Crafting Joys

Today is the 7th day of the Lunar New Year and it's known as everyone's birthday~ So I am wishing all a Happy Birthday on this special day! 2015 has already been filled with ups and downs - and yes I know that it is only Feb! The last 2 months had been a roller coaster, but this is the REAL life - so I am definitely not complaining. At least, I think that life educates us through the downs and rewards us with the ups.

In crafting, I found much joy in creating layouts and creating more books / albums with different binding methods. Over the long CNY holidays, I have been working on a new class for MWL. Who says binding must be difficult? I can't wait to complete this! Do look out for this under the workshops tab. :) Been looking forward everyday to return home after work to craft, and this is definitely the part of the "up" of my life! 

This is one of the many reasons why I craft despite a hectic travelling work schedule. While I travel at least once a month, I still manage to find time for teaching and crafting. In fact, crafting makes me saint. It is this time where I can filter everything else out of my mind, and concentrate on the crafts which I like to do. It is my outlet as well as a "calming lotion" to my soul. 

Yesterday, I was featured on Scrap Around the World in their FB page, and it was a happy news! Thank you for featuring me on your FB page, I am so honored! 

Enjoying myself in the mood to craft, craft, craft. Hope you are having some great crafting sessions too! :)

LO: Wings to Fly

Here I am again with another LO inspired by Scrap Around the World~ Yes, I am totally hooked to the challenges each month, because the mood board and designers always inspire me for some reason. 

This is the mood board for Feb Challenge 22 - Romantic

There are so many ways in this mood board which inspired me to create this layout. The first thing that came to my mind was the swing. Some time ago, my bf and I decided to have some photoshoot taken. There was this photo of me lying on his shoulder on the swing. In many ways, like my previous post, my bf is also my best friend. He never forces me to any decision I make, but always encourages me to live by my decisions and then supports me in every possible way. When I took up scrapbooking and started to be teaching in the LSS, he knew I would spend lesser time with him but he still supported me in my decision anyway. In fact, he would sometimes help me with my class material preparations when the class volume is overwhelming. No matter how rocky the waters were, I know he is there for me. His support gives me the courage to walk on, and the wings to fly.

So I created this layout with a hidden message behind the photo. I rarely write any sentiments for my layout but this was an exceptional feeling that I wanted to document. 

In this layout, I used the Maya road butterfly stencil to create the background (using crackle textured paste and Prima mists) Then I layered with some Prima flowers and Maya Road chipboard embellishments. Next, added a stamp on the right end to balance this layout. For the title element, I chose to use some air dry clay to create a frame and highlighted the word "Wings" by adding transparency behind the word. Lastly, for I added in some butterflies (air dry clay again) to complement the enormous amount of flowers I have used.

Hope you have enjoyed this layout, and do pop over Scrap Around the World blog for exciting challenges each month and DT reveals (twice a month). 

LO: Timeless Journey

It really had been a while since my last layout. But I had to give it a go when I saw this extremely gorgeous and motivational mood board from Scrap Around The World here and here.

This is the mood board which had inspired and sparked off the layout:

To me. the mood board spelt something about my relationship of 8 years. In this relationship, we held hands and we let each other have the space as well. This is the key to our 8 years (& more) of being together. Hence, the mood board really sent a spark to me, with the clock signifying our time together, and the key + quote referring to how our relationship works.

In addition, I have used the frame and color of the rose as my theme, hence creating this: Timeless Journey

Some closeups of the layout:

Well, I noticed something really funny when I was doing this layout. Although I am a great lover of pastel colors, I realized that I do not own a pink mist amidst my huge collection of mists. Oh my, this must really mean more shopping to do! So to change things a bit, I decided to mix my texture paste with my light pastel pink paint (which happens to be 1 among the huge collection of the different variations of pink that I have) for the polka dot stencil, then followed by another harsher shade of peach pink using a water splash stencil. Then, I added some mint green with water and applied it to some portions of the layout to create a little contrast. Of course I just had to use some pearl mists (gives the background a little shimmer but can't be seen on pictures unfortunately) to finish up the back ground. Then comes the layering and it was fun looking through my stash collection. So according to the challenge, I applied elements which were related (like the clock above my title timeless)

So do drop by Scrap Around the World and get ready to be inspired by the talented DTs. I promise you that they are amazing! :)