A fascination with the eye: pages from my art journal

It's no secret that I have a fascination with the human eye. The human eye is capable of conveying a gamut of emotions with subtle variations. You can see the twinkle in someone's eye when they are happy or the sadness when they are experiencing sorrow.

This particular eye was drawn and coloured with coloured pencils. The colours were pulled from the messy misted background.

Transparent layers of colours can create a less stylized eye like this one which was painted with watercolours. Does it not look like a sad eye? Especially since I forgot to give her lower lashes and her mascara has smudged a little? *LOL*


Happy weekend friends!

A card to go with a happy treat

This week's quick card from the paper scrap stash is a card to go with a happy treat. :)

Yes, the Basic Grey bird makes another appearance [Only 10 or so more birds to go! *LOL*].

The sentiment was cut out from a journaling card and the tag was distressed for a little textural interest. A few gold diecut hearts and some enamel stickers and my card was done. :)

Playing along with Fusion Card Challenge. I went with the sketch.

The one about the Cookies N Cream cake

For nephew #3's birthday, I decided to bake a Cookies N Cream cake. It was my first time trying out a recipe in a cookbook [I usually use recipes off the internet and read the comments to adjust the recipes accordingly which has worked pretty well for me.] It appeared simple enough in theory but was really designed to frustrate a novice baker [aka me]. 

It took me 3x as long to make the cake than what was written in the recipe. Ingredients that were listed were not written in the steps. The cake batter looked nothing like the "creamy and well-incorporated" description. And of course, family members who kept asking when the cake would be ready, did not help matters. *LOL*

I had to improvise of course. I went with a two-layer cake instead of three, a less-fattening cream cheese frosting and "rustic" cake decor [Okay, I ran out of Oreos...*winks*].

Yep, my cake looked nothing like the photo in the book. But the nephews said that mine looked nicer and you know, kids don't lie, right? [hahahahaha]. Seriously though, nephew #3 could not keep his eyes off the cake!:)

I think it looks pretty decent for my first layered cake + frosting attempt. Be kind. ;) Nephew #2 now wants this cake for his birthday too. 

If you were wondering what happened to my niece...she threw a tantrum just as we were cutting the cake and was hiding under the table....yeah, drama.

Another fun layout using those infamous Basic Grey birds, some Stickles action and even a Martha Stewart punch came to the party. ;)

I was determined to use this piece of twine in my scrap pile and "attacked" it with my stapler to keep it down...hehe. And of course, buttons. I use them a lot, have you noticed?

Playing along with Stuck?! Sketches.

Sail away on a carefree day...

Ahhh....I would love to sail away on a carefree day....especially to a place that is way way cooler than Singapore right now. It has been a really hot hot April!

Meanwhile, despite the heat and resultant low productivity levels, I did manage to make this card over the weekend. *winks* I found a stack of residual misted watercolour card bases that needed prettying up with bits from my scrap pile! 

The tag is from Crate Paper and the sentiment was cut out from an Echo Park Paper notecard.  The diecut bird and hearts were from my dear friend Lizzy.

Happy week ahead friends!:)

9 ideas to use up those little bits of paper scrap on your layouts

I'm sure many of you have noticed that I've pretty much stopped labelling the supplies on my layouts these days because there're just too many to list! *LOL*

My goal this year is to finish up my paper scraps [which I mentioned previously were all housed in a single multiple-slot folder that is actually bursting at its seams...hehe] so at every chance I get, I'm incorporating those paper scraps. *empowering music plays in the background*

If any of you are drowning in paper scraps like I am *high fives all around*, perhaps my layouts can inspire you to get your paper scraps dwindled down to a manageable amount? [ One can dream...haha] Here are 9 ideas to use up those little bits of paper scrap on your layouts. :)

This little fella

1. Go with a colour theme

When faced with a mountain high of paper scraps, it can be overwhelming to know how/where to start. Why not pick up paper scraps based on a colour theme?  Personally, I like picking three base colours and using them in different shades for interest.

Mr Can't wait to play

2. Create fun scenes

These are a great way to use up those fussy-cut elements like birds, butterflies and other critters. Mine generally don't make sense in the larger scheme of things...*LOL*

The layout with lots of stuff

3. Go with paper strips

The patterns don't even have to match...the same width creates harmony and pulls them together. Somehow. :)

The Tupperware party

4. Help guide the eye through the busy patterns with recurring colours

Colour can be a great way to help guide the eye through messy situations. Here I used red and green elements that appear to be scattered all over the place but actually help to "frame" the photos on my layout.

The 15 minute dinner

5. Collage papers to "frame" your photos

When you don't have a large-enough paper scrap for a photo mat, piece together little bits to form a collage mat to "frame" your photos. You can distress the edges like I did for added texture and interest.

Someone had an ice-cream birthday cake

6. Use repeated shapes to tie the layout together

You know that I'm a glue-down-as-I-go-kind-of-girl so repeated shaped elements help to pull the pieces together. Notice that I like to use buttons? Particularly round ones??? *winks* On this layout, I used several shaped elements - stars, hearts and circles.

Sweet treat party

7. Use cute critters...okay use the visual triangle.

They say three's a crowd. Not when it comes to design apparently. Place your elements in a visual triangle (even better with cute critters...*winks*) and it instantly creates balance and structure for any messy layouts.

The Yam circus

8.  Embrace the grid

The grid system has a way of aligning elements so that they look neat and ordered even though they are not if viewed separately. The majority of the elements on my layout fall in the "grid" with a little overspill for a little visual interest. :)

Guess who's birthday it was

9. Create a roadmap for the eye

Even when your layout has a lot going on, you can help guide the eye by using "pointers" like arrows or flags. On my layout, I added an orange "fun times" flag as my starting point.....which pointed to the first photo which led to the second photo....et cetera... creating a visual flow.

There you have it....9 ideas to use up those little bits of paper scrap on your layouts. Are you inspired to try out any of them?

P/s: Signing off for the week to enjoy the long Easter weekend....hope yours is fun too!:)

Birthday girl

So the niece recently celebrated her birthday with homemade goodies by her doting aunt (aka me *winks*). 

The birthday girl was pretty happy with her birthday present -  a Smiggle pencil case which would light up at the touch of a little knob. 

Yes this girl is like Barney from How I met your mother, she cannot take a bad photo. Seriously. That is like a superpower in this day and age right? *LOL*

It was super fun tucking in little bits of scrap patterned paper to form the large photo mat. And adding those cute fussy-cut elements to jazz up my page.:)

Playing along with Stuck?! Sketches.

This week's 10 minute card

It has been fun challenging myself to make a quick card every week using bits from the scrap pile....even though the bottom of the pile may be light years away. *winks*

This one came together really speedily but took like 10 minutes because I wanted to poke holes for a little bit of texture and interest.

Happy weekend friends! :)

An upcycled paper bag for the Maya Road & Xyron Design Team Swap

Hello friends! There is a Maya Road & Xyron Design Team Swap all week long. Do drop by the Maya Road blog to leave a comment for your chance to win a $15 gift certificate to the store!

My project is an upcycled paper bag. Here is a short tutorial.

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I was generously sent the new Creative Station Lite by Xyron [To date, one of the most generous manufacturers to design for ever. I remember fitting myself in one of those boxes of goodies they sent...that was how big the box was...*winks*] which is now my fave desktop companion. :)

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I started with a sturdy paper bag from YSL (I love the highlighter which conceals my dark eye circles so that no one thinks a panda is out on the loose...*LOL*), Prima patterned paper and some remnant lace. Once I cut the paper and lace to size, I ran them through the Xyron Creative Station Lite for an even layer of adhesive and a lot less mess.

I added a little more textural interest with these new pearl bits from Maya Road. 

They are lightweight with a pearlized sheen. You know I'm in love with these right? ;)

And who wants plain handles when you can have plaited ones right? 

I finished off with the Shimmering Pointed Petal Flower in Emo Black as my focal point for a really classy-looking gift bag.

What do you think?

The story about the 15 minute dinner

It might seem like fun and games at the Yam household when the nephews and niece come around on Saturdays but unless the meal is like pasta with cheese or pizza with cheese [yes, cheese is very popular here...*winks*] or something sweet (tea time is their fave), mealtimes here are pretty much like attending a funeral. 

Yes, super sad faces that would grimace at the sight of vegetables or meat or brown rice [you know...all the healthy stuff] and it would take like hours for them to finish the meal, you know, with most of it uneaten.

The other day, I offered them an incentive to finish their dinner. 

"If you finish ALL of your dinner, you will get dessert." I said.

"What is the dessert?" they chimed.

"Green tea ice-cream." I answered.

Their faces lighted up immediately [note: before that, it was "funeral" expressions...*LOL*] and after a mere 15 minute struggle (hahahaha), they cleared their plates!

Yep....they had tried my green tea ice-cream the week before and loved it so it was a good enough incentive. :)

Shhhh...don't tell them that all I used was a Japanese green tea ice-cream mix whipped with fresh milk and frozen for a couple of hours. *winks* They still think I'm brilliant because I can make panna cotta which they LOVE. ;)

This layout took a bit of time though...because I really wanted to fit in as many paper scraps as I could. I even got some mismatched American Crafts chipboard letters in there [pats self on back...hehe] and yes, even the border punch came into play, along with some brads and stickers. :)

Playing along with My Creative Sketches.

P/s: I am travelling this week so I might be slow in blog visits..I promise to catch up soon!