Happy about ...

Happy about ...

• the just delivered canvas prints of collages I did for our family room walls!

Dh and I had been wanting to put up various black and white pictures of our family through the years on the walls, instead of our collection of multiple assorted frames due to the lack of space. But individually framing or canvas-printing them would have been too costly and tedious. So when I chanced upon Design Editor's amazing layout on Pinterest, it inspired me to create a huge collage (well, two) instead. And of course I practically entirely scraplifted from her, even the color schemes - they matched what I was planning for the space, thank you Catherine for the inspiration! We love it! By the way, you can find the templates in her Etsy Store here - she has load of other goodies worth checking out too.

Yes those are the boys from then to now. These were some of our 'iconic' photos through the years. So happy to have them in the family room where we spend much of our family time everyday! After I completed the first one above, I had so many shortlisted photos that I had to do up a second collage (below), taking the design and extending/adapting it horizontally.

Design-wise: we made most of the photos black and white as they were all of different colors from different periods, to tie them together. Except for one photo in each collage that had similar color tone as the patterned papers used. Notice in the second collage, the bottom left photo of the boys are one photo which took up 3 photo spaces. Also mixed in close-ups and further way ones, action ones and posed ones, to create interest.

So pleased how they turned out!! This is how they look on our wall, well, floor (we are somewhat overwhelmed at committing them to a particular spot on the wall at the moment ) By the way, they are sized 35" x 22"and 30" x 17.5" respectively. I printed them at Print On Canvas (a singapore based company that ships worldwide) who delivered them 4 days after I uploaded them to their website!! 

• the type, colors and print of our new cushion covers that I ordered from Society 6. Love that they give a modern trendy vibe to our sofa - true, there isn't much space left for lounging... but they are matchy matchy with the colors of the collage....

• the subway tiles we had put in for our bathroom (with black grout for easy maintenance!) and the matching black trim and white blinds - one idea on Pinterest that made it to our home!

• the boys conferring over homework (this mom is no longer of much help where Maths, Physics, Chemistry etc are concerned) - the sight makes me so happy

• Good Friday and Easter services we attended as a family (usually the boys attend youth service). Singing beautiful, meaningful, lovely hymns together, the Lord is Risen!

Find this and more Easter printables here

• my freshly organised Project Life stash! Ok, one big plus is the teeny size of stash that I have :) I try very hard to keep it that way! I have the Cobalt and Turquoise editions, and they fit right into this basket where I can easily see each different journal or filler card by standing the first in the series upright. I don't have much other supplies as I try to keep things simple and focus on the photos and telling the story, and add titles digitally most of the time before printing.

As I do not have any other room or space, once a month, when I have my photos printed, I set everything that you see here on the dining table and complete that month's spread at one go. Then they all go back into the shelves. I think my stash can last me two years !

• bi-monthly project 365 layouts for March capturing our month with the overview of each half month I often look back through my past years' 365 albums with fondness, so much that would not be remembered had I not have them captured! 
• Love the word art I used on this month's spreads below from Suddenly Artistic. One of them says: Bits and Pieces of Life - Unexpected, Real, Unforgettable    So worth noticing and capturing!

• march project life photos and journal cards safely in their pockets!

The first page are snapshots of us in our newly renovated and painted home. The pic at the top left was captured by Jared when he was fiddling with the camera apps on my iphone, it's cool! There was a lot of blank space on the enlarged photo on the right that begged for hand-written journaling :)

The next page are pictures I took on my iphone outside home. At church, at meals, jogging/walking the neighbourhood, at the library, mostly brothers together doing the stuff they do.

This is the first time I'm using an insert from my Becky Higgins' protectors, here to add in a photo about the defective lights (which have finally been fixed), devotions we found meaningful that week, and photos of a wallet J made for himself! 

The flip side of that insert is the start of the one and half page spreads of the day we spent at Legoland Malaysia. The rides were mostly too childish for my kids, and they are not really into the hair-raising ones either, but we had a great time together (finally, a family outing!). The best and most impressive part was the Lego mini-cities, with many scenes from Malaysia and Singapore (including where I work) that are familiar to us. You can't believe how intricate and life-like the lego cities are! 

More Legoland photos. I like putting a white border on all the photos since there was no filler or journaling card on the page.

And J's 95 marks-Chinese mini test paper made it to PL, it is Awesome for the effort he put in as Chinese is not his strong suit. So proud of him for sticking with it, you deserve it, well-done!

• Capturing meaningful devotions / readings the boys and I read together, into my PL album.. These two (both from Rick Warrens' Daily Hope devotions) were particularly meaningful for us. 

• 5 more Beijing layouts completed (yay!)

The first layout is of Arrow Tower which is one of the few remaining parts of the original Beijing Wall and gates into Beijing that remains - so cool to walk through that tunnel/gate that used to link the city to the outside. Wow.

These next 4 layouts are all of the seriously amazing time we spent up on the Great Wall of China. I had broken my little toe just two 10 days before the trip, but limping or pain or not, I was going to get up to there with the family. It had also just snowed a day before, and the skies were so clear, so it was perfect! (click to see larger image)

First layout are the first glimpses and first moments on the Wall

Next the view and terrain changes as we snake up the wall.

And more pics of moments up there. Including the boys sitting right in the middle of one stretch playing Uno, they had walked to and fro and to and fro while waiting for me to catch(limp) up, so they sat down to play. 

And finally, we made it up the last steep stretch of endless stairs to reach the highest point in this part of the Wall. Very hard to top that on this trip.

•  Joining the 30 Days of Lists - to journal and capture some of me according to the prompts. I chose to do only 9 of the 30 lists - no pressure for myself, wrote my lists onto PL cards and tucked them into PL with no embellishing. Just cool to have captured some of my thoughts, some trivial, some just fun and some more thought provoking. I will definitely do it again - next round is in September I believe - check out the blog here

Just for fun, here are a couple of my lists:

List # 4: On an Average Day I...

• spend too long getting ready for work
• scrapbook or read blogs or pinterest after kids sleep
• make and re-make lists
• remind J to start homework
• ask hubby to help with something
• do the dishes and mop the kitchen floor
• drink 2 cups of Cafe 21

List #20 : I do not regret:

• marrying DH
• having the boys
• going into the accounting line
• spending on travelling
• our home choices
• working part time
• not having a car
• starting scrapbooking (!!!)
• serving in youth ministry

• Kim (FiveSeventeen Creations) sharing her awesome layouts with me - Prepare to be inspired! Thanks Kim!

• sharing this template with anyone keen to make one of these double page layouts with 13 photos. It's made from the Arrow Tower layout shown earlier. Enjoy!

This template is now available as Template Pack 9 in the Store. Thanks for your interest!

• hearing from you, it's been so nice to hear from you, thank you!