>>> Suzuki Xmas Concert! <<<

The boys had their last concert today! It was certainly fun which involved not only the kids playing the violin but also the parents singing Xmas carols! Santa made his appearance too and give pressies to the kids (of course supplied by the parents!)

The boys were dead excited about receiving pressies from Santa!

The finale where the boys played 3 Xmas carols. As it's not their usual play pieces, they were given a book to look at. Normally they play from memory!

Phew! So glad all concerts are over. Looking forward to one more week of hectic routine and then it's the Xmas break! Hooray! TTFN!

>>> Unity's Friends with Flair <<<

Welcome to Unity's Friends with Flair. Doesn't seem like it was a week ago that I was showcasing it. Anyway, been busy making Xmas pressies for my parents. It's a tradition here that schools take photos of the kiddos and get parents to buy them. I always do! Anyway, I turned their individual photos into a picture frame. The frame was created from cork coasters which I had bought from Ikea.

I start with the back first. Added some quotes and cut out flowers from the patterned paper to decorate it.

The fence border is from a Martha Stewart punch. Patterned papers from Crate Fall collection.

Here's the front. Added a Unity background stamp from a scrapbooking set although it can't be seen clearly.

And here's a card to go with it:

Made use of {ippity} Kissmass & Mistletoe set. (Check out my {ippity} blog for more detail). Patterned papers from Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses.

Frame and card will be winging its way to Singapore to my parents.... probably arrive late but better late than never!

Unity is having a 25% off their site all weekend. What more, you get a free stamp with every $10 you spend! I've already done my shopping and quite pleased to get a stamp set I had my eye on for a while! Have a great weekend. TTFN!

>>> 365 Cards: Day 285 & 286 <<<

Catching up on the challenges. Here's Day 286 which is about white space based on this sketch:

Now I don't do white space very well especially if they are white! So I cheated and used a patterned paper and kept it clean, well, almost....

This must be one of the simplest card ever created! Patterned paper by Imaginisce Polar Expressions.

Day 285 is entitled 'A Certain Sentiment'. Here's the requirement:

It's about including a certain sentiment on your card. Use the word "Peace" as the entire sentiment or as a part of the sentiment.

Here's mine:

Patterned paper by Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses. Stamped images by {ippity} Kissmass & Mistletoe set (hug that set). Check out my {ippity} blog.

Gonna be busy making cards and working on assignments. Unfortunately, got another violin concert to attend on Saturday and a day outing with relatives on Sunday! Wish there was more than 24hrs in a day! TTFN!

>>> Journal Your Christmas 09: Day 1-3 <<<

I decided this year to participate in Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas. Not having done one before, thought it might be interesting. It certainly has! I've been receiving a prompt everyday, since December, and it has certainly help me fill my pages although equally, my daily schedules and routines have also added more pages to it. Here's the first few pages:

This is the inside of the album.

Here's Day 1 which is a manifesto of what the album is all about.

It was also the day my boys had their first in a series of concerts that they will be performing this month. Made use of Scarlet Lime Dec 08 and Nov 09 kits. I'm hoping to make a dent in the kits that have been pilling up in recent months.

Day 2 was something to do with the weather.

So I checked out what the weather was for that day and recorded it.

Also on the same day, my boys decided they wanted the Xmas tree up and so we relented. Both of them decorated it and we did the finishing part.

Day 3 focussed on card so I made one to put into the album.

My card.

My journaling about it.

My pages aren't uniform and I prefer it that way. There are days when nothing much has happened and so it will just be a notepad but on others, a lot may happened and I would like to expand on it. Where there are LOs, I will simply put them into page protectors. I'm slightly behind in my pages but I'll catch up! TTFN!

>>> Swanhurst Concert! <<<

The boys had a violin concert tonite, organised by their music teacher. He incorporated all violinist of different levels, including the beginners too. The boys had a good time and so did we. They were rewarded with a MacDo meal after (let's just say they hardly go to MacDo, probably once in a blue moon).

Here they are on the ground floor, playing the finale song, Silent Night. The beginners are on the stage.

The event shattered them and they went to bed early, without any natter between them. I couldn't keep my eyes open any later than midnite either. TTFN!

>>> 365 Cards: Day 284 <<<

Today's challenge is entitled 'DIY: Sketches'. This is what we have to do:

Design your own sketch and create a card based on that sketch.

Here's mine, a very simple one but a lot can be done within it:

Here's my card:

The tree bingo card is a digi download. I've started to collect hybrid items that I can print out (work out cheaper than actually buying the embellishment and what more, it can be re-printed when I need it). Punched the edge with my MS crown punch. Stamped image is from {ippity} Kissmas & Mistletoe stamp set.

Another busy day again. The boys have a violin concert this evening. Will be fun and a entry in Xmas journal! TTFN!

>>> 365 Cards: Day 283 <<<

Today's challenge is Pick 5. The rules: Here's my take on it:

Have someone else pick 5 items from your stash to use on your card. Those are not the only items that you have to use, but they must be on your card.

Here's my take on it:

My boys picked patterned paper, embossed cardstock (embossed using Cuttlebug embossing folder), lace trimming, stickler & bling. Incidentally this challenge was also part of the DT requirement too. Stamped images by Unity Nov 09 KOTM and coloured using Promarkers.

I kinda laid my stash out for the boys to choose. No way was I gonna let them loose in my craft room. Anyway, I was already working on a project and the stuff was out so told them to pick what took their fancy. Then they asked if they could have a play so I let them do some cards. They are beginning to get more curious and Zac has asked me quite often to let him play! Hey, might see a scrap mate in them one day! TTFN!

>>> Blog Award! <<<

Received this blog award from Emma, a while back ... thanks! However, need to answer these questions in just one word (not easy but I tried):

1. Where is your mobile phone? table

2. Your hair? black

3. Your mother? loved

4. Your father? loved

5. Your favorite food? tim sum

6. Your dream last night? nothing

7. Your favorite drink? cocoa

8. Your dream/goal? travelling

9. What room are you in? craft

10. Your hobby? scrapbooking

11. Your fear? cockroach

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Singapore

13. Where were you last night? home

14. Something that you aren't? patient

15. Muffins? yum

16. Wish list item? iPhone

17. Where did you grow up? Singapore

18. Last thing you did? laundry

19. What are you wearing? casual

20. Your TV? on

21. Your Pets? no

22. Friends? abroad

23. Your life? fun

24. Your mood? cheerful

25. Missing Someone? dad

26. Vehicle? car

27. Something you’re not wearing? hat

28. Your favorite store? M&S

29. Your favorite colour? red

30. When was the last time you laughed? today

31. Last time you cried? yesterday

32. Your best friend? Ellen

33. One place that I go to over and over? Singapore

34. Facebook? seldom

35. Favorite place to eat? China Palace

I need to pass this on so I've chosen Amy, Elaine, Jaz, Emeline and Edleen. You seriously need to check out their blogs... fabulous inspiration! TTFN!

>>> Natter Natter! <<<

Time for a blog change to celebrate the festive season. I luv all things vintagy and chose the images from here. That lady is amazing!!! She has some fab images and so generous of her to share them.

Have you been following Tim Holtz' blog? That guy is fantastic... the way he uses stuff... kinda make you do a double take and see your stuff in a new light. Anyway, went to check out his latest tag and guess what! Found myself a winner so am chuffed! Can't wait to see what prize he sends!

Did nothing this weekend apart from helping my boy with his school project that is due this Wednesday! Seriously, dun understand why the school dispense with such project 'cos the kids won't be doing it by themselves. A chat with the moms found that all of them are helping their child do it. He's supposed to pick a character from the Victorian age and write about it. He chose Queen Victoria. Most of the research have come from the net, articles from various sites. God, I'm getting fedup with her and hope to finish it by tonite. I have had to put my crafting assignments on hold due to this project as my boy is unable to do this project by himself!!! Oh well.... back to her I guess.... TTFN!

>>> Winner! <<<

My apologies for the delay in this announcement. This week has been such a maniac week for me and I'm just about catch up on my blog posts. I combined comments made on the Banana Frog posts and using a random generator, here's the winner of the "I Heart You' stamp:

Congratulations Emma! Email me so that I can get the stamp out to you!

TTFN!

>>> Woot! Woot! <<<

It's now official on this blog so I can reveal that I've joined the 365 Cards Design Team! Yay! Been playing along with their challenges for a while and when the call came, couldn't resist giving it a try and was accepted. Quite pleased as it gives me a chance to make cards for a change. Got into card-making early this year when I spied Unity stamps and started my collection and then went on to join challenges in other card blogs. My main reason for doing cards is to use up my paper scraps after I had done with scrapbooking. Quite often I'm left with a large sheet with little pieces cut out and it seems such a waste. Well, card making certainly made me use up the leftovers and I've since then, trimmed down my scrap papers a lot!

Anyway, it's Sunday and it's a sketch day and this is the sketch:

This happened to be the DT call sketch too.

Can't say I had it easy with this one... took me a few days to get my head around it!

Here's my card:

Made use of Unity images and coloured using Promarkers.

I'll still be joining in the challenges as I quite like doing them. And if time permits, other card challenges in other blogs too. These days, time doesn't appear to be on my side. TTFN!

>>> Christmas Fayre <<<

Today's the Christmas Fayre at my son's school. As part of the organising committee, we had been planning it since October. As usual, I'm in charge of face painting and this year, have roped in another mom to help me out as it's a popular stall with a rather long queue. After chatting with other moms in other school, I implemented a ticketing system and it worked. It did away with the queuing (nothing worst than having people boring their eyes down onto you as you are working away) and it reduced the amount of children being painted. There were a few who took tickets but never came back. I didn't mind that as we still made a fair bit and it was less stressful than last year.

My boys were left enjoying the fair by themselves. I gave them some money and Zac came back with a large bar of chocolate that he had won on the chocolate tombola stall. I got lucky at the raffle ticket. Won myself a lunch for two at the Arden hotel, all in Zac's name! It was a good afternoon and we made over £500ish profit, which is good considering we didn't even have Santa at all. Have to say, I was thoroughly shattered at the end. Couldn't do much crafting at nite and instead, went to bed early! TTFN!

>>> Unity Friends With Flair! <<<

It's Friday again. This has been such a busy week and I had absolutely no time to play or take part in any challenges due to my involvement in the Christmas Fayre in my son's school. As part of the organising committee, there's so much to do. It takes place today and fingers crossed, all goes well! I'm in charge of the face painting stall so it's gonna be a busy afternoon for me!

Anyway, here a quick project I managed to do last weekend for a gal's birthday. She wanted a birthday badge with a guitar image so I did this for her.

Guitar image from Oct 09 KOTM set. This is one of my all time fav stamp image!

Thanks for dropping by. Have a great weekend! TTFN!

>>> Xmas Tree! <<<

The boys literally begged us to put up the Xmas tree so hubs had to go up to the loft and get it down, together with all the accessories. I don't go for a live tree as I had one before and it was a nitemare to clear it up. Since then, I stick to artificial one that doesn't drop its pines.

The boys put all the decorations up by themselves. I helped with the beads and hubs did the lights. So our tree is up early this year but seriously, you can't damper the boys' enthusiasm can you?

I seriously need to change the curtain in the background. Looking at it and it sucks big time. Had to tint the photo so as not to make it look so obvious!!!

TTFN!

>>> It's December! <<<

Can you believe it we have reached the last month of the year! 2009 has simply flown and I can't believe it's nearing Xmas again. Just seem like yesterday that I was putting all the Xmassy stuff away and now, it's out again. Scary how time flies.

I signed up for Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas this year and last nite (typical), started preparing my album and pages for it. I managed to prepare the first few pages and have gathered my Xmas supplies in a box so that I can simply work from there. Let's see how it goes...

This is an American Craft 6x6 album (which I had lying around). Sprayed the background with glimmer mist using a GM snowflake stencil. Made use of Scarlet Lime Dec 08 kit to decorate the front. Font is an AC thickers which I bought years back and thought it would be appropriate for this album.

The side of the album. I had this swirl felt sticker from Queen & Co. for a while and thought they would fit the space perfectly!

The back of the album, glimmer misted with a GM stencil. Will add on a sentiment later.

The boys played their first concert this month. They usually attend the B'ham Strings orchestra after school and today was the last practice which accumulated into a concert. Quite impressed with what they have learnt during the past few weeks.

The boys in deep concentration during the concert

December has heralded the bitter cold weather. There was frost on the ground this morning and I had a thin layer of ice on my car's window screens. Could not be bothered to scraped it off, instead, threw warm water over it. Yeah, I shouldn't do it but wasn't about to freeze myself outside, scrapping off ice!!! It was registering -2 deg Celsius when I did the school run! Praying it doesn't ice up during this last 3 weeks before the term breaks. It's lethal and pretty terrifying driving on icy roads! Not all roads are gritted, especially the one around the school!

Off to help my son with his school project.... Queen Vic....which is due pretty soon. How extremely boring and I can think of a thousand and one stuff to do instead of researching on Queen Vic! Yawn! TTFN!

>>> On Display: Banana Frog! <<<

Here's a quick LO in a 4x6' size that I created for Banana Frog blog based on this colour inspiration:

Here's my take on it:

Made use of It's All About Hearts stamp set. LO created using Scarlet Lime Oct kit.

Blog giveaway:

I've this "I Heart You" stamp set to giveaway. Here's some samples of what I've done using this particular set.

Here's a canvas I did of my youngest. Cut out the hearts to form a heart shape.

And who says you can use the hearts as leaves of a Xmas tree?

Leave your comments here for a chance to win. TTFN!

>>> Unity Friends With Flair! <<<

Woo Hoo! It's Friday and the weekend is here again. My eldest goes off to camp tonite but I'm gonna be busy this weekend with the boys' extra curricular activities. Anyway, managed to find time to create something this week.

The first is a LO using Nov scrapbooking kit. Absolutely luv this set.

LO created using Scarlet Lime Nov kit. Incidentally this was also done for another challenge on this site.

One of my colleagues is going off for maternity leave today and a few of us are giving her a leaving pressie. I offered to create a card for her. I made use of the 'It's About You, Baby' stamp set for this:

Patterned paper by Cosmo Cricket. Inside reads 'Relax'.

A couple of moms in my boys' school have expressed interest in crafting and asked me to do a class. So I did. This week, I did a card class and I managed to purchase 'Jolly Little Winter' set when Unity had a sale and included that in the class. Here are some samples that I've made:

Excuse the tint in the photos.... weather's been crap here and I can't take it outside and light's in the house is terrible.

Thanks for dropping by and have a good weekend! TTFN!

>>> Got Ippity? <<<

OK, so after much consideration, I decided to bite the bullet and go for it! I'll be selling Ippity stamps. I was initially worried about time constraint but decided to give it a try and see how it goes. As an avid fan of Unity stamps, Ippity is the sister of Unity and the stamp images simply rock! How to resist them?

Here are the stamp images for Ippity:

Because Of You

Kissmas & Mistletoe

Simply Home

Devoted

Just Wanted To Say

Straight From The Heart

Alphabetically Adorable

Life's Little Moments

I've set up a new blog for this venture so check it out if you're interested! TTFN!