incorporate in my LO. Did a few LO sketches too.

These days, I try to look around me for inspiration. I'm particularly inspired by advertisements. Somehow, they have very pleasing visual layout and so scrapliftable! I've done a number of LOs based on adverts. I once created a background based on a little girl's stripy dress. I even sought inspiration from a paper towel too as it has rows of mosaic squares and imitated that on my LO. Hence I shouldn't really say I'm out of creative juices as there's inspiration all around me. I think the main problem is I've been creating too much and suddenly I just feel so tired. Perhaps I should slow down and stop entering so many competitions and create simply for myself instead!

Talking about creating for myself, there's a competition going around about scrapping about ME! Too often scrappers scrap about their loved ones and ignore themselves... a pity really 'cos I'm sure their future generations would like to know about the creator of the lovely pages! Perhaps a good idea and opportunity to use pinkish, girlish papers! As a scrapper of boys, hard to incorporate lots of pink in a male LO.

Wow! Can't wait for next week as I'm expecting 2 kits, one from Homegrown and the other from Scrapbook Obsessions. BLISS provided I'm not hammered by customs and delivery is on time!

Music in the Making

My eldest had his first violin lesson today! I had made enquiries a few weeks back regarding music lessons for him at his school as I noticed kids carrying their violins to school. I was told there wasn't any vacancy. Then this week, received a call from school informing me that my son could start today (Thur) during his lunch period. Oh and I have to be there.

Anyway, got there and was introduced to his violin teacher. There was also another newbie starting too. I was then informed that she was going to teach the Suzuki method and this brought a smile to my face as I've heard of this method and it seems it's a good method for teaching kids. Need to check it out further on the net! Anyway, the first lesson was solely on how to hold the violin properly and to look after it. Well, it was only 20 mins so not a lot could be done. My boy was excited enough and back home, he couldn't stop touching his violin. Let's hope that enthusiam carry him forward further!

On the scrapping side, had a creative brainwave and started on a LO. I'm in another competition whereby I've to do 2 LOs based on a given guideline and initially thought of chucking it as I just had no inspiration. Then yesterday, my creating mojo came back and managed to complete Assignment 1 which was based on a monocromatic LO and given photos. Quite pleased how it turned out but can't post it as yet. Today, I've just completed Assignment 2 regarding body parts and having to use ribbons and vellum. Gosh, this has been a very interesting assignment and I've enjoyed being artistically challenged!!!

Duh! Such a bimbo!

Oops didn't realise I had forgotten to post this!!!

What was I thinking of last nite? Thinking Tuesday was Wednesday, checked the TV programmes and made a mental note for 10pm on Living TV. Turned it on only to find someone chasing after ghosts!!!! So where was my CSI??? Then it hit.... it's Tuesday and that meant there was CSI Vegas on Channel 5! By then I realised I had miss the entire new episode of Part 2! Boy was I so pissed!!!! How could I????

Yes, another passion of mine is watching the CSI series, all 3 of them namely CSI Vegas, CSI Miami and CSI New York! Discovered them last year in August (yeah a bit late) but was hooked on them instantly. Absolutely luv it and they just provide such good entertainment value. These days you get so much reality programmes on TV and it's such a big turn off for me... I'm sick to death at watching people overeating and then trying to reduce their weight on TV at primetime slot! And it's the same for at least 3-4 terrestial channels! Thank goodness Channel 5 have some decent programmes like House, CSI, Law and Order... programmes that give good entertaining value!!! Oh and not forgetting Channel 4 with Desperate Housewives!!!

Managed to scrap a LO this afternoon using Homegrown Feb kit. Played with my sewing machine and came up with this! Yeah, I know, title's a little cliche but what the heck, had the key and figured it needed to be used! Great use of my ever expanding ribbon collections too! Boy do I luv the papers from 3 Bugs in a Rug Sugar collection! Initally thought it would be too pinkish but they are absolutely perfect for scrapping boys!!!

Ups and Downs

I'm stressed... over birds droppings on my driveway! There's an oak tree just next to my driveway with it branches hanging over the driveway itself and at this moment the driveway is littered with birds droppings! Needless to say that my car is constantly hit every morning and I'm soooo pissed! #1, with young kids around, I do worry about the droppings if they do carry any diseases since bird flu isn't that far from the doorstep! #2 doesn't do the car any good as it corrodes the paint. #3, there are birds nesting in the tree and the darn trees is protected so I can't even have it cut down! We have now resorted to covering the car up so that it doesn't drop on the car directly. But I still do worry about the droppings... have to ring the Council and see what they can do since it's their tree!!!

But on the up side, received a kit from Back Porch Memories filled with scrapping goodies. I took the Medley kit and it feels like receiving 4 kits in 1 set! Fabulous! Can't wait to have a play! I've a serious addiction to kits. I currently receive kits from Homegrown Scrapbooks (where I'm a member of the Design Team), The Scrapbook Stand and Scrapbook Obsessions. Thankfully my subscription to the SO is coming to an end with April's kit. I've subbed for a year and have to say that the last few kits haven't been that inspiring! Not to mention that having 2 sheets of patterned papers isn't really my cup of tea... far too much. I can barely finish up 1 sheet let alone 2! As for the Scrapbook Stand, it has changed owners and April kit features Chatterbox Poolhouse. Not a Chatterbox fan as I find their papers very similar to each other... it's like same patterns in different colours for each rooms! Quite boring!

All these kits come from the USA where majority of the scrapbooking supplies originate! I luv the kits as I get to use the latest papers and products that just come out and sometimes get items that cannot be found in the UK. Besides, it takes away the pain of shopping for patterned papers, cardstocks and embellishments!!! I don't have a local scrapbooking store to go to and have a browse and most of the time I've to shop online hence, kits kinda solve my shopping problems!

Here's the remaining letters of my A-Z album:




F: follow your heart when in doubt








G: give in sometimes








H: hug your kids every day





Luv doing this and this time, I make sure I'm in it as it would be nice for my kids to see their mommy in their photos sometimes! If only I can get someone else to take the pictures instead of moi being behind the camera all the time!!!!

Being Productive!

Attended an all day crop on Sunday from 10am-10pm. It was fun going off by myself and having a good time with a bunch of ladies who share my passion for scrapping! It was a productive day for me and I created 6 1/2 LOs which needed to be done!

First on the list was my A-Z album challenge which I'm running at Homegrown . I managed to get letter B, C, D, F, G & H done. Then I could only finish halfway another LO for a Goals competition at Scrapitude .

I did an A-Z Inspiration album last year and had great fun completing the album. So this year, thought I do another one based on Parenting guide (boy do I need that!) It's going well so far and I opted to use a book and in clean simple style. Here are the letters completed so far:





A: accept your children for who they are and who you want them to be







B: believe in your natural instincts and abilities

C: care about everything your kids have to say








D: devote quality time to each of your children individually

E: enjoy every moment

Each week I will complete 2 letters so I should be done by the end of May!

This afternoon, I managed to complete the LO that was half done yesterday. It's for a Goals competition and I'm supposed to scrap my goals for this year which I had set up. One of my goals was to pick up reading again as since I started scrapping, I totally gave up reading books! I used to buy the latest bestseller that came out but now, I just walk past without a second glance.... that is sad! So this year, I made an attempt to start reading and so far have completed 2 books. Need to start on my 3rd one for this month. This is really pathetic considering I used to devour 2-3 books a week and now it's just once a month!!! Anyway, here's the LO!

Oh Boy, I've done it!

I've finally done it! Been reading blogs that I've came across and then one day, decided I should just try it!

I supposed this blog is dedicated to my scrapbooking which is my obsession at the moment! I discovered it in early 2004 while taking up cardmaking and gradually made the switch by the end of 2004. Then again, scrapping isn't entirely new to me! I've been journalling about my vacations way back in the 90s and used to create a memory albums showcasing all my trips. Hence it's nice to get back to it but this time using archival materials instead! Oh and not to mention all those scrummy, delicious patterned papers that is on the market!

Currently my scrapping area's a MESS! I've patterned papers everywhere in 12x12 baggies and it's amazing I actually manage to find what I'm looking for. Top on my list of organisation is my unmounted alpha stamps.... need to find a proper way of storing them so that I will use them more often!

Just completed a 2nd quarter March Madness competition at Homegrown forum where I'm an active participant there! There were 4 challenges to complete and I was racing to finish a mini album and an altered CD LO. Never again will I put myself thru' this stress as I feel I can't input 100%. Anyway, here's my altered CD LO.... imagine using pink on boys...

As for the mini album, it's not completely finished as I've to add some tags but with 95% done, it fulfilled the competition requirements! Will post later...