~ On Display: Maya de Groot ~

Here are some LOs done using products from Maya de Groot. 

AJ_Try Art

Supplies:
Maya de Groot: Miss Maya, Creative Silhouettes

AJ_Monogram A

Supplies:
Maya de Groot: Family Is Forever, Brocante, Flight Of The Butterflies, Zen Feathers, Paint N Glitter Passion, Love Letters, Passion For Project 365 Zodiac Signs, A Taste Of Summer

Supplies:
Maya de Groot: A Taste Of Summer
Fonts: Evie's Hand & FFF Tusj

AJ_King

Supplies:
Maya de Groot: Blue Holland
Font: Etaoin Shrdlu

AJ_Dangerous

Supplies:
Maya de Groot: Miss April

AJC12_39_Be Kind

Supplies:
Maya de Groot: Miss Felicity
Fonts: Trashed & Too Much Paper!

AJ_Celebrate

Supplies:
Maya de Groot: Miss Melody
Fonts: You Wish You Were A Shirley & Xerography

AJC12_30_Knowledge

Supplies:
Maya de Groot: Travel Notes, The Art Of Journaling, Wooden Laser Cuts, Zen & The Art Of Steam Machines, Travelers Treasure Box
Font: Misunderstood

AJ_On The Beat

Supplies:
Maya de Groot: Be Mine

 AJC12_30_Loquacious

Supplies:
Maya de Groot: Miss Jasmine
Font: Travel Diary

Her products are available at Oscraps. TTFN!

~ On Display: Pink Reptile Designs ~

Here are some LOs done using Pink Reptile Designs products. She now permanently sells at The Lilypad. 

Supplies:

Pink Reptile Designs: Chatterbox

Font: Larger Mime 

Supplies:

Pink Reptile Designs: When I Grow Up & Torn Treasures
Font: Pea Superamy

Supplies:

Pink Reptile Designs & Nini Goes Digi: Downtown
Font: Pineapple Delight

Supplies:

Pink Reptile Designs: Laugh Ou Loud
Font: Piedra

Supplies:

Pink Reptile Designs & Studio Basic: Take Note

Font: Chilly Moe

Supplies:

2am: Sunny

Pink Reptile Designs & Lynne Maris F: Boho Bliss

Pink Reptile Designs & Michelle Godin: What A Wonderful Day

Pink Reptile Designs: Build Your Own Butterfly

Font: Andreas Typewriter & Subway Novella

Supplies:

Pink Reptile Designs & Studio 68: It's A Date
Font: Pea Cindy

 Supplies:

Pink Reptile Designs: Growing Pains

Font: Christiana

Live Out Loud

Supplies:
Pink Reptile Designs & Michelle Godin: What A Wonderful Day
Fonts: Time To Scribble & Alisha

Supplies:
Pink Reptile Designs & Little Butterfly: Lean On Me
Font: PW Handscript

Have to say, I adore Mirjam's designs. She has quite a few fun elements that makes using her stuff very easily to play! TTFN!

~ On Display: Jenni Bowlin Studio ~

Here are some pages done using Jenni Bowlin Studio products. I always count myself lucky to be playing with her stuff in digital form. I can do a lot more in digital format than in paper.

Supplies:
Jenni Bowlin Studio: Soda Water Collection, Playful Embellishments, Sunny Days Pocket Stuffer, Vintage Valentine, Vellum Butterflies
Anna Aspnes: Script Tease Summer Overlays No1
Ardent Sparrow: The Doily Borders
Font: A Year Without Rain

Supplies:
Jenni Bowlin Studio: Wren, Vintage Number Cards, Chalkboard Alphabet Red On Cream, Calendar Bingo Card Calendars, Chevron Stencil Cut
Bee Deesign & Bobita Designs: Friends
Anna Aspnes: Doily Edge Overlays No1, 12x12 Flower Overlays No1
Font: Pea Teran

Supplies:
Jenni Bowlin Studio: Victoria, Feather Stencil Cuts, Frames Rubons, Jeweled Butterflies, Playful Emblishment Kit, Vintage Calendars, Timeless Elements, Rhinestone Buttons & Bows, Block Alpha Navy On Green
Font: Sue Ellen Francisco

Supplies:
Jenni Bowlin Studio: Playdate Collection, Beach Bingo Cards, Jeweled Butterflies, Chalkboard Alphas, Vintage Bling, Bird and Branch, Definition Labels, Clocks & Numbers
Captivated Visions: English Rose (doily)
Font: Pea Dacia

Looking forward to playing with her new stuff in digi form! TTFN!

~ On Display: Get it Scrapped ~

Gosh, I'm so far behind in displaying my pages. Time to play catchup!

Here are some pages done for Get It Scrapped. Warning... lots of pages!

Article for scrapbooking travel preparation (as seen here), not the travel but what you have to do before you travel! Usually a lot in my case as I'm the packer while hubby merely puts them away in the vehicle!

Supplies:
Jen Maddocks Designs: Travel
Katie Pertiet: Fading Words No3
Anna Aspnes: ArtPlay Palette Wanderlust, MultiMedia Flutterbys No3, Travel WordMix No1
Fonts: Television & Trashed

The next article is about adding tassels and fringe for fun texture and dimension as seen here. 

Supplies:
Julianna Kniepp: The Perfect Fan
Little Birdie Digital Designs: A Little Beachy
Traci Reed: Bad Sewing Machine XI Around The Block
Pink Reptile Designs & Val C. Designs: Painting Rainbows
Font: The Only Exception & Top Secret Without Lines

This article is on using Emerald Green on a page as seen here. Made use of my boys' school photo as their uniform matches the colour scheme exactly.

Supplies:
Angie Young: Color Play 4
Katie Pertiet: Cut Ups Photography
Word Art World: 100 Of My Favourites Vol3
Font: Baby Boston

This article is on using folk art patterns on scrapbook pages, as seen here. I had to think long and hard about this but I'm quite pleased with my page:

Supplies:
Pink Reptile Designs & Lynne Marie: Boho Bliss
Font: Bloody Impact

This article is on theme parks and outings as seen here. I went for an artsy style so that I can show off as many photos as I could. 

Supplies:
Anna Aspnes: Artsy Template No93, Love Glows No1, ArtPlay Embrace Life Brush Set, Cool Glows No2, ArtPlay Infatuated Brush Set, Cool Glows No1, ArtPlay Palette Family, Family WordArt No2, Multi Media FlutterBys No2, ArtPlay Palette Sunshine Bouquet
Font: Audalicious

This article is on making a black and white scrapbook page as seen here. Have to say, it wasn't my cup of tea as I'm a rather colourful person but I managed!

Supplies:
Anna Aspnes: ArtPlay Palette Achieve, Script Tease Life Overlays No1, Multi Media FlutterBys No2
Fonts: Sailor Larry Extra Fancy & Redressed

This page was also featured in the same article... black and white with a slight splash of colour. I had done this page for Shapely Journaling, as seen here. 

Supplies:
Angie Young: DARE To Believe In Something Bigger
Fonts: Trashed & Shark In The Water

This page is on scrapbooking bikes, as seen here. I managed to capture my youngest learning to write two wheels.

Supplies:
Anna Aspnes: ArtPlay Palette En Route, EnRoute Sampler, EnRoute No1, Foto Inspired Frames No1
Gina Miller: Stitched Alpha
Font: Rat Infested Mailbox

This article focus on using flairs on pages, as seen here. Here's my page: 

Supplies:

Anna Aspnes: Torn Foto Frames No2

Pink Reptile Designs: For You Mom

Traci Reed: Little Joys

Traci Reed & Erica Zane: Silly Goose

Traci Reed & Jenn Barrette: Get Connected, Get It Together

Val C. Designs & BeeDesign: Self Confidence

Val C. Designs: Celebrate, Expressions Of The Soul

Traci Reed & Studio Basic: Lost In Reverie

Studio 68: Reflections

Oscraps Collaboration: Seven

Font: You All Everybody

This article is on using large floral prints on pages, as seen here. This is one of my favourite page that I created of a good friend. 

Supplies:
Anna Aspnes: Floral Art Paperie No12, ArtPlay Palette Savor, MultiMedia Flowers No2, Stained Glows No1, Friends WordArt No2
Font: Pea Erwin Script

This article is about scrapbooking a treasured friendship, as seen here. Well, there is only one dear friend whom I treasure deeply our friendship: 

Supplies:
Rosey Posey: Faith, Be Bold, Amazing Artist
Anna Aspnes: Curled Edge Frames No1, Friends WordArt No2
Pink Reptile Designs: Simple Things
Maya de Groot: Artsy Fartsy
Font: Pea Emma

Finally, all my pages done for Get It Scrapped since my last showcase. I shall try to be more prompt in my uploads! TTFN!

~ June's News ~

Gosh a month went by without blogging! Unfortunately, June was a very busy month for me. My cute pooch fell ill after being castrated (nothing to do with the castration) but instead it was diagnosed as Beagle Pain Syndrome. The symptoms were high fever, not eating and lying down. It was worrying initially as we had no idea what was causing it and the vet assured us that it had nothing to do with his castration. Then another vet discover the Beagle Pain Syndrome and informed us. The treatment was steroid. I had to leave my pooch overnight at the vet as he had not eaten for 3 days and I was getting worried. Fortunately, the treatment worked and the next day I picked him up. He was weak but wagged his tail when he saw me. What a relief. Anyway, he's still on steroid treatment although his dosage has been reduced considerably. Hopefully he will come off it soon. 

Poor pooch. Noticed how skinny he looked! Picked him after an overnight stay at the vet. 

Towards the end of June was my son's Summer Fayre at his school where I usually help out but on the same day was a birthday bbq of my eldest and my nephew! A little early but it was the only day we could meet and celebrate as the next 3 weekends in July are way too busy for me. Hubby's sisters and parents were there for the celebration so it was a large gathering. Thankfully, the weather co-operated. It was sunny and warm, perfect for bbq.

Fab day for a bbq!

In between June I created and will be showcasing them over the next few days! July's gonna be another busy month for me too... violin concerts, parents' evening, Governor's awards, violin exam etc. Definitely looking forward when the school term ends on 23rd July!!! TTFN!

~ Spring Clean ~

It started before my best pal came over to stay. My current craft room is in the living room which also acts as the guest room too as we have a sofa bed there. In case you're wondering, we don't hang out in the living room, never have and probably never will! We hang out in the kitchen and after dinner, we go straight upstairs. It's probably the format of the house as the living room is located in a very awkward part of the house which we hardly venture there! Hence, perfect for guests!

I cleared craft area. I threw out tons of stuff I don't need and re-arrange the individual drawers to suit my crafting needs. So now, all my punches are in one drawer, stamping stuff in another, embellishments in another etc! I used to used the 3rd bedroom as my craft room before but my wee one wanted his own bedroom so hubby took my stuff out, re-configured the living room so that I could have a dedicated corner instead. Didn't bother me as I don't physically scrap anymore although I still need a little space for cards (I still do cards as I loathe to buy them. Besides, it more fun doing it). I've still have not gotten rid of my physical stash and I think it's time as I've not touched them for 2 years now. If I didn't need them in the last two years, I probably don't need them in the future! 

After coming back from the holidays, I cleared my bedroom. Found storage spaces for my handbags and cleared a bunch of rubbish under the bed. The weekend saw me extending it to the cupboard in the landing upstairs. I had no space for extra duvet and pillows so I sent hubby to Argos to get vacuum bags. Cleared out clothes that I've not touched for years & threw out more rubbish! Funny how 13 years ago, hubby and I moved into the house with hardly any belongings and now we have literally filled the house up! 

I even tackled one of the boys' room. Found out what the dog has been doing there... chewing up books!!! Even chewed up the wire to a broken lighting on the wall. Sigh! Cleared the mess and vacuumed up. 

My next job is to tackle the enormous amount of clothes we have in this house. The problem of being a hoarder is the inability to let go but I need to be firm. I'm fast running out of wardrobe space and I just need to chuck out clothes that is no longer needed. 

Looks like this month will be dedicated to spring clean. There's so much to do!!! TTFN!

~ Get It Scrapped CT Blog Hop ~

A warm welcome to the Get It Scrapped (GIS) Creative Team Blog Hop. 

This is my second year with the CT. I was chosen last year and I had such a blast with this team. I thoroughly enjoyed scrapping based on the themes given and it certainly stretched my imagination. In fact, some of my best pages came from scrapping these themes!

Some original members are leaving us and they will be sorely missed. However, it's lovely to welcome new faces...

In today's hop, the creative team members will be sharing their layouts inspired by their favourite articles at Get It Scrapped. Not only that, there are awesome discounts on the Master Scrapbook Design issues so do hop along to get them! 

Inspiration from Vincent van Gogh

Apart from digitally scrapping my pages, I'm into art journaling big time, digitally of course. It's so different from doing pages and I love the freedom it gives me to play. So while searching for an article in the GIS library, I came across this particular article on 'How to apply inspiration from Vincent van Gogh to your art journaling page' by Dina Wakley. While she showed how to use brush strokes on paper, well, I decided to apply mine on a digital page. 

The Starry Night

Looking at this painting closely, one notices the brush stroke van Gogh is well known for. As I'm not a painter, my aim is not to imitate that kind of brush stroke but achieve similar kind digitally.The advantage of playing digitally is the vast array of brushes one can download free from the net. I use Photoshop CS and there are loads of different brushes available on the net (This is a site which I took from). I tend to think of brushes as stamps. I used to be an avid stamper (my enormous amount of stamps testify to that). The advantage of playing with brushes is that you can adjust according once you have 'stamped' it onto a new layer. After a bit of play, here's my background:

This background was achieved by applying different brushes on various layers. Then I use various blending modes to achieve the desire effect that I want. 

Of course I couldn't leave it like this so here's the finished art journal.

Rebecca Mcmeen: Painterly, Anna Aspnes: 12x12 Polka Dot Edges No1

Now for the icing on the cake, save 60% off on the Masterful Scrapbook Design Issue - Texture & Dimension.

Join Jana Morton, May Flaum, Cindy Liebel, Michelle Clement, Peppermint Granberg to look atadding texture and dimension to both digital and paper pages in this issue. Texture is a powerful art element because it can quickly evoke memories and emotions. Artists use both visual and physical textures to trigger your memories of previous texture experiences. Texture is tactile: it appeals to our sense of touch. It is an essential design element for visual artists, because it engages another sense in addition to sight. When you can incorporate texture on your pages, you draw your viewer in on another level.

Use coupon code giscttsat60p to grab this issue for 60% off through 3rd June.

Simply place the issue of Masterful Scrapbook Design in your cart and apply the coupon code above. 

For more ideas and discounts from the Get It Scrapped Creative Team, do follow the links below. 

Get It Scrapped 

Amy Kingsford

Sue Althouse

Michelle Houghton and Deborah Wagner

Marie-Pierre Capistran

Christy Strickler

Heather Awsumb

Michelle Hernandez

Lise Mariann Alsli

Alexis Aragona

Kristy T

Stefanie Semple

You are here >>> Audrey Tan <<< You are here

Sian Fair

Brenda Becknell

Carrie Arick

Kiki Kougioumtzi

Tara McKernin

Susanne Brauer

Marcia Fortunato

Katie Scott

Andrea

Rosann Santos-Elliott

Doris Sander

Celeste Smith

Happy hopping! TTFN!

Note: If you had problems with the discount code before, it has now been fixed. Thanks for your patience!

~ Obsession With Handbags ~

I do have a morbid obsession with handbags. I buy them at regular intervals and I never use the same bag for long. I guess it started when I was a child, I used to change my school bags a lot. As I grew older, the obsession grew and I graduated to designer handbags when I was in my late teens/early 20s. And when money was tight, it was back to high street handbags with a cheaper price tag. And if I'm given a choice between clothes or bags, I quite happily go for the latter!

Today I realised how many I had when I was clearing my room and found some bags that I had completely forgotten I had them! I then decided to empty out 2 plastic boxes filled with hubby's rubbish (you know it's rubbish when he hasn't touched them for years!) to make way for my bags. I had to literally pull bags out from  every corner of my room, pack them nicely in two boxes. So now I do know what I've got and I can quite easily change them at will! (Actually, I do have another stack of bags stashed away in another room.) Wish I had done it earlier as my dog chewed up a very lovely handbag. It had a unique design and I was so upset. When I buy bags, it has to be somewhat unique in design and colour. I do avoid black and brown as I've got so many of them in those colours. I love them in unusual colours. The brighter the better!

Anyway, best pal brought me to The Factory Outlet in Swindon yesterday and I stepped into a Fiorelli store for a browse (with no intention to buy any) and saw this!

OMG! Jaw dropped and after mulling for a while, I had to get it! I was looking for a travelling handbag (for my impending trip to Singapore, any excuse!) and it had to be able to house my DSLR camera too. This fitted the bill perfectly and it kinda have the Bottega look, minus the hefty price tag of course! It came in four colours, black, yellow, tan and cerise. I would have gone for the cerise except that the store only had it in tan. Well, at the factory outlet price, it would have been a shame not to get it! 

Then today, while surfing around (don't ask why I was looking at handbags), I chanced upon this bag...

Again by Fiorelli. Checking the dimensions, I realised it would fit my 15" Macbook Pro perfectly. Yeah, I do have a laptop bag but always nice to be able to carry a laptop without publicly announcing you are carrying one. This came in 3 colours, black, tan and red. Went for red as it my fav colour. 

Am I nuts to be buying two new bags in a week? Possibly but I know I'll regret if I don't get the above as it is a bag that I have been searching for. What more, it came with a zip too. I generally avoid bags that don't have a zip as I don't feel safe carrying it around. And I do like carrying big bags... don't ask me what I put in there but I've got a handbag organiser so I simple transfer it from one bag to another.

Shame I don't have any daughters to share my passion for handbags. My mom is also another bag fanatic and I always raid her cupboard when I'm in Singapore to see what she has that I can use. If I'm bad, she's worst! And she loves buying clothes too! :) Oh well, one can't have too many handbags! TTFN!

~ Back From A Mini Break ~

It has been a very busy 2 weeks for me. My best chum arrived from Shanghai with her toddler and stayed with me for 5 days. Can't tell you how much that meant to me, having your best pal with you and being able to chat normally instead of over Whatsapp! Not to mention getting to play with her little boy who is now walking and quite vocal too. My boys took to him and the wee one even helped to watch over him. Bless him! I even managed to bring her shopping in between working hours and it was fun to do stuff that we used to do before!

Then half term came and we headed off to the Isle of Bute, Scotland to join my SIL and her hubby for a few days. The weather up there was fab! It rained only once and we had a few walks on  some deserted beaches. My dog had a field time running loose! It's fun to hang out in places not overly crowded at all!

The view from the house! How peaceful! That's the ferry coming into the island.

Got home on Tuesday after nearly 7 hours of driving (with stops in between), only to freshen up and head out once more to Circencester. Best chum had rented a cottage in Kemble and invited us over to stay. So off we went again. Talk about being in the most remote area around but it was sheer bliss not to hear traffic, neighbours or noise! 

The view from our car going to the cottage. Beautiful place, definitely worth keeping it in mind for future hols!

Finally got home on Wednesday night to a mountain load of washing to do! Oh well, back to routine then! TTFN!

~ Val C. Designs & Cilenia Curtis: Fly With Me ~

Val did a collaboration with Cilenia Curtis, owner of Scrap Art Studio and came up with this fantastic kit called Fly With Me, available both at Oscraps & SAS.

AJ_Spread Your Wings

Fly High

What a fantastic collaboration! Really enjoyed playing with the kit. TTFN!

~ Angie Young: On Display ~

Oops! I've been so busy lately that I've neglected my blog. Anyway, time for some updates!

I'm absolutely in love with Angie Young's DARE series of art journaling kits. They are just so easy to play with. They are available at Scrap Art Studio and here's her store. 

Here are some pages done with DARE To Nurture Your Inner Self kit. 

I Am Enough

AJC13 Itinerary #06 Loved

This was also done for my Art Journal Caravan 2013 album.

 I also played with her next kit DARE To Believe In Something Bigger.

AJ_Believe

AJ_Boys

My boys had their portraits 'tooned' and I couldn't resist using them for this art journal. 

No doubt, I'll be playing more of her stuff. TTFN!