PROJECT LIFE IS IN MY HANDS

I already had the design A page protectors in my hands and had planned to stop there, using a WRMK faux leather 3-ring binder, even though my heart was swaying here and there about whether or not to purchase the core kit.

The pros was that the design was something that I liked and that it would be "easier" to keep updated with th cards and such. The cons is that I might get tired of using the same design repeatedly and that I really should use my stash instead.

However, as they made their way to Singapore, it swayed the balance a little and I caved and bought Clementine

I went down yesterday and now have the pretty white box in my hands (: You must understand the commitment to go and collect as it is the other end of the island from which my house is located - even though I have to qualify that Singapore really isn't that big.

And now for the unboxing to see all the goodness that is stored within the box

One thing that I didn't like though was the styrofoam inserts. I have an intense dislike for the "screeching" sound that styrofoam makes when rubbed the wrong way. Personally I would have preferred that it were sturdy paper inserts. It is highly likely that I would be "dismantling" the package as it is a nightmare for me to constantly hear the screeching sound. Which is a little sad as I would have liked to kept it this way. A couple of cards were also dented as I believe they were inserted without enough care, but I understand that when you manufacture offshore, usually quality control is compromised. But this is really minor and I just won't use those cards, or will find a way to cover it up if used.

  As it was because of the design that I bought it, I would be remiss to not include pictures of the cards that are within. My favourites are the graph/clock design, the grey/white combos and and typeface cards. Personally I think it looked better in person than on the screen.

An upclose look for those who might want a better look at it. I apologise for the slight 'glow' on the cards due to the unusual morning sun over my house.

I'm still contemplating at this point whether to use my Red WRMK album or the Butter album that will coordinate better with the entire project.

I'm also a couple of days late in posting it here, but I have had it prepped and ready to go a few weeks ago.

Just had time to capture my cover

Supplies: Crate Paper, Maya Road, The Twinery, American crafts, Studio Calico

I have adopted the attitude of document it over everything, but yet it is important to me in order to keep the engine started to get the cover right. I knew that I wanted to use woodgrain for the cover and decided to do wood on wood, by attaching a Maya Road wooden doily.

Sprinkled on some white Mr Huey's which to me looks gorgeous on the woodgrain paper.A felt detail from American Crafts Dear Lizzie line, twine and a light coat of Shine Mr Huey completed my cover and really made it easier for me to feel excited for my DD.

Now to continue the work on the inner pages that show December and Christmas in it.

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!

PHOTOS FROM A WEDDING

Finally managed to get down to editing the photos of a wedding that I shot. As mentioned before, editing the photos seems to always be my undoing and I am still tweaking my workflow so that less time spent better.

So here's a sneak of some of the photos that I took:

What do you think? I think this workflow will suit me and my needs much better (:

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.