Do More With Less

Monday

Another CNY 2023 layout

Yes, it's time to take down the year specific CNY decor and use them on my layouts. :)

Like this one featuring my folks and extended family from my mum's side.

And yes, I only buy CNY decor that I can cut out and use on my scrapbook pages. I mean, look at those rabbits! Super cute right?

Happy week ahead friends! :)

Playing along with Stick It Down.

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Friday

The one about Papa Yam and his mum

Apparently Papa Yam has a lot of things in common with his mum.

Here I captured my dad and grandma eating bak kwa (Chinese pork jerky)...their mannerisms were so similar...like mother like son. *LOL*

Both are as stubborn as hell...and just want to do things their way. Grandma will be 97 in August.

Grandma usually wears pants...but this CNY she wore a dress. When I asked her about it, she replied in both Malay and English...which was hilarious because she usually speaks to me in Mandarin or Hokkien (Chinese dialect).

This layout came together super quick with the title work (roughly translated as Fortune comes to my home) being CNY decor. I just added red washi tape and a rabbit cutout (from a red packet) and finished with some stickers. :)

Happy weekend friends!

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Thursday

Sharing my latest eye sketches and answering Cindy's CNY question

Well friends, this gal has been drawing her eye sketches for the past week without skipping a day! Woohoo! *high fives all around*. Just wanted to share the eye drawings so far as well as answer my bloggy pal Cindy's CNY question. :)

This was Cindy's question.

"I have a CNY question. Is there any special significance to it being "your" year? Like, if you were born in the year of the rabbit, is it extra special each time a rabbit year comes along? We treat 0's and 5's as milestone years - do those who follow a lunar calendar treat multiples of 12's as milestones?"

If it's your animal year, your luck is supposedly bad since you will offend the God of Age. And this occurs every 12 years.

There are ways to "remedy" the situation including keeping a low profile, not embarking on a new business venture, not having large celebrations etc.

So if something bad happens to someone in their animal year, the older generation might attribute that to having bad luck based on the year of birth.

But a person's "luck" based on the date of birth (according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar) constitutes 30% of their overall luck. They can hang around their buddies who have better luck to block the "poison arrows". For instance, the rabbit has the dog and pig as its buddies.

You can also carry some lucky charms to block the negative energy.

But I think working hard and being a good and kind person will definitely help you turn a bad year around since this constitutes 70% of your overall luck. :)

In terms of birthday milestones, it's still celebrated in decades. Except that the Chinese count the year in the womb as the first year. So when my grandma celebrated her 90th birthday, it was the year she turned 89 according to the regular calendar.

My auntie Nora (Uncle Clive's wife) wanted to celebrate her 60th birthday in style but couldn't because that was in 2020 and her animal year of the rat...and of course, when the whole Covid lockdown happened. Coincidence? Or just bad luck? *dramatic music plays in the background*

Yep, she should have celebrated in 2019 when she was 60 based on the Chinese Lunar calendar. But she said since the celebration never happened, she's still 60 three years on. *LOL*

And there you have it, all my eye sketches so far. :)

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Wednesday

Workspace Wednesday - flower topper

It's been a while since I attended any Sephora-organized workshop in person. Today I attended a rose-inspired scent-layering Jo Malone workshop. We were introduced to all the new scents and how to pair them with existing fragrances in the Jo Malone line. They finished the workshop by giving us an empty box and ribbon and taught us to make a simple floral topper for the box. Someone actually returned the box and said they didn't want it. *LOL*

The new scents were lovely for sure. But we weren't given any samples to bring home. Nor were there any special promotions to entice you to buy like in previous workshops.

Overall it was a pretty lame workshop (can't believe I took the train and went downtown for this...). But I did score some blooms which went in a water-filled vase. Personally I thought the flowers were too big for the box. But you know your gal didn't mind the empty box one single bit right? *winks*

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Tuesday

The one about Uncle Clive and my scrapbook pages

You know I like to tell my family stories with elements and minimal journaling. Because nobody reads the journaling...they just see the pics and embellishments.

Well, I was wrong. Because Uncle Clive was deep into really appreciating the stories behind my scrapbook pages. He was reading the stories and asking questions...and was genuinely interested in getting to know what happened with us in the last few Covid years.:)

If you are wondering why my pages are not in albums, it's because the options for 12x12 scrapbook albums have been really limited of late and ridiculously expensive (at least for me locally).

Trying to use up my random chipboard pieces. Coloured them with a black Sharpie then added some gold mist for texture and shine.

The red bits came from red packets. And I did add a Miffy bunny head to signify the Chinese Year of the Rabbit. :)

P/s: Do your friends and family really read the journaling on your pages or do they just look at pictures?

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Monday

Make Stuff Monday - another decorated paper bag

Happy Monday friends! In today's Make Stuff Monday, I'm sharing another decorated paper bag. :)

I've been enjoying these flat-style type decorated paper bags which are easy to store and more gender-neutral. Even though I love adding texture and dimension to my projects, they are hard to store and often require "emergency" fixing before I can actually use them. *LOL*

I started with this sturdy Kraft paper bag.

Have a great week ahead friends! :)

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Friday

Dahlia Dreams at Gardens by the Bay

So I went to check out the Dahlia Dreams exhibition at Gardens by the Bay earlier this week. They were celebrating the Year of the Rabbit with lots of cute bunnies, dahlias and other springtime blooms! I tried my best to avoid taking photos of actual people in the shots....enjoy! *winks*