Being Loved

Yes, another year of my life unfolded a couple of days back and I’m greatly reminded of how blessed I am, as seen from the love showered upon me by many loved ones and friends. This entry serves as a reminder on how much I’m loved and to never ever take the people around me for granted…

One of the greatest surprises came at work on my birthday. When the school office staff called me while I was working, I thought it was a parent waiting to speak to me. Lo and behold, when I made my way down to the General Office, this greeted me:

The Beloved had actually arranged for his regular florist to send me a bouquet! Wow! He knows how much I love surprises and truly, this one came without me actually suspecting anything! And yes, if you have the patience to count through every single stalk, there’s one there for every year of my life… Thank you Darling for being such a Dear!

The surprise did not stop there. That evening, after a simple dinner, the Beloved declared that he will do all the clean up and all I need to do is go to the room and rest. I did just that and then came surprise number 2:

 

Yummy, yummy chesscakes that I adore! All decked out with candles=) I must really have been in a daze not to suspect anything…. The Beloved got it easy that day I guess, since I just got up from a nap… nonetheless, I’m thankful that the Lord has chosen to bless me with such a loving and thoughtful man… Our conversation together has never ceased since the day we spoke in the library, some six years back and there has never been a dull moment when we’re together. So my birthday dinner, which we went for the next evening (I’ve always love to do that for my birthday dinner as I can return home later, without having to think of work since it’s a public hol here in Singapore on 1st May!), I got to indulge in some really wonderful yummies, like these: 

That’s one of my favourite shots from the evening out. Those yummies are called kueh pie tees, a peranakan dish. It’s a crispy shell filled with stewed turnip, prawns, eggs and topped with parsley and chilli. There were loads of other food and we ate to our hearts’ content.

The Lord has certainly been very kind, as he brought to my attention throughout the month about the many people who value me for whom I am. There’s the gals whom I grew up with in my youth ministry, my family, my colleagues and of course my students… This cake was one of the earliest surprises I had for my birthday, when we gals gathered at my place with our significant others and children.   

As we chatted and filled each other in about life, it warmed my heart to know that after all these years, we still do care about each other and truly value one another.

Then there’s my darling nephews whom I mentioned in one of my earlier posts. These were the earrings that the sweeties bought for me and greeted me at the door with when I visited my parents.

 

So after receiving all these love, I told myself that I must share the love, and make it a point to cherish and remeber the people whom I love as well. So this morning, I took the time to create this for HM, a dear friend who will be turning 21.

Through these few days, I’ve been reminded once again that as a crafter, I’ve been gifted with the joy of creating and I certainly must share this gift with others by blessing them with my creations. I’m sure you know what I mean…=)

On Growing Up…

Dear Lord,

thank you for life. Thank you for a wonderful life… Today, as another year unfolds before me, teach me to love you more, to remember that each day is a gift from you, as I learn to celebrate each moment, both pleasant and otherwise. For all my loved ones and friends you’ve blessed me with, I cannot be more grateful… Amen.=)

Praise God!

We’re celebrating! I was tremendously happy last week, after having worked so hard at the school event I was in charge of. The week brought with it even more good news when the results of the drama competition were released and the students did very well, clinching a bronze! Yeah! I let out a yulp of excitement when I read the SMS from my colleague. Wow!  This is the first time we have gone efor the competition and as a very young school, I’m just so proud of all the heartwork the students have shown!

Over the weekend, the beloved and I had a good time fellowshipping with the S family, a group of people who helped us tremendously when we were preparing for our marriage. It was good to just be able to sit down, have a meal together and give thanks to the Lord for all the goodness he has bestowed on us…

In line with this thankful spirit, I was creating my weekly layout and decided that it shall be on … food! Certainly something close to the hearts of the people around me. So here goes “Enjoying Life”, which celebrates the Beloved and my eating escapades while we were on our honeymoon in Penang, Malaysia. We enjoyed ourselves so much and wanted to explore this beautiful island throughly that we actullay went there twice, within six months! The first trip took place right after our wedding and we spent quite a bit of time just resting and sleeping, after all the planning and energy that went into the wedding. So the second time up there, we drove and got to go round the entire island, soaking in the various sights and filling our tummies with the yummies that were everywhere!

 

What I like about scrapping older pics is the fact that it presents an opportunity for the Beloved and I to revisit what we have done before, recounting all the memories that were created and just laughing at all the funny escapades, jokes we cracked (bad ones included), encounters with various people and how much time we have spent together… These will certainly be cherished, all the more so when our family gets bigger and we are privileged to share with our children all that the good Lord has given us…

Created for the Creator

Last week is finally over… My body can finally take a break and I need to catch up with all my marking! So the school event went well and I need not fret over rehearsals anymore=) That’s good!

What I’m amazed by is how the Beloved and I found the strength over the weekend to host a group of our friends. We cooked loads (fried bee hoon (vemicelli), chicken curry, baked chicken, salad, cocktail, jelly, green bean soup and baked some cookies phew!) but had a superb time catching up with some friends from our youth ministry whom I grew up with. That was fun. We used to be a bunch of girls yet today, we’re all married, some with children of our own… I will certainly miss them when the nect chapter of our lives unfolds… Yup, things are about to change here and I will be writing about it soon…

On the creative front, have you ever come across a sketch that you are absolutely excited about, that you dream about it for a while and in the process of creating, the juices flow over and it gets all the more enjoyable? This was exactly how I felt when putting the following page together for Pink Sketches.

 

I throughly enjoyed the process as it’s not my usual style to scrap with loads of white space. However, when I first saw this sketch, this picture came to mind as I felt that the white spaces will heighten the grandeur of the church we got married in. “First Kiss” is also special because it records the very time my Beloved and I exchanged affections with our lips. When we first started our relationship, we decided that our very first kiss will be at the altar before God, as our way of honouring Him, as well as keeping ourselves for each other till this very special day. It’s a personal conviction we had and truly it was well worth the wait! What was really funny was Pastor. Knowing that this was our very first time, the actually made us do it a second time in front of everyone, claiming that he had “missed the first”. When the Beloved asked him “Are you serious?” Pastor replied with a straight face, “Of course!” This’s what memories are certainly made of! Journalling on the layout reads: Both our us decided that our 1st kiss will be at the altar. When the moment finally came, it was it was humorous when Pastor called for us to kiss twice!

If you notice, an attempt was made to mimick and draw focus to the picture – 2 birds, 2 butterflies, 2 circles, 2 brads… I enjoyed creating the border around the page using only coredinations. The technique was to scrape the paper off where I wanted the lines of the sqaure to be, using a ruler as a guide.

Before this post ends, may I say that I’m humbled by many of your comments and I’m truly glad that through this meaningful hobby, I’ve been able to proclaim the goodness of the Lord in our lives. Thank you fellows sisters in Christ who have been so kind to leave comments here. It’s certainly a delight to know that you have shared in the joy the Lord has graciously given me. May we continue to create to honour our Creator!

Of J & C

These two darlings Josh and Caleb are such dears… My two nephews, who simply love coming to our home as they love the pool that is nearby. However, what’s so endearing about these lads is their thoughtfulness…

My birthday is coming soon at the end of the month. Interestingly, the boys got wind of it, and mind you, we are talking about a 6 and 12 year old here, who usually do not remember their days or dates… I believe my mum had something to do with it… So when I went to my parents’ for dinner last week, low and behold, the boys greet the Beloved and I excitedly at the door, and shoved this package into my hands with a loud “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!” That was really a surprise, especially if your birthday is only in another few weeks’ time!

Ther little darlings had gotten me a couple of earrings, which the honestly admitted that “Mummy paid for them” and the best gift – a picture drawn by Josh himeself. Now, Josh has always been drawing and writing letters to us. In fact, we have a special file at our place where all his creations go into. When he comes over, he enjoys taking out the file and re-telling all the stories that are going on in the pictures. Amazingly, the stories are always similar, which goes to say that they were really drawn with the Beloved and I in mind. Some of them are rather hilarious, like the one when he says ” That’s Uncle K giving Sophie Yi Yi (Auntie) a flower.” “Both of you are sitting in a boat together.” How’s that?

So to remember their kindness, here’s Josh’s latest creation of a spider cooking in our home, preparing a drink and placing it on my dining table. He actually captured some of the details of our home in the picture – like those three lights hanging over the table. Cool!

  

 

Josh’s art and creativity was my inspiration for this layout for Pink Sketches. The bright colors, the flowers that were created from the lovely Cosmo Cricket papers, all the scruching of papers, playing with glitter and distressing were done with the idea of him just having fun doodling and creating. His free spirit is worthy of my emulation.

On a seperate note, I’m so glad that the drama competition went well! I was so, so glad to see how the students gave their 120% effort! While the results are not out yet, I’m more thankful that they have grown closer as a result, they had fun and most importantly, they have grown as a result of the experience. This week up, there’s a major event at school that I’m in charge of.  I’m certainly looking forward to a good rest once it is over. Trusting the good Lord to empower me this week. You have an empowered week too! Ta!

Blessed Easter

He has Risen!
Praise God!
Thank you Father!

We Are the Reason

12 noon. The Beloved and I spent a good part of the day at church today, as we attended Service from 12-3pm, through Jesus’ last seven sentences on earth. The Service was a good reminder on how much the Lord has done for us. I was glad that I could be in the house of the Lord, being able to thank Him for all that He has done for us, being there to remember how really insignificant I am, acknowledging how really, I cannot do anything without Him.  What was most dramatic was at exactly 3pm, the hour of Christ’s death, the skies broke opened and it rained cats and dogs for the next couple of hours!  It was as if the heavens were speaknig to us, remebering with us what Christ has done for us all…

Good Friday… Thank you Abba Father, for loving me enough, deeming me fit to have your only Son die for me on that tree…

Arise!

Oops, I’m late with posting this week… Life has been crazy with loads of rehearsals at work as I work with students for our big drama competition that will be performed tomorrow. Yup, I’m the teacher in-charge for the school’s drama club. I’ve always enjoyed acting since young and after all those years of performing, I’m re-living it through the young lives I teach. So as I brace myself for the performance tomorrow, after two months of hardwork and countless dreams, here’s a reminder for myself – enjoy. I’ve always had dreams when I sleep since I was young and the thing is I usually remember what I dreamt. Thus far, this competition and rehearsing for it has appeared thrice at night and I say that is more than enough! =) I’m thankful ultimately for how the competition has brought the club closer and the students are displaying a greater sense of responsibility. That’s all that matters at the end of the day… I belive they will all RISE to the occasion.

On to my layout for Pink Sketches this week.

Title: Arise!

When deciding what to scrap, I peeked in my little archive – old pictures. Many of these were taken years ago, before I started scrapbooking using acid-free materials. My water baptism happened in 2002. Looking at them brought back loads of memories, with the most pleasant being the fact that both my parents were there to witness this important moment in my life and they gave me their blessing to take this step. They were pre-believers then and today, I’m looking forward to their water baptism soon. The journalling on this layout reads: ” Changi Conference Centre. Therefore if anyone is in Chirst, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come! II Corinthians 5:17″

I enjoyed altering the alphas for this layout. The alphas are from Scrap Within Reach and the original colors did not match the theme. So after glimmer misting, painting and inking the letters, I’m in love with all the different shades of blues found on them! Will try to take pics of the steps one of these days…

Off to bed soon, as D-day arrives very, very soon…=)

Itchy Fingers

My dear fingers, there’s dinner to prepare, floors to clean and loads to do… Yet you choose to wander off, heading towards those pretties and creating a mess with them…

I blame you not…

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, lounging around with the Beloved, enjoying each other’s company while reading, inspiration struck. My fingers heard the papers calling them and before I know it, g.c.d studios papers were pulled out again with the challenge set to create a page that was simple, that could be completed quickly. That was not too difficult, especially since the patterned paper was wonderfully designed to complement the picture I wanted to scrap…

 

Pleased as punch that this was done, with time for cooking and cleaning too! speed scrapping for a change is fun, especially for a slow coach like me, who usually take way longer as I enjoy the process…

As I seek the Lord for a good week ahead, one that is filled with His wisdom and strength, I pray too that you, my friend will enjoy the process ahead… Shalom…

Love is in the Air

Much time was spent this week with my loved ones. C & J, my beloved nephews love to come to our place to hangout and swim at the pool nearby. We spent time playing boardgames, eating and just laughing, befor sending them home. The Beloved us I also got to celebrate C’s 12th birthday with him. It’s quite mind boggling where all the time has gone when I still remember distinctly carrying him as a baby… he’s now a teen! Pasta was cooked for lunch and it was good to see C eating his veges, a task that has been daunting since he was very young!

Pockets of time found between work and family were spent of two layouts – one for Pink Sketches and another, simply to challenge myself. I’ve never been a pink sort of gal. So pink hardly features on my creations, until this time, when I saw this g.c.d studios paper, fell in love with the blooms, and decided that I have to give it a try. so, here’s God & Us – Love.

Loads of time went into cutting out each bloom, with each petal painstakingly raised using my favourite fiskers penknife, before topping each with a pearl. Phew! Have a look at these…

I was glad at the end of the day to have the page in full bloom at the end of the entire process. The flowers from the Cosette Collection – Wedding Bouquet certainly added flair to the layout as well.

This certainly marks the beginning of more pinky pages in the near future!=)