Papa Yam's birthday 2021

 

So last week we had a small birthday celebration at home for Papa Yam since dining out is currently not allowed because of the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the community.

We were in lockdown on his birthday last year too. But I did make him food he likes...from scratch.:)

He got oven-roasted chicken and veggies, homemade miso garlic cheese bread and a carrot cake with Swiss meringue buttercream.

I found a mixed media background piece that I did a long time ago and decided to use that as my patterned paper for my photo mat. Of course, the photos were there to cover up the bits I didn't like...as usual. *winks*

I had so much fun using little scrap bits, stickers and fussy-cut elements. :)

And a lot of different washi tapes too. :)

My cake-frosting still needs work. Now you know why I've "adorned" the cake with toasted almonds! *LOL*

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My birthday celebration 2021

 

So this was my birthday celebration with the extended family. 

Yep. No fancy food. Just a store-bought birthday cake courtesy of my sister. It was a really good cake though. :)

Photos were taken with my sister's new fancy Samsung foldable phone...apparently in the "look 10 years younger" mode. I know, I look 18 again! *winks*

At least I made it to ONE family photo this year...*triumphant music plays in the background* Most of the time I didn't' make the cut because I was cross-eyed, wasn't looking at the camera or just had my eyes closed. Life is too short to have ugly photos of yourself in scrapbook albums. *LOL*

Happy week ahead friends! :)

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My brother's birthday celebration 2021

 

So we had a mini party to celebrate my brother's birthday (actual birthday 1st March)...and I, as usual, challenged myself to make a few yummy treats for the family. 

I made a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting (yes, my piping skills have improved!) and crushed kit kat bits at the base to cover up imperfections *LOL* I also mango tarts (Pâte Sablée tart base filled with pastry cream and freshly cut mangoes). There was a bacon and cheese and vegetable galette. I also made something my brother loves - a sweet potato and yam Chinese New Year cake (made with glutinous rice flour and coconut) sandwich pan-fried with a crispy batter.

And yes, I made him take a photo with the food because I spent all day making them. 

See some familiar bits? They came from the happy mail I shared in yesterday's post. *winks*

Playing along with Let's Get Sketchy.

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The one about the island cake

 

So I watched numerous YouTube videos on how to make the island cake and finally decided to just make it for my sister's Chinese birthday.

Now I mentioned in a previous post on my recent cake adventures the problems I encountered when I made this cake but it all worked out at the end.

Except for the part where everybody thought the cake looked weird, the flavours were great. I had a vanilla cake layer and a chocolate cake layer and I used a lychee pastry cream filling with lychee pieces. The whole cake was iced with chocolate ganache and the jelly was lychee-flavoured to tie everything together. It wasn't a flavour combo that was featured in any of the videos I watched but just something I came up with because I wanted to finish whatever I had in my fridge. *winks*

Playing along with Let's Get Sketchy.

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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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Make Stuff Monday - an almost "complete" decorated paper bag

 

Hello friends! Meet my almost "complete" decorated paper bag. It looks pretty decent but lacks the finishing touches that make them a Y creation....you know some bling or bird *winks at Julie*

I started off with this sturdy paper bag.

Even though I love having ready-to-go decorated paper bags, sometimes, I like "personalizing" a piece to suit the recipient. :) I left some "note" space for a personal note/monogram.

I might possibly change out the bag handles when I actually use it too. So many possibilities. :)

Or I just might be lazy, put in a coloured wrapping tissue (one of the numerous colours already in the design) and call it done. *LOL*

Happy week ahead friends!

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Another birthday layout: Mummy Yam's birthday 2019

Hello friends! Ready for another birthday layout? Well, here it is...Mummy Yam's birthday 2019! :)

Do the photos look familiar? That's because I shared the photos on the decorated heart-shaped chalkboard post back in July.

This is possibly the best photo I've got of the family (except for the fact that nephew #3 is looking at the food as usual) in 2019 (so far...*winks*) Love the setup of the food spread (that I made) and that there were no sullen faces!

It was tea-ner so I made chicken pasta with cheese, mango frangipane tart and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

I incorporated lots of stickers...yep the "pasta night" one was crooked and drove me nuts for a bit; I tried to fix it but some cardstock came off with the sticker so I just left it as is...because I was just too lazy...*LOL*

Another birthday layout done! Go me!

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Papa Yam's birthday 2019

So when you are running out of storage on your iPhone, the first thing you do is print out the family photos you want to scrapbook so that you can safely delete them to free up storage, At least that's my modus operandi. Never mind that I have a gazillion food photos on my phone,,,nope those are staying in my phone. *LOL*

Anyway, it's when you go through the gazillion photos on your phone that you realize how far behind you are in your scrapbooking. Like a good 10 months. *winks*

And of course, a lot of them are birthday photos. Which of course I have to scrapbook because I baked every single birthday cake this year.  So bear with me, you will be seeing a lot of birthday pages from me in the next few weeks. 

Let's start with Papa Yam's (my dad) birthday back in June. For his birthday celebration, I baked a blondie with almonds and cranberries, a pineapple frangipane tart and made panna cotta, And yes, I use real food (mostly candies and drinks from the fridge) as props for birthday photos, *hehehe*

I was pretty happy with this photo as nephew #3 was actually cooperating and smiling for the camera. You know that most of the time he can't take his eyes off the food. *hahaha*

I went with a bright coloured and bold patterned paper as the base to match my photos. Then added bits and bobs around the photos to keep the focus on the photos,

One birthday layout done,,,just 7 more to go...I think. Send help!

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