Hi everyone : I've moved !! Am so tired of Xanga being difficult and slow.

This is my new home :  http://aidaharon.livejournal.com/

Drop by anytime !!

 Well I tidied up my supplies, got rid of a whole lot of junk, pack away stuff for scrapping friends. In the process, the Crate Paper packs were called out to me and and I managed two layouts *how's that for someone who had completely lots her mojo a few days ago ???*

Remember That time - This was me at 28 years old, living in Hong Kong, with a great set of colleagues, traveling all over the world and owner of our first apartment !!

Always - Have you ever had the guys complaining about the layouts being to girly ? Hopefully the dark blue pattern paper helped *LOL*

Thanks for dropping by !!

Time, how it flies away !

Do you ever think about time and what you do with it ?

I've been working on prioritising my time and it all means deciding what's important and what's not. It means letting go of some things that were tied to my vanity and ego, accepting that being *in* with the crowd meant being less honest, more about being a follower and afraid of being left out or isolated. It was a slow and long process, with some back trekking, adjustments and always trying to convince myself it was going to be ok.

And it is ok, even though mostly it's like watching a party from the outside. Sure, parties can be fun, but inevitably like any party, there are people you can't stand, and the boring conversations you are too polite to walk away from.

I'm liking this current state of being. The biggest plus is having more time to myself, to reflect, to enjoy crafting, actually getting to do what I love, with useful activities rather than those that are popular. I read in a book once that while it's important to have family and friends, it's also essential to know how to enjoy your own company.

Conversation :

Hubs : Hey, Giant has a sale for Striploins, you want me to get 'em ?

Me : Sure ...... !!

The result was Spicy Marinated Steak with a crunchy salad, mashed potaotes and Sunflower Seed buns.

Am counting my blessings for a man who does not mind doing the groceries and cleaning the home.

Marinade :  Mustard, Honey, Olive Oil, Pepper, Maggi Chilli Sauce, Lea and Perrins, Soya Sauce and Chopped Garlic. Can't give you exact measurements, just almost equal amounts. It's Ramadhan, and we don't break fast till after 7pm, but I decided to cook one steak as the light conditions at 5pm would be better for shooting the photograph. Not tasted the steak yet, but it does LOOK GOOD *yuuuumsss*.

Thanks for dropping by !!

Oh my ............ !!!!

My Mind's Eye was on the shelves at Made With Love this morning ..... and I am so totally LOVE all of them !! Squeezed my piggy bank ...... hard ...... and came back with these.

A couple of videos about the essence of scrapbooking got me thinking ? One of them was by Shimelle Laine who guested on Ali Edwards's Blog and the other link was provided by Pooi Pooi and was a video featuring Kelly Corrigan. Both made me really sit up and think about what this all means to me. Work keeps me scrapping, I love the beauty in the paper products and most times the job is about adding value to the projects, about using techniques that are new or attractive to scrappers who come for the workshops. There's no denying that the commercial aspects of scrapbooking is important to me as it provides some means of supporting myself.

Technique gathering is a little overblown in Singapore. Perhaps it's a spill-over from the extreme competitiveness in our fast paced life. Here, the definition of a good scrapper is one who uses a hundred and one techniques on a layout, one who's able to recite the endless role-call of latest brands and products, how they are used, explain the merits of one product over another similar one.  If it's always about accumulating technique, being a product knowledge expert, when does a scrapper get to enjoy the hobby ? To be honest, a person like that scares me, and I get an irresistible itch to pin a gold star on them for getting all their scrappy knowledge right !

If I had the choice to scrap freely ....... I would be the most technique-less scrapper ever.

On my own time I just want to scrap pretty layouts detailing our moments as a family and personally, I don't really care for techniques ....... it gets in the way of adding my stories to beautiful paper. Mostly I go with the flow ....... there is no rock solid technique on how the project comes together neither do I analyze where the products go aside from liking it at a particular spot in the layout just *because*. Having a good eye for composition and balance helps ...... but inking, embossing, staining .......... naaaaaahh, too tedious !!

Just give me photos, my memories, pretty paper, lots of brads and stickers, tags to layer and I'm one happy scrapper.

Another book !!

Random thoughts ......

These days I seem to be suspended in this feeling of not having enough time. There are deadlines I keep to, the classes are enjoyable simply due to the different personalities that I meet, but am continually dodged by this inability to complete tasks, the home is going to collapse, this constant feel of tottering on edge of being overwhelmed, that soon I might fall into this abyss. Weird huh ?

Ok deeeep breathing here ...........

Time to get out of this rut and think positive !

I finished two *boy* books !!

The second book ........

The bright colours make me happy !

Random thoughts .......

The idea of scrapbooking for a living appeals to lots of crafters I know : the wonderful products and doing nothing the whole day but scrap, scrap and scrap some more.

Yes, I am grateful for what I do. It's a passion that has stayed with me the longest with the infinite variety of products that change all the time, it pays decent money and there is certainly nothing boring about what I do. I love meeting the scrappers who come for the classes as well as the upbeat vibe of the scrapping communities in Singapore and the whole world over. Occasionally there are hitches with deadlines, wrongly ordered products or mismatch of personalities or expectations, but these are small challenges when I consider the big picture. What I've learnt is to NOT take everything too seriously, to let go, to understand that while some have agendas, I don't have to let them affect me.

Melaka or Malacca was so interesting !!

It was a very intense Photo Excursion over 2 days. Lots of walking in the afternoon heat ........ angling for shots, the frustration of not getting the picture right, figuring out the light conditions and trying my damnest to get clear shots. We've always loved Malacca, and now, it's so much cleaner and feels safer. The river has been cleaned up, Jonker Street is attractive with nooks that surprise.

After being tired out from the first day, it was tough getting up in the morning, but once we were out, the quest for *GOOD COFFEE* became an obsession !! Jenn and I found Mods Cafe, with it's very friendly owners who are part Chef, part musicians, who live their lives in three countries of Malaysia, Australia and the Philippines. The Cafe is quirky, different ...... serves very good lattes and Bruschetta. We were told the Cheesecake is out of this world, but unfortunately could not make it back later in the day to try it,

Jenn and I LOVED this - coffee from the back of a VW !!!

Memorabilia !!

Mmmmmm ....... so good !

Mods Cafe is on Facebook in case you want to locate them in Malacca.

Ok back to tidying my stash, back to the layout I am working on. See 'ya !

Mix and Match ..... so much fun !!

Stopped by Made With Love yesterday and walked through the papers and embellies to check out what's new. Some have asked me where to begin on creating a kit for any project and about mixing and matching products. Much of it is about knowing what you like in terms of colours and style : I am most happy with slightly shabby styled papers and metal embellishments, and I LOVE word tags and stickers. The assembled *kit* you see above started from the Glitz stickers and the Ideology knobs, then I worked around to the papers which are a mix of Simple Stories, Basic Grey's Out of Print and and Sweet Threads for that orange pop.

Ask yourself : what do you like ? What do you love ? Getting to be product savvy and mixing different brand comes with some experience, you will get better at this bit by bit. If you work with stuff you love, even if the project doesn't turn out exactly as how you imagined it, chances are you will still be happy with most of it.

Mmmmmmm ........ Coffee Cupcake !

Have you spent a few hours with a friend and leave feeling happier, more thankful for knowing someone who has lifted your day ?

This got me thinking about people in general, what they mean to us and how we typically partition them off as friends (close, not very close), acquaintances, colleagues and those we loathe. Meeting them sets in motion a reaction to the next few moments we're with them and it struck me how affected we can be after these encounters. Over the past few months I've met new people from my scrappy classes as well as in the photo communities (to which I'm a recent joiner) and most of the encounters have been refreshing, while a few have been interesting in a *weird-not-bad-but-not-great-either* ways. I'd like to think that life has finally taught me not to judge anyone and while I am open to most, I tell 'ya there are just a few that defy explanation.

My conclusion is that people are who they are, with differing levels of self-awareness and there is that unexplainable thing called human chemistry ?

Back to today ...... I really want to keep this happy feeling.

Then I wondered if anyone who ever meets me feels *good/bad/positive/happy to meet* me again ? Heck ..... worrying about every person's reaction to me, what I said, what I did ....... it's a pure waste of time and like being pickled in self-absorption.

Moving on ........ I feel another Box Art  coming on, check back with with everyone soon !