Looking Back at 2011 & Giveaway

I've been wanted to doing this the past few days, but I didn't have the chance to for some quiet time to reflect back on the year; until now. 2011 has been amazing year and am truly thankful for all the friends, support and opportunities... (and sharing some of my favorite layouts from the year)

Looking back, one of the biggest highlight for me was being invited to be part of the Creating Keepsake Dream Team for 2011 (and also 2012). There's just no words to describe how I felt then or even now, and am truly thanking my lucky stars for this amazing opportunity. On top of that, I was able to attend my first ever CHA show (CHA W 2011) and boy was it something. Seeing everything all in one place was unbelievable and what made it even more special was actually meeting everyone in person.

(using a mix of American Crafts and Studio Calico)

And another highlight for me was being asked to Guest Design for My Minds Eye in January 2011. Needless to say, it took me only 1 sec to reply back with a big YES!!

(using MME Stella & Rose Collection)

Another team that I had (and have) the privileged to be part of is Pink Paislee. I was speechless when I received an email from Rebecca and had to even ask hubby to read it just to be sure that I wasn't dreaming.

(using Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden Collection)

And thanking my lucky stars again that I was given the opportunity to be part of the Lily Bee family for a second year. I just can't get enough of the amazing collections and adore their new stationary line collections...

(using Lily Bee Design This & That Collection)

And if there's one thing that I didn't count on, it was the opportunity to be part of the American Crafts Design Team again. I remember going back and forth on whether I should apply and finally decided to hit send the very last minute. This truly came as a surprise and thank you American Crafts for making my dreams come true!

(using American Crafts Peachy Keen Collection)

And I think my all time favorite trend of the year is banners! I just can't stop using them everywhere, bits and pieces here and there or all out like on this layout...

(using Crate Paper Portrait Collection)

and as you can probably tell, I was super addicted to banners (and still am)

(using Pink Paislee Nantucket Collection)

And another highlight of the year for me was having the opportunity to guest blog and host a challenge over at Creating Keepsake! And using one of my favorite picture from the summer - it was great to see hubby's family and friends again.

(using Basic Grey Picadilly Collection)

I've also had the amazing opportunity to guest for some challenge blogs and kit clubs this year - thank you - Pink Ninjas, Creative Scrappers, Once Upon A Sketch, Challenge Me Happy, Colorful Creations, My Creative Scrappers and Shimelle's Classes.

(using American Crafts Amy Tangerine Collection)

And another favorite trend that I picked up on are these "freestyle" mini albums; love the variations and the mix of goodies that can be included...

(using Lily Bee Design Memorandum Collection)

All in all 2011 has been nothing short of an unbelievable year, but the one thing that always kept me going was the amazing support from everyone. Thank you for all the wonderful comments, words of encouragement and you support here and for letting me share my journey, memories and creativity...

(using Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue Collection)

Giveaway!!!

And now for the fun part - I thought I would kick off the year with a Amy Tangerine giveaway!! I've got 2 of these daybooks to give to 2 lucky readers. All you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post by midnight Friday 13th and will randomly draw the lucky winners over the weekend! (Would love it if you could also share some of your resolutions for the new year or link me up - thanks!)

Thanks everyone for stopping by and will be back soon to share some projects!

Celebrating the New Year 2012!

The past few days have been a whirl wind as mummy had decided to join us in Singapore for New Years (at the very last minute - a day before!). Putting aside the gazillion phone calls to find a hotel and the perfect restaurant... we had a blast. Exploring parts of Singapore I didn't know existed, watching the amazing firework celebration, losing $X dollars in record time at the blackjack table and literally having walked the entire Singapore city! (OK the last statement might be a stretch, but we did walk heck of a lot!)

And to add to the excitement in the past couple of days, I'm honored beyond to be part of the Pink Paislee Design Team again for 2012. Thank you Rebecca for this amazing opportunity!!! And a big congrats to all the amazing ladies below; it's definitely going to be a super fun year...

Thanks everyone and wishing everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!! May all your dreams and wishes come true :)

AC Chap Love

hi everyone, I'm back to share a layout I created as part of my American Crafts assignment this month, on page makeovers and using the famous Chap collection (and I just can't get enough of the color tones in this collection).

also you might be thinking that that layout looks familiar... well that's because for the assignment, I opted to scraplift a previous layout that I had created using the Peachy Keen collection from American Crafts. it's really interesting to see how different yet similar the layouts turned out as the base design is the same but varies on the embellishments in the collections...

and here are some close up of the fun embellishments in the Chap collection - my favorite are those glossy frames...

and just in case you're curious as to where I had disappeared to the past few days.... well here's a little peak of absolute bliss... gorgeous white sand and amazing clear blue sea!!! (will definitely be sharing more in the coming days)

and wishing everyone a belated MERRY CHRISTMAS and also big thanks for stopping by!

being inspired...

It's been a quiet but crazy week here, as work is winding down and am now trying to catch up on some overdue emails and scrapping... I have to admit that I haven't been scrapping that much lately and at times, was a bit lost on where to even start. There was one assignment that I finally managed to finish after starring at it for 4 days... uhmmm.

So to kick start things again... I grab my studio calico kit and one of the sketches from PageMaps and set to work... challenging myself to use the items in the kit and drawing inspiration from the sketch... and vola, I had this done in 2 hours! I think I'm back!

Using goodies from the Studio Calico November Main Kit & Add-On Pin Cushion along with this sketch from PageMaps. And as you can pretty much guess, I'm still not over these flag banners... going a bit crazy here!



And close up of all the layering details, I just couldn't resist piling things on and also loving the new button pin trinket from maya road (need to get double of these)!



Thanks for stopping by everyone and hope you have a bannerterrific day!

And for those in Singapore, I just updated the Goodies for Sale page with more yummies...

Crate Paper Color Challenge *updated*

Hi everyone, looks as thou I must have been day dreaming when I first created this post and had scheduled the post instead of saving it as a draft... oops. but a big big thanks for all the sweet comments and this is by far one of my favorites....

I created this layout for the current crate paper color challenge (more details on the challenge and the amazing sample by Tara here). Not only do I love the colors that Tara selected, but was totally inspired by her in mini album and created this layout with a focus on space.



and also got out my silhouette for some added details... loving this script!



When I created this layout, I really wanted a lot of white space but at the same time I still wanted to utilize all the areas of the page. Therefore I selected two areas on opposite ends where then I started working on... adding bits and boobs (in order to keep my work area small and thus the effect of the white space - or so I hope)...



and also adding some scraps here and there (negative punch out of the butterfly)...



A big big thanks everyone for stopping by and hoping your week is off to a great start!!

getting ready for christmas...

with christmas not too far away, I've been busy creating cards and hoping to get them in the mail at the latest this weekend (hoping that this time the cards would arrive a little bit before or on christmas itself)...

and here's a few using american crafts - the hollyday collection along with the glitter papers and various brads.

I wanted to create something simple and clean and therefore opted to focus on the ornament and sayings (used sizzix dies for the ornaments and stickers and rub-ons are from the Hollyday collection)...

well, that's if for now but have tons more in production still...lol. hoping to get at least 35 cards done this year (hoping). how about you guys, how many have you created yet? and any tips for me?

also there's still some grab bags left if you are interested (more details here); this time around I put a lot more bags together and there's tons of yummy goodies too (primas, stamps, etc).

thanks again for stopping by and especially for all the sweet comments. a big thanks everyone.

Pink Paislee - Treat Bag Toppers

I'm back to share my pink paislee project that was posted last week on the Pink Paislee Blog as part of the Winter Wonderland Event (do stop by the blog as there's still tons of freebies and giveaways this week)...

my assignment was to create some treat bag toppers using the new winter collection - Snowday. I just adore this collection - love especially the colors and the graphic designs (honestly these papers are perfect for any theme and will definitely be using them again for valentine!). also other favorites in this collection are the wood shape embellishments and the must have product for me... the ephemera packs!

with all these yummy products, I had these bag toppers done in no time... don't you just love that wooden snowflake below!!

also another fun embellishments in this collection - is the dimensional stickers. not only are the designs super cute but they also have touches of silver and shine, like in the heart below...

Don't forget to head on over to the Pink Paislee Blog for more details and also check out all the freebies that they are giving away!!! (you're going to love them)

And for all those in Singapore, just wanted to let you know that I've added more items to my "Goodies for Sale" page including more grab bags too!! Need to majorly reduce my stash before the move. Thanks everyone!

counting down to christmas....

hi everyone, sharing my newest project for Lily Bee Blog today... using the jingle collection and having some calendar fun. I wanted to create a little something to count down to christmas and new year and came up with this idea of creating calendar cards (and finally putting that mini library drawer from 7 gypsies to use). The idea is that the front would always show the current date and the older ones are placed behind...

And here's a picture of all the cards laid out.... I tried to create some variations among them and also for some opted for big number chipboards (for the date) while others had more area for journaling...

and here are some close up on the elements... I pretty much used everything that was included in the Jingle collection - pattern papers, index cards, cardstock stickers, ABC stickers and stamps - on these cards...

to create that vintage / distress look on the chipboard numbers - I had used an small ink pad to color the area, lightly pressing down so that not all the surface was covered...

more pictures of the remaining cards...

thanks for stopping by and don't forget to stop by the Lily Bee Blog for more details. thanks again everyone and hope you're having a great weekend so far!

Hello December

Hi Everyone,

Back to share some projects that I've done recently for my Pink Paislee and Lily Bee assignments. First, is this mini album that I've created using the latest winter collection from Pink Paislee - Snowday. Not only do I adore the sweet colors and design of this collection but once again, love love love the embellishments that are part of the collection. The dimensional stickers are a must have (isn't the snow couple below just too too cute) and of course, my all time favorite product (and the first item that I always reach out for) is the ephemera pack. Just love everything and there's just sooo much to choose from too.

For this mini album - I wanted to try something different and therefore used mini envelopes as my pages. Also in addition to working on the outside, I got to included tags, pictures and more journaling details of that super cold snowy day in Chicago - in the envelopes themselves.

And a few more pages using a mix of the new bitty block alphabets, sweetness yellow glitter alphabets and die cuts from the ephemera pack.

And yes, me and sis are having one crazy time...

And lastly, don't forget to stop by the Pink Paislee blog - as we have tons in store for you in the coming days as the count down starts to Christmas!

And sharing another project that I created using the Harvest Market Collection from Lily Bee and with my trust worthy silhouette machine (which I'll definitely be using more off, as I went totally crazy and bought tons of designs during the black friday sales..lol).

For this project, I started by cutting out various sizes and colors of the leaves and also the word "home" - using the silhouette machine. Then layered all the elements together (using tons of foam dots).

And then, completed my cluster by adding the cut acorn chipboard piece from maya road and a bit of twine and pearls...

And likewise, don't forget to stop by the Lily Bee blog from now till the 24th for your daily dose of inspirations!!!

A big thanks for stopping by everyone and hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!