Blessed Christmas and New Year

Blessed Christmas and New YearI'm sure you had a wonderful Christmas! I read some lovely words about Christmas that I would like to share with you! I believe these words are written by Phillip H. Barnhart, in a book "Christmas Is..."

"Christmas is God's love coming to everyone in Jesus Christ.
Christmas is God putting his arms of deep and far reaching love around the world and hugging it to Himself.
Christmas is God in the flesh, making tangible God's feelings about you.
You acknowledge such love when you put up your tree, decorate it with colors and shapes, and light it in joyful anticipation.
You honor such a gift when you choose particular presents for special people and give them in love and appreciation.
You affirm the coming of God in Christ when you read the story, sing the songs, listen to the Word, accept the truth, and feel the touch.
Christmas is knowing God loves you and comes to be with you.
Christmas is God in your heart."

I wish for all of you Christmas in your heart everyday!

We had a great time this Christmas spending time with our oldest and best friends, and in church worshiping. We are truly blessed.

I have been adding to my desktop layout with more holiday photos, this is how it looks now!Credits: Paper from Franziska's Whimsical Wonderland, flowers from Christina Renee's Art Fusion, ricrac by Miss Mint, but I can't remember where the Word Art is from? So sorry to the creator of this lovely word art, can anyone help me?
And I thought maybe someone will like to use the desktop template for their Christmas and holiday photos, so here it is!
This free template can be downloaded from the store here

We're Back

We're Back!
We've been back two days now, after a 25 days trip, what an adventure!! We're coping well with not too much jet lag, I went right back to work, and life is getting back to normal quickly, except the laundry!!!

Thank you to all of you who have been keeping us in prayers, we were truly blessed on the trip, kept safe, and in fine weather throughout, we've taken 5000 photos! Think of all the multi-photo layouts coming up!! I am feeling so homesick only from not getting to scrap for nearly a month! :)

How was the trip? Where do I begin? Amongst other things, these moments come to mind:
The Lockheed BlackBird at the Air and Space Museum (For dh)
The Holocaust Museum in Washington DC
Choosing a 14th Anniversary gift at Tiffany's in New York (For me!!)
Lady Liberty up close (for all!)
Being trained by Obi One Kenobi at the Jedi Academy at Disney (for Jared)
The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
All that toys at FAO Schawtz and Toys R Us (for the 3 boys in my family)
Ground Zero and the St Paul's Chapel
Buying a very special ring at historic Harpers Ferry on our last day (me of course)
The Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts
And probably most memorable of all, snow in Central Park!

And here's my first layout for the trip. None of us had ever seen snow falling before, and we were rewarded with our first snow on our second day in New York, our first sight of Central Park was really a winter wonderland - a truly magical morning!
By the way I used a mini kit I made and shared on my blog last year, finally I get a chance to use my own snowy christmasy light colored papers! Thought I'll share them again to say Blessed Christmas to everyone!
sorry these are no longer available

All Ready for Washington DC!

All ready!

We're all ready for our trip! We leave tomorrow night, and arrive in Washington DC friday morning!! Do keep us in your prayers for a safe trip and for good health and great family time! Ryan had a minor asthma attack two days ago, and now I'm armed with inhalers and so on, to help the boys beat the cold!

Yesterday we had a great laugh! Gim had announced yesterday that he bought new memory cards (2GB) for his camera for the trip. When he came home after tennis last evening and was trying to load the new cards, he opened the plastic cover, took off the scotch tape, and stared in unbelief at the card - 256mb?! Jared had replaced the card with the one he had in his camera, and taken 65 photos while Gim was at tennis!!!

Here's the little terror, at one of our beach resort trips in March. Oh, the template link is below

Credits: paper by Autumnsmoon, sun and tags all by Dani Mogstad, curled edge by JG

Below is a layout of Ryan, photos taken in NZ year before last, but sentiments as of now.

Journaling reads:

You knew the alphabet at 18 months.Could spell 50 words at two. But you could not speak in sentences till nearly four. About the same time you started reading! Since then you’ve baffled us & doctors and therapists, and now have an opinion on everything and is doing so well in the gifted class. Only God knew what He has in store for you, and we thank Him for the miracle that is you..

We are exceedingly thankful for all that God has done for him, to us, it is nothing short of a miracle, and we constantly remind ourselves.

Oh, may I share one of my all time favorite songs:

GIVE THANKS WITH A GRATEFUL HEART

GIVE THANKSTO THE HOLY ONE

GIVE THANKS FOR HE'S GIVEN JESUS CHRIST, HIS SON

AND NOW LET THE WEAK SAY I AM STRONG

LET THE POOR SAYI AM RICH BECAUSE OF WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR US

GIVE THANKS...

Credits: paper from Michelle Colemans' thankful heart, QP by ksharonk, title by Jen Wilson

And here's my dh who loves keeping fish, at an make shift fish shop in HK. I love that it takes very little to make my dh very happy, love you, dear!

Credits: Paper by Jen Lin, frame by Jen Wilson, arrow by Fernlili, title by Jen Wilson

This is now available as a set in the store here

Being THankful

Being Thankful
Finally I have time to complete a layout and blog a bit. Been wanting to get these thoughts down. Thoughts of thankfulness.
The other day i was at my dear blog friend Tink's blog (http://tinkstribulations.blogspot.com/), and I do so love to read her very interesting entries and how wonderfully she expresses how she feels, and I quote her in her blog entry on 1 Nov on family members she is thankful for : "Finally, but surely not last... my husband... Pan. There is so much I could say about him. His love of life (and Halloween), his infectious smile, how incredibly brilliant he is. How he stood up and took charge of three teenagers when he wasn't much past the stage himself. He became a father the children could love and respect. But what it all boils down to is his belief in me. Thanks honey." Loved that, Tink! You're blessed!

And so am I, and I am prompted to express my thankfulness in specific ways for my husband. Here's one: When Jared was about three, Gim suggested, even insisted that we have date night just for ourselves. At first I resisted (what was I thinking!), but since then, friday night dates have been going on pretty much without fail... I'm so thankful my husband values us so much that he engineered and protected this time for us, it's been 5 years now (!) and I think it's one reason we are going strong. Thanks dear.
And how thankful we are for my parents in law who has babysat for us every friday night without fail either....!

Today I completed a layout I have wanted to do for a while. It's about Ryan and his play battles. He's nearly eleven, but war-play with his toy armies (any toy can be enlisted to his armies, Miffy included) go on everyday, the dialogue is deadly, the plot unpredictable, the fun, guaranteed. Rather too many photos to squeeze in one page, but I didn't want to miss out any!


Credits: Scroll from summerspice by ksharonk, comic star and words by JCrowley, alpha strings from ScrappyBlueStones , brown paper by MistyCato, and blue paper from DaniMogstad's party kit, Word art by ksharonk, and tear from Monika69.
This is now available as a set in the store here

Ebay Queen

Ebay Queen

Well, ok, that's how I feel right now after weeks on ebay. I've bidded and bought and sent forward to my brother, 5 sweaters, 1 wind pants, an air bed, bedding, bionicles, lego, board games, and a jacket!!! That meant staying up or waking up early just to catch the last moments of the auction, and all that. This morning Jared successfully helped me bid on his air bed (for him to sleep on) while I was on the phone - talk about apprenticeship!

Well, I still had time to complete a simple layout - this is Jared with his Knex creations taken a while ago. He is still at it everyday, either with lego or knex. We first found out his "talent" when his childcare teacher showed us the stuff he made with spacelinks - camera, bulldozer, and he was only three! Everything is from Jackie Eckles' Modern Kit. I really enjoyed trying something different and edgy for this layout.

School Year is Ending

School Year is ending

The children have only two more weeks of school before hols until school reopens in January!! I'm happy to report that the boys both did incredibly well in their results, and by that I mean Jared much improved on himself, and Ryan did very well considering this year he was pretty much on his own, since my working hours and his school hours mean I don't see him much on weekdays. We are so pleased and proud of both of them, and we all give glory to God!

As a treat, I gave them some money each to spend on ebay, from my takings when I used to sell digi-designs, and happily, Ryan bought his long-awaited Lord of the Rings Risk game, plus a vintage Stratego game, and Jared bought a couple of Bionicles and quite a few Lego Knights Kingdom mini figures.

Also want to thank everyone who left a word and gave advice for my trip, you are greatly appreciated! We've gotten most of the winter gear now, and now getting the itinery decided. It's really exciting and will be the boys first time in the USA, and our first time in more than 10 years, and our first to the east coast, so it is unbelievably great.

This evening we had great fun again playing hide and seek, we had the most fun screaming and scaring the wits out of each other when "found". When i was hiding, the thought came to me, how happy and blessed our family is! I'm just so grateful!

Here's my Christmas card fashioned out of Melanie Johnson's beautiful Day 2 template, thanks Melanie!!! Unfortunately we don't have a nice photo of all of us altogether, so I made do with these. Loved the colors though :)
Oh, I finished my Photobook ahead of time, and here's the last layout that I managed to get in it.

Credits: Background paper from Scrapartist's Fiesta kit, alpha by Christina Renee, frames by LHill, Glitter star by Carol Abram, and paint circle by CBombria. I think everything I used here was a freebie, thank you ladies for so much goodies!

And here's something I did a while ago when I was designing, I didn't think they looked good enough and did not release them, but I still liked these phrases a lot, so if you like them, feel free to snag them! Tell me if you too like these phrases!sorry this is no longer available

You Rock Together

Fun Times

We are really looking forward to our trip now, got the hotels and flights booked, phew! We're visiting my brother who is living and working in Washington DC, and will take in NYC and Orlando too! It's a huge burden on our pockets but we decided to do it anyway, since the chance may not come by again! Tink, I will definitely wave! Are you near Orlando? Can you imagine, me coming so close to you all? Shawna, I wish we have time to visit Atlanta, it's so on the way!

Actually I do need some advice if any one can help:

- should I take the train from DC to NYC? how about by bus?

- we'll be in NYC in Dec, do we need something as warm as down jackets? do we need scarves, hats?

- besides the usual, is there anything you recommend we do or visit in NYC, DC or Orlando?

Right now the boys are having final exams, it is a big deal in Singapore, I do think we are guilty of "hot-housing" the children somewhat, and I try not to go overboard, but I do spend a lot of time revising with Jared especially (Ryan is pretty cool about revising on his own). I know, he is only eight, but he needs to sit through one and a half hour exams for each subject and the school streams them according to the results for the next school year! This is a huge part of my mothering at least for these few years, hhmmm, I should take some photos to make a layout...

We do take breaks and have fun of course, and I did find time to make this:

I love how the boys are really good with each other, they have always counted each other as their best friend, and I hope it continues always to be that way!

Credits: Background paper is a combination of papers fromSarah Robinson's Oct Collab kit and AmeliaScrap's pink paradise. Frames from Misty Cato, felt square, foil star and black note paper from DaniMogstad's Rock Star, "fun" tag from Brittishdesigns' daydream patches, Wire from Weeds&Wildflower's wire kit, gold alpha by dirtyfeetdesigns, and "U" by MyDigiscraps.Well, I really liked how it turned out, so I made you a template. :) Hope you like it.

This is currently not available

Surely Goodness and Mercy

Catching up

It's wonderful to be back at my blog, finally! Lots to catch up on! What am I busy with? Well, let's see:

1. I was away on a work related trip last week (I felt strangely free without the family with me, but I think four days is long enough rest from them!!)

2. We leave for our trip to the East Coast of USA (where many of my blog friends live, but for us it's a 24 hour flight!) in five weeks or so, and I'm struggling to get all the accomodation and flights booked - urgh!!

3. Frantically getting together a winter wardrobe for the whole family - I've been bidding on ebay, borrowing, sorting, washing - we are not used to winter!!

4. Putting together my first Shutterfly Photobook! There is a 20% discount now till 6 Nov and I'm getting all my layouts for the past one and a half years in it!

And this is gonna be my cover page!This is the back page

You may recognised that I've used Sarah's lovely Wordart from her SimplySarah blog, love your word art, Sarah, thanks! I felt that I can't find better words than these beautiful verses to express how the Lord has blessed us, for our album cover! And I've used paper from ScarletHeelMedia's new full of life kit - look at the texture! Haven't figured out if I should add any elements to them, what do you think?
Well, here's the template for the cover page, hope it comes in useful for you some time. Thank you always for leaving a word for me, they mean a lot!This is now available as a set in the store here

Blessed to Give

Blessed to Give

You're all proof that it is more blessed to give, thanks for leaving so much love! Glad these templates from my layouts are being useful to others too.. I'm receiving so much talented work that is given free this is just a little I can share.

Managed a quick layout using KsharonK's free quick page, I ADORE her work!

This is my son at a window display of Miffys! He has a love affair with Miffy! We can't remember when it started, but now our family has a collection of four Miffys - mama Miffy who is 15 inches tall, Miffy original who is no longer white, Biffy (named for his rounded beafier look), and Wiffy (the latest white addition). One or more of them always travel with us on our trips, Miffy has been to New Zealand and Hong Kong, and multiple trips to Malaysia! They are an inseparable part of our family as of today, and we think they are here to stay. We are not sure why our boys like them so much, and wonder now and then if they are becoming sissies, but those thoughts dispel every time the boys use the rabbits as "soldiers" in fearsome battles with the robots in their toy battallion. Haha! So we just accept and join in the love for Miffy-ia.

Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek
Last evening dh and I played hide and seek with Jared. It was such fun he begged us to go again and again. Of course we had the privilege only because Ryan was asleep. (Ryan has to wake up at 6 for school everyday). It was hilarious, we were too big to hide anywhere, whereas he manages to squeeze hmself to impossible corners!
It is hard to avoid "scolding" Jared in the course of everyday because he just tend to get into so much trouble, so we relish every moment of "fun & happy times" with him. I thank God we're able to build his "bank of happy mom and dad time" to balance up the "bank of discipline by mom and dad time". And I think he does understand why we have to do what we do, but it still sucks in those moments when my child doesn't like me!! Well, that's my thought for the day. :)
I had been down with a sinus and throat infection for the past 5 days and am home on medical leave today. My fingers are trembling from too much medication but still able to finally stay up and scrap. heehee. I think it may be the last layout of our trip to Hong Kong. I'm really rushing to complete them, which explains so many photos all on one page!
Credits: Glitter swirl by Kim Clark, stitched border by Kim Christensen, background paper from Miss Vivi's back to school kit, word art by ShellyRae, tag from Mary's Scrapgallerie

This is now available as a set in the store here

Children's Day

Children's Day
Today is Children's Day where we live, and the children have a day off school. It's really noisy today at home! The boys are very different - in every way, but also the best of friends. It's amazing how that can be. I guess it's just the wonder of being brothers. Thank God for that!
Here's a quick layout I did for them:
Credits: painted heart by emeritt, car platae by Dani Mogstad, everything else from Oct collab kit from Style It Studio

Oh, and thanks Tink and Miyon for noticing my layout in Digital Scrapbooking magazine. It's really amazing to see it in print, I am so elated!

And enjoyed all your replies to the question what you will do with $500!

What would you do with it?

What would you do with it?

Today I read an interesting article in my new favorite More magazine. According to an Oxygen survey, if women 40 to 49 were given $500, 43 percent would buy a video iPod, cell phone, digital camera or other tech device over spa treatments or designer shoes. I couldn't believe that! Would you? As for me, no tech device nor designer shoes (though very rarely i might treat myself to a spa treatment), I would use the money to go somewhere, take a trip, travel. We save whatever we can and spurlge it on holidays. Hence the load of holiday pictures I'm always behind in scrapping!

Today was good, Jared was invited by his friend to his church's young Rangers' day out. That motivated him to complete his homework yesterday on his own (yes, friday!!) and he really enjoyed himself today. Our bible reading this evening was "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Phil 4:13, and he happily agreed that what seems impossible on his own (like homework) is possible with God's help. That really makes me glad in my heart. :)

Here's the layout I just completed - photos of Macau, where we visited last year:

Journaling reads: It was an odd mix of sensations.Old and new juxtaposed. Ruins of St Paul’s standing in modern Macau. The children eating Mac burgers on its steps. Missionaries’ tombs. Portugese architecture. cantonese speaking chinese. English speaking family learning about our culture and the influence of history. I hope the children captures some of this sense of history.

Credits: Paper and flower from October Collab kit from Style It Studio - it was perfect for the subdued colors I needed for this layout. I almost wished my photos were in the same color tones!


Well, this layout started out looking like this template below, although it turned out very different! I thought I'll still make it into a template for anyone who likes. Also thanks to everyone for your lovely and interesting comments, thanks for taking the time and I love to hear from you.

This is now available as a set in the store here

My Little Photographer

My little photographer

Writing the last post reminded me to scrap these pictures of my little photographer, Jared. When he has his camera with him, it's hard to catch a picture of his face. All we can get is him shooting us shooting him.. :) I say he takes after me while dh argues that it's from him. Can you tell we are very proud? Tink, I'm definitely going to take your advice to scrap his pictures into a journal with him, that will be such a terrific mother and son time!

Credits: Everything is this layout is from Style It Studio's October collab kit, to hit the stores on 1 Oct! Check it out here: http://www.styleitstudio.com/store/

Almost

Almost
My latest layout is entitled "Almost"- my older is now almost a teen, and exhibiting symtoms of it - and we're not ready! :) He lets me take much fewer pics of him now, and so I tend to have less layouts of him, but I'm determined not to let that happen!
Journalling reads: You’re growing up so quickly! These days you complain when we ask you too many questions, saying things like. “I’ve told you all you need to know..”, or “why do you need to know so much about my personal life?” What a shock at first! :)But we’re now getting used to it. You’re still any parents’ dream, obedient, disciplined, reasonable,so we have no worries. It’s just that we want to know all about your day, your friends, how you’re feeling about things, everything! You’re just growing up, we know, and we’ll get used to it by and by,.... but, take your time, ok? stay for a while our ALMOST a teen.

Credits: Paper from Sarah Robinson's Overexposed Papers from Style It Studio, Warehouse clips by Nathy Geuens from Style It Studio, bracket from Amy Teets' Sun Porch, Arrow stamp from Jackie Eckles' DingyBoy, and paint strokes from Brittishdesigns' scribbles

I just want to say a word for the fabulous new store Style It Studio where I'm CT for Sarah Robinson, the store is full of whimsical, unusual, interesting elements that I can't have enough for!
And you must go over to http://www.styleitstudio.com/blog/ to check out the Blog Challenge for this week - this week a $20 voucher is waiting to be given out to the fabulous store!
Here's the Overexposed papers by Sarah Robinson that I used.

And here's the link to the store http://www.styleitstudio.com/store/ Check it out!

Disney Moments

Good Times
We had a good weekend. The children are showing great discipline after the past week's little "talks", homework were finished early, and we all had fun for the rest of the weekend. Every time we seem to fall a step back, we do manage to take two steps forward. It's comforting. I will press on in this amazing journey of being a parent!

Been able to catch up on layouts, here's more Disney photos, this one is of random images and moments of our day at HK Disney. I like these un-posed photos a lot, look at the one of Jared pointing his camera at me while I was shooting him! When he was six, he asked for a camera for his seventh birthday. We managed to buy him a second hand digital camera with his red packet money (from chinese new year) and it's now constantly with him. A son after my own heart!! One day I must make layouts of his pictures, they are totally unusual, unexpected, and very cool, stilll-lifes of his surroundings and seven, eight year old life - I know what I must name it now - Jared's photo journal - it's going to be great! Credits: backgroun paper from Scarletheel's Dirty Kraft, tag and gold sequins from Mary Scrap Gallerie's 100% Nature, Flourish from Weeds & Wildflowers' creating beauty, alpha from MoniqueG's framboise, and border from Jessica Gorny's lush grid border.
Lovely stuff, isn't it? Almost all of them were freebies - thank you so much ladies!!
And here's my contribution to the freebie pool, template #7.

This is now available as a set in the store here

Mommy Days

Mommy days

Been getting both good and tough mommy days. The tough came by way of complaints from my son' teachers, three of them!! Normally I get upset but I realise it's better that we know the issues and are able to deal with it. We had a talk with him and he wrote a few apology letters. Hopefully he is able to improve his behaviour in school ... the teacher had been so kind to give him a chance to prove himself as group leader despite everything. Yes, that's the good - he was chosen as group leader and was given a badge - how proud he was! And we are so happy for him. I had to take a pic and commerate the occasion!

Credits: Paper, flower, arrow from August Collab kit at Style It Studio. Frame and alpha all by Sarah Robinsons at Style It Studio. Stamp from Peppermint Creative's Elementary Grammar kit. Paper dolls from MJB's Coleurs kit.Font was Echelon

Reference Manual

Want to thank Miyon and Tink for their always wonderful words and Risa who left these : "Honestly while my son was growing up there were many occasions I would wish for a reference manual like 'dummies for parents' or something like it. There just isn't anything though that can ever prepare you for what your little 'individual' may do or say, you know? Still okay though, it builds character and keeps our minds and "imagination" active - LOL "- I needed that Risa!!!

It's late so I'll just post this layout and share with you the template. The white doodled frames were drawn and scanned in, but I think they were too small, so the final result if you print this 12X12 might appear a little fuzzy, but if you think it's fine, then enjoy it! I did them because my usual white frames didn't look good on these photos that had quite a bit of white in them.
Credits: Paper from Rak by Kim Christensen, glitter heart by Scarletheels (Miyon!!), watercolor buttons by Bren Boone, word art by Gina and W&W, doodled bar from Digidare's Dare to be kit This is not available currently

New Experiences

New Experiences
I've got quite a few photos to scrap and I just realised that they are all about new experiences for my boys. How nice when you're young and there are so many new things to experience! We adults do get a bit jaded, and lovely experiences no longer seem as great when we've had too many of them. I am making a point to enjoy my daily life by seeing the lovely and great in them, today I will thank God for the warm sunshine when I'm putting up the laundry, and the lovely cakes we got for breakfast....

And oh! How can I forget? I do have a new experience, I received my first MP3 player, a Zen stone, from dh who won it at a company dinner lucky draw. He loaded in lots of lovely music for me, from inspiring christian songs, to some old classics, a few ballads, and some lovely cello cum guitar music. I've been using it a week now, on my commutes to and from work, and loving it!

Here's to new experiences and everyday joys.Journaling reads: You used to be too small to ride a kayak with dad. But look at you go this time! Doing the stroke, bending your body just like daddy does. Looking cool, going fast, such a great pair together, love to look at you, dudes.
Credits: By Sarah Robinson:Paper from her Tropical Fizz papersFrames from her Cutting Edge framesChenile BlossomsTotal color collection alphaOthers:Swirl from Weeds&Wildflowers' ReverieTeal bubble alpha from Scraphead's C. AbramTag from Ksharonk's Day trip kit

Individualism

Here's to Different styles, and Individualism !

I took the challenge at DigiDare, to scrap in a different style that I never did before. It was fun and somewhat liberating!

What do you think? I took the cue from Lauren's Layout right there on the blog (link: http://www.thedigidares.com/) There's a gift of a fabulous kit for participating!

Well, it was not planned, but picking this photo led me to talking about his "individualism" which is a positive way of describing his very strong and stubborn opinions! They are a joy and also trying on me :) ... so I say let's try different styles, appreciate individualism, celebrate unique personalities, and much wisdom as parents!

Building Memories

Building Memories

I read somewhere that holidays are great ways to build memories for our families and our children. In fact, the author suggested that we should simplify our lives but try to save and spend on holidays as they make such great family memories for the growing up years.

Although I am a lover of the everyday life, scrapbook a lot of everyday moments, and believe in keeping the everyday memories for our children, I do subscribe to this idea quite a lot. Sometimes day to day life do get blended into each other, and children especially forget, but holidays are great times of family time, fun, experiencing new things together, and so my family save and simplify, but try to do our one splurge on holidays!

Every time we plan a trip, especially now that the children are older, we try to engage them in the planning, in the guidebooks, maps, even stories or movies that show the place we are visiting. I really hope they will love travelling and experiencing the fantastic, interesting world we live in, just like we do.

I'm writing this because these thoughts come to me as I try to catch up on our holiday photos, I'm yet to complete those from NZ in 2005, and HK in 2006 ... but still enjoying every scrapping moment of them, trust me!

I've also been reading this delightful book: MaryJane's Ideabook, Cookbook, Lifebook for the farmgirl in all of us. and she had many wonderful suggestion for family trips, and listen to this for a hike:
Hiking BraceletWrap a piece of two-inch-wide duct tape around your child's arm, sticky side out. While she's walking along the trail, she can gather flowers, leaves, and other little treasures and stick them to the bracelet. Back at camp, see how many acquisitions you can identify and have a science lesson around the campfire.

Great? I'm going to try it very soon! And here's the layout I just completed:

Credits: Paper from DigitalDesignEssentials' Shabby Shack kit, hearts from Peppermint creative's Foxy lady, alpha from Sarah Robinsons' kit at Style it Studio, and "happy" stamp by Debbie Fisher from Pickleberrypop.

If you're like me and like to put many photos on a page, or have a need to, due to too many photos un-scrapped (haha!) here's the template for you.
This is now available as a set in the store here

Time Flies!

Time Flies!

Thank you to those who left lovely and interesting comments, especially to my ramblings about how hard it is to be mom at times... I still don't have all the solution to setting guidelines for my sons' gaming habits (lukie, hang in there with me!), but how wonderful to hear from tink that standing my grounds will reap good in the long run, no matter how hard it is now, even from Miyon who loves gaming too but agrees that guidelines will prevent them from being consumed, and Dahlia who reminds me that "train a child in the way he should go, and he will not depart from it"... thanks ladies, I will press on!!

Anyways since last monday's great "battle" between us, we've had a peaceful week of absolutely ZERO computer games... achievement eh?? They did not even bring it up because that was the agreed "punishment".. but next week, when they get to play again... the idea is to press on, and trust that our efforts to guide them will pay off someday, somehow, God enabling, amen.

Anyways yesterday I finally got to do up my September desktop from Shabby Princess, they're so lovely! And I thought time really flies, and how I would like to preserve the memories of the desktops I've had on my home and office computers for the past two months, so, they deserve a place on the blog which is very much my "diary cum scrapbook" of sorts.

Being a Mom

Being a Mom


Today I had a tough time being a mom. Had to do things I don't like to to. But nevertheless had to do.


It's this on-going "battle" I have with my sons over their computer-gaming. I set rules, I revise rules, I discuss the rule with them, we negotiate, I explain how they can gain my trust and have more "freedom" the more they show they can be responsible.... and it all comes crashing down every now and then.


Today was one of those days, it was so bad, I decided to delete or uninstall the games from the computer. They broke down and cried (more like weeped!). My heart cringed. But I had to stay my ground. Thank God we came to a good compromise, and they deleted 10% of them. At the end of it, we had closed ranks again, a team again, they had gained understanding that my objective is not to wipe out computer games from their lives, but that they are able to enjoy them without being controlled by them. Phew.... tough but necessary, hard, but part of what it means to be mom.



Well, how timely that my just completed challenge layout for Style It Studio reminds me to be continually thankful, no matter how tough motherhood can get sometimes....

The current week's challenge is "What did you want to be (growing up)" Go over there http://www.styleitstudio.com/blog/ and check it out, you stand a chance to win a $5 gift voucher!!Journaling reads: What did I want to be, growing up, you ask?I was stumped for a while. A teacher? a psychiatrist? I toyed with those for a while.Then I remembered, of course, the only overriding, constant dream I had growing up, was to be a MOTHER. I wrote many a journal entry in my teens “to myself when I am a mother”,dreamt of how I’d bring my children up, what I’d do with them .... my dream came true, the only thing is, I dreamt of being a mom to girls!! God knows best, of course, and today I’m reminded, I’m thankful, for fulfilled dreams.
Credits: Papers by Sarah Robinson (from Girls Night out and Aug collab kit)Borders and buttons are all by Sarah RobinsonAlpha from Total Color COllection by Sarah RobinsonGraph Journal Block by LisaMarieAll available at Style it StudioNotepaper by Ksharonk designsFont: MA BRownie downloaded from DigitalDesignEssentials, and Fabulous fifties.

The Library

The Library

Today is our weekly jaunt to our local library. And I want to sing the praises of the library! We have been going every week (except when we are on holidays) for probably 5 years now, and what a blessing that has been.



Because of the library:

• my children caught the reading bug
• I saw my first Creating Keepsakes magazine and caught onto scrapbooking
• we've discovered all kinds of worlds we otherwise will not in the endless stories and encyclopaedias
• we've enjoyed years of free magazines, educational CD Roms, DVD Movies, comics...
• it has become one of our family's favorite pasttime and memories

Today I found a book illustrated by Shirley Hughes called: A book of Proverbs. It was first published in 1977, and I had a wonderful time discussing the good-old proverbs in there and enjoying the lovely illustrations...just for my own remembrance, these were some of the proverbs:
Make hay while the sun shines
A stitch in time saves nine
A watched pot never boils (Jared used that one on us when we were intently watching him practice a piano piece ;p )
It's no use crying split milk
Look before you leap
While the cat's away the mice will play (they laughed sheepishly at this)
Jack of all trades is master of none (they reminded me of all my multi-tasking at this point)
Great oaks from little acorns grow
All that glitters is not gold
Many hands make light work
Let sleeping dogs lie
Once bitten twice shy
If you've made your bed you must lie on it
How nostalgic! I was delighted at this little time spent with my kids on this lovely book!
And here is a layout of photos we took in the library a few months ago:
Journalling reads: Our family loves to read. But you do not seem to have stopped reading since you started at four! You read while eating, in the car, on the school bus, you always carry a book around in case a 'moment' turns up! Dad caught these scenes at the library - you never even moved, while Jared was climbing, running all around in the background! So glad to have these memories for keeps!
Credits: Sarah Robinsons' Doodle Pad Frames and Total color collection alpha. I did not need anything else - love them! The graphical yet whimsical touch was just what I needed for this layout of my Reader and his brother. I also used Sarah's background paper from the August Collab Kit
As usual, I'd like to share this template because I think the layout worked! I had to replace Sarah's frames with some I made myself, you'll have to go over to Style It Studio to get her lovely ones!

Here's the link, do say hi if you download, I love it when you do! You can get this free template from the store here!

Having Children

Having children

I have been reading the magazine "MORE" and enjoying myself! The magazine's tagline is "Smart talk for smart women" but basically it's for women over forty, and I was surprised to find that I enjoy reading it very much! It's both humbling and liberating to find in the mag lots of women who are my age and much older who are doing so much wonderful exciting things with their lives!! Yippee! I'm really feeling great about being my age right now and find so much to be thankful for, I'm so blessed to be feeling this way. Thank you God!


Actually today my thoughts are on having children, inspired by these words by Karen Day, extracted from MORE mag Jul/Aug issue:

To love a child or anything this much is both courageous and ridiculous. Dread steals your breath away, then hope swells you drunk with gratitude. Everyday is a bungee jump. The intensity either kills you or saves your life on a daily basis. But on we go, having and loving our kids like there is no nuclear tomorrow. And what choice do we have?

What eloquent words! We can't help ourselves, can we? Almost everyday I swing north and south with my children.. they take so much out of me and also gives so much back! Thank you God for letting me be a mom and partake everything (the joys, worries, love, anguish, blessing) that comes with it.

What I Want To Do

What I Want To Do

The title is this week's blog challenge over at Style It Studio. A fascinating challenge! You must go over and check it out here: http://www.styleitstudio.com/blog/

You will see what I came up with, when I sat down to mull over it. I told myself to put down only things that are within possible reach of me actually doing them in the near future, and I surprised myself! It felt strange focusing on myself for a change, refeshing and I enjoyed it. Who knows, I might actually get to some of the items on my list!!

Journaling reads: Take a dance class, Exercise consistently, Enjoy my boys, not just mother them, Visit Japan and Tokyo, Have a 2nd career that will last me till 80, Read a good novel, Keep holding hands with my hubby, Know and love God more, Leave a scrapbook legacy, Repaint our home and getthose new curtains! Eat Healthily, Go out more with my girlfriends, Make mosaic art again, Stop screaming at my kids, Get a pedicure
Credits: "i" Alpha by LHabis, "To" alpha by Misty Casto, Fonts: Pegasus HK and Adler.Glitter heart and brown paper from Digital Design Essentials' Shabby Shack, Ribbon by Lisa Marie from Style It Studio, Chenile twist, tag (ghettoinkies), background papers all by Sara Robinson available from Style It Stuido.
Frankly what I really want to do right now is enjoy my hour or so of quiet blogging and scrapping, it had been a tough evening with one son trying last minute to finish his project for school tomorrow, and the other crying the entire evening for his brother to go play with him....it can be so trying sometimes... the joys and pains of parenting.
I have decided, that when a layout works for me, I'll share it in the form of a template, they take very little time to do up, and it's my way of sharing and giving back. So here it is:Do say hi if you download, better yet, link me up to your layout if you used it, I'd LOVE to see them! You can get this free download in the store here

My first CT

My first CT!!

Yes, I got on my first CT! I never did have a CT when I was a designer, because there was such a great bunch of GDS site supreme team doing our layouts, but now I'm on the other side, and I know it's just gonna be fun!

I'm on lovely Sarah Robinson's CT. She's just started a cool new store called Style it Studio, and I'm one of the Stylin Sisters! How cool is that!

Here's my first layout with her stuff, don't you just love those frames??? I find them funky and fun, just perfect for my boys' layout, not too sweety pie, yet not too grunge or punk (I'm sure I'll have enough of those when they are teens), and they do go so well with Sarah's Alpha and Paper sets! Here's the link http://www.styleitstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=index to go to Style it Studio.

Journaling reads:

In this picture you just had your spectacles for maybe a few months. You were only five when we discovered that you had astigmatism of 300 degrees in both eyes!! They told us it was there probably from birth and you had gotten so used to blurred vision you did not know the world any other way! Besides the guilt we felt for not knowing earlier, we felt sorry that you had to wear the glasses every hour of the waking day and you were only five! But as you can see here, you took to them wonderfully, the world must have seemed suddenly clearer and better, you didn’t want to take them off! You even looked cute in them, and we‘re glad you get on so well with your new lifelong friend.

Innonence

INNOCENCE
Some days I wish my children are grown and matured and I do not need to teach or worry about them anymore, but mostly I'm so afraid of them growing up so quickly and losing their childish innocence that is so adorable, and lovable. And mostly I just can't handle the thought of dealing with teenagers yet!!! My eight and ten year olds are precocious and too smart for their own good, they think they know everything, but ah, we had such a good laugh at the HK Jungle Cruise I just had to record it :

Journaling reads:
When you’re grown up and read this believe me it is all true !! On the jungle cruise, you were both amazed and marveled at all the animals and sights. You laughed along with the guide and us, then got all serious. One of you asked the other, were the monkeys real? And launched into discussion. Finally you both declared that only the elephants, and crocs were real, so proud that you were not tricked by Disney.
It’s true! Love you, innocent, adorable, mine!
Everything is from Weeds & Wildflowers' Creating Beauty kit, and the "Cute" tag is by Christina Renee,what great work they do!
And here's the template from the layout. If you like it, leave me a comment!
You can download it here:
Sorry this is no longer available

A Nook of My Own

A Nook of My Own


From a lovely book "Simple Abundance" by Sarah Ban Breathnach given to me by my oldest and best friend:


In solitude we give passionate attention to our lives, to our memories, to the details around us - Virginia Woolf


I live in a medium sized apartment with 3 bed rooms with my dh, two sons and my parents in law. I'm not complaining at all, I'm blessed, in my tiny land scarce country. But there is no nook of my own for creating, as suggested by Sarah in her book. After reading this particular page, I look at the table I share with my boys, right this moment full of papers, a beany bear, dictionary, stationery, tissue box, my cheque book... ahhhh, I feel like laughing out loud at my nook for creating. But yet, it's here, on the computer I too share with both boys, after they are in bed every night, that I enjoy an hour or maybe more of creativity. I'm not disturbed by the untidiness or the clutteredness of the "nook" at all, once I start, I am in a zone so to speak, previously designing, now almost all the time for scrapping all my memories, and also for blogging and recording anything I like here. It's great, and I'm grateful, for I am able to "give passionate attention to our lives, to our memories, to the details around us."



Journaling reads: It’s amazing what you can do together in the ten minutes we were“stuck” together on the Ocean Park Ferris Wheel.Making each other nervous, doing kiddie antics, playing with Miffy..... just having fun..... love family time. Dec 06
I used Corina Nielson's Be Kind paper and frames by Fernlili - they are both my favourites.

COOL

COOL

I really loved how this turned out! Jared has been watching his favorite Snoopy VCDs everyday again, he especially loves the parts where the characters break into song and dance, "jazz" he tells me... and of course he'll jump up and join in the dance. He reads all the Charlie Brown comics he can get his hands on, breaks out uncontrollably in laughter every now and then. We love it that he has this great sense of humour, and we are so glad he has these wholesome cartoons to enjoy! Here's Jared in HK's tiny Snoopy Park.I made this template from the layout, in case anyone is interested, cos I kinda like how it worked! It's my first template actually!

Sorry this is no longer available