work in progress

It has been slow on the creating front. Sometimes , I just have to run upstairs, away from my office and cocoon myself in my studio. Time stands still there. I worked on a little sheer minibook for Cziplee to use as a sample. This might evolve into a class celebrating mothers for Mother's Day , maybe in April.

I also have been quite obsessed with my UTEE. I made a batch of embellishments with Maya Road chipboard pieces, inked, stamped and UTEEd. Here's what it looks like bare...
And here's what it looks like after double embossing with Utee. I love how it turns out all shiny and glazed like an enamel treasure.

I coudn't help but attach one of the 'treasured ' pieces to the minibook using my crop-a -dile. =)

Here's a peek inside...

Other materials used: 7G stickers, Maya Road sheer scalloped album, Making Memories adhesive pearls & rhinestones, Love, Elsie ribbon, Basic Grey rub ons, Maya Road scalloped ric rac, MM Love story blossoms, American Crafts thickers, Kokuyo Dotliner Hold, Fancy pants patterned paper, Hero arts stamp, Tsukineko Brilliance ink, Maya Road microchips, mini chipboard buttons.

i think i can!

I feel like an Israelite, following the cloud, stopping and starting only by instruction. The New Year rings in and we have plans. To simplify. We have plans. To grow. And yet, we aren't really in control. As we are led, we move. Amazing!
Truly.

I made a decision before CNY to do something. Something that would involve 'stretching', 'enlarging'. A project , if you will. Since that decision I have seen mountains placed in front of me. One, what my physician calls a 'query flare' , got me covered in a mad rash for a week. More drugs, some time on my knees, and the mountain and my doubts, cleared. Yesterday I practically went weak with exhaustion and pain, while having reflexology at home, til my reflexologist insisted I go straight to bed, midway! I felt like my body was there, but I had left the building. For the first time this year, I slept at 11.30, thinking to myself, can I really do this on my own?
I was up and at my desk at 7.30 this morning. As I got out of bed, my eye caught sight of little Thomas, the tank engine, sitting on my night stand. A gift I cherish. I felt that, hey, I can do this!

A month from now I hope to see the results of this project. I expect that my life will change, again. I will see a dream take shape. I expect to be stretched & enlarged . (Sounds painful) I've got my hiking shoes on and mountain climbing gear but I expect I'll spend more time on my knees than on my feet . I think I can do this.
Truly.

cny

We wait and wait for Chinese New Year, not just for the family reunion and the celebration , but also for the break.
it is the only time most businesses in Penang close for an extended period. The only time for a well deserved rest.

This didn't happen this year. Philip's parents moved house just before CNY and most of our days were spent there.
At the same time I broke out in a most awful rash, which thankfully, has subsided.
Life is always changing . A doctor who treated me in Singapore once said to me, before I was about to move house, "If you think it will make you sick, it might and if you think it will be okay, it will." Maybe not the medical advice I had expected, but wise words that stuck and have carried me through many a trying time.

Some things remain the same . Every year before we set out on our CNY rounds, the children will 'Pang Teh', and we will give them our blessings with their ang pows. Some things remain constant. Like love.

mini love

I am absolutely obsessed with mini books! They are fun to make, ideas flow easily and I love the feeling of holding a completed project in my hand. Certainly some take longer than others, like this one. It took forever to cut out the heart shapes from patterned paper. I painted alternate pages with Making Memories scrapbook colours and reinforced every page with 7G gaffer tape. I'm not done yet and already the spine is threatening to give way! =) (more reinforcement)


Thinking of ideas for March classes, the trouble is, choosing just a couple!!