American Crafts 2011-2012

I'm surprised and excited beyond to be part of the American Crafts Design Team for 2011-2012 - speechless actually; I honestly didn't think that I would have a chance (and even already bought my dose of AC CHA-S goodies)...thank you stephanie & american crafts for this amazing opportunity again and am honored to be creating along side these amazing scrappers. A huge congrats to everyone!!!

INTERNATIONAL
Cindy Stevens – from New Brunswick, Canada
Lilith Eeckles – from Bertogne, Belgium
Michelle Clement – from British Columbia, Canada
Piradee Talvanna – from Singapore
Revlie Schuit – from Roelofarendsveen, The Netherlands
Shimelle Laine – from London, England

UNITED STATES
Amy Heller – from Newtown, CT
Cindy Tobey – from Kentwood, MI
Corrie Jones – from Dallas, GA
Heidi Sonboul – from Torrance, CA
Jamie Harper – from Phoenix, AZ
Jenny Chesnick – from Brooklyn, MD
Leah Farquharson – from Lauderhill, FL
Leslie Ashe – from Fort Worth, TX
Mandy Koeppen – from Hastings, MI
Melissa Mann – from Pensacola, FL
Paige Evans – from South Pasadena, CA
Pamella Brown – from Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Rahel Menig – from Gilroy, CA
Suzy Plantamura – from Laguna Niguel, CA

and thanks everyone for all your support!!

Get Picky Challenge #11 & Pink Paislee Nantucket

Hi guys, the latest Get Picky Sketch Challenge is up and for this challenge I used the gorgeous Nantucket collection from Pink Paislee. From the collection, I selected the turquoise and golden yellow color as the main focus for the layout.... and also using the new mask from the Pink Paislee Mistable collection for some misting details (with studio calico white mist).

and also finally using up these prima flowers that I've been hoarding forever - the colors were a perfect match!

and one of my most favorite embellishment from the Nantucket collection are these hexagon chipboard pieces... honesty you really need to get at least two of these, cause they are super addictive and super fun to use (just check out the ideas on the pink paislee blog).

and more details on the mask used (from the Mistable collection).

thanks for stopping by everyone and hope you guys will play along with us over at Get Picky. also in case you haven't heard - they're having a DT Call at the moment (more details here). what are you waiting for? **wink**

CK - 100 photos in ONE night!!

hi guys, sharing one of the my assignments in the Creating Keepsake September 2011 issue - and yes, it's to scrap a 100 photos in one night! I know - yeah right! right? that's what I thought! But once I calmed down - OK, it is do able, especially just having attended my first ever CHA show and taken over a hundred pictures (would also like to thank Linda Barber and Kim Watson for their help in providing even more pictures - you guys are the best!)


so grabbing one collection to work with - american crafts campy trail, a handful of jillibean soup corrugated shapes, october afternoon buttons and stacks of rub-ons from studio calico (these little birds are just too too cute)... I set off to work on my layouts using the We R Memory Keepers page protectors as the basis.





and in a second (well ok - maybe after a few minutes), I had my first page... filled with all the new CHA-W 2011 goodies and the amazing people that I had the chance and pleasure of meeting. it's absolutely wonderful to be able to meet everyone in person and was taken by all the sweetness and kindness of EVERYONE. to be honest, I didn't know what to expect and was so nervous meeting everyone (that I was either standing there looking super stupid and speechless or couldn't stop taking cause I was so happy to meet them in person!)





in general I kept the layout/design as simple as possible and filled up the smaller photo sleeves with either pictures or notes, and only creating a mini page design in the center. so most of my pictured were printed in wallet size which I then trimmed to 3x3 (size of the smaller selves) and a few of then were 4x6. I also prepared some 3x3 cardstock pieces where the text is first printed on vellum and then it glue on + one adorable rub-on bird.





as I'm writing this... I honestly don't know how to say or what to say... but it really is an honor to meet everyone there and everyone was so kind and wonderful. speechless still. and the CK editors were amazing in person and the CK dream team - yeap, its official - we are a crazy bunch of scrappers (and drivers *wink*)! love you all!





and still laughing at myself, but when you are as crazy as me... you'll do about anything to take a picture with everyone... **wink** thanks guys for taking a picture with me!









as seen in the September 2011 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. copy right Creative Crafts Group. Posted with prior permission from the publisher. note -not all pages shown here are included in the magazine.


supplies used include: cardstock, pattern paper, foam alphas, adhesive: american crafts; chipboard accents: lily bee designs; buttons: october afternoon: rub-ons and wooden alphas: studio calico; corrugated shapes: jillibean soup; twine: the twinery; page protectors: we r memory keepers; punch: ek success; trimmer: fiskars.





thanks for letting me share and for more inspirations on how to scrap a 100 photos in one night, check out what Nicole did here and Laura's amazing work here.


thanks again for stopping by everyone.
ps. & for those in Singapore - you might want to take a quick look at my goodies for sale page.

second attempt

I'll be honest, I don't always like everything that I create. At the time it "looked" ok, but then after a while or once the pictures are taken, something is off.... Most of the time, that "feeling" / "look" can easily be fixed by adding a bit more embellishment or changing the colors of some of the items used... but then there are times, when it really feels "off".... and yesterday was one of those times.

So ... I redid my National Day layout. This time around I went with a 11x8.5 layout and also made sure that the embellishments flows from right to left - in line with the water in the photo.

most of the items I was able to salvage from the previous layout (the wonders of removable adhesive).... but lost my sub-title. Initially I was thinking of additional journaling on the bottom of the photo (before the punched scallop border), but then realized that I already had the journaling tag... ooops.

And honestly (I know again) - I just love love love these ABC stickers from Lily Bee. I can't wait to see the new ones/colors... (the papers are absolutely gorgeous in person)!

thanks for stopping by everyone, and just curious - do you have days like me? or is it just me? ;)

ps. I still do like my first layout but felt that the flow of the embellishment/page was contradicting to the flow in the picture - if that makes any sense at all? for me - when I look at the first layout I'm first drawn to the clusters of elements on the bottom and then work my way up to the top of the page. However, when I look at the picture - it goes from right to left... uhmmmmmm

Happy National Day Singapore!

I know I say it too often, but really - it doesn't feel as thou it has been 3 years since I relocated to Singapore for work. That it has been 3 years since I discovered Made With Love and became addicted to scrapbooking. And never in my wildest dreams, would I have thought that my work would bring me here... to where I am today...

I created this layout based on the current color challenge from Crate Paper - and using bits and pieces of various crate paper collections to layer everything together...

And as you can tell, I'm totally in love with these Lily Bee Alphabet stickers - they are super fun to use and just the right size... mixing up the alphas here...

Sorry for the short post, but off to explore Singapore!

Hope you guys have a very happy happy national day!

... and don't forget about the National Day Contest that we are currently having over at Made With Love this month... more details HERE. I hope you guys join in on the fun and can't wait to see all your creations!!

New Pink Paislee Mistable Collection

I can't believe the weekend is already over (its already sunday night over here) and still wishing it was friday evening....oh well - but before getting ready for work tomorrow, I just wanted to share this layout I created using the new pink paislee collections - Mistables and Phantom.

here I misted the mistable fabric flower with tattered angels "party pink" and "diamond" mists; whereby at the center of the flower - I used the" diamond" colored mist to dilute the pnk color and thus creating that two tone flower....

for the turquoise background, I used tim holtz distress inks -broken china and tea dye - to create the blend of colors and then sprinkled some water to create the droplets effect. honestly, this collection is a must have as the possibilities are endless as to what you can do with them... from misting, to inking, to painting... and I'm sure there's a lot more things/technique that can be done...

a big thanks for stopping by everyone and all the super sweet comments (really appreciate them)... and nite nite guys!

New Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue

oooooooh, you're going to love the new pink paislee vintage vogue collection - the perfect shade of purple mixing with pink and teal! gorgeous right? this was the first collection that I grab. and to be honest, I wasn't sure when I first saw the pictures, but once I had all the papers laid out - LOVE everything about it.

and using one of my funny picture that hubby took of me, I really have no clue what I was doing at that moment.... guess it's just me monkeying around... lol

the embellishments included in this collection are super fun to work with (everything except the buttons are from the collection).. and really loving the texture on the chipboard pops - they have this glossy finish {that really makes them shine and pop!}

and another fun embellishment included in this collection is the ephemera pack and as before there are tons of die cuts included and endless possibilities...

and here's more close ups of the die cuts and also the paper rosettes embellishments with one of the brads on top....

a big thanks for stopping by and stay tune for more pink paislee to come... oh yes, I've been scrapping up a storm here...lol.

Guesting for Colorful Creations

a quick one to share a layout that I created based on a sketch provided by colorful creations challenge site - as part of the guest designer challenge series that they are currently having. for more details of the challenge... check out the details here at (http://colorfulcreations.ning.com/) and the ladies there are the sweetest ever!!!

I used the gorgeous emma's shoppe collection from crate paper for this layout and also mixing in some prima flowers (which for some reason, I've been really addicted to lately and can't seem to stop using them). aren't those blooms gorgeous?

also can't get enough of these alphabet stickers from lily bee - they truly are the perfect size for everything ... from cards to layouts!

and to be honest - for the longest time, I've always wondered how I was going to use the journaling cards that are part of the collection. I'm sure as you may have noticed, I'm not much of a writer nor do I include much journaling on my layouts/projects (and am still grateful that all through university I only had to write one essay). but when I saw the sketch... vola! these are perfect size and patterns for layering...



thanks for stopping by everyone!!

Challenge Me Happy GDT & CK Winner

hope everyone had a great weekend! as for me - you could say that I had a super creative one... I'll admit that I didn't do much else but scrap to my heart desires (lol - or so they say). yeap, I just got my pink paislee dt box and couldn't resist trying all the mistables and oh... the new collections are amazing!! can't wait for everyone to see it in person - you definitely don't want to miss a thing!

and to kick start this week - I have the honor of guest designing over at Challenge Me Happy (challenge blog) - where the challenge is to scraplift one of my previous layouts... and here's my take (on myself...lol)

and here's the original layout...

and to be honest, I found this challenge super hard. it's really hard to scraplift yourself without copying everything that you did the first time. i decided to keep the layout design the same as the original (but went with the 12x12 size instead) and also some of the elements (such as the tim holtz tissue paper tape) are the same. I had to refrain myself from include the white doily that I used on the first one, but in the end I still went with a doily - only its kraft. (I know - big change right?)

also in trying to differentiate the layouts, I used the studio calico - july main kit (mind the gap) - and some other bits and bobs that was laying around my table; in hopes that I would create something different... (uhmmm not sure if that idea worked). also having some more fun with distress stains (used on the heart above and butterfly below) - I really do love how easy it is to cover the embellishments and once it dries, you can still see the wood textures....

and on to what you all have been waiting for.... the lucky winner of the new Creating Keepsake Tips & Trick Magazine is.... (drumroll please)...

a huge congrats Claire!!! please email me your address details so the wonderful folks at CK can mail you the issue. and a big thanks to everyone for your interest in the magazine and for stopping by here.