~ Woot! ~

I'm honoured to be invited to join the Creative Team of Pink Reptile Designs. Got the message when I went to upload my LOs at this particular forum. Checked my messages and found one from her. Have to say, I was embarrassed when I saw the date as it was 2 weeks ago (shows how often I go to that site!) Anyway, a quick reply confirmed my role in her team. 

I had the pleasure of using her products when she did a collaboration kit (Painting Rainbows) with Val C. Designs. That is one of my favourite kits as the colours of that kit is so bright and cheerful. I had a peek at her store at Zig Zag Scrap and liked what I've seen. I'm now looking forward to creating with her products! TTFN!

~ Digi Scrap Competition: Round 6 ~

Well, the final round of the competition! Not sure how I made it as each round got harder and harder but I was quite happy to push myself beyond the boundary of what I knew and to learn more stuff. Here are the requirements:

1. Use 15 different kits, but…
2. Use kits from exactly 6 different designers
3. Use a blending mode
4. Use an advertisement as the starting point for your page
5. Use a title of a book as your page title
6. Use orange as an accent color
7. Duplicate a photo, but use different crops of that photo
8. Alter an element
9. Do an extraction
10. Use the words “Mad”, “March”, and “Memories” in your journaling, but not as one phrase
11. Do a two-page layout, but…
12. One page’s background must be a photo
13. Weave an element behind and in front of something else
14. Create a shape (using custom shape tools) and use it in three different ways
15. Incorporate a strong diagonal line into your design

Now are those overwhelming!!! Gosh, I struggled with using custom shape and had to check out the net for tutorials. Finally discovered a site whereby I could download more shapes to load into PS. Settle for a butterfly shape. I don't normally do a 2 pager but this has been fun. Here's my final LO. 

Yup that is what we call ourselves! The name was given by the hubby of one of the gals. So it stuck! Luv them to bits and can't wait to see them soon.

On the mundane side, the boys attended their last violin concert. This month has been a month of concerts. I reckoned I've been to at least 5 concerts, with one of them in London! It's nice to see them on stage performing. Now to scrap all the photos that I've taken! 

After the concert, we went to Harvester for dinner. Now the first time we went there, we never got to eat as after 45 mins of waiting, we walked out. Tonight, hubby decided to give it another go and so we did, at Starcity. What a major disappointment! Food was sub-standard and not tasty at all. Hub and I didn't enjoy our steak at all, the sauces were tasteless and the wee one's child meal looked bland and awful. Not surprising he didn't eat a lot of it. The older one's meal of fish and chips was ok. The verdict: NEVER go back again. I should have insisted on Frankie and Benny... they have much better food there! 

Today marks the start of the Easter break for the wee one and moi! 2 glorious weeks of no school or work! Been waiting for it. What am I gonna do... catch up on classes, sell off physical stash and scrap like crazy! TTFN!

~ AnnaLift ~

Here's a LO I created for AnnaLift (at Oscraps):

All supplies by Anna Aspnes

I lifted the piece of scrap paper and used it on the LO. Didn't know what to scrap then I saw my iPhone and this LO was born! TTFN!

~ DHD Challenges ~

Why do I always wait until the last minute to do any challenges? Then I find myself scrapping furiously to complete as many as I can! Duh!!!

Anyway, had a look at challenges on Design House Digital site and here are my LOs:

This LO was based upon a Scraplift challenge (although it looks nothing like the original!) It also incorporate Technique challenge too, which is to make the text on the photo appear to be in and out.

This LO was done for Color Swatch challenge as well as BluePrint challenge (a template was provided). Used my wee one's baby photos. 

Finally, this art journal was done for the Inspiration challenge which ask to use wordart on a page.

TTFN!

~ Art Journal Caravan: Itinerary #10 ~

I've laid off for a while but I'm back. Looked at Itinerary #10 and luv the quote given so here's my art journal:

Played with a few new kits here:

Crowabout StudioB: Dress Up

SherrieJD: Flora Finery

I'm so glad I've joined this class as it has been so inspiring, not to mention learning new words all the time. 

Incidentally, this art journal was picked as Gallery Standouts! Woot! TTFN!

~ Mr Whiskers: Birdcages ~

Should have put this out earlier...

Mr Whiskers came up with a kit entitled Birdcages. The best part is that it comes with back and front parts of the bird cages thereby saving you the need to do any erasing. So cool! 

Here's an art journal done using it. 

All images are from Birdcages apart from ostrich (SherrieJD: Flora Finery) & child (Hidden Vintage Studios: Debut Freebie)

TTFN!

~ 365 Cards: Day 27 ~

Today's challenge is about putting balloons on the card. Here's mine:

Background created using Anna Aspnes' ArtPlay Palette Birthday. 

TTFN!

Been busy creating today! Today I played with a new kit I'm With The Band. It a charity/collaboration kits by quite a few designers to help out a cause. I love the contents in the kit. 

Here's my art journal made with the kit:

Little kid is from Hidden Vintage Studios: Debut Freebie.

There is so much in the kit so gonna have more play with it. TTFN!

~ Mr Whiskers: Steampunk ~

Mr Whiskers brought out  a new kit entitled Steampunk. Steampunk images are pretty popular in the mixed media arena.

Here's my art journals:

TTFN!

~ Digi Scrap Competition: Round 5 ~

I made it to the next round and Round 5 is slightly more challenging! Here are the requirements:

1. Use an action on your photo
2. Use an inspiration piece from Pinterest to start your page
3. Do your journaling in list format
4. Blend a number into the background paper
5. Recolor an element
6. Make a 2-d element 3-d
7. Create your own word art using one alpha and one font
8. Use stripes, polka dots, and floral patterned papers
9. Use only three colors: black, white + color of your choice
10. Use only black and white photos
11. Use something from one of our free kits

12. Subject: Favorites
13. Use staples on your layout

I have to say that I've learnt a lot in this competition. Tried a lot of new tools and learnt new skills on how to do stuff on PS. Anyway, here's my LO:

I had so much fun with this LO. Incidentally, used a template from Anna Aspnes on this LO. TTFN!

~ Digi Scrap Competition: Round 4 ~

Got into Round 4 and this time the requirements are even more intense! Here they are:

1. Warp three shadows
2. Use 4 circles
3. Subject: All About Me
4. Scrap from one kit, and use every single paper in the kit
5. Take a self-portrait and use it on your layout
6. Use a stroke or outline somewhere on your page
7. Use song lyrics on your page
8. Journal directly on your photo
9. Choose three layouts from the gallery and use as inspiration
10. Use a brush to distress your text
11. Use brackets on your page

Phew! Had to ponder over it but finally came up with a LO which match all the requirements!

Supplies: Anna Aspnes' ArtPlay Palette 10 Things To Heart

This has been a very busy weekend as I'm helping my wee one with his Egyptian project! It's due on Monday and he has done most of the work himself. I'm helping him to polish it up. But it's taking up the entire weekend and I'll be so glad when it's done and dusted!

Oscraps is celebrating its 6th birthday. There's tons of activities going on so hop over to find out more! TTFN!

~ Art Journal Caravan: Itinerary #12 ~

This week's prompt was given early as Tangie has a digi scrapbook convention to attend the weekend! Lucky her. Wonder what's it's like to go to one.... sheesh, it would be fun! Talk about not having to cart all the stash... just the laptop & external hard disks! 

Looking at the prompts given, I settled for the quote. I couldn't resist getting a couple of new mixed media kits too and this is what I came up:

New kits by Rebecca Mcmeen: Wren & Studio Mix19: Glorious Vision. Also added Anna Aspnes' ArtPlay Palette Metro Graffiti set too.

Need to work on previous Itineraries. I will eventually catch up! 

On the routine side, the wee one had a concert in his school in the evening. Well, he has another one next Tuesday at Adrian Boult Hall and both of them are due to play in their violin teacher's concert next Friday. Lots of photo opportunities coming up! Then it's the Easter break! Yippee! Can't wait! TTFN!

~ Digi Scrap Competition: Round 3 ~

The title says it all. I made it to round 3 and here's the next set of requirements:

Use three photos from three different occasions

Use three patterned papers

Place one photo at the very edge of the layout

Use only three colors

Use this font on your page: Ostrich Sans

Use an arrow embellishment

Use a brush

Subject: Recap

Use a sketch (layout design, but NOT a template)

Not easy but I think I fulfilled the requirement with this LO:

I chose this particular patterned paper as the boys' school reward them with a busy bee stickers so I thought it was so appropriate. LO was roughly based on a Page Map sketch taken from Sep 2011. I did rotate the sketch clockwise an added an extra photo. As for the photos, they were taken in 3 different years. I always make it a habit to take a picture of them on their first day at school. The wee one was alone last year as his brother has gone to secondary school and he started a day later! 

Let's see how I far in this round! Results are out on Friday! TTFN!

~ 365 Cards: Day 20 ~

This week we are sponsored by SRM Stickers.

Today's challenge is an Invite card with images that depict the type of celebration. Here's my card:

Background paper from Anna Aspnes. Baby vest & borders from SRM Stickers.

TTFN!

~ Val C. Designs: Perfect Or Not ~

Oops! Forgot to announce that Val C. Designs came out with a new kit entitled Perfect Or Not a couple of weeks ago...

 Available at Zig Zag Scrap

Here's what I've done... created a LO and an art journal:

 Photos of my best friend's little boy... he's so adorable!

Image of 'ugly' woman is from Beth Rimmer: Junque Journal.

Absolutely luv the colours in the kit. TTFN!

~ Dec Daily 2011: Day 23 ~

I've got 4 more pages before I complete my album. It's taking a while as I'm not in a hurry to print it out (my mistake! Should have bought a Groupon offer which would expedite my scrapping process). Anyway, here's a page from the album:

Day 23. Supplies by Anna Aspnes.

That's my wee one! His long is quite long (he likes it long) and that day, he picked up my hair clip and used it! He has been mistaken many times for a girl before, notably in Singapore, when he was prevented from going into the boy's toilet just b'cos the lady thought he was a girl! He wasn't impressed by her to say the least! Anyway, we used that as an excuse and managed to persuade both of them to have a hair cut! When we were coming back from our cruise, even the immigration officer had to take a double look at him as I assured him he was a boy!!!

I'm surprised the schools in England don't take a stand on the length of boys' hair. Gosh, when I was in school in Singapore, the Principal would cut the boys' hair if they were too long! Even the girls weren't spare... we had to tie our hair if it was long and wear a certain colour clip! I used to have my pink clips confiscated as we had to have them in blue!

Well, enough rambling... I've got 3 more pages to do then I'm done! TTFN!

~ Digi Scrap Competition: Round 2 ~

Found out I made it to Round 2 of the Digi Scrap Competition at DHD. Here are the requirements:

1. M = mist
2. A = alpha
3. D = doodle
4. N = neutral
5. E = eyelet
6. S = stitching
7. S = stripes

Here's my LO:

Really enjoying the challenge of the competition. Round 2 was fairly easy to accomplish. Looking forward to seeing what's in Round 3. TTFN!

~ Val C. Designs: Template Serie #2 ~

Val C. Designs has come out with two templates:

Available at Zig Zag Scrap

Here are my LOs using the templates:

The templates could also act as a double page but I'm not into 2 pagers. Templates are fun to play! They do take the hassle out from creating a page from scratch. TTFN!

~ Digi Scrap Competition: Round 1 ~

DHD is having a Digi Scrap Competition. Just for fun, I'm taking part and here are Round 1's requirements: 

Use a blog hop kit

Use a template

Use three colors

Frame a photo

Interview someone

Well, here's my LO:

Let's see how I fare.... TTFN!

~ Mr Whiskers: Luck And Fortune ~

He has come out with a new kit called Luck And Fortune:

Here's a page created from it:

Apart from background (Lordlings & Halflings), speech bubble (Carla Gibson: Altered Art Elements1) & image on mirror (internet), the rest is from the kit.  Had fun coming out with this page. I simply let my mind run wild!

TTFN!

~ AnnaLift ~

Time to do another AnnaLift at Oscraps. This time, it was more about the white space. I'm not so good at it as I luv to fill up my white space however, I think this LO should meet the criteria:

I played with Anna's new kit ArtPlay Palette Metro Graffiti (well, not new but a re-make of an old kit). Luv the colours in that kit. My topic focus on my old car. I still miss that car. It has a fabbo climate control! My new car takes ages to heat up!!! 

I did manage the white space without cluttering it up! TTFN!

~ AnnaLift ~

Over at Oscraps, there a challenge every week to lift a LO using supplies from Anna Aspnes. Well, my lift is the sketch effect applied to the photo:

Celebrating my wee one's 9th birthday!

I learnt this from a tutorial on the net. It's amazing how much info is out there for Photoshop users! TTFN!

~ 365 Cards: Day 13 ~

For today's challenge, it's "Call Me". Have an image of a telephone or the word 'call me' on the card. Here's my card:

Background paper by Anna Aspnes' ArtPlay Palette Adventure. Image of telephone was sourced from the net. 

TTFN!

~ Mini Album ~

For my blog post at Oscraps, I created a mini album using digi pages entirely! Have to say, it was such a breeze creating one as everything was done on the Mac, printed out and then assembled.  It would have taken me ages to create one if I did it traditionally with physical stash!

Anyway, here's the mini album which incidentally is in the hands of my MIL. Gave it to her as a birthday present:

Supplies by Anna Aspnes
The pages were cut using Spellbinders Nestabilities. I made use of all the different shape templates that I possess (they need to be used from time to time).

I laminated the pages just so it could withstand the wear and tear. Now to make one for myself! TTFN!

~ Mr Whiskers: African Mix2 ~

Mr Whiskers has come out with a new kit called African Mix 2: Toon Animal Safari.

 Available at Deviant Scrap.

Here's what I've done:

Seeing all those animals reminded me of Animal Farm. Found a quote that I like and my page was done!

TTFN!

~ Oscraps Collaboration Kit: Soiree ~

Every month, Oscraps come out with a collaboration kit (by the designers there) and they are humongous! There is so much in the kit! This month's kit is called Soiree: 

Here's a page I created with the kit:

My SIL's new hubby!

Had fun with the kit. There is so much in there! TTFN!

~ Woot & The Digi Dares #267! ~

Just discovered my art journal was picked a winner at The Digi Dares!

There's a new Dare out and here are the requirements:

So, have you been introducing joys of past to your friends or family? Or even rediscovering for yourself forgotten gems from the past?


Dare Flair:

• Your page must have at least one circle to represent things coming around
• Use a worn element or paper to represent the past
• Use a bolder pattern for a little fun
• Use some doodles, either patterns on a paper, or elements, or a doodled alpha to show your playful side!

Here's my page:

Image of Bruce Lee was sourced from the internet!

I so luv my kungfu movies and I really do miss Bruce Lee's movies! Shame he didn't do a lot of them but those that he has done are simply classic! My tribute to him! TTFN!

~ The Digi Dares: #266

Found out about this site which offer digi challenges. Never got round to taking part until yesterday. They issue a new challenge every Friday. Anyway, last week challenge was an art journal with certain requirements:

This week I want you to scrap about what the things that you find hard to let go are. What is holding you back and not letting you move on with your life? Tell us your story.

Journaling is a must.
*I want to see some green on your page (in honour of St. Patrick´s) .
*Use at least 3 buttons, 2 fasteners and 1 patterned paper.
*Photos are optional but if you decide to use them make sure you use at least 2.
*Use an arrow of any kind on your layout
*As our focus here is the journaling I want you to use at least 3 different fonts.
*Use an alpha of your choice for the title

So here's my art journal:

Supplies from Anna Aspnes & Tumble Fish Studio: East Is West Bundle.

This was easy! As soon as I knew what was hard to let go, the journaling came easy! Food that I was so accustomed to is hard to let go. I may be living here in England but I do try and eat what I used to eat before (albeit with much difficulty!) Thankfully, the Chinese supermarts here are importing more products from the Far East! TTFN!

~ 365 Cards: Day 6 ~

We start another year of 365 cards. Today's challenge is Keep It Simple. Here's the recipe:

One stamp, one piece of patterned paper (any size, any shape), and any three embellishments.

Here's my card:

Thankfully I had coloured this image a while back so simply cut her out to be used on this card. The patterned paper is from Anna Aspnes (can't remember which one as I tend to print them out in advance for future use). TTFN!

~ Art Journal Caravan 2012: Itinerary #2 ~

For this particular journal, I combined two categories:

What I would write on a fortune cookie and I chose the quote that was given as I liked it. I went for an Oriental theme as I was dying to play with a new kit that I bought. Here's my journal:

Tumble Fish Studio: East Is West Bundle

Anna Aspnes: Asian Script No1

Slowly trying to catch up but I'm certainly enjoying the process. Tangie Baxter sure knows how to give a good class as I'm looking forward to every Friday now! TTFN!

~ Art Journey Caravan 2012: Letter & Itinerary #1 ~

At the start of the Art Journal Caravan, we were asked to write a letter to ourselves, to remind ourselves why we are doing it. After pondering over it, here's my letter: 

I want to improve on the use of Photoshop, learn new skills, experiment and play and think outside the box!

I started to look at Itinerary #1. There were a few categories but I finally settled on this: 

The word given was 'clandestine'. I found an image of this particular couple and invented a story line...

All I can say is that I'm having so much fun doing it! Nice to be able to chuck various images, play with brushes, paints, mists, all digitally on a page! I'm kinda scrapped out at the moment so I'm glad to let my mind wander into another area of creating. TTFN!

~ Art Journal Caravan 2012: Itinerary #3 ~

I'm catching up on my Art Journal Caravan and I was looking at Itinerary #3, specifically...

The word is 'Soliloquy'. Instantly I thought of Macbeth! I did that for GCSE Literature and it is one of my favourite Shakespeare books. While studying it, I used to learn all the interesting lines by heart, from Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and even the witches! Anyway, this particular piece of soliloquy by Macbeth strike me...

Macbeth & Shakespeare images were sourced from the net. 

TTFN!