A feast!!!

Ha....a non scrapbook related thread....this time it's all FOOD!!! Spurred on by Sri's latest comment....thought I would post foodie pics that I took of our dinner party feast last Saturday night. Very simple dinner - prawns, cuttlefish & crab nuggets, fresh oysters, salad, kfc hot n spicy chicken, char siew and Nando's chicken....and lastly.......Krispy Kreme tower of sweet sweet yummi-licious-ness!

Productive day indeed....

In between doing a few things around the house, I managed to scrap a little bit. Did G & H for Jeromel's A-Z album. The deadline was extended till end of the month....but I had to get warmed up for the virtual crop last night...so was perfect to do two small 8x8 layouts.














One of the challenges for the virtual crop was the number 3....3 people in the photo, 3 pp by 3 different manufacturers, 3 epoxy embellishments, 3 different ribbons, 3 word title...etc...so I came up with this one. The next one was a journalling challenge which had to start with 'I will never' and have an old page & poker card on it. Tee hee...very simple simple layout...but heck..it was at 2am!! I was soo tired!!! And I actually won the rak prize for that layout....very happy.....i must confess it was a lucky draw....but still happy!!! LOL

How much is too much????

Michelle W started the How much is too much challenge...where you are challenged to use your stash with the weekly challenges. Week 1 challenge is 5 for 5.....5 pp, 5 stamps, 5 epoxy stickers, 5 embellishments and 5 rub ons. I was inspired by the Krispy Kreme Original glazed doughnut that I was eating...had to stop and do a photo shoot. LOL That is my last Krispy Kreme that has to travel hundreds of kilometres to me....Brice is my Krispy Kreme mule who brings me my occasional treat when he comes back from Sydney for work. Yesterday, the first ever Krispy Kreme store opened in Victoria...so now it's only about 20kms for me to go....thank goodness they are far enough to be a regular temptation!!

Trust me when I say you have to try these doughnuts to believe them. For one, I am not a huge doughnut fan....not donut king, not those freshly fried hot jam doughnuts at markets....none of those tempt me in the slightest. But Krispy Kreme....it is sooo light....the texture is more like cake....and it's not oily....I think they're baked rather than fried...and they're not Krispy..and they don't have Kreme....lol....tee hee...unless you choose the Kreme filled ones I guess. And these little darlings are still edible the next day...they don't go hard and tough like regular doughnuts. They come in a multitude of flavours...and my favourite has to be the Original glazed and the Custard filled one. Ok....I've worked up a Krispy kreme drool here.....off to the next challenge now.



Week 2's challenge is on....can you guess??? Bling bling bling.....have to use 10 different kinds of bling on a layout. I've used Kindy glitz, Kissy fit sequins n brads, frinkles, metallic beading tubes, Prima's Marie Antoinette Crown Jewel (isn't it gorgeous??), HS jewels and many different types, colours and sizes of diamontes. Bring on the next challenge!!

Did you miss me???

Sorry sorry for not blogging earlier......it was truly depressing...I had nothing to blog about......I worked...I got sick (nasty chest infection)....I didn't have an ounce of mojo to scrap....nothing to blog about except to whinge and whine and complain about life in general. Tee hee....in the last few days, things have improved with my health and I have scrapped!

Ok....a peek at what I have done. I finished off the second round of the Blue Bazaar Amazing Race. Jay started off the major again as she had the brilliant brainwave of doing a cupboard style interactive layout with opening doors. The challenge was to scrap about our stash of ribbon, to show our ribbon and the ways we use it. Both Jay and I have quite a stash of ribbon....so with the help of the ever helpful google....I came up with 'The Ribbonerie' as the title....it is the name of an IRL ribbon store....how cool would that place be? I bet they have drool buckets near the door so you grab one and drool into it as you walk through.

With the BB Amazing race major .....each partner has to do half a layout....so Jay did the left hand side and I did the right hand side....Jay's side is visibly has a more old time western feel to it and mine...I was trying to achieve an asian feel with the shoji like cupboard door.

Then next on the list was to finish off my Blue Bazaar Amazing race minor challenge which was to make a total of 3 recipe tags to send to my partner Jay. I had my recipes picked out with ease.....family recipes..true and tried recipes. But the whole tag thing had me kinda uninspired and stumped.....thanks to Mich's rak of some lovely Cactus pink papers.....the tag design and idea materialised rather suddenly. Recipes are: Entree (Caesar Salad), Main (Chicken Schnitzel) and Dessert (Amazing Chocolate Cake).
Thanks for looking!!!

NOT CUTE!!!

I had this conversation with Jeromel (my 5 year old) a few weeks ago and since then....I've been meaning to scrap it....finally did it!!!

Conversation goes:

M: You're so cute Jeromel
J: I know!!
M: How do you know you're cute?
J: Bcause I just know
M: Is Manoy Jarryd cute?
J: Yes of course!
M: Is Mummy cute?
J: No, of course NOT
M: Why am I not cute?????
J: Because girls are beautiful,
You're not cute Mummy,
You're Beautiful

My heart just melted....
BTW...Manoy Jarryd is the filipino term for Big brother Jarryd....Jarryd was in the room with us when the conversation took place.

I adore some of the converations I have with Jeromel....those deep and meaningful ones where I ask him about life and what he thinks.....his responses are always so straight to the point and so clear cut and full of forgiveness and love...sooo innocent and pure.

I did the 'it's all about me' layout yesterday....simply had to use my new prima flower stash which Mich gave me for my birthday. Joseph took that photo of me while i was in the midst of a sooky laa laa session where I was whinging about how my life revolves around the kids, laundry, cooking, housework etc........a real pmt-ing-tanty session. So now you see where the title 'it's all about me' fits in??

Now the photo looks glamorous doesn't it??? I was actually leaning on the kitchen counter pouting...when he brought out the camera and I didn't want to pretend to cheer up and pose and I didn't want a pouting photo....so I kept leaning on the table...but i decided on a semi smile. As I recall....I managed to buy a few hours of uninterrupted scrapping time after that mini tanty.

Playing catch up....

Playing a bit of scrapping catch up and did two ABC album layouts last night and another 2 tonight.

It's been a while.....

Yah...been a couple of weeks since I have updated my blog....life has thrown me some curve balls to deal with and it's been a hard few weeks.

My Aunty in Brunei collapsed a few weeks ago and was in ICU and just when she was starting to get better, she suddenly passed away last Wednesday. My Aunty Chong Nyuk Lan was a really fun and verbally loud aunty.....she was incredibly loving, kind and generous. She was also a very touchy feely aunty....likes to hold hands, caress faces, loves giving hugs and kisses which is very unusual for an old asian Aunty. She always spoils me when I go back to Brunei and I still can't get to grips with knowing that the next time I do go back, I won't see her ever again. :(

On a happier note, it was my birthday on Monday. Joseph has the week off so I got to spend the day with my man which was fantastic. We had to run a few errands and one of them was up in Mornington, so I got to squeeze in a quick little visit to Paper2. I adore this store....huge with lots of products and heaps to look at. It is like my disneyland and I could spend all day in there. We had a lovely steam boat dinner (bit of a drama there) and then Joseph took me to watch the Xmen movie....fantastic movie!!! layout at the top is of meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Taken with the gifts I received for my 1st birthday!! Aren't I cute? yah ok...I do look like a little boy....tee hee.

Ok....my layouts...


The last two layouts...A for autumn and B for bowling are 8x8 layouts for Sri's A-Z album challenge. We will be doing two letters of the alpha every week.

It's OVER!!!

Last few layouts for the Scrapbooking Amazing race.....final results aren't in yet...but we are about team #5. All the teams were in within seconds of each other.

Dare to be Sassy!!!

Did this super quick layout for the Amazing Race.....well...it was a pitstop clue and my god....all hands on deck....my table got into a mess.....the floor around me was full of supplies...my hands were shaking...and oh the adrenalin rush!!! I got it done and we are team number 3....wooo hooo. Clue this time was to be inspired by the Christina Aguilera Pepsi ad. So I came up with this little layout featuring my Sassy niece Tiamara.

The other layout I finally did was for another amazing race (lol...yah....I am one of two people I know who are doing two scrapping amazing races at the same time). Challenge was to use at least 6 photos and scrap about my family. I've always wanted to do this....very very simple layout with maximum impact.
And oh yes....there is more....for the BB Amazing race....my AR partner Jay and I had to do a Time Capsule layout on what's happened so far in 2006. We decided to do an interactive layout with lots of added things so it was like a real time capsule. The BB AR rules are that we have to do half of the layout...physically half....so on each page....we have done half each. Jay did the orange bits and I did the blue/green bits.

Yay for Friday....I'm happy!!

Yay...it's friday and it's great.....great because my work week is over...great that I can scrap this weekend and catch up on my amazing race layouts for Blue Bazaar.

I have been so slack this week with scrapping.....and i blame it all on my tvshows.....

Greys Anatomy...3 episodes this week....season 2 finale.....omg...sooo good...watched each episode twice.

Desperate Housewives....fantastic episode this week....watched it twice. Finale on the 21st...double episode too.

Prison Break....season 1 finale....omg omg omg omg....what a great show......watched it twice and some bits more than twice. LOL

Lost....an OMG OMFG episode....can't wait till the season finale episode on the 24th.

See how much I adore my shows? It has been a huge huge huge tv week with my fav shows finishing up for the season. Tomorrow Joseph will burn episodes and make space on my hard disk so that I can download Amazing race finale and the Survivor Exile island finale.....don't tell me who wins.....or else!!

Ok...so...did I scrap or not? Yes...lol....this one for the M4M amazing race.....had to be motivated by an inspirational quote and some colours....so I did my aboriginal dream time layout....always wanted to try aboriginal art.


And then a double layout today for the same amazing race... loved the Cherry Arte papers.

More layouts!!

Firstly....a layout of Mich...this was done as an Elsie Flannigan scraplift for an Amazing Race challenge and it was soo much fun to do. Very very fast layout ...I think the clue was posted at 11pm and by midnight I was done! I loved using all the embellishments on this...you will find heaps of Christina Cole products, Mambi chester rub ons, Chip chatter flowers, there are brads, bling blings and a whole lot more. Title of this layout??? Gotta be me!!

This one was also for the Amazing race.....clue was emailed at 11am and I was not feeling too well...so didn't get to my computer till about noon...layout took hardly any time to do at all. The layout had to be done minimalist style with lots and lots of white space. While it was fun....I think it is a bit too bare for me.....I will ponder upon this for a while and see how it sits with me...often, I will find that it grows on me even more. Journalling says Your laughter brings all the colours of the rainbow to our lives. We love you so much.

Okay it is once again Friday and time to think about the weekend. Nothing much planned for this weekend...some minor renovation job to do tomorrow afternoon in between basketball games (the boys play...not me...tee hee). In the last few nights, we caught up with Prison Break, the real Amazing Race and Survivor Exile Island, Desperate Housewives and Greys Anatomy......little fact: I hardly ever watch tvshows on tv....I prefer to download them off the internet and watch them without ads and be up to date with USA. So this weekend....I want to catch up on LOST.

Scrapping wise....I have a roadblock to do tomorrow...clue hinted at making friends....I will get the clue at about 11am tomorrow...so looking forward to that. We've been told that there is a Yield and Elimination pitstop ahead...so hoping to get to the pit stop quickly.

3 layouts from me today!!!

Wow...can't believe it....3 layouts from me today. Did one this morning for the Amazing race challenge....had to scrap about why we are like/unlike our mother.

My journalling says:
You like travelling light like a backpacker
while I have to shop and have proper luggage
You enjoy museums and art galleries,
while I prefer shopping and movies
You like simple homecooked meals,
while I prefer to dine out.

I think we can agree
that travelling together
is not a great idea!




Then late this afternoon...I decided to do this layout...just for fun.....have had the papers and the photos ready to do for a while...just needed the right mood to do it. Titled: Don't Worry, It's All Good

And....is it all good today? Yep....I did my grocery shopping, I did the kinder run, I did 2 loads of laundry, I tidied up, I cooked dinner and I scrapped!! It's all good!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

It has been some weekend...it has been some week!! M4M Amazing race started off with a big bang and there have been days where it truly has been a race against time!! Mich and I are partners and we are TEAM CHUNKIES (We don't skinny dip...we chunky dunk!!).

This layout was for one of the challenges where we had to scrap on why we scrapbook. This is my layout ...
The journalling says: Scrapbooking is our way of planting Memory Seeds so that future generations can enjoy the flowers that bloom from them.

At the bottom of the layout..in the soil are teeny tiny triangular shaped pale green bling blings.

Yesterday...this layout had to be submitted after 2pm....we made team #2. Then surprisingly, next clue was revealed to write a 8 line poem with mother, child and love in it. That one was done in about 3 mins...then the next clue was released....a scraplift of a 2peas GG...plus a range of product range which had to be used....a pit stop clue...so amazingly....I did the layout speedy gonzales style and got us to Team No#1!!! Wooo hoooooo....this was my layout:

This layout was done in about an hour while cooking dinner for my boys and me getting ready to go out to dinner at the Titanic Restaurant. We had a fabulous time last night at dinner and the Titanic show was fantastic...we were in steerage class (work function)...but it would have been great to have been in 1st class and get all dressed up in period clothing.

Today we caught up with family for my Aunty Vivien's birthday ....we had a great time chatting, eating and watching the kids play. In Feb, it was my neice's 1st bday and I made her a canvas...my cousin loved it and asked me to make one for her mother's birthday....so this was my gift for my Aunty. The chinese words say popo which is grandma. A very very simple canvas but it was very time consuming cutting out all those flowers....the chinese characters were again done by Mich...and I printed them out....put dimensional magic on them to make them pop out. My Aunty loved her canvas heaps. The whole family went for a nice walk among the autumn leaves today....more pages in mind now!!!

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeky

Ever since I saw Burberry Girl's (Michelle W- Some like it hot blog) Rock on layout...I fell in love with it. I shopped everywhere for epoxy stickers ....no luck in Australia....so I actually talked Mich into shopping with me from a US online store and got all my yummy epoxy stickers and a whole heap of other stuff of course.

Last night I decided to tackle this layout. This has always been the photo that I had in mind to scrap this doodling layout with. It is of Jarryd and his Aunty Jen when we were in Brunei. The cheeky boy had these cool sunglasses on and they were really being crazy when the photo was taken by my sister.

Michelle...did I do a worthy job with this layout??


_____________________________________________________________


Ok this is a crazy spur of the moment layout done for The Amazing Race challenge which was to use some of the lyrics from Ben Harper's song 2 Hands. So here is my 20 min layout which I actually like...I wish my handwriting was better though. Sigh

I can change the world with my own two hands
Make it a better place with my own two hands
I'm going to make it brighter
I'm going to make it safer
With my own two hands

Balance.....

There are days where I struggle to find a balance....a balance between my commitment to my children, my dedication to my children and my love to scrapbooking....and the dreaded household chores.

It feels that everyday....I am walking a tightrope and trying to find a balance. A balance between working 3 days a week and having 4 days to keep the household running. It isn't easy...during the days that I work....I have to menu plan and usually cook ahead so that I am not too stressed and don't have to think about what we are having for dinner. At work, I cook for O, clean his nursery, do his laundry and tidy up after him and generally do a lot of fun things with him...but while all this is happening....I can be sure that when I get home......all the mess will be waiting for me.....waiting for me to tackle it....waiting for me to delegate chores etc. Everyone is more than capable of cleaning up but they don't see the mess that female eyes see....so them unwashed glasses on the bench is ok....after all....they are going to use them later....and crumbs on the kitchen bench...nothing wrong with that either because someone is bound to come along and eat again and make more mess. No need to make beds....after all it will just get unmade tonight. They have tons of excuses!! It is just endless!!!

Don't get me wrong...I am very very blessed to have two older boys who will help with the chores. Actually....they do a lot around the house.......they clear the table after dinner and do dishes. Once a week, they give the place a good vacumn (as in they move furniture).....and during the week, I will just vacumn up the crunchy visible bits on the floor. And since they are boys...and only boys make mess on the toilet....they do the toilets too....each boy gets a toilet to do once a week. Midweek....I also spray and wipe..........tee hee.....at least having to clean toilets means that they are more aware of the mess they make. When related to balance....my two six foot boys are on one end of the seesaw and the 5 year old is on the other......the 5 year old is a tornado!! Actually....pretty much a typical child.....he likes arts and craft and leaves his table in a huge mess....he goes through 10 dvds before he finds one he wants to watch....he will pull out 10 books to read and then leave them on the floor.....he plays with 20 toys at once....and have I mentioned matchbox cars???? Deadly weapons!!! He's also into golf....so we have a mini putting mat in the dining room.....and rogue golf balls. Sigh!!

And another thing that I struggle to find a balance with is me time and time with Joseph. He knows I love scrapbooking and sometimes he will watch tv or play games and then I scrap away happily in the same room with him....but there are times when he is just plain bored and he wants to play poker or other card games...and this is usually when I am in the middle of a layout I have to finish. I admit...there are times that I am sooo engrossed in scrapbooking that I get annoyed when he wants to chat or play games.....there are times when I don't even want to go to bed!! I get annoyed.......he leaves in a huff....and I feel soo guilty afterwards.

How do you find balance between work, family, scrapbooking, household chores? Give me some tips please!!

Happy 15th Birthday Jarryd!

My 2nd son turned 15 on the 25th April...Anzac Day holiday. He's a lucky boy being born on a public holiday....no school on his birthday!! It was amazing that the hospital booked me in for a caesar on a public holiday....at least 2 months before he was born...even surgeons get rostered to work on a public holiday....that kinda sucks for the surgeon huh? You'd think that after all those years of study...being a big shot doc and all and still have to work on a public holiday....not that I'm complaining at all.

Anyways....he had a lovely day...he went out with friends all day and came back in time for dinner with family. My in laws came for dinner as well which was great. Menu was chosen by Jarryd as per tradition.....filipino noodles (pancit), chicken schnitzel and caesar salad. Dessert was 'The Amazing Chocolate cake'....which is an idiot proof 9 min moist chocolate cake which cooks in the microwave.

Ok....back to scrapping....I have done a few things over the last couple of days. Both were for online challenges at EB. The last of 5 challenges posted last Friday...so gotta be proud of myself for finishing what I committed to last friday night.

One of the challenges was to do an OTP item which is flat....originally called for a Canvas...but extended to include anything flat. Since starting to do 8.5x11 pages....I have been looking around for an album....no luck (yah...me too Shirls!).....especially when I decided that my BOM layouts now will be 8.5x11....I still have some 12x12 layouts...so decided to make my own BOM which can also double as a portfolio if I want to use it as that. This item is also my trend watch layout for another online forum M4M. This lo was inspired by this shop window....big no no to take photos in a shopping centre...particularly of a shop window....so I had to use Jeromel was my decoy. LOL

Inspired by:











And this is my creation...complete with sequinned flowers:



Anyways.....have to rush off to work now.....I have something else to show....but will do that tonight after work. Thanks for looking!!