This little fella....

This little fella is currently my latest crush. He has the sweetest smile and the most dramatic lead-up to a cry. *winks*

This little fella is my nephew E. Always happy and super adorable.:)

I decided to work with a pastel colour palette here...with neutrals, blue, green and yellow.

I was amazed at how much of this colour palette I actually have in my scrap stash. *winks*

Playing along with The Studio Challenges.

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A mixed media girl on canvas

It started out in the typical fashion. Some wrapping tissue + remnant lace on a canvas with a coat of gesso. Then some mists and inks.

I was all ready with my hot glue gun and embellishments when I decided to paint a face instead. Well, a girl can change her mind, right? *LOL*

It was rather hard to draw and paint over such a textured surface. But I went in with guns blazing...I mean art supplies spread all over my desk...*winks*

I think my mixed media girl on canvas turned out okay. What do you think?

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I love "shopping" in my scrap pile...*winks*

It has been quite fun "shopping" in the scrap pile for the little bits and bobs to put together on projects. I have discovered that I used to 

1. Enjoy fussy cutting. A lot apparently. I have quite a collection of fussy-cut critters and flowers. 

2. Like patterned paper with journaling cards.

3. Be indiscriminate about accepting patterned papers from well-meaning friends. There are some really questionable designs that I would have never chosen on my own and evidently, have not figured out how to use them yet. *LOL*

Here is a card that was created when I went "shopping" in my scrap pile....

What about you? Do you enjoy "shopping" in your scrap pile?

Playing along with Fusion Card Challenge.

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The Yam circus

If you were wondering why you haven't seen the Gangster Gang of late, this is why.  The Yam circus cannot cooperate enough to take a decent photo together. Period. 

It's like you think you've got the perfect shot and the someone moves/blinks/makes a funny face. *LOL*

Nephew #1 and the niece are always camera-ready...the other two nephews are a real problem. One refuses to smile, the other refuses to stay still. Sigh...the woes of a auntrazzi. *winks*

I had fun working on this layout though....even my star punch came into play. Along with some diecuts. And buttons. The scrap pile is surely dwindling right? *haha*

Playing along with Stuck?! Sketches.

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Have you noticed how much I enjoy clustering my embellishments? *winks*

I love clustering my embellishments. A lot. Have you noticed? *winks*

I love rummaging through my stash and picking out embellishments that might look good together in a cluster.

I've long given up on rationalizing what actually goes in a cluster. Like what has a flower got to do with wooden spools, right? *LOL*

What I do like is combining dimensional elements with textural ones....

How about you? Do you enjoy clustering your embellishments?

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Love cherish adore

I love my cards relatively flat (for easy postage) but somewhat textured for visual and tactile interest. So for this Love cherish adore card, I pieced together remnant pieces of lace for base of the card. 

It looks like a whole piece of lace, right? *pats self on the back*

Then I distressed the edges of the sentiment panel to add a little more texture.

I finished with my fave ribbon tab and button combo. It is a great way to use up little bits of ribbon that are too short to tie a bow with and lone buttons. :)

P/s: Happy Valentine's Day friends! :)

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Another mixed media girl in my art journal...;)

Purists say that mixed media is for those with short attention spans because they can't decide on which medium to focus on so they play with whatever catches their eye. I think that people who dabble in mixed media want to best of all worlds so everything gets thrown into the mix! *winks*

Well, that's my story for this mixed media girl in my art journal. *LOL*

I started her with coloured pencil sketch, then went in with watercolours and soft pastels on her face.

After a few coats of workable fixative (to fix the pastels), I went in with Prismacolor pencils to define the features and Faber Castell Gelatos for the cheeks and highlights.

The hair was painted with Liquitex ink in a brush pen and the background was coloured with Caran d'Ache Neocolor II watersoluble crayons.

I finished off with a white Molotow paint marker for the highlights in the eyes and used Prismacolor pencils to suggest movement in the hair.

P/s: So I really do use my art supplies and not just collect them! 

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How many paper scrap pieces did I use on my layout?

These days, the goal is to use up as many scrap pieces on my layouts as possible....and it is hard! I have a lot of small pieces that I just can't bear to throw away. 

How many paper scrap pieces did I use on my layout? Go ahead and count....I'll wait for you. *winks*

Did you guess 23? Then you are right! *LOL*

Playing along with My Creative Sketches.

P/s: Layout features my cousin, her husband and their little boy- my nephew E!:)

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Travel-inspired tag

Did you know that I have a thing for travel-inspired ephemera? Map paper, cameras, globes....are just some of the things I collect and hoard. *winks*

I did, however, take some out for this travel-inspired tag, which I thought would be great on a gift bag for someone who's taking a trip somewhere. :)

I started with a cardboard base as always. Then I added some polka-dotted patterned paper (from the scrap pile of course!), scrap ribbon from a patisserie purchase and finished with Maya Road embellishments.

Do you collect travel-inspired ephemera? 

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CNY 2017

Well hello friends! Apologies for being missing in action for a while...life has been busy with travel, spring-cleaning the house, baking and cooking for Chinese Lunar New Year and then, for the last week, dealing with a nasty cold & sleeping a lot. 

But the good thing about having a nasal congestion is that exercise is totally out...and I could delve into my paper scraps and create layouts instead. *winks*

It is my nephew E's first Chinese New Year and I got him a red outfit to wear. He's such a cutie! :)

Lots of random paper scraps in action here. There might be light at the end of the tunnel - the scraps now fit into a single multi-slot folder! *winks*

Playing along with Stuck?! Sketches.

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