things change

In my early days, I was pretty much in the limelight all the time. Moving to Penang was a wonderful change, a moving backwards of sorts and yet, moving forward, to a simpler, more meaningful existence. Being able to blend in, retreat into quiet spaces became something I treasured. My new uniform in this laid back, island paradise- jeans.
When smidapaper came to be, things changed. It became important to get out from backstage. Can a tiger change it's stripes?

Scrapbooking is such a personal pursuit. So much a baring of your soul. So much a sharing of your life, and, you know what, that's beginning to be really ok with me. My early pages were 'journaling free'. Privacy is privacy but, where was the story? What was the point? Well, things change. You're reading my personal blog and I'm journaling on my layouts. (even Esther is ) Who knew that scrapbooking would change so much. Who knew it was freeing? Who knew that your authentic self would emerge?




Even as we have evolved through this beautiful art, so has smidapaper. Here's a flashback. One year ago at our old location on Beach Street. Have we come a long way? To those of you who knew us then and still come around, HUG! How has scrapbooking changed you? Newcomers, you're in for a big surprise. And you are going to love it!

Oh, and thanks for visiting my blog.

this is scrapbooking

September school for late night scrapbookers has been shut down. At least the hours have been greatly reduced. Well, you see, I've been loving it! And 3am bedtime became 3.30am. Became, well, you can imagine. My brain began to do strange things. I would mean to say one thing and something else would come out. My doctor says I'm walking around but I'm really asleep. So this is sleep deprivation!

It is great to love your work so much that you can't wait to wake up and get to it and wish you didn't have to sleep. But, I've learnt. One does have limits. (I keep hearing my mom's voice saying "Everything in moderation", I hear you Mom)

So I sleep earlier. (Before 3) In the morning I'm at my desk.There is no layout there from last night. Just the paperwork and I begin to feel a litlle sorry for myself, wishing I had more time. I start to take out my scrapbooks. "Here's my hero book", and "oh, I love this one with everyday moments" and then my eyes rest on my December book. I'd challenged myself to do this last year, taking photos and scrapping them all the days of the month. As I turn the pages I begin to cheer up. Remembering. Everything comes alive. One ordinary month made so special because I recorded it. So this is what scrapbooking is about! It isn't about making the best page, with the newest and the most stuff. It is about celebrating your life. And the people you're blessed to have in it. Real life. Real memories. Real moments. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Every time!

I think I'll do it again. Another month in the life. Maybe if I sleep early and wake up really early...

Enjoy the process

Weekends are a great time for clearing your space. I thought I might take a break from scrapping , after all, it's my job and I do it all week. So i was all geared up for the big clean up.

I got my errands out of the way. Put in some quality time with Sarah. Settled everything at the shop and headed home.
My dream to have two separate workspaces came true when I moved house. So now, I have one desk facing the wall for all my paperwork and not so fun stuff and one whole desk for creating. This is what 'creating desk' looked like at 1pm on Saturday.
Stuff piled up from a week of scrapping till 3.30am!

It was hard to focus on cleaning up. All that scrapping stuff was beckoning. Calling me. It's great to have a job you love, doesn't feel like work. And so, I started to scrap... I'll just finish this, and oh, samples for next month's classes, ah and I've been meaning to try this new idea...







I did manage to clear my desk. Just the one. By 5 pm. One of my favourite phrases: Enjoy The Process!

Jack & Abby. Neat.

September is back to school month for many. For me too! Lessons start at 12.30am when everyone's been tucked in.
I have different teachers everyday. There are a few that I love, and I keep going back to them from time to time.
I am reluctant to leave my desk at 3am, but one has to sleep, no?

Running the shop has somewhat taken away from scrapping time; ordering, working on the site, schedules and paperwork have taken my attention from this great love. So, when I moved to our new home, I decided! I must go back to the basics, to the reason why I am doing this.

I have learned so much. I have been humbled. And inspired. There is so much great stuff out there.

I learnt one thing today.

As much as I love Elsie Flannigan I could never work her style. I can use all the chipboard buttons and funky doodles and still... you see, I'm neat. I cannot bear to see a rug not aligned. You can imagine how that affects my pages! I was doing a page for our Jack and Abby release ,(home is a place really close to my heart & this collection is all about home) , it was fun but I realised "This is a really neat page", then I realised that it's ok! You will be you and I will be me and Elsie, well, she'll be Elsie!

And the journey continues, the learning, the awe, the wonder. I'm loving it." There are no rules", I tell the gals who come to my class. But , hey, why not be the best that you can? And never stop learning!

I just had a peek at Wati's blog. She's a gal from Singapore (my hometown, btw). She came by the store one day but I didn't get to meet her. She does great stuff! More power to you, Wati!
You're my teacher today.

This is the one!

This is the one i have been waiting for =)

Low Tech

I've been working on setting up everyone to be linked to our shop website. (I have help!)My blog will be linked last so I tried to update it a few times. Alas! Blogger has changed and I couldn't access...blah blah blah.

Anyway, I got more help and I'm back! I am SO low tech :) Digital scrapbooking looms like a huge mountain I hesitate to climb, but for now, good old fashioned cutting & pasting & writing is keeping me plenty happy. I've been working on a couple of things;

1.A travel photo journal. I went on an extended 'artist date' in May and I'm almost done with the album. I used a 6" x9" ring type album which is great for adding pages, even for future jaunts. I will post the finished work here at some point.

2. A funky vintage birthday card. I thought I was pretty smart doing the hidden journalling thing but was told that everyone would have thought of the same idea. ;)

3.My pet project... we just moved house and I'm documenting the whole process. I've printed over a hundred photos, so between decorating(my first love), sorting the photos and actually scrapbooking, it may take a while to see some evidence of this work in progress but I can't wait to use the latest collection from love, Elsie- Jack &Abby.

I wonder if I can get some time off...

is this really my shop, or a dream?

i cannot believe it. did i fall asleep from exaustion and dream this fantastic dream. of me. here. having this cool shop!

i used to play shop. i didn't have my own room, so i imagined my bed was my shop. i would tie a pail with rubber bands to the top of the window grilles. wait for my cousins to come over and sell them anything. i would pull down the pail and keep my fake money there.

in my dream, there is a real cash register. actually it's a computer, with barcode scanner and all.

i'm still exhausted, but wide awake. it really happens. if you want something enough. if you're willing to work hard enough.
yeah, dreams do come true. this really is my shop :)

About that vellum tape

Things don't always do what they're supposed to. I got this fancy vellum tape so that the adhesive wouldn't show through the sheer vellum. BUT, not only did I have a 'bad scrap day', the lettering was all out of line, but the vellum tape shows through. (See the pic)

And , I did follow the instructions. Now I've got these new vellum dots and I can't wait to get back to the drawing board and see if they do what they promise.

Someday we'll all be free

I usually car pool. Today I drove to work. I was listening to a song by Sting,"Rise & fall".

Something about getting caught up in what you do and losing your integrity. I am overwhelmed by
goodness and grace and pray to never lose my integrity. Nor the freedom to praise, to worship.

The promise was..a land flowing with milk and honey.

Yet, soon they were slaves, in the very land that was promised. Being free is giving up all that you are and all that you have,
receiving manna, daily bread and not needing to store, not only because you can't, but because you won't.

Being free to serve. Free to choose. And being a servant is the promotion. No more a slave in Egypt. I am free.

I was going to complain about vellum adhesive...maybe tomorrow.

The journey is the goal

just in case someone wants to know why I blog, here are my goals.

1. To create an awareness of scrapbooking as a creative pursuit and expression of self.

2. To share tips, ideas and stories.

3. By blogging, and eventually linking my blog to my upcoming website, my shop "smidapaper"
will become a name people will associate with 'scrapbook life'

4. To create a community of people , all with something unique to share and to enrich lives by writing and listening.

But really, people blog because they want to be heard. Blogging is like a license to say what you want, what you mean.
No holds barred. Take it or leave it. Not a journal , you hide under your pillow. The real me. The real you. And the more you blog, the more, you will find, who that really is. So maybe, that, after all, is the goal.

The journey is the goal.

Thank God for my blog coach!

My blog coach told me today, nicely, I might add, that I had to try to blog at least once a day. I know he's right. By now , I have so much to share , it's all a jumbled mess. I will try. I know he wants me to say "I will". I will. Try.

The weekend craft bazaar went well. We made a lot of contacts and a few people signed up for our intro class. More of a 'sowing' than a 'reaping', but hey, you reap what you sow. Besides, I had so much fun, I didn't realise when it was time to pack up.

The mall gave us an extra table and we used it as a 'workshop', Aster, Lin & me. So fun. Lin did two pages for her own book, Aster & I worked on samples for father's day cards. Which got me thinking of my dad. Whom I miss, and I wonder what he would think of me doing this. But then, my dad, would have been proud of me if I just sat down all day. That got me thinking about Lin's dad,who let's me sit down all day and make scrapbook layouts, in a mall, on a Sunday. Wow, scrapbooking sure puts you in an attitude of gratitude.

So this one's for the guys, the fathers, of course. And the sons who make the guys,well, fathers. And a resounding hurrah for the father, who supports the wife, who sits in the mall all day, making scrapbook layouts...oftentimes, inpired by him.

The flowers arrived

Just back from the city. I had the chance to meet, and now, work with some lovely people, who share my passion for scrapbooking ,and now, are helping me out with the new shop. Cheers to you, girls!

More stuff arrived and the store is beginning to look like, well, a store. I remember when we came back with our first purchase. Three little boxes.

People came in to look, and buy, and we spent some time rearranging and organizing, scheduling classes and preparing for this weekend's craft bazaar. I'm just having so much fun.

I'm learning new things everyday, getting in touch with new contacts but surely the highlight of the week was when the flowers arrived. Prima flowers. Rows of beautiful mulberry paper flowers.Do I have to sell them? I've already started using them on my new layouts...so delightful. Scrapbooking is such a happy pursuit.

Hero

My turn to call in sick. By eleven I'm wondering how much rest one needs to feel better.
I feel like hell. At my home office I think about looking at my paperwork.

Scrapbooking sounds like a better idea. Therapy is what I need.

I'd decided to start on an album called Heroes and Words. Today I did.
To celebrate all the people who've made a huge impact in my life.
And words that have shaped me.

I started working on a page before lunch and at four I was only just finishing.
It's a very simple layout. I'm working on letting all the colours and feelings come out in my work.
Didn't happen. Besides, I wanted something simple. And serious.

Jenn worked for me at least fifteen years ago. She was our personal assistant. We called her Bubbles
because she was so lively and , well, bubbly. I hadn't seen her for the longest time and then, only
bumped into her on and off. In Dec 04, she asked me to pray for her. The doctors found a tumour in her brain and she was going in for surgery. Turned out it had come from her lungs. Stage 4 lung cancer. She had , at most, six months to live.

I took this picture with her a year later. She was in pain, but never showed it. We went to Delifrance and yakked like we always had. During this time, with six platinum screws in her head and one lung, Jenn lived life. She fought and she always had the time to ask me how I was feeling. I would tell her, "compared to you Jenn, I feel great." She would laugh and encourage me, in my so much less serious condition.

Jenn taught me how to live life. She reminded me of all the dreams I had put away. She gave me strength. She was my hero.

I wanted so much for her to make it. She told me she wanted to take Junior to Hongkong Disneyland and she wanted to have a chance to be the best mother in law. I prayed so hard that she would. I prayed God would give her extra time.

In December 05, she visited us. We sat complaining about maids and you could hear her laugh across the room.

This March, I was in Bali and was told she had left us. The last thing she said to me was, "Should I give up?".

I cried in the car, the scenery turned to a blur. I cried for all the hopes and dreams unfulfilled. A light put out way too soon.
I thanked her for the gifts and blessings, for touching the deepest parts of my heart. Surely she will live on in the hearts of those she blessed. A legacy of love and hope.
A hero lives on. Her beautiful spirit will never die.

We are here. ALIVE.

Go ahead and live! (and maybe , take your kid to Disneyland)

AMAZING

American Idol. A way someone thought of to make a ton of money.
Yet, amazing how one show has the power to bring the whole world together. In peace. And hope.

United, the whole world joins in to celebrate... a hope, a life transformed. We are filled. We are touched. We continue to live.

A scrapbook, much like a journal or a blog, comes from a place within , a thought , idea, feeling and a desire to share...
this is who I am. Another way of saying, shouting to the world,
I'm here...I'm alive.


To the next American Idol, and all future ones.
To all bloggers, journal writers, scrapbookers...and all who have dreams and hopes. Carry on! CARRY ON!