>>> Bonus! <<<

So woke up early albeit reluctantly this morning to drag my petite arse to the Blues ground to attend a Birmingham Council meeting regarding the equal pay structure. They offered us a fix amount depending on the time you have worked and if you were agreeable, you had to sign it and the money would be deposited into the account asap! Seeing that I only worked less than a year and am glad to be getting something, I signed it without any fuss. Frankly what I'm getting doesn't pay the mortgage and it's only an allowance (to spend on more stash) and seriously couldn't be bothered with all the legal wrangling!

So I entered this room to sign and did a double take! Sheesh, I was in this private box overlooking the Blues football ground. Man, it was awesome! After signing my form, whipped out my camera and proceeded to take photos of the Blues ground. I was so dead impressed! It's lovely. I've never been to any football stadium since living here (and I've been here for more than 10 yrs) so this was an eye-opener! Here are some of the shots. Typical scrapper mentality! LOL!

A close-up look on that!

Gosh, the grass is so green and so well kept!

Wondering how Oliver is getting on in camp! Hope he's enjoying himself. Weather was great today although a wee bit cold. I'm sure he was involved in loads of activities. Can't wait to find out from him tomorrow how he got on.

I'm still organising my stamps. Thankfully I'm down to 2 bagfuls, the altered stamps and the words! Yup, I've that many that I've actually categorised them. I'm so enjoying using them now that they are so accessible and easy to look for!

All my stamps were initally categorised into different baggies. This bag represents the word stamps.

The above stamps have been categorised as labels. The images were stamped on a sheet of paper, then laminated and the stamps stored behind the images.

The sorted stamps are then filed in an A5 folder. Why A5 'cos I've got space for them on my shelves. If I had chosen A4, I would have difficulty putting them on my shelves. Have to say that buying A5 clear pockets and folders are wayyy more expensive than A4!!! Ridiculous!

I'm off to enjoy Saturday nite TV programmes and sort my stamps further. I seriously need to sort my word stamps as I use them a lot! TTFN!

>>> Oh Gosh! It's Friday Again! <<<

Can you believe how the days are flying? It's Friday again and another whirlwind weekend for us!

First, here's Zac with his gingerbread man that he made in school. They are currently learning about it and I think it's great that his teachers get them to make and bake them. He sure did enjoy eating it but not before allowing me to capture it on film!

Have to say, it did taste good. I need to get the recipe as Zac wants to give it a go at home.

Tonite Oliver goes to camp! This will be his first time away from home alone. He's going with his Cubs members. His mom has been busy getting his gear ready and even added an extra blanket in case he gets cold (heard it's gonna be a wintery blast this weekend!) I hope he enjoys it as I certainly did enjoy my camping days during my teenage years!

Ollie's sleeping on the bottom bunk. Would have preferred he slept on top!

The boys together. As usual, can never get Zac to pose properly for me!

Popped into Tesco to do grocery shopping for next week. Managed to snag 2 Cath Kidston bags, her latest ones. I'm still after the Ottoman Rose one (the one with green background and red flowers). I'm a bag fanatic so nothing new here! Had a browse through the coats section but as usual, can't find anything my size! Pity as there was a 20% sale too. I'm after a coat but I really hate shopping unless it's online! Oh well, I'm sure I'll find one eventually. TTFN!

>>> On Display! <<<

Went to crop at a friend's last nite and came up with this! Made use of Scarlet Lime's Oct project kit and Nov main kit. I'm trying to use up the kits as they contains loads of goodies but just lacking the time to play with them! Maybe less time surfing and more time creating would help!

Played with Tim Holtz' mask. When I saw them, I knew I had to get them (all the masks except the alpha ones). Luv the fact that they are transparent too. Easier to use!

TTFN!

>>> Proud Moment! <<<

So the boys had to perform as a solo violinist today in a concert. Both of them did brillantly. Both said they were frightened and worried in case they made mistakes but I told them to just pretend it was a normal practice session. Well, they showed no fear and played brillantly. So proud of them!

The venue was held at George Cadbury Hall. I guess it's being use as a performing theatre hence the props behind. Anyway, it did serve a good backdrop.

This marks the beginning of one of the many concerts they will have to perform. Both of them will be playing in 3 concerts in December and one that is gonna be held in London in February next year! Cool! More photo opportunities! :) TTFN!

>>> Party! <<<

Zac was ever so excited today. He couldn't wait to attend his girlfriend's birthday party. He kept asking me if it was time to go. Moi, on the other hand, was worried as I had not gotten any present yet. So after the boys' swimming lessons, we made our way to the Big Woolworth to hunt around. Can't say it was easy to find a present for a girl! I had spoken to her and did ask her what she like but I still couldn't find a suitable one. After walking about, peering around, I finally found something that was suitable, a creative kit that encourages story telling skills. It even found the Toy of the Year award in 2006 so I figured it will be useful. I also made her a little picture frame and added a packet of Go Gos (an addictive figurine that the kids collect in school)!

The party was held at a bowling alley. The kids had 10 games each. Zac enjoyed it and came out tops in his score. Then they had a meal at the cafe. I guess holding kids party at a bowling alley is kinda popular as there was another kid party being held as well.

Anyway, here's the frame that I made.

Had to blur the girl's photo as permission not sought and dun wanna get into trouble with any authorities. This country can be so weird with its child protection policies. Suffice to say, she's pretty!

TTFN!

>>> Friday's News! <<<

I'm so glad the week is over (well almost!). It has been a very hectic week for me and a busy one too, so busy that I can't even find the time to attend the craft fair at the NEC this weekend. It started on Thursday and ends Sunday but I can't even find a free day to go. One needs an entire day there to be honest. A real pity as the NEC is just 10 mins from where I live!!!

The day started with moi attending Zac's performance in his school Assembly. His class acted fairy tale characters and he was one of the 7 dwarfs. He looked so cute in his costumes. I always marvel at how the teacher and assistants manage to get them to perform so brillantly. Took loads of shots with my DSLR and it turned out brillantly. In the past, with a compact camera, the photos were rubbish as the lighting isn't so good during these performance. But I'm so pleased how it turned out.

My little dwarf! Such a cutie!

More photos to come once I've done some photoshopping! Stay tune! TTFN!

>>> On Display! <<<

Here's what I did using BackPorch Memories Nov Solo kit. Can't say those papers really rock my boat but I think I did some justice to them. Papers are from WRMK White Out Nonsense papers.

I'm surprised how I'm doing so many 12x12" LOs these days. Used to work with 8.5x11" size but I guess they became too small for me. LOL!

Ohh, this came in the post today! Been drooling over them when I saw how they were used and tried to buy it on US Ebay but majority wanted to charge a good US $10 more than retail price. Sorry, may be desperate but not stupid enough to pay inflated prices for them. So got US friend to get them for me and it came today. Now wish I had chosen to go to the States for study instead of Europe! I would have been in Scrappers' Paradise! :)


Colleagues at work updated me about the Single Status pay. It's just so complicating but it will switch from weekly pay to monthly now. Also I might get paid a wee bit more as I'm looking after a special needs child. (I'm in charge of feeding a special needs boy through a tube in his tummy and shadowing him on the playground to ensure he doesn't get hurt. He's a cute boy anyway and quite intelligent too). Anyway, as long as there's a wee bit of cash coming in to support my hobby, I'm not bothered which structure they (the Birmingham Council) is adopting.

Cooked a big pot of curry tonite. With the weather getting colder and colder, nothing beats eating spicy food. I used a curry paste that I bought from Singapore (and thankfully found that I can get it at Wing Yip, the chinese supermarket here... hooray!). Added chicken breast and drumsticks, potatoes, boiled eggs and chickpeas and viola, it was done.

Glad to say there's leftovers and curry usually taste better the 2nd day! Might have it with prata (pancake a la Indienne) tomorrow. Again, thank goodness I can get prata here albeit frozen. Gosh, wish there was a prata house here (those who have been to Singapore will know what I'm on about). I'm so missing my midnite snack!

Rite, off to do a bit of crafting... got a couple of projects that need to be done. TTFN!

>>> Remembrance Sunday! <<<

As Olllie is in Cubs, he was asked to take part in the march to the church for Remembrance Sunday. So together with MIL, we attended the ceremony at the church. Thank the Lord for blessing us with a sunny weather albeit a chilly one. This enabled us to hold the Remembrance ceremony outside the church as they had a tiny corner dedicated for this occasion.

It was an extremely chilly morning.

After the church ceremony, we headed off to a chinese restaurant in the town centre for tim sum. Haven't had it for ages and it was good!

Duck Hor Fun. The boys' fav dish!
This dish isn't exactly on the menu but you can request for it.

With a full and satisfied tummy, we then made our way to Costco for a nosey. Lots of Xmassy stuff on sale and the boys even managed a photo with Pudsey the bear.

All we bought was a box of Oreos biscuits and a box of bottled water. The problem with Costco is the bulk purchase or the extremely huge portions of food. Luv their cakes but it would take us ages to consume it and food generally don't keep that long. Fine if you're hosting a party but daily consumption is just too much for us! Did see some lovely choccies though. Will bear that in mind when I'm doing the teachers' Xmas gifts.

Spend the evening doing laundry i.e folding clothes and ironing. I had accumulated 3 baskets full of clean clothes that needed folding (thankless task!) As for ironing, completed a pile of them too in between watching Ghostbusters II! Might spend the last few hours of the day crafting! TTFN!

>>> History Has Been Made! <<<

Woke up this morning to find that Barack Obama has been elected as US President! Wow! That is one heck of a news! It will sure as hell bring changes and a new beginning to America. He will have to watch himself and his family very carefully from now onwards.... I'm sure security around him and his family will be more stringent. It will definitely be more interesting to see how he interact with the world as well. Who would have thought, by the words uttered by Martin Luther King , that this is exactly what has happened! Sheesh, the political scene has suddenly become very intriguing!

It's Bonfire Nite tonite and I think the credit crunch has taken its toll. Didn't hear much fireworks going. Then again, it's Wednesday so not many might be celebrating it during the mid-week. Let's see if Sat will be any better. Not sure I'm gonna go to any bonfire celebration. It's getting incredible cold these days! Yuks!

Had a call from Ollie's Headmistress. I saw the school name coming up on my mobile and feared the worst, thinking my boy has misbehaved in school. However, she was trying to urge me to apply for the Parent Governor's post. There is currently 3 vacanies ongoing and a call for them. I did apply the previous time when there was a call for 1 post but didn't get it. I'm surprised she made a personal call to ask me. It does make it very difficult to say no, seeing that one of my boys is studying there and the youngest will join him in 2 yrs time. Oh well, I guess I've to write my intro speech. The Headmistress even wanted to use previous application to save me the trouble. I quickly declined. I much rather write another speech. Makes me wonder if they are worried they won't get any application..... mmm! Being a committee member of the PTA in the Infant school, I know that it's not easy to get parents to participate so at this higher level, they might be seriously short of people. Let's see what happens.

On the crafting front, been busy with BackPorch Memories Nov Solo kit. It came on Monday (slightly delayed) and I'm working on them before the 10th deadline. I would have prefered the Medley kit as the papers really rock my boat but that's the challenge!

Anyway, here are some other work that I've done ...

Card created using Scarlet Lim Oct main kit. Stamps from Label Tulip, Prima and Purple Onion Designs.

Card was created for last year's Xmas. Kept it as a spare.
The above cards were used for a challenge on BackPorch Memories forum whereby one had to use non-traditional images for making Xmas cards.

Been neglecting my A-Z BOM album so here's the letter N which I'm chosen to signify name. I had a hard time coming up with a suitable word and one day, it drawn on me to use my name and find out the meaning of it!

Another page of the above album. The letter 'O' was easy. Being a nite owl, I just had to record that. Played with transfer liquid and tranferred an image of moi on paper. Luv the effect of it.

Rite, off to re-organise my stamps. It's coming along very nicely and I had to get more folders, clear pockets and laminated sheets. I still have another half a dozen bags to go through, despite working as fast as I could. However, I'm liking the aftermath of it... it's so easy to use my stamps now. Why didn't I do it earlier??? TTFN!

>>> On Cloud Nine! <<<

Happiness is........knowing that you will be seeing a good friend soon! :)

Just heard from my best friend in China that she's coming over to the UK during the Xmas period. I'll be seeing her on Boxing Day. Sheesh, am I so excited.!We had nothing planned for Xmas and I was thinking how dull it was gonna be but no more! OMG, that's only next month! I think the countdown begins! This is for you CB, every cloud has a silver lining! I'm sure you know what I mean! :)

On the political front, I'm keeping a close eye on the American Presidental Elections. It will be so exciting to see who eventually steps into the White House. During my Uni days, I had to learn all the name of the American Presidents and the year they took power as part of my course. That also included the British Prime Ministers as well. You can imagine... my nites were spent memorising these people!!! Yes I do have great interest in politics. Unfortunately not many I know share that interest so chatting about it is hard! I was sent an email earlier today about being able to register as an overseas voter. Need to get that done as in my adult life, I've never voted before!!! I feel so cheated that I've never ever got the chance to put an X against the name of a candidate! Sad isn't it but true. Anyway, my constituency in Singapore is always a walkover! No opposition is strong enough to withstand the group candidatures especially when one of them happens to be the current Prime Minister!!! Now I need to check and see if I can vote in the UK, after having lived here for so long. Not a Brit citizen but by virtue of my country being part of the Commonwealth, I might just be able to! I look forward to the day when I can walk into the voting centre and put an 'X' against someone's name!

School starts today for the boys and so do I. Back to work again. I'm lucky that I only work during term time. I had to attend a meeting yesterday about some re-structuring to the pay system. Gosh it was just so complicating. Just as long as it doesn't result in a pay cut, I'm not bothered how they do it!

Well, my eyes will be glued to the TV today but not before watch CSI Miami! LUV the CSI dramas, all 3 of them. TTFN!

>>> On Display! <<<

I was asked to be guest designer for Scrapping Clearly, an Australian acrylic album manufacturer, a while back. Got my acrylic album while I was in Singapore and upon my return, proceeded to play with it. Well, the newsletter is out and here's what I did:

The front cover of the album. Made use of photos taken during our fishing trip in Tanjong Pinang, Indonesia.

I inked all the acrylic pages with alcohol ink and then embellished them with rubons (loads of them) and other bits. I didn't use a single piece of patterned paper. Made use of Prima transparent tapes too ('hug' those). Quite pleased how it turned out and I must have reduced the amount of rub ons that I possessed (feels good to use them up)!

TTFN!

>>> Happy Halloween! <<<

Not that my boys do celebrate it but they did don on their Halloween outfit (bought several years ago) to go to their nan's. Didn't allow them to do the 'trick or treats' thingy as I don't like them eating sweets. Besides, they are still too young and it was really cold tonite!

It's half term this week and gosh, how time flies. It's Friday again and it has been great not having to wake up early and send the boys to school. Gonna miss that next week when they return and it will be a mad rush again in the mornings.

Oliver was invested as a cubs member tonite. They had a little Halloween party and then we came in the last 15 mins to witness his investiture. (photos coming soon). That means I've gotta sew his badges onto his new jumper again! A very tedious task and wish mom was here to do it!

MIL was nice enough to have both boys over for the nite. It was Oliver's turn to stay over but somehow cheeky Zac managed to squeeze his way in much to the annoyance of his brother. That gave us adults a free nite and boy did we made use of it. We went off to watch Quantum of Solace at Star City. Gosh, what an action packed movie it was. I enjoyed it thoroughly but definitely need to watch it again as you tend to miss bits on first viewing.

Managed to create a few LOs in between babysitting the boys. Made use of the Scarlet Lime Oct main kit as well so quite pleased I got to use the kit as usually it just sits on the shelf. The autumnly colours of the papers helped greatly too.

LO created for Scenic Route challenge where one had to mix at least 2 different lines of papers. Had to give this a go as I luv to mix & match different papers.

LO created using Scarlet Lime Oct main kit. And no, Zac didn't eat the snow, just his cheeky manner of doing it since I was taking shots of him.

Since I just came back from Paris Disneyland, just had to scrap this group photo of us. Didn't set my camera up properly so it's slightly overexposed but hey, it's the memories that count! LO created using Scarlet Lime Oct main kit.

Back to the grind next week! Can't believe it's Nov tomorrow! At this rate, Christmas will be upon us in no time! TTFN!

>>> Disney Fantasia! <<<

Got home from Paris Disneyland after spending 4 days there. We left on Friday afternoon to stay at a hotel in Folkstone so that we didn't have to travel so early in the morning. It was a nitemare journey as it took us 6 hrs to reach Folkstone. At one stage, we were stuck in traffic for a good half an hour due to accident. In fact, we were stuck twice in different motorways. By the time we reached the hotel, we were thoroughly knackered.

The next morning we took the Channel Tunnel to Paris. Didn't realise it was such a short journey and it was the first time we took with the car. Thomas Cook messed up our reservation. There were 3 families altogether and somehow we were given a different ticket alphabet. We later checked and found that we were given a different departure time in France as well. So we had to change it to ensure all 3 were leaving together.

Anyway, got to Paris Disney in good time. We stayed in the Dream Castle hotel and it was amazing. What can I say about Disney, it was just brillant. The kids enjoyed it, the adults as well and all of us had a fabulous time. It was the first time we went as a group and we really enjoyed each others' company. Who knows, we might do it again in future but for now, I leave with some highlights of the trip....

First day: Travelling to France via the Channel Tunnel.

The Dream Castle hotel that we stayed in. The room we stayed in had 2 queen size beds.

First nite in Disney! Lucky for us the park closed at 10pm so we made the most of the evening there. The theme of Halloween was echoed throughout Disneyland Park, one of the Disney sections.

2nd day: the kids managed to get up close with some Disney characters. Here they are with a
chipmunk.

Managed to capture a shot of the carnival parade

Moi trying on one of the many Disney hats. I was so tempted to get this particular one except common sense prevailed. Can't exactly wear this everyday, can I?

Day 3: Up close with Mickey Mouse and his autograph

One of the many rides that we went on

I just had to get into this pic. Luv Monsters Inc. and the characters.

Day 4: The gang!

A train ride around Disneyland Park.

Our last meal in Disney was taken at Planet Hollywood. I had rump steak (not really a steak person) but this particular steak was just so juicy and delicious. Heavens!

Managed to squeeze a trip to the Sealife Centre.

At the Channel Tunnel on the French side. We took the 2347 train and just managed to get in the last carriage. It seems they had cancelled an earlier train and there was a backlog of cars, not surprising!

Snow greeted us when we hit UK. Inches deep of snow too. We didn't get home till 4am.

I thoroughly enjoyed this trip. We had a hectic 4 days of walking, visiting, queuing and sitting on rides. My only grouse was the food. Loads of junk food at Disney and by the 2nd day, I had enough of chips and fried meat!!! Thankfully on the last nite at the hotel, we dined in at the restaurant and they were serving 'la cuisine francaise'. OMG, it was perfect as the starter consisted of seafood. I had 2 platefuls of prawns and mayo. Dessert was even better! Sure as hell made up for the crap meals we had on the first 2 days!

God blessed us with great weather as well. It did drizzle on the 3rd day but it didn't spoil our trip. We were lucky that it stopped during the day and it got wet by evening which didn't bother us as we were ready to go back to the hotel.

So was 4 days enough... I don't think so. I'm sure there were areas that we didn't go. In terms of exhaustion, it was certainly enough. Going to Paris Disney gave us a prelude to what it would be like to go to the one in Florida. We had plans to do that next year but after experiencing the Paris version, I think I shall opt to go to Singapore instead. I certainly don't want to spend my entire holidays queuing up for rides!!! TTFN!

>>> Hectic! <<<

This has been a whirlwind week for me, Oliver's school performance, Zac's parents' evening etc. It doesn't stop till Friday! Thank goodness I had them written down as there is only so much my brain can cope with all these events. Put it down to old age.

Oliver's year group put up a harvest performance on the theme of 'being green'. His school is aiming of 'eco' status so the production was about an a planet close to extinction and the need to find another planet to live. It was good and it would have been better if he did perform in it. Instead he was in charge of the lightings. Put my camera to good use and am amazed how well it took in low lighting. However, another lens would have done the job extremely well instead and without flash too!

Zac's report went well. A month into the school term and he's doing well apparently. All he needs now is to practise his handwriting as it's awful at the moment. His teachers described him as a 'bundle of energy'.

Haven't done much crafting as I'm sorting out my stamps at the moment. It's taking much longer than expected (translated as having far too much stamps!!!) I look forward to the day when I can merely flick through my files to search for a stamp as opposed to looking throught bagful of them instead!

Need to pack as well... we're off with relatives to Paris Disneyland. As usual, I'm the official packer in the family. TTFN!

>>> Crop! <<<

Well, it's the 3rd Sunday of the month so went to the Solihull crop. It was also my turn to teach a class and my class focus on layering and distressing. Here the LO that I created:

Have to say, luv the shots I took of Oliver as I was merely shooting with my new camera and managed to capture him in action without any blurring! Luv those coconut trees in the background. Gave it a tropical feel. Unfortunately the pools in UK are all indoors and very stuffy!

Felt completely drained out after teaching. Needless to say, will hit the sack after putting my boys to sleep. TTFN!