Sasha Farina. The blog.

Love grows here

2012-02-10T20:50:00.000+08:00

Have you been to Crate Paper lately? :) The Valentine's event is nearing its end. You'll want to take a peek, trust me - gorgeous projects on display not to mention the yummy giveaways :) Totally worth a hop to the Crate Paper blog in my opinion. *grins*

My silly girls, a couple of years ago. Still one of my favorite photos of them. My heart still skips a beat when I take a look at them now and see how much they've grown. *sigh*

The words were traced and handstitched. Each with a different hue of pink. DMC 601-605 if you want to look for the same colors. :) Font : Learning Curve from dafont.com
Heart Blossoms from the Silhouette Store. I thought of Paper Heart collection the very first time I looked at it.
*sigh* Love grows here. I think I need a cuddle now. Y'all have a great weekend!

xoxo

One silly question

2012-02-08T22:15:00.001+08:00

those paper straws I've been seeing lately - they're VERY pretty. But tell me, won't they turn soggy when used? I seriously want to know, because I'd hate to buy and use them only to get paper bits in my drink.
thank you very much, in advance, for your answer and for not making fun of me. You know, just in case people only buy them for deco/photo op and not to actually use them? haha!

Things I really love on this page - Justice tshirt tag. That supermarket receipt behind one of the photo which I hope won't fade soon. And photos from friends - I love that they send me photos of them running with Mr. Husband. So I get to have photos even when I'm not there!

I have an insert this time. Used the Design G Project life page protectors for some of the photos I took during one Cross Country event. Included Mr. Husband's bib in one of the pocket. I try not to worry that the bib is bigger than the pocket. I just fold some part and stick it in there with a paperclip.
Cute dragon was from a Chinese New Year red packet - I cut it to size.
Bits and pieces made up the rest. Some misting, some stamping, some punching of scraps - and I'm done up to january 23rd.
Because of the way I'm doing my Project Life, I can't promise when my next PL update is gonna be. I'll share once I have a two page spread to photograph! Maybe it's sooner, maybe it's later. I figured this is a big enough commitment already without pressuring myself to complete certain page numbers in a week.
What about you? How is your Project life coming along? I would love to see.. link me up!!

xoxo

Love despite; not because

2012-02-04T10:55:00.002+08:00

“You don’t love because: you love despite; not for the virtues, but despite the faults.”

~William Faulkner

That is why, despite feeling like a broken record, repeating - "dirty clothes in the hamper, not on the floor" - "stop leaving your socks all over the house or I'll throw them away and one day you will have no socks left" - "how hard is it to put your cereal bowl inside the sink? I don't even expect you to wash it!" - "put away your clean, folded clothes nicely. if I want to just chuck and crumple them inside the wardrobe, I could have done it myself, from where i stand, i don't even have to go into your room."
You get the idea?
Yes. Despite all that, I still love them like crazy.
And oh! one more - "why would you put empty containers inside the fridge? you expect them to walk out to the rubbish bin themselves? or for the water bottle to refill itself? geeez!"
Haha!! Tell me I'm not alone! Tell me i'm not insane for laughing when sometime I wanna cry. LOL.

My first layout for Chic Tags - and I'm already in love. So in love with the tags. High quality and not flimsy at all, they're just so awesome to work with.

Look at that 'forever' button. Yum! I'm gonna need more than one pack of the Valentine Flair Buttons. I promise you will see them wayyyyyy after Valentine is over. LOL. Very useable and versatile.

That yellow ampersand is from the Silhouette store - I bought it recently and I can't stop cutting out ampersands! Help! :)
If you're following me on Instagram - you'll know that I've been working on my Project Life. A post coming soon, I promise!
And if you're following me on Instagram - you also know I ingested about five million calories yesterday. *sigh*

Of being scared, of being afraid.

2012-01-31T01:55:00.001+08:00

I fear leaving them behind. My daughters. I know one day we will all die, but if I can ask for one thing, please God, let me stay alive until they can take care of themselves.
I'm afraid of losing my mind. Really. You can never take your sanity for granted. What if I wake up one day and don't recognize them anymore? Oh My Goodness I can't imagine.
On a lighter note, I'm scared of wild animals and the dark. You combine those two together and you get a very scared Sasha. The last time we were at Night Safari here in Singapore, I refused to get down from the tram. Much to the dismay of my family. They wanted to walk around in the dark, looking out for nocturnals. Thankyouverymuch. I told them they can do so and I'll meet them at the entrance. Haha! In the end, they stayed put in the tram with me. I heard whispers - *next time we go without mommy*. LOL.

I need about 15 more packs of those Pebbles kraft alpha stickers. Love. :) Polaroid stamp from Cocoa Daisy. Stamped tag - I've had it forever, I think it was from an old Scarlet Lime kit. Stamped alphas - Studio G, also an old set. I love mine!

Added some handstitching (actually, no - I stitch first once I have the rough idea of how my layout is gonna be), Hambly tapes, KaiserCraft pearls and eyelets.
Almost 2am in Singapore. I ought to head to bed or I will be 'paying' for this for the next week. I'm a grandma, I usually sleep at 10. 11 the most. Ha!

xoxo

Don't let what you can't do stop you from doing what you can do

2012-01-24T18:25:00.001+08:00

I read that somewhere, sometime ago. It's true, you know. I'm guilty - many times over. This has to change. I need to concentrate on what I can do, rather than wasting my resources and concentration on what I can't.

Photo printer/photos : I use my Selphy for almost all my photos, except for enlarged ones where I send them to the photo shop nearby. I also use Picasa as my platform before printing my pictures - that way, I can just select and 'hold' photos together and they will automatically fit two photos onto a piece of 4x6. The photos won't be exactly 2x3 but I don't mind that because I love the white border around smaller photos. I also don't edit my smaller photos. Saving whatever time I can here.
Printing on journaling cards. If I could kiss Liz Tamanaha, I would do so everyday. Click here for the free template she prepared. It makes printing on those 3x4 cards a breeze.

Love that stapled wooden butterfly from Studio Calico.

Weekly spread : I have no rules set in stone for this. If I can fill a double page, great. If not, no harm done. Just look at my week one - three pages + one huge photo insert, and that's okay. This one here is week two and a little bit of week three. I might be adding a divider for different months later on, but nothing for now.
Planner : I don't have any plan for this project. I'm more like 'fly by the seat of my pants' kinda girl. For me, Project Life is my playtime. I say do what works for you.

And I made this today. Based on the speed that my children and I inhaled it, I can't leave without sharing the link to the recipe. Stromboli - just a fancy shape and name for a pizza according to Lauren, but I beg to differ. Stromboli, to me - is every kind of awesome and I like it much better than pizza.

She had me at pastries

2012-01-22T00:25:00.002+08:00

She is Katrina from Pugly Pixel. Notice some changes around here? Ah, yes, I changed some things around, all thanks to a free blog template from Katrina. Powered by Pastries - seriously how adorable is that name!
I'm going for simple here. Clean, soothing grey. ~~One of the way I'm embracing my grey hair.~~ LOL. just kidding. ~~no, not really.~~
I'm also going for simple here because I don't have the ability to read and understand anything more than basic html. This simple tweak, took me three days + headache + nightmares. Ha! I think I talked about drop shadows and font choices in my sleep!
So what do you think?

Did you see a new blinkie *i just noticed it's not blinking, LOL* at the side bar? *grins* I'm so looking forward to be working with Veronica and the rest of the girls these few months! And I promise you, as soon as I get my package of tags and other goodness, you will see them appear lots especially in my Project Life!
Speaking of which, I have a post going up soon for Project Life. I just need to take some photos first. If you have any question - please leave them here so I can help you in my next post.
And because I don't want to post without a photo. . .

Made these for brunch the other day. Pizza puffs, (as if i'm not puffy enough). Ha!!
I'll see you soon!!

Dear Lizzy

2012-01-16T23:59:00.008+08:00

Edited to add :

Winner is Lora Olliver! Congrats Lora! Do email me your address! :) Thank you everyone for hopping along with us!

If you're a scrapbooker, I'm sure you already know who that is. :) I'm so glad to call her my friend. She is sweet, encouraging, oh so gorgeous, funny, a fabulous mother and wife, not to mention so freakin' talented and an all around rockstar in my book. *grins*
If you have been looking for CHA sneaks for her new line, look no more! Hop along and you will be able to see lots!

Elizabeth Kartchner’s latest signature collection, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, is fanciful & fresh featuring candy-shop colors and a diffused watercolor effect that takes you into a daydream of hand-drawn Mason jars, ice cream cones and balloons.

Dear Lizzy Neapolitan features 22 papers, including darling stitched ruffle paper & patterned vellum. Complementing the papers are a variety of embellishments from painted wood buttons, epoxy stickers, chipboard word banners, embroidered brads & wood grain chipboard pieces. Other new exciting products are Flutterbys (sewn butterfly & pendant banners), a Roller & Phrase Stamp and Paper Pinwheels. Here's a sneak peek of one of the products!

I might have to buy those in bulk! Just look at that, how adorable are those buttons? And I LOVE buttons! *sigh* I can't wait until they hit the market.
and *ahem* because I love you guys, I'm giving away some of those buttons to one very lucky person. Just leave me a comment here in this post and you're in! As per usual on this blog, as long as you're able to comment, you're in.
That's not all, if you hop along with us, you will even have the chance to win the ENTIRE collection! Yes Yes Yes!! Your next stop will be the blog of the awesome Rhonna Farrer!

Happy Hopping!

Overthinking not allowed.

2012-01-16T11:25:00.001+08:00

First, I must thank each and everyone of you for your love on my previous post. Thank you! So very much! Crate Paper is one of my favorite manufacturer, thanks to Studio Calico for always including some Crate goodness in their kits - to have the opportunity to work with them is something BIG for me. :) Thank you for being happy/glad/excited with me.
I'm smitten with Project Life. I ~~hope~~ pray this feeling will last and carry me along this whole year.
I don't have the ~~time~~ attention span to sit down and do the whole week at one time, so most days, my album lay open on the table. I print photos when I can - then work on one pocket at a time.
I don't even care if they are color coordinated. I happen to like the eclectic look. Whatever I can grab is fair game and can be included inside my Project Life album. I've used more of what I have since I started Project Life than the past few months. LOL. That is one of the awesome part of doing this.

The stuff inside 4x6 pocket on top keep sliding out - I think it's because of the slippery plastic thickers, so I took a little bit of Hambly tape and taped the middle part.

Sunset. Blown up to 8x12. Love that photo. I used the normal AC 12x12 page protectors and cut it to size.

And this close up is an afterthought as you can see from the different lighting. I did those pockets while Mr.Husband was away in Japan, I think. Didn't tell him about it. As I said, my album lay open - he saw it and burst out laughing. It was ridiculous how happy that made me. This is what it's all about. Life's little moments, documented.

xoxo

Ecstatic. Jubilant. Honored.

2012-01-14T21:55:00.000+08:00

A new journey with Crate Paper.
Please come along for the ride. I'm forever grateful for your support.

xoxo

I'm not gonna lie

2012-01-11T12:45:00.001+08:00

and say we're perfect.
We're so far from perfect I feel like choking on my own tongue every single time anyone suggests anything like that.
There are days that I feel like ____________(fill in the blank yourself) - and I'm sure the feeling is mutual. For I'm not easy to live with.
But we're each other's support system. I love that we're two strong individual, but together, we're just better. Wickedly better.
And I think I better stop here before any of you starts barfing into a bucket. Ha! *kidding*

Lots of bits and pieces - just the way I like it. Did I tell you that my favorite part of scrapping is digging for embelishments in my IKEA plastic tub? LOL.
The circles were cut using my Silhouette - then stamped with one of Studio Calico's button stamp. I like the way they look somewhat nestled together. Everything else explains themselves I think. But if you have questions - please email me! :)

And there you have it, my current favorite layout. :)
I'll be back with a Project Life post soon!

xoxo

When there is no right and there is no wrong

2012-01-07T11:00:00.001+08:00

the only thing you can do is follow your heart. Don't you agree?
Thought I'll do a quick share of my title page for Project Life 2012.
Not because I'm off to do something exotic and fun like lying on a beach sipping my blue and pink layered mocktail with a little umbrella on the side of the glass or anything like that.
I need to get ready *read : get out of my pyjamas and into something more appropriate* - somebody is coming to fix a new ceiling fan in the girls' bedroom.
They got a new ceiling fan because I broke theirs. Don't ask why. Don't ask how. I'm the destroyer around here. *more about that later, I'm sure*

Project Life Design E Page Protector for the 'Hello' page. I slipped the map on the back of this layout - our Town Council gave every household a map of the neighbourhood, it was huge but I cut it down to 8.5 x 11, making sure our block of apartment is somewhere on the page.

A closer look. Those tags? 7G. Brads - K-ology from K&Company. Hello stamp - October Afternoon way back when they run a kit club. Red butterflies punched from an old piece of SEI flocked paper. I think. Ancient, in scrapping years. LOL.

And I printed some part of my blog post for January 1st. Background misted with Chalkboard Glimmer Mist in Monolith and Mister Huey's in Sunshine. Chevron mask designed by the fabulous Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.
I'll see you soon!!

xoxo

Here's to 2012. Here's to more.

2012-01-01T00:01:00.000+08:00

Welcome 2012! Can't wait to see what you have in store for us!

The merriest of Christmas

2011-12-23T21:57:00.000+08:00

I hope you have. :)

I'm back with one little layout.
Not feeling chatty today, good thing it's only Nidhi and I at home - today is probably the day, that if a stranger said " I like your perfume, what is it?" I would reply with "I sprinkle gun powder on myself. Watch your step, I might explode" Ha!
But no, that didn't happen. Because on days like this, I usually ~~stay home~~ cook a huge pot of chicken and potato soup and stay home being cranky.

Used up some older metal embelishments - heart brads, eyelet metal sentiment, metal word plate, acetate tag, all from Making Memories. The alphas are from Heidi Swapp - misted.
I love that instax photo. That was Neha, now 11yrs old - very much a young lady. Yup, I've had Instax since before I got pregnant with Nidhi. Nidhi is now 9+. LOL. I must dig up and see if that thing still works.
Polka dotted leaves were cut from a Dear Lizzy fabric paper. I left the backing intact because I don't want them to stick flat on the page. Added some pop dots to help elevation.
And some photos. . I've decided not to post the rest of my Project 365 here, but will continue uploading it to my Flickr 365/2011 set. Please hop on over if you'd like to view them all.

Do yourself a favor and bake these nutella cupcakes. They're divine. Trust me. You're welcome. My biggest problem is that I tend to inhale them. Not good. Not good.

and a current favorite photo of Nidhi and I - taken on the way to a wedding at Botanical Garden here in Singapore.

and another one, because I can't resist ogres. He's so handsome! *grins*
You know what? I think my crankiness is gone! Heeeheee!! Off to play and hope I will be back here soon, eh? :)

xoxo

The next time . . .

2011-12-07T23:50:00.001+08:00

Edited to add - I'm moderating the comments for now. Sorry I have to do this. Spammers are driving me crazy. I had to delete 601 spam these last few days and I still have more to go through.
The next time I say something about about making puff pastry from scratch, please ask me to go lie down on the couch until the notion passes. Please.
And oh, the meltdown in the last post - did i freak you out? I hope not. Just keepin' it real around here. Thank you for understanding where I came from. *hugs*
I've been meaning to share my 365 pictures - I will soon, I hope. I need to upload them to my flickr. I keep telling myself - I'll do that tomorrow - and I don't - and to be frank, I'm not sorry about it. It's the school holidays over here. Neha is enjoying herself, she's staying with my parents, and I've been busy keeping Nidhi occupied. The usuals - bike rides by the beach, craft time, swims, movies etc etc.
I do have something to share though. . .

My cover page for Project Life 2012. I don't know yet how I'm gonna approach this, knowing me, it will be all over the place because I'm easily distracted *have you watched Puss in Boots? the part where he was chasing the lights? - yeah, that's me*. But I also know I'm gonna have so much fun. My Project Life, my way.

~~I think~~ I wish I'm doing PL this year. Just think of all the funny/not so funny captions on my 365 photos - I think it would be awesome all compiled in an album. Of course I can start doing it right now, but I'm anal like that and want to start in the new year.

If I feel like I have too much time on my hands *like that is ever gonna happen!* - I may do up the photos from 2011! You never know with ~~that crazy girl~~ me.

Close up. This cover page is not needed, really. I just wanted to play and stitch on paper. That little envelope is my favorite part! I bought a booklet of them - tear them off like post-it and fold them yourself kinda booklet. Super cute!

I'm using a simple Black American Crafts Modern Album.

with PL Photo Pocket Pages Design F and, when appropriate - 8.5 x 11 American Crafts page protectors.

So, who's gonna kick my butt when I slack off next year? Any volunteers? :)
And who are with me doing PL2012? *so I can kick your butts as well* LOL.

xoxo

All my life. . .

2011-11-19T23:05:00.000+08:00

I have never been what you call 'thin' or 'skinny' by asian standard.
So really, you can stop telling me I'm fat or I have big butts or that my midsection is soft and jiggly.
Believe me. I know that already. And I'm sick and tired of people telling me what I already know. I'm 33 and never been thin. Thank you very much.

Sometime. My heart is fragile. Sometime.

More than once . . more than twice

2011-11-15T01:00:00.001+08:00

More than once, I contemplate closing this blog altogether.
I love blogging, I just don't love the fact that the days are running away from me and before I know it, I've gone a week or two without posting. Do you feel this way?
Are you on Instagram? I've fallen in love with instagram all over again. Let me know if you're over there, I'm 'sashafarina' - yes, my username is very original. I know. *grins*
Before I continue, I'd like to send my thanks to everyone for your well wishes. 33 is awesome so far. You guys are part of that fabulousness.

So. . .

A couple of days ago, Kimberly inboxed me and a couple of other friends on Facebook. She attached a photo and said, why don't we all use that photo as an inspiration then post whatever we make to our blogs on Monday.
While I love the inspiration piece, I wasn't sure I could play. I said I'll try! (I'm trying to get the original link of the image to give proper credit, bear with me)

Somehow my layout turned out like this ↓. I know I must be paying closer attention to the colorful strips at the right hand side. LOL.
And oh, how proud am I to be incorporating older stuff on this layout? Very! Ha! Those Chatterbox felt leaves/Ali Edwards for Cocoa Daisy 'go.seek.explore' stamp/Fontwerks alphabets stamps/Scenic Route Grid paper/Hambly woodgrain paper and label - they have been in my house forever! :)

Please go take a look at the rest of the girls.

Project 365 - how crazy is that we're at 300s already? So close to 2012. I've decided that I'm gonna do some sort of ProjectLife for the next year. We'll see how that goes.

299/365

Dinner. Chicken Murtabak. Oily but oh so good. LOL. Neha can finish this whole thing by herself - the rest of us.. well, we share. :)

300/365

Neha + Daddy at lunch.

301/365

Nidhi + Mommy on her 9th birthday. Nidhi's, not mommy's. :)

302/365

Sunset. Taken from inside the car. I love that you can't really see my dirty windscreen in this shot. Ha! (now don't look too close)

303/365

Crispy ham baked pasta for three. :)

304/365

Sunset. I thought this was a little bit creepy. LOL.

305/365

My lunch. Linda Barber said she will never cook and will gain 500 pounds if she live near me. I don't believe her and asked her to come over and stay with me for a while, then we'll see.

306/365

The beginning of some peanut butter and chocolate chips muffins.

307/365

We drove to Malaysia to have dinner with my parents. Everyone was okay initially, then Neha started feeling sick. Runny nose - headache. My papa put his hand on her head and she said - "okay, stay there, your hand feel nice TokPa" :)

Do you see the darkness behind my dad? That's the sea. The restaurant was on the water practically.

308/365

Advanced birthday Hi-Tea treat from Mr.Husband at Carousel.

309/365

Fish-eyed us. LOL.

310/365

Given a choice, I think Neha would rather stay with my mom. Especially now that my mom is retired. LOL.

311/365

Random flower by the roadside at the gas station. I almost fell into a drain trying to snap this picture. *sigh*

312/365

Baked baby potatoes. So delicious! I could live on potatoes and eggs and coffee. Yup. I can.

I think I've rambled enough - even though I can go on and on and on, I have pity on you. *grins*
I'll see you soon, yes? :)

xoxo

33 on 33

2011-11-05T07:15:00.001+08:00

I like repeating things, so here I am. . just like last year.

I still feel 29. Even with my wrinkles and stretch marks and *new addition!* - white hair! Oh My Gravy!
But if you ask me if I would like to go back to my twenties again if I could - I would say no. I'm much calmer now, I like myself better now. So even if there is a magic potion that I can drink to make myself 21 again, I wouldn't drink it.
On the subject of white hair - I told Mr. Husband if it gets any worse I will dye my hair pink. *half jokingly* We laughed and agreed that my children will probably ask me not to drive them to school anymore. Come to think of it, that's not a bad idea after all if I get to skip chauffeuring duty! Ha!
I haven't had anything from Starbucks for a couple of months already. That's gonna change now that the red cups are back :)
I'm gonna quilt. Yeah! Right! Sometime before I turn 34 I hope. In the last year, I managed to buy and cut squares from my choice of fabric. I think I know where that stack is right now. LOL.
I still don't like talking on the phone except to my mama. I don't think that's gonna change anytime soon. So yes, if you call and I don't answer, you already know why.
I can't stand people who wear heavy, thick, suffocating, make my eyes water perfume. I prefer no smell that too much smell. Ha! To me, if you don't smell bad, you're good. Don't have to smell as if you were in the middle of perfume explosion. God knows I almost gagged on my food the other day when this one girl walked in and sat behind me at the restaurant.
I love love love love food. I know you don't need any convincing on this. Just scroll through this blog and you will know how much.

Source: imgfave.com via Sasha on Pinterest

Please count the above pin as one of my 33. Couldn't have said it better.
I'm loyal. Especially towards handbags and glue tape. Ha! I've had the same glue tape ever since I started scrapping in 2006. I just keep buying refills. And I'm on my 2nd, red in color Long Champ Hobo Le Pliage handbag. I use that everywhere. From races to shopping trips to vacations. I told Mr. Husband, he can just place a standing order with LongChamp to deliver me a red hobo every two years. Ha!

I'm a loner. A homebody. I can stay home all week long and won't miss the outside world. Provided I have my necessity with me. You know, the usual - coffee, computer, paper, glue, fabric, tv. :P

I love colors. I look for colors EVERYWHERE.
I embarrass my children on a daily basis. LOL. What? That's not in the job description of a mommy? You must be kidding me! :P
I also pretend I'm brave in front of them. Even when deep in my heart I'm scared for them, for what's waiting for them in future, for the challenges and heartbreaks. At the same time, I know, they will have their turn breaking other's hearts too. *Hey, they're pretty like their mommy* LOL. Yeah, you can vomit now. LOL.
I have great friends. All over the place. Each and everyone is appreciated. Each and everyone is loved. ♥

I don't like my forehead.
Once, I was standing about 1.5 metres from a rubbish bin - waiting for my mom. Then came this woman, about 45ish, she walked by and at the same time flicking some food wrappers towards the direction of the bin. Some went in, most did not and she walked away. I actually called out to her and asked her to pick everything up and put it in the bin and she did! Red faced and everything. My mom said I was crazy - she said what if the woman was insane/has a dagger in her bag and started slashing me right there and then? I went like - Whoa! Maybe I was crazy.
I can watch Finding Nemo over and over and over again. What's another 89 times of Finding Nemo? I've already watched the damn movie for a thousand times! Trust me, that was all Nidhi would watch when she was little.
Yes, the DVD player babysat my children. Many hours, many times. Shoot me.
I can talk. I got A+ in talking. Nidhi actually has a tshirt with that saying. I wish they have it in my size. I would buy 7! One for each day.
That 'if you love someone let him/her go' crap - i don't buy. Hell no. If you love someone fight for them, hold them in a death grip, never let them go. If they get away, hunt them down and kill them! *evil laugh*.
I still hate folding and sorting laundry. My family? They're still digging into that pile of clean clothes looking for something to wear.

I rarely am without my sunglasses. My eyes are super sensitive.
I don't do roller-coaster or any thrill rides for that matter. We pay my entrance ticket so that I can be there to look after their belongings and take pictures while they go have their adrenaline rush. In the meantime, I sit at the side with my legs turning to jelly every time I hear them scream in delight.

Source: allposters.co.uk via Sasha on Pinterest

Re: the above pin - always. Always. I'm not a short order cook. :P
I secretly want straight hair. Sometime.
I'm the type of girl who, when asked "you want some coffee?" will answer with " that would be nice. two eggs, over easy on bacon and hashbrowns - thank you". What type is that? Oh yeah, shameless. LOL. No, really - I just like seeing the expression changes on people's faces. :P
One of my favorite pastime is wandering the aisles of the supermarket/baking supply shop - reading the labels on the cans/packets of food. I get this from my father. *Hi Papa!*
I still can't swim. I don't think that will change anytime soon. My fear of water is lifelong I believe.
Sweet or savory? Savory. Every time.
I get headaches when I'm hungry.
I forgive. But I don't forget easily. I keep lists in fact. ROFL.
I still feel 29. *winks*

An emotional scrapper

2011-10-28T11:30:00.000+08:00

First, I must thank you all, each and everyone for the love and support you left me in my last two posts :) He's okay, started running again *running as we speak I must say. LOL.* And already looking forward to the next race :)
The title of this post? I think I am one. An emotional scrapper. I scrap to get my feelings down. What about you?
I think it's important to let my children know what I really feel inside, what I'm really saying.
I also scrap because I don't want to forget the way I really feel, what I really think.
In between ~~yelling~~ ~~asking~~ *okay, I yell, sometime* at my girls to send their dirty clothes to the hamper, to pack their bags for school tomorrow, to please not to kill each other *kidding, almost* . . it's easy to forget that they're really, really nice girls. And I'm blessed to have them. So I scrap, as a reminder to myself.

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly" ~ Richard Bach.

As per usual, lots of bits and pieces. I enjoyed digging thru my stash to find stuff I love and putting them onto pages. They don't have to be brand new too. That butterfly stamp? I've had it forever it feels, designed by Karen Russell *whose blog I stalk on a daily basis. LOL* for Fontwerks. I miss Fontwerks stamps btw :)

'Everyday' badge from Marcy Penner at Hello Forever. I got myself the 'snapshot' and 'everyday' set a couple of weeks ago. Heart stamp from Studio Calico. Leafy die-cut on white cardstock with Papertrey's die, then misted.

Did I miss anything? As usual, email me or leave a comment with your questions :)

Project 365 update

285/365

Making coconut blossoms. They're basically just sponge cakes with grated coconut + palm sugar filling. I should probably take a picture of the finished product. :) Next time, I promise.

286/365

Tandoori chicken from Kebabs and Curries rooftop restaurant. Lunch. If we go again it will be for dinner. Too bright for me! :)

287/365

Mr. Husband and I at 10.30pm. Before the race. Fresh faced. LOL. You don't wanna know what I look like after a night of no sleep. *grins*

288/365

Pit stop.

289/365

Mediterranean chicken salad with citrus vinaigrette from Spize. So yummy.

290/365

Cinnamon roll. Homemade. :) I need bigger pan. Or separate them into two pans, these were spilling all over the place because I forgot to factor in the proofing. LOL. Lesson learnt, but still very yummy! :)

291/365

See? They can be sweet and be nice when they forget to kill each other. Ha!Ha! :)

292/365

My cousin and Nidhi. They're bestfriends. LOL.

293/365

The delightfully fabulous Kak June Malik :) She's the elder sister I never had. ♥♥♥

294/365

She made the coaster at school. Handstitched everything herself with help from her teacher of course - mighty proud of it. Wanted me to use it, unfortunately, my mug is the size of a little pail and is too big for the coaster. :)

295/365

My Garnet Fairy - as of today - the first half of the stitching is done.

296/365

Sunset from my kitchen window. 7:16pm. Pretty amazing I think.

297/365

Sunrise. 7:05am

298/365

Rainbow colored chart. LOL. I need the different colored pens to help me differentiate stitched part. Getting old! LOL. :)

Because it was my race as much as it was his. . .

2011-10-15T20:35:00.001+08:00

thought I'd share what I posted on my facebook account a couple of hours ago.

Fell down and hurt himself. He gave up at 71km. He's disappointed, but he'll be okay. We'll be okay. We still have each other. There will always be another day, another race and i'll be there for him again and again.

To say I'm proud of him would be an understatement.

To those of you who've been following my update via facebook and instagram, thank you. For everything. For every encouragement, for the kind words, for the virtual hugs and kisses, For everything. You got me through the night.

To say I appreciate your friendship and we're so blessed - that's another understatement.

xoxo

I can't breathe . . .

2011-10-12T11:05:00.000+08:00

remember this layout?

and this photo?

I can't breathe easy whenever he's running a race. It never gets any easier. Be it 10, 21, 42 or 100km. I still have my heart in my mouth until I see him cross the finish line.
And here we go again. TNF 1ookm solo, flagging off at 1am this coming Saturday Oct 15th.
Yes, 1am.
Yes, I'll be there. Always have been, always will be.
Yes, he's crazy, but he also knows that our love and prayers and support will be with him. He knows I trust him to know when to stop, when to push on and when to give up. Oy, yes, I told him giving up is okay. There will always be another race.
No, I don't have any idea what ~~the hell~~ was he thinking when he signed up for this. :)
Think of me will you? Send some virtual hugs and kisses to get me thru the race? Heeeheee!!

Project 365

278/365

Dinner. Simple, humble homecooked dinner. We finished everything - which is rare! LOL!

279/365

Ham and cheese bites - again. In my house, when something gets requested like this one, means the recipe is a success and I don't say no to success. When Neha asked for more, I obliged ~ even though mine looked different from the original recipe.

280/365

Coconut buns - this was so good especially when they were fresh out of the oven.

281/365

a few more days . . .

282/365

Starbursts. I-need-to-stop-popping-those-into-my-mouth! Can you touch your nose with your tongue? :P

283/365

Roasted Lemon Garlic Herb shrimp. We had them with couscous. Again - a winner and super easy to make too!

284/365

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies. I don't know what went wrong but this didn't turn out like I hoped they would. *grins* The middle part won't set no matter what I do. Oh well, I had fun scooping up whatever I can from the pan. LOL.

I'll see you after the race!

xoxo

For all we know. . .

2011-10-05T22:40:00.001+08:00

we might not get tomorrow. .

Yes, i took that right off this song. I barely knew what the rest of the lyric is and I don't think that matters, at least not for me. The first time I heard ~~the song~~ that particular line, I was driving home after sending my children to school and i bawled my eyes out. Yes, at 7am, alone, in the car. And i actually stopped listening, and only have the phrase repeating in my head. We might not get tomorrow. we might not get tomorrow.
Then I have a headache for the rest of the day. Nice.
For all we know, we might not get tomorrow.

The green cardstock and hambly grid paper and the little paper flowers were cut using this Lotus Pendant dies from Spellbinders. 20% off at TwoPeas right now, you should check it out :)
The title was handstitched, using the font 'Learning Curve' from dafont.com. I have my beautiful friend Anilu to thank for this. I fell in love with the font at her blog.
I ♥ you - that was from an envelope I bought at the mall near my house. Cute little gift shop selling a lot of cute stuff!

Project 365

273/365

Sorry, Caz. We love our seafood. This was my first time cooking couscous. ~~I spent the whole morning researching couscous, can you believe it? I was kinda scared of it at first. Hah!~~ Nidhi loved it very much and have been requesting for it ever since. Soon, soon. I can't wait to experiment more!

274/365

Neha had a study meet with her friends, so Nidhi and I went to the movies.

Please tell me I'm not the only mother who debated between 'Abduction' and 'Dolphin Tale' when bringing her almost 9 yr old to the movies? Let's face it, Taylor Lautner *most of the time* is much hotter than dolphins. And oh, don't worry anyway because in the end, Dolphin Tale won -Abduction has a PG13 rating. Ha! Nidhi and I, we both enjoyed it very much. I still will go watch 'Abduction' by myself though. :)

275/365

Pinterest inspired - Lemon and Rosemary Chicken Bake. This.Is.So.Good. I replaced white wine with chicken stock. next time, I'm gonna try adding some form of heat. Paprika, maybe?

276/365

I felt like chocolate milk, but we ran out. So I improvised. Tasted just as good.

277/365

Again, pinned recipe. Cinnamon sugar pull-apart bread. My house smells like heaven, well, cinnamon heaven. I still have some - who's coming? I'll put the kettle on :)

xoxo

Half a Heartbeat

2011-09-30T09:12:00.000+08:00

I love San Francisco that much. Ask me where I 'dream' to visit again. I'll say San Francisco. I have no idea why, the city stole my heart. The sight of the bridge *sigh* I wanna have that view from my bedroom window. Not to mention the cable cars! Oh so charming.

The little yellow pearls are my favorite detail on here. :)

Project 365

267/365

Ham, tomatoes, cheese and mustard sandwich. I made that in the airfryer. Super filling, especially when you take into consideration that my mug of Hazelnut coffee is about the same size as a ~~pail~~ mixing bowl.

268/365

Can you read that? Hacking. Dust. 8am to 6pm. Daily. I highlighted the word 'informed' to tell my children that, that is wrong. To informed? No, don't do that in school, girls.

Hacking. Dust. 8am to 6pm. Daily? Just kill me already, I thought. And I was right. The first day, I can't even watch tv, everything in the house is shaking, I can't even hear myself think. Forget about scrapping, I think mojo ran away because of the noise.

Oddly enough, it was bearable the 2nd day onwards. Maybe because they already moved to the floors below mine. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can scrap! :)

269/365

Sliced fish and cherry totatoes in soy and oyster sauce. Too much oil. Hey, I'm no cook - trial and error, right? I had to skim the oil out before I let my kids eat that. :)

270/365

Routine. I'll be at the table 6pm-8.30pm with them almost everyday. Yeah, nobody is happy when they have to do extra work - thus the refusal to look at the camera.

271/365

I adore the badges from Marcy at Hello Forever. So adorable and I love supporting friends, so I bought two packs. They arrived fast and in perfect condition :) Can't wait to use them!

272/365

Okay, this is pinterest inspired. They're supposed to look like this. Somewhere along the way they lost their 'pretzel' like look and began to look like cinnamon roll instead.

They still taste awesome though. I didn't make any dip - we just enjoyed them as is, warm out of the oven and it was so so good.

Next time, I will put more ham and cheese inside these babies. Oh yes, there will be next time. Maybe then I'll have them looking as they should be.

Mirabilia Garnet Fairy

I got requests for stitching update - here you go.

Garnet Fairy - week 1.

Stitched on 32ct Belfast Linen in Sterling Silver.

Still a looooooongggg way to go :)

xoxo

Hey you Hey me

2011-09-23T11:15:00.002+08:00

Source: just-smileology.tumblr.com via Sasha on Pinteres

I pinned this sometime ago. Someway, somehow - the words stayed with me long after i switch off the computer. Long after the next day has ended, long after that long drive by the beach i took. Long after.
I had to scrap this. When I'm gone, I doubt my children will peruse my pinterest account so I just had to put this on paper. *i changed it a little bit, though*
I think I'm gonna go this more often. I mean this scrapping pinned stuff. Seems like such a waste not to.

Really in love with that Prima butterfly mask. I used a couple of colors for the misting. Maya Road Buttermilk Cream, Studio Calico Piglet, Sunshine and Barnwood.
The rest are just bits and pieces from older kits and personal stash.

Project 365 update

251/365

Unplanned visit home. I love that we're near enough to my parents that we can just decide to spend the night at their house at 8.30pm. LOL. Mind you, we have to cross the Singapore-Malaysia border, get our passports stamped and all - but still, near enough. :)

252/365

Say hello to my new love. :) Mr. Philips Airfyer. This thing works. In fact he has been working hard, everyday, ~~for us~~ for me.

edited to add : no, this is not a deep fryer. i don't know how Philips managed to fry with 'air'.. but it works. we use no oil most of the time, a teaspoon here and there if needed.

253/365

Baby Haifa and mommy. I'm smitten. I told Haifa's parents, if I get pregnant again, it will be because of ~~them~~ Haifa. She's so stinkin' cute i didn't want her to go home that night. I wanna keep her.

254/365

Dragonfruit. Do you have this where you are? yum!

255/365

Marinated, then airfried shrimp. So good. Speaking of which, lemme get some out of the freezer so I can marinate for dinner today.

256/365

Traffic accident. While I feel sorry for them, I'm thanking God it was not me. Is this bad?

257/365

OMG. I'm biased, I know, but she is so damn beautiful. I only wish she can see herself from my point of view. My firstborn is fast turning into a young woman.

258/365

New project. Garnet Fairy. Such a joy to stitch. :)

259/365

My brother-in-law and his family came over with pizzas! I made these and french fries for us. All airfried. Told ya, he works hard, that Mr. Philips.

260/365

Sunset from my kitchen window.

261/365

Salted fish fried rice. So good.

262/365

Garnet Fairy, progressing nicely. Had to frog some part because I was too busy looking at Shemar Moore in action, but it's all good now :)

263/365

Nidhi at 6.30am. :)

264/365

Lunch. Curried sardine and airfried slices of fish. :) I love my 'brown glass' plates - those were MIL's. She gave them to me long before she passed on.

265/365

Ironing night. I usually try to get these done before the weekend, so they have uniforms for the next week - at least until Wednesday. I hate ironing, but I hate ironing during the weekend more. :P

266/365

Fried rice again. Homemade this time. Coffee from McDonalds. I hate their coffee. LOL.

This is a novel already. Are you still here? Thank you if you are!

xoxo

Back from the dead

2011-09-15T08:35:00.000+08:00

not me. My iMac. Power supply failure. Whatever that was. I don't love the failure. I love that Apple arranged for someone to come and collect within a few hours of my call.
I apologize for this slew of 365 photos. I debated not posting anymore 365 photos. After all, they mean more to me than to any of you. But i know some of you are actually looking forward to them. Especially my food photos, right? *grins*
I haven't had coffee yet - 7:40am here. The house is quiet, girls in school and Mr.Husband should be at the reservoir by now, running the trail.
Speaking of which, we missed the last race. Well, he missed. I wasn't gonna wake up at 3am just to go and watch.

236/365

Someone requested 'squirly *that is not even a word, i think* pasta with shrimp and cheese sausage'. I just tossed them in garlic and olive oil. Nidhi thinks the spirals are more fun than normal ones.

237/365

Seafood mee goreng from Mr. Teh Tarik.

238/365

Dinner. If you see a lot of food like this, means we're at my parents'. LOL.

239/365

One of our pelita in the yard. We bought ten bamboo oil lamp and light them all up during the last few days of Ramadhan. It was so beautiful.

240/365

The empty pouches of ketupat. I can't weave a ketupat to save my life - my mom weaved those.

241/365

Ketupat, again. This time, boiled and ready to be eaten. What's inside? Rice.

242/365

Twenteen-two, according to her. I love that my baby sister doesn't wanna grow up. LOL. Means I don't have to grow old either, eh? :P

243/365

Okay, this is very rare. To get all of us together like this. We're still missing two grandchildren, but I already think this is such a precious photo. I have grown-up nieces from Mr.Husband's side. Soon, I'll have grandchildren. LOL. *talk about not getting old... yeahhhh...right*

244/365

Got my niece for a two nights sleepover.

245/365

At the new swimming pool. This is a few minutes walk from my house. We're so lucky!

246/365

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes. This is my go-to recipe when I feel naughty. :)

247/365

Just us. Just us.

248/365

Time for Smurfs! believe me, I still have that 'Happy song' in my head.

249/365

Dinner at Newton Food Centre. My favorite? Those squids.

250/365

Neha had some friends over and I cooked this for them. Soto Ayam. I'm not gonna lie, I was so proud of myself. Ha! Then the kids went off visiting their friends and we went to watch Final Destination 5 and I had to work hard in keeping my soto ayam in my stomach. Ha! It was vomit inducing, much. LOL.

The time is now 8:35am. I better get my coffee. I'll see you soon! ♥

I would die for these people

2011-09-02T22:25:00.000+08:00

over and over again. My family, my beautiful family.

I'm so glad we got to be together on the first day of Eid this year. Even if it was only for a few hours.
I'm glad everyone humored me when I asked for a photo session. :) I'm glad my brother-in-law who is a photographer brought along his tripod as instructed. LOL.
I'm glad I have all of them to treasure and annoy for the rest of my life. :)

Regarding my last post - thank you so much for the love. It means a lot to me. More than you will ever know. Be happy for me please, I know this is the right thing to do for now.
What are you up to today? How about this weekend? The kids didn't have to be in school today. I picked up my niece yesterday evening for a sleepover. *I mean I try not to sleep while listening to them giggling and telling ghost stories and taking self portraits in the dark bedroom*
We watched Zookeeper. Nothing to write home about besides the cute animals. *The Smurfs was sold out :(* Then we went swimming *I mean they swam and ran and jumped around while I sit at the side, in the shade with my sunglasses. LOL*

An old *for fun* layout I realized I haven't shared here. :)
Typical for a 'race day' - number 1 would be starbucks. To wake me up, of course! Races start at ungodly hours, or at least we have to wake up at ungodly hours to get to the race site on time for parking and warm up.
Speaking of races - Mr.Husband has one coming up. This sunday in fact, but now it looks like he'll be stuck in Mumbai another night due to the Turkish Airline skidded plane.
Me? I just want him safe. Wherever he is. :)

Of thank you and NOT goodbye :)

2011-08-28T22:50:00.000+08:00

This is bittersweet. :)

I've decided to step down from the design team at Studio Calico for personal reasons. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the outstanding support and love I've gotten throughout my time designing for SC.

Everyone. Yes. From April and Greg and little darling Claire, to the fabulous people at SC hq, to my awesome fellow team members and the most important, all of you, thank you, for everything. I wish the *somewhat* new SC team nothing but the best.

SC shaped me to become what I am now. I am my own person but I believe SC helped me develop my own style, one I think is really me. A little bit of fun, a little bit of sass, some stitching and a whole lot of heart.

Nothing much will change, really. I'm still me. I'll still be at the forum, for the members have become more than friends :) I'll still be creating and posting here and there, hoping to inspire at least one person out there. That is why this is not a goodbye. Creating is in me and I hope you'll come along for the journey :)

Source: etsy.com via Sasha on Pinterest

So what next?

Nothing. :) I'm dateline~less. Free. Un~attached. :) For now, I'm furiously stitching a fun alphabet sampler. I also have a layout on the side for when I'm sick of looking at the tiny holes on my linen. LOL.

I'll see you soon! :)

here we go . . . are you ready

2011-08-24T15:00:00.001+08:00

The winner for Boardwalk kit from Studio Calico is Renee Zwirek. Congrats Renee! Please email me with your address :) Email button on left hand side of this blog.
I have a layout based on the Sunday Sketch on SC blog. Play along.

I've scrapped that picture before, I know, but I've given the layout to my sister :) and it happens to be my favorite picture from her wedding taken by me. I have tons of other favorite but they were taken by the official photographer *which is amazing - he is amazing*
Yellow, big, wonky heart? I traced that from a piece of Heidi Swapp ghost shape. I love that heart and all its wonkiness. Oh Heidi, please tell me you will be making more of them! Heeeheee!!

Project 365

227/365

We were stopped before entering the highway for plant pruning work. I love how lush everything is in this picture. The rain just stopped, you can see puddles of rainwater on the road.

228/365

Amy Tan at the LSS! :)

229/365

Food glorious food. I love it when hawkers display their food like this. So appetizing!

230/365

Lights at Geylang Serai :)

231/365

Pictureka before dinner.

232/365

Library time.

233/365

Chicken curry for dinner. This was so good! I have no idea what happened, but we finished that pot of curry - fast! I think it was because I serve them with rice cubes instead of normal rice?

234/365

Naan, dhal and tandoori. again. I know. This one belongs to Mr.Husband! :)

235/365

Birthday dinner at Swensen's :) The other girl is my niece. Neha was not feeling too well, so we kept her from school. The goody bags are still here too. LOL. :)

We are the water people

2011-08-18T12:15:00.002+08:00

It's true. We always gravitate towards beaches, waterfalls, islands - for our vacations. We are the water people.
The children are the happiest when I let them run free on the beach. Digging sand, getting absolutely dirty then running to have a dip in the water.
Mr. Husband used to live in a house atop of the water, a fishing village me thinks. Gotta ask him that.
Me, I am content just sitting in a shade, listening to them, listening to the ocean. Preferably with a tall glass of ice cold lemonade *that i am not gonna share - heeeeheeee* :)

This photo was taken from a boardwalk - in Langkawi in June 2009. I still take a deep breath everytime I come across it. I love that place.
I wish I can bring everyone of you to that magical place - if only to watch the sunrise. It was really something else. I know I can't, but I can give you Boardwalk :) Yes, I have one Boardwalk for a lucky winner - Thank you Studio Calico.

Leave a comment below by August 22nd if you would like to be entered in the drawing. As long as you're able to comment, you're in.

xoxo

Practically unheard of

2011-08-15T11:35:00.000+08:00

I'm talking about me, blogging again after three days. :) Gotta make this frequent blogging thing a habit me thinks.
I wanted to tackle my laundry today, but as soon as I start the buttload, it pours. Typical. I don't have a dryer - you don't really need one in Singapore, it's almost always sunny. The rain will stop very soon - maybe we'll get a rainbow or two if we're lucky?
half empty - half full. Which one are you? I think I jump from the half empty to half full very so often.
I found my stack of fabric squares. Have started nothing yet, mind you, but I know where it is and I can start sewing them together anytime. By anytime, I mean, when I feel like I have nothing else to do, or when I feel like procrastinating the other stuff I need to do.

The layout for Sunday Sketch on Studio Calico blog some weeks ago. I really love the little bits here and there. I think that's my favorite part of scrapping. :) Still stitching on paper, I don't think I'm gonna stop. :)

Project 365

223/365

Chicken porridge with chilies and soy sauce. Obviously mine. The girls don't eat chillies, yet. I hope they will someday, but just don't become addicted like me. Lol!

224/365

Done and done. ABC Lessons. Already started on another project :)

225/365

The girls helping me put the 50 pairs of earrings for the goody bags onto the paper holders. This is their first time seeing the earrings, in fact the first time they're seeing the goody bags as well. Impressed? Hell yeah! LOL. Neha was actually quite nervous when I mentioned she will have goody bags. She thought I was gonna give her the plastic bags with printing of zoo animals or Dora. LOL.

226/365

This little one had a tough time fasting yesterday. She started whining at 11am. We did everything we could to entertain her. At 3pm, I gave up and let her have a bubble bath, if only to have 20 minutes of quiet. LOL. And oh.. she made it to 7.15pm. So proud of her.

xoxo

Right now - August 12th.

2011-08-12T06:00:00.002+08:00

feeling : bittersweet.

wanting : to finish packing the goody bags.

having : a headache. falling asleep in the middle of the afternoon does that to me, everytime.

listening : P!nk - F**kin' Perfect. I cry a little everytime, but I still keep it on repeat.

thinking : about a million different things. I need to stop and take a deep breath and reorganize my thoughts and plans. what can be done, what must be done - stuff like that. maybe I'll start with sewing the squares of fabric I cut many months ago, together - my attempt on making a quilt top, remember? *where is that stack again? ha!*

doing : finishing the last couple of stitches on this piece.

needing : to update my Project 365 :) here we go!

202/365

Ice jelly (right) and cold Cheng Tng (left) heavenly on a sunny day.

203/365

Nidhi biting into her lunch. It was a chicken and cheeseburger. Delish according to her.

204/365

Goodbye Harry Porter. :). I'm not really a fan. Give me vampires and werewolves anytime though.

205/365

Mr. Husband's dinner. Yup, all of it.

206/365

If you're anything like me, pee before you enter the movie hall. Just sayin' :) Rated M18 - we went while the girls were in school.

207/365

This bag is gone now. Torn. I had no idea then, but I'm glad I took this pic because we love Spongebob very much in this house.

208/365

Neha came back from a 3 day camp today. She looked tired and grubby and about ready to head to bed for a week. :D We hung out at Starbucks while waiting for Nidhi to finish school.

209/365

Red Velvet cupcakes - according to them. I don't think so. These has some kind of berry in it.

210/365

Chicken curry on the stove.

211/365

At the wet market with my mom!

212/365

My papa with the apple of his eyes - walking into the hypermarket. I love that he loves to follow me doing my groceries :)

213/365

My girls can be heartwarming, this is the proof. LOL. 6am - getting ready to go to school.

214/365

This little one has been sticking to me like a glob of glossy accent. This was the night I slept in her room and she couldn't be happier. :D

215/365

Soto Ayam. Homemade.

216/365

Dinner. homemade, again. I love those quail eggs.

217/365

the new IKEA catalog is here! :) I consider myself lucky to have one a 5 minute drive away. No, I don't go there often, it's just comforting to know that it's there. :)

218/265

Our favorite little old school salon in my hometown.

219/365

Rambutan. My mom bought a bunch from this roadside stall on the way to Pontian.

220/365

My Papa. Like me, he loves food. He loves food shopping. You can see him choosing papadom here. And like me, he loves to read labels and can spend hours wandering the aisles. :)

221/365

I don't know what do they call this in english. but in Malay, it's Kek Gula Hangus. It's basically a cake made with caramelized sugar. Seriously so good. Made it for the first time - will be making it again.

222/365

This is how we have been feeling lately. Sleepy. sleepy. sleepy. :)

I have a layout to share, but seeing that I started this post yesterday before dinner and it's now almost 6am, *and i still have the headache from yesterday* I think I'll pass and share the layout some other time. Maybe together with the completed goody bags? A girl can dream. Somebody need to kick my butt to get those completed today. LOL.
But first, I wanna visit my friends! I'll see you soon! *hugs*

Of winner and Boardwalk

2011-07-30T10:20:00.001+08:00

Thank you everyone for sharing your childhood memories with me in the last post. I must say I really, really enjoyed reading them. A few chuckle, a few tears even. I'm sappy when it comes to childhood memories. Doesn't matter if they're mine or not. :)
The winner for 6 x 6 Autumn Press paper pad from Studio Calico is Kimberly B. Congrats girl. Your info has been forwarded to the good people at SC headquarters.
Time to share my Boardwalk layouts.

Desaru - it was such a fun, spontaneous trip that I really want to remember. I had fun stitching all those lovely circles, loving the grey as well. I embossed the brown alpha chipboards with Mustard Zing. Such a pretty yellow.

*I can never photograph kraft properly!* I cut apart the 'happy graduation' stamp from Sandcastle add on and just used the word happy. And I stamped the stars with Versamark. *i love that ink* You already know what's the story about. LOL.

And this one, is my favorite right now. EVER. I love love love how happy this is. I love the colors and of course I love my inspiration from Pinterest (below). I used Clover and Lemonade for the two die cuts at the side. Die from MFT - Leafy FLourish.

Source: etsy.com via Sasha on Pinterest

If shipping is not a killer, I really would like to buy this for my house. Alas . . . :)
Running out the door for family visits! I'll see you soon!
This gotta be the fastest blog post I've ever composed! I only took half an hour!
I love you!

Studio Calico Summer 2011 CHA Blog Blitz

2011-07-25T19:00:00.011+08:00

So CHA is over and done with. I kinda miss the 'craziness' of it all. Even from afar, you can feel the 'buzz' .

And of course I'm biased but I think Studio Calico has the best release. *grins* Have you seen them all? I have been flipping this catalog a lot lately. .

Open publication - Free publishing - More catalog

So much goodness, I can't wait to get them in my hot little hands. Obviously, I can't pick one or two as my favorite.. so here we go! *in no particular order*

6 x 6 paper pads from Autumn Press collection.

Scarf - Autumn Press. red & white polka dots and grids, are you kidding me? ♥

New Mister Huey - Memoir. Come to mama. :) I wanna mist my wall with that Clay and Barnwood. So in love with grey now. If you were in the live chat I hosted the other day, you know I'm only half kidding. LOL.

Teal chipboard alphas. Be still my heart. ♥

Love Notes - Memoir. Another staple for my stash.

Cupboard - Memoir. That yellow, got my heart. ♥

Book Jacket - Memoir. Another teal love. Can you see a pattern here? Teal and yellow and grey and teal and yellow and grey? LOL.

Flower bed - Memoir. This one reminds me of home and comfort. Maybe because it looks like a quilt? Love it anyway. And the yellow B side doesn't hurt.

The new Calico Shine. How cool is that? I love that it can be used alone or on top of other mist. ♥

Plano - Classic Calico. You know what? I can see myself stitching the lines. I really can! And I can't wait! ♥

On a more personal note, I'd like to share this old photo with you.

I still remember this. Falling asleep on my papa's back while he's working. He's a sportswriter and he used to start writing in his notebook or on pieces of paper, while watching sports, no less, before he commit everything to the typewriter. I still remember.
Now, my papa has a laptop and I can't lie on his back unless I wanna break his bones. LOL.

Do you wanna win a 6 x 6 paper pad from the Autumn Press collection? Just leave me a comment with a childhood memory of yours. Anything at all. I'm sure you remember something.

You have until Wednesday night. I'll close the comment section then, so as usual, as long as you can comment, you're in the drawing.

*Please take note that prizes might not yet be available and will be shipped out as soon as we get it at Studio Calico headquarters*

Right now. . . July 20th

2011-07-20T10:35:00.000+08:00

feeling : fat, but happy. Is that even possible? I have not been working out since the last 10k, my knee is feeling okay and just when I thought of starting my brisk walking programme again, I accidentally kicked some kind of product display at the gas station on Sunday. That thing punctured my right foot, somewhere between the fourth and pinky toe.Punctured, for real. Needless to say, I still have a little bit of a limp now. *i have photos, but I really don't wanna gross you out. LOL*

wanting : some sizzix dies - this one, this one and this one. As usual, I have plans for them. When will the plan be kicked into action, I have no idea.

reading : still so much absorbed with the life of Sookie Stackhouse. So much, that i dream of vampires and weres and shifters. *shivers* LOL.

craving : iced mexican coffee with cafe de olla. *sigh*

And oh, I got a few email about stitching hearts on layouts, I thought I should point you to this tutorial I posted on the Studio Calico blog. But don't let that stop you from emailing me! I love getting your emails :)

Project 365

194/365

Homework. We have tables and chairs, you know? I'm not sure why she prefers to kneel beside the bed.

195/365

Teatime for one. :) Those are fish crackers + chili sauce. So so yummy.

196/365

Grandma time. FYI, my mom hated that massage chair. LOL. I'm not sure why/how she got on it. Must be the kids.

197/365

Desaru. We were there for a little while after visiting our beloved tailor. That's my baby sister and the two guys in the background, they were hitting on her and it was hilarious to watch. LOL.

198/365

Candies galore. *sigh* Gummy bears by the sackload? Why the hell not? My children are not climbing walls yet, so bring it on. haha!

199/365

My horror. Everyday. They're building new elevators for the buildings around here. The constant drilling and knocking off walls are driving me crazy. Or should I say crazier, since I'm already a little bit insane. :P

200/365

Resin flowers. Remember the 50 pairs of earrings for the goody bags I said I was gonna make? Done. I regret not getting more... um.. for myself. LOL.

201/365

The gorgeous sun this morning. Taken on the way back from our breakfast date.

Okay, WOW, I just realized, over 200 already. Another 164 days and we're done with 2011. Where is the pause button?

Studio Calico/Hero Arts Blog Hop!

2011-07-13T17:00:00.000+08:00

Day 3!

I bet by now you're all enjoying all the eye candies put up by the awesome ladies from Studio Calico and Hero Arts. I must say, I'm so excited! I mean, c'mon.. Studio Calico and Hero Arts? What could be better??!!

Not that I am a stamping genius or anything like that. LOL. :)

Here's what I did with the new stamps from Hero Arts.

Pictured here are about 12 stamped kraft paper bags. I did 50, for Neha to giveaway on her birthday next month.
I really, really love how the stamping transformed the simple and cheap kraft paper bags. I used the 'girl silhouette' from Silhouettes ST512 set and the 'woodgrain circle' and herringbone border stamp from My Happy ST508 set.
A closer look below

I punched little hearts from the woodgrain circle and really loving the look. And the combination of kraft, turquoise and yellow really make the black silhouette stand out.
What's inside, you ask? Well. . .

I bought little wooden cubes from the dollar shop (not sure what's the original purpose of those) and altered them into magnets. I got the magnets from the dollar shop as well.
What else is inside? For now, nothing yet. . I'm waiting for my order of tiny resin flowers. I'm gonna make 50 pairs of earrings, then get 50 chocolate bars and 50 blank notebooks I can customize. I'm sure we're gonna be adding more stuff to the bags.. let's hope they hold till August!
We're giving away 5 Studio Calico + Hero Arts clear stamp sets for each day of the hop. (Monday through Wednesday). Just leave a comment on each stop on the hop and Hero Arts will pick a random winner from all of them :) The more comments you leave, the more chances you have win!
I really hope you like my stamped kraft bags and magnets. They're simple to make. You can make some in an afternoon too! Now hop along to Emily Pitts!

An avalanche . . .

2011-07-13T11:35:00.001+08:00

of photos. If you're not doing Project 365, you might not be interested in this. :) I apologize in advance.

176/365

Chili and onion. We're superstitious over here. This combination, I believe is to stop the rain/bring out the sun. LOL. I can find them (actually, I go around looking for them) at most running event, sometime at more than one place! :)

177/365

Dinner, the day after 100k race. He didn't even eat much, too tired I guess. I on the other hand.. . . .LOL

178/365

Something borrowed. I've read the book, so.. predictable. But I love that Colin boy. :P

179/365

Junk market. I think I will be able to find some treasure here, if only the crowd smells a teeny bit better? Ha!

180/365

Something different. Sunrise. Mornings are always so rushed. We were early for once, and I get to be home to catch the sunrise after sending the kids to school. :)

181/365

Bedok Reservoir. A few days before this photo was taken, they found a body in here. *shivers*

182/365

Simple lunch for myself. I love that plate from the dollar store.

183/365

Fish porridge + Steamed chicken rice. :)

184/365

Great Eastern Women 10k. My last event for a while, it seems. I hurt my knee and can barely walk afterwards. Am still experiencing slight pain now.

185/365

Hokkien prawn noodle.

186/365

I didn't take this one. I found it in my phone after she fell asleep with my phone under her pillow. LOL.

187/365

I didn't take this as well. But I love it very much. This is my life, on the move always. Nidhi must have taken this when we were on the way home from school.

188/365

Replacing their school/bus/library card. Neha's was completely tattered - it has been in the washing machine more times than I would like to remember. Nidhi lost hers. I told them this is the only time I'm paying, next time they're gonna pay for the replacement. LOL.

189/365

Homemade ice lollies. Rose flavored syrup. Right now, we have chocolate ones in the freezer as well.

190/365

I have no idea what are those.. but Nidhi was pretty fascinated with them. *sigh* I had to work hard to convince her that it's just a generally better idea not to bring them home.

191/365

5 minute nutella cake + whipped cream. Need I say more? I imagine it will taste better with a drizzle of chocolate and caramel syrup. Next time.. next time.

192/365

193/365

I had to admit, when I found 192, I was like - which of my girls is this? LOL. Turned out they're both Neha :) As you can see, the girls love self portraits! I can foresee a layout about this soon!

And that's it.. the end of the avalanche. Thank you if you're still here. I'll be back with something scrappy real soon! *hugs*

xoxo

Kind of a big thing

2011-07-05T20:47:00.000+08:00

for me, at least. That layout on the cover of July 2011 issue of Scrapbook Trends is one of my favorite. Ever. Ever. I just need to share this here :) ♥

Project 365

167/365

My children's favorite briyani stall. Neha, especially, can eat this stuff everyday if you let her. But no, she didn't get to do that. LOL. It's not very healthy, really.

168/365

Still plugging along - this project has become my bedtime project.

169/365

Dinner. Nothing fantastic.

170/365

Early morning at the airport. Neha was leaving for Brunei with her teachers and friends. School trip. Lucky kids.

171/365

Studio Calico time, as usual. I leave my sack open for garbage disposal. I will usually fill it up with more rubbish from around the house - you know, stuff like broken toys, torn shoes etc.. before I bring it to the dumpsite.

172/365

Am I the only one who thinks this bag is super pretty? Just look at all that colors. *sigh* I bought this in Phuket. I dream of bringing it out for a picnic. One fine day, for now, it's in my wardrobe.

173/365

Okay, this sight breaks my heart. She was so lost without Neha around. She did nothing and basically just waited until it's dinner time - that's when we can text/call Neha. Here, she was busy making a welcome home card for her sister. :)

Of course, they started bickering within few hours of Neha's arrival and made me wanna bang my head on the wall . . . . as usual. Ha-Ha! :))

174/365

Naan basket. Actually, that was all kinds of roti. . not just naan.

175/365

A dinner party at Osteria Italia. If you're ever in Singapore and craving for good Italian food, this is the place. Their Crème brûlée is out.of.this.world. according to my girls and me. Heh. W love our food, if you don't already know.

xoxo

The story of 100k and Mind Your Gap :)

2011-07-01T13:10:00.000+08:00

We survived. He did it. 100k. I have a feeling this won't be his last Ultramarathon. He's doing great, already in Zurich right now, working.

Me, well, let's just say the next time I'm staying up all night will not be so soon. I'm still feeling it, no kidding. I feel like I'm 80 instead of 32. Yucks! I love sleeping so much it's ridiculous! LOL.

Some photos..

4.40pm June 25th.

Just as we arrived at the race venue. Yup, I have both girls with me all night long. Them and a family friend. At some point or the other, there were tantrums and tears. But for the most part, they behaved and they cheered everyone who came along - Come on! Come on guys, you're doing great. You're awesome! Keep it up! I am so proud of my girls.

10:31 pm June 25th.

42 done, 58 to go.
I was telling myself (in my head) - what the hell is happening? why am I letting him do this? this is crazy!
But I saw his ~~stubborn~ness~~ determination and then I continued cheering him on.

At 60km, I think his injury caught up to him and he couldn't run anymore. I was thisclose to begging him to stop and let's just go home. Thisclose. But I said nothing, if he wanted to give up, he didn't show it. I continued driving along, and making pit stops every couple of kilometres, waiting until he passed us, then I drove ahead, and waited, and drove ahead and waited. I needed to be there for him.

8:55am June 26th

Finally. The end of a long night. At this moment, words failed me. I was just too proud of him.

I ♥ this photo, thank you Kak Su. Priceless.

I love you, you crazy man.

If you ask me now, I'll say I'll do it all over again. If he's running, I wanna be there. Nevermind that it will take me more than a week to recover from one sleepless night. Nevermind that my heart will, again, break into a million pieces when I see him in pain. Nevermind anything. I'll be there.

Now, it's time for Mind The Gap! :)

Lots of stitching. And I mean lots! :) I think I'm addicted to stitching on paper. Help!
Lots of color. Which is not a surprise, eh? :)

This month, I used

14mm bubble caps with my 14mm round tool.
Some Bonny Blue Mister Huey.
A spanking new scissors, actually I bought two new scissors this month. The pink color bee and the ~~bumblebee~~ honey bee. I needed to replace the ones I have. Somebody cut steel wires with them! Imagine that! LOL.
Some Lemonade Mister Huey. The prettiest yellow!
JBS Fountain Pen Dye Ink.
Martha Steward 3 in 1 Classic butterfly punch.
Martha Stewart Hydrangea punch.
Flag Smash Clips.

I'll see you very soon!

Today . . .

2011-06-25T10:31:00.002+08:00

marks two years since I lost my grandmother. I think of her everyday, still.. and am grateful for that. I really, do not wanna forget. I'm not sad anymore, I just wanna remember.
Today I'm missing Phuket. That place has really captured my heart. I get baked to perfection everytime even with sunscreen - the sun is really something.
Today my husband is gonna attempt running 100k. Remember this layout?

Yup, today is the day. He's nuts, and I love him. My only request, come back safe. I don't even care if he completes the race, I just want him back in one piece.
We are gonna be there for him, all the way. I have my starbucks card reloaded, ready for action - seeing that he is gonna be flagged off at 6pm and will be running all night long, possibly into the next morning. LOL. Told ya, he's nuts.
100km = 62.137 mi.

A simple card for you, made with leftovers from Countdown. Sold out now, but watch this space. New kits are coming out soon.

Project 365

157/365

IKEA. I love that hanging flowery lamp, but all I can think of when I look at them is.. how the hell am I gonna clean that beast? Ha!

158/365

Checkin' out books from the library. Actually, we just need to get out of the house, since they're about to murder each other out of boredom. LOL. Kidding. I love libraries and always drag them along. I hope my love for reading rubs off on them.

159/365

My goal each day. Scatter joy. Somedays I simply can't achieve that and scatter some cranky tantrum fairy dust instead. Bad Sasha.

160/365

Neha's new passport. We had to bring the passport back to the Immigration office for some adjustment and got the keychain there.

161/365

Hanging deco at our hotel. Love that orange!

162/365

Seafood Phad Thai. Not in picture is this banana and coconut milk desert. Super good and probably the main reason of my weight gain. LOL.

163/365

Laguna Phuket International Marathon. Can you see the start time? 4.30am. Ungodly, especially considering there is no starbucks nearby. LOL.

164/365

Khai Island, Phuket. One of my favorite-est place on earth.

165/365

Swimming pool. There is just something about swimming pool at night. Eerie for me. *shivers*

166/365

And we're flying back. I don't like flying, I like 'arriving'.

You can probably tell my 365 photos are not up to date. I'll be back with more soon, I hope. Haven't had a chance to upload them to my Flickr. :)
Wish us luck for today, please.

xoxo

Around here . . .

2011-06-05T14:50:00.001+08:00

nothing much is happening. We're enjoying being lazy, but feeling very busy at the same time. How is that possible?
I think I'm overwhelmed. I want to do a lot of things, been pinning like there is no tomorrow and my 'to-try' list is now 5.25 miles long. *sigh* Do you feel that way sometime?

Project 365

146/365

One of my ongoing project. I really wanna have them hanging on my walls, scattered around my house. Good reminders to have. And I really wanna use my stash of linen, pretty stuff should not reside inside the drawers.

147/365

My three daughters. LOL. Kidding. The one in the middle is Neha's best friend. They have been together since first grade and I love that girl like my own. I love the fact that they look out for each other, in school and online. We took the kids out for the whole day and it was pretty dang tiring, but seeing how much they enjoyed themselves = priceless.

148/365

Right before my 10k flag off. Right before the gun went off and I thought to myself - What the hell am I thinking??!! Ha!

149/365

Our first Starbucks since April 4th. An achievement for me, because, he.. well, he's not really into coffee. :)

150/365

Greek yogurt and crushed granola bar. Super good. That book? I stopped reading and returned it back to the library because well, I can't focus. I keep expecting vampires and werewolves and telepaths - so I went back to my Sookie Stackhouse. LOL.

151/365

A card I made for a friend. Way overdue. . (sorry, friend) :) Filmstrip stamp from Countdown add on. That gorgeous butterfly from an old set of Karen Russel for Fontwerks.

152/365

Lunch at Little India with FIL. I have other photos from Little India to show - of the dried chillies and spices, but I chose this one because, to be frank, it was harder to ask for photos from him than the chillies. Ha!.. Ha!

153/365

Coconut Blossom with oozing palm sugar. Neha, especially.. loves them.

154/365

Spent the whole day cutting the little squares. My back was screaming for help by the time I'm done. I have no idea when am I gonna sew them together to make the quilt top, no freakin' idea. . . let's just let my back forget the pain from cutting them first.

155/365

The advantage of having a minimart in your building. Nidhi saw the advertisement and went - oh my.. i feel like eating that ice-cream, mommy. LOL. She got it 10 minutes later. Ate half of it and announced that it was too sweet for her and I had to have the unfortunate task of finishing it. Yeah right... no one forced me. LOL!

156/365

Creamy curried chicken wrap. Sunday breakfast/lunch. Fast to cook, good to eat. My kind of cooking. :)

To the Paper Moon and back

2011-05-31T16:55:00.000+08:00

Yes, Paper Moon! Such a happy kit with pops of yummy colors, you will not be able to resist! :) I got myself StarDust and Countdown - both sold out now, but you can still grab the main kit itself and Space Cowboy.

Lots of stitching on this one. Lots of fun too. I love those colors together. Misted the alphas with Piglet Mister Huey. Such a pretty pretty pink. Chicken Wire stamped with JBS Cough Syrup.

Can u read my journaling? Here it is, just in case :)

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” ~ Elizabeth Stone.

Well, she's wrong. My hearts are not walking outside my body, my hearts are alternating between free-falling and flying outside my body and I never wanna change a thing.

I am in love with the color of that JilliBean folder. I wanna buy lots and just scrap on that from now on. LOL. Which company makes warm kraft cardstock like this?

Stitched sun ray with DMC 972, then I masked and misted with Barnwood Mister Huey. I also misted the Maya Road craft doily - first with Calico White, then Bonny Blue and a touch of Lemonade.

I plan to fill that little envelope with some funnies from Nidhi. Of course, it's still empty now. Ask me again in 3 years. Haha!

So what else? I haven't uploaded my latest batch of Project 365 photos yet. Sorry. If you're here for that.. I promise to have them up in my next post.
It's the school holiday right now in Singapore. 4 weeks. I don't like school holiday. Ha! I love my kids with all my butt, but I'm just a better mother when I have some hours away from them. *feel free to throw rotten eggs at me* :) That is just the truth.

Source: google.nl via Sasha on Pinterest

Just like the past two years, we're heading to Phuket in a few days. I love that place. I really do. Mr.Husband said this year might be the last year we're going back. Three years in a row is a bit too much according to him, but I beg to differ. I love going back to a place I know, so I can truly relax, without the pressure of going out to all the touristy spots. Crowded touristy spots, I must add, are just not my thing.
And Laguna Phuket Marathon - is one of the best around. Not that I have the desire to run in the 35℃/95℉ weather. Ha! I think I will melt and just disappear if I were to attempt any type of running there.
Speaking of running . . . well, yours truly did her first 10k for the year and lived to share the photo! LOL. I might regret this later, but here . . . sweaty and looking like hell, but very happy me.

I do have other running tops, you know? But somehow.. I gravitate towards this pink one over and over again.
First 10k for the year and also first outdoor shower I had to use. The other girls took off their tops and showered with their bra in full view of everybody. I was like, are you freakin' kidding me? I was not gonna be exposing my fat folds to the world! No! Never! So I showered, fully clothed, made sure I stood under the running water extra long to get rid of all the sweat. I don't usually shower at race site, but seeing that on that particular night I wanted to wait for Mr Husband to finish his 42k.. I had to. LOL. It was not a pleasant experience. One I'm not in any hurry to repeat. *grins*

Sneaking you to the moon

2011-05-26T12:05:00.001+08:00

Paper moon, that is. :)) This kit is fabulous, but I say that every single month. So I'm just gonna show you some sneaks and let you judge for yourself! :)

Some of what I used :

Barnwood Mister Huey
Bonny Blue Mister Huey *not shown*
Lemonade Mister Huey *not shown*
Calico White Mister Huey *not shown*
Piglet Mister Huey *not shown*
Epiphany Crafts Tool - 14mm round with 14mm bubble caps.
Martha Stewart Classic Butterfly punch
EK Success for Stampin' Up 3 in 1 Heart Punch.

yup, those are pretty much what I used for my three layouts. And oh, not forgettting my trusty, little tiny paper piercer and needle and thread. I love the stitching on all three. LOVE!

Make sure you have a date with us at Studio Calico for the reveal of Paper Moon. I've seen sneaks from other DT members and they're mindblowingly beautiful. :)

Project 365

133/365

Heating plaster. My best friend. I'm always spraining my neck/back/thigh/ankle - you name it. Call me Ms. Fragile. LOL.

134/365

One of the famous Rojak stall in Singapore. Brothers Rojak in Clementi.

135/365

Bubbly Teh Tarik.

136/365

Sookie Stackhouse is so adorable, and now I want a vampire boyfriend too. LOL. I am not watching the show, though.

137/365

Lontong and Hazelnut coffee. I made that. Simple lunch for the kids and myself.

138/365

My reality. OMG I freakin' hate laundry! Haha!!

139/365

My collection of Studio Calico stamps. Worth their weight in gold, I tell ya. :))

140/365

Sundown. Coming sooner rather than later. Last year, I sat by the dark roadside near the finishing line, waiting for Mr. Husband to finish. This year, is not gonna be much of a different, I hope. I really enjoyed my time there. . cheering for runners coming in, finishing their race. If all goes well, I'm gonna attempt the 10k as well, but we all know I'm a slow poke. Ha! And currently, my butt is hurting - my chair rolled away when I was trying to sit down.

141/365

I made shrimp aglio olio. Our favorite kind of pasta. Mine will be with lots of chili flakes.

142/365

Camera rolling - action! Some video shoots we were part of. Good experience, especially for Nidhi.

143/365

Tell me, what do you see? I see heat. LOL. It's seriously hot nowadays in Singapore, and I don't know whether to laugh or cry when the radio DJ said - Oh it's gonna be a nice cool day, Yay! High of 32℃ (89.6℉) - and he said cool day. LOL. Of course, the day before was 34℃ (93.2℉).

144/365

This little girl now sleeps with me when Daddy is not around. She sleeps better, I sleep better. Deal. :)

145/365

Nidhi did this. I was like - What? when did you learn how to mask and mist? And as if the act of misting is not enough to melt my heart, she waited for it to dry then wrote - to some you are just a person but to me, you are my heart ♥. - and gave it to me. Awww... :)) This is now on the wall I face when I'm at my scrap table :)

Currents

2011-05-15T18:45:00.001+08:00

ala Tina Aszmus :)

listening : Zee Avi - on repeat. not forgetting the bickering of my children, also, on repeat.

eating : everything. I seem to be permanently hungry these few days. So gonna pay for this episode of gluttony.

drinking : lots. mostly isotonics. 100℉ here. I'm wilting.

craving : anything Starbucks. 6 weeks since my last. weird thing is I only crave it when I'm at home. I go out and actually see a Starbucks in front of my eyes and I don't really feel like drinking.

wearing : right now? shorts and t-shirt. *and still sweaty*

feeling : all out of sorts. angry, sad. . . but also calm and happy.

weather : i repeat, 100℉ at least.

wanting : to make something beautiful and also to blog more frequently.

needing : a good kick in the butt. Ha!

wondering : where is my Studio Calico box? I hope it comes soon!

I made this layout for the Scrap Recipe challenge on Studio Calico blog over the NSD weekend. I'm sorry I didn't get to post it here while the challenge was in progress.

This is my recipe : let me know if you play along, I would love to have a look see! :)

at least two colors of cardstock *excluding white and black*
hand stitching
3 buttons/epoxy shape
3 brads
usage of a punch - any shape.

Project 365 update or in other words - hear her rambles. LOL.

114/365

Portuguese egg tarts. Absolutely delish. SGD3. I may need to learn how to make this myself, except then, I will eat more? Hah!

115/365

Goodnight world. I rarely stay up. ~~I'm old, y'all.~~ I get headaches if I cut down on my sleep. :P And oh, this is considered quite late, okay? LOL.

116/365

Rice + sambal goreng + quail eggs + assam fish dish. SGD5.

117/365

General Election fever. :) I'm not into politics, so I steered clear.

118/365

My girls decorating a cake for my sister :) I love Groupon :)

119/365

Teh tarik + Soto ayam. SGD4.50. Breakfast for champions. Haa!!

120/365

My very beautiful sister on her wedding day.

121/365

2nd day of the ceremony. We sent her to the Husband's side.

122/365

Nidhi and her best friend. LOL. She's actually my cousin, and during the course of the weekend, they became best friends. How? Why? I have no idea. Haha!

123/365

Kitchen sink cookies in progress. They were awesome, even though I managed to leave out granulated sugar from the recipe. Still quite sweet though, so maybe next time I won't even bother with the sugar.

124/365

Miss Nat!! I didn't get to meet her the day before so I sent her off at the airport instead! :) We had coffee, like we always wanted. . then she and her husband boarded the plane to Frankfurt. What a fabulously sweet girl.. I can't wait for her next trip here!

125/365

Had to document this. We rarely have McD for breakfast. Went to the drive-through before dropping the girls to school :) Good day. Good day.

126/365

Daiso! Everything is $2 - always! LOL.

127/365

My first run for the year :) Nike Goddess 5k. Nice t-shirt, but holy cow.. it was HOT! Not proud of my timing, but hey.. my target was to finish without crawling. LOL.

128/365

Old Changi Hospital. Haunted? I don't know. Lots of stories going around. We drove by to show the area to the kids after lunch on Mother's Day. Yes, we're funny like that. We prefer haunted old buildings over a simple picnic by the beach or anything like that.

129/365

Nidhi's iced lemon tea. Ahhhhh!

130/365

Starting a new project. Lizzie Kate, again.

131/365

Groceries shopping. Am I the only one who loves groceries shopping? Tell me I'm not!

132/365

A for accept differences.

A wedding . . . and a tease.

2011-05-05T08:35:00.000+08:00

I promise to share some photos from my sister's wedding last weekend - here you go. Photos from my camera - I can't even remember who took what/which photo right now, we were having too much fun.

My baby sister and Mr. Husband. She is his pet. LOL. This was actually after the bride and groom were officially married. She was crying and went to look for him, because he was too, and they cried together. Ha!

I absolutely love that they're very close. He came into my life/our family when she was 9yrs old! More like a father figure than a brother. LOL.

Mr Husband and my Papa. Leave it to my mom to coordinate our outfits. ;) She does that for everyone in the family this time.

Us. Why do we have the peace sign there? I have no idea. It's auto reflex nowadays, thanks to my children.

My Mama, baby sister and us. I love this photo. Even better if it was actually straight on instead of tilted this way.

This is my best friend, way from 9th grade -we got married within one week of each other and gave birth to our firstborn on the same day. She is like another daughter to my parents. She is the best. ♥ ♥ ♥

The cake! The cupcakes! Probably my fav thing in this whole wedding affair! The idea/design is mine - but we all know I can't bake - so I had them made. This is our present to the newlywed. The baker is a boy - a very young boy - has already applied for Masterchef Malaysia - I hope he gets in! The cakes are absolutely divine. Rich - without the 'thick' aftertaste.

The scattered flowers - that was my BFF's work. :) I think this piece is the most photographed piece too. Everyone wanted a photo with/of the cakes. :)

And finally, my sister and her spanking new husband. :) I am so happy for them, but I can't resist telling my new BIL - take care of my sister, ~~or i'll come after you with a baseball bat.~~ Ha! Kidding! :P

And a tease for my NSD challenge at Studio Calico! Mark your calendar . . . Studio Calico is THE place to be this coming NSD! All challenges will be posted on the blog at 6pm EST on Friday May 6th and you will have one week to complete them! It's gonna be fun!

Lawn Party - Revealed.

2011-04-28T17:25:00.000+08:00

Have you been to the gallery? It's rockin' with awesomeness from Studio Calico design team members, yours truly included. *cough cough* LOL.

A closer look at my layouts - which I really love. This is why I love my 'job' . . . you end up with layouts you adore with the whole of your heart. I'm a broken record, but . . yes, I think Studio Calico is the best kit club out there.

I got myself

Rope Swing
Pink Lemonade
Clear Skies
More White *you can see I am loving my white cs!*

HRH = Hard Rock Hotel. You're probably sick of me going on and on, but I really love that place. Ha! I love that you can see some part of the Beetles mosaic at the background of the photo.

Yes, I stitched that white cardstock to make it look like a page from a notebook. Took me 3 hours, but only because I was watching TV at the same time. It's kinda hard to drool and swoon at my favorite actors and concentrate on stitching at the same time. Ha!

My first time using pinwheel on my layouts too. I'm a late-bloomer. LOL. Always, almost always 'behind' trend. :P

I stamped the NewsPrint Background stamp from Rope Swing using Brown Sugar then stamped and embossed the Numbers Border stamp with Wave Zing. I also used my Epiphany tool to make my own epoxy shapes. Misted the fabric thickers with BlueGrass Mister Huey.

I is sleepy.

Nidhi used to say I is.. I is.. I is. Took her a while to change to I am. I thought I'd remember that, and the 'babyness' of the photo just took my breath away. I miss my baby being baby!

Lightly misted the background with Bonny Blue Mister Huey and a couple drops of Lemonade because, to be honest, I wanted to play. LOL. This is probably my favorite page this month. I love how fun it looks! I stuck on a couple of Bubble Caps on the '5' flashcard, did you see that? And also embossed the Number borders stamp with Rogue Zing.

Just something I 'borrowed' from StoryPeople. I got that in my daily email and I thought . . OMG, that's me. :) The 'or so I hope' part is mine, though.

Embossed the ampersand with Mustard Zing and really liking the look! I got the feeling that I'm gonna be a chipboard embossing fool soon. *grins*

This layout is a lift. Sweet Leah let me lift her layout for this month's member lift feature. Thank you Leah! You can see Leah's layout here.

Neha and Daddy, always the happiest when they're at the beach, digging through the rocks, bulding whatnots. In fact, we're the beach people I think. Try bringing my kids downtown during a weekend - and don't say I didn't warn you - you'll probably witness the meltdown of the year. LOL.

And again, you can see how pretty Bonny Blue is! I added some Barnwood for the lower circles too, yes, for fun. :) I used a lot of the Crate Paper Neighbourhood Sew brads - I thought they're so adorable!

Did you notice the doilies paper? The green chicken wire paper? Yup! SC Exclusive - designed by the oh-so-talented Kelly Purkey. Get yours here ➠ SC Patterned Paper.

Family time! My sister is getting married! I'm going home to Malaysia and hope to see you soon, okay? This photo was from 2009 when my other sister's wedding. :) my God, I love my family.

See you soon! xoxo

Party on my lawn. Who's coming?

2011-04-26T18:40:00.001+08:00

Kidding. I don't even have a lawn. Ha! Lawn Party - Studio Calico upcoming kit is sure to make your heart racing! I know mine did... :)

I got myself three add ons this month. I can't help it.

*don't you just love their delightful names*

Here are some sneaks for you. Of course, being me... I tossed them all together and proceeded to play! Yay!

I used

Bonny Blue Mister Huey
Barnwood Mister Huey *dare I say this is my new love?* (I combined both Bonny Blue and Barnwood or the circles in first sneak)
Crate Paper (Neighbourhood) Brads. *will be in the shop - I finished mine! I really love the brads!*
Clover Mister Huey - a very nice green! First sneak - I stamped 23 on piece of clover misted white cardstock.
Some DMC for handstitching.
Mustard Zing - I embossed that large ampersand chipboard. Love the effect.
Epiphany 14mm round tool - amazing tool. One of my most used tool to date!
Black JBS Ink for all the stamping.

Catch you later!

xoxo

I want a brother . . and other stuff. .

2011-04-23T23:40:00.005+08:00

image from homorazzi.com

This is not something new. For as long as I remember, I have been wanting an older brother. Never an older sister - you see, I'm the big sister. I'm the bossy one. Ha!
The other day I was watching Hawaii Five O, the episode where Steve saved his sister Mary from the kidnappers? Yup.. that one.
I want a brother who block the road with a helicopter and save me from the trunk of my own car. Because if I have a brother, he would be as good looking and cool and annoying as that boy up there. Ha!
You probably have no clue what in the world I'm talking about, but it's okay. LOL. :) I watch too much Tv. That's all.

Project 365

It has been a while eh? I'm still going strong and having fun with my Project 365. How about you?

96/365

Pay no attention to the timing. I'm a slow poke. Ha!

97/365

Homework time. Super tough, especially for someone who hates maths - like me. LOL. This is 3rd grade, okay? And I can't do it. I'm so glad I'm not in school. LOL.

98/365

Isn't that pretty? I haven't mentioned this here, but my sister is getting married next week! This is part of her decor. I'll post more photos of the actual day :)

99/365

My dad, my sister and my daughter. Buying Bubble Tea. LOL. My dad is not the one to buy this stuff, it amused me how fast he obliged when his granddaughters requested for some.

100/365

Okay, this is not fun. We were in Malaysia . . .then Nidhi doubled over in pain. Not fun. Poor baby went white. I drove back to Singapore when medicated oil won't work and brought her to the hospital. Diagnosed as gastric - really? She has regular meals though.

101/365

Charcoal-roasted beancurd with shrimp-paste sauce, some vege and peanuts. Not up to my standard.

102/365

Silly, but the girls and me love taking car-lifts in the carparks. Ha! We are easily amused.

103/365

Hot and spicy fish baked rice. I think this is not the first time this dish made it's way into my Project 365. :)

104/365

What? No more Charlie and Lola?

105/365

I love watching planes landing and taking off - view from the gym.

106/365

Checking out the new Reservoir near our house. I love how they developed the surrounding area. We have jogging path, a little playground, toilets and possible picnic area.

107/365

Run350. Daddy did 10km while Nidhi did 350m~ How cute are they? Seriously. And the medals were super adorable too, especially the one they gave away to the kids! :)

108/365

This girl - I tell her she's beautiful and she doesn't believe me. *sigh* growing up is hard, i know that.

109/365

Cupcakes!! I decorated these! oh-my-GOD! They're so pretty and heavenly and I would eat them everyday if I somehow figure out how not to gain 500 lbs? Ha! Do you see butterflies? LOL. They're not only on my scrapbook page now. :)

110/365

My girls taking self portraits. LOL. Just for the record - Neha owns other shirts, lots of other stuff for her to wear. Why she wash and wear and wash and wear this particular one, I have no idea. I've already told her not to look for it if it goes missing one of these days. Ha!

111/365

While waiting for my SC box to come, I take out the sack from last month and start tidying up my work area. :)

112/365

Early dinner. 4.30pm. :) Yes, we eat out a lot because I'm a lousy cook. Ha!

113/365

ABCs of Parenting - Lizzie Kate

Finished this piece finally. I have been stitching this bit by bit, usually while watching TV.

And a giveaway - no scrapbooking related, unfortunately.
That stitched piece above *edited to add ~ yes, it's counted cross stitch* - if anyone is interested in the chart, just let me know. I'll mail it out to you. If there is more than one person, I'll ask one of my girls to pick a name/number.
My Studio Calico box is here and everything is gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! I keep stopping to oooohhh and ahhhhh and ohhhh and ahhhh... I'm wasting so much time fondling them! LOL. You will wanna stalk the Shop especially.. lots of yumminess coming your way. Don't say I didn't warn you!

xoxo

Conversation at the gym and blog hop winner

2011-04-18T21:45:00.001+08:00

You may already know this..

I'm not a people person. I used to be. Not anymore. Long story.
The other day - actually no, not the other day. It was slightly more than one month ago, I was at the gym. This lady came to me and said - I wonder why you continue working your butt out when you're not losing weight?
I laughed.
Actually, I wanna say - which part of that is any of your d**n business? Ha!
I changed my gym timing after that day. Instead of first thing in the morning, I now go before I fetch my girls from school, around noon.. much better. The noon gym-goers are perfect for me.
For one, they mind their own business.
And they don't come and talk to me while I'm trying not to die on the treadmill. Ha!!
Sorry for this 'sour' tone in my post.. I just had to type this out. LOL.

Onto happier, sweeter stuff!

Blog Hop Winner - Ruth! Congrats Ruth! Please email me! *email button on left side bar*
I am going for a cupcake decorating class! Tomorrow! In roughly 12 hours from now actually. Heeehee! I can't wait! Photos? But of course!
I leave you with the sweetest thing in this post - my baby girl. :) Layout from Singin' In The Rain

xoxo

Studio Calico CountrySide and State Fair Blog Hop!closed

2011-04-14T12:05:00.003+08:00

Are you hopping yet?! :)

The two new collections from Studio Calico are finally in the shop, y'all!! Check it out - CountrySide and State Fair.

Welcome! Welcome! Please make yourself at home :)

I made some adorable *If I may say so* gift tags for your viewing pleasure.

I used

Picnic Patterned Paper (CountrySide) for the scalloped circles and the dark blue strips.
Harvest Patterned Paper (CountrySide) for the yellow butterflies.
Sideshow Patterned Paper (State Fair) for the green butterflies.
One of the doily from the Doilies Stamp Set - stamped with Versamark and clear embossed.
Then stitched all around the circle - DMC 2 ply - variegated thread.
Added some red blings on the butterflies.
Punched a hole and looped a length of twine through it.
*all butterflies punched with Fiskars flit-on-by punch*

And it's done! Super fast! I think I'm gonna make a few more. . it's just nice to have some gift tags ready in hand. As you can see, the two collections work very well together! And I have put together a prize pack for you. . something yummy.. something I love!

All the patterned paper I used above. One piece each.
Addy Alpha (yellow) stickers - I used it in this layout.
And a bottle of BlueGrass Mister Huey! (don't you just love the name!)

Leave a comment if you'd like to win! And now, it's time for you to hop on to - Stephanie Howell. Remember, if you lost your way, you can always come back to Studio Calico Blog.

Giveaway open until April 18th. *I will close the comment section then.. so as long as you're able to comment, you're good! :)*

Have fun!!

Don't give up on me

2011-04-08T13:45:00.001+08:00

mothering is hard. really. I'm sure you know that.
but being my daughter is harder, really. I promise you.
I expect too much.
I discipline.
but I also know if there is one thing I do not want her to do - is to repeat my mistakes. *I have a lot of them, i promise you that too*
And the one thing that I want her to do . . .

don't give up on me.
even after almost 11 years, I'm still learning to be a mother. Just a mother.
don't give up on me.

A Little of This A Sprinkle of That

2011-04-05T18:00:00.000+08:00

actually, no. I just wanna update my Project 365 photos here on the blog. *grins*

right now, the rain is so freaking heavy and I want a nap. but it's already pass 5pm and I so do not wanna mess up my sleep tonight. So I blog.
I scrapped a page I really, really love today. I can't wait to show you!
I had a good run in the morning, still breathing hard and loud like a dragon, but I had a good run. And I didn't get a starbucks after that said run *extremely hard, since I park my car in front of one - i feel like a traitor* and I'm feeling mighty proud of myself. LOL.
According to RunKeeper - I walked-jogged 40.5km for the month of March. *smiles*

82/365

Sunset from my kitchen window. 7.27pm.

I almost missed this. Nidhi was the one who bounced into the room and said - Mommy! look at that beautiful sunset! Thank you Nidhi. It was really, even more spectacular than this IRL.

83/365

Mr. Husband bought chocolate? Seriously? Not helping. haha! I can't resist! All three girls in the house have been chipping away on the 'egg' and it's finally finished today. :)) We still have the three bars. Mine is caramel.. Heh.

84/365

Post Office on Wheels at Changi Airport. How cute is this!! I wanna ride that thing but didn't wanna risk missing my flight. No go. :)

85/365

I am the worst navigator EVER. I got a headache after looking at this map for 15 minutes.

86/365

Assam Laksa. Roadside stall. RM2 which is about USD0.66 and it was so delish!

87/365

We had a room with pool access. I love sitting there, watching everyone else enjoy the pool, watching the beach.

88/365

One of the many framed photographs at Hard Rock Hotel.

89/365

Books. As you can see, I'm a hopeless romantic. Hopelessly hopeless.

90/365

Homework. Mommy hates homework. If it's up to me, they will have none.

91/365

Soyabean curd with ginko nuts. I ate all the beancurd but let Mr. Husband finished the ginko nuts. I don't quite like the taste.

92/365

This is the park 10 minutes from my house. This is where i drag my kids to on weekends if I feel like running. I usually run at the beach park, on school days so I have the pleasure of not dragging them along.

93/365

Tutti Frutti yogurt. This was Nidhi's, but she couldn't.. so I helped polish it up. LOL.

94/365

Movie Premiere - RIO. They said it was awesome. I didn't go in. I won tickets from GAP Singapore and it was for a 3d show. I don't do 3d. I get headache and might vomit onto the head of the patron in front of me. LOL. I'm gonna watch the plain ol' 2d version soon I think. Nidhi didn't fall asleep during the movie, which is saying a lot because the movie started at 7pm (she usually sleeps by 8+pm) and she always fall asleep, even if the movie starts at 11am. Must be good one! :P

95/365

Ice-cream! I didn't get any! Yay me!!

Back home . . .

2011-03-31T17:55:00.000+08:00

and missing my Hard Rock Hotel Penang's swimming pool. Not that I swim. Ha!

I love that you guys love that pool shot. I love it too! :)
I promised my friends over at Studio Calico I would post my Singin' In The Rain pages as soon as I get home. Didn't get to it until now. So sorry.
I hate laundry. Especially after a vacation. Especially.
Lots of photos here, so a little less ramblings, eh? :)
I used Singin' in The Rain, Moses Supposes and Tap Dance. They're all sold out now, but you still can get yourself Happy Refrain. I'm surprised it lasted this long, actually. A lot of the DT girls love that add on!
Just a heads up - the ZING is back in the shop *they were wiped clean the other day*! I ordered a couple for myself!

My Neha. :) she's growing, fast.

I used chewing gum, lemon drops, soap powder and stick candy for the stamping, and also Epiphany 14mm round tool to make my own epoxy circles.

Mr.Husband, the one I lean on every single day.

Epiphany 14mm button tool and Fiskars Flit On By punch in action.

This one makes me smile. My feisty girl. Don't mess with her. Just don't. LOL.

I changed the color of the Brown Sugar thickers by rubbing them with Timber Brown Stazon.

The stitching was done by hand. I drew the squiggly line with a pencil, pierced the cardstock and stitched. 2 ply DMC.

Some misting - I used Mister Huey Sunshine and Maya Mist Bubblegum.

The laundry is almost done, we're settling back into routine and I couldn't be happier. Hope to sneak some time away to visit all of you! :) ♥ ♥ ♥

I love you so much I'm blogging from the swimming pool!

2011-03-25T19:45:00.007+08:00

The sun has set, the noisy kids *including mine* have already left the pool, the pool bar is closed - no more chocolate and peanut butter milkshake for me *maybe that's a good thing* - it's just so peaceful now.

I set the camera on one of the chair. No tripod - are you kidding me? Add more weight to my 'i-don't-know-how-to-travel-with-less-than-8tonnes-luggage'? No. ThankYouVeryMuch.
I have sneaks to share.. but before that, I wanna show you this picture below ↓

Confession - I had to hold my pee when I saw her kissing that snake. Try holding your pee and taking a picture and balancing your handbag on one shoulder. Yeah. what a feeling. LOL.
I have one layout last month featuring this very snake. Yes, my children grew up with that snake. Or at least it's family members. I was told the old snake died a few years ago. I don't know why, but this one is new. At least not the one Neha first carried when she was 2 yrs old. *Neha is now approaching 11! OMG I'm OLD! and yes.. crazy too it seems. I let my then 2 yrs old carry an albino snake*
And I really have sneaks *not snake* for you. . . LOL. No kidding. I used the main kit - Singin' In The Rain, and two add ons - Moses Supposes and Tap Dance.

Jenni Bowlin Studio Dye Ink - Chewing Gum, Stick Candy, Lemon Drop and Soap Powder.

Custom made Epoxy and buttons - Epiphany Craft Shape Studio.

Some stitching - such fun colors, don't you think.

I love that Brown Sugar. Just the perfect brown. Versatile. Love.

More fun stitching.

That herringbone stamp from Tap Dance again. Fast becoming my favorite. It's kinda sneaky too, when I first saw it, I didn't think I would like it as much! Ha!

And besides that. . . I plan to get... *hmm, this is my favorite part! LOL*

Punch Revitalizer Set. I need to resurrect some of my punches. Especially those I use a lot!

Diamond Lace Edge Punch. That looks like a fun punch, right?!! I can't wait to get my hands on this lil beauty.

Mustard Zing Opaque. I already have Grapefruit, Aqua and Wave. I heard White Zing is awesome too.

And a brand new, juicy pad of Versamark Watermark!

So what's on your list? Which add on will be making its way home to you? I just wanna get them all, month after month! Crazy, I know!

We're off to dinner then walk a little bit to the night market. Interesting stuff here, I can never get tired of the night market. I'll take a picture to show you! Then maybe to the Hard Rock Cafe for some live band and something else to munch on. *eat eat eat. . . I'm getting fat fat fat*

I'll see you soon! *and promise to think of you when I have my next peanut butter and chocolate milkshake* :P

Sasha Farina. The blog.

Love grows here

One silly question

Love despite; not because

Of being scared, of being afraid.

Don't let what you can't do stop you from doing what you can do

She had me at pastries

Dear Lizzy

Overthinking not allowed.

Ecstatic. Jubilant. Honored.

I'm not gonna lie

When there is no right and there is no wrong

Here's to 2012. Here's to more.

The merriest of Christmas

The next time . . .

All my life. . .

More than once . . more than twice

33 on 33

An emotional scrapper

Because it was my race as much as it was his. . .

I can't breathe . . .

For all we know. . .

Half a Heartbeat

Hey you Hey me

Back from the dead

I would die for these people

Of thank you and NOT goodbye :)

here we go . . . are you ready

We are the water people

Practically unheard of

Right now - August 12th.

Of winner and Boardwalk

Studio Calico Summer 2011 CHA Blog Blitz

Right now. . . July 20th

Studio Calico/Hero Arts Blog Hop!

An avalanche . . .

Kind of a big thing

The story of 100k and Mind Your Gap :)

Today . . .

Around here . . .

To the Paper Moon and back

Sneaking you to the moon

Currents

A wedding . . . and a tease.

Lawn Party - Revealed.

Party on my lawn. Who's coming?

I want a brother . . and other stuff. .

Conversation at the gym *and blog hop winner*

Studio Calico CountrySide and State Fair Blog Hop!*closed*

Don't give up on me

A Little of This A Sprinkle of That

Back home . . .

I love you so much I'm blogging from the swimming pool!

Conversation at the gym and blog hop winner

Studio Calico CountrySide and State Fair Blog Hop!closed