Block Party. The Reveal.

• Were you at the final reveal night for 2012? :) The chat room was hoppin'! I love getting together with the girls like that. We talked about everything and by that I mean EVERYTHING! Join us next time (pink live chat icon on stop left sidebar). I usually post reminders on Instagram before I go in the chatroom - you can follow me @sashafarina :)
• Here are my layouts made with 

1. Block Party
2. Block Party Project Life Kit
3. Wildberry Court
4. Pioneer Drive 
5. Woodbrooke Road

Neha has taken over the camera nowadays and I couldn't be happier. Due to my 'soft' neck, I don't always want to carry my dslr around and am relying too much on iPhone photos, but this girl is always willing to be the photographer :) Love that.

Also loving the pops of colors from the chipboards arrows and geotags in the kit. Just the perfect finishing touch for my layout.

I love that quote from Neil Gaiman. LOVE. This is sort of a 'happy new year' layout for my girls (and for me, too. The reminder is perfect for everyone)

I know I wanted to use that ampersand from the PL kit, but didn't want it too much gray to show so I cut around it. Turned out exactly how I wanted it to be.

Pretty clean layout but I feel like the journaling is the star here. I love words.

I used the font Brush Script for my title.

I'm missing my sweet nephew. I miss him a lot. The other day out of the blue he said  to his dad he's missing me and I lost it. LOL.

Love the stitched circles (you already know I love stitching and I love circles, but stitched circles might just be a new addiction) LOL :)

I used the 'current' tab and 'Hello' card from PL kit and the font Mission Script for 'sweet boy' :)

Went a little bit mist crazy on here. I absolutely love how this one turned out. Crazy, just a little bit, just like my family.

I draw the stitching lines, pierced all the stitching holes then mist my background, waited for it to dry before i start stitching. This is my tried and true method of building layers of mist/stitching. Please let me know if you try this! :)

This is a hard layout to make, I must say. I miss my grandparents so so much. I cut circles out of the teal cardstock in the main, then decided the color was too strong for the vintage photo so I misted it with several colors. the end result is a much softer teal and i feel more suited for this layout.

I cut the 'snapshots' card PL kit smaller also so it would fit my layout better. I like that I can use the PL kit for traditional scrapping as well as my Project Life. Win-win! :)

This layout is documenting our day out to Singapore Arts Festival this year. Oh What fun! :) Seriously, we had an amazing time - we even saw some head-shaving art in real life. LOL.

I used the cut files and printables from Day to Day class - you'll love all the goodies included for every participant. Don't miss this one! :)

wow.. where do I start? This layout may seem like a tantrum to some, but believe me, it's not :) Just my heartfelt words.

Once again, I used the back of the PL card for my journaling and they're oh so perfect for this clean layout. Loving those strong colors on white.

a 'you go girl' layout for Neha. This has been a tough year for her. PSLE means Primary School Leaving Examination and while she's not the best student in her school, I'm so so very proud of her! :) She took the self portrait during her grad party so it was apt for this layout.

Loving the grid and the ampersands and the arrows stamp :) That one is gonna get a lot of mileage for sure! I ran the woodgrain label from PL kit through the printer to get my journaling on there.

For real - one night while we were lying down she said ' And now it's your turn, admire me mom'

*sigh* what am I gonna do with this one? LOL. She's my everything. She's confident, she's funny, she's ridiculously smart I can't stand her. ha! :)

I cut the Vellum SC paper and handstitched it in place together with the 'red sun'. The polka dot pocket was too yellow for me, especially when I wanted a yellow ampersand - so I cut the gray speech bubble paper to fit inside. Problem solved. I love gray and yellow, yellow and gray you get the idea.

Still very much in love with paper strips! :)

A lot going on here but that was just like our day out. We did a LOT of stuff together that day. I love taking them out on a one on one date like this.

Love that I'm able to fit 6 photos on here. It was a busy and tiring day but oh so fulfilling :)

I'll see you soon!

xoxo

Block Party. The Sneaks :)

• As promised, I'm back with some quick sneaks for the upcoming reveal. I posted these to Instagram a while ago, then got distracted texting with my aunt - but now I'm here! :)

• I got the SC Project Life kit and used it on 5 of my layouts this month. I plan on using the rest on my own Project Life next year, but I must say I really enjoyed cutting them up and using the cards on my layouts! :)
• I also got Wildberry Court, Pioneer Drive and Woodbrooke Road.
• Have you seen the fabulously colored shipping tags in the store? I canNOT tell you how happy I was to see them, I have been looking for those forever! I love shipping tags. If you don't already know. 
• The picture in the middle - I used a printable and a cut file from the upcoming Day by Day class. You can look at all the digital files that will be available to those taking the class here. 
• Can't wait to share the full layouts! I'll see you soon!

xoxo

Be Careful What You Wish For

• You know that saying - Be careful what you wish for.

• I went to Neha's Secondary 1 (7th grade, i think?) Orientation earlier today. It was surreal. How did I manage to have a Sec1 on my hands? What am I gonna do with her? Ha!
• She, on the other hand is very very excited and absolutely canNOT wait for school to start on January 2nd. I foresee having to make an appointment if I want to have lunch with her in the near future. 2013 is gonna be a busy one for this 'I-wanna-do-everything' girl.
• Be careful what you wish for - this mama learnt her lesson the hard way. 

• Just look at those faces. *sigh* I love this layout so much. The colors are perfect. Paper Heart from Crate Paper is one of my favorite collection, ever. EVER. I can't wait for the upcoming V-Day collection from Crate Paper - Fourteen. Are you as excited as I am? :)
• Can you see the three tags on there? They were white in their previous lives. LOL. I misted them  within an inch of their lives to get those colors. 
• I tell myself I need to blog more, but I DO NOT want to bore you as we all know how exciting my life is - but but but.. we'll see. I don't know yet what's gonna happen. I hope to be back soon with sneaks for Studio Calico January kits. 

xoxo

My family is growing

• No I'm not pregnant. I mean my Studio Calico family :) 2013 is going to be amazing! I promise.

• Just look at that. I am so beyond blessed to be working with these amazing talents. Check out some of their work here.
• The Sneaks for January kit went live as well - have you taken a look? :) I'm a little bit behind in creating layouts this month, vacation does that to me. It takes a while for me to snap back into 'work' mode. Does that happen to you too? 

• My first Insta Sneak for Block Party. Thank you for looking! :) I'll be back soon! 

xoxo

Christmas ChicTags Giveaway *closed*

Winner is Rhonda Nickol! Yay! Rhonda, please email me as soon as you can! I will be waiting :) 

• I'm taking some time off and will be driving approximately 2000km *Dear God, please don't let me have any traffic tickets* in this coming week, won't be online as much and I know you will miss me. Righhttttttttttt??? Riggghhhtttttt??  Right! :p 

• I will be having both girls in the backseat. *Dear God, please grant me patience, lots of it.*  (Photo above was taken while the car was not moving) They were bickering and she wanted to lie down but didn't want to touch Neha even with her feet. 

• Will be eating yummy thai inspired seafood. *Dear God, please don't let them all settle on my hips/arms/butt cheeks/fat folds.*

• Will be watching the reflections of the amazing sun on the water. (my favorite part!)
• So much fun? I thought so. I wanna share some fun with you. Thank you ChicTags for sponsoring this giveaway. They're having 12 Days Of Christmas event on their blog - featured tag of the day set for $1! Click the link above to see today's offer. 

• These are the tags I will be giving away. *Metal tray not included. Heeehee* Just leave me a comment on this post if you're interested. I do not promise they will get to you before Christmas, but I will mail them as soon as I'm back (in about a week). Giveaway will stay open as long as I'm gone.
• While I'm gone, you will also be able continue using the code THANKYOU20 to get 20% off everything in my shop. Please read the shop announcement for info regarding shipping. :)
• I must do some last minute packing now - wish me luck!

xoxo

34th Street Reveal

• The gallery is live ! 
• I have lots of photos, so you might want to grab a drink? And sweet and salty m&m's mix? Heeehee!! *yikes* I just counted my photos, 22 in all! I hope you're up to it? :D

• This is my 'main kit only' layout this month. 
• I love that photo so much! One of my favorite, ever :) I used my Cameo to cut the 'hearts' and then flip over some hearts (to use the red side of the paper) and filled some of the negative hearts up. Gray Hearts and Star label cut file available in the digital shop this month :)

• Went very simple for this one. Neha is growing up too fast for my liking. I wanted to say 'don't go away' but I know that's kinda selfish.
  Go, fly.. but always come back. Don't grow away. Family is always here, for you.
  I cut the leaf shape with my cameo and stitched around it. Then stitched the background before I build my page on it. I also love that I took the 'are you listening' from a christmas themed paper in Kris Kringle add on. I really love the red on that paper and really wanted to use it even though we don't celebrate christmas :)

• I used only Murray Hill add on for this layout. 
• A layout with a photo taken during Nidhi's birthday recently. We had an awesome day, really really awesome. :)
  I love the candy-looking-brad and decided to use a lot of them on this page. We had lots of cotton candy that day - the same color as the brads! :)

  
  

  

• Everyday with their grandparents is a gift. I made sure they know that because not everyone get to be with their grandparents, right? I miss mine a lot. My kids are so lucky! :)
  I cut the one little heart using my Cameo and use it to trace heart shapes onto the patterned paper then I stitched all of them and cut them out with my scissors.
  Had fun with lots of mists here too :) - I used Audrey, Taxi, Gold and Pretty Pink.

• My sparkly girl. :)
  Arranged the BG letter stickers in waves just because I thought it's fun! :) Took a lot of time (the arranging and stitching!) but totally worth it. I love how this one turned out.
  So like Nidhi! So much fun!

• In the busy, mundane everyday, it's very easy to forget that my girls are good kids. Really, I'm not even kidding. They drive me up the wall on a daily basis, but they're actually wonderful kids.
  I handcut the index card and use them as the base of my layout. Love the somewhat centralized design, love the vellum bits and pieces and of course the mist splatters!
  I used Silver, Taxi, Mint Julep and Doris here. 

• You already know that I adore the sun, the sky :) This is one of my favorite sunset shot, one of the most perfect. One day I will have this shot blown up and hanging on my wall, for now.. it's on this layout :)
  Used the pocket as a photo mat. Perfect as the grids provide some pattern without taking the attention away from the photo. Lots of orange and yellow and red on here to mimic the sun, but I used some teal for contrast :)

• I want a house by the beach. I do :)
  During this particular vacation, we got a chalet practically 10 steps away from the beach. Oh man! I didn't wanna leave :)
  They were catching and releasing little crabs here, oh that was a beautiful day.
  I layered my photo mats, with border punches and index card, and build it upwards with some stitching. the stitching design was hand-drawn with a pencil and ruler.
  Of course, a house by the beach is a dream for now :) But you never know, eh? :)
  Ps : I found the quote from Pinterest. :)

• My baby sister and my parents on her college graduation day. Can you see how proud are my parents in that photo? :)
  The layout was made for my sister, thus the journaling is in her 'voice'. That was what she wrote on the caption when she uploaded this particular photo on facebook.
  A lot of embellishments clustered together, just the way I love it. Wanted to have the journaling on the speech bubble but decided to have them in strips in the end and used the speech bubble for some letter stickers and a vellum arrow.
• Thank you so much for coming over and looking at my work. Thank you :)

xoxo