Goodbye… Hello…

So it’s officially over… today marked my last day at school… A poignant day, filled with tears, photos and hugs… I’ve spent the last three years here, driven with the sole desire of inspiring the lives of youths through my teaching…

I’ve not been posting over the last couple of weeks, as life increased its speed triplefold… What with exams, then the marking, followed by an entire series of goodbyes to do… Hencefold, the Beloved and I will be heading up North again, this time to spend much needed quality time with his family, before we finally head towards Australia… These days I’ve been rather emotional, coz as I pack, I uncover numerous memorabillia that floods me with a wealth of emotion… Truly the past is not made up of days, but of moments. Moments that are etched so finely in us that somehow, when we look back, we cannot but wonder how we have grown as a result of all these past experiences… Pardon the melancholy, but it’s not easy having to put aside the tonnes of colleagues, who have become friends, supervisors who are parent figures at work for me…. I’m thankful to the Lord who have brought into my life this bunch of wonderful people, whom I will not have met, shuold I have been posted to another school some three years back…

On a seperate note, here are some of my creations from the past few weeks that I’ve totally failed to write about her any earlier…

 

A little something for the Beloved’s eldest auntie, a really sweet lady who truly love the both of us… Those are her darling grandchildren whom we love to play with whenever we visit them.

A clipboard altared as a gift for one eof my supervisors at work, with all the embellies that scream “TEACHER!”

Finally, a layout, one that I enjoyed creating, as it did not take that long, yet somehow, it’s one of those moments when everything just feels like they belong together. More importantly, I got to try a new technique for this one, where I stamped using chalk for the edges, to produce that aged look…

 

Do pardon me, as I really do think that the number of post this June will be limited, as we attempt to pack our lives here into our suitcases and say hello to Downunder…

The Great Scrapbooking Adventure

Coincidentally, this week’s layout for Pink Sketches is about how I stumbled upon scrapbooking… When selecting my pics, I forgot that the weekend that just past was scrapbooking day! So here’s “In the Beginning”. When doing my Masters course, one of the modules I took was archaeology, in order to better understand Singapore’s past. Because of that module, we got to go to a lab on Fort Canning, a hill in Singapore (really rather mini), where artefacts found were housed. On that fateful day, 8 October 2004 (after checking my records, relised I wrote the wrong date on my layout…opps), the Beloved, back the Boyfriend, and I had just eaten our dinner and were walking around when right before my eyes, I saw papers in a wide array of colors. For me, that’s an immediate magnet!

I’ve never looked back since, when I purchased my first eyelet tool. I still kee pthat original receipt and must scrap that someday. I;ve always found it to be rather coincidental that in one day, when attempting to dicover the nation’s past, I also learnt to preserve my own past, through using archival quality materials. So that’s the pic in the layout – my loot from the archaeological class that day, where I sort all the artefacts according to type and colors. The archaeologists at the lab later told us that that’s perhaps the prettiest bag of artefacts laid out after being washed! From artefacts, my collection today of course revolves round colors and matter of a totally different nature – inks, stamps, papers and the likes. How fun! I’m glad I went to class that evening…

While creating this page, it also brought back memories of how fast time has gone by… My first crop and earliest pages were created some five years back! Wow… of course, in that time, I’ve completed my studies, become a trained teacher, got married, set up our home, worked tremendously hard… I still remember a period of time when I could only stare doefully at all my pretty products and not have the time to play with them…months on end… Today, I tell myself, no matter what, it is through creating that I recreate, so I must make time for it! Yeah!

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…=)

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

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!

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…

?

Coming up with a title for a page is always a challenge, one that I enjoy and take pride in doing. I’m grateful that the Beloved is obliging, as he’s always involved in the process, as I bounce ideas off him. As lovers of words and ideas, much pain is taken by us to consider the different messages conveyed in our choice of words.

This week’s layout for Pink Sketches is a prime example. Having decided to create a page featuring the Beloved in his childhood, a picture that is cherished in his family, I wanted to focus on his passion for thinking. As I pondered over varies possible titles, the Beloved suggested just using a question mark, which aptly summariesed the essence of the page as well as his personality. His love to think, his passion for asking questions, his courage to say his does not know - all in a “?”.

  

Journalling that is hidden in the library docket reads, “you’ve always had an inquisitive mind. I love this picture of yours – which captures the wonder in your eyes… After all these years, you continue to pursue wisdom through the many questions you ask. We must certainly teach our children to ask as well… 

I had loads of fun playing with the Sassafras Lass papers, especially with all the owl motifs! I like the fact that owls are usually associated with wisdom, hence the papers complement the message of the layout.