Technology, iPhone and Scrapbooking

You might have seen in my Week in the Life pages that I got myself an iPhone last month. It has created a bit of a stir in my family! If you'd been following this blog, you will know that we as parents try very hard to guard our boys against the invasion of (or addiction to) technology/computers/phones/internet/games. My boys have claimed and protested that they are the only two children in Singapore that do not have phones, X-box, nintendo, Wii, and the like. (Well I found another parent who has the same convictions so now we both tell our children they are the only four in Singapore!)(We finally gave Ryan a phone when he turned 13 and has to travel across the island to/from school by public transport)(Jared is eagerly waiting for his turn - he turns 13 in 4 months time) :P

So it was hard to justify my iPhone! I am not into any games, nor am I on facebook or twitter. But I enjoy being able to access online stuff and check emails and blogs and forums especially when I'm commuting or waiting, and love that I can organise my entire life on it, lol! I'd be honest, I was rather caught up with trying out apps, wallpapers, finding the perfect cover.. Dh was not really disapproving but mildly amused. But he teased me no end about it and called me his 'teenage wife' a few times, and he got me this card: Okay, I get it! (lol)

But the Lord Himself sent me a timely reminder, when at BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) we received an article entitled: How R U Connecting? by Susie Rowan. She quoted Psalm 68:6 "God sets the lonely in families..." in that families are meant to dispel loneliness, but nowadays we find connectivity isolating family members, reducing face to face conversations and interactions and making it harder for us to connect with our children and each other....

Modern connectivity diluting Real connectivity! Sad but so real in our lives! Susie suggested many ways to counter this: Be the Parent (exercise control), Don't rush in (to buy that first phone or game), Unplug (set aside time as a family), ... but what hit me most is that we must Model proper use of technology in our own life. Ohhh, it's hard.. but I must try. So no iphone during meals or family time, and keep internet or scrapping for when the kids are in bed and all the chores are done! I want to make sure my phone/internet/computer is a blessing not a distraction to what is most important to me! I can do this!

Speaking of blessing of the iphone, what I have loved most about having it is what Katie the Scrapbook Lady mentioned, that the Best Camera is the one that is always with us! I have taken many more on the spur of the moment photos, so many more snapshots of here and there, whenever I thought, this is a moment(!)

Armed with these precious, but not the most perfect pics, I played with them and realised that if I cropped them close, they look great and intimate and tell a lovely story.... (even though for many of these layouts i only had one photo!)
Never a dull moment ..

Dh having an impromptu heart to heart talk with Jared...

Dh and I sharing a cuppa...

Jared and his antics and Miffy..

To mark the super cute iphone cover dh got for my birthday after teasing me no end about searching for one..

Ryan spoke his mind in church... a lol moment!

time with my family on my birthday...

How the boys are constantly connected to earphones these days...

Us after sampling mooncakes for about 2 hours (yikes!) at a local mooncake fair

And guess what? In view of Jared's big exam coming up, we proposed to the boys to totally lay off computer games until the exams are over, and though they grumbled a bit, to our surprise, they agreed! They have been completely off gaming, on their own accord, for three weeks now, and will be for three more weeks (!) - We must be doing something right! Haha! Here's the layout to remember this momentus event:

And this one shows how when computer games went away, the legos came out to play :)

(Credits: Background paper by SugarPlum. Birthday Wishes layout: heart by Danielle Engebretson, others all by Sahlin Studios. Boys will be Boys layout: Round stamp by Jackie Eckles, wordart by Suddenly Artistic and Vera Lim. Sharing a Cuppa layout: love stamp by Honeydesigns, Coffee mugs by Fei Fei, Do not disturb sign by K Winiecki. Heart to heart with Dad layout: puzzle piece by Tattered Pear, quote marks by Digital Design Essentials, Moustage cut out and speech cut out by Allison Pennington. No Computer Games layout: all embellishments and papers by Peppermint Creative - TechnoGeek kit. Never a Dull Moment layout: paper by Akiko, elements by JKneipp and Kaye Winiecki. Greatest Hits layout: Earphones by J Kneipp, treble cleft by Brittish designs, record by Dani Mogstad. Celebrate Family layout: Hat by Nicole Young, flower by Tracy Ann Designs. Mooncake Layout: heart by Honeydesigns, cake stand by Nancie Rowe Janitz. Lego layout: Smile tag by Mmareda, arrows by Flergs, play by H Roselli, road from Sussie M's Boyzone elements.)

I really enjoyed and loved creating every one of these pages, as I publish this post, I have 6 more layouts worth of iPhone taken pics waiting to be scrapped! Everyday moments at their best, I say!

And one last iPhone related comment: I went a searching for apps that will help me in scrapping, and this is the best one I found. Moe's Notes. .

Unfortunately it's aethestically rather manly and functional looking (would have loved some colors or funky touches in terms of looks) but it gives the ability to record moments with photos, journaling, audio, video, logs it with time and location stamp on a calendar view! I can easiliy browse its calendar for any log when I am ready to scrap, just email the entire note (neatly packed in a zip file) to myself to save on my harddisk and for my scrapbook page. Have also been capturing the boys' crazy conversations, and jared's oral practices too, will be precious since his voice is likely to break anytime now! And especially great for capturing those Everyday Life stories :)

Just a quick update on Jared's big exam (PSLE) and his applications to various secondary schools. He has received acceptances from two of the schools, but was rejected by his 'dream' school. Thankfully he was not crushed but instead is now very motivated to try to do extremely well in the exams for a second chance at applying to that school. At first we were worried and even Ryan wondered if the Lord was too harsh in handing him such a great disappointment, but now I can clearly see why - Jared is learning through this setback precious lessons about diligence, humility, and maturity that are far more important in the long run. He is quite literally transforming, it has been so heartening for this mommy! So I want to give thanks to God and also say, we are so proud of you, Jared!

On the scrapbooking front, I have been catching up on pages for our 2011 family album, here are some layouts from our visit to the Red Dot Museum and Fireworks during National Day celebrations.

The Red Dot Design Museum is one of two on the planet! The other one is in Germany. It celebrates the designs that wins the yearly Red Dot Design awards for innovative product design, and the museum is so much fun!

They even have a section to showcase how Tupperware was designed and made, including how the various colored plastics were "concorted"!

I scanned a copy of the Red Dot Museum layout map to include in my layout :)

(Credits: Fireworks Layout: Background paper - blended papers from Flerg and Designs by Gabi, fireworks by Sahlin Studios. Red Dot Museum Layout: blue squares by cinnamon designs, red dot by Corina designs, paper by Sahlin Studios. Tupperware layout: gears by Dani Mogstad, paper by Tattered Pear. Creativity layout: Background paper by Dunia, painted circle by JLarsen, element by Studio MGL in learning to fly kit)

Finally, do want to leave you with a sample template from my 'cropped iPhone' layouts, you can find the rest in the store.

Download here. Have fun cropping and greatly appreciate your comments!