>>> Curry Nite! <<<

Today was curry nite i.e. we have curry with another family. Their gals are in the same class as my boys and we somehow became friends. We could have taken the easy route and got a takeaway but noooo, hubs wanted to show off his culinary skills (which he's good at), so he cooked ... 2 curry dishes and a prawn cereal dish! Of course it went well with the guests! It certainly was delicious and stupidly, I forgotten to take any photos of today's event! Can't you believe it?

Poor Zac indulged in way too much sweets and he felt poorly at nite and puked! Not once but twice!!! He jolly well knows he can't have too much sweets but just got carried away. Let's hope he learn his lesson now.

On the crafting side, did 3 LOs, a card and a 4x6 picture all in one day. My fault for having it done last minute but that's moi! Adrenalin junkie that work well under stress! I do surprise myself sometimes. Got a few crafting projects to tackle over the next few days which I had better get a headstart.

Sold some cards of mine. My guests liked them so I sold them off rather cheaply. It's hard trying to fix a price for a handmade card as I don't want to sell them too dear nor do I want to sell below cost. But they needed to be sold as I'm running out of space to store them! I now need to do Xmas cards as they have been requested!

Looking forward to a long weekend as the boys are off school on Monday due to teachers' training. Yay! TTFN!

Unity's Friends With Flair Friday

It's Friday again and another showcase of Unity stamps. This week, I played with my Sept KOTM set and made use of this adorable image. Had to do a card for a friend and came up with this particular one rather quickly.

Image was stamped and coloured using Promarkers. Patterned papers by Little Yellow Bicycle Traveller.

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

>>> Scarlet Lime Retreat Weekend! <<<

A group of Scarlet Lime subscribers started chatting on a kit thread on UKScrappers and after many months, this accumulated to an organised scrapping retreat and boy, did we have a blast! We rented this cottage and it was the perfect venue for a crop session.

It's already hard packing for a crop which is why I don't bother attending any more. I just found it such a hassle and invariably forget an essential item! Now a retreat is even worst! Took me 3 days, yes, 3 days to pack and even then, was still fretting over any forgotten items!!! With so much packed, did I do a lot.... ha! 2 LOs and a card was all that I managed! Still I had fun with the gals!

Our Scarlet Lime groupie! Why the name? 'Cos all of us subscribed to Scarlet Lime kit.

We were certainly a cosy bunch!

We enjoyed it so much that we are planning another one for next year. I kinda prefer this cosy arrangement as opposed to a commercial one as the latter is way too expensive and I'm just not comfortable with crowds. Certainly looking forwarding to the next one. This time I'll be better prepared! TTFN!

>>> Unity's Friends With Flair Friday! <<<

Welcome to another Friends With Flair Friday. Days are passing so quickly at the moment. Anyway, here's my offering... a Christmas card with a difference!

Made use of Unity's Jolly Little Winter set. Found the instruction for this card on Splitcoast Stampers' Resource site. Image was coloured using Promarkers. Patterned papers by Basic Grey.

Here's the card when it's flat. So no problem putting it into an envelope.

Thanks for dropping by and have a lovely day. I'm off for a scrapping retreat this weekend. TTFN!

>>> Another New Month! <<<

Oh my goodness! Sept flew so quickly that I could hardly catch my breath! Everything is kinda back to normal, i.e. same old routines, still a chauffeur to my boys and still creating. So much has happened and I'm still reeling from spring cleaning. Yes, I've not totally finished as I keep finding stuff that needs to be done so as soon as I'm finish one area, I start another! Have to say, it left me little time to create. The irony that as a part-time SAHM, I have even less time to play with my stash! Both boys in school and yet I can't find time in the day to sit down to create!

Today was no difference . Had training today to learn how to use an epi-pen for children with severe allergies. Found that quite interesting. Then in the evening, it was the PTA Annual General Meeting and discussion for this term's activities. For the 3rd time, been nominated and elected as Secretary (I must be doing something good then!)

I'm off tomorrow for a weekend retreat with a few friends I met online on the UK scrapping forum. We decided to form our own retreat without all the fuss and unnecessary expense. We found a dainty cottage online and booked it and I'm gonna be teaching a stamping class while the others will be coming out with challenges. Looking forward to it as I certainly need a good break from family life. It will also be good for the boys to have some quality time with their dad as he's working such long hours these days!

Guess I had better get back to packing....that's my problem... what stash to bring and to ensure I don't forgot the essentials. Will be back on Sunday ... TTFN!

>>> Unity Bachelor Bro Challenges! <<<

Unity Stamp Company has come up with a 7 week challenge. They have chosen a man (hence the name Bachelor Bro) to choose the winning project based on a weekly requirement set out every Thursday. I'm taking part only so that I can make use of my Unity stamps. I still haven't settled down into my crafting routine yet.

Anyway, here's this week challenge: To make something shiny or glittery, use 1 patterned paper and 2 buttons. Here's my effort:

I created a pull out card. Patterned paper by Scrapworks Magpie collection. Teapots from June09 KOTM set. Sticklers applied to the teapots to make them glitter as well as to the outline of the card.

Here's how the card looks when a tag is pulled out. Cup and sentiment are from Hodge Podge of Happiness set.

Background stamp on tag is from Le Chic Vintage, a new scrapbooking stamp set. Luv that set!

Background stamp is Distressed Dots.

Here's last week's challenge which was to make an invitation for a date and to use the colours red, black and green. Here's what I've done:

The inside of the card reads: 'Let's Hang Out'.

We popped into Costco yesterday and I saw this:

And hubs got them for me. I luv these and luv the new favours but the gold ones are still my favs! :) Trying to eat one a day is highly impossible so I try to avoid eating them all at once! LOL! TTFN!

>>> Grand Prix! <<<

The Grand Prix is held in Singapore this weekend. Wish it was held in August. Luv the fact that they hold it at nite (much cooler) but also it makes broadcasting live far easier too. Know exactly where the circuit is as we walked past there last month and saw them getting ready for the event. Singapore is such a small country.

Down with flu at the moment. This hasn't been my week at all. It has been a long and tiring week and I was so glad it came to an end but it also left me feeling weak too. I'm surprised the flu has come earlier but heck, better now than later as I'm away on a scrapping retreat next weekend! Bliss, 3 days of crafting sans interruption!

Need to finish up some projects... TTFN!

>>> Unity's Friends With Flair Friday! <<<

Woo Hoo! It's time again for Friends With Flair Friday! This time around, I play with the Bright & Merry Winter Wishes stamp set. Got my eye on this set when it first came out and I luv it especially the quotes and words on the set. Unity has now brought out more Xmas stamp sets... ohhh so tempting! Here's what I created using this set:

Patterned paper by Basic Grey Boxer collection. Black cardstock embossed using Cuttlebug embossing folder. Stamped imaged coloured using Promarkers and highlighted by sticklers.

Have to make a start with Xmas cards... Xmas is just 91 days away....gulp! TTFN!

>>> Urghh! <<<

Internet started playing up on Monday nite but thankfully not before I managed to send off an important email and uploaded my card for a competition! Then no access on Tuesday and finally the technician came and sorted it on Wednesday. Modem went kaput. So got a new one but now, wireless router doesn't recognise it and despite having installed an updated firmware (had to call hub's company IT dept to sort it as the PC desktop is kindly supplied by them), it still doesn't work! So here I am, having to rely on only one PC to get access to the net. Been so used to having surf the net on my bed with my Mac!

This has been a busy week for me. Loads to do in school. Also input all schedules in my iCal (calendar feature on Mac). Luv the iCal as I've set up different calendars for different purposes (i.e. one for school term, one for ECA, etc) and it's so much easier to see now what's going on as they are all colour coded.

Had a few postal nitemares this week. First, my Scarlet Lime kits (Aug & Sep) were sent to Singapore instead of here!!! Arghh! This despite informing the owner of change of address! Sigh! It will be a while before I see those kits unless my bro happens to have UK on his flight schedule! And I was so looking forward to playing with them. Second, got a custom charge for the first time this year on a Unity stamp set. Bought the Le Chic Vintage including other stamps and 'cos I was over the limit by a mere £2, I was charge £3 by customs and a whopping £8 by the Royal Mail!!! Sigh! What a week!

Can't wait when this week ends. I need a break seriously and half term isn't till 23rd Oct! TTFN!

>>> Beautiful Sunday! <<<

Another fabulous day, sunny and warm! Spend the late morning at an Apple workshop for iTunes where the chap gave us lessons on using iPhoto, iMovie and a bit of Garageband. There was more people this time. Again, the workshop was very informative and I'm luving the Mac even more now!

Met up with the family and we headed to Ikea, where we had lunch and then bought the boys an Expedit bookcase (4x2) for their room. Getting fedup of seeing their toys on the floor so now they have no excuse not to clear up (before it used to be on top of the wardrobe which is pretty high).

Got home and I eagerly tried the iMovie with my camcorder. Unfortunately, my particular Macbook doesn't come with a firewire so thereby I wasn't able to upload my movies (my camcorder uses the miniDV and a check on net showed that it wasn't possible to use it with a USB port as the iMovie won't pick up the camcorder). So in other words, it's back to the PC to do convert my movies!!! Oh well, I'm sure I'll find a way albeit a long one! Anyway, did manage to upload some movies on my Nikon compact camera and so had a play with them. Oh gosh, I had so much fun creating a movie, adding transition, title and music! It was easy once you got the hang of it! No doubt, will try to make a movies with all the videos that I had taken of my trip in Singapore! Looks like I'll be using my compact camera more often to capture videos now. I guess I can kiss goodbye to my old fashioned camcorder! Pity though as it had a fab zoom lens! TTFN!

>>> On Display: BackPorch Memories <<<

My BackPorch Memories kit came late this month but got down to it as soon as it arrived. I was given the Solo kit to play with. Here's what on offer this month:

Solo kit featuring Little Yellow Bicycle Traveler collection

Medley kit featuring My Mind's Eye Abbey Road, Pink Paislee Amber Road and SEI Moravia

BPM Sep stamp set

Here's my creations. The Traveler papers came in handy as I used photos of my vacation in Singapore.

A family portrait taken in Tanjong Pinang, Indonesia

Hubs and I at Lady Gaga's concert in Fort Canning Park

Having dinner with some best friends.

Finally a card using leftover scrap papers including a puzzle piece cut wrongly. Couldn't leave that to waste, could I?

Currently working on a mini album.... watch this space! TTFN!

>>> Workshop! <<<

Attended an Apple workshop today at the Bullring this morning. It was on iTunes & iPod. I happened to be only one but it was great. Picked up a few tips on using iTunes and even managed to ask about other questions too. Got another class this Sunday on iLife so that will be interesting!

Coping rather well with routines although have to say it has certainly tire me out a wee bit by mid-week. Hoping I'll be back in form and creating as my crafting mojo has certainly left me. TTFN!

>>> Winner Of Unity Single Stamp! <<<

First of all, apologies for the delay in announcement. As usual, life got in the way as well as scrapping assignments!

I did a random number generator of all comments received and this was what it came out:Checking through the comments, here's the lucky winner:

Congrats Amy!!! Please email Eryn(at)unitystampco.com for your choice of single Unity stamp. Mention my blog and Growing In Unity week. TTFN!

>>> The Weekend! <<<

More clearing out, more sorting, more re-organising .... just seem never-ending! Glad to say cleared all luggage (except one which contain the boys' toys) and put the whole lot in the loft! Got rid of loads of clothes yet I still seem to run out of wardrobe space!!! Next will come the toys! Boys got loads that they don't play anymore.... will have to clear them when they aren't around.

Been busy creating with BackPorch Memories Sep Solo kit. It came late , doesn't help that the PO here had a strike a few weeks back hence I can only image the backlogs they are now going through! Let's hope it was worth their while as they now have to work doubly hard to clear the backlogs!

Managed to get through the week in sane mind. It was long though, I guess, after a long break somehow it seems harder to get back to work. Boys are slowly getting used to getting up early. Still, can't wait till the next half term! LOL! TTFN!

>>> Unity's Friends With Flair Friday! <<<

This used to be Hip Hop Hangover but has been revamped to Friends with Flair Friday! I'm back again after a 2 month hiatus (due to summer vacation). Here's my contribution:

I do have a lot of luggage tags and decided to turn them into decorative tags instead. They are fun to give away as bookmarks too. Sometimes when I'm free, I do a few and keep them in case they are suddenly needed as gifts. At the same time, they serve well to use up my stash, namely the fibres and trimmings! Stamped images are from August 09 KOTM set. They are coloured using Promarkers.

My 2nd contribution is a card made using images from August 09 store kit set. I absolutely adore this particular set as it has the most unique images. They can only be bought from a store and thankfully, I get them from here.

Thanks for dropping by. Check out Unity blog for more inspiration from the other Friends with Flair gals. Have a great weekend! TTFN!

>>> Growing In Unity - Day 5 <<<

Gosh, it's Day 5 and it's the last day of my showcase of Unity stamps. The week has certainly flown by rather quickly. I certainly had so much fun playing with Unity stamps this week and even more so in my revamped craft space.

For today, I saved the best for the last. I bought a K&Co Flippery set off Ebay a few months back. When it first came out, I wasn't into altered stuff but am now. I lost no time in deciding how I wanted my bracelet to be and here's the outcome of it:

The charms were created using clear shrink plastic. I stamped on one side and coloured on the other. I chose my fav stamp images from Unity. (NB: the birdcage is from Basic Grey).

Here's a closer view of it. (a wee bit difficult to take a photo without the glare from the photos as I had put an epoxy sticker on top of the photo)

That's it for my week! I tried to come up with various way and projects in using Unity stamps. This has certainly been my most fun week. Before I go, I leave with this card.... thanx so much for dropping by and leaving comments. I enjoyed reading them. I'll be picking a winner this weekend to win a Unity single stamp of your choice!

'thx' = thanx.
You know how sometimes we end up with consonants when all the vowels have been used up on an alphabet sticker sheet. Well, it occur to me to use text language to use up all those leftover letters! Stamps used on this card came from August 09 KOTM set.

TTFN!

>>> Growing In Unity - Day 4 <<<

For today, I will be showcasing some a la carte stamps that I had purchased from Unity (which I fell in love with!) I spied a set of hanging frames in my lounge that needed a revamp. The frames were from Ikea and I put them up when I first moved in, using a cut-off sheet from a wallpaper as a picture. They were beginning to look rather dated so one afternoon, took them down and work my magic on them.

The wooden frame was given a lick of paint from Tim Holtz crackled paint. Then it was randomly stamped. Stamped a couple of images from Unity Shine On! set, coloured using Promarkers and then adhered them onto the frame.

The Love Is Everything image complimented this particular frame.

Finally, the Love Is In The Air images added the special touch to it.

Here's an overall look of the hanging frames! I'm glad I've given it a facelift as it was time!

Last nite, I spent some time playing with a recent release Unity stamp set, Bright and Merry Winter Wishes. With Christmas not too long away and knowing how I always somehow run out of Xmas cards, I decided to try and do some cards in advance. Can't say I'm a fan of Xmas cards as I find it rather tedious, replicating them so I do try and vary the designs. I do get bored churning out similar cards umpteen times!

I do like to stay away from traditional colours of Xmas.

Here's another softer approach to it. The Poinsettia comes from Hodge Podge of Happiness set.

I always make Xmas cards for my boys' classmates but instead of cards, I prefer giving them tags. They are far more useful than cards which tend to be thrown away. Here's a couple of prototypes. Made them simple, bearing in mind that these have to be replicated 60 times!

The background was misted with Shimmerz Spritz. Again, did them in different colours, no guessing which goes to a gal/guy!

Thanks for dropping by. Appreciate all your comments. Have a great day! TTFN!

>>> Growing In Unity - Day 3 <<<

It's Day 3 of Growing with Unity and I'm having so much fun playing with my Unity stamps. Having re-arranged and re-organised my craft room (read: more table space), I'm slowly getting back into crafting.

For today, I thought I'll showcase 2 of my fav stamp sets, Confessions, which is basically a scrapbooking set of stamps and Hodge Podge, a stamp set whereby we (Unity addicts) got to choose which stamps we wanted for the set. Here they are:

Confession: I luv Unity

Hodge Podge of Happiness

Since laying my hands on the Confession set, I've been using them a lot on my pages. They simply make fabulous backgrounds. Here's a couple of examples done using them:

I've used some of the images as a background pattern.
(LO created using Scarlet Lime July kit)

A closer view of the LO. The bird comes from the Hodge Podge set.

Another LO using the Confession set (and some images from August store kit set)
(LO created using BackPorch Memories August Solo kit & was created a few weeks back)

Before I go, here's a quick card I created as my hubs' colleague just had a baby gal. Unfortunately, his wife isn't too well so do pray for her. I don't have a lot of baby images but I do have the Little Me stamp set which came in handy:

Patterned papers by Daisy D's Chole Marie and Fancy Pants Splendid collection. Image coloured using Promarkers.

Thanks for dropping by. Remember, all comments will result in a draw for a Unity single stamp set of your choice. TTFN!

>>> Just A Quick Word! <<<

So hubs hands me a few envelopes in the evening and I was wondering where they came from as I knew there was no mail today. Apparently they came on Saturday but he failed to give them to me. Typical! Now one of these envelopes contains the much awaited Mac OS Snow Leopard disk for my Macbook. So naturally I was fuming mad at his forgetfulness as I wondering when my disk would turn up!!! I lost no time in updating my OS and am so pleased with it.

Still haven't found Oliver's lunch bag! Looks like it has done a runner! Not a great start to a new term!!! Sigh! TTFN!

>>> Growing In Unity - Day 2 <<<

For today, I've chosen to play with July KOTM set. A summery set with loads of interesting images. Again I didn't get much chance to play with it so I decided to explore it further today.

My mom's birthday is this Saturday and I wanted to make her something she would remember of her grandsons. She had photos taken with them on our last day in Singapore and since she only sees them once a year, I created this hanging frame for her.

I made use of Heidi Swapp large playing card as the base. All Unity images were stamped onto a white, plain cardstock and then coloured using Promarkers. Project created using Scarlet Lime June kit.

To make the images more interesting, I added a bit of sticklers to give it a little sparkle.

I doubt it will reach her on time but hey, better late than never! Thanks for dropping by! TTFN!