Mommies day out!

THE MIGHTY MOMMIES!

This is the 1st time I'm meeting so many scrappers at J's place. Some of them are old time friends and some I'm meeting for the 1st time. But regardless of how long we knew each other, there was instant bonding. There's really something to be said for this scrapping hobby. It's an expensive hobby, but the rewards of having and meeting friends like these... Priceless! (Sorry for sounding like the advertisment!) We all had so so so so much fun!! Talking, gossiping, eating, laughing, sharing! I'm so gonna remember this day. It's really been such a long time since I enjoyed myself so much with so little restrain. Sometimes, with colleagues, it's quite a different type of feeling and depending on what type of colleague you go out with, there's always a level of guardedness and isolation. Today was really a hang loose and let your hair down kinda meeting. Ladies, I just wanna thank you all for such a GREAT GREAT time and your priceless company! May we be able to do this again! But must find another location or else J will collaspe and faint!!!! Wahahahaha!

I really love this candid shot of E taking a "lovey dovey" shot of herself and A! Hahahaha! It was just such a scrappy shot!

Sexy sexy sexy leggy! Hee hee! Don't kill me for posting this eh, Mee Kia Girl!
Trying for an "artistic" shot with mini digi cam. Not so successful eh! Looks more like a wrong shot that's back lighted.....

Don't we all look like we're having fun?!

Of course we had to have food right? What's a day out without loads of sinfully yummlicious snacks, drinks, cakes, salads... *Smack lips*!


And what's the use of 8 gorgeous scrappers coming together without at least a gorgeous scrapping bag??!! Thankx S for the lovely shot of your lovely bag! Ok, that's all for the pics! I'm off to buy that bag! Online of course, at this time of the night!

More layouts!

Did I mention.... I'm in a posting frenzy!! How can anyone understand the computer so well??!! I'm so very blessed that I have such a fantastic husband who is so good and so willing to help me resolve my computer problems! Lovely!
Here's one I did a couple days ago.

Gentle Giants

tkd

Roamy has gone back to Scotland. We'll miss him and his family. We've had so much fun together in the short time that we knew each other. But we made a promise to them that we'll go visit them when Bri is older. I so wish to go Scotland too! Read so much about Scotland and Ireland that going there will be a wish come true and a vision fullfilled!

Norwegian reindeer snow shoes

My wonderfully technically inclined husband has resolved the missing post pic buttons for me. It's just so great to be able to blog again that I'm gonna make this a picture filled post! Here's a very cute pic of my daughter wearing this Norwegian reindeer snow shoe. My husband bought this back 10 years ago on his trip with his band to Norway. Why he bought this is anyone's guess!!

Lost again!

What's the matter with Blogger??!! The buttons are gone again! Does anyone out there know how to restore those buttons?!

IT'S BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah! My "buttons" are back! I can finally post pics! Never knew these few small buttons could control my cyber life like this!

Life In Macro

Here's the LO that won me the wonderful goodies loaded prize from Japan! Here's where you can find her wonderful, lovely and inspirational blog! Tessah

TA DA!! The lovely package I received from Japan!

There's also a couple of LOs I did over the last 2 weeks. Been quite productive! Hee hee!

You & Me

H is for Home

Friends

Still missing.... Sigh!

My upload photo buttons are still MISSING!! I'm going bonkers soon! I really so wanna post my latest LOs, my gorgeous stash from Japan, my kids.... Arghhhhh!!!!

Sigh.....

I have no idea why.... But Blogger is not allowing me to post any pics. There isnt a post pic button on my Posting page anymore. Anyone out there can help? I just received a gorgeously scrap ladden package from Japan and so wanna "show off". Guess this is fate's way of telling me that I should not be such a fluff head show off! Hahahaha!

Chicken Soup for the Scrapbooker's Soul

I laughed when I received this as my birthday present. Chicken Soup is such a success that even scrapbooking is playing a part in one of it's titles! Hahahaha! I thought it would mostly be about what sb is, why others sb, the hoarding instinct, etc. What I didn't expect was the touching stories about how scrapbooking changed the lives of some and made it easier for others. Scrapbooking for these people was about leaving behind a story, yes, a story, not the bombastic word, legacy. Why use the word legacy at all? It's not like we're leaving behind millions of dollars for our next generation. But what these scrappers were leaving behind were worth more than the billions of dollars. They document their lives, the children's lives, the laughter, the tears, the breakups, the weddings, the funerals, the sickness. Everything. Nothing was mentioned about competitions, Design Team, pretty embellishments, admirers, being recognized.
After reading it, I realized that I had strayed from my original aim of scrapbooking. I was too caught up in the buying (who isn't) and the opinions of others. I let the trends take over. I slaved over ONE single LO for days just to make it look pretty and trendy and acceptable by others. I blogged hopped, magazine hopped, friend hopped.... just so I could create the loveliest LO that would be praised and admired by others!
Finally, I felt so tired by it all. I had no more mojo left in me. I needed to make another gorgeous LO to be admired and fawned over. I wanted everyone to drool over the wonderful creations I had come up with, I wanted the praise and the recognition. I had lost myself.
Chicken Soup had done its job again. Reading it brought me back to my senses and reality. It was nobody's fault that I became this way. It was too easy to lay blame. That was what I did initially. I blamed the manufacturers for always coming up with new stuff, the LSS for bringing in all that drool worthy goods, even my friends for their bad influences! I must have been mad!
When at last I ran out of excuses, I looked deep within myself and dug out that worm called "GREED" and squashed it flat. Greed for new things, greed for recognition, greed for money, greed for everything! I need to relearn to scrap for myself again. Not every LO needs to be beautiful, to be admired, to be nice. Each project that I undertake now must be for myself only. To please myself. To leave behind a story. To make me happy that I've done another LO...
I am happy now!

Happy enough that I cleared my cabinets of years of mess and dust. I carefully packed my coke collection and made space for my scrapbook collection. The display shows many of my years of work. Whether it is artistic, childish, out-dated, I dont really care. I just want to clean the dust off my work and give it a nice place to reside in. If it is admired, I'm happy. If not, I can live with it too!

Love the clean, clean display shelves. Weeks of hard work cleaning and throwing and packing resulted in this!

My Beloved Coke Collection

I finally made the decision to give away my coke collection. It was not as painful as I thought it would be. I had to make space for more of my scrap stuff to be displayed.
It wasn't too painful maybe coz I had a good friend who was willing to house my collection. I definately have more than the pics I showed here. I wanted to take pics as I packed them away, but I got so carried away that I completely forgot about taking some memories. I cleaned them, polished the bottles and scrubbed the years of dust away. As I cleaned them lovingly, I savoured the memories each bottle had for me and I almost put them back again. But I knew that if I did that, I would never be able to part with them again. So now, here they are, most of them in a box, ready for their new home.
I really have to thank Ed for so kindly taking them in. I'm really glad I don't have to throw them away. I was not even willing to sell them to Cash Converter, which was what one of my friend did.

All my coke collection are from around the world. Italy, Nepal, Japan, Cyprus, Dubai, England, Thailand, Hong Kong, Denmark, Alaska, Canada.... Can you imagine the effort it took me to carry them all back? Especially the glass bottles.
So my beloved collection is now going onto a more worthy home. One who will take care and display them for more people to enjoy. Thanks Ed! Will remember this favour!

Has it been almost one month??

When I saw the date on my last post, I thought, "Hey, Blogger ate some of my posts! Where did those posts go? I specifically remembered that I had posted some photos, some musings in between.... Or was that in my dreams? Hmmmmm..."
In reality, I must have forgotten to blog again! Why do I do this to myself? Why must keep up with this blogging thing? It's not as if I like such a popular personality and thousands read my blog everyday. Aside from my few really loyal friends, no one actually reads my blog. Hahahaha! I'm not belittling myself. I just wonder why I even blog really!
Recently I just got a new bag. It's a first for me. Not the buying of the bag. But the price tag that came with it. I have not bought such an expensive bag in my life. I enjoy the good things in life, just like anyone else. But to spend such an amount on a simple bag is just not my style. It's not like the bag costs a couple thousands, just a couple hundred. But still, it was a first for me and then I realized that it would not be the last. I finally understand why young girls are willing to blow their 1st paycheck on a thousand dollar bag. It's the thrill of buying and carrying it around for others to admire. And after buying my first couple hundred dollars bag, I'm now more willing to blow a few more couple hundred dollars on another branded bag. Would I carry on this way? Would I now think that a couple hundred dollars for a handbag is nothing? Would I start to lose my sense of perspective? Should I even allow myself a second expensive handbag?
In this current economic downturn, to even spend on this sort of frivolous thing seems very sinful to me. Especially when there are others out there who are living from hand to mouth. Not so much the adults. It's the kids. Are there kids out there who do not have enough to eat coz their parents had lost their jobs?
I think the next time I give in to my impulse to get another couple hundred dollars handbag, I should think of those kids out there who are eating only biscuits drinking water to assauge their hunger. Really. There are such kids out there. I have met them.....

Busy...

Who isn't? You ask. I am an almost full time mother and almost part time worker. Hmmmm.... nice life, I'm thinking...
But I'm a fairly lazy person especially when it comes to work. I'd prefer to spend my time lazing around and meeting up with friends, sipping a latte on a breezy Wednesday afternoon.... Alas, on a breezy Wednesday afternoon, I'm rushing through work, kids, laundry, cooking, ferrying kids here and there for holiday programmes (I must have been mad to sign Brandon up for so many holiday programmes!)
I often wish I were one of those ladies who are always so well turned out, with narry a hair out of place and lipstick bright and glossy. They will always have 2 or 3 kids in tow who are just as well turned out as the mother. And if you look carefully, there'll usually be a maid trailing behind looking harassed and wild haired! How nice to have a maid taking care of your kids, housework, cooking. And all I'd have to do is to take care of my hair and nails and clothes before I come out looking like a million bucks!!
POP!! There goes my dream bubble. I am the perfect example of someone who is not contented with her lot. Sigh.... I've read all the requisite books on how one must be contented with life and that money is not everything and cannot solve everything... Blah blah blah....
Jeez.... I can always dream can't I? Hee hee! Maybe tomorrow I'd strike lottery and then I'd have that breezy Wednesday afternoon in the Bahamas! Hahahaha!
Have a wonderful breezy week everyone!

Our Local Variety Show

Watched a very interesting variety show on Channel 8 this evening. I don't usually like variety shows and most especially chinese ones produced locally. I don't think they do a very good job on the originality front. Most of the shows copy the more creative Taiwanese or Japanese ones.
However, the one this evening was hosted by Mark Lee and was all about foreigners speaking our Mother Tongue, Mandarin. It was jaw cracking hilarious! I was amazed by the talents of the foreigners. They could speak Mandarin so well and most of them could even "get" our colloquail words and phrases. Phrases like "gila"(crazy), "salah"(wrong), "ponteng"(skip school/work) were used to test the foreigners knowledge of our local words. It was so funny watching them guess the words and form sentences based on what they had guessed.
I was impressed by the fact that these were people from Isreal, America, Germany, Korea, Japan etc and they made the effort to learn Chinese even though many of our locals are fluent in English and some can even speak 2 or more foreign languages.
Our local children have much to learn from them. I told Brandon that the American guy on the show speaks better Chinese even though it wasn't his 1st language and Mandarin is really not an easy language to learn. They could even read the Chinese characters!! That really impressed me.
Finally, towards the end of the show, the Isreali guy took out his local drum and started beating out a beautiful rythmn and our local Indian dance instructress danced a perfectly matched Indian dance to his Isreali drum beats! This is beyond language and shows how music transends all barriers.
I am now going to make time to watch this variety show every Tuesday at 8pm. And I should also revise my biased opinion of local variety shows. Maybe if Brandon watched more of it, his spoken Chinese may then improve..... I can only hope..... and watch more Mandarin variety shows!

A photo laden post

I started making this mini album at G's hse 2 weeks ago. Together with Ed, G and myself, I managed to complete 3 pages! When I got back, I was so enthusiastic about this project that I actually completed it in one week! That must have been something like a speed miracle for me! Heh heh heh!
Anyways, I seem to have inspiration at other people's house! G's place, Jaz's place.... Everywhere except my own place!! Hahaha! What a laugh!
Every scrapping session at G's house is always food, laughter, drinks, more food, louder laughs, bigger cups of drinks! And of cos the scrapping too! G's so happy to share that sometimes I'm afraid that I'll take advantage of her generosity.
It's often easier to scrap with friends and make merry with gossips, idle chats and makan. I love to pop by Jaz's place with a bagful of scrap stuff. And very often, my very generous friend would slip papers, bellies, flowers into my scrap bag. Where to find a friend like that?
Thank you all, dear friends! I'm glad that scrapbooking has let me find my passion and my passionate friends!

The Many Faces of You

I thought that putting this pensive look at the last page ended the whole album quite neatly!

Memories of Home

This box was done up quite some time back but I never had time to take pics and upload. Since today appears to be a free day for me (kids taken care of by mummy. Thankx Mum!) I thought I'd take some time to look through what stuff I can upload into my very pathetic blog! Hee hee hee!

I'm not missing in action, yet......

Is That All?

Hee hee! Here's a long overdue LO that was inspired when I visited Jaz 2 weeks ago. I completed it 2 days after I came back from her place ( a very inspiring place, to be sure!) but was lazy to take photos and upload!

So, here's Brianna with her very first stash of birthday pressies!

Our little baby girl is ONE!

One year ago, this little miracle was born and we were just embarking on our new journey as a unit of 4 instead of 3. Brandon was a real trooper. He took it in his stride that he would no longer be the center of his parents doting attention. Instead, he'd have to share it with his little sister. He helped to look after her, watch her and even carried her at times. Now that the little sister is older, he is even playing with her and carrying her around! I think I must be the luckiest mom around. Most kids would likely rebel and demand more attention. Brandon just goes with the flow and bumbles around happily like before. Maybe he's a little sad that he no longer gets all our attention and love, but he seems alright with it. I must also remember occasionally that he is just an 8 year old boy and still needs my love, care and concern.

Even though this post is all about Brianna, I must salute the little trooper, Brandon!

Our Girl (Ikea Photo Frame)

Brianna (Happy Birthday)

This lovely LO was done by good friend and scrapping pal, Jaz. As usual, her brilliant style shines through even in this simple LO. I love the cutout flowers and the simple and effective layering.

Brianna's First birthday celebration (meaning that there'll be a 2nd one!!)

Check out the fantastic spread of food that my mother in law prepared with her helper, Ling.

Chinese believe that we should have an egg that is dyed red for good luck. And Bri was busily and happily cracking hers against the container! Then when she discovered that the shells could be removed, she slammed it even harder against the container and then tried to dig out the egg that was inside! We all watched her and let her put the eggs and the shell into her mouth! It was amusing to see her spit out the shells!

Finally, the cake cutting! Even though the cake was rather small, we all enjoyed it throughly!

And that is the end of the wonderful and warm birthday celebration at my in-laws place!

Next up will be her birthday celebration at my house! And that will be even more of a blast cos so many more people will be turning up on that day! Yipee! (Why am I so happy anyway? It's not my BD celeb what.....)

Almost one...

Today, we're celebrating Brianna's chinese birthday. On the lunar calendar, she's already 2 years old as the Chinese take it as the child is already one from the day that they are born as they were in the mother's womb for 10months. That already counts as a year.
We'll be popping over to paternal grandparents place for a quiet celebration with family only. It should be fun cos they really love her little antics and as the only bb in the family currently, she's the most pampered one. I have picked out a really lovely dress for her. Initially, I didnt even think of buying a new dress as she already has so many clothes lovingly passed down from friends and relatives. Many of them were so new, I thought that I'd just let her wear anyone of those. A friend reminded me that even though she has so many clothes, most of them were hand me downs and no matter how new, I should at least get her a new set for her birthday. A girl only celebrates her one year old only once and when she grows up, at least there are photos of her in a lovely dress that was not a hand me down! I caved in and got her a gorgeous Korean mini dress. It has lovely hand stitched flowers and a pretty little bow on the front. The soft chiffon material had me caressing it for a long time! (I dont even dare think of how much I paid for it, safe to say that I myself had never even paid so much for a dress of my own!!)
So, tonight is the night for the little princess and even though I know she'll never remember this day, I will take photos, videos and make little notes to remind myself and her of this milestone!
Till next Sunday then! When the little princess celebrates her "English" birthday with the rest of family and friends at our home!