The one about the ONE perfect bao *winks*

 

So the last time I attempted to make steamed baos was last year. And last month I decided to try to make them again, certain that after watching numerous videos on how to create the folds on the bao and steam them to perfection, I could do it. *encouraging music plays in the background*

May I present to you my ONE and only PERFECT bao out of the 20 I made? . Yep, it was so rare and special that apparently an entire layout praising its beauty was needed. *LOL*

And I saw you checking out her "ugly" sisters. *winks*Actually they looked pretty okay when I placed them in the steamer but I stretched the dough too thin so you could see the meat filling on the sides once they were out of the steamer.

They were pretty tasty though...and I'm lucky that my family will not complain about ugly food as long as the food is yummy. We had these for dinner with a fresh veggie and fruit salad. :)

I had so much fun using the bits and bobs in my stash. You know that I'm more a maximalist than a minimalist. *hehehe*

Playing along with More Than Words.

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My sister's birthday party 2021

 

So back in early January, we celebrated my sister's birthday with the whole family...marking a new year, and new beginnings for her. :)

As usual, it was hard to get the Gangster Gang (3 nephews + 1 niece) to pose nicely for a photo. Yep,,,this would be the best one. *LOL*

Luckily for me, my sister obliged me by posing with each of the dishes I made for her birthday party. Well, you know there was no way I would be able to get all the food on the table, arrange it nicely for a photo shoot and take some lovely IG-worthy foodporn photos before family members start eating the stuff right. This will do. *winks*

Since this was a double-page spread, I tied the pages together with the same patterned papers, doiley, lace trim, chipboard and washi tape - the green vine and the pink text bits.

Did you spot the cute little birdies? 

Playing along with More Than Words. 

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Living Room #2 finally got some love

 

So, with all the staying-at-home I've been doing in 2020, it was inevitable that some furniture was going to get moved around. The family living room is a decent size so I decided to create 2 living room areas in the space. Living Room #1 would be the cosy area to foster conversation while Living Room #2 would be for watching tv. Unfortunately, everyone in the household has their own mobile devices to stream their own interests so Living Room #2 has been quite neglected.

Until the Gangster Gang (3 nephews + 1 niece) got an early Christmas pressie from their parents in the form of a Nintendo Switch set. Now, Living Room #2 is the most popular living room because of its sheer proximity to the tv. *LOL*

Now all the 4 kids love hanging out in Living Room #2, hoping that their siblings will fare badly in the game so that it will be their turn to play! Hahaha!

I used the bits and bobs I got from my recent happy mail and just added more washi tape and of course, an owl, because no layout would be complete without a bird (right, Julie???)

And yes, I even got my border punch out for a quick play! Go me! *winks*

Can you believe that this is the first layout of the kids together in 2020? Yep, I haven't seen the nephews #2 & 3 and the niece since March. So, even though the photos aren't great, I'm glad they made it to the Yam family album for 2020.

Playing along with More Than Words.

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I just wanna have cake!

I've always kept the family album layouts all about the rest of the family...thinking I might just scrapbook my personal life in a planner or something. Well, that hasn't happened. *winks* So I'll just include them in the family albums...which are pretty up-to-date. *high fives all around*

Anyway, I was lucky that we were not in lockdown yet on my birthday (back in March) and I could go to a cafe and enjoy my mini birthday cake (a chocolate tiramisu). Clearly you could tell the the gal just wanted to blow out the candle and eat her cake right? But the bestie was like, "Look here. Let's take another photo." Well, I ended up with some funny photos of course...mostly of me eyeing the cake...*LOL*

I am actually doing quite well on My Paper Goals for 2020 project...using a full sheet of patterned paper for the base of my layout and then using my paper scraps for the rest.

I've also been really delving into my sticker stash and trying to use up my chipboard/foam letters too.

Playing along with More Than Words.

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Family day at Gardens by the Bay - a double page spread!

The recent purge of photos from my mobile phone (to free up storage space) meant an abundance of family photos to scrapbook. Like these from a family day at Gardens by the Bay back in July 2019.

The photo quality wasn't the greatest because of all the additional indoor lighting and it was really really crowded. But the Yam family (all 10 of us) had a lot of fun visiting both Cloud Forest and Flower Dome conservatories despite the long queues.

I went with a kraft base for this double page spread and repeated several elements across both pages to ensure cohesiveness. As with all my double page spreads, the pages stand as single page layouts if they ever got separated. ;)

I really like using banners to unify pages. And birds of course...*winks at Julie*

And other cute fussy-cut critters. :)

I captured some fun photos...like my mum and sister taking a selfie...and nephews #1 & 2 looking somewhat happy. *hehehe*

And the niece debuting her new fake smile...*LOL*

Family time is such a joyful blessing. :)

Playing along with More Than Words. 

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A pressie for my grandaunt! :)

So earlier this year, I discovered a "new" grandaunt (my maternal grandma's cousin) along with an auntie, uncles and more cousins! How our paths never crossed before this remains a mystery! *winks*

She recently celebrated her 90th birthday [I will share the props I made for her birthday celebration in another post]....pictured with her is her daughter (my aunt) and her grand-daughter (my cousin). They are all wearing the traditional kebaya. Check out that elaborate floral embroidery!

Since I wanted the focus to be on the photo, I keep the rest of the elements simple. Old lace fabric was adhered to the 6x8 canvas using matte medium, then covered with a layer of gesso. Next I lightly misted with gold mist for a subtle all over sheen. The photo was propped up with cardboard and "framed" with Maya Road flat-back pearls [my latest obsession, if you hadn't noticed already...*LOL*]. I found some 3D chipboard floral pieces in my stash so I created a floral cluster with paper leaves and flowers, bling, trinket pins and Golden gold mica flakes.

Playing along with More Than Words. I used old lace fabric ("something old") and scrapbooked a photo from her 90th birthday (a special occasion).

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The smile of happiness

While decluttering my space, I found some old Hello Kitty stuffed toys [McDonald's collectibles I reckon..*winks*] that I knew my niece S would love. :)

You should have seen her face when I presented them to her....her eyes lit up and she flashed the smile of pure happiness [which she re-enacted for the photos of course...*LOL*]

Isn't her smile just delightful? I went with bright and happy colours to really convey how happy she was with those Hello Kitty toys!

Perfect for the challenge over at More Than Words this month where the word is "smile" and there is also a fun sketch to use. 

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