Winter Blues

Hi there. We certainly had a lot of fun during our Japan trip just before Chinese New Year. We took the bullet train up to Akita in the North West of the main island and also to Aomori for a few days. Lots of lovely snow to play with and yummy Japanese food. I never get tired of going to Japan.

Miss C loves the snow and wanted to be out in it every second. Too cold for me, but she could play in it for hours if I let her.

Finally able to use a snow collection from My Creative Scrapbook January Creative kit and I love all the blues and purples in the papers.

Snow Much Fun

I love all the blue papers and patterns for the background.  I tore strips of different patterned papers to lay across the background. The photos were taken in Aomori, Japan.

I love all the glitter on the diecuts and alphas.

Glittery pink flowers bring a touch of feminine to the page.

Nothing better than a hot drink to warm up a cold snow day. Love the ready made rosettes.

Products Used

Patterned papers from Echo Park Hello Winter collection and Pebbles Winter Wonderland collection

Diecuts, washi tape and rosette from  Pebbles

White glitter Thickers from American Crafts

Thanks for looking,

Christmas Layouts

Hi there. I've been pretty lax last month and only now do I have time to sit down and post my January layouts. Blame it on a busy January. I've also been doing kid's classes and haven't had as much time to work on layouts.  I did manage to finish two Christmas layouts so at least got those in. Still have a lot of Christmas layouts to do.

The first one, I've also used to enter the My Creative Scrapbook January sketch challenge.  This is the sketch:

Team Work

I love the bright colours of this paper line. I used three photos instead of just the one but I pretty much stayed to the rest of the sketch. I love pre-Christmas traditions and every year, we make a gingerbread house. This year Miss C got to work with her cousin to build and decorate one together.

I just love the bright reds and all the non traditional Christmas accents and ephemera.

The background paper is just lovely, adding that festive touch to the layout without overpowering it. For the top border, I used several paper strips, one of which I used my scallop punch on.

Products Used
Patterned papers fromPhoto Play Paper Dear Santa collection and Echo Park The Story of Christmas collection
Die cuts from Echo Park The Story of Christmas collection
Stickers from Photo Play Paper Dear Santa collection
Puffy glitter alphas from My Mind's Eye Cozy Christmas collection

Let's Trim The Tree

I love the cool grey colour of the background paper; a good foil for the greens and reds on the page. It was so great to stay at my sister in-law's house for Christmas and the first thing we did was decorate the tree. 

I stenciled gesso over a damask mask before layering on the background papers. I also fussy cut the presents and trees from one of the patterned papers.

I love the Christmas carol paper and wanted to keep that as an accent.

Products Used
Unknown as I can't seem to find the kit I used.

Thanks for looking,

Time To Learn

Hi there. Miss C has been back in school for one month now and everything has settled back into a routine. I finally got some new school papers and wanted to complete a simple page. School pages can be a little repetitive and it takes a bit of imagination to keep them fresh, so I always try to find an interesting collection. I used just one paper pack for this layout.

Time To Learn

 The papers are cute and I love the dictionary paper and flash cards in this collection. The photos were taken on the first day of school, but it seems I should have blocked off all the shoes on the floor for the first photo - LOL.

 The flag is so cute and I had to have that on the page. I inked all the edges with ground espresso distress ink, which is my new favourite dark brown.

The school bus is just adorable and I wanted a clock to tie in with the title about time.

Products Used

Papers and stickers from Echo Park Teacher's Pet collection

Ground espresso distress ink from Tim Holtz by Ranger

Thanks for dropping by,

Chill Out in Vancouver

Hi there, First week back at school and Miss C is enjoying herself, likes her teacher and is eager to get back to learning again. I love it when she comes bouncing into the flat, ready to tell me about her day.

As for me, I've done one more layout this week. I thought I'd start early this time with the My Creative Sketches challenge, so this one is based on the August MCS sketch.

http://mycreativesketches.blogspot.hk/2015/08/august-sketch.html

Chill Out

I love all the bright colours on this layout and the yellow matt is a good foil for the blue photos. The pics were taken on our first full day in Vancouver, where we were invited to a picnic by extended family.

I first added random circles of molding paste through a stencil to give a bit more interest to the page. I then added the matts on top, giving lots of contrast in colours.

I added flowers and a pink circle for the accent in the sketch and a few "beachy" stickers to tie in with the photos.

The puffy title is too cute and I love the little seagull perched on the 't'.

Products Used

Papers from Doodlebug Design Sunkissed collection and Echo Park I Love Sunshine collection

Stickers and puffy stickers and title from Pebbles Fun in the Sun collection

Flowers from Prima Marketing

Wood buttons from Shimelle

Mini yellow alphabet stickers from Doodlebug Design

Stencil from Studio Calico

Molding paste from Golden

Thanks for looking,

Summer Time Is Here

Hi there. Only one more day to the start of the summer holidays. Miss C is of course excited to not having to get up at 6:30 every morning for a few weeks. There will still be regular piano and mandarin lessons though to fill up the two plus weeks we have here before our holiday and then we're off to Tokyo, Vancouver and Alaska! It's going to be amazing. Can't wait.

On a different topic, this past weekend, we went down to the beach for a couple of hours to watch the dragon boat races. OK, we weren't really watching as we were having more fun digging in the sand than watching the races.

And Summer Begins

This was super quick page and easy page to put together. The kit was easy to work with with all the bright summery colours. I chose a blue background to make the other colours pop.

 I added Mustard Yellow distress paint and gold perfect pearls to some molding paste before stenciling in the sun ray design. I then layered the photo on several patterned papers.

  I love the stickers that came with the kit - so cute and easy to work with.

I finished the page with a splatter of paint and a little corner accent. Those flip flops are just too cute.

Products Used

Papers and various stickers by Echo Park Sunny Days Ahead collection
Chipboard stickers and brads by Echo Park Summer Bliss collection
Other stickers by Doodlebug Designs Sunkissed
Rays stencil and Mustard Yellow Distress Paint by Tim Holtz for Ranger
Gold Perfect Pearls by Ranger
Light molding paste by Golden

Thanks for dropping by,

My Brave Super Star

Hi there.  Looking through my photos, I realize there are so many photos I still haven't scrapped. Sometimes, you just have to be in the mood to scrap particular photos, you know what I mean? Like the following sports day photos. For some reason, today was the day to scrap them.

I was looking through the My Creative Sketches blog and wanted to utilize some of the previous sketches, even if the sketch challenges were over.  I chose the one from the February challenge; perfect for multiple photos, and in fact I used a 2x4 grid rather than the 2x3 grid in the sketch.

http://mycreativesketches.blogspot.hk/2015/02/february-sketch.html

My Brave Super Star

Another year, another sports day. This actually took place in November last year and it's taken me this long to scrap them. If you look at the above sketch, it only has three photos but I like how my layout has turned out without being too busy.

I did a torn border for the title strip. It gives a bit more texture to the page than just a cut edge. I love the ripples on the corrugated title.

 I'm not huge journaler but this story had to be told. Poor little Miss C, she really was so brave. A few tears in her eyes but she kept a stiff upper lip, pick herself up and finished her hurdles and all the other events.

What luck to find this sentiment in my stash. The elephant is just too cute so he had to go somewhere.

Products Used

Blue diamond and green striped paper and Today journaling card by Echo Park Anything Goes collection

Numbers paper, die cuts, frame, stickers words and washi tape by Amy Tangerine

Green corrugated Thickers by American Crafts

Small brown circle letters by My Mind's Eye Citrus Twist

Stars by Freckled Fawn

Thanks for dropping by,

Loving Our Life

Back from Bali and missing it so much. Every morning, we would start off with an hour of yoga before sitting down for breakfast and planning our day. We all had our own interests, from massages to learning to surf or just sitting by the pool.

On one of the days, we all went up to Ubud for a raw food lunch at Alchemy. Goodness, that was such a good meal. Even our die hard meat lovers were amazed. If you ever get to Ubud, this is a must try.

One week was certainly not enough and we are already planning our next group holiday next year. It really makes you appreciate how lucky we are to be able to live the lives we live; being able to afford holidays and sharing it with good friends, hence my next layouts.

 Living A Lucky Life

I love the simplicity of this page with just the blue, dark pinks and gold. I dug into my "travel" Lstash for the embellishments. I love the separate boys and girls photos.

Love the glitter phrase but wish it 'favourite' was spelt with a 'u'. For the kraft title, I added a white pen stitching to make it pop.

 I really dug deep for the flourish rub ons and I love how they frame the photos.

I love the globe - wish I had more of them. I added more flourish rub ons on this corner.

Products Used
Patterned papers by Echo Park Anything Goes collection
Globe, airplane and geotag die cuts by Amy Tangerine bits
Tag and postcard die cut by Making Memories (discontinued)
Rub ons by Making Memories (discontinued)
Silver glitter phrase sticker by Heidi Swapp
Kraft title thickers by Amy Tangerine
Pink camera button by Freckled Fawn
Pearl arrow by Prima Marketing
Washi tape from stash

 

The Sweet Life

This paper collection is just too cute. I love the mini pink triangle background paper and it's a great foil for the other colours, just as in the first layout. I can't help but smile at Miss C relaxing on the lilo.

I cut the phrase from another paper and popped it up on the speech bubble diecut. I heat embossed the wooden camera with blue and silver powder and added a little metal flower brad.

I cut the flamingo and blue stripped paper to size before using my new stitched curve die to shape the top edge. I love this continuing trend of transparent sticker.

 I really dug deep into my stash for these flowers; I think the very first ones I ever got but think they go well with this layout.

Products Used

Patterned papers by Echo Park Anything Goes collection
Journal cards by Studio Calico
Wooden camera and flowers by Prima Marketing
Embossing powders by Ranger and Lindy's Stamp Gang
Metal flower by AC Dear Lizzy
Distress paints by Tim Holtz for Ranger Inks
Transparent sticker title by Kaisercraft
Teeny alphas by Glitz Designs
Pink polka dot washi by Bella Blvd
Bling and sequins from stash

Thanks for dropping by,

It's A Sunshiny Day

Another month gone and only two more weeks before we're off on our summer holidays. We'll be going back to the UK to visit the in laws. Miss C is so excited and counting down the days until she gets to see her cousin again. It's been too long.

Today, I had the chance to complete the My Creative Sketches May sketch challenge layout. The sketch may look simple, but it's your choice to make the layout as simple or complex as you like. This time, I kept it quite literal and followed the sketch closely.

Today Is A Bright Sunshiny Day

I just love the bright bright colours and patterns on this layout. The photos were taken during our Easter break at Wet n Wild in Orlando. We actually only had a patch of sand to play on but Miss C had a blast trying to bury our gear. I kept this page pretty simple to play up the colours instead.

 Such cute chipboard embellies. I also turned the banner stickers into a chipboard banner instead.

This sunshine was on one of the papers. SO cute. I knew I had to use it and it is in the perfect spot to highlight the big photo.

Products Used

papers, stickers, chipboard from Echo Park A Perfect Summer

Yellow flowers from Petaloo

White cardstock 

Thanks for dropping by,

Happy Girly Tea Time

A couple of weeks ago, we were kindly invited to afternoon tea by Angela McDaniel, friend and fellow scrapbooker. Our daughters are also good friends and school mates, so after picking them up from school, we all piled into a cab in our afternoon tea finery and headed to the Mandarin Oriental for a posh tea. It was so cute to see little girls nibbling on warm, delicious scones and sipping tea from dainty tea cups.

Happy Tea Day

I love this pretty spring paper line, filled with gorgeous pastels. I kept the layout a bit simpler to focus on the photos of the gorgeous girls and the yummy tea set.

The adorable teapot and cups were kindly donated by Angela, who cut them from a Cricut cartridge for me.

Got a pack of buttons and pennants? Why not string them all up to make a banner.

Products Used

Patterned papers and stickers from Echo Park Splendid Sunshine

Paper flowers from Simple Stories Fresh Air

Burlap flowers from Prima Marketing

Decorative buttons and green word phrase sticker from My Mind's Eye Cut & Paste

Wood veneer hearts and quotation marks by Studio Calico

Yellow baker's twine from stash

Thanks for dropping by,