glooshmoo

I'm Off to Anaheim

2012-01-27T15:00:00.001+08:00

miss you..

thank you...

See you when I get back from CHA (2012)!

February Class Sneaks

2012-01-24T18:22:00.000+08:00

Hey hey!! as promised, here are sneaks for February's classes. Everyone's been busy with Chinese New Year these past few days but you should be able to start signing up for classes by tomorrow I think.

1. A vintage style altered folder / album

that's got a little 'cheese box' embedded in it: that's my favourite bit!

2. A book bound with coptic stitch with a mixed media canvas cover:

I had loads of fun painting and (yes) glittering this.

See you in class in February ok? Catch you later! I gotta go EAT! :)

Something for Mummy and Daddy

2012-01-18T10:06:00.000+08:00

Last year in December we made a calendar for 2012. Now that classes are over, the calendar is going to my mum and dad.

It's filled with pictures of the grandkids and I tried to do it in a style that my mum will like

And incidentally, the colour scheme was lifted from this photo:

awesome colours right??? Who knew teal and orange/peach worked so well together. Feel like getting married again just so I can use this for my wedding colour combi...hahaha!

I'm busy designing February's classes. Promise to give you a sneak when I'm done k? busy busy busy.

And so it Begins...

2012-01-09T08:09:00.001+08:00

Happy New Year!!!! (I know this is like really late) but hey, it's still January right? Things have kicked right in and we are all back to the rhythm of school and work... The kids all at school, the Baboo back at work and me in search of more designing mojo as I start up a new year of projects for classes.

Last year, I tried getting inspired by collecting pics on pinterest to see if it would give my mojo a little kick in the pants. And here's the result:

Inspiration:

from here

Fruition:
Bookbinding class using crossed-structure binding

I think it's time to go pinning again....

Joyous Christmas

2011-12-24T09:00:00.000+08:00

Thank you for choosing to spend time this year reading things I wrote, looking at things I made and even taking time to encourage me in my work. I am always grateful and humbled that you would take time to visit and encourage me when life has so many more pressing and important matters at hand. So, thank you.

And this Christmas I want to wish you Joy....

You know the happy feeling you get when you're scrapping? (or buying scrapbooking products - heh), Or the feeling you get when people leave nice comments on your blog? Well, this Christmas I wish you more than that...

I want to wish you deep enduring joy, the kind that is not dependent on whether we have our 'scrapping mojo' or how many pieces of patterned paper we have; the kind of joy that remains regardless of our circumstances.

I wish you the Joy that Jesus brings.

A joyous Christmas to you and all yours.

Love,

Sharon

January 2012 Class Sneaks

2011-12-22T11:39:00.000+08:00

Just a quick pop in to show you the classes coming up in the new year.

1. Layout class - three layouts with lots of kraft coloured things:

2. Mini album with canvas cover:

Gotta run! Loads to do before the year ends! See you at class in January!

November Favourite

2011-12-18T09:00:00.001+08:00

inner cover

This album was a favourite in November. And I think its cos everyone had fun making the pages

That flip open like this when you pull the tag at the top

I took this design from an easel card tutorial on youtube which I can't seem to locate now... :(
Modified it to fit the album.

If anybody finds the link, let me know!!

December Days are Happy Days

2011-12-16T09:00:00.003+08:00

The Critters had fun in the holidays, watching movies, playing, going on sleepovers:

And generally having a lovely time. I love seeing them so happy. Though right now they're kind of stuck at home for a bit...

And here's how us scrap-addicted adults have fun:

This was a class we ran in November and I don't know if it was the happy colours or the sparkly glitter glue rubbed into the canvas, but the classes were all full of fun and laughter. I had a blast teaching and watching everyone paint stamp and mess around.

image transfer on canvas

We used a foam stamp (Donna Downey flower stamp) and tried to create lots of different effects like:

stamping with white paint then sprinkle clear UTEE while paint is still wet

stamping with white paint then sprinkle yellow embossing powder in the middle

Hope you're enjoying your holidays!!

Christmas Tags - with Onions

2011-12-13T11:43:00.001+08:00

Hey Hey!

This year I made Christmas tags with my Purple Onion stamps! Wanna see?

I tried very hard to use only the stamps as far as possible....take a look:

There's a few cutesy ones:

A few vintagey ones (the wine bottle one is not quite 'christmasy' but...oh well)

And a couple of un-categorizable ones:

Christmas is coming.....Christmas is coming!

Best One This Year

2011-12-09T17:39:00.000+08:00

As of now, this is my favourite layout of 2012.

Title: "Never Lose Your Sense of Wonder"

Because:

1. I love love love the paper - awesome colour scheme!!! (Prima Printery collection)

2. the photo

3. I had loads of fun stamping and embossing = texture!

This layout was part of a 3-layout class in November all featuring papers and embellishments from the Prima Printery collection:

"Darling Beth" (this one was a close second)

I caged the butterflies....hahaha

This layout looked really gross with only the masked embossing and stamping at first

"Story Time"

This one's got a flap that opens

A big thank you to all the lovely ladies in class who were brave and courageous in spraying, sprinkling, heating, stamping with abandon!! So happy you like the layouts!

A Christmas Present (for everyone!)

2011-12-07T10:45:00.002+08:00

My friend Karin delivered a lovely Christmas present all the way from Sweden from Marie:

New Christmas papers from Maja Design!!!

With STAMPS!!!! woo hoo!!! (apparently rubber stamps in Sweden are all purple! who knew?)

Marie even included a little something for the Critters - heh heh

I couldn't wait to work with the stamps and so I went stamp mad on this little tin:

And now maybe this will become a present for someone else eh? Gotta share the Christmas lurve.

An Onion Flavoured Post

2011-12-02T17:16:00.000+08:00

Hey hey!!! Purple Onion Update! Exciting!

1. Holiday Stamp Sale:

2. New Stamps!!!: (I love this series)

3. New partnership with Heidi Grace!:

4. Thanksgiving invite, placecard and menu from my imaginary Thanksgiving dinner - haha!

Pop over to the Purple Onion blog for more details yah?

All I Want for Christmas

2011-12-01T09:00:00.003+08:00

This month for scrapforhelp, I chose to recycle the box from an old favourite

to make a little box where the Critters can put their Christmas wishes.

I am anticipating Benny dropping lots of things into this box...
Are you preparing for Christmas yet?

December Sneaks

2011-11-25T09:27:00.001+08:00

Got things to show you! I finished designing all my classes for December and here they are. I tried to keep to my resolution of avoiding my usual colour combinations and here's the result:

1. A Teal and peachy orange desktop calendar for 2012:

The calendar part is included in the class as well. I put in quotes I hope you'll like)

2. Three layouts all with grey+something:

grey+grey...haha (this one's cheating)

grey + red

grey + yellow

In class you'll be learning how to make those flowers by hand....fiddly fun.

3. And a modified Cross-Structure Binding book thats (*sheepish*) black and brown...sorry, couldn't take it anymore...

You can drop by the store to have a closer look if you like.

And December is traditionally the time when classes fill up faster 'cos everybody is clearing leave and taking a break from work, so you might like to book early.

And I'll see you soon

Keeping Busy...

2011-11-19T11:23:00.001+08:00

Schools out!!! And here at the Ngoo house we are busy busy busy. (warning: photo-heavy post ahead)

Reading....

Classics for the Critters

bet you can guess whose this is

the girl's tastes are a little more refined

not for the children....obviously (and yes, I like weird books)

all the ngoos like this one

Designing and Building...

training to be the next Vera Wang

starting a Pinch Bot army

making movie characters

working together on "New Block City" (which the robots subsequently invade)

And me, I'm trying to get my work done....

But Wall-E keeps disturbing me...

The next post will have some projects... promise!

Reasons to Celebrate!!!

2011-11-11T08:18:00.001+08:00

Purple Onion's got loads of new stamps out! They're super fun and all the super talented Purple Onion DT gals have been making loads of lovely samples.

This one by Courtney Kelley my favourite! Simple, effective, perfectly executed! And perfect for the current post-exam celebratory mood at the Ngoo house (heh heh)

There are loads more awesome cards to see here
And you can check out the new stamps here

Go go go! Click click click!

Eventually Everything Turns to Brown

2011-11-09T06:50:00.000+08:00

We had a lot of misting fun in this class in October. Shirley and I 'wrapped' the entire table in plastic and chicken rice paper so that everyone could mist to their hearts content. Love watching people play like that....its what makes class fun.

Everybody got to create their own colour scheme for the book 'cos all the colour washes on the pages were made with mist. There were pinky-orangey-purpley pages, greeny-bluey-yellowy pages, even pastely pinky bluey pages.

I tried to make mine teal and green and orange....but as always, everything turns to brown....and my orange got turned into brown instead (oh well):

Hmmm....for some reason, when I look at it now, I find the frou frou tulle ribbon on the rings very weird looking. Think I'll get rid of them.

The book is made from this:

along with some canvas pages. Here's a few of the pages on the inside:

canvas page

my favourite page (colour-wise)

my favourite page (photo-wise)

K, bye bye. Gotta run. I promised myself that all of next month's classes will NOT be my usual colour schemes....let see how it turns out.

and oh, p.s: for those of you who were asking about extra packs of Fastenation add-ons that you can buy, there are still some left at the store (laines) so you can drop by. (Nows a good time to get them I think - you know, discounts and stuff)

In the Attic...

2011-11-06T09:00:00.001+08:00

I don't have an attic....but if I did... maybe it would have cool stuff inside like this:

Like an antique dress form and gold TV (haha)!

This is my favourite project from October. It's a bookbinding class (of course) and has

a pencil + twistie tie binding:

A jumbly messy inside:

With lots of little pages within pages...

all tucked away...

Thanks for indulging my "twisted" ideas - haha. The fact that you guys still sign up for classes after all these years is something I am ever so grateful for. Hope you had fun eh? More bookbinding to come? I still have tons of string left ;)

We Love Paper...

2011-11-04T09:00:00.001+08:00

Beth draws comics and builds dollhouses with it...

Benny makes origami cameras and paper planes with it...

Baboo likes it best when its covered in words that he can read...

And me, I like to use it for stuff like this:

Layout Title: "2 Down"

...teeth that is...

This layout is one of 2 layouts in last month's DS-LEARN class featuring papers from Graphic45's ABC Primer - awesome collection! (incidentally, the class is re-running in November at PaperMarket Plaza Singapura and Clementi Mall in case you missed it)

Here's the other:

Layout Title: "It's Your Turn"

The best part of these layouts (I think) are the backgrounds:

book text + whitewash + crackle stamp

"goosebumps" + distress ink + stamping

K, gonna go have some more fun with paper now! Catch you later!

Christmas Wishes in November

2011-11-02T12:01:00.000+08:00

Hello! We're starting to think about Christmas already over at the scrapforhelp blog. (Looks like they follow the Singapore calendar where preparation for Christmas starts at least 2 months ahead...haha)

Here's my first Christmas-themed layout of the year:

No photos on this one. Just the lyrics of an old Christmas song I remember.... and as always, at scrapforhelp, there's always some recycling going on in our creations - so there's corrugated cardboard, lots of packaging and envelopes and stuff on the page - love love love kraft.

Are you starting to think about Christmas too?
Check out all the inspiration from the DT gals over at scrapforhelp to get you in the mood!

November Class Sneaks

2011-10-28T12:45:00.000+08:00

Hello! All the November class projects are out at Laine's.

You can see it better on the Laine's blog
See you in class ok?

"Aiyoh So Preeeetty...

2011-10-24T12:25:00.000+08:00

...You sure this is yours?"
That's the reaction I got from a friend who saw this project:

Haha.....yes. this is mine. Mer always says I am a closet pink-lover anyway, so this is just me letting her out to play for a while.

It's supposed to be a true accordian album (i.e. one that looks like an accordian - the musical instrument that is).

And its made from a transparent can:

A big thank you to all you lovely ladies who signed up for this class! Hope you had fun!

More Recycling!

2011-10-19T12:10:00.000+08:00

Seems like the little shadowbox magnet I made last time is going places... Here's version 2 - cute one.... with roof!

The projects were made from recycled Maya Road packaging

and I'm really honoured that the folks over at Maya Road liked the idea enough to feature it on their blog. (Thank you Lia! Thank you Maya Road!) They've posted my instructions for the project as well over there if you'd like to have a look.

Thanks for dropping by! Can't stay long, 'cos I've got layouts to finish..... see you soon!

(Some) November Sneaks

2011-10-17T13:49:00.000+08:00

In November classes, there'll be

1. A sunshiney mini album that shares some fun foam stamping and painting ideas - I'll also be including the foam stamp I used as part of the class :)

2. A burgundy-pink-blue album...

with pages that slide up...

like this:

3. A layout class that looks like this................. [ ]
because I haven't finished it yet.... :P

A Rather Color-Coordinated Post

2011-10-14T11:27:00.002+08:00

Here's what I and the Critters have been up to these days... (for some reason, everything seems to have red /brown in it)

1. Critters behind the Camera (and yes, I know they're supposed to be studying):

~~" Lions~~ and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!" - by Beth Ngoo

"Chilli Crabs on Sleigh" - by Lego Ngoo (the artist formerly known as Spaceman Spiff)

2. Potentially Embarassing Photos Return Home:

Thank you everyone for making this bookbinding class a super fun class to teach - thank you for stitching and chatting, jokes about bra cups and for keeping all your comments about my gawky teenage photos to yourselves. ;)

recycled cardboard box covers with canvas spine. Long stitch

what's in the capsule (aka bra cup)

spine (best bit in my opinion)

inside pages (and no, you cannot see the potentially embarassing photos)

3. Stocking Up on Mojo:

I've been using this: to get those creative juices going. Now to get off the net and get some real work done!

The next post will be a sneak of November classes - promise!

Monday's Good for Sharing

2011-10-10T09:53:00.000+08:00

It's raining buckets today over here....and I'm quite liking the weather actually... It's a strangely un-manic Monday... and I hope you'll enjoy what I'm sharing today:

1. This Majadesign 6X6" Paper Stack

goes to Xylvie - congrats! Drop me an email with your address so I can send this over to you K?

2. Halloween Projects:

I had fun making these Halloween projects using my Purple Onion stamps. They're meant to be a 'set' for a Halloween party:

Door Hanger

(You know why he's creepy? 'cos he's got 2 right hands..)

Placecard

Goodie bag

We don't really celebrate Halloween at the Ngoo house but I had a lot of fun making these projects. :)

A Blue Surprise

2011-10-04T09:00:00.003+08:00

I made this yearbook recently (for a friend who's favourite colours are blue and silver):

outside

inside

I was quite pleased with myself at managing to find 12 different ways to display the numbers 1 - 12 on the cover, but when I showed hubby he said, "Looks kind of the same...like another project you did before" I think he means it kind of looks like this one:

Now is that a good or bad thing? Actually I'm just pleasantly surprised that he remembers my older projects! heh heh...

And speaking of pleasant surprises....

I've got a stack of 6X6" papers from the Skärgårdsliv - Life by the Sea collection from Majadesign (which is the exact collection of papers I used for the little book above) to give away. So if you'd like to have it, please leave a comment on this post.

By Sunday, 9 October ok? :)

Recycling...

2011-10-02T09:00:00.005+08:00

This month's challenge at Scrapforhelp is to recycle the packaging we get with our scrapbooking products. I made this mini shadowbox fridge magnet:

from this:

And here's how: (thought you might like to see.... my mummy taught me its good to share)

1. Packaging for the 'glass' and cardboard box for the base:

2. Strips of chipboard or corrugated board for the 'frame':

3. Cover base with pattern paper and arrange nice bits in the centre:

4. Glue packaging in place to 'seal' everything in:

5. Glue on the strips to form the frame, decorate he 'glass' with rubons and ribbon if you like:

6. Wrap with tape (I used Tim Holtz masking tape) to cover up the fact that you didn't measure the frame strips properly (heh...):

7. A bit of twine for texture (and cover up), a magnet on the back, and you're done:

Quite fun.... :) Hmmmm....maybe this will be this year's Christmas present...

Boxing...

2011-09-30T07:59:00.000+08:00

A lot of times I get boxes to alter for classes, but its actually quite fun and not too hard to make boxes from scratch on your own.

Here's one we made in class last month. It's made from 7gypsies book covers (6X6") which are great for box building 'cos the chipboard is nice and sturdy.

Through the magic of Beacons glue and some washi tape for hinges, you get a box that flips open like this:

And a little book to keep inside it.

It feels quite good to be able to make a box on your own (as opposed to buying a pre-made one and altering it). So maybe everyone will get boxes for Christmas this year eh?

October Layout Class

2011-09-28T08:14:00.001+08:00

I owe you this one....

These are the layouts for October's class. They've both got fun textures on the background and lots of yummy vintagey prints and images.

All the sneak peeks for classes are out at both Laine's and PaperMarket so drop on by to have a look!

Jaz has designed such beautiful whimsical projects this month (love that hot air balloon!) and I love love love how this month both Mer and I made lots of vintagey brown things!!! (Check out her "Travel the World with My Bag" and "Remember This" class).....She and I also both featured the new texture spray "goosebumps" in our classes. Great minds think alike Mer!

Rusty Suitcase Version 2

2011-09-22T09:00:00.003+08:00

Here's an altered suitcase class which ran last month.

It's got all my favourite colours and stamping and I had some fun stamping adventures along the way... I wrote down steps so you can try too!

Stamping Adventure 1: Fuzzy Background print

1. Stamp with Archival ink on the back of a Hambly Screen Print (the slightly shimmery kind)
2. and after waiting a while, buff it off with a dry tissue.
- the image will become fainter and fuzzy plus all the excess ink gives the whole paper a brownish tinge.

Stamping Adventure 2: Embossing + Gesso

1. Emboss images on the surface with gold embossing ink.
2. Paint a thin layer of white gesso over everything
3. Use a cloth to rub off the gesso so the images show through
4. Stain everything with Distress ink

A big thank you to all who attended the Rusty Suitcase Version 2 class! I am really glad to hear so many of you had fun (despite all the stamping and 'scrubbing' we had to do).

October Sneaks (some)

2011-09-19T16:04:00.002+08:00

Just a quick pop in to show you what I've been making for October:

1. A twisty-tie + pencil + sewing bookbinding class.... with an 'old attic' feel

2. A glimmer mist album - you can make yours any colour you want. I made mine green / turqouise / tan

October is ALL vintage!!! (My third class is going to be Graphic45 Layouts) Woo Hoo! See you in class!

They Keep Growing...

2011-09-16T11:29:00.002+08:00

Plants....children.....my scrapbook stash....our book collection....all growing....

Just yesterday hubby was commenting how he's finding it harder and harder to do this nowadays:

The effort required seems much greater and the 'liftoff' much lower these days....

Guess hubby (and I) are growing too....just in a different kind of way. ;)

Kampung Days...

2011-09-12T09:04:00.001+08:00

The September school hols are over. It's back to school for the Critters and back to the old routine for me. This past week has been very 'kampung like' somehow (kampung = village in Malay)...with a real sense of community, family and the enjoyment of simple things...

1. Comics are more fun with a buddy
2. Stray kittens are a little scruffy but they are very cute
3. Home made pomelo lanterns are best
4. Clayton - a new friend given by a dear friend
5. Fun with strange fruit
6. sunset and satay by the sea
7. Crocodiles are scary when provoked
8. Sympathy for the ostriches
9. Teasing Berry is fun
10. hanging with the cousins - sorry no pic

And here's a layout that has a bit of the 'kampung' feel eh?

And in keeping with true kampung community spirit, here's a little tutorial on how I made the leaves for this layout:

You'll Need: scalloped circle punch (medium sized ones are nice), scrap paper, scissors, stapler.

1. Punch out scalloped circles with your punch. (double sided pattern paper works well)

2. Fold the circle in half and staple it at an angle (see pic)

3. Gently re-open the circle, folding it outwards such that the stapled part ends up as the 'underside' of the leaf.

4. Finish off with ink to highlight the creases (of course)
5. Make some more.

Have fun!

Let's Bee Corny!

2011-09-07T19:21:00.003+08:00

I loooooove the little bee from the new Love Bugs stamps by Stephanie Ackerman for Purple Onion Designs!!! (butterfly fans out there will be happy to hear the set comes with a butterfly as well)

I love the bee so much I used him as the theme for a (rather corny) mini album for the cutest nephew in the world:

Bee....yourself: ( a little masking, painting and misting here...)

Together is the best place to Bee:

Let's Bee Friends:

There can be miracles, when you Bee-lieve: (haha - this one is my favourite!) And those letterings are my all time favourite Purple Onion Skinny Dip alphabet stamps

Bee-Bop!:

Bee Brave:

The best is yet to Bee:

Wanna Bee corny too?

September Brings.....

2011-09-01T23:55:00.003+08:00

1. A Little Card:

Over at Scrap for Help, the September challenge is up!!! There's lots to see from the design team and some really brilliant ideas for using recycled items.

For this challenge, I snipped off bits of the plastic net bag that came with our oranges and used them to add a little texture to a card (see if you can spot it):

[All papers from majadesign]

The card's a bit of a cop-out actually.... I originally wanted to do a whole layout covered entirely with the netting, but then it ended up looking a little 'sleazy' somehow (reminded me a bit too much of fishnet stockings - maybe I shouldn't have painted it all black.... haha).

2. A Small Mention

of me here - don't really know what they're saying about me in Norwegian, but I'm assuming its all good! :) I am honoured and thankful.

3. A Short Holiday

with a little break for us and the kids over the weekend.... catch you when I come back!

Overwhelmed...

2011-08-30T10:04:00.000+08:00

- for a workday that didn't feel like work
- for special guests from far away
- for sneaky sisters and surprise cakes
- for hugs and wishes from awesome friends
- for ever-giving family and lovingly-prepared meals

For all the overwhelming love and kindness showered on me this weekend.........I am so thankful...

You all made turning 40 super special! (not scary at all!)

September Sneaky Peeky (cont'd)

2011-08-26T06:52:00.000+08:00

Sneaky Peeky 3: an accordian mini album (as in literally "accordian" like the musical instrument)

And yes.... I made this.
yes....it's pink and girly and glittery
no....I didn't wince / puke / complain while making this
yes.... it was fun!
yes....i like this! 'Cos it fits the subject (my niece) perfectly! (All of my photos are in the other album instead - heh!)

September Sneaky Peeky

2011-08-23T07:37:00.000+08:00

Harlow!!! Got stuff to show you! September class sneaks:

Sneaky Peek 1:

A bookbinding project! Long time no sew!!! This one is bound with long stitch and has a canvas spine. Plus! a fun mini shadowbox on the front. I hope you can tell this one's gonna involve some homework right? Heh...

Sneaky Peek 2:

2 Layouts! With zips and also enamel accents! You'll get your very own bottles of enamel accents to take home! :)

Project number 3 is not quite ready to show her face yet, but I promise she'll make an appearance soon!

The class schedule should be coming out really really soon so keep a look out for it K? See you in September!

Last Day Last Day!

2011-08-22T10:01:00.001+08:00

8th Anniversary Sale

all stamps 25% off

sale ends Sunday, August 21st at midnight

click here!

Pocketchange Blog

2011-08-19T08:35:00.001+08:00

Just a quick note to highlight a cute little blog that has lots of little snippets and links to different blogs with inspirational ideas for crafting, home decor and other fun DIY stuff.

It's called pocketchange And it was very kind of them to mention this li'l blog on their recent "best of the web: Be@Home #36" post.

Thank you very much! :)

Running Late....but still...

2011-08-17T15:39:00.001+08:00

I've been a little behind in things on the blog....so....here's a little catch up...

1. The Sweetest Girl in the World turned 10

My Li'l Bear

We celebrated at the Night Safari and brought some new friends home with us...

Stripes and Willy join the family

She's growing up so fast....and we are proud of her.

Beth and her friends won a Silver award at SYF arts fest

And here's a project that I've been wanting to share with you. We really had fun spending a whole day working on this project in class in July:

An altered metal case with ring binder inside for album

lots of fiddly bits on the cover

my favourite bits are actually the vintage images in the background

Me being corny (for the record... it spins)

lots of space for photos and notes

There's still more stuff I want to show you....projects for September classes, for example, but looks like I'm running a little late with those too! Almost done, almost done!

Anniversary Sale and New Stamps!!!

2011-08-12T12:38:00.000+08:00

Hey hey!!! Exciting stuff going on at Purple Onion!

The new stamps are all on the website and available to order.

In addition, all stamps are 25% off for our 8th Anniversary Sale! Please enter code SUM2011 during checkout to receive the sale prices. The sale runs through next Wednesday, August 17th.

Go! Go! Go!

Cards Coming Up

2011-08-08T06:37:00.000+08:00

Harlow!

Here are some cards I made using Purple Onion stamps:

This one's my favourite

This one reminds me of Starbucks somehow...

For when you are REALLY thankful to someone...

Like I am to all of you who drop by this little blog. Thank YOU!

I'm in the midst of designing classes for September now....will show you sneaks when I'm done K?

B is for.....

2011-08-05T06:29:00.000+08:00

is for....

Put your language skills to good use and stand a chance to win new soon-to-be released stamps from Purple Onion!!!

"B" is the theme of all the new stamp sets being released this Wednesday 8/10! There are 7 stamps/stamp sets whose theme start with the letter B. If you would like a chance to win some of these stamps then start guessing! You have until midnight Sunday 8/7 to leave a comment on the Purple Onion blog post with your 7 "B" guesses. You are only to post 7 guesses. Winners will be drawn at random from all the correct guesses of a particular theme.

Free stamps just for guessing??? Then I guess B is for....

BONUS! BRAVO! BOY OH BOY! BRING IT ON!

I'm Glad You Have Each Other

2011-08-03T11:36:00.001+08:00

He has a Che Che to keep him company on his time-travelling adventures...

Calvin (aka Benny) zooms off in his time-machine! Don't forget the goggles!

And she has a chatty little brother to whisper to in the dark so she won't be afraid

Beth and Checks get ready for bed. Don't forget Squishy!

And I have a card that kind of sums it all up:

All stamps from Purple Onion

Thank you God!

1st August...aka Monday

2011-08-01T08:30:00.000+08:00

Morning!!! It's August!!!

which means....

The new challenge for the month is up at scrapforhelp! (or it will be, depending on the time difference...) This month's theme is "Fathers" (apparently Father's Day is celebrated in August in Brazil - who knew?) and you'll have to use a bottle cap / cigar / matchbox on your work.

Here's what I made - for the Critters' 'Pop' - and yes, that is what they call him - Pop

It's a small altered shadowbox frame with a collection of all kinds of bits and bobs to symbolize all the things he does for them. You can have a closer look if you'd like...

And today is also.... Monday!!!

Which means....

As promised, somebody gets to win this:

And so...... Hi Julia Cheang! I drew your name out of the hat! You need to email me your address (write to sngooies@gmail.com) so I can send you this stack of paper K? :)

Hope your August and Monday is turning out Spiffy! (love that word - we're using it a lot around our house these days with Benny reading Calvin and Hobbes all the time)... see you soon!

One for You....and One for You....

2011-07-25T17:19:00.000+08:00

Here's a present for my friend Dor,

made using the very lovely "Lantliv - Life in the Country" collection from Majadesign... (along with some recycled cardboard box, cardstock and washi tape for binding)

And here's a little present for you:

I have one 6X6" stack of the papers to give away! So just drop in a little comment here and I'll randomly pick a name on Friday to give the papers to ok? :)

Something 'Old', Something New

2011-07-19T15:39:00.000+08:00

Here are sneaks of classes I designed for August:

Something 'Old'
Those of you who missed the Rusty Suitcase class the last time, might be glad to know Version II is running in August. I changed the colour scheme a bit and made it more girly (i.e. I pasted a few flowers - albeit brown ones - haha)

Something New:
And you might also like this little flip box with a little album inside - this one's made from scratch, so that might be fun.

The schedule should be out soon, but the samples are at the store already - come take a look K? Or come say hi to me - either way is good. :)

Made From Scratch

2011-07-12T21:34:00.000+08:00

My favourite kind of albums / books are the kind that are made absolutely from scratch - without any pre-made album covers or pages. Major sense of satisfaction. Of course, this doesn't happen very often (it's tiring to figure out measurements and my brain isn't wired for numbers) but here's one I made recently for class:

It's made of pieces of cardboard box wrapped with raw canvas.

Closed

Open

Inside - accordian books

back

The canvas cover's covered with mists and ink and stamping - which makes for yummy messy fingers in the process. Best part of class.

The little metal clothes hanger is just too cute

A big inky-fingered hi-five to all the lovely ladies who joined this class - we had fun eh? :) and a special hello to Jamie who spent part of her holiday with us!

Present-ing

2011-07-09T09:00:00.010+08:00

This one's for you Jon Jon:

Scrapping Specs:

Covers - 7 Gypsies
Papers - recycled newsprint and kraft cardstock
Binding - Multi-needle Coptic stitch
Embellishments - 7gypsies and Tim Holtz
stamps - Purple Onion (inside and out)

Sleepytime

2011-07-07T06:31:00.001+08:00

I am in sore need of sleep....I haven't been sleeping well for some reason, and it doesn't help that school has started (which means early wake up calls again)

Maybe I need some bedtime buddies...

Beth's

1. Baby blankie

2. blue blankie

3. Checks (the bear)

4. Squishy (the pillow)

Benny's

1. baby blankie

2. Shocky the stingray

3. Little shark

4. Baby whale

5. Rufus the crab

6. Jumpy the frog

7. Squidy the octopus

8. Wormy & Wormette the leeches (aka bolsters)

9. Rocky the big red Angry Bird

10. Little angry birds (5)

And in keeping with the theme, here's a little Sleepytime layout featuring the new papers from Majadesign (yay!!! a whole load of them arrived for me in the mail!) and some subtle stamping with my Purple Onion stamps... (music notes and stars)

click image to enlarge

My favourite bits are the clouds....made from the lovely new patterns....

And you know what's really cool? The new papers come with lovely patterns on the brand label so you can use them as borders... nice!

Now back to.....~~sleep~~ work!

Throw some Mud on It

2011-07-05T09:00:00.006+08:00

Here's a fun mini album we did in last month's class called "Let's Go Outside" - with lots of 'vegetation' and some 'mud' thrown in for good measure.

Here's all the vegetation:

Ribbons growing through the album all higgly piggly

(they help bind the album together)

And here's the mud.....ahhhhh....

This little glass jar filled with 'mud' (i.e. Distress Stickles) and the little plant growing out of it amuses me no end. (er yes, I am quite easily amused)

And if you think the mud looks good in the jar, check out how it looks smeared on the front of the album - yes, the fact that it looks like someone splattered mud on my album amuses me as well.

Makes me fee like singing!!!

"Mud mud, glorious mud

Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood

So follow me follow

Down to the hollow

And there let us wallow in glorious mud"

- The Hippopotamus song

Did I tell you I like hippopotamuses (hippopotami?) too?

And yes, I'm in one of those moods today. :)

Kawaii Neh?

2011-07-02T09:04:00.000+08:00

Scrapforhelp's July challenge is up! Details here. (scroll down for English instructions)

Here's what you have to include in your layout for the challenge:
1. Recycled packaging (e.g. soap box, chocolate wrapper)
2. you should follow the sketch given
3. And it has to be about friendship

Let's do a little QC and check and see if I managed to follow instructions:

Here's Nadia's sketch:

I think my layout looks quite similar to the sketch... [check!]

I recycled these little Meiji candy boxes (no prizes for guessing who helped empty the candy boxes)

And used them on the layout along with their plastic wrapper which had this kawaii heart on it.... [check!]

I used part of the plastic wrapper overlapping the photo... [check!]

And I made sure the layout was all about "Tomodachi" which means friend in Japanese... And just to be 'kiasu' Singaporean I made sure the word friend appeared somewhere on the layout in English and used the recycled candy boxes again. [double check!]

Contrary to the very businesslike nature of this post, I actually had a lot of fun doing this! Haha. Trying to get my layout to match the Japanese kawaii style of the candy boxes was a blast! :)

Go have some fun!!! [check...check...check...check!]

Hard Pressed but Not Crushed

2011-07-01T11:27:00.000+08:00

Do you ever feel like this?

When there are so many things pressing in together at the same time and you just want to 'pop' out of things for a bit and catch your breath? (very corny I know...haha)

I am glad my Heavenly Father knows the stuff I am made of and I am "hard presed on every side but not crushed" (2 Cor 4:8).

There is joy and laughter at home to be treasured and not taken for granted:

Here's a happy album full of happy times to keep close to heart on those 'pressing' days. (Warning, lots of photos ahead....I've had a lot of happy times - haha)

cover is transparency over a canvas book (love that chubby boy!)

inside cover

All the pages are misted:

rainbow mist

misted sun rays

bubbles in water

made by misting over eyelets

misted sky

sunset... with stickles

raindrops...

Despite the pressures of life, we've got many reasons to smile and be thankful yes?

GRAPHIC45 is coming to town!!!!!

2011-06-27T06:55:00.001+08:00

Hey!!!!!!!!

All my fellow fans of all things vintage and antiquey, guess who's coming to Singapore???! Woo hoo!

PaperMarket will be hosting this event on 27 August.

More details here.
I'm gonna see you there right???? :)

Specially Rusted Just for You

2011-06-24T14:09:00.001+08:00

This is my favourite project from May's classes. It's all brown and rusty and 'vintagey' - and I'm glad that so many of you enjoyed this project too! Thank you!!!

Other side...

Close ups:

The rusty finish of the suitcase is my favourite part of this.... and we specially requested to have these suitcases 'rusted' for the class. Which is why I found it really amusing that some people asked if we could 'unrust' it....haha.

I went stamp crazy on this one...there are hardly any embellishments....just lots of stamping

Thanks again for letting me indulge in my love for rust.... It was great seeing you all enjoy yourselves in class!

Layout Class for July

2011-06-24T13:28:00.000+08:00

Harlow! Sorry I've been missing for awhile from here... The june holidays have just flown by (don't they always?) and July's just around the corner.

Here are sneaks of the other class that I designed for June. It's a 2-layout class with nice warm woody colours...

This is the other class I showed you last time.

Class schedule's coming out this weekend... see you in July yah?

Ahhh....Good Joe

2011-06-23T09:00:00.003+08:00

Here's a fun layout I did that features Purple Onion stamps (see the cute (yet manly) hearts? And my favourite is the stamp that says "warning, may be habit forming - haha)

(All papers from majadesign, funny guy in the photo: mine)

And speaking of Purple Onion stamps...........they're being featured today on the PaperCrafts Moxie Fab blog

Do hope over and have a look, leave a comment and you might just win yourself some stamps in the process!

A Project in Two Parts...

2011-06-16T13:59:00.000+08:00

I finished a whopper of a project for July class.... It's so big that the class will have to be run in 2 parts. And I thought you might like a peek....

It's a metal-cased album. Which looks like this on the outside:

And has lots of pages and fun bits on the inside:

I'll also be designing a layout class for July....will show you when I'm done K?

Sweet Stuff

2011-06-07T09:00:00.017+08:00

For some reason, the projects I made recently all seem to be quite sweet....

Like this altered book cover for a dear friend to record the new exciting changes in her life. I kept everything flat so it'll be 'safer' to have around. No bling to poke the baby! haha.

But with lots of peekaboo Purple Onion stamps here and there. My favourite part is the 3-section 'ribbon label' - just right for papa, mama and baby's names.

And this card for my dear friend and colleague who is super sweet:

And apparently, the "Sweetheart" class I designed for June is seeing lots of sign ups....

Hmmm....Wonder if that's a sign that I should put away my black paint and brown ink?......nah! I can only do sweet for so long. :)

What Valentine's Day???!

2011-06-03T09:05:00.002+08:00

Did you know that in Brazil, Valentine's Day is celebrated in June? (neither did I...you learn something new everyday eh?)

Well, not much difference to me since hubby and I don't celebrate V-day! haha. And I made a layout about it for the very first challenge at Scrap for Help:

Layout Title: What Valentine's Day??!

" We never go anywhere for Valentine's dinner,

I have never gotten any Valentine's day flowers

We never celebrate Valentine's day....but...

I know you always care

You always forgive me

You make sure everything is ok

You always tell me so...

I don't need Valentine's Day

To know that you love me"

So....the challenge is to create a project (it can be anything) with a valentines / love theme and you have to use bubble wrap in some way on your project. I used bubble wrap to make the blue hearts on my layout since its an 'anti-valentine's day colour' (The phrase "I hate to burst your bubble..." comes to mind, haha).

Check out the many cool ideas for using bubble wrap from the DT girls! And you can also see the list of sponsors who are sponsoring this first challenge! Lots of goodies to be won!

The non-Valentine's day-celebrating Baboo has been away for 4 days now...and I can't wait till he gets home.

Scrapbooking is Universal

2011-06-01T09:00:00.015+08:00

Apparently, someone out there in faraway Brazil reads my blog....'cos she wrote a lovely email to invite me to be on the design team for a cool new challenge blog that launches today!

I love that the aim of this blog is about solidarity.....about bringing people together from around the world through art and crafting, to support each other, and perhaps do a little to help make this world a better place. I'm so honoured to be invited to be a part of this!

There'll be inspirational crafting projects, sponsored giveaways and challenges. So hop on over here to get in on the action! The blog kicks off with our first giveaway that you can get just for telling others about the blog! (Don't worry if you don't understand Portugese...just scroll down and there's info in English as well)

And look out for the funny little Singaporean girl on the sidebar - heh heh

Children are a Gift

2011-05-30T23:37:00.001+08:00

I've been wanting to scrap this memory and I finally got round to it last week...

Layout Title: "Saturday Surprise" (featuring Purple Onion stamps)

sorry about the lousy picture...

The Critters and I are on our own this week....it's gonna be a rough week, with lots to juggle and deadlines to meet before Baboo comes home and we head off for a break. So I am extra grateful for Critters who are self-entertaining, non-quarrelling, and do their homework when they are told.

Happy kids = happy mummy

Something New in the Scrapbooking World

2011-05-28T08:00:00.008+08:00

support...invent...play... create....comment

I'm excited about being part of something new that's going to be launched really soon....And amazed that I apparently now have a whole new bunch of friends from Brazil and around the world! More news soon!

Scrunchie Flower Tutorial

2011-05-27T08:29:00.001+08:00

Quote for the day: "In the digital age, don't forget to use your digits! Your hands are the original digital devices!" - Lynda Barry

Let's make...Scrunchie Flowers!

1. Cut strips of patterned paper (around 1 - 3 inches - depending on the size / height of flower you want)

2. Fold strip in half lengthwise

3. Then fold edges up towards the centre so that it sort of looks like a "W" when you look from the end.

4. Hold the centre with your fingers a little ways apart (thank you Benny)

5. Press down and push your hands towards each other to scrunch the strip

6.Repeat this along the whole strip until you have a nicely scrunched up strip which you can then twist into a spiral.

7. Arrange the spiral the way you like then glue it down on your page using a big puddle of glue (liquid glue). (Cosmo Cricket Glubers work great for this incidentally...you can pick some up at PaperMarket)

8. Make some more!!! Thinner paper is easier...

Incidentally, this is a variation on ruffles I made for a layout 3 years (!!!) ago...took me that long to figure out I could twist it into a flower...haha!

3Ms...

2011-05-24T22:29:00.001+08:00

1. A little altered canvas for Marie (using Maja Design papers of course)

2. New Papers from Maja Design coming soon...

3. Can't wait to get Mine in the Mail

Wait...that's 4 'M's... haha.

The Power of...

2011-05-19T07:23:00.000+08:00

1. Perseverance...

She's been working hard at Maths and I'm proud of her progress

2. Prayer...

Exams have been a trying time for our Li'l Mr Wigglypants (and us) but God has shown He is with us and will answer when we cry out to Him

3. Inspiration....

A new book sparks off...

...new ideas for June classes

4. Power Pig!!! (that's his nickname for me whenever I am efficient! haha) - I finished designing June classes - yayyyy!

a sweeeeeeeeeeeet layout in a shadowbox

A non-sewing handbound mini album with lots of vegetation

Class schedule's not out yet, but you can drop by the store to see the projects if you want.

In Celebration of...

2011-05-14T12:55:00.000+08:00

A certain someone...

who he is now...

who he was... (check out that old photo!!!!)

and all the wonderful times we've shared

All I have to say is... "You're (still) weird sir..."

Thank God for that!

Happy birthday Baboo!!!

Reality TV

2011-05-09T21:40:00.000+08:00

You'll have to pardon the photo overload on this post....I really really enjoyed this project (it appeals to my sense of humour and the absurd) and can't resist showing you all the fiddly bits that make me happy....

antenna

"display cupboard" at the back

Emo Benny sitting by a lightbulb

Lumpy side textures..lots of UTEE!

Right now, "Revenge of the Killer Chinese Exams" is on at my house....sigh. Can't wait till its over... :)

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY!

2011-05-07T15:11:00.001+08:00

To celebrate, Purple Onion is having a sale!

With most stamps going at 50% off!

Check out the stamps here.

And be inspired by how to use them here.

Happy International Scrapbooking Day everybody!

Way Back When...

2011-05-07T09:00:00.003+08:00

Yes, that's my wedding photo.
No, I don't look like that anymore. (as a friend of mine once said, "Married already, don't need" - hahaha)

Here's a closer look (the layout, not me lah.)

Let me know if you'd like to know how I made these no-brainer, no-skill, squish-them-up flowers. They're my favourite kind! (and the only kind I can make properly! haha) I'll see if I can pop a tutorial in here some time later. :)

Gotta run. Duty calls!

Things to Share...

2011-05-05T06:39:00.002+08:00

1. My fellow onions are doing magic with the latest Purple Onion Stamps. Gorgeous work there!

Here's my contribution...

2. And I also wanted to show you sneaks of this month's mini album class - which is full of happy summery colours and glimmer mist.

My favourite page is the one with the kids under the umbrella...cute.
See you in class soon!!! I'll share my umbrella! :)

New Stamps New Stamps!!!

2011-05-03T22:27:00.000+08:00

There are lovely lovely lovely new stamps over at Purple Onion!!!!
With loads of lovely card samples to ooh and ahh over.

And best of all, there's a chance you might just win some of the new stamps in a great giveaway!

But you've got to hurry!!! Limited time only!

Girls @ Play

2011-05-03T07:48:00.001+08:00

So on Saturday a whole bunch of us had a fun time playing together!

There was painting, dripping, splattering...

You can see more photos of everyone playing here.

Here's our playgroup leader, Ms Donna Downey. (She's the BEST! She lets you play play play and make a mess!)

Me, Mer and Shir didn't get to play with paint like the other girls... :(

So, during our lunch break, we played with masking tape instead...

angel

monocles

lau fu zi

fever

Minnie Mouse

Jiang Si (Chinese Vampire - NOT the Twlight kind)

Chun Li (remember Street Fighter?)

I love to play......don't you?

"You don't stop playing because you grow old

You grow old because you stop playing"

My Family is Farnee (reprise)

2011-04-28T09:00:00.002+08:00

Look who we found in the ice cube tray...

for some reason Benny is very tickled by the idea of Han Solo being frozen (I think it's a Star Wars thing)

Us Ngoos are farnee people...

Layout Title: "Home Entertainment System"

I think I like it that way...

MAY CLASS SNEAKS ARE OUT!

2011-04-27T10:13:00.000+08:00

Class schedule's ready!

More details on the store blog:

And best of all, last month's class promo is still on for the month of May!! So... you know what to do!

Still Learning....

2011-04-24T07:24:00.002+08:00

So far....this is what I have learned

Yes, those are real pencils....and no, that's not what I have learned.

Lesson 1: Time flies... treasure each day

Lesson 2: God gives pull? huh?...No. God gives life...

...strength....refreshment....courage.

Lesson 3: some things...

...take time

Lesson 4: It helps to laugh at yourself

Lesson 5: Ordinary Days are No Less Important

Right?

It's 6:35am Easter morning.... Thank You God for Easter! Thank You God for hope. Thank you for this life. I'm still learning just how amazing You are.

Over at the Ngoo House....

2011-04-20T11:30:00.003+08:00

Canvas Birdhouse album - March 2011 class

The house is covered in vegetation...just like our real house. Too bad we don't have a VW van like that though...

In Case You Were Wondering:

The lumpy flowers were made by stamping on transparency, then heating the edges with a heat gun till the transparency warped and crumpled.

Shingled roof made from 7 Gypsy circle tags

Here's what (or who) is inside the Ngoo house

Today I will be at home all day trying to finish my class projects.... good thing I like being here!

Saturday is Shaping Up...

2011-04-16T11:19:00.002+08:00

It's started out real nice...

The Critters surprised me with breakfast in bed... Super proud of Berry - she seasoned and fried the omelette herself. And they put the flower in the cup and Benny helped to put mayo on the bread. (somehow those little fingerprints in the bread make it extra touching)....*sniff sniff*

And things are looking promising on the work front:

I finished one project for May class yesterday.... and today I shall endeavour to finish one more! (whenever someone uses the word "endeavour" - you just know that they're actually feeling really lazy and trying to psych themselves up to get to work)

Here I go! Endeavouring....

Brain Full Hands Itchy

2011-04-14T07:03:00.001+08:00

He always asks me "What exactly are you thinking about huh?" (usually in exasperation when I forget things or do things without thinking) - he should get a medal for putting up with a scatterbrain like me.

And the answer is (sometimes) - everything at once!!! Like right now, my head is jammed with a whole hodge podge of different ideas for May's class projects along with things for Good Friday and Easter and the kids preparing for exams while Abba is running as my inner soundtrack...

I'm itching to get my ideas out! But time seems to run out too fast...and on other days, there is practically nothing on the idea front... such is life eh?

Here's one idea that managed to come out:
A whole layout covered in cardboard box slices: (all papers from majadesign)
The 'whorls' in the 'wood' are my favourite, along with the 'vines' made of baker's twine and little green leaves from the majadesign pattern paper.Ok...gotta run.....gotta get those ideas out in paper before they all run away....

Newly Hatched!

2011-04-13T06:38:00.004+08:00

This is toooooo cute!!!Check out the new mini stamp release over at Purple Onion!
And there's even a great sentiment sale going on!!! With almost every individual sentiment going at $1 or $2 - now that's a great deal!!!

This was Nice...

2011-04-11T13:49:00.003+08:00

Coming home to find my name in a magazine.... :) Grateful and honoured to be featured amongst so many talented people in the Spring 2011 issue of Somerset Memories. ....

including fellow Singaporean scrappers Wendy and Emeline ....

Benny wasn't very impressed (the album featured contains photos of him).....he just said "oh" then ran off to play Lego..... haha.

Time for Onion Flavoured Cards!

2011-04-06T10:49:00.003+08:00

Hey hey!
It's card time! Made with lovely Purple Onion goodness stamped in!

Card No. 1: Invitation
(stamps used: all the cutlery and the frame are from the Flea Market Set)
Card No.2: New House Congrats
(Stamps used: Scallops)

Card No. 3: Happy Birthday
(Stamps used: Make a Wish Set by Stephanie Tafoya)
These were fun to make. :)

And Then There Were Four

2011-04-01T17:02:00.001+08:00

PaperMarket is now at Clementi Mall!!!! Yay!!!!
Bigger pic here

Any Way You Slice It...

2011-03-31T10:41:00.004+08:00

...Cardboard boxes are super fun!
You can tear them and paint them, stamp on them, tie string around them, for instant texture....

Or slice them into narrow strips and glue them side by side so you can see the inside texture...
I like. :)

Something else that was fun to do on this layout : the red splat and 'trail'. I sprayed a puddle of red glimmer mist on he left side then tilted the layout so that it dripped down to make a trail. It was fun watching the trail 'run' and making sure it stopped before it reached the edge of the page.

Its fun when you play while scrapping.... know what I mean?

Bursting With Excitement

2011-03-28T07:22:00.005+08:00

We are... just about...almost...ready to...BURST!!!

...with excitement about the great deals on classes in April !!!

(Thank you for indulging me. You can tell that sentence was just an excuse to put in this series of cute photos right? - haha!!!)

But seriously, SUPER DEALS on April classes if you don't already know:

PLUS!!!! DONNA's COMING!!!!! Yayyyy!!!

Details on the classes are up on the store blog. And classes are open for booking already. :) See you soon!

Sweet....

2011-03-24T15:10:00.007+08:00

1. New Lens: Canon 50mm/f1.4 - which is henceforth going to be my go-to lens.

It captures a little better just how beautiful my Berry is...And fuzzes out my fat bits... haha!

2. This project for a very sweet friend... using majadesign papers.

(The papers are very purple and very pretty.......so definitely not a project for myself. haha.... but I think its her taste)

3. Tomatoes!! or so Benny says...

The boy eats tomatoes like other kids eat apples

4. Life & Hope - something to thank God for and treasure even as I think about how others in Japan have lost theirs. Makes our little Singaporean problems seem insignificant and even petty. Gotta live life fully and show love always.

April Brings New Projects

2011-03-18T17:21:00.005+08:00

Hot out of the oven! (I just finished the last project about an hour ago). Here are the three classes that I designed for April classes at Laine's.:

Project No. 1: "REALITY TV" - this project is funny and fun. Its a 6X6 Tim Holtz Configurations box altered to resemble a Tv. There are so many bits to show you, I had to make a labelled diagram (haha):My 'TV' has
1. 'buttons' (but cannot change channels)
2. A cupboard at the back for showcasing trinkets
3. a 'screen' and 'antenna'
4. a super weathered finish

(Er..... I hope you can tell that this is one of those projects that can't be finished in class right?)

The TV is missing its 'stars' (i.e. photos of the Ngoos) 'cos I'm still trying to get the exact right ones to fit the little cubby holes, but I think you get the idea. :)

Project No. 2: "Through the Years" - Mixed Page Mini Album - this one is really close to my heart, so its my pick for April. Very heartfelt and in my favourite vintagey colours and style.It's built from the latest Jenni Bowlin HodgePodge book and will be right up your alley if you like albums where none of the pages are the same shape or size (I love those!).

Its also full of lots of layered pages and hidden books within books...fun to explore - and I hope you'll have fun with all the different ideas for putting 'books' in the book. A really nice one to do for your mum / dad (tho I did mine for my sweet Baboo who hasn't received anything in a while - haha)

Project No. 3: "Fleur" - 2 Layouts - A lot of people know I'm not really into flowers, but I really like how these layouts turned out - 'cos they're more 'vegetation-like' than 'pretty' - not sure if you know what I mean - haha.

This one's has a transparent background
And this one has a nice vintage feel.

Hey, wait a minute? EVERYTHING for April has a vintage feel!!! hahaha.... So, I guess all you shabby chic fans out there....April is your month.

I hope you'll enjoy the classes next month and I hope I get to see you and catch up a bit too! :)

Incidentally, I'll be teaching on Tuesdays and Thursdays from April onwards (not Wednesdays and Fridays anymore) so if you're in town then, drop by and say hello K?

See you in class!

It's a Happy Day

2011-03-14T20:06:00.003+08:00

This layout kind of sums up how today feels:

Layout Title: "So Happy Together" (using Tattered Angels Mists and Basic Grey papers)
Today, I am Happy that:
1. The Critters still say "yay!" enthusiastically when we say, "let's go swimming together today"
2. the weather was lovely at the pool
3. The Critters are still impressed by a treat at Swensen's
4. My swimsuit still fits.

Life doesn't need to be fancy to be happy eh? :)

Oldies are Goodies

2011-03-10T07:25:00.005+08:00

I just realised recently that this is the year I turn 40.... the age at which its hard to call yourself "young" anymore. (though I must say that's not how old I am in my head - in there, I am always 21. And some days 15). *warning - long post ahead - 'old' people tend to ramble....So, just for fun, here are

40 Good "Old" Things: (in no particular order)
1. God and the Bible - hmmm...does this sound blasphemous?
2. my 'old man' Baboo
3. mummy and daddy
4. Kickapoo
5. old friends
6. Barley mints
7. Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
8. the church where I grew up
9. Mamee noodle snack
10. "Every Breath You Take" by the Police
11. Billy Joel songs
12. 7Gypsies papers and embellishments
13. Queen - the band, not the monarch
14. ratty old t-shirts
15. Clint Eastwood
16. The Muppets
17. Smurfs
18. Huey Lewis and the News
19. Singing in the Rain (the movie)
20. the Shmoo (not me, the cartoon)
21. my old checked shirt
22. Archie comics
23. Agatha Christie books
24. Dune by Frank Herbert
25. San Zha (Haw flakes)
26. Geylang beef hor fun
27. old photos
28. Vintage findings
29. Old book pages in scrap projects
30. Coke - the original
31. Sesame Street
32. The Beatles
33. Old Disney cartoons
34. Captain Caveman
35. 'Aunty' Wan Tan mee
36. fountain pens
37. Mamee Noodle Snack
38. Butthead the cat
39. Pinky and the Brain
40. me!

And here's a super old vintagey style project to wrap things off for today:

A non-sewing book binding project we did in last month's class (A big thank you to the ladies who had fun messing around with this last month!) - there are a few last slots left this month I believe...The wraparound cover is made of Tim Holtz Grungeboard
and inside its got Tim Holtz Papers for all the pages and Graphic45 Steampunk embellishmentsWe did image transfer on the covers and I reallly like how you can still see the shadowy shapes of the grungeboard alphas showing through (can see?)
And you can obviously tell I didn't plan my transfers which explains why the Eiffel tower is upside down...

K, that's it from me today. Old already....tired, need to go lie down. Haha!

A Small Serving of Onion Flavoured Cards

2011-03-07T07:49:00.005+08:00

Here's a happy card using Purple Onion Design stamps.In bright cheery colours from Cosmo Cricket's new Upcycle Collection. (Thank you Mer for sharing your papers with me!!!)

Today, I am ThankFULL! There is much to be thankful for! :)

Here's my favourite layout from last month's "DS- GO!" class:

Layout Title: Disney Dreaming
You can't really tell from the pic but the photo is 'behind glass' (aka transparency) so it's supposed to look like he's inside the car. Maybe I should have put a few squashed bugs on there to make it a little more authentic... haha.

My favourite bit is the red splotch at the "You are Here" sign. :)

For those of you who missed the class, it will be running again this month at PaperMarket Plaza Singapura.

And speaking of classes, I hope to see you guys at class in March! I really quite like the projects I designed this month and made sure they're good value for money so I hope you'll enjoy them too! :)

sneaks here and here

Enough

2011-02-26T14:45:00.002+08:00

I don't know if you need to hear this today.... I know I do sometimes.I'm...
not pretty enough to be a supermodel in a fashion magazine,

not smart enough to understand quantum physics or win a scholarship
not talented enough to be a world famous musician or artist
not rich enough to live the high life,

but...

important and special and loved enough
that God would go all out and send His only Son to die for me
And that's way beyond enough

Scrappy Info: All papers are from majadesign - mostly from the Skogspromenad Collection. (I love love love that piece of denim like background paper - and thank you thank you to Marie for sending me some more!!! And to Karin for carrying it over!)

Stuff that Has Meaning for Me:
- pure cotton tag: because that's the kind of girl I am - no silk or organza for me!
- important stuff inside: something I need to remember and something I want to teach my kids.....it's the inside that counts.super quaint measuring tape - to remember that with God and the people who matter, I don't ever need to try to 'measure up'.

As Promised...

2011-02-25T18:57:00.003+08:00

Here's sneaks of the layout class for March 2011....

"Black and Cream" (DS - B&C) - using Graphic45 Curtain Call collection
My kind of style. :)

March 2011 - Sneaks

2011-02-23T23:34:00.003+08:00

I know I'm late.... but not 'too' late I think... Designed 2 mini album classes for March

1. "Birdhouse" (prima canvas birdhouse album)
2. "Things I Learned" (Punky sprouts mixed page album)

I still owe you the layout class..... It's gonna be Graphic45 Curtain Call - right up my alley! :) Show you soon... I'm working on it!

Wanted: Lego Buddy

2011-02-23T09:00:00.001+08:00

He only has a che che (big sister) so sometimes mummy has to do 'lego duty' when papa is not available...

I'm not as good at building stuff as he is (unless there's instructions):

the droids have a cookout- check out C3PO at the BBQ

So I help with the organizing!

it's like candy...

dont' ask me why we have so many loose arms and heads

I think Han Solo looks very happy next to Princess Leia don't you?

Sometimes I think he really needs a little boy buddy to play with.... (can't wait for this little guy to grow up)

Layout Title: "As Soon as You're Old Enough.... Let's be buddies"

Playmates are a little harder to come by in these modern times in Singapore where everyone's much more isolated and all the kids out there seem to be out having tuition or enrichment class or something...

Benny Says Relax....

2011-02-21T09:47:00.004+08:00

This layout pretty much sums up what I wish I could do right now....
(here's a closer look at the fiddly bits)
Wish I could but I can't....gotta get off my tushie and finish those class projects! Go Sharon!!!

Cool Card App

2011-02-17T11:56:00.003+08:00

All you cardmakers out there might wanna check out this cool app that gives you card sketches on your iphone / pod / pad.
Best of all, the Purple Onion gals contributed some stunning cards to it!
Check it out

The Ngoo Boys

2011-02-16T22:13:00.004+08:00

Papa Ngoo likes going on adventures
Little man Ngoo likes creatures - especially marine ones.

Layout: "Naturalist" - featuring 7 Gypsies Conservatory collection.
Mummy Ngoo likes:

my little one hasn't left the nest yet...

exclusive PaperMarket Alphabites - this brown one with dots is my favourite!

tiny window with giant bees!

A big hello and thank you to all you lovely friends who made it through this class and dilligently cut out every bee, bird and branch! Hope you liked the final result!