Something else I scrapped today (click on the image to see a larger/clearer version):
Some close-up shots of the smaller details:
I want a new camera. I've been scrapping a lot of wedding photos since I started this hobby, so much so that it's getting boring. But the thing is, my wedding photographer is so good, his photos are so wonderful, and because they tell a story almost all on their own, it's so easy to scrap. My own photos, on the other hand, are crap.
I want a new camera so I can take those cool pictures where the main "thing" is in sharp focus and everything else is blurry.
But, maybe maybe a new camera won't solve anything. Suppose I get a new camera and then my photos still turn out lousy?? Sigh. Maybe I'm just a lousy photographer.
And through the night, she struggled mightily - the woman against the Beast called HTML. As dawn approached, the monster was finally cast down into the inferno from whence it was wrought. Order was once again restored in the land of Blog.
At least I hope so.
I hate HTML.
And all sorts of programming codes.
And computers.
Computers are stupid. Blogger beta is a pain. It took me the whole night just to get this template working - at least everything seems fine now. If it isn't working properly - don't tell me. I don't want to know. Not just yet anyway. I'm not quite ready to pull another all-nighter.
One gripe - I still don't like the header picture. Ugh. Changing it means I have to revive the Beast...
You know, at this point in time, I'm so ready to pay someone to make my blog pretty for me.
Xb and Ms Ho came over to my place today to scrap. Well, actually, xb and myself scrapped while Ms Ho was wonderfully sweet and cut out stuff for me.
I love scrapping. It's more than just trying to put things together to make a pretty page.
Take today, for example. There was something special in scrapping with friends, chatting away while our hands kept busy, occasionally stopping to ask one another for some layout advice... We talked about work (theirs), family (mine), love lives (cannot say whose), friends (ours), and while the pages slowly came together, our hearts came together too.
And then there was what came after. After they left, I decided to continue scrapping. I worked on what I had started, but decided to stop because I ran out of a certain material which I needed. But I wasn't satisfied. The engine had started and I didn't feel like switching it off yet. And so I scrapped this.
I believe this is my favourite piece of work to date. It's not about how it looks (although I like the way the colours collide), it's more about how I felt. I didn't plan this one - I just started with a question, "How about if I do this?" and things just took off. One by one, the elements came together - and it became something part experimental, part intuitive. After a while, I didn't really care what went where anymore. Rather, I cared about what felt good and what didn't.
But the best part of doing this was the way it brought me back to my wedding day. I look at the photos and I smile to myself. He looks so cute with his tongue hanging out after eating the chilli. And with every piece of paper I stick down, every little embellishment I add, I remember - this is how much he loves me.
As I am writing this on such a full stomach, I feel I must first apologise in case I get incoherent.
Hunny turned 28 today! We spent the day together - it was such a day of indulgence! We watched movies (yes, plural), ate ice cream, had coffee, etc etc... It's as if we crammed a whole lot of pak tor sessions into a single day. And now my tummy is paying the price..
We started off at Vivocity. Our itinerary was: buy tickets for two movies, have lunch, watch movies, shopping. As we were quite late arriving at Vivo, we only had a scant half hour to eat lunch. However, we did manage to cram a fair bit of food into our bellies in that short time!
Lunch was at this place called Brotzeit. It's a German bier bar and restaurant.
Here's what we had:
Sausages with sauerkraut and roasted potatoes.. quite yummy.
This was my favourite dish - ham and cheese and some other stuff on German multigrain bread.
Tafelspitz - cool name, but really just boiled beef chunks which I found quite hard and chewy..
I think the coolest part of the meal was the beer. Yup! Even this mommy-to-be had beer! See my glass was bigger than his!
Happily guzzling the beer...
Before you flood me with condemning comments - my beer's alcoholfree (that's how they spell it). It was fun, though! Fizz without the kick.
Once we were done with food, we hurried to the cinema to catch Mr Bean's Holiday. Boring movie, and the GV Max cinema is way overrated. Large cinema, normal-sized screen. What's the point in that, really? Anyway, the movie was so short (1 hour 30 minutes) that we found ourselves with a full hour before our next movie started. So we did the British thing - we went for tea (or rather, coffee).
Adrian's coffee at Pacific Coffee Company was just so-so, my hot chocolate tasted like Milo, and the rosemary chicken pie was chewy, but it was fun nonetheless. Really felt like we were dating all over again. The view was good too - we could see Sentosa and the cable cars and the light rail.
Our next movie was TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).. Don't laugh now - it was actually pretty good! Much better than Mr Bean anyway.
After the movie, we adjourned to Novena Square for some shopping. We had three goals to accomplish - use up $80 worth of vouchers at Mums N Babes (vouchers expiring real soon), use up $10 voucher at Ben and Jerry's (got the voucher as a Christmas present) and buy Adrian a pair of running shoes as his birthday pressie. Unfortunately, the shoes were not meant to be. It was a bit disappointing to find such a limited range of sport shoes at what is touted to be a "sporty" centre (Velocity), so we decided to wait till the weekend to head down to Queensway instead.
Dinner was at a tapas restaurant called Bungalow at United Square - great food here!
Escargots in cheese... yummy! You can see how much Adrian's enjoying it!
Three different dips to go with our bread - hummus (I have no idea what's in this), olives/tomatoes and sundried tomatoes.
Lovely, oh-so-succulent FOIE GRAS - my absolute fave!! I can eat tons of foie gras. I think my liver is part goose already.
Wagyu beef was next - horribly overpriced, I feel! But not bad, not bad.. good enough that we forgot to take a picture..
Asparagus wrapped in bacon. This is so skilfully done, I tell you the asparagus doesn't taste like a vegetable anymore - it tastes like bacon. If only all veggies could taste this good...
That's quite a lot of food for two people eh? (Well, two and a half, but still!!) You'd think we'd be too full for dessert - but don't forget our $10 Ben and Jerry's voucher! So we headed to Ben and Jerry's for a three-scoop sundae. And well, that kind of tipped us over the edge. Adrian and I are now suffering the effects of extreme overeating - bodily inertia, shortness of breath (can't breathe because too full to expand lungs), and slight stupidity (brain cells died due to chocolate overdose).
But, what can I say? It was great fun. Let's do it again! My birthday's in May.....
I told Hunny that he could get one can of beer. And guess what he picked?
He's quite smart, hor?!
Today was difficult. Difficult to get through, I mean. Apart from the fact that someone upset me terribly, here's why it was so difficult:
1. I was so exhausted after serving in church this weekend. I went to bed exhausted last night, and twelve hours of sleep later, I woke up still exhausted.
2. I tried to change my blogskin but the various templates I downloaded gave me so much trouble - some stupid message "cannot parse" mumbo jumbo - that I got a headache. Got stuck with this hobbity one eventually.
3. My tummy hurts. Not terribly, but it's the too-much-gas kind of pain. This is what colic feels like, I suppose.
4. I discovered cellulite on my ass last night. And this morning it was still there. Need I say more?
5. I felt nauseous for most of the day. I thought I was done with the first trimester nausea - why is it back when I'm already 6 months along??
6. It's so hot. So stiflingly hot. Hot-air-all-around, cannot-breathe-properly kind of hot. Perspire-despite-air-con-room kind of hot.
7. Something is wrong with my digestive system. I feel very undigested inside. Cannot describe. Like all the food isn't moving and it's all piling up somewhere inside and it's all choked up and urgh. Uncomfortable.
8. I feel so thirsty. So dehydrated. ALL THE TIME. So I drink a lot of water. But I keep peeing. And peeing. And peeing.
9. I have no inspiration to scrap. No ideas. No photos.
10. I feel fat, ugly, and unlovable.
Here's the new technique I hinted at in my last blog entry - decoupage. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, decoupage is the art of decorating surfaces by applying cutouts (of paper) and then coating with usually several layers of finish (as lacquer or varnish).
In other words,
Step 1. You take an object - something firm preferably (for example, wood is better to use than cork) - and cover it with a decoupage medium. A decoupage medium is a gluey substance - it can be used as a glue and a sealant which dries clear. An example - the white glue we used in school for art lessons! Art Friend sells decoupage medium called Mod Podge. Cute name eh?
Step 2. Then you stick on paper cutouts or whatever you want to stick. Fabric can be used too. I like to call this "covering the object".
Step 3. You can stick on more paper on top of whatever paper you've stuck on already. By using the same medium.
Step 4. Finished sticking stuff? Cover the entire surface with the decoupage medium. Wait till it dries clear. Cover it again with the glue one more time.
So simple! But so very messy...
It's quite fun though! I've been experimenting - here's something I did which I quite like:
How this came about: All alone at home one day, I was bored - no ideas for scrapping. I had just learnt the decoupage technique at a class and was itching to do it more at home. Then my eyes fell upon this innocent looking cork coaster lying on my study table. I pounced on it with great relish...
Here's the other side of the coaster:
And here's how it looks hung up:
On the pregnancy front, my little baby has been kicking me quite vigorously these few days. She's getting really strong! And though her kicks are sometimes uncomfortable, it's very reassuring to feel her there. I can't describe to you the feeling of putting your hand on your tummy and feeling it move under your palm. It's as if I can feel a foot or something!
Costs only $29 at Ikea!
See all my stuff in cute $2 boxes from Daiso!
Here's what I've been doing with all the supplies I bought..
Our honeymoon parasailing pictures - if you look closely you can see our legs...
Honeymoon again - quad biking this time...
Check out the page Ad scrapped for me - so sweet! It matches the one I did for him on Strength earlier.
I'm now working on a new project, a whole new technique altogether... stay tuned for more pics real soon!
I've been on a roll these few days... loads of ideas for scrap pages... bought loads of supplies!!!! hahah.
Honestly, this is a bad habit. Yes, habit.
I bought some buttons - trust me, they are superb fun to stick on pages.. you can even stitch them on!
Some foam stamps too, to use with acrylic paint - good for old world effects..
Here's my little box of "stuff" - there's bottles of paint (brown, black, pink, blue, pearl glaze) and some eyelets and brads. 
And some pretty ribbon for girly pages!
Some chipboard tags - chipboard is like cardboard - very much like what you see on the back of your foolscap pad, only thicker..
And acrylic stamps (plus my new vintage "Sugar Plum" ink pad - this is really cool - the ink is scented!)..
Sigh.. there's still so much more I want to buy!
Wish list:
1. More acrylic stamps (these babies are not cheap!)
2. More buttons from Foof a La!
3. More chipboard alphabets from Basic Grey
4. Magnetic snaps
5. Metal charms for embellishment
6. More acrylic paint colours!
7. More vintage ink pads - I've got my eye on a certain Ripe Melon
and.. *drum roll*...
8. Canon Selphy ES1 dedicated photo printer! (But I'll settle for the C730 - good 'nuff!)
Ahem. Ok, I'm back from fantasy land. The reality is, my study room is horribly cluttered. Everything is everywhere. But but but I've just gotten back from Ikea with a $29 shelf! My very own scrapping shelf! Yeah! Waiting for Adrian to get home so he can help me fix it up... I'll upload pics of my new shelf as soon as I'm all organised!
I've been trying to blog this for quite a while, but I've been having problems with Blogger - couldn't seem to upload my pics!
I got the loveliest surprise the other day - my sis sent me prezzies from Perth (via the Oon Express), and they are gorgeous! Thank you dearest sister for the lovely baby clothes - ooh I can't wait to dress my little girl!
Have you seen a cuter outfit? In Pink, no less!
A sweet dress - looks perfect for baby dedication at church!
And to top it off, SHOES! My sweetie's first pair of shoes!
*melt melt melt*
I'm so touched and so happee.
Haven't blogged in a few days... I was so busy over the weekend with church and family gatherings. In fact, I've been so busy I haven't even been scrapping. Which is bad. I must scrap regularly, else I'll lose my mojo... heh.
I attended a scrapping workshop today and I'm back! I like workshops - they inject me with new ideas for scrap pages and I learn more about the different techniques too. End result - I become like a locomotive engine running on nitro...
This scrap page below I actually started quite a few days ago, but I lacked the supplies to put in the title. The journaling is actually part of a song by Steven Curtis Chapman - Ad and I wanted to sing this song for our wedding but we didn't get to. It's a lovely song, great tune and all, but what makes it so special is that it's about love and the commitment that goes with it. It's one of those songs that always makes me sigh.. "And I'll hold you close/And I won't let go/Even when our steps grow weak and slow" *sighhhhhh*
So, anyway, I put in the lyrics of the song and titled the page "Vow". I like it, but I still feel that there's something missing. No oomph. A bit plain. But I'm reluctant to add more embellishment because I don't want to detract from the old world theme of the page. Don't want to draw snake and add foot, if you know what I mean..
This next one is bright and cheery - I like this a lot! I did this today in the workshop. I wanted to scrap some of my favourite honeymoon pictures, but I only managed to do the beach pics today. For my next project, I'm going to do a page on the quad biking photos so that the two pages form a two-page layout, which I affectionately term "Surf and Turf". Haha! The instructor for the class today nearly fainted when I told her that I wanted to name this page "Surf" and the other one "Turf". Apparantly, it was way too corny.
Since I got my mojo back after the workshop, I came home and started scrapping my parents' wedding photos. I had actually gotten the photos from my mom a couple of days back, but well, no inspiration prior to today. This page was hard to do. Because my mom didn't give me enough pictures of her and dad together! It didn't quite turn out the way I originally wanted it to, because I was still experimenting with inking (new technique I learnt today), but I'm ok with the overall result nonetheless. Maybe still needs a bit more embellishment, I think.
This last one I really like - because of the colours. Peach, pink, purple and red... girly colours! I did this really quickly - nitro kicking in - but I still think it's a bit unfinished, because I want to add more embellishment. Maybe some metal stuff. But I don't know what. Got to go down to the shop and looksee to get some ideas/supplies but I think I've already exhausted my spending quota for this month. Ahem.
Ad's so sweet - he's quite keen on scrapping a page for me. When I told this to the girls in the workshop today, they said a guy who's willing to do this for a girl is definitely a keeper...
Sometimes I get so tired I just want to throw in the towel.
But stupidly like a fool I keep trying again and again and again.
I think it ends today.
To my dear sister in Perth:
Sorry Debs! I did this for you and I wanted to get it framed up so Oon can take it back to Perth to cheer you up but I don't have enough money to buy a nice frame... *sob*
It'll be waiting here with me for you to come back home and claim it ok?
On a side note, here's why I don't have enough money to buy a frame. Ad and I bought a cot from Mums and Babes at United Square. Display piece looked pretty good (just had some dirt marks on it - usual), but when the cot was delivered and assembled at our place, we found that the wood and paint had chipped off at some parts! Now, that's unacceptable, because peeling paint is a safety hazard. The deliverymen went back down to their truck to get us another piece, but it still had the same problem. So we rejected the whole item, but unfortunately, we couldn't get our money back. Goods not refundable, only exchangeable. Darn. So we had to go round the stupid shop trying to find $400 worth of products, which well, isn't too difficult to do, but the end result is that we spent $400 on useful but low priority baby stuff, and we still don't have a cot.
I'm so frustrated.
Really frustrated.
Some part of my mind whispers, "See what happens when you listen to other people and try to stinge on quality?" Sigh sigh sigh. But $400 isn't really that cheap......
I really hope we manage to buy a good cot for our baby. And I really hope that after all this hassle, my baby will be a good baby who likes to sleep in the cot.
Whoo! I've been so busy lately, I'm so relieved that I've finally got the time to breathe and relax a bit!
There's a conference going on at the moment at church, busy busy busy! Plus, I went to the Babycare Festival at Suntec on Saturday to see if I could pick up some good deals - but I'm sad to say that it was such a disappointment. I was hoping to get some good discounts on the big ticket items like prams and cots, but the range they had on display was so limited.
The only good thing that came out of Saturday's foray into Suntec was that my MIL and I chanced upon a mothercare store offering up to 70% discounts in a closing down sale. We managed to grab some Avent bottles and an Avent steriliser, as well as some beautiful cutesy baby outfits! Yeah! (Note: We almost bought more, if not for the timely intervention of Ad's aunt whom we coincidentally bumped into there...)
Of course we didn't stop there. We visited more shops, both at Suntec and Marina Square and bought some more cutesy clothes...
and little sockies!
I'm so going to sue the doctor if he's wrong about my baby's gender!
Anyway, on a separate, more somber note, here's my next piece of completed scrapwork.
I wanted to try scrapping a single photo instead of multiple photos, which also gives me more room to journal on the page. I wanted this piece to convey my yearning to be somewhere else right now... away from Singapore with all its hustle and bustle and stress. I want to be somewhere idyllic, somewhere peaceful, somewhere the wind blows on my face and sweeps away all the weariness and worry, and refreshes me with scents of lemon verbena and lavender instead.
