Hello...Friday

Supplies: Patterned paper: October Afternoon & Pink Paislee, Cardstock: Bazzill, Others: Ribbon, lace, Stickles, Glossy Accents, thread, flower bling.

Hello...it's Friday! Here's my card for the challenge at 2 Sketches 4 you. Really simple...just added some stickles and glossy accents for some "pop" on the cut-out October Afternoon birds...some hand-stitching along the edges.

A dark cloud in the evening sky

I spotted this lone dark cloud in the evening sky...

Inspired by Skywatch Friday.

This moment is lol priceless

Supplies: Patterned paper: Webster's Pages, October Afternoon, Cosmo Cricket, Graphic 45 & College Press, Cardstock: Coredinations & Bazzill, Chipboard letters & puffy stickers: American Crafts, Stickers: Doodlebug Designs, Adorn It & Sticko, Others: Distress inks, white pen, twill.

This is the layout I created with the photo in my first blog giveaway contest...This moment is lol priceless...:) [Please click on the image to see the details...especially the expressions on my nephews' faces.]

Thank you to all of you for your wonderful suggestions for the title for my photo...it was so fun to read...I had a hard time choosing...:( but finally went with the winner for my first giveaway.... Adrienia...Congrats! And because Maureen & Juhi suggested Priceless & Priceless Moment, I've decided to send them a box of embellishments too! Yay! 3 winners! (I'll be emailing you for your mailing addresses!)

Beautiful

Supplies: Patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket, Cardstock: Bazzill, Others: Paper flowers, stickles, stamp, ink.

Have a beautiful day my friends! :) I actually used stickles on the lattice background so it's all nice & sparkly...but it doesn't show in the photo..:(

Inspired by Card Patterns.

The Golden Gate Bridge

Supplies: Patterned paper: Imaginsce, Cardstock: Bazzill & DCWV, Stamps: Heidi Swapp, Ink: Brilliance in Lightning Black, Others: Cuttlebug embossing folder & diecut, transparency, thread, brads.

This week's challenge at Scrapping Out Loud is all about black, white and READ. You can make your layout to be like a newspaper article or just use a newsprint font. Isn't this a fun challenge? That you absolutely must play along? *wink*

My layout features a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge and some very personal journaling. Click on the image to read the journaling. Really simple layout to pull together, using scraps, some stamping work, machine-stitching and text & title printed on transparency.

Come play along with us at Scrapping Out Loud! Happy Tuesday! :)

Mexican

Supplies: Patterned paper: Luxe Design, October Afternoon & Cosmo Cricket, Stamp: Making Memories, Others: Felt, thread, corner rounder, ink.

Having won the challenge over at Ad This with my Imagine & Believe layout, I was invited to guest-design this week and this is my Mexican layout based on this ad...

The twist is all about the title. Using a combo of fonts, stamps and embellishments, let the title tell your story. Pretty cool challenge huh? Come join in the fun over here.

This photo was taken in a Mexican Restaurant in San Jose, California...if you check out the photo, you can see that I started eating before I realized I hadn't taken a photo...lol...oh well, the food was yummy...or was it the margaritas? :)

Good guys win

Supplies: Patterned paper: Fancy Pants, Stemma, American Crafts, Rub-ons: Stemma, Chipboard: Heidi Swapp, Others: Ribbon, brads, stickers, watercolor crayons, watercolor paper, white pen.

So, this week marks my last week as guest designer over at Scrapping the Music...:(. This week's song is Good Guys Win by Jimmy Buffett. Come play along!

My layout features my 2 nephews posing happily for me....after having an afternoon of fun playing on my bed, imitating me (singing the lullaby I sing to them when putting them down for a nap...to each other, patting action included!) and entertaining themselves with the toys in my room (my toys, not theirs! :) I printed the photo on watercolor paper, then painted the scene with watercolor crayons and added the cute stickers. I used rub-ons on the photo and for parts of my journaling. A little hand-stitching along the border.

*Edited* This is perfect for the Pile It On challenge this week too...:)

X'mas in July blog party & my first giveaway!

Hello!!!! Are you here for the awesome X'mas in July blog party hosted by Maggi ?Or just here for my first blog giveaway??? Welcome!

Let's head straight to the good stuff - there's no X'mas without presents, right? Here's your chance to win some goodies! We can never get enough right? Yay!

All you have to do is to check out the photo above and help me out with a possible title for a layout. A little background on the photo...This was taken on my mum's birthday with her three grandsons -my nephews...:) The photo cracks me up because the oldest (the poser) has his gameface on, #2 is reading his book the wrong side up and the littlest one is grumpy because he needs a diaper change....lol.

So, title my next layout based on the photo for a chance to win my first blog giveaway! Yay! I'll be giving I'm giving away a box of my favourite embellishments, actual stuff I use on my projects (as featured on my blog) - all the good stuff....:) and a personalized handmade gift to the person who comes up with the most creative title for my soon-to-be-scrapped layout. Easy peasy, right?

So are you going to help me out? I'll be quite sad if nobody took part in my first blog giveaway :(
But I'm sure there are some nice people around *wink*...:)

Enjoy the rest of the party back at Maggi's! You don't have to visit all the blogs listed but I understand that there are some wonderful giveaways.....*wink* so why not just spread the X'mas in July Blog Party cheer? Happy Saturday!

*Edited* Silly me! I didn't state when I would be announcing a winner...I'll pick a winner mid-week and showcase my layout with the winning title!

Beautiful sunset

I love the evening glow of a beautiful sunset. Happy Friday!

Inspired by Skywatch Friday.

Blue is my favourite colour

Supplies: Patterned paper: Scenic Route, October Afternoon & Sassafras, Cardstock: Bazzill, Brads: Renoir, Chipboard letters: Heidi Swapp, Stickers: Adorn It, Others: Ribbon, thread, bunny embellishments, watercolor crayon.

Blue is my favourite colour. What's yours?

Nothing fancy. Really just uilized scraps and let the colour do the talking. See how pretty blue is! I love the pleated ribbon border with all the brads....and the little bunnies!

Inspired by These are a Few of My Favorite Things & Twisted Sketches.

Me

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill, Chipboard letters: Heidi Swapp, Others: Buttons, lace, ribbon, pearls, crochet flowers with mirrored centers, stamp, toilet paper.

Please click on picture to see the details.

The challenge over at Mix It Up is to do a monochromatic layout using white. Yes, white! What a challenge! I decided to scrap an old photo of myself - me at age 5 or 6 I think...and pulled out my white embellishments - some crochet flowers with mirrored centers, white pearls, white lace (recycled from old clothes), ribbon, buttons. The row of tags was done using paper casting. The overall piece actually looks pretty dreamy but it was so hard to photograph...

Joy

Supplies: Patterned paper: MME (base) & Li'l Davis (flower), Cardstock: Bazzill, Letter brads: EK Success, Others: thread, lace, silver trim, paper flowers & leaves

I'm feeling a little under the weather :( so I want to spread a little joy to everyone else! Have a joyous day!

Inspired by Card Patterns.

My grandpa

Supplies: Patterned paper: EK Success, Cardstock: Bazzil, Stamps: Fontwerks (w0rds), Cat's Life Press (Remember) & Fancy Pants (swirl), Crackle paint & distress inks : Ranger, Chipboard: Heidi Swapp, Hinge: Making Memories, Brads: Making memories, Others: Transparency, thread, keyhole brad, white pen

The challenge at Scrapping Out Loud this week is the technique Distressing. My layout features my paternal grandpa as a young father, carrying a child. My dad doesn't know if it's him or his older brother. The original photo was a little torn and blurry and was restored with Photoshop. It was enlarged, printed on a transparency and handstitched to white cardstock. The background paper from EK Success was perfect for this because it already looked distressed. I added a strip of cardstock at the base that was "distressed" with crackle paint and inked with various distress inks. Some paper tearing at the edges and for my journaling. The chipboard letters and a piece of white lace were also inked with distress inks.

So, what do you think? Ready to do some distressing? Come play along at Scrapping Out Loud!

The three bowls

The three bowls of the Pavilion Crystal Fountain

The Pavilion Kuala Lumpur shopping mall

Malaysia

I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last week on a short break and went to see the newest iconic structure that was inducted into the Malaysia Book of Records as the country's tallest crystal fountain. The fountain which consists of three bowls with the hibiscus motif (Malaysia's national flower) serves as an emblem of progression of Malaysia as a nation.

Inspired by Ruby Tuesday, Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday.

New baby

Supplies: Patterned paper: Luxe Designs, Sassafras and K & Co, Chipboard: Heidi Swapp, Others: Glossy accents (toys), thread, watercolor crayons (orange).

It's a little late since my littlest nephew is now 3 months old but he's still the new baby in the family! The baby toys were cut out from K & Co paper and glossy accents was added for some dimension & shine. Some handstitching and I used watercolor crayons to colour the white chipboard letters.

Inspired by CPS, Pile It On, Creative Card Crew, Lili of the Valley, The Pink Elephant and Caardvarks.

If today was my last

Supplies: Patterned paper: October Afternoon (base paper), American Crafts (photo mat), Lil' Davis (cutout flowers) & Sassafras (border strip), Brads: American Crafts, Chipboard: Heidi Swapp, Others: Ribbon, lace, thread, green pen, paper flowers & leaves, sandpaper

It's my third week guest designing (see week 1 & week 2) at Scrapping the Music. This week's song is If Today was Your Last Day. What would you do if today was your last? I would definitely spend it with the ones I love. While searching for a photo for this layout, I came across this photo taken with my grandma in 2007 when we went on a week-long vacation to Korea (She is a Korean drama addict). It was an interesting trip with me sleeping on the bus most of the time because I couldn't sleep with her snoring so loudly in the room. But I enjoyed watching her get excited when we visited some of the drama sets...:) She was like a little kid in a candy store. Yeah, my 80 year old grandma...lol. :) So, what would you do if today was your last?

Travel Box

Supplies: Patterned paper: 7Gypsies & various scraps, Cardstock: Bazzill, Chipboard: K & Co, Stickers: EK Success, Others: Brilliance ink, travel stamps, rub-ons, embossing powder, Cuttlebug embossing folder, brown string, ribbon, belt buckle, wood chips.

So I got an Audrey Award for winning last week's challenge at Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge for My Darling card and was invited by Brooke & Sankari to be Guest Designer this week. :)

This week's movie is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and the requirement is to add an unexpected element to your card, layout or altered item. I love the Harry Potter series of movies because they are always shrouded in deep mystery and involve some form of time travel. In this movie, I love the enchanted Ford Anglia they got to ride in. Don't we all want to travel via a flying car? How exciting! And what's more mysterious than what's contained in a box? Thus, I was inspired by the movie to create a travel box. The unexpected element to the piece is the clasp I used for the box - it is actually a belt buckle.

I adhered 7Gypsies paper over a wooden box, then stamped various travel-related stamps all over the box. I also used various rub-ons and some embossing powder to create some dimension on the box. For the title work, I embossed cardstock, rubbed gold ink over, then adhered to square wood chips to form the base. I then added chipboard. As usual, I didn't have all the chipboard letters so I improvised by cutting the letters "a" & "e" from a scrap piece of patterned paper. I rolled up a piece of scrap paper to resemble a scroll and adhered by tying some string around it. I added a gold belt buckle to serve as a clasp for the box.

You can draw inspiration from this movie or any of the Harry Potter movies and link up your creations over here. Do join in the fun! I would love to see what you create!

Happy Saturday!

Why?

Supplies: Patterned paper: SEI (base), October Afternoon (houndstooth) & Fancy Pants (Scalloped edges & flower), Rub-ons (on photos): Tinkering Ink, Chipboard: Heidi Swapp, Stickers: American Crafts, Others: Thread, glossy accents, black pen & white pen.

I just had to scrap this photo [chuckle]. Check out the expressions on my nephews' faces when grandma gave them new toys. The older one was elated with his cool Power Rangers toy while the younger one was visibly disappointed with his noisy chicken flashlight. If he could articulate what he was thinking, it would probaby be "Why can't I get the cool toy?"


Inspired by One Little Word & The Next Step.

Imagine & believe

Supplies: Patterned paper: October Afternoon (base), SEI(bugs) & Fancy Pants (label), Chipboard: Heidi Swapp, Stickers: Toga, Others: StazOn (black),White pen, black pen, ribbon, border punch, glossy accents & clear acrylic

"Imagine & believe" were words from an English teacher at school. She always said that we had to use our imaginations, dream big and believe that hard work will pay off. From time to time, I would forget and engage in a self-pity fest. What advice have you gotten that you still use today?

This layout features my second nephew, O, trying so hard to emulate his big brother to flash the "peace" sign. It was fun to watch and made me wonder if I was like that too, trying to copy my older brother's every move. I have certainly out-grown that! :)

This layout was inspired the sketch at Pile it On, the ad at Ad This & the catalyst at Creative Therapy.
*Edited* I won the challenge at Ad This! :)

Korea

Supplies: Patterned paper: 7Gypsies, Sassafras & Chatterbox, Cardstock: DCWV, Chipboard: Heidi Swapp, Distress Inks: Vintage photo, tea dye, walnut stain, old paper, Stickers: Toga, Others: twill, white pen.

This week's challenge at Scrapping Out Loud is to use the technique Paper Casting. It's a cool technique using something you already have at home - toilet paper! You may check out this tutorial on how to do it here. I inked mine with distress inks but you can colorize them with chalks & glimmer mist too. Just be careful when handling though, it's really delicate.


This layout features me on my first trip to Korea. You can tell how happy I was! I really enjoyed the cold...:) These days I'm trying to use up my scraps along with some really old paper...7 Gypsies & Chatterbox. I have a ton of these because I started this hobby with an obsession for altered items...and these are great for decoupage...I really started doing layouts and cards only this year..:)

Do play along!

You are gorgeous

Supplies: Patterned paper: We R Memory Keepers, Felt: Fancy pants, Stickers: American Crafts, Rub-ons: Kaiser Craft (beautiful) & Tinkering Ink (circles around scalloped border), Border punch: Fiskars, Others: Corner rounder, Stickles, button, pearls, string.

When was the last time you told someone, "You are gorgeous! " or "You look fabulous!" ? (Kids & pets excluded :)). The other day, a perfect stranger came up to me and said "You are gorgeous!". It totally made my day! I was floating on a cloud the whole day! When was the last time you paid someone a compliment in real life? Why is it so easy to compliment someone in the blogosphere but so difficult to tell someone in real life that you think they are fabulous?

Go ahead. Make someone's day today. :)

This post is dedicated to my new blog friend Maggi who's hosting this awesome Christmas in July Blog Party. Join us for a fun-filled day of blog hopping, creative inspiration and lots of giveaways too. I'm doing my first giveaway so mark your calendars - July 25!

Inspired by Card Patterns, Use it challenges & Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge.

Marigold cows

Spotted these Marigold cows on a bus. Aren't they cute? They are winking at you! Spot the bits of yellow?

Inspired by Mellow Yellow Monday.

What I like about you

Supplies: Patterned paper: American Crafts & Cosmo Cricket, Cardstock: American Crafts, Stickers: American Crafts, Others: white pen & black marker

Yay! A new week and a new challenge at Scrapping the Music where I am guest-designing this month (see previous post). This week's song is What I like about you...so I wrote a whole bunch of words to describe my nephew, S, whom I absolutely adore...I used up my scraps from a long time ago...recognize the American Crafts stuff? And some recent leftover from Cosmo Cricket. I love shaped papers and did this using a circle punch on all four corners, outlined with a black Sharpie then did faux stitching with a white pen.

Hope you'll play along! Happy Monday!

Please save our home

Supplies: Patterned paper: SEI, Stickers: Adorn IT, Others: Ribbon, glossy accents

Please save our home. Planet Earth that is. Are you doing your part? I am. Recycle. Reuse. Reduce. I use very little supplies on my projects. I always cut the backs of papers out when I mat. If possible, I use a marker/pen/paint to create the illusion of depth (to reduce need for actual matting).

Inspired by CPS & Moxie Fab World.

I love watching the sunset

I love watching the sunset...especially when someone else is driving...:)

Inspired by Skywatch Friday.

Dream vacation

Supplies: Patterned paper: October Afternoon, Cosmo Cricket & American Crafts, Cardstock: Bazzill, Others: Felted animal stickers.

This is my first ATC! My dream vacation... Can you guess where?

Inspired by Art Pieces.

My name is Joey

Supplies: Patterned paper: Rouge de Garance (base), Scenic Route ("amazing" strip) & Sassafras (around photo), Cardstock: DCWV, Stickers: Doodlebug designs, Renoir & Toga, Tag stamp: EK Success, Ink: Brilliance,Others: Ribbon, cork paper, Fruit iron-ons, glossy accents, white pen, black pen.

This is my first DT layout over at Scrapping Out Loud. This week's challenge is to scrap a recipe. I scrapped about my dog's favourite meal - salmon with brown rice, hence the title "My name is Joey & I am hungry...:) Actually, I was running low on stickers and this title was the best I could do....lol..

I've always wondered why I bought this Rouge de Garance paper - it looks really bright and lovely and so hard to use...now I know. :) I basically scrapped on top of this beautifully designed paper, adding the cork paper on one side to break up the busy print. I added some scraps of Sassafras paper along the edges of the photo and then a strip of Scenic Route paper on the top. Edges were inked with Brilliance ink. I added some fruit iron-ons (can you see?) - a pear and an apple - they just happen to match the paper and some red flowers. Added ribbon, stamped some tags and wrote my journaling. I like how bright and colourful the LO is. It just makes me happy!

Remember to play along at Scrapping Out Loud!

My darling

Supplies: Patterned paper & cardstock: American Crafts, Stickers: Doodlebug Designs, Others: Ribbon, clear acrylic, Stazon

A simple acrylic card. Flowers cut out from American Crafts paper, Edges inked with Black Stazon. Butterfly accent attached to silver mesh ribbon tied into a bow.

Inspired by Saturday Cinema Creative Challenge and Card Patterns.

*Edited* I won this week's Saturday Cinema Creative Challenge! :)

Red flowers

Spotted these red flowers on a frangipani tree after a heavy downpour.

Inspired by Ruby Tuesday.

You can see

Supplies: Patterned paper: Basic Grey, Cardstock: DCWV, Stickers: Toga (black & white), American Crafts (white) & Doodlebug Designs (black), Puffy stickers: American Crafts, Others: colour pencils, black pen, white pen, ribbon, 3D dots.

I'm the Guest Designer for the month of July over at Scrapping The Music. I was so thrilled to be asked since it's one of my favourite challenge blogs. I try to participate every week. One of my layouts is in the Hall of Fame too. :) And the Design Team's really fabulous. Please join in the fun! I would love to see what you come up with. There's a RAK to be won too!

Here's my layout for the song is "Cheers". I went for a cutesy layout with cut-out birds which I outlined with a black pen and coloured with watercolour pencils (I skipped the water part ;). I also coloured all the parts of the patterned paper that I outlined. Love Basic Grey! The ribbons on the the top are small pieces of scrap ribbon which I stapled on. I then added stickers for the date. I didn't have the right letters to spell the word "Bird Park" so I improvised..can you spot them? :)

This makes me hungry

I love a new month. It means a trip to my favourite Japanese restaurant. I love the small portions they serve in the 7 course meal...a little taste of everything. Don't you love the way the Japanese present food? This makes me hungry...:)

Happy Monday!

Inspired by Mellow Yellow Monday.

Artist

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill, Puffy stickers: American Crafts, Stickers: Doodlebug Designs, 7Gypsies, ProvoCraft & Toga, Brads: Making Memories, Others: Ribbon, paint, gel medium, white pen, clipboard, child's drawing.

The challenge for July's Scrap Inspire Create is up! This month's challenge is to alter a clipboard and turn it into a decor piece. So much fun! I painted my clipboard, decoupaged my nephew's drawing (which serves as patterned paper), added a ribbon border & some tag stickers...I kept it relatively flat because I still wanted it to function as a clipboard...:)


Do play along! :)

Mum & me

Supplies: Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye (Base) & American Crafts, Cardstock: American Crafts, Stickers: American Crafts & Doodlebug Designs, Brads: Making Memories, Transparency: Hambly, Others: wood chip (circle), paint (pink) , Fiskars border punch, white pen, photo printed on watercolor paper.

A walk down memory lane...this layout features my mum & me...I must have been 3 0r 4 years old. Notice the floral arrangement in the photo? My mum always had one of those in the house when we were growing up...check out what I was holding...a box bag..apparently I was vain then, I was always carrying a handbag around...hmmm..what we love in childhood, we love as adults..explains my bag collection...:)

Inspired by Twisted Sketches & Pile it on.

Sunset at rush hour traffic

I hate rush hour traffic. At least the sky looks beautiful...

Inspired by Skywatch Friday.

13 ways to get more blog comments

Whew! I made it! 6 months of blogging. [I did a post at 3 months.]. So now I'm way past people just visiting my blog, I want them to comment. Don't you just love comments? :)

I did a little research, both online and through some books I found at the library. Here are 13 ways to get more people to comment. These are not exhaustive. Some I've tried, some I haven't.

1. Write short posts. Especially if you want people to read through your entire post.

2. If your topic is really descriptive, add pictures to sustain interest. And keep important points at the beginning of the post.

3. Ask questions. Try to do it subtly in the beginning and at the end. People love to answer questions. Somehow "what do you think?" is a better call to action than "let me know what you think".

4. Respond to your commenters. Reply to their questions. Visit their blogs. Familiarity breeds participation. Whenever I participate in memes, I always visit blogs of people who have left me lovely comments first because I remember them..:).

5. Relevant content. Content can be targeted for a niche group of people or to a wider audience. People like to respond to something they can relate to. Just last month, I blogged about something as mundane as scissors and people commented and answered my questions. I guess it's because everybody has a pair somewhere.

6. As much as you wish to be thorough, leave your post a little open-ended so that readers will comment to point out to you what you missed out.

7. Have a giveaway. Personally, I haven't tried this but by observation, this seems to work. Have you tried it?

8. Ask for help in solving problems...people are generally helpful and sympathetic.

9. Visit blogs and leave meaningful comments. This really really works. I no longer leave meaningless single word comments that add no value because you really get what you give...:)

10. Disable the word verification function. Apparently this is a turn-off for a lot of people. Personally, when I experience difficulty in leaving a comment (because blogger sometimes hangs at this stage), I just don't. I've disabled this function for two weeks now and so far no spam and a few more comments I think....:) Have any of you had problems?

11. Substantiate your posts with relevant links. Check to make sure the links work.

12. Be positive. No one likes to read a whiny post. Vent if you must but stay generally upbeat. I gave up visiting a blog entirely because the writer blamed everyone else for her "miserable life" and the language was totally offensive. Have you had such an experience?

13. Be yourself. You don't have to be an open book but people respond positively to authenticity.

I leave you with this post on how to leave a great comment. There's a hilarious YouTube video in it that you must watch! Oh yeah, before you go, have you left a comment on my post? ;)

Inspired by Thursday 13.

Bird Bench

Isn't this bird bench cute? I love benches. From the time I watched the movie "Notting Hill"...Remember that bench that Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts' characters saw when they climbed over the fence to the garden? The one with the engraving:"For June who loved this garden, from Joseph who always sat beside her."?

Aww...I'm a sucker for romantic gestures...:) Apparently, it's closer in proximity to me now than at the time the movie was filmed. It is now residing in Perth, Australia. You can see a picture of it here.

Inspired by Outdoor Wednesday.