Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Currently..

We are enjoying the first term break for the year, a one week school holidays. And what a wonderful break as we had just (almost) completed renovations to our home, and starting to settle in! Lots more to do, and will post more pics as we go along, but maybe just this one sneak peak :)

Boys chatting over dinner in our dining cum library area

Project Life for Feb
You probably know I work on Project Life once a month, though I'm gathering the stories and photos through out the month. I scribble on journal cards, and take photos all the time, always upload to my Photo365 app, and sometimes keep short captions in the app too. Then at the end of the month I decide which photos and stories I want, at one go, print them, and have the happiest time assembling them into my PL.

In February, my principal from back when I was in secondary school passed away. We were terribly in awe of her back then, but now that we have teenagers in school ourselves, we realised she made school such a secure and safe place for us to grow and find our unique paths. About six years ago I met her at BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) and was blessed to find her a fellow sister in the Lord and enjoyed great fellowship! She had touched many lives including mine, which I journaled on this 4x6 card, next to picture of fireworks that I snapped on the way home from her funeral wake. Thankful for the blessed Hope of meeting her one day!
In February we were still deep in renovations, so I included a photo of the 4 bathroom basins we were choosing, which one did we get in the end? 
We rarely celebrate Valentines' but did have some chocolates and some moments to share :) 

February is also Chinese New Year, and I love the bottom left photo of my dh's family boisterously digging in to Yu Sheng (a raw fish salad that I really enjoy). Included these two photos of R & J having their own fun  (that only they understand)  - that's everyday life.

Finally I really liked these shots I took or my three 'men' laughing and chatting as we strolled to the subway station. These are the best and most precious moments.
We started watching the Korean "Running Man' series and are hooked! They are our constant companions every evening these few weeks so deserve a place in the PL. And finally the Army movies that we greatly enjoyed recently, which set R & J laughing and thinking hard - they are due to join the Army in 3 and 5 years respectively!!
Jared did this interesting art piece for school - so it gets included in PL.
He had folded it when it came back from school so I did not feel bad fitting it folded into a standard A4 plastic pocket. Also included his write-up that introduces his concept behind the art. I was so impressed by his write up.. The Title was Community. "Spaceships are Community?" I asked. His articulation in the write-up was super. Here are some excerpts:
....my idea is of a fleet of futuristic but realistic ships leaving a ravaged Earth. This post-apocalyptic Earth would have black, charred continents, rivers of lava and seas of magma...This is meant to signify the fact that, even in times of distress, a proper community must remain together to survive. 
Me: When did you learn to write like that? This is superb English and prose!
J: This is the way I always think and talk....(puzzled at the hoo-ha I'm making)

Project 365 Layouts
My photo-a-day for Feb gets captured in these digital layouts. Did you notice in the middle of this layout there is a screenshot taken on my phone of BeckyHiggins' facebook page, where she posted a link to my Hawaii Project Life Post!!! Over the moon! So honored!!
More everyday moments like haircuts, homework, and special moments like the photo of Ryan with his godmother, my dear friend who lives in Beijing and comes back only once a while. Many of these photos will only make sense to us and be precious to us in the future, and I'm so happy they are getting captured now!

Beijing PhotoBook
It's moving slowly, but I press on to capture the amazing trip we had to Beijing in 2011.
We are the museum/art gallery/science centre kind of people, so definitely had to do the National Museum of China - brilliant history from Peking Man to Qing dynasty,
and we chanced upon this temporary exhibition of the Communist Party art in celebration of their 90th anniversay. We love history and we love art, so this was awesome.
And we never miss any city's land planning exhibits, if they have one. We were here on our first day in Beijing, and it gave us wonderful bird's eye view and orientation of this huge city, so cool!

More layout insipiration from other scrapbookers
This very lovely layout is by Riki, I just love the pictures, the tone and mood that she brought out in this layout. You can find more of her layouts on her blog here.
This is by Tamie Wilson. Love her layout with the fun, team shots! You can find more insipiration on her blog here.
And here are more layouts by Thess Holmqvist. She uses lots of photos too and her use of color and embellishments are just perfect. You can find more insipiration on her blog here.

Template to share
Finally, here's a template made from my Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall layout shown above. I'll be so happy if you are able to use it to scrap some of your memories! Thanks for dropping by!
This template is now available as Template Pack 9 in the Store. Thanks for your interest!