~ Happy Chinese New Year! ~

It's the first day of Chinese New Year today! Wishing all my Chinese friends and those who celebrate it... 

I'm in for a major celebration this weekend... lots of good food and good company! Cheers! TTFN!

~ Project 365: January ~

I seldom embarked on long term projects as I've a tendency to get bored halfway but when I saw the Project 365 app on iPhone, I couldn't resist it. No harm giving it a go as it's on my phone and I'm so attached to my phone at the moment. Anyway, glad to say that I did take a photo daily in the month of January and as a result have fill all the entire calendar month with photos. And I turned it into a page: 

LO (8.5x11") was created using paper from Splendid Fiins. Numbers by Katie Pertiet & alpha by Jen Allyson. Journaling element by Katie Pertiet and strips by Splendid Fiins.

So January was an eventful month. There were days where nothing exciting happened and I looked at the simple things to capture memories i.e. getting a high score on Word with Friends, chatting with my bro on FaceTime or even making a card! 

I'm now embarking on February's memories. So far so good. Looking forward to creating a page at the end of the month! TTFN!

~ 365 Cards: Day 338 ~

This week we are sponsored by SRM Stickers. Have to say, their stickers are a joy to use!

Today's challenge is inspired by the sponsor's name:  S-R-M. Hence the card should feature a Sticker (or several), Ribbon and Masking technique. 

The background paper was created using repositional mesh and mists. Cupcake & sentiments came from SRM Stickers. 

TTFN!

~ Banana Frog Hop ~

Welcome if you have just arrived from Lory.

My project today is to keep track of those little bits and pieces that I need to use for documenting memories.  Currently I'm have several albums on-going and there are times where I get a souvenir from that particular day and need to keep in a safe place. The problem is sometimes, I keep it so safe that I fail to find it and this has annoyed me many times! Hence, I created this little bag to put these bits in one place and hopefully, ease the headache of searching for them when it is needed.

The bag is a recycled packaging. I merely painted it over and then decorated with patterned papers. The calendar was downloaded and printed out from Crafty Secrets site. The papers were from a digital collection by Carina Gardner. The swirls came from the Butterflies and Swirls set while the date is from De Louisville alphabet set.

The back was stamped using several Banana Frog sets: Butterflies and Swirls, Totally Tropical and Build A Daisy. 

Hopefully with this bag, I can now keep all my souvenirs in one place and when the time comes to scrap my page, I can easily find them. As for the theme on Winter season, nothing wintery here but since the new year falls in the Winter months, the new resolution was to be organised and hence, this bag!

Thanks for dropping by and if you fancy a Banana Frog stamp set, leave a comment. Winner will be announced on the Banana Frog blog! TTFN!

~ 365 Cards: Day 331 ~

This week, we are sponsored by Digis With Attitude.

Today's challenge is about putting a a bit of 'sass' on the card: 

Papers are from Audrey Neal's Good Dog digi collection. Image & sentiment from Digis With Attitude.

TTFN!

~ Burns Night Party ~

Attended a Burns Night Party and we had a traditional Scottish dish called Haggis. There was even a Scottish chap who recited the poem before he cut the Haggis. It was quite interesting! As for the dish, it was my first time and I can't say I like it much. I did try but just wasn't to my tastebuds!

Now that's a lot of haggis. I even had to stop the waitress from serving more! Probably an acquired taste! Some food do take time to get used to!

Hubs and moi. Finally got to wear my posh frock. This party was to make up for the Xmas Party that was cancelled due to the heavy snow that fell on that particular Saturday.

We had a great nite and even won the raffle. I chose an Easter hamper... will come in handy when I organise my Easter Egg Hunt in April. TTFN!

~ GCD Studios Spotlight ~

I've been spotlighted in the GCD Studios blog. I was chosen about a year ago when I was still very active in the scrapping scene. 

Ha! They have taken my Halloween photo! Seriously, I don't look like that in normal life! LOL!

I did manage to create a few more using GCD Studios papers. Have to say, I do like their papers actually and they are so easy to use. 

A card made using Melody Ross papers. 

A page for my son's Year 6 album. I created an album to document his last year in Junior School.

The back of it. Both using Melody Ross papers. 

It was fun while it lasted. Priority have changed for me since last year and scrapping no longer hold the interest it used to be. Not that I've gone off completely but currently devoting more time to my boys at the moment. TTFN!

~ First LO Of The Year ~

So I had a wee bit of time on my hand and quickly whipped up a LO, the first for this year! Made use of a photo taken this year.

'You Rock' LO

A 8x8" LO using a paper from Deena Rutter Hotel California collection. 'This moment I treasure' note is from Elle's Studio, the rubon 'who, what, when, how' is from Carina Gardner. The rest of the elements are from Katie Pertiet.

Took this photo of my boys while they were in my bed, playing with iPhone. They recently discovered YouTube and have been exploring the site and watching some videos. I have, however, monitor what they watch and have banned them from a few videos. Photo was taken using the Retro Camera Pro app, my fav app at the moment. 

Finally completed my Journal Your Christmas 2010 album! Yay! Have to say, doing it digitally certainly was a major factor in its completion. It was also during this time that I stared spending more on digi products instead of the physical stash! And why not when I can pay $1 for a whole set of digi kit as opposed to a real one (need to know when those sales occur)! The entire album can be seen on the left column of the blog. 

My wee one's birthday coming up in 3 weeks time. He knows what he wants for his present alrite! He hasn't mention about a party but have expressed interest in Legoland. Who knows, he might just get his wish! TTFN!

~ Hawaii Five O ~

Remember this? I used to watch it when I was a kid and now that I'm an adult, I absolutely luv it still. Any way, found out there is a re-mix of the whole series with new cast. I've got it on CD (thanx to my bro!) and can't wait to see it (typical, this country takes ages to show anything from the US!) Anyway, Sky 1 HD has been busy promoting it too so I guess it's on its way here. An alternative to CSI, Criminal Minds etc. Yay! 

I leave you with original theme song! I'm glad they kept the same song for the new re-mix series. This video sure bring back childhood memories! Jack Lord is so suave!:)

TTFN!

~ 365 Cards: Day 135 ~

This week at 365 Cards is Inspiration week. Each DT member comes up with an inspiration word and use it on the card. Well, my word is 'believe' and I know if you truly believe in something, it will happen! Here's my card:

Background is a digital paper from Carina Gardner. The stamps are from Unity. 

I've been busy clearing my craft room as it became a bombshell after Christmas. It reached a point whereby I couldn't work in it as I saw the mess and I went out immediately. It just wasn't conductive to any form of creativity! So I bit the bullet and armed with a black bin bag, started clearing out the mess. Threw out shedload of papers and other stuff, re-arranged my kits as they were all lying on the floor. Threw out pizza boxes and re-organised everything. After an exhausting day, I could see the table and floor! Amazing what a bit of spring clean does! Hopefully this will entice me to scrap a bit! TTFN!

~ Apps Galore! ~

Wish there was more than 24 hours a day! Running out of time and so easily tired these days ever since work started! Still trying to get into the swing of routines. 

Not much creating done but concentrating more on my new iPhone 4. Trying to migrate all my stuff into the new. Hubs already asking me for the 3GS. Have to say I absolutely luv the new phone only b'cos of the improvement in the camera. Wow, so much better with flash and the retina display is amazing! 

Found quite a few apps to play with too. The first is a diary app called Momento which allows you to write a journal every day and you can include photos, tag places/people/event too. Awesome. Since getting it, I've been writing it daily.

Momento app, cost £1.79

Another app I found is Project 365 whereby you input a photo per day. The layout is a calendar format and you can add photo and description each day. I always balk at anything long term but since getting this app, it has been a joy to fill each day with a photo and I look forward to it. I even set a reminder to take a photo each day!

Project 365 Pro

There is a free version but I got the Pro version for 59p so as not to have any ads (they are such a nuisance!) You have the ability to save what you do and you can either upload to Facebook, Twitter or even email the photos.

With all these new apps, I found two new photo apps, Instagram and Retro Camera Pro. Instagram, a free app, is pretty interesting as you take a photo normally and then apply filters to it. There are 11 filters which give different effects. Quite cool. 

Instagram

Apparently you can share it within a community and have followers etc. I wasn't interested so I set my photos to private. Here's an example which I tried out:

Excuse my dishevelled look!

Now the next photo app is my fav! Another free app called Retro Camera Pro. It comes with 5 different type of cameras with different effects in print & saturation. You have to use a certain type of camera to get a particular effect. My fav is the pinhole camera as I like the effect of it.

Retro Camera Pro app.

One of the cameras offered. It does come with an annoying ad at the bottom though. Now the app itself isn't perfect as it does hangs. But hey, it's free and what more can you ask for!

Here's an example of the FudgeCan camera.

And my fav, the Pinhole camera. Luv the film effect on the photo. 

So that is what I'll be doing this whole year, writing journals and taking a photo a day to fulfil my Project 365. I still do have my Hipstamatic but it does take a while to develop the photos and it's hard to use in situations when you need to take photos quickly. The Retro Camera is much faster in application. The Instagram allows you to take photos in your camera roll to play with the filters. Anyway, one can't have too many photo apps! 

Oh and before I go, I found this app that monitors how much water you drink each day. It's called Water Your Body. Basically, the amount you drink depends on your weight and I've to drink at least 1523 ml a day or about 6.44 cups. Can't say I've drunk 6 cups daily but at least 4 minimum. Since getting the app, I've been more conscious of drinking water and do make an attempt to try and drink my required amount. 

I've got a couple more LOs in my JYC2010 to complete. Just need the time to do them....if ever I find it... TTFN!

~ Still Around ~

I'm around but just trying to settle into the new year! Came back from our holidays last Monday and have been catching up with laundry, work and household chores! So glad it's the weekend! Slowly catching up on my blog too and have been updating posts with my JYC 2010 LOs. Rather than show it all in one thread, which would be a lot of images, I decided to backdate the threads. Having done it digitally have actually compelled me to finish the LOs. Quite pleased! 

In the past, I did say that I would never dabble in digi but since losing the time to scrap, digi scrapping have been keeping me sane! I managed to do the bulk of my LOs during my stay in Scotland as it was so easy to flip the Mac open and play around whereas physical LO which would have taken far more longer, not to mention the amount of stash I would have to pack with me! Hence, I've been investing in more digi products as opposed to actual stash.

Be back soon.... TTFN!

~ Happy New Year! ~

2010 sure passed quick! Had a good year but hoping 2011 will be better!

It's a tradition to walk along Bournemouth beach in the New Year and that was what we did. We have been doing a bit of travelling. We spent Christmas in Scotland, New Year in Poole and somewhere in between the two, we were in London! Nice to get away from the humdrum of daily life!

Totally engrossed playing with the sand. They simply love the beach. Pity we don't live near the sea.

So any resolutions? Not really although I need to try and be more organised! Always a last minute person! TTFN!

~ Journal Your Christmas 2010: Day 26 ~

Boxing day. As all the boys had fishing rods for Christmas pressies, we brought them to the pier to fish. It was bitterly cold and I had to seek shelter in the car after a while. The boys didn't catch anything although I think they had fun throwing their rods in. 

Majority of the page came from Sara Schmutz Letters to Santa kit. A couple of other elements from Katie Pertiet.

TTFN!

Boxing Day

Here's what we did today, in the bitter cold, rainy weather...



The boys had fishing rods for Xmas pressies & we took them fishing. It will be a miracle if they caught any fish!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

~ Journal Your Christmas 2010: Day 25 ~

It's Christmas and what else can I journal except the boys' excited squeals at opening their Christmas presents. They do question about Santa though although I tell them if they don't believe in him, they get nothing! LOL!

Page created using papers & elements from Katie Pertiet (my all time fav digi designer).

TTFN!

Merry Christmas!

What do you know? It's Christmas again! Well this year the boys spent it with their cousins.

Thank goodness they didn't wake up at an ungodly hour! It was 9am when they attacked their pressies!

As for our Christmas dinner, we had venison. Here's hubs doing the honours of cutting it up:

Merry Christmas!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

~ Journal Your Christmas 2010: Day 24 ~

Christmas Eve! The special day draws nearer. What we did? Had a Christmas Eve lunch! Food was good and so was the chocolate milkshake I had, never mind that I'm milk intolerance! So my journal focussed on the delicious meal we had. 

Papers by Sara Schumutz and Robyn Meierotto. Various elements by Katie Pertiet.

TTFN!

~ Journal Your Christmas 2010: Day 23 ~

Today we start our holiday. First destination is to Rothesay in Scotland. Thankfully we chose to drive as the onslaught of snow has caused chaos in airports and we might have not been able to catch a flight if we had chosen to fly! The roads were well-gritted and within 7 hrs, we arrived. We had to take a ferry across to Rothesay and that was the focus of my journal:

Paper by Jen Allyson from Vintage Finding kit. Journaling sheet and various elements from Katie Pertiet. Trimming from Ali Edwards. Doily from Jesse Edwards.

TTFN!

~ Journal Your Christmas 2010: Day 22 ~

I usually bring my boys to Santa's grotto as a tradition and by chance, while waiting at a shopping centre for another appointment, there was a Santa's grotto that beckoned us and therefore we queued for it. Thankfully we did as we didn't have any time to visit any more Santa's grottoes and hence, this was the only photo I got of the boys visiting Santa this year. 

LO done using various elements/papers from Katie Pertiet. 

TTFN!

~ Journal Your Christmas 2010: Day 21 ~

Today we (hubs & moi) travelled 2 hrs to Wootton Bassett to meet up with a good friend for dinner and back. We had to exchange gifts/items. It was nice to see him. Definitely worth the journey. And the snow didn't stop us nor hindered us!

LO done using Echo Park Dashes Through The Snow digi kit. 

TTFN!

~ Journal Your Christmas 2010: Day 20 ~

Today my boys had to take their violin exams. Hence, the journal is dedicated to them: 

Paper by Jen Allyson from Vintage Finding kit. Stitched journal by Katie Pertiet. Trimming by Ali Edwards. Tag by Robyn Meierotto.

Managed to capture this shot from the outside where my boy was taking his exam. What I do for recording memory!!! TTFN!

~ I Hate Snow! & Journal Your Christmas: Day 19 ~

Strong statement but that's what I'm feeling now as it has disrupted a lot of plans! Had a Xmas party cancelled due to the foul weather (can't hold a party if people can't get to the venue!) Then I was supposed to entertained friends from home (i.e. Singapore) but their flight was cancelled as the plane can't land in Heathrow! I've got Scotland, London and Poole to visit the next couple of weeks but not sure how that is going to happen if the weather carry on the way it is! Here's how much snow we got since Friday!

We have a good six inches of snow on the ground at the moment. 

Well, if you have got that much snow, the only thing to do is to play with it. Currently, the snow is kinda fluffy and quite nice to play with although it does stick to your clothes (depending on the materials).  So that's is my topic for today's journal. 

Brought my boy for his violin lesson this morning and after that, we went sledging, or rather he did. Moi was just the photographer:

LO created using Echo Park All I Want For Christmas digi kit. Other elements from Katie Pertiert, Carina Gardner and Robyn Meierotto. 

Boys have violin exams tomorrow. Will be so thankful when it's over... I can concentrate on the coming festive season! TTFN!

~ Journal Your Christmas 2010: Day 18 ~

Woke up to a white scenery this morning. Boys had a busking programme in Solihull and hubs insisted they went and do their part for charity. So we braved the snow and drove to Solihull. The original programme has to be cancelled as it was an outdoor event but there was no way the boys could play their violins outdoor as it was snowing non-stop! The organiser managed to arrange a half an hour slot in Touchwood centre and the kids did their part. So here's today journal: 

Page done using paper/elements from Katie Pertiet, Elle's Studio and Robyn Meierotto.

Later had an update from the organiser who said they collected £45 for their half an hour's work! Thanks to the generous shoppers who stopped to donate. Incidentally, they were fundraising for Christian Aid. TTFN! 

~ Journal Your Christmas 2010: Day 17 ~

Today is the last day of the school term. Yay, can't tell you how pleased I am as it's getting hard work waking the boys up! The boys have a violin concert to perform tonite but the older one also had a Cubs party to go to and of course, he chose the fun one. So I brought the wee one for his concert. Well, that gave me something to journal: 

Page base from Sara Schmutz Letter To Santa kit. Other elements mainly from Katie Pertiet (this lady has one of the amazing digi papers/elements) & doily from Jesse Edwards.

It started snowing again. Fingers crossed it won't be too bad! TTFN!