Lockegg

So this creation was done a couple of weeks back for a competition held at my LSS. Being an Easter challenge, we had to alter an egg. So here’s my attempt, my own lockegg. I’ve always told the Beloved that I would love to have a locket, so looks like this may just be it.

 The container was altered to hold the lockegg. Had fun just imagining that if this was a product being sold, how I would package it. Attached the chain to the shell and embellished it to be a necklace, that I could possibly wear out. My favourite part of this creation is actually the dangling heart in the shell that hovers over our picture. Can you make it out in the picture?

Come to think of it, if this ever takes off as a marketable product, I might just end up having to rear chickens and hmm…hire the Beloved to farm them! how about that?=P

When Papers Come to Life

On our usual walk to work in the morning, the beloved told me this story about Khing, a master carver, who was asked to create a bell stand for the Emperor. Khing decided to fast to focus only on the craft ahead, instead of considering if he will receive praise or criticism, nor desiring to live up to the expectations of others. After some time, Khing went out to the woods in search for the right tree to use for the bell stand. When the right tree appeared before him, the bell stand also appeared, clearly, beyond doubt. All he had to do was to put forth his hand and begin. When the bell stand was completed, it was so beautiful that the entire city suspected that it was the work of spirits. Yet to Khing, his response was, “I’m merely a craftman who loves what I do.” The Beloved said that seeing me create this week reminded him of Khing. Truth be told, I enjoyed tremendously what I created this week because of the absolutely beautiful papers I had from Graphic 45.

The women on the Fashionista collection spoke to me, as if they were waving, inviting me to join them for an adventure. So this card says “Hi! It’s Time…” The inside says “…to Celebrate!”

 

I fell in love with the rich colors of the flowers for this layout. The blues and reds were a joy to work with and I’m glad they complemented my wedding bouquet. Had fun placing all the buttons on this layout and thereafter sewing thread through them. The vintage feel of the papers made these pictures pop!

 

This now hangs proudly on my kitchen wall – both as a reminder of why I cook, as well as our calling in life to serve and feed those around us – be it physically or spiritually. Just like Khing, these projects came easily because I felt a strong connection with the products used. I simply could not stop creating!

Today also marks my first official layout for Pink Sketches, after being told last week that I’ve been selected.

Continuing with our wedding pics, this was created to remember al lthe heartwork that went into decorating for our special day. These included the church, wedding favors, to my bouquet for the reception up North.

The joy of creating continues this wonderful week, when I checked my email and saw that Shine has been selected to be up on Basic Grey’s Gallery! What a thrill! With that, I’m reminding myself that truly, creating is a process that is regenerative, one that makes me truly, truly happy. Always create not because I have to, but because I love to…

Have a great and sun shiny week! I love sunny side ups (one of those meals that is created because I heard the eggs calling my name=)!

The Amazing Race

So there has been a lack of posts for the last couple of weeks due to a family emergency. On 20th October, the Beloved and I received a call from his family up North, requesting for us to return as soon as possible as Grandma was not in a great condition. The beloved and I immediately started our journey with a frantic attempt to throw in clothes into our nightbag, call possible airlines to book tickets, check that the home is safe and secure and of course to inform our supervisors at work. Failing to reach anyone on the phone, we rushed to Changi Airport and thank God, made it just in time to get on the last flight for the day up North. The security officer at the departure gate was so sweet when he saw us running. “In a hurry? No worries, I’m quick! Take care!” We fled to the gate just in time to board the plane. So I guess that is the closest I will ever get to being on The Amazing Race. We were glad that we got to see Grandma that night when we rushed to the hospital upon arrival. The next morning, Grandma said goodbye…

In times like these, it is hardest for the living. Thanks to understanding employers, we got to stay for a couple of days with my in-laws to support them, especially my mum-in-law who was really close to her mother. I love all my in-laws as everyone in the family are truly warm and big-hearted individuals who embraced me into the family since the Beloved and I started our relationship. So it was rather sad when we finally have to return home and I am looking forward to spending time with them in December again.

Once home, there were loads to settle at work, at home and in our youth ministry. Managed to complete ploughing through the stack of essays I had to mark for the exams and the delightful part was seeing how the students have improved from history! Great work! The thing that has been offering me respite and maintaining my sanity, other than God, is crafting. The following were two pages created upon my return, done in the night to hel pme re-charge for the next day:

This was created to celebrate the relationship Jeslyn and I share. We are pals at work and share closely with one another about life. When I got married last year, she was a great source of ideas and support, especially since she got married 8 months before I did! So Thank you Jes for everything! I haf fun creating this using Scenic Route papers and while creating, the one thing that I kept reminding myself was there pink must be featured in this layout as Jes loves that color to bits!

Another layout completed was the following, who is my favourite to date:

The pictures used were taken recently and I decided to play with the color saturation to get different hues of my face, an idea the Beloved and I toyed with. I’m a Dreamer at heart, as I often live in my imaginary world, where ideas take shape and things that are impossible happen. Tried to capture this aspect of myself thorugh this layout, which was part of the challenge at Made With Love for October, hosted by Leena. I had tremendous fun creating this, especially in cutting up all the different papers from Basic Grey, Sassafras and Hamblys. I love the amount of activity going on around the title, which is an interpretation of the buzz in my head. Love all those beautiful images! The cheery on top of this layout came this morning. When I woke up and checked out the forum on MWL, i was greeted with this. YESSSSSSSS!!!!!! I won the challenge! An absolute surprise! There were many wonderful layouts there by the other ladies who participated as well! I’m just glad that the wonderful ladies who left comments saw the colorful, vibrancy and energy in this particular page. That’s just so who I am! So I’m looking forward to playing with these new toys soon (Thanks Leena!):

 

Before I end this post, I must certainly mention about this book which I borrowed recently from the local library:

It was fun looking thorugh it, gleaning various ideas about how buttons can be used in craft work. What was more exciting was learning about how buttons are such a great part of some peoples’ lives. 1. Have you heard of the Button King? This one intrigued me. Dalton Stevens suffers from insomnia and hence, he started attaching buttons to a suit and eventually to a car and even his own hearse! This is so amazing!

2. The Buttonarium. How about an online museum featuring only buttons? Certainly worth a visit to get some inspiration! Have fun!