Kat's Meow

Garden Photos

2008-12-10T22:00:00.003+08:00

It's been C.R.A.Z.Y.B.U.S.Y at work. No time for crafts or scrapping of late but here are some shots taken of our vegetable garden about a month ago.

Ladybugs living in our garden. J loves them to bits!

I have no idea what these bugs are, but they don't move. Update: I finally found out that these guys are actually baby ladybugs! Silly me!

'Misai Kuching'.

Errr.... celery?

'Sio Pak Choy'

Spinach

Spinach flowers grow close to the plant stem.

Close-up of the spinach flowers.

Megablocks Mickey & Friends

2008-11-19T22:09:00.000+08:00

Let me warn you that this will take LOTS of imagination. These little Megablocks structures are done by J - they are supposed to Megablocks versions of the little figurines next to them. The one at the bottom right corner is supposed to be Daisy Duck (no figurine of Daisy). Imagine.

Cousins

2008-11-11T21:55:00.001+08:00

Love the Vintage Moon collection from Pink Paislee and immediately got inspired to scrap these photos which were taken during Chinese New Year eve reunion dinner last year. I had been saving them until I could get the 'right' papers to scrap them, so finally, they are done.

Thanks to my BIL, Sam for taking these cute photos of J and cousin N. I'd love to say that they're the bestest cousins, but I guess it's more accurate to say that they have this love-hate relationship going ... but, it definitely has improved since the time these photos were taken. N has a 'special' name he calls J, "Eska" ... it's really cute, but I guess details of that deserves another scrapbook page of its own. Soon. I hope.
Close-ups - my favourite Prima flowers on a journal tag overlapping a frame, but I just can't seem to leave things as they are so they got distressed, Stickled and bling-ed.

7-Gypsies gaffer tapes ... I lurve!

Vegetable Garden Update

2008-11-06T12:12:00.001+08:00

Some time ago, I had posted photos of our container vegetable garden, well, some of the plants have since bloomed, been consumed and/or replanted. So here's an update of what has happened.

Baby spinach seedlings which have newly sprouted.

We replanted our longbean plants too as the old one started deteriorating.

Our grape-tomatoes (if that's indeed the real name for it) finally ripening. But the plant might need replacing soon as it seems to be infested by some cottony-looking insects.

Close-up of the tomato flowers.

Close-up of the tomatoes. Yes. They are seriously THAT yummy looking! And they taste as good as they look too. I'm a little obssessed with the tomatoes, can you tell?

ATC ~ Journey

2008-10-31T22:31:00.004+08:00

Had messy fun with this one. Layers of acrylic and crackled paint, Perfect Pearls, stamping as well as using Beadazzles.

Close-up of the cracks, sheen and various textures.

Best Buds

2008-10-22T22:37:00.000+08:00

My 2 favourite girls ... this makes me happy!

They are constantly like that - under the dining table, rolling on the floor ... mainly J terrorizing Bubbles. Sigh!

Potpourri Bottle

2008-10-15T15:03:00.000+08:00

Did a little tutorial for a feature over at Artz de Scrap and loved the ladies' takes on it!

Transformation from empty used bottle to this ...
... then finally this!

Close-up of the distressing and layering done to the Prima flowers.

ATC ~ Bloom & Grow

2008-10-12T23:10:00.002+08:00

This ATC is made from repurposed corrugated cardboard and splotched with a bunch of Mica Magic Inkpads. Parts of the edges are inked and embossed. The layered flower is distressed and stickled, while the leaf is stamped, distressed-embossed and cut-out. Got a few more stuffs I'm working on (at snail's pace) involving corrugated cardboard ...

A close-up of the textures from the various embossing effects and the metallic sheen of the Mica Magic Inkpads.

The 'Blossom' Shaker

2008-10-06T12:25:00.002+08:00

This is what J and I get into when we have spare time at home. This 'shaker' was made in Aug'08 actually but I never got around to taking any photos until now. It looks a little beaten now from J carting it around whenever it pleases her.

The pink thing in the middle is actually J's drawing of Blossom of Power Puff Girls, her favourite cartoon character for some time now. That black smudge near the midsection is supposed to be the black band around Blossom's waist.J has decorated the shaker frame with drawings of swirls and smudges of Stickles. Also a close-up of the plastic see-through area with various sequins and beads which we sealed in to make the shaker sound. A relatively easy and fun piece to work with when it involves kids, plus all materials are repurposed from items lying around the house.

Vegetable Garden

2008-09-30T01:44:00.000+08:00

FIL has been revamping our little driveway garden in the past months and I absolutely love that we are now producing bits of vegetables for our meals at home. These cute yet useful plants are all contained in pots and the vegetables are definitely 'sweeter' in taste - they've got that extra zip and zest to them - probably because they are really fresh and pesticide free. I was thinking of suggesting starting a vermicompost, but I think I'd better take things 1 step at a time!

Screwpine leaves which smell fantastic with so many uses for them.

I believe these are called grape-tomatoes - they've got small-ish cute yellow flowers
This is the still green tomato. Will try and post photos of the ripened version later on.

Our longbeans which will probably need replanting soon. They have been harvested many times over and somehow, caterpillars love the taste of the leaves

A little eggplant that just metamorphosised from the flower.

And this is the 'grown-up' version of the eggplant. It's not fully ripened yet I guess, and we are still trying to determine how big it can grow!

We are now hosting a bunch of these little wrigglers on both our longbean plants and eggplant. J claims that she doesn't mind sharing our vege-plot with them as they are her friends ...

ATC ~ J's Garden

2008-09-27T00:12:00.002+08:00

J made this ATC some months back but it somehow got lost in her stuff and only recently reappeared again. This is done with colour pencils, depicting a butterfly hovering above this strange, err ... I mean, extraordinary flower. This is a 'special' rainbow butterfly - so says J.

Moleskine Entry By J

2008-08-29T11:00:00.006+08:00

J got her little artsy hands on my Moleskine 2 days ago and insisted on contributing a page (or two). Of course I relented, I mean, I'm a huge fan of this little artist!

Page 1

So the story goes like this ... J (that's the 'girl' - the human drawing in the middle) with the red hair in pigtails (complete with blue hair clips) is playing with her (imaginary) friend 'Sasa' (with the red & green eyes) on the far left. They are at the playground - as you can see, there is a pink slide on J's right side. Also enjoying the fun is Bubbles, our Miniature Schnauzer (yep, that black drawing with Mickey Mouse ears and tail at the bottom right).

Page 2

Now the story gets complicated ... something to do with Fairytopia ... rainbow-coloured fairy-wings ... and closing doors so that no one gets knocked down by the rainbow-coloured car (at the bottom right) with pink and green wheels. Unfortunately the picture is not clear enough, but somewhere amongst the colourful 'intepretation', it is detailed that the inside of her car is with 3 blue pedals - a clutch, a brake and an accelarator, oh plus a green steering wheel. Somehow, she's got shoes in the car (??). Oh, and she penned her name below her car so that "people will know that this is mine" ... well, no doubt about that!

ATC ~ The Cools

2008-08-04T14:27:00.000+08:00

Made these for a swap via Malaysian Scrappers Society blog. Must apologise for the blah photos - it was deadline for mailing out these babies and the only chance I had to photograph this ... the weather is crummy. So anyway, I had fun playing with inks again, everything created from scratch (with use of inks and masking and reinkers and embossing, and so on), except the blue-green pattern paper (which I LOVE) from Autumn Leaves.

Some close-ups. But sheesh! I still hate how 'dreary' the colour looks with the crappy lighting.

Favourite foil heart colour (at this angle, at least).

Supplies - Inks: Adirondack Inkpads, Tim Holtz Distress Inkpads and Reinkers, Adirondack Alcohol Inks; Ranger Embossing Powders; Autumn Leaves pattern paper; Prima stamp; Bazzill Cardstock; Cuttlebug; Foil Tape.

Mini Album ~ My World

2008-07-15T17:38:00.014+08:00

I decided that I had time to attempt Smidapaper's June challenge of coming up with a "mini book with soul" at the very last minute. Was completely inspired by the colour combination of the blues, greens and blacks. The cover might be temporary though as J is demanding for "her" notepad holder back. Anyway, it remains an album (for now) until she next looks for it.

A close-up of the little 'window' I made with the Hambly.

One of my favourite quotes by Oscar Wilde.

Update:-
To use the words of my 3-year-old ... Holy Toledo! I'm so excited!!! Okay, so before I got a chance to post this original post, I found out that I had actually won the challenge ... and this now resides with me. Can't stop smiling.

J's 'Journal'

2008-07-01T15:53:00.004+08:00

J's been trying her hand at 'journalling' (if you can call it that) and has written something about herself, Papa and Mummy on this piece. You can sort of make out Ps and Ms around the place.

Here, she's trying to write about Bubbles (our dog). I guess you can vaguely make out some Bs and U along the way, but the rest leaves a lot to the imagination.

So it's not much of a journal, but I guess it has to start somewhere. And her excuse? "But I don't go to school yet!" She always has plenty of excuses on hand, only that this excuse it actually the truth. Yup, sicko Mummy doesn't send J to school ... maybe next year?

ATC = A Travelling Card (?)

2008-06-27T11:23:00.005+08:00

Sweet! A couple of my ATCs have been featured in a new blog a dear friend set up. It's no big biggie, but it's still a teeny biggie at that ... haha. Anyway, this fella and this fella have now travelled to this new home - how cool is that! Makes me wish I was an ATC too *wink*.

Do pop by to here to check out what the space is all about, tips, techniques and a whole lot more artsy-creative related stuff.

Undiscovered Picasso

2008-06-19T11:46:00.001+08:00

I'm totally inspired by this colour these days - Cerulean Blue ... according to Nick Bantock, love that ink colour to bits. Finally managed to get off my busy schedule *ahem* (read: lazy butt) to participate in a little challenge ~ using little one's art in a LO. Remember J's artpiece from here? Well, I hope my LO does her piece justice.

Distressed the blue cardstock and the blue splashes of paint on the background is actually J's handprints ~ which by the way, she LOVED doing. I had to submit some kind of torture technique to the piece so I messed up the alphas with some copper ink and copper-embossed them for that kinda-rusty-kinda-dirty look.

J loves butterflies - this one got stickled a teeny bit.

More paint and a little journalling. Ce'st fini!

Sadly though, J asked if this was done for her and when I told her yes, she was disappointed. Apparently it's not "pink" enough ... exact words were "But Mummy, you know I like pink ..." yes, as in THAT shade (fuschia), oh well!

Supplies - Paper: DaisyD's, Fancy Pants, Making Memories, Bazzill Cardstock; Paint: Making Memories; Ink: Nick Bantock Reinker, Tim Holtz Distress Inkpad, Tsukineko Brilliance; Alpha: Heidi Swapp; Embellies: Making Memories, Kaiser Craft, Stickles; Pen: Pigma Micron.

ATC ~ Love II

2008-06-17T15:40:00.009+08:00

This is the last ATC using the same swirl stamp, this time done with a different colour-combi ... forest colours. Less of a mess this time so I decided to 'crack' the fella. So here's what 'happened'.

Distress-embossed on vellum and I love the aged effect it produced. Also a clearer view of the cracks.

Supplies - Stamp: Autumn Leaves; Inks - Tim Holtz Distress Inkpad, Colorbox Mica Magic, Tsukineko Brilliance; Flower: Prima; Others: brad, vellum, Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder, Ranger Crackle Accents.

ATC ~ Love

2008-06-02T22:48:00.001+08:00

Another ATC I made using the same Autumn Leave swirl stamp (there will be a last ATC using the same swirl stamp coming up). This one's simpler but still lots of fun. See the blue? I'm totally in love with the colour - Nick Bantock's Reinker in Cerulean Blue - if I could, I would paint an entire room in this colour!

Okay, this baby was 'tortured' with reinkers, acrylic paints, crackle paints, embossing and Memory Foil Tape. And somewhere amidst the chaos, tissue paper came into the picture too ...

Supplies - Paper: water colour paper, tissue paper, recycled chipboard (heart); Inks: Nick Bantock Reinkers, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Inkpad; Paint: Making Memories, Ranger Distress Crackle Paint; Others: Embossing Powder, Ranger Memory Foil Tape, Modge Podge.

ATC ~ Savour The Journey

2008-05-30T22:30:00.006+08:00

I love mixed media art, love playing with inks and paints and what-nots. This is a result of all that and a whole bunch more. The plus point? I had LOADS of fun. Can't wait to play some more!

Edges are inked with Mica Magic inkpads - love the gorgeous sheen. Before that a whole 'mess' of other stuff happened. The butterfly was stamped and embossed at certain areas for the extra texture. Picked up the wonderful tip of running paper through those good ol' tag makers from Tim Holtz's blog and loved how it turned out.

Supplies - Paper: water colour paper, text paper, Fancy Pants pp; Stamps: Autumn Leaves, Inkadinkado; Inks: Nick Bantock Reinkers, Mica Magic Inkpads, Colorbox Cat's Eye Chalk Inkpads, Distress Inkpads; Paints: Making Memories; Others: 3D adhesives, Modge Podge, SnC Embossing Powder, Dymo Tag Maker.

Ballerina Girl

2008-05-24T15:54:00.001+08:00

J started ballet lessons ...

She had been pestering me to let her learn ballet for some time now, but I had been a little hesitant, I mean she's just a wee bit past 3 years old ... So anyway, since I took the day off last Thursday, I decided to let her attend a trial class at Priscilla Ballet. Surprise, surprise, it went wonderfully well - she was actually able to follow instructions and follow the class. I mean I was so afraid that she might disrupt the class with her incessant chatter (which, by the way, was only minimally reduced) And although, her ballerina march still needs work (she was more of a stomping baby elephant!!) the teachers okay-ed her to be 'teach-able' so to say and so, I am now proud mummy to a little ballerina in the making. She has attended 2 classes so far (excluding the trial) and seems to be enjoying them so I finally bought her ballet shoes as she had gone through the earlier sessions barefooted. I had sat in the the trial and 1st class but have since been shoo-ed out by the teachers, but J didn't seem to even notice whether or not I was there.

And the tutu made for her by Aunty Yoonie is being given a real workout now!

What Can I Say ...

2008-05-23T16:10:00.003+08:00

J's definitely been more creatively productive than me, for sure. This was done a few evenings ago, yeah, this is what she gets up to during her less hyper days. In case you're wondering, the 'taller' one with the hair standing is Mummy (and no, I do not have hair like that!) and the the 'smaller' fella on the right is supposed to be J. The overturned-teacup shaped head is her interpretation of what her haircut looks like - a bob!

Notice that both of us are smiling in her picture? I like that ...

Transparency Swap

2008-05-14T22:15:00.002+08:00

I made this transparency for a swap on the SnC forum - my first swap ever! Sounds really sad, but it's true. Anway, we are supposed to make a layout of the transparency we receive. I loved making this and I hope my swap partner has fun creating with it.

Supplies - Inks: Adirondack Alcohol Inks, Adirondack Dye Inkpad, Staz-On Inkpad; Flowers: Prima; Stamp: Hero Arts; Others: Stickles, rhinestone

Earth Day Notepad Holder

2008-04-21T22:11:00.013+08:00

This will be my last DT project for Scrap-n-Crop as my DT term will be up by end-Apr'08. It has been quite an experience I must say, and a great opportunity. So thanks Val, for believing in me.

This is a little notepad holder which is filled with recycled papers/envelopes. Great thing is, you can cut up more paper scraps, etc., punch holes with a regular puncher and just refill this holder for use over and over again.

"Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" - must admit the hardest part for me will be to reduce" (especially when it comes to scrapbooking materials), but I will try!

Foil tape used on the spine.

Double-embossed image of the tree. It gives the impression of a textured bark. Used a crystal brad to function as a button (with an elastic string) to hold it all close.

Love the effect of the foil tape on the spine - a little gleam, a little distressed, a little texture.

The stretched-out view of the notepad holder (topside).

And the inside where I used a ribbon to hold the papers together.

* this is now used by little J as her sketch book.

Supplies - SnC Earth Day Kit, Hero Arts Stamps, Tim Holtz Distress Inkpad, Ranger Inkssentials Memory Foil Tape, Making Memories Acrylic Paint, Making Memories Crystal Brad, Modge Podge, SnC Embossing Powder, SnC Ribbon, Hard Card.

ATC ~ Dreams

2008-04-21T21:32:00.008+08:00

It's amazing how a few drops of inks can transform, from this ....

... to this, by spritzing with a mister ...

... to this, by drying with a heat tool ...

... to this little baby. Enjoy the process!

This appears on Scrap-n-Crop's latest newsletter and Tips & Techniques.

Supplies – Inks: Nick Bantock Reinker, Tim Holtz Distress Reinker, Tim Holtz Distress Inkpads; Pen: Zig Writer; Stamp: Inque Boutique, Hero Arts; Others: Ranger Inkssentials Memory Foil Tape, SnC Embossing Powder, EK Success 3D Dots.

ATC ~ Travel

2008-04-14T00:39:00.010+08:00

Had fun playing with inks and made this little ATC. The left backgroup strip is foil tape and the right strip is paper with inks with smudges embossed with Tim Holtz's Distress Embossing Powder.

To show the details of the stamped transparency which I had 'stickled' from the back - you can see little specks of glitter through it. It's background is done with alcohol inks on foil tape (love the shine!) and the textured part (the bottom) is done with reinkers on tissue paper.

Close-up of the 'fun' part - the texture with the ink mix. The edges are embossed in copper.

Supplies - Inks: Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Inks, Ranger Nick Bantock Reinkers, Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Reinkers; Inkpad: Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inkpad, Tsukineko Staz-On; Embossing Powder: Scrap-n-Crop, Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Emboss Powder; Others: Stickles, foil-tape, transparency, tissue paper.

Earth Day 2 ~ by J

2008-04-13T14:43:00.003+08:00

Here's another little drawing done by J a couple of weeks ago. Not that I set her a theme, but she seems to be drawing lots of 'earth' themed drawings lately.

By the way, that's a pink dolphin on the left and her version of Mummy on the right. However, I don't quite know what that grey blob of shading near 'me' is supposed to be - forgot to ask her for her translation of this piece!

Earth Day ~ by J

2008-03-28T15:44:00.003+08:00

This is J's take on Earth Day. She actually drew this on her own early this month so I guess it still qualifies as art by a not-quite 3-year-old.

A tree (on the left) with a bird (the spot of red-brown between the V of the branch) sitting on the branch. Next to the tree is the bird-bath (yup, it's that purple-yellow-red thing). That light green gob at the bottom, next to the tree trunk is a bush.

Sorry for the rather poor quality picture as I had accidentally folded her 'masterpiece' and it kind of shows through via the scan.

Easter Basket

2008-03-23T23:43:00.001+08:00

I decided to make a little Easter basket for my SnC DT project and thought that since Earth Day is also just round the corner, I'd make the basket out of recycled magazine pages. Of course Wabbit had to make a guest appearance, after all, Easter will not be complete without the essential bunny right?

Made pinwheels (J's favourite!) with beads and sequinned centres to decorate the basket. And yes, they can actually spin.

A little flag-banner for wishes.

A close-up of the 'stickled' and sequinned flag-banner.

Happy Easter!

Supplies - SnC Easter Kit, Making Memories Acrylic Paint, ColorBox Petal Point Inkpad, Stickles, Recycled Magazines Basket, Beads, Heart Peg.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

2008-03-23T00:52:00.006+08:00

My little girl's a year older now - how time just flies by. We had a itty bitty do, but she had a blast all the same. Happy Birthday, J!

Cake!!!

A little crown for my little princess.

International Women's Day Layout ~ Inspiring

2008-03-08T22:43:00.001+08:00

First thing that came into mind when I think about what defines a woman, I think about my mother. One word that comes to mind immediately is "Inspiring" - yes, that's what she was. She has inspired me to live life ... full-stop. She was the one who taught me how to paint, how to cook, how to appreciate books - all the things that I love doing today. I did not have the luxury of having her long in my life but whatever time we had was definitely quality time. Much of the things we did together, the places we went, the things she had taught me, I remember vividly. She was a strong woman with true fighting spirit. This layout is for her, celebrating who she was ...

This stamping is done in white Brilliance ink and embossed with Ranger's Holographic Embossing Powder.

The journalling was done on the back of the same pattern paper which I used to mat the photo, but with distressing. Not so much of telling a story, but more of who she was to the different lives she touched.

Painted the corners with crackle paint. The title was hand-written in colour pencil, gone over with Stickles and highlighted at certain areas with silver pen.

Supplies - SnC IWD Kit, Stickles, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad, Tsukineko Brilliance Ink Pad, Ranger Holographic Embossing Powder, Ranger Crackle Paint, Zig Writer, Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic, Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Color Pencil, Inque Boutique Stamp.

International Women's Day {Sneak Peek}

2008-03-04T22:25:00.007+08:00

Here's a sneak peek of my next DT project for Scrap-n-Crop. I'm doing these last few projects with lots of mixed emotions as my DT tenure is almost up. DT calls are now open for those who are interested. Oh, and be sure to check back soon for the reveal of the rest of this project!

My Baby Made This!

2008-03-03T22:42:00.001+08:00

Yeah, J did this all by herself. She had refused to follow me to the kitchen to get some stuff done so I left her alone at her changing 'station'. She was awfully quiet for the longest time (which is RARE indeed!) and by the time I reappeared from the kitchen, she presented me with this 'necklace' which she made all by herself, with a length of ribbon and her hair-clips. A simple little gesture which left a huge impression on my heart!

Future scrapbooker or jewellery maker, perhaps?

A TAG! Charity Drive ~ Scrappin Kids Care

2008-02-29T23:48:00.000+08:00

Scrappin Kids Care launched A TAG! Charity Drive this month to provide 250 tags for Club Rainbow's Annual Party in March 2008. Club Rainbow is a registered charity in Singapore committed to help children suffering from a range of chronic and life-threatening illnesses. Hope the kids like what I've made.

Supplies - Pattern Paper: Autumn Leaves; Alphabets: Basic Grey; Buttons: Autumn Leaves; Flowers: Prima; Paints: Making Memories; Pens: Sakura; Others: Dymo LetraTag, Assorted ribbons, Sequins, Stickers

This Little Piggy

2008-02-22T22:47:00.006+08:00

J and I had some fun with paper clay a few weeks back and we made Lil' Piggy and a heart which she wants to wear as a bracelet. As usual, she was the Art Director and I had to execute accordingly, but I must admit we had a blast! The results ...

These little babies are itty-bitty - Piggy's about 6/8" and we actually made it a little house, except that the house has yet to be painted ...

Supplies - Paper Clay, Making Memories Acrylic Paint, Embroidery Floss.

Little Somethings

2008-02-22T22:33:00.003+08:00

A little bit of stash - my Valentine's Day present ... which I simply love!

Traditional Chinese New Year Breakfast

2008-02-19T22:06:00.003+08:00

This is what our family normally has for breakfast on the 1st day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. I'm not sure if this is a general tradition or just a tradition with G's family, but this yummy dish is made by my MIL - 'mee suah' (rice vermicelli) in chicken broth with huge mushrooms and hard-boiled egg. There are actually 2 versions of the broth but this was the one that J and I had. 'Mee suah' actually symbolises longevity...

Oops....

2008-02-19T21:55:00.004+08:00

... I had forgotten to post this little card. This was the thank you card made for Aunty Yoonie which J insisted on making to thank Aunty Yoonie for the gorgeous tutu and Wabbit. J did the colourful picture while I just put the card together. And as she constantly sings at home, "What's gonna work? Team-work!!"

Supplies - SEI cardstock, Making Memories Textured Tape, Sakura Glaze Pen.

Valentine Lunch Tin

2008-02-14T10:31:00.009+08:00

What do little girls have to do with Valentine's Day? Well, plenty actually, especially if that little girl happens to be the love of my life - my little girl, J. She loves pink, ABSOLUTELY! So this kit is really perfect to use for that little something for her. This is what I made for my 2nd DT Valentine's Day project for Scrap-n-Crop, a humble little lunch tin for J, or should I say her 'treasure chest'!

On one side ...

... and the other side.

A close-up of the sides. I really love this trim.

And this is why I love Ranger's Crackle Paints, yeah ABSOLUTELY!!

Bird's-eye view.

A big pink bloom for my girly-girl ... with love of course.

And her reaction when I presented the tin to her? "Mummy, I love it. It's bee-yooo-tiful". Yeah, she's a drama queen without a doubt!

Supplies - Scrap-n-Crop Valentine Kit, Provo Craft Lunch Tin, Heidi Swapp Flowers, K&Co Classic K Clearly Yours 'LOVE', Chipboard Swirl, Ranger Crackle Paint, Making Memories Acrylic Paint

Valentine's Project 2 {Sneak Peek}

2008-02-12T15:18:00.000+08:00

Here's a sneak of my 2nd Valentine's Day DT project for Scrap-n-Crop. Watch out for the complete reveal ...

Valentine Boxes Of Love

2008-02-04T00:13:00.000+08:00

Latest release on the Scrap-n-Crop newsletter - a pair of handmade boxes made for my Valentine's Day DT project.

{Heart} box is layered with 3 different sized foam hearts with a touch of bling.

{Love} box is finished with bling-ed alpha stickers.

A close-up to show the dimension of the layers and details.

Supplies - Scrap-n-Crop Valentine's Kit, bling

Yoonie-At-Home

2008-01-31T23:00:00.000+08:00

A little hanging that I made for Yoonie. Enjoyed the process of painting the bronze background and inking with the distress ink.

Yummy little daisies from Prima and little buttons for the middles. The alphas are Heidi Swapp's Ghost alphas which I outline-painted with white acrylic paint.

A bunch of buttons to make up the roof of the 'home' and I added 3D foam adhesives for dimension on on the house.

Simply love the chocolate lace-like paper from KI Memories Pop Culture range which I dotted over in silver.

... and some altered clothes-pegs.

Materials - Pattern Paper: 7 Gypsies, My Mind's Eye, KI Memories, Karen Foster, Making Memories; Alphas: Heidi Swapp; Paint: Making Memories; Buttons: Autumn Leaves; Flowers: Prima; Pen: Sakura; Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad, Tsukineko Brilliance Dewdrop; Others: twine, eyelet, Modge Podge, pegs, clear embossing powder.

... And T-Rex Nigel

2008-01-31T22:21:00.000+08:00

A little altered notebook I made for Yoonie's little dino, Nigel.

Added dimension to the monograms with Inkssential's Glossy Accents, making it appear epoxy-like. And who says ribbons and trims are not for boys ...

Supplies - Pattern Paper: Karen Foster; Monograms: Basic Grey; Ribbons: American Crafts, Scrap-n-Crop, misc; Others: ring notebook, Modge Podge, Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents.

Toddler Art

2008-01-29T15:55:00.001+08:00

Here are my little partner-in-crime J's works of art. This is the interpretation of a not-quite 3-year-old, so I had to pencil in the translation of her works.

A pink footprint, a purple heart and so-called Thomas The Tank (yeah, that little blob at the bottom right of the page)

A bird's feather - judging by the colour, I'm guessing its from a Crow.

J's favourite Coconut Water (straight from the coconut) drink. That 'thing' sticking out is the straw (in case you are wondering).

The face of a cat - see if you can make out the pink ears and eyes!

And I'm a proud Mummy!!

Valentine Project {Sneak Peek}

2008-01-28T00:20:00.000+08:00

A little sneak peek of my Scrap-n-Crop DT project for Valentine's Day ... stay tuned to see more!

CNY "Kum" Bag

2008-01-27T00:07:00.000+08:00

So, I can finally share this - my project for Scrap-n-Crop, my humble little "kum' bag.

For those who celebrate Chinese New Year, you will be familiar with the tradition of gifting people with "kum" (which translates to "gold", well, not the real gold but those mandarins), especially when you visit someone or when you have visitors. I decided to do my take on this tradition and came up with this little bag for carting around the mandarins when we do our visiting rounds this year - my little "kum" Bag, which will be filled up with lots of "gold"!!! Here's wishing all Happy Chinese New Year, and may your houses be full of "kum".

A close-up of 1 of the sides with the character 'Fu' which translates as happiness.

The other side with the monograms making up 'CNY' for Chinese New Year.

More 'blings'. Love the cute flower eyelet used for the cord-handle.

Materials - Scrap-n-Crop CNY Kit Gongxi Gongxi, blings.

A Happy Ballerina ...

2008-01-23T22:52:00.000+08:00

... thanks to Yoonie who's just amazing at needle-craft (is that what you call it??) This was the beautiful tutu that she made J for Christmas. My apologies for the late posting on this as it was near impossible to capture a photo of J in her tutu as she was always twirling around when she has it on. I kept getting shots of part of an arm or butt as she moves so quickly. So I finally devised a tactic. One day, almost immediately after she got up from her nap, I threw on her tutu, she was still in slow-mode and these shots were what I got ...

The tutu is absolutely gorgeous - a peachy pink colour, with beautiful sequinned band and sequin flowers. Thanks so much Aunty Yoonie, J loves it!

AND in addition to that, Yoonie also made her this cute little Wabbit which is now J's bestest bedtime pal.

Basket Weave Box

2008-01-22T22:17:00.000+08:00

This basket-weave box is made out of recycled old magazines and painted over with acrylic paints with a layer of varnish. It was made a couple of years ago using basketry techniques - lots of fun. What I like about this is that it's made of old magazines - get something new from something old ... save the environment!

The underside of the lid.
And a close-up to show the weave.

Supplies - old magazines, wires, acrylic paints, varnish, strong glue.

Chinese New Year Project {Sneak Peek}

2008-01-11T23:42:00.000+08:00

Here's a teeny peek of a something-something done for my DT work for Scrap-n-Crop which will be featured in an upcoming newsletter.

Altered Holiday Bird

2007-12-31T01:02:00.000+08:00

Today's the last day of year 2007, 1 more day to a brand new year ... exciting and nostalgic at the same time. I'm in a holiday mood and I've altered this little wooden Holiday Bird with stamping of snowflakes. The bird was then crackled and wings and a little ribbon were attached. Tips on altering the bird can be found here.

I love the crackle effect!

Here's wishing everyone Happy New Year ...

Materials - Pattern Paper: Sassafras Lass, Basic Grey; Stamps: Hero Arts; Ink: Tsukineko Brilliance, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad; Others: wooden bird, Ranger Inkssentials Crackle Accents, ribbon.

Love Is ...

2007-12-27T00:44:00.000+08:00

... this.

Me & my baby at Christmas - perfect!

Winter Solstice Festival

2007-12-26T01:04:00.000+08:00

This year's Winter Solstice Festival was fun. Fun, as in we had J's participation this time round when the family got together to roll the little colour flour-balls (normally in white and hot pink) which would later be cooked in sugar syrup. And this was what the little apprentice cooked up ...

Hard at work.

The finished product ... well, not exactly round balls, but i guess it's acceptable. In between making balls, we made some snowmen and mice flour-thingies too. FUN! I didn't manage to get photos of the cooked item as all got consumed before I had the chance - maybe next year then.

Altered Snowflake

2007-12-19T23:44:00.000+08:00

I can't believe that Christmas is barely a week away. Time passes by too quickly, really. I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet and judging by my workload, it looks near impossible ... sigh! But, by some miracle, I have managed to do up this wooden snowflake which was given by a friend, so here it is...
I had painted the raw light wood with a layer of bronze acrylic paint followed by the pearl finish acrylic paint - you don't quite see the pearlescent effect in the photo (sorry, it's been rain weather these past weeks and really difficult to get better lighting for photography) but the pearlescence is 'mildly' there. Okay, after the layers of paint, goes on the swirl stamping done with the Brilliance ink, then I outlined the swirls at certain areas by hand to add a bit of detailing to the swirls and adhered the photo. Edges of the snowflake were then lightly inked with distress ink.

Next, my favourite Modge-Podge was applied to seal everything. Those little fan-like prongs in between the wood are actually of an embossed snowflake stamp that I had cut up and glued on. Finishing touches of beads and sequins were then glued on. Voila!!

Materials - Paints: Making Memories; Stamp: Autumn Leaves, Hero Arts; Pen: Zig Writer; Embossing Powder: Scrap-n-Crop; Others: wooden snowflake, sequins, beads, Modge Podge.

Altered Lunch Tin

2007-12-16T23:41:00.000+08:00

Here's a lunch tin that I have finally finished altering. This took waaayy longer than planned due to lots of 'unforeseen circumstances' (I love how that makes it sound like such a valid reason!!) along the way. Anyway, it's finally done and I have to admit I really had a great time working on this - by far my favourite project so far in terms of enjoying the process!
Lined the tin cover edge with velvet ribbon.

I made a little tag too (on the right side of the handle) - an excuse to use my tag die-cut on my Cuttlebug.

This is what it looks like opened up.

A close-up. I adhered a pearl centre to the flower and added a little 'bling' to it. And finished it with my favourite process - Modge-Podge.

Materials - Lunch tin: Provo Craft; Pattern papers: My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey; Rick-rack: Phrase Cafe (EK Success); Flower: Prima; Others: Modge-Podge, Making Memories Pearl, various ribbons, bling.

A Whaat???

2007-12-14T14:56:00.000+08:00

Okay. The picture you are about to see is a Caly-bird. Yup, you read it right, it's a Caly-bird. And no, it's not some kind of new bird species, but more like something J made up. She just came up to me one day and asked me, "Mummy, can you please draw me a Caly-bird?" Of course I patiently asked her what that was and what I got back was this look - this duh-helloo-where-have-you-been-living-all-this-while look. So never mind, J proceeded to describe to me in detail what a Caly-bird looked like and this is what I came up with ...

... and believe it or not, J squealed in delight when she saw my finished (err ... I think it's finished) drawing and went, "Yaay, that's Caly-bird!!" So I must have done something right. Oh well, now Caly-bird shares a space above her pillow in bed, her special treasure trove ...

I've Been Tagged ...

2007-11-22T10:31:00.000+08:00

I've been tagged ... well, actually, I was tagged some time ago. Yeah, I'm sloppy with my blogging - always too much going on around me. I'm totally thrilled because I got tagged by Fiona Carter, DT at Maya Road and Paper Salon (and I LOVE her stuff!). Anyway, this is how it's supposed to go ...

Here are the rules:

Link to your tagger (see above), and also post these rules on your blog.
Share 7 facts about yourself (random or weird) on your blog.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

... and 7 facts about me:

I lurve to eat - I've been told that buffets should probably put me on their list of people to ban.
I love the smell of rain.
I'm quite a neurotic mother ... hopefully this doesn't leave any permanent damage on my DD!
I crave for Laksa-flavoured Maggi instant noodles.
I'm an Arsenal supporter!!!
I'm a reformed shoe-aholic.
When I was kid, our home was like a pet shop - we had a chipmunk, hamsters, cats, rabbits, fish (4 aquariums) and a turtle. Past pets also included dogs, terrapins, snails and a squirrel.

Time to tag some people:

Hope you will all play along!

Happy Birthday M!

2007-11-15T22:41:00.000+08:00

Happy birthday M .... many happy returns! This card was done on 2 pieces of hard board and joined together with ribbon. Lilac background was painted with acrylic paint. The green patch was distressed around the edges using an emery board while the monogram 'M' was inked with distress ink, as with the pattern paper. The words 'Happy Birthday' are written on a separate sheet of white paper using Sakura Glaze pen and then cut out and adhered. The card when it is closed up and tied.

Materials - Paint: Making Memories; Pattern Paper: Making Memories; Cardstock: SEI; Flowers: Prima; Buttons: Autumn Leaves; Monogram: Basic Grey; Stamp: Autumn Leaves; Ink: Tsukineko Brilliance; Pen: Sakura Glaze; Others: hard card, ribbons

So This Is What's In My Head ...

2007-11-07T14:53:00.001+08:00

Found something fun today ...

Your Brain's Pattern

Your mind is a creative hotbed of artistic talent.
You're always making pictures in your mind, especially when you're bored.
You are easily inspired to think colorful, interesting thoughts.
And although it may be hard to express these thoughts, it won't always be.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

Happy Birthday V!

2007-11-01T16:31:00.000+08:00

This is a hanging birthday card made for a friend. The 2 pieces of cardstocks are actually adhered to 2 separate transparencies (which appears almost invisible in the photos). The 2 separate cards are joined with twines.A close-up of the top card. I have torn the edges of the cardstocks and inked with distress ink. The 'frames' are inked with several colors of chalk-inks and finished up with distress ink. The 'V' monogram was also inked around the edges and rest of the name was doodled. The words 'Happy Birthday' are cut out from chipboard and painted with bronze acrylic paint.

Materials - Pattern paper: Basic Grey; Monogram: Basic Grey; Stamp: Autumn Leaves; Ink: Tsukineko Brilliance, Colorbox Fluid Chalk, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad; Pen: Uniball Signo, Zig; Paint: Making Memories; Others: Cuttlebug, transparency, twine, eyelets.

Happy Birthday Ah Kong

2007-10-29T22:29:00.000+08:00

It's Dad's birthday today, and I made this altered cutting-board for him as a gift from J and N. Many happy returns Dad, we love you!

I added dimension to the body of the dragonfly and butterfly cut-outs using the Glossy Accents to get an 'epoxy' effect. Then I chalked a shadow around the title alphas and glued pearlised beads around the dragonfly and the butterfly. (Click on any of the photos for a larger image.)

Materials - Pattern paper: Scrapworks, K&Co (cut-outs); Alphabets: Basic Grey, Making Memories; Flowers: Bazzill; Button: Autumn Leaves; Adhesives: Modge-Podge, Helmar's Super-Tac, ThermOWeb 3D Zots; Chalk: Craft-T; Others: cutting-board, ribbons, beads, Schmincke Fixative, Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents.

Bubbles

2007-10-19T15:11:00.000+08:00

This is my other 'baby' Bubbles. She was given to us by this really great couple and we cannot thank them enough for her as she has been giving us so much joy. And, little J has been proclaiming that Bubbles is her dog and not Mummy's!

What a poser too!

Ah Kong & Me

2007-10-08T00:35:00.001+08:00

This layout is done with 1 cardstock and doodling only - with 5 shades of my trusty colour pencils.
Close-up of the top portion of the layout. I had added colour to the title and washed it using my new fun tool, the Tsukineko Fantastix - it functions like a brush but with easier control. Will try and post pictures of the tool later on. Also coloured the edges slightly.

Materials - Cardstock: Bazzill; Pen: Pigma Micron; Colourpencils: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer

Succulent

2007-10-01T23:23:00.000+08:00

This little fella had relocated to my office from Cameron Highlands a couple for years back. Unfortunately, it had a sad ending when I was away from work for several days - suffered rotting as the damp soil was unable to dry out due to a stretch of rain ... RIP.

Banner

2007-09-28T22:35:00.000+08:00

A little bit on the banner I just put up. This beautiful antique tile was nested in an old wall surrounding a rather newly built structure in Penang - those who live here will understand why I refer to the New World Park as a 'structure'.

I really love this little piece of beauty I chanced upon during lunch out with Dad today. I must admit I'm a tad nervous about posting a photograph I'd taken but like I said I love it too much to let it sit unnoticed in some little byte-space in my laptop. Really glad I had my camera (one of the rare occasions) with me for once.

I Spy

2007-09-28T10:22:00.000+08:00

These 3D flowers were made from the same pattern paper where I cut out each petal indivdually and inked the edges before I 'curled' them slightly using scissors and assembled them with 3D adhesive.

Materials - Cardstock: Bazzill; Pattern paper: Basic Grey; Ink: Colorbox Chalk; Pen: Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic; 3D adhesive: Therm O Web Zots 3D

Accordian Folder Album

2007-09-10T11:30:00.001+08:00

This is a little present I made for my nephew for his 2nd birthday. I hope he likes it!

I doodled the white outline of the word with the Sakura Glaze pen (the outline actually pops up slightly, giving you the effect of embossing), then used colour pencils to add touches of colour. The faint stars at the top are done using masking with chalk ink. All stretched out - side ASide BThe star is manually cut out from cardstock and inked around the edges for better depth. I then adhered it with 3D glue dots to make it pop. The embossed word is actually done using metallic ink which the photo does not seem to show to its true effect (click on photo to get clearer view).

Materials used - Bazzill Accordian Folder; buttons: Autumn Leaves; Chipboard alphas: Heidi Swapp; Pattern paper: Scrapworks, SEI; Stamps: Doodlebug, HA Limited Edition, Hero Arts (clear), Making Memories (foam), 7 Gypsies 97% complete; Inks: Colorbox Chalk, Tsukineko Metallics & Brilliance; Stickers: Basic Grey, KI Memories; Tag: Basic Grey; Colourpencils: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer; Decorative tape: Making Memories; Paints: Making Memories; Pens: Sakura Glaze & Metallic.

Altered Magnets

2007-08-24T16:44:00.000+08:00

Materials - magnets; Flowers: Prima; Buttons: Autumn Leaves; Alphas - Basic Grey; Pattern Paper: Chatterbox, Heidi Grace, Modge Podge.

Mini Book

2007-08-17T10:43:00.000+08:00

Made as a present - I hope the recipient likes it.

Materials - Album: Making Memories; Pattern Paper: Chatterbox, Sassafras Lass, Heidi Grace, Autumn Leaves, Scrapworks, SEI, Doodlebug; Cardstock: Bazzill; Buttons: SEI, Hero Arts, Autumn Leaves; Alphas: Basic Grey, KI Memories; Decor Tape: Making Memories; Brads: Scrap-n-Crop, Heidi Swapp, Making Memories; Ribbons: Scrapbooking Cove, Scrap-n-Crop, EK Success; Metal Charm: Scrap-n-Crop; Stamps: Technique Tuesday

4 Days Old

2007-08-12T00:37:00.000+08:00

J at 4-days old.

Materials - pattern paper: Heidi Grace, Flair Designs; Vellum: EK Success Phrase Cafe; tag: Basic Grey; stickers: KI Memories, Making Memories; buttons: SEI; rick-rack: EK Success; ink: Colorbox

Congratulatory Card

2007-08-11T13:21:00.000+08:00

Made for a friend's wedding.

Happy Father's Day

2007-08-10T23:20:00.000+08:00

This is the Father's Day exploding box which J helped to make to "surprise" Papa.

"Exploded" view of the centre of the box.

"Exploded" view of a section.

Close-up.

Close-up.

Materials - Pattern paper: SEI, Scrapworks; Flowers: Prima; Brads: Scrap-n-Crop; Eyelets: Making Memories; Stamps: Hero Arts; Buttons: Autumn Leaves; Pens: Zig, Sakura Glaze; Ribbons: various.

How to Make an Exploding Box

2007-08-10T16:03:00.000+08:00

Get 4 sheets of thick double-sided pattern paper or cardstocks and trim them into the following sizes:-

- 1 piece of 12”x12” – score 3” from the sides on all sides
- 1 piece of 11”x11” – score 3¾” from all sides
- 1 piece of 10”x10” – score 3½” from all sides

Then cut out all the 4 corners from all the 3 sheets of paper, leaving behind the “+” shape which will layer nicely with the largest piece at the bottom to the smallest piece on top.

Decorate and embellish all layers but remember to leave the center portion of the middle layer and bottom layer clear, as well as only decorate the top-side of the center portion of the smallest (top) layer. You will need to apply adhesive on bottom surfaces (except for the largest layer) of the center portions and adhere the smaller pieces on top of the larger pieces.

To make the lid, trim your last sheet of paper to 8”x8” and score 1 7/8” from all sides. Cut 1 side of each corner square and glue the flap to the inside of the lid. Embellish the top of the lid.

Fold the pages up and place the lid to hold the box together.

Something Tells Me I'm Into Something Good...

2007-08-10T15:05:00.000+08:00

And finally ... I started a blog. This will mainly form a record of my scrapping 'works' and maybe, hopefully, photographs I've taken (... keyword here being "hopefully" - when I feel they are "acceptable" enough to be posted).

Perfection is elusive, but the thing about scrapbooking and such is that there is no wrong or right to it. It is supposed to be an outlet for individual creativity (or lack of it!), to put on paper your thoughts, to freeze a moment. Thanks for looking!