>>> Asian Dare #3! <<<

Dare #3 is out. The theme is to focus on one's heritage and I chose to highlight my Peranakan culture. Here's my LO:

Made use of Rouge de Garance paper. I wanted to use the Limitee Edition but when I saw the papers, just couldn't bring myself to use them.... think I need to stroke it a little longer... the colours are just so gorgeous on them! Made use of Maya Road chipboard swirls and some orchid blossoms that I found in a haberdashery. Added pearl and lace to compliment the LO.

Do check out what the other Asian gals have done... their work is just amazing. And we have our first Guest Designer, Caroline Lau from Maya Road. Check out her LO! See it all here!

Went to a friend's house for a crop but instead, spend my time watching Desperate Housewives! Man that show is so gripping that you just can't do anything else! Mental note to self: avoid cropping on Wed nite! TTFN!

>>> Just Hanging Loose! <<<

Did 2 loads of washing and 3 loads of folding clothes up... could someone please invent a folding clothes machine. I'm ok with washing clothes... just chuck them into the washing machine according to colours of course but loathe folding them. I only do so when there's nothing to wear! So plonked myself in front of the TV and did 3 loads of folding up! Eh, don't even mention ironing... never bother and wish it wasn't even invented in the first place! They should invent material that doesn't crease!

Played with some stamps and came up with this card:

I had borrowed two stamp sets from a friend and decided to play with the 'Time' set and made this. Kinda like the effect as it does look rather masculine. Well, it will definitely be given to a male celebrating his birthday! The inside of the card read 'Happy Birthday' to complete the phrase in the front.

This card was done during Sunday's crop. Basically inked the background with my Dewdrop inkpads ... luvvvv them to bits... and then made use of Back Porch Memories Special Edition Birthday stamp set to decorate the card. I admit, I'm a stamp fanatic.... I think at this moment, bordering on obsessiveness! Just luv the effect of stamping and I've even started to play with my heat gun again!

Another card created during the Sunday crop. A little plain I think but the 'Make a Wish' stamp is from BPM Special Edition stamp set.
PS.... all cards copyright to moi of course!

This is my Alphabet ATCs. Did this a week ago using one of the stamp sets I had borrowed. My letter is 'A' and I went for an Altered Art theme. Sheesh, I hope I did make it looked like an altered art. Did this 26 times! I've now got a Zodiac ATC to complete. Should be fun!

Just been browsing on a stamp site, Impress Rubber stamps and they got some lovely stamps there but they are all wood-mounted. What a pain as I much prefer them unmounted... cheaper and easier to store. I'm already so stuff for space and I fancy ripping all my mounted stamps to make them unmounted... just thinking what I should do with the wood then! A waste to throw them away. Might wait until they have a sale ... i.e. if I can wait that long! I'm also impatiently waiting for the new stamps from Purple Onions too... ohhh they got the most gorgeous stamps in there! I'm so glad I took classes in stamping during my card making days! I'm familiar with quite a lot of stamping techniques, played with materials such as shrink plastic, some plasticky stuff that makes brillant designs and not forgetting UTEE! Now it's a matter of incorporating these techniques into scrapbooking.

Rite, off to do a LO if I can! Haven't done a lot this month due to constant search for new products from CHA, mainly stamps! ;) TTFN!

>>> It's Monday Again! <<<

Man, time seems to fly! Can't you believe that it's the end of the 2nd month now! Gosh, have I done anything I wanted to do? Well, haven't cleared my wardrobe of the excess clothes, and my craft room is in a state again! Darn!

Spent the afternoon working on my Asian Dare #3 LO. It's due out on 1st March. We've got a Guest Designer and she's special! Check out the Asian Dare blog on 1st March!

Ohhh, I've just started a new CJ on Scrapitude called Freestyle. It's meant to be artsy, funky, playing with anything and everything you have on hand. I'm looking extremely forward to this and got an idea what I want in my CJ!

Speaking of CJ, I've gotten back my 'The day/year I was born' CJ that I took part last Nov at the Scrapitude site. OMG! It is amazing! The girls have done fantastic entries and I'm so proud of the book! Here's their handiwork:

The book that I created and decorated!

My signing in page!

The page I did!

Page by Kimmy

Page by Jenny

Page by Dawn

Page by Anita

Page by Claire

Page by Sally

Page by Jaine

My signing out page where the gals decorated a bouquet of flowers!

Sideview of the CJ!

Thanx Gals.... it's one book I will always treasure! TTFN!

>>> Birmingham Crop & Happy Anniversary! <<<

Yah! Last Sunday of the month so it's crop day for me! Couldn't wait to go as it seemed ages since I've been to the last one. As usual, packed last minute and ended up bringing tons with me! Managed to do a layout and 3 cards so quite pleased with my productivity!

Here's a LO I did for the Crop challenge set out by Morag. She managed to take a group photo of us last month and challenge us to do a LO. So here's what I did! Didn't win the draw though!

Here's the LO I managed to do during the crop using new papers from Back Porch Memories Feb Medley kit. Papers are by We R Memory Keepers and I've used at least 7 different brands of stamps on this LO! Luv my stamps to bits!

It's also my wedding anniversary today too... 7 years of marriage. Yawn! Hubby was moaning that I was going out on our special day... so I asked if he had planned anything special... NOPE! Heck, I wasn't about to stay at home for nothing then! I had so much fun cropping than I would if I had stayed at home! I did get him a box of choccies (nothing for me from him.... typical! Why I bother I sometimes don't know... should have bought stash with what I had spent on him!) Anyway, bought something that I could eat as well so it wasn't a wasted purchase! I did make an Anniversary card though... with some new 2nd-hand stamps that I had bought off Nikki for a £1 a stamp. Great stamps they were, wood-mounted and a real bargain! She's gonna regret selling them when she see what I have done with the ones I bought! :)

So much for today! Will upload the cards when pics have been taken. TTFN!

>>> New Place For Stash? <<<

After bringing Ollie to Mandarin class, we popped into Dunleim Mill and had a good browse around. Hubby has never been in there before (not surprising!) I found some lovely laces and cheap blossoms and bought a few (not a lot as hubby was paying and didn't want to be seen going overboard!) We ended up getting a throwover for the sofa and a shower curtain. Zac was a nitemare! He insisted of going off exploring by himself and I had to constantly hunt for him! We seldom use the pram these days!

Was browsing thru' some US online stores and saw a load of Fontwerks stamps, new and old on AMLT. God, talk about palpitation and spend a shedload on them. Decided to get the ones I've been hankering after for a long time. I think I have enough to last me a lifetime now. :) TTFN!

>>> Great Day! <<<

I went shopping today! Popped into Au Natural and ended up with some alterable stuff as well as a woven basket to store all the scarves and gloves. Currently the boys just chuck them onto the sofa and very often they go missing! Gotta train them to put them into the box now. As for alterable stuff, got myself a clock and large pegs! Always wanted to alter a clock... will see how it goes!

Kids went over to MIL's house after school and Ollie asked to stay over. No problem with me... less 1 kid to look after. True enough, Zac slept early as he had no one to play with!

Hubby and I had a takeaway curry tonite... ordered my fav Balti Bangladesh King Prawn with nan bread and poppadium. Gosh, it was absolutely delicious! TTFN!

>>> More Productivity! <<<

Went to a friend's house for a crop and ended up making 26 ATCs. I'm currently involved in 2 ATC swaps, Alphabet and Zodiac. Did the Alphabet one today. My letter is A and I chose the theme, Altered Art. Did loads of stamping and had great fun with it. Will upload pictures of them once I've taken some photos! TTFN!

>>> Scrapping Mojo Returns! <<<

Shocked myself by doing a bit of housework, changed the bedsheets and gave the house a good sweep! The craft room is in a bloody mess again... getting really fed up and I think it needs a major sort out i reckon!

Did a LO tonite. Played with my new papers from Basic Grey Scarlet Letter. Bought an entire collection as the papers were just too darn yummy! Did this LO for 2 purpose!

Did this LO for 2 purposes... one for the US Effer Dare #58 using deco scissors and for ZingBook recycle challenge to use old paper bag. Hey gotta kill 2 birds with one stone! TTFN!

>>> NEC! <<<

Finally, both boys back at school. Immediately after school run, headed off to the NEC for the hobby craft and stitch show for traders. I went on the behalf of Kimmy as she is on holiday at the moment.

Have to say I was drooling big time over all the new CHA products i.e. Heidi Swapp, 7 Gypsies, Imagination Project etc. Gosh loads of temptation.... fortunately I'm not a trader or else I would have bought tons of stuff!

Was totally shattered by the time I reached home. Never walked so much in my entire life! Thank goodness for my Crocs! They made me feel like I was walking on air! TTFN!

>>> First Day of School! <<<

Ollie went back to sch while Zac was off school due to teachers' training day. Brought him out to the shops and found a lovely pink broom... well, if i'm gonna do some sweeping, might as well use something bright and cheery! Can't say I did much scrapping today! Been spending time hunting down some new CHA goodies on online stores, mainly in the US! TTFN!

>>> Sunday! <<<

Brought the boys to Sutton Coldfied park to cycle. The day started out brillantly, lovely sunshine, bright and cheery! When we reached there, suddenly the sun disappeared and it became gloomy. Never mind that, it became terribly cold too so we cut short our park trip and went home. I leave you with some photos of the boys having fun on their bikes....

The little 'un hard at work cycling! He absolutely adore his bike !

Having a picnic!

Ollie not at all fearful... he had gone down a slope by himself earlier, scaring the hell outta moi and hubby!

Obviously the little 'un not to be outdone, insisted on doing the same, albeit with daddy's help of course!

TTFN!

>>> Gong Xi Fai Cai <<<

Happy New Year to all my friends who celebrate Chinese New Year.... how I wish I was really in Singapore to celebrate this occasion as you can really feel the mood of the event. Here in the UK, I did the traditional reunion dinner with hubby's relatives but can't really feel it. Yeah, I had steamboat with king prawns, squids, beef, fishball etc.... great feast but just lacking the mood.
I miss the traditional sweets and snacks that accompany Chinese New Year, not forgetting the dos and duns too. Might have to try and go back home for CNY in the coming years! TTFN!

>>> Finally ..... ! <<<

The last day of half term. Hubby took a day off but the weather was so murky that we couldn't really go out. Instead, ended up in Ikea where we bought a square dining table that could fold out if guests came. Luckily the boys gained two places at the soft play area so we could do a bit of shopping in peace! Also bought some storage boxes for the boys too. So much for today! TTFN!

>>> Chill Out! <<<

Spent the day at home. After so much activity in the last few days, just wanted to chill out in comfy clothes. MIL popped around to give Zac his birthday pressie. She had bought him the latest Power Ranger car (that cost almost £20). Almost died when I heard how much she paid as it was just an ordinary car, battery operated but mainly for the lights and the ability to shoot an anchor at the front. Other than that, nothing spectacular at all! Would be interesting to see how long that car last intact and unbroken.... that little mink is so heavy-handed with his toys!

Postie brought me my RAK from Maya Road ... some gorgeous ribbons and latest chipboards! Ohhh, inspiration already flowing and can't wait to do some scrapping. The half term has severely limited my scrapping time and I'm itching to do something creative!

The 2nd Asian Dare is up and here's my LO:

The theme is based on a saying.

As the Scrapitude DT LOs were uploaded today, here's what I did with the Feb boy kit:

Had a real blast with this kit as it was so easy to play with the papers.

Had a crop with Morag tonite. What a welcome relief and I managed to alter a picture frame! It's lovely to be able to crop with like-minded friends! TTFN!

>>> Happy Valentine's Day! <<<

Popped into Birmingham town centre as I needed desperately to get a packet of rendang sauce from the Chinese store. Fancied curry tonite. Also popped into Poundland to get some storage 3-tier drawers. They will come in handy for my coloured embellishments. I've arranged them according to colours and each drawer will hold a particular colour. I realised I don't actually possessed loads of bellies... just tons of papers, chipboards and stamps! Ended up with other stuff from Poundland too... namely a big bar of Toblerone choccie and some household items. Zac asked for an Xmen Annual book and Ollie insisted on some creepy stuff!

Hubby surprised me with some Valentine's gifts... 2 boxes of choccies! Mmmm! We don't really do Valentine at all... so nice to have my choccie fix... will come in useful when I scrap! TTFN!

>>> Happy Birthday Zac! <<<

Monday

Did some last minute shopping for Zac's birthday. Got him a few DVDs. Later that nite, had a crop with a couple of friends.

Arrived home after midnite and started to wrap up Zac's pressie but found myself out of wrapping paper! Typical! However, I had a wad of plain paper and I proceeded to decorate it using Making Memories dingbat foam stamps! Came out pretty nicely!

Tuesday

My darling boy Zac is 4 today.... gosh, can't believe that 4 years ago, he was a mere infant, helpless and terribly cute! Now, he's so independent and still terribly cute!

In the morning, he was given his pressies but only allowed to unwrap 2.
He didn't mind at all, in fact, Oliver was more impatient than he was! Decided to bring them to Wacky Warehouse and they were extremely excited.

Played a good hour and left me time to browse my scrapping mags! Immediately after, went to pick MIL up and then we had lunch at MacDo. The boys were delighted as they don't go to MacDo often, in fact, once in a blue moon. After lunch, we went to the Sealife Underwater World.
Oliver became excited when he found out there was a Lego competition to spot the new range of Bionicle that was scattered around. So we actually walked the place at least 4 times to search for these figurines! I was thoroughly knackered by the time we got home.

Hubby came home early with some Peking duck and pancakes for dinner. Had a lovely feast. Then came the big event... the birthday cake! The look on Zac's face was fantastic! He absolutely revel in it! And he absolutely enjoy the cake.
After that, we gave him the rest of the pressies to open!

Any chance of sending the boys early to bed was shattered when they wanted to watch a DVD! You would have thought after a day of outing, they would be knackered but nope, they still had tons of energy going. In fact, it was hard work getting them to bed as they were overly excited! Eventually they did!

Still can't believe my baby is now 4.... time surely flies! TTFN!

>>> Snow's All Gone! <<<

So much for snow... it's all but gone. Here's the pathetic remains of what's left!
How I wish it could have lasted longer instead of merely 2 days. It would make winter more bearable and feel more like winter! Well, I think I must have taken over 200 photos of the snow, some too blur to be used but hey, it did capture the moments!

Popped into Toys 'R Us today to search for a racing car for Zac. He so wanted one so I guess he will be having more than one now. Heard MIL had also got him one too! Ollie has been invited to a birthday party this Sat but try as I could, couldn't find a suitable gift for his lady friend. Might get her some clothing instead of toys.

Ran out of toilet paper so went into Quicksave that is just down by the road but hey ho! no toilet paper at all! While at the retail park in Solihull, popped into Boots pharmacy and again, no sign of toilet papers... lots of nappies, wipes and other essentials but nothing for the butt! This has led me wondering if I really in urgent need of them, do I have to go to the 4 main supermarkets to buy them? Anyway, managed to get to Tesco within the last 10 mins before closing time to buy a dozen! Talk about stressing me out... I know it's trival but essenial stuff like these do get me in a state especially when on Sunday where most shops close early.

Off to make a Chinese New Year card for hubby's colleague! TTFN!

>>> Shopping! <<<

For the first half of the morning, the boys were out playing with whatever remains of the snow that were left in the garden.
Both the neighbours' gardens still had tons of snow left on the ground, apart from mine! Later found hubby rolling a big ball of snow around the garden...
not that he built any snowman... well, at least he know how hard it was to roll a big ball of snow around the garden!

In the afternoon, we went to Birmingham town centre. I popped into the Chinese quarters to order a birthday cake for Zac, who turns 4 this Tuesday. Decided on a Chinese cake as opposed to those cartoon characters cakes that are found in the usual supermarket. Somehow, they taste just plain awful! We got a Spiderman cake for Ollie last year and failed to finish the cake and ended up throwing it away. Never happens with the Chinese one... that gets eaten up completely!

Went to the Entertainer to look for a toy for Zac. He wanted a racing car but there wasn't any remote control car at the moment. In the end, he chose a latest Bionicle set that just came out recently. Ollie insisted on having one too. Anyway, I refused to let them open the toys when we got in. They can play with them on Tuesday!

While in town, checked into the O2 store as it's time to upgrade my phone. Had no idea which to choose and was shown 2 latest models by Motorola and LG. Both had MP3 player, camera and whatever latest gadget in there. Couldn't make up my mind so decided to come back another day. Frankly, I hardly use my phone for anything else apart it being a phone! Hence, all those gadgets will probably be wasted on me!

Spent the nite watching TV.... America's Top Models, CSI NY etc. Mojo's lost at the moment or just simply knackered or had an overdose of scrapping! Bad timing as I've got deadlines to meet! Sigh! TTFN!

>>> More Snow! <<<

All Birmingham schools closed again so had the two boys with me. Had to restraint Ollie from going out to the snow the moment he woke up! He was dying to make more snowman! Zac had a lie-in and woke up in a happy mood. Most days, I've to wake him up for school and he's such a miserable, whinny creature when he's not ready to wake up.

We managed to somehow roll a big ball of snow... it wasn't easy and after a while, the three of us had to literally push it with all our might.

It took off a fair amount of snow off the grass and we had streaks of grass patch where we rolled the snowball through. Tired out, we went in for a break and snack. Gosh, the two boys did nothing but ate all day! Immediately after a meal, they would go searching for something else to eat. I felt like I was constantly feeding them all day long.

In the afternoon, more snow fell and it got heavier as the day wore on. In fact, it got so heavy that it literally covered any sign of grass patches that could be seen.

The boys were delighted and enjoyed themselves.
Pity I didn't get them a sledge to play. On my part, took tons of snow pictures. A very happy bunny here! TTFN!

>>> School Closure! <<<

All Birmingham City Council schools were closed today due to this:

Woke up this morning to inches deep of snow. Ollie was so excited and wanted to rush out to play but had to make sure he had his brekkie first and then warmly clothed! Zac had a good lie-in and woke up in a relatively good mood.

Ollie wasted no time in enjoying himself. Zac was a little reserved and utterly disliked being hit by snowballs. He whined a bit and then went into inside and got something to eat instead. Meanwhile I had a field time taking tons of photos and even helped Ollie build a snowman.

Had to go out briefly to the PO to collect 2 parcels and then to get some groceries as we had run out of bread! Drove as slowly as I could and as soon as my errands were run, got home quickly. The boys wanted to go out and play again so we did.

This time had a bit of snowball fights but Zac soon left the scene. He's pretty particular about getting wet. What a fusspot!

It continued to snow all day. It's predicted that the schools will close tomorrow... will have to listen out for the news on radio tomorrow! TTFN!

>>> Nite Crop! <<<

Attended a Heathy Eating workshop today at Ollie's school. The one best thing I learnt was how to read the food labels and how much sugar was in different cereals! Ollie tried Shreddies and Rice Crispies and actually enjoyed them. Hence, think we will make a switch to them now. They used to have Frosties and Coco Pops but they contain far too much sugar!

We to a crop at Nikki's place tonite, together with Morag. There's nothing more than mixing with scrap-minded gals, all sharing the same passion! Managed to get more pages of my Keepsake's Journal done. We scrapped till about 12ish and then made our way home.

There's prediction of 5-6 inches of snow tomorrow. As I drove home, no sign of any falling! Will see tomorrow! TTFN!

>>> Another Boring Day! <<<

Hubby was out again this time driving SIL's car over to Leicester with MIL. She's currently in hopital for a hysterectomy as she has been having so much problems and that was the last resort. Thankfully she's ok and recovering quite well so MIL has gone over to help her out with her boys. Later that afternoon, I drove over to pick hubby up. As usual, instead of heading towards M6 south, ended up in M6 north! I definitely need a satnav!!!! Managed to get there somehow an hour + later! The boys were fast asleep the moment I was on the motorway!

That nite watched Grey's Anatomy, the season's finale. I missed it last Thursday. God, cried buckets I did... such a softie but it was just so heart-renching! Now wondering who Meridith will choose..... hope the next season doesn't take too long to come over! TTFN!

>>> So Mundane! <<<

Hubby was out the whole day trying to sort SIL's car that has broken down last weekend. So I was left with the boys. After bringing Ollie for his Mandarin class, went over to MIL's place to hang around.

That nite, I decided to do a keepsake's journal to keep all the souvenirs that I need for scrapping. For example, lock of Zac's hair. Currently I don't have a place to store them so have decided to make a yearly book to store these momentos. I've decided to make use of all the Basic Grey papers as I've got tons of them around. Spent the nite sorting out papers for each month. Looking forward to putting them together.

>>> Such A Brillant Day! <<<

It was such a brillant day today. You wouldn't think it was winter judging by the weather... sunny with temperature at 11 degree celcius! It was warm!

Ollie had a classmate over after school. As soon as we got home, let them loose in the garden as it was such a lovely afternoon!



Can't believe it's Friday again.... where has the time flown!!! TTFN!