Some DT work

Hi everyone,

Just some layouts to share using the October Studio Calico Roller Rink Kit that I got from scrappinstudio.

Using contents from the kit, I decided that I wanted the wooden chevron to be part of the focus, and used strips of patterned paper to "decorate" the chevrons. I decided to juxtapose this chevron with the wooden veneer chevrons in the "Crack the Whip" add-on. Love using the woodgrain thickers too (:

I put my Silhouette Cameo to use with this layout, cutting 27, the age I'm turning, and highlighted one, by putting a different color behind one of the digits. I also decided to use the phrases in the sticker sheet that I thought would define what I want to continue growing in grace to be. I'm also a tad obsessed with the wooden veneer chevrons.

Hope you liked what I have to share. I'm still working on more projects that I hope to get more of a chance to share with you. Till then, toodles.

DELIGHT IN THE LITTLE THINGS

A layout that I created recently using the Studio Calico Kit County Fair and Ring Toss Add-on

Supplies in Studio Calico Kit from: Crate Paper, Basic Grey, Jenni Bowlin, Pebbles. American Crafts

I started by stamping the circle stamp on the cardstock slightly off-centre. As the circle is already sectioned off, it helped to know how to best draw the starburst. I used a ruler to draw on the patterned paper, to indicate where to cut to make the pattern, purposefully leaving some blanks to add visual interest.

After layering the papers, I stitched them down with the sewing machine to add some texture to the layout. And then scattered some embellishments around. This is when using a kit comes in really helpful as there are coordinated papers which are not too matchy matchy yet look like they come from the same set.

Most stitching generally to add texture to the layout.

Hope that this layout has "scattered some sunshine" to you as you view it today.

IN HEELS

Happy Hump Day of the week everyone!

Have a quick layout to share and let you know more about the details of the project, and lastly my process

Firstly the layout

Supplies: Studio Calico Snow Cone add-on, Martha Stewart, Jenni Bowlin, Crate paper, American Crafts

I used a starburst stamp (Studio Calico Kit exclusive) and stamped with Versamark. I then used the pink glitter embossing powder from American Crafts. If you need sparkle, I'll recommend using the glitter embossing powders as they do not flake off at all once they are heat set.

Stitched through the Thickers. Helps them stay in place as well as adds dimension to it.

 

Just got the Jenni Bowlin Grandma Doily's punch. Perfect for making cute punch outs. Also stitched underneath my journaling, love the texture. 

Ran my page through the layout machine to add lines to the butterflies.

MY PROCESS | I had decided to make a page with the butterflies swirling about the place. First I decided to establish my background. Instead of a piece of patterned paper, I decided to use my starburst stamp. I then sketched out the path I wanted the butterflies to go.

After punching through a lot of butterflies, I placed them along the path. Of course, being flexible, or what some would call fickle, I did move it quite a bit from the inital path. I stuck the butterflies down with a teensy bit of tape, as I knew that I wanted to run stitching through it and did not want to gunk up my needle.

Next I added strips of paper to anchor the page further, before adding two hearts, one of them is two hearts layered on top of one another. I ran stitching through them too.

I then added the border scalloped strips and stickers, as well as a doily and I was done.

Thanks for looking!

Just also wanted to add that I have some new badges available in the shop

I can't wait to use these on my pages and Project Life next week, especially the adore set.

THE DAILY GRIND

Winner of the giveaway will be posted tomorrow.

Well, Project Life Week 2 is under way on my table, but non-available light and lack of time is hindering its progress, but spur on I will.

In the meantime I have a layout to share:

Supplies: Silhouette, Studio Calico, American Crafts, Ocotber Afternoon, Crate Paper

Scrapbooking is in the end about documenting the ordinary life that passes me by. The reason for scrapping this was as I never imagined myself working at the heart of the business district in Singapore (its the equivalent of Wall Street in New York), with the sun setting by the time I leave the office.

The typewriter detail is one that I had been hoarding for the perfect layout, due to my work as a journalist. The newsprint scraps from Studio Calico was also fantastic to add to the details for my work.

My silhouette was also put to good use with the background polka dots cut out with a kraft on kraft feel as well as to cut out the title.

Just to let everyone know too, there has been an update in the shop, with some more items.

I have used them in my PL week 2 layout which I'll post later in the week. Do check it out if you like them and they help in the documentation of daily life, not just PL. Thanks for your support! I'm having a blast with this creative process.

I'll be back with a printable freebie when I post about Project Life again.

STITCHED CHEVRONS

I finally had the sunlight needed to capture the stitched chevron layout that I have been working on as posted in my previous post.

Supplies: Studio Calico Brooklyn Flea: Pebbles, My Mind's Eye, October Afternoon, Crate Paper

As mentioned I was inspired by all the chevron that has been everywhere in design, and believe that this was inspired by an image  that I saw on Pinterest but never pinned down.

It seemed fitting to that I made the layout about clothes, the first online order that I made with Modcloth. It was during their recent sale on their sale items and shipping to Singapore was reasonable. I have been a long lover of the retro vibe that their cloths have and decided to take the plunge to order. And the results, I'm really pleased about it.

I left the strong some what messy strands of thread as I liked the homespun feel that it gave. I probably should have shown how I made the page, but my table is too messy to do something like that. That is probably something I should work on too : P

MY PROCESS | I got a piece of pattern paper I was planning to purge and drew using a ruler the starburst first and cut it up. Never being one that needs precision, I eyeballed the spacing, and pretty much most of the cutting and drawing I did. Hence some uneveness in the chevrons. You could probably draw it on the computer if you need precision, but for me that would be too much work.

I then did each starburst layer separately and by feel, the only thing I knew was that I wanted the strips to be pointing in different directions. After sticking it down with a tiny bit of adhesive, I went crazy with the sewing machine. First stitching the starburst, then individually stitching down each chevron. I probably did not need to stitch so much, but I really liked the effect.

My journalling is hidden as I didn't want it to take away from my background design. The cloth tag and sticker are from Modcloth and came with my order. I also loved the interior of the box, with swirls.

Thanks for reading and hope you liked this particular layout and reading how I did it.

Next up, taking pictures of my completed (yay!) December Daily album.

BEEN BUSY

As everyone knows, life catches up with you quickly without you even realising it most of the time.

It's been busy that I have been taking the moments I have to rest and yes I have been creating, but not had the time to blog about it or take pictures of what I have made, because blogging well, really does take time.

Unfortunately I have been busy buying too, given the waiting that I have been doing for Black Friday/Cyber Monday to get a number of things that I have been waiting for discounts for.

 

Here's some of the things that I have bought:

1. Fujifilm x10

If you have not seen this beauty, it is wonderful. I wrote about this earlier, and really for me who wants control and portability this is good. Will it be able to replace my DSLR? No in a short answer, the main reason being because of the lack of a good viewfinder (with the x10, I can see the lens and it irks me).

However the quality is really there, with a decent zoom that unlike other compacts, you zoom by twisting the lens ring, just like my DSLR (:

It was costly, and not for everyone. But if you are a picky picky photographer who wants the control and the flexbility to carry it everywhere without throwing out your back, this is the camera (of course only till the better one rolls along)

Check out the exclusive website here

2. Rad Lab by Totally Rad

I really got into it after reading countless reviews that I had seen and trying it out for myself. And being a visual person when it comes to my photo editing about how it looks, it is a dream. And I liked it so much, I bought it before the free one month trial expired, in part because of the one-day sale that they had, but because I can see using it to speed up creatively editing my photos.

I have "problems" doing so, as I was trained in photojournalism primarily from the start and that ethically, only dodging and burning tools ahould be used on my photos. So it requires a mindset change.

Check it out here and be dazzled

3. Baker's Twine from The Twinery

I love baker's twine and use it nearly on most projects I have created. For the longest time I have contemplated buying the full rolls, as my LSS sells it by the yard at a cost I'll rather not have. But being out of the US, shipping is always an issue. In fact I had been kicking myself for not taking advantage of the free shipping offer that they had two months ago.

But along came Monday and there were discounts going on that made buying my twine finally platable. I wanted to sweep of the shelves as many rolls as possible, but had to control myself. I got: Blossom (pink), Oyster (Grey), Yellow and Aqua, the colours that I reach for most often.

Click here to see more

There's actually still more, but I think that the post is long enough.

But it needs pictures and I have an older layout to share:

Supplies: Pebbles, October Afternoon Sprinkles, Baker's Twine

I used my silhouette for the title too in the cursive font for the title.I adore the tiny heart buttons, so cutely shaped (:

Hope you are having a good day!

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

This is a familiar tune from the university hall days where I used to be part of the acapella group hahaha.... and the main event was doing caroling tunes to raise money/ or rather earn money for the year.

One of the memories that I have is us huddling in the music room all in hushed tones to record some carols as samplers to send out for jobs, which we did get some. We would all hold our breath while waiting for the leader to say OK, before we would all heave a sigh of relief and start chatting while hearing the playback. Of course this was done in the most unprofessional way plausible, in a non-acoustic room with a wholly unprofessional recorder.

To this day, I still have my scores and can remember my parts (:

As many have been blogging all over the blogosphere, the red Starbucks cups have made their appearance, for me meaning that toffee nut is in the house. I decided to do a layout on this year's cups and flavours, as the cups change every year and thee flavours differ from year to year.

Supplies: Crate Paper, American crafts, Doodlebug

I cut apart the tall and grande cups which my Starbucks person happily gave me. I secretly think that they are used to it and probably have printed cups in excess in anticipation of crazy scrapbookers asking for their paper cups. If only they would christmasify up the cold beverages one. I'm thinking white snowflakes splashed across the cup. Well, if any Starbucks person reads this, here's my suggestion hands waving.

 Do you have a different set of flavours at your Starbucks?

WHY DO YOU SCRAP?

The scrapping world is often filled with children, documenting their everyday life and milestones. Seldom are they about the person scrapping, and of course there are the exceptions, but more often than not, it is dominated by children and families.

This brings me to why I engage in it. I don't have children that I want to document my life for or their life for them. But I scrap for me. To me, it is a journal of my life and my own memories, for no one but myself. I enjoy pulling out my books and flipping through them and remembering the past memories. This is mainly because I like to put my layouts in albums the minute I'm done with them.

They either go in the 12x12 album or clear frames where I can look at them longer, but never just left there. This is for practical reasons as I scrap memories and don't want them damaged, which they might if I leave them out. I put them in, sometimes moving them around (but that is for another blog post).

The key thing for me was to have a place to store the many photos that are taken. In this digital age, we snap many photos but we do not look often at them. I am a big offender as I often go for trips, take loads of photos but struggle even to load them to my computer. Even when I do, it sits there, as I loathe photo editing. (perhaps this should be my resolution for 2012 to organise my photos better) And I never ever look at them.

Since scrapbooking, I at least have images printed out and ready to see by just pulling out my album and viewing them. A little disclaimer here, this my be just me. Images are powerful and now at least I have them in tactile form, ready to evoke memories that I have squirrelled away in a corner of my mind.

Of course the pretty paper and embellishments are a big draw and I do get the satisfaction from playing with pretty things. I occasionally do pages that are simply just to get a creative fix, but most of the time it is to document something. The exception is when I share creations for other people, because it really would be weird to be journalling on their pages.

Long post, but just some thoughts I have had. And because as much as it is about documentation, we all do still like pretty things, here's a layout made with Crate Paper:

Made this quite some time ago but haven't put up here.

Other supplies: Studio Calico, American Crafts

What motivates you to scrapbook?

UNIVERSITY MEMORIES

University days were certainly filled with much activity. One of them was crusade activities.

Here's a layout to commemorate those days

Supplies: Hambly, Studio Calico

I cut the background mask with my silhouette and misted it with Dewey and Lemonade Mister Hueys. I especially adore the rub-on camera. Splatters were made with Plum Thumb mist.

SASSAFRAS, YOU WILL BE MISSED

If you haven't heard, Sassafras is no longer in manufacturing, which means no more new lines from them.

They were one of the first lines that I had been introduced to when I first started scrapbooking and moved away from their cutesy lines, hitting the ball out of the park with their last few releases.

This one was an experiment where they did digital type pages, where embellishments and stitching are print on the paper already, making the page look more worked than it actually was.

Supplies: Sassafras, Studio Calico, Hero Arts, Maya Road, Jenni Bowlin

The paper itself already had a pink undertone. I placed the ampersand mask and misted it with pink mist, adding a few splotches here and there. I also added some real stitching to compliment the printed one. The foldies flowers completed the look together with the herringbone stamp

Journaling was about my final year project in university and is usually the length of journaling that I include on all my pages, this being about recording memories. However as aesthetic is also of importance to me, I do hidden journaling if you don't see it on my pages.

I am awaiting my big box from them, especially of Sunshine Broadcast, their final release line, especially the grey white polka dot paper.

NEW YORK NEW YORK

I had the opportunity to visit the city that never sleeps in June for a full week. It was packed full of fun and activity, really earning its name. I was actually even shopping at Forever 21 at Times Square after midnight on a week day.

I made a scrapbook on the road, or rather a photo album which I slotted in all my memorabilia. After coming back I printed out my photos and added relevant journaling.

Supplies: Sassafras, Studio Calico, Fancy Pants,American Crafts, Crate Paper, October Afternoon

The epitome of New York City is Times Square where at all times of the day there is always people and the place is always packed. And the Avenue of Stars was my inspiration for the layout.  I lay out the veneer stars and misted the entire background to make the stars stand out. The filmstrip stamped out also pays tribute to the theatre industry, Broadway. The title draws inspiration from the song "New York New York". I also ran my Sew Easy along the bottom strip of the layout with the zig zag head attached to the body.

STITCHING A TITLE

Life has been hectic and I haven't had time to post much.

Below is a layout I made sometime ago but haven't had the chance to share on my blog.

Supplies: Cosmo Cricket

How apt that the line used is named "Togetherness". I first traced out the word 'togetherness' and then used a paper piercer and made the holes to guide my needle and thread. I then stitched the outline of the heart and added faux stitching with a pen on the smaller heart.

Just a quick share and I have to run now.

JAPAN YUMS

A quick one in just to share, using 4x6 photos.

Going to Japan is always a treat, especially for all the delicious food that is available all over the island.

Supplies: Crate Paper

Photos taken from a trip to Japan last year.

A 21ST BIRTHDAY LAYOUT

A multi-photo layout. I actually do like doing these, but often want to write too much on my page to be able to include to many photos. Also I appreciate 'white space'.

This was the 21st birthday celebration of my cousin's birthday and was done pronto, as I delivered this to her the night of the celebration, which took place in the early afternoon.

Printed the photos 3 x 4 sized and lay them out before layering the papers and embellishments to add some visual interest and accenting. But the photos remain the key focus of the layout. This is what I love die cuts the most for as they add touches of loveliness to the layout.

Here's a close up look.

Supplies: Crate Paper, American crafts, Pink Paislee



MARK MARK MARK

Teaching is easy, at least for me. What I have problems with is the marking. Especially compositions.

So eating while marking, at least for me, helps speed up the process.

This really does happen, I'll go somewhere with a stack of scripts and mark away. Especially when it is compositions, because there is something there to motivate me (: And of course, document it, cause it is unique to me.

Supplies: Studio Calico March 'Into the woods' kit

I thought the big alpha paper was appropriate, since I was marking english scripts. Glued down the die cut pieces from Cosmo Cricket and ran my Sew Easy through it. The chipboard stars were embossed with blue powder Zing, for the nice bright colour.

As much as scrapbooking is about pretty things, I try to choose embellishments when possible relate to the theme of the layout, such as stars, that usually appear on homework done well.

And because the picture might not make sense to me after a few years (thanks to a goldfish memory), journaling is a must.

What interesting things do you do at work?

BAKING FUN

Baked for the first time in a long while and wanted to remember my oven creations. I'm especially proud of the banana peanut butter brownie. Everything sweet goes well with peanut butter and banana in my book.

Supplies: Echo Park. Jenni Bowlin, Me & My Big Idea

If you look closer, the scallops behind the photos are stitched. Just a fun layout.

What is one thing you haven't done for a really long while?

A PLAY ON CIRCLES

Just a quick one where I had fun with circles.

This run was motivated by the groupon that I had bought with a friend. I would like to report that I was faithful and went most days of the week to use the step-up machine and attend Zumba.

Supplies: Pebbles, American Crafts, Studio Calico

Love the white on kraft paper. Reminded me of running tracks. Inspiration for this came from a sketch on Studio Calico. Also a new love, my big scalloped border punch from EK Success.

A bit of technique: The black circles are heat embossed with silver Zing embossing powder. One thing I love about embossing powder as compared to ink stamping is that it will stand out on even dark coloured papers. Sometimes ink gets lost in the mix of things. 

Now to maintain the urgency to move more.

DECISION TIME

Wanted to make a layout to document the dilemma that I was going through about changing jobs. One a rare opportunity, the other that offers travel.

Supplies: Sassafras


The emphasis was really on the journaling so I kept it simple, using the foldies from Sassafras as the main accent. These flowers are so fun to add dimension easily to any layout. And the starters paper in my mind are to die. They are muted enough stay in the background, yet detailed enough to stand on its own. Thus it was the perfect background for my journaling.

Now to soldier on and make my decision.

A NEW TOOL

Stitching has made its way onto layouts some time ago, where many scrappers just run it through the sewing machine for dimension and a touch of homemade quality.

But what about those who don't own one (even though it is at the top of my mind)

Enter the Sew Easy tool by We R Memory Keepers. Essentially it pokes holes through your cardstock , which you could do by hand. What the Sew Easy offers is even equally spaced stitches, even though making it go in a straight line can be challenging.

Supplies: Studio Calico Jan Add-on Betty Crocker

(Pardon the bad lighting from my iphone pictures on the layout)

What I did for this layout is to lightly sketch with a pencil where I envisioned the lines. I wanted crisscrossing wavy lines. I then took my Sew Easy tool and rolled over it. Easy peasy, the holes were created. I chose my thread colours and stitched the lines.

Some people say that you need the mat in order to make it work, but a mousepad that I had worked fine. Just make sure to use the soft side. And if there are really any imperfections, embrace it :P

In this case, the stitching really stood out against the kraft background which was what I was aiming for.

For the OCD, every stitch should be equally spaced, this tool will help you achieve with little fuss, though I have heard a straight line is more challenging. But if you like more complicated stitching ie beyong wavy and straight lines, this may not be the tool for you.

TYPE ON TYPE

The problem with not liking flash and not owning an external flash, is that when I do event photography at night, it being a challenge is understating the situation at hand.

So what do you do in such a situation? Convert slightly blurred photos to black and white. This quickest fix ever, as grain and noise is appreciated by the eyes better in B&W as compared to colour.

Put to use during this event was my new EP1 toy with 20mm 1.7 panasonic lens (excuse my tech geek side)

Supplies: Lilybee Design, American Crafts.

Tried something new, by layering type on type, thickers on thickers. Personally I love the bold black piece of pattern paper with the dove on it.