dec 12

I thought that I might share what I've used for this page. I used this felt bird from Jenni Bowlin Designs, I love the feel of birds on my page, and to me they represent being free and happiness. I have also been working a lot with Maya Road chipboard lately, scrolls, snowflakes and their sweet birds as well.I used gems for the eye of the bird and also to dress up the wing. For the date I punched a circle out of Scenic Route paper and stamped a scalloped image with a 7 Gypsies self inking stamp, then I used chipboard thickers for the actual date. I like using white ink on dark paper as well. This time I used a Uniball signo white pen. For a 6x9 page, you must be careful not to overcrowd. A couple of meaningful accents is actually all you need.

dec 12- at the end of the day

In 12 days it will be Christmas Eve. When do the 12 days of Christmas start? I should start making preparations. But maybe Wednesday night is not the time. We enjoy putting out the weekly new arrivals, still, we go home a little tired. I did leave a little earlier than usual, my desk all cleared, tired and happy as I locked my room, ready to go home.

dec 11

On this ordinary Tuesday, our dogs really cracked me up. They're always blocking my path or stepping on my foot, and I will playfully scold them or push them out of the way. Today they responded by pretending to be good, both in exactly the same position. Their mock innocence, a really funny sight, sent us off on our date grinning.

dec 10

The music room turned study is looking cozier. I actually tried it out and it feels good. Now I'm dreaming of a nice chair to match the elm chinese desk. These desks are made a little higher as they have a carved footrest below, apparently it's very cold in China. Anyway my chair is Burmese teak, nice but a little low. As always, I had company in the sofa in front of me. No complaints.

I had a tough time deciding which photos would go in my book. In the end, I worked with two.
Sarah , looking like a princess after her shower , hanging around in my room,

and the dailyl "walk the dog" ritual, I usually don't go but this evening, after the rain, I did, the two young ones, our old Ridgeback Eva and our cat Aragorn, whom I suspect, thinks he's a dog. I have never seen a cat walk with dogs before, following them all the way and back, close to heel. So funny!

dec 9 - rest

I love staying home on Sundays. Especially when it rains. Spent the whole afternoon working on the music room/ office project. Enlisted the help of a couple of strong men (wink) and managed to find a new home for the piano & the TV that were in there. The room is slowly evolving, even with the old sofa bed still there. I'm not sure we can move it more than a few feet, and if we could, where to?


Too lazy to go out so Pizza came to us.


I know I'm going to ache tomorrow!

dec 8- change

Here I go again, starting on a new project which will take some time and lots of effort. This time I've got the bright idea to move my study/ studio downstairs. Why? One reason. Stairs! I love not having a maid but now I have to be in the kitchen more and open the door when people come by, if I had a workspace downstairs, that would be a great solution wouldn't it? Except, my present room is 300sq feet! The music room is 64sq feet and the meal area which will be my scrap area is 84 sq ft.
I may turn the old study into a guest room/ yoga retreat , think the guests would mind if I left half my stuff up here? Or maybe a garage sale? One day at a time, that way I won't get overwhelmed and abandon the whole project. Here we go...

dec 7-be still

It doesn't take me very long to do a page for this album . For me this isn't about working a 3 hour, embellished masterpiece.
My goal is the journey. What takes a long time is the search for what, to me, was the most significant theme of the day. With a hundred things going on each day, when I sit down at my desk, I have to write it all down. Writing slows you down. You cannot write fast enough for your head to get in a whirl.

So , today, I didn't record the Women's Biz Sense Luncheon. Nor the supper we queued up for. The walk from the beach in the drizzle was not the highlight. Instead these words ,"Be still and know that I am God" stuck. Resonated. This word, to me, is life.If you are a mom today, you will know the pain of raising a child in a world that is losing sight of values. Even if you have a good kid, the breakdown in ethics and morals, that threaten to seep into your child's pores, leaves you wondering if love is enough. You may get on your knees to plead your case. Today I was reminded that I am not in control. The battle is not mine. I need to just be. Still. And know.

dec 6-organized

I wasn't sure if I was going to have the time to clear my desk and I am happy that I did. I used this desk organizer from Making Memories, which my very supportive husband bought me .=)
Doing this daily book is great and yet there is the risk of scrapbooking your life and then not living it.
I am sure many of you scrapbookers wrestle with this sometimes. God bless the genius who started this meaningful art.
(The investors must be praising God , too, I heard Martha Stewart bought a stake in EK Success!) But, oh oh, does there have to be a but? I'm afraid so. Just as your mum told you, "Too much of a good thing, bla bla bla..." , you know where I'm getting at?
Just like a photographer who lives behind her camera, seeing through her Carl Zeiss lens, sometimes misses the big picture, so too, a scrapbooker, could just get caught up in the whole "I have to scrap this right now, all kids to bed " habit. (I hear the manufacturers praising God again, what am I saying? I own a scrapbook store!)
Seriously, even though it says so on my t-shirt, "Life isn't really one big scrapbooking moment". Life is life, so go ahead and scrapbook it, but too much of a good thing, bla bla... you get the picture.

So, what have I learned from my own diatribe? Well, I finished my page early and I'm posting early, (only 2am) and I'll sleep early, ok , earlier and I will make the effort not to love my chipboard more than the subject on my pages. In fact, I'll start right now.
Or tomorrow!


p.s. I really love chipboard!

dec 5-9am

We were setting up for a little Xmas coffee morning and Smidapaper was to provide a make and take for all the IWA ladies, I passed the huge french doors of The Mansion, a beautiful old building restored and now a restaurant, and the view took my breath away. I had to go outside to take a picture on my way out.

Parked a little way from this old coffee shop where we stopped for breakfast. Passed by an old heritage house and had to stop to bask in the morning light, just for a moment, and steal another gem, this time the carved wrought iron gates, with my precious cargo parked in front. So much to see when you're looking!


5 days into the project and my desk is a huge mess! Tomorrow! I will clear it tomorrow.

dec 4- date night (in black and white)

Tuesday date nights usually start here.


We walked and talked, until the sun went down, then we decided that hawker food was what we wanted.

The photos were not meant to be b&w but as I was doing my page, Philip was playing with my I Photo and I thought they were rather nice. Since I was in a hurry, it being late and having an early day tomorrow and knowing I'll be working late, I didn't change the photo on my layout. Maybe I will, at some point. When you use black and white photos, you don't have to worry about the colours. Everything goes, especially good if you have a 2 page layout or a multi photo layout. Go ahead and give it a try.

dec 3-decorated

At the end of the day, at the end of the chores and everybody's agenda, we finally put up the decorations on our tree. This always brings back memories. some of the decorations are really old, but all have a story. We remembered, and the 'kids' made a lot of noise. I was hoping we would trim the tree to Josh Groban's mellow voice , instead Disney Christmas was chosen =)
I loved having to get up the ladder to reach the top of the tree and at the end, Sarah was given one present to open.

the rhythm of the ordinary

You know how when you have something exciting to look forward to and then when it's over ...
For me it was the Bazaar and the whole idea of doing the December book, then the Bazaar passed and I started with the book, Monday rolls in, in it's ordinary fashion, with the laundry and the weekly planning, bills to pay, lists, you know, just another lacklustre Monday. And yet, isn't this the stuff that life is made of?
Surely we need the plain old days, the downtime, the ordinary walk in the gardens, the wholemeal toast and jam days.


The rhythm of the ordinary brings comfort, as you fluff the cushions, you appreciate the ones that sat in the chair,when you take down the laundry , you notice that the flowers are blooming, just an ordinary Monday and someting to scrap about.
Surely!

dec 2

The day of the bazaar has come and gone. After the work comes rest. Most well deserved, especially for I-Mei.

Today, Andrew made everyone smile. Our husbands proved their worth by working from early in the morning. On a Sunday!
Esther taught everyone that you can work while being sick and still not complain. Ming sold his Artmaker kits.

I was happy to be home early, and to have a chance to take a nap and to have time to scrap. Some days need more than 1 page!

dec 1

The thing about committing to scrapbooking a month is this; your life comes under scrutiny. Everything becomes sharper, clearer. I walk around with my journal and my camera, not wanting to miss anything. Everyday life becomes intesified. Things you might have taken for granted are looked at with new eyes. It seems like everything slows down, not in reality, but things are perceived that way. Because you are living in the moment, paying attention.
I started working on my book at 2am, Dec 1st. I had meant to get a head start, preparing ahead. Ha ha! In a perfect world!
Well at least I started. I prepared the first page and the whole day, paid close attention. To what Sarah said when she got home from guitar lesson. To how it felt to walk down the stairs from the store, all set for the bazaar. My friend Caroline sent me an e mail that ended, "Don't wait for the storm to be over, learn to dance in the rain."

Committing to an artistic or creative pursuit for 31 consecutive days takes discipline. (Which I lack, but will wear for a month)
It will change you. Refresh you. Teach you. The result will be so much more than a beautiful memory book. But don't take my word for it. =)

maya road

I had the privilege of attending a workshop taught by Caroline, the founder of popular U.S. based scrapbook brand.
There was much to learn, the projects were beautiful and the class was run smoothly , very well prepared and professional.
Most of all the people were really great! Thank you Caroline and all the folk at MWL, you ladies are rare gems.

I came home inspired and motivated. Still glowing from the break and happily jumped back into my routine.

outside| looking in

Martha Beck, a life coach and contributor to Oprah magazine says that we are not equipped for the environment we live in.
I really have been feeling that lately. Too much of everything =overwhelm. How then to find balance?
Take a look from the outside in! Just when you think you haven't got another minute to do another thing...
On impulse, I bought tickets to "Bee Movie". Now I don't watch TV and hardly EVER go to the movies. My schedule was getting ridiculous and I'm going away this weekend, What possessed me?
Turned out to be just the therapy I needed. Just sitting there, mindlessly. No other agenda except to chill! It wasn't a great movie but the rewards surely were.

I guess we need to get out of our routine now and then, even when we think we just can't. Take another route. Road. Door.
When we came home I thought I might go out the other door and look in. This door leads to a commom garden and we hardly ever use it. It had just rained. The air was crisp and cool and there was a gentle wind blowing. I stood for a while looking in, at my home , this place where I live. and then I stood some more. How refreshing. How simple.


I-mei and I will take this a bit further. We are going to spend the weekend being students and shoppers. We can't wait .

by the twinkling lights of the tree

We've had the same short , stumpy tree for years. Last year I almost bought a new tree, I wanted to have a tall towering tree, the kind you had to get up on a ladder to dress up. Philip convinced me to wait. "Next year," he said "in our new house".
So I waited, and finally the tree is up . 8 feet tall. We only put up the lights, so far, and it was so pretty we camped in the living room in the glow of the pretty lights.

sheer mini book

Oh what a week! I feel like I've been to battle. I wrote in my planner this morning. 'Note to self: Have a really great day!'
And a reminder to set aside some creative time. AND, I managed to finish the sheer mini book that I started.


I had fun with the sheer flowers from Maya Road , originally intending to paint them but in the end thought they looked good as they were and just added some buttons, brads and epoxy centres. With brads they work great as a sheer layer over journaling.



I started with a Making Memories album and changed the ribbon tie from white to red, to keep with the colour theme of red, white, cream, black and brown. And to meet the approval of the teenage subject ;)

I think she liked it.

trees, chipboard & sheers

Do you notice that even with so many scrapboking supplies & products out there, there are a few that you fall in love in and keep using for some time? I'm loving trees & chipboard right now. Decided to make this the theme for the book I'm doing on our new home. Here's a layout I did about 'Moving day". I'm also very much into neutral backgrounds, mostly white, grey or brown.

Another trend I'm loving now? Sheers! I'm working on a mini book using these elements. Not sure if it will be a class, though. Maybe if I can get all the materials. Anyway, it's not nearly done but I'm excited about the possibilities. Here's a peek at the early stages.


I'd love to know what you all are loving right now. =)

Max

Our Rhodesian Ridgeback pup arrived from Australia on Friday. Philip has been waiting for him even before he was conceived.
Little did he know what he would be in for. So far, he's been in the pond (a lot) uprooted some plants, destroyed some others! Now Philip has to walk the other two and then go out again with Max, but he sure is sweet. A lot of scrapbooking moments coming up...

where i work

I'm the ony person I know who has four desks! I have two identical Ikea tables in my home office/ studio, where I spend productive time in the mornings and late at night. There are glimpses of my creative table scattered on my blog. The other one, where paperwork , planning, ordering,etc gets done...I'll show that to you sometime , when it's er, neater.


This is where I work when I'm at , well, work.I have two desks here as well. The desk at the far end is where the serious stuff happens. From here I can see the shop through a window. I gaze longingly in that direction sometimes, wanting to be out there where the people are. Who knew that a scrapbook store would generate so much paperwork . (Those are the files you see to the right of my table) I actually have two jobs, the other related to the car business.

Now the other table is where the fun is. Here I 'receive' shipments, do photography for the website,class schedules, pricing- which means , if I'm in a good mood, products go out to the store cheaper, (just kidding) . Here we brainstorm , share ideas , make decisions.

If you don't see me in the shop, I'm probably at some desk or other. And if I'm not there, I could be out walking. Recharging! =)