Today :
Finishing up Urban Lily layouts before going to Kuala Lumpur,
writing up a lesson plan and sketches, checking the kits.





 
I love how Urban Lily is fresh, clean and sophisticated with a modern twist, without the cute-sey. The papers are easy to work with, great for scrappers who want a change from scrapping vintage or heavily embellished paper.



The day has been rainy. Both Stasha and Augs are at work, Nura is at the dance camp and old enough to get to dance classes herself as the CC is near our home. The last few months has seen her becoming more independent, more aware of doing stuff for herself, better at making sensible choices, she's past the kid phase and so far seems to be managing fine.

Have a pleasant evening all !

December's Cocoa Daisy kit, it's packed with goodness, not too Christmas-sy, great for other projects too !


Nura LOVES the Jurong Bird Park !
The basic Grey woodsy paper was just the thing for this layout.





Soar !!! November was a great month for me Scrappy-wise !





Beautiful ...... like all teen girls can be !!





Something for Christmas !





Hope you liked them and got some ideas on how to work the kit, have fun !!!

You know me and my obsession for making mini-books right ?

Here's one for  ScrapTastic,  it will be on the site 1st December !






Hari Raya Eid al-Adha was a quite one. We spent the morning at mom's home, had a delicious brunch, talked and laughed.
Mum looks happy and our relationship has gotten progressively better these last few years. After that it was home to spend a rainy afternoon relaxing. Augs is luxuriating on the couch, oblivious to anything else,  glued to soccer matches on TV. Gosh, a Man U game from long ago, Eric Cantona was the reigning hero, David Beckham must've been all of 18 years old (pre-soccer millionaire, pre-Posh Spice, pre-metrosexual).

Nura is happy with the PSLE results ! She did her best, got good grades for English, Math and Science and now has a confirmed place at SOTA.
Much thanks to friends who sent their best wishes, they were truly appreciated.

 
Oh .......... My ........... Goshhhhhhh !!!!
Thank you Lori and Imaginisce, this was so much more than I imagined, what a fabulous package !






It's time for a Made With Love December class sneak !
It's the Crate Paper Bliss pack, yep the WHOLE paper pack and for this workshop you will complete 3 layouts, plus one bonus sketch to finish another layout at home. The colours are wonderful - purples, greens with hints of lime-mustard.

   



No rain today but it's cool with a fresh breeze blowing through the flat ...... nice !!

PSLE results wll be out tomorrow and we are all anxious to find out how Nura did. Yesterday the Chinese language tutor Mrs Toh phoned from Australia as she made a mistake about the result day ...... it was so sweet of her to call, but she has been tutoring Nura since she was five years old, so I can understand her attachment.

Let's all hope for good news, for Nura, her classmates and friends.



 

This was fun !!  Celine is very funny in real life and she does not take celebrity status seriously.





Jasmine altered these little boxes, they are so, so cute !!





I mean seriously ........... WHO doesn't love these mists !





Incomplete work,  will finish it when I can.





The mini album cover, Stasha will have to fill in the rest herself.



 


Primary school holidays are here, the PSLE results will be out this Thursday and I'd like to wish good luck to all moms and their  kids who are waiting.

I have to admit, with Nura's school taken care of next year, I'm not as anxious.

She and her two friends who are heading to SOTA are very excited about it all, they can't wait. It's good that she has a few familiar faces to have recess with, at least to bridge the gap for the first week before making new friends, it won't be so scary. We are all curious about the new school building, it looks amazing and will have a chance to go inside for the first time on 23rd December for registration, buying of books and school uniform. To think that the kids will be right smack in the city, next to the Museums, five minutes from the Esplanade and the arts organisations who are partnering the school which will hopefully make the learning experiences vibrant and relevant.

Hope your Sunday is shaping up good ? We are having a slow day, I'll finish more layouts, just potter round the home, doing this and that, probably tidy up my scrap space.

Ummmm ...... this smells so beautiful !!
It's light and fresh with hints of green apple. I love Sasa, a popular Singapore chain of stores selling all manner of beauty products and going in is like being at a fairy wonderland with the sweet smells and pretty colours. There is something for every budget from sweetly packaged, affordable Japanese perfumes to the sophisticated Elizabeth Arden or Versace.

 




The mail-lady came by yesterday with a fabulous package from Scrap-Tastic where I am their guest December Girlie.  Thank you Becky, you are da bomb !

Wanna a sneak ?

 





This morning after getting Nura off to school, answering a few emails, a mug of tea ...... I was hit by a wave of tiredness. Weird, but I decided to listen to my body and took a mid-morning nap, something I've not done for a long time ! I did feel better after and am back on track, my mind alot clearer.

I took Nura to her ballet class where it started storming madly just after we reached the CC. Waited for 30 minutes, it let up a bit and I headed to Tampines Mall. As much as I grouse over how crowded Tampines is now with three malls, occasionally like today when I needed to buy a couple of things, it's nice NOT having to head downtown in the rain, NOT having to waste time travelling, NOT having to dress up too much. I'm getting more familiar with Tampines 1, the latest mall here which has most of the mid-priced items we see downtown, with enough glitz to make you feel like it's Orchard Road. Of course if your budget is Vuitton or Prada it won't do, but for the 'burbs, it serves it's purpose.

How do you live daily ?

This is my home in it's moments of tidy - it's simple, uncluttered and feels peaceful.





The layout is an attempt to explain this need for peace and mental freedom in my life.

** Using Cocoa Daisy's November Kit **




The last week had me mulling over cliques and social groups.

How do you deal with people who can be unconsciously destructive ? They don't mean to be bad or to influence unduly, but as a friend, if you are part of the clique, it's hard not to be pulled into a certain mentality or way of thinking. You get blind-sided and you find it's easier to think like them than to keep your own counsel, to trust your own instincts or believe in your own decisions. I'm not a fan of cliques and prefer to hang out at the fringes, more familiar or friendlier with some than others, but not wholly part of the group. Perhaps having to manage my time between working from home, family and not wanting to get into the politics of *Best Friend Forever* has made me more choosy and careful about who gets near me.

Am soooo totally past the drama every moment phase of life ..........

A fabulous prize to win, so don't wait !!! And YES, they will ship anywhere if you are the winner !!!

Be a fan of Imaginisce and GlueArts and win! To celebrate the launch of both the fan pages, we're running some friendly competition to see who can get to 1,500 fans first! Visit the Imaginisce fan page, click to become a fan and post on their wall: "I'm a Fanatical Facebook Face-off Fan!" for a chance to win one of two gift baskets of Imaginisce & GlueArts products each worth over $300!

 



Go, go, Gooooooooo now and sign up............. !!!



The Cocoa Daisy Fall Crop has started and my online class is in a few minutes, see you there !!!
The new site is up *WOOOOWWW !*

I love Mrs Incredible !! Her desire to create a *normal* life for her super-powered family in a humdrum everyday society, made it essential for her to be quick at adjusting to changing situations, she was sensible and realistic, she had to be mentally and emotionally strong to steer her extraodinary family through society's expectations.






Was reading Kristine McKay's Blog, an amazingly creative person who had a post about Defining herself and how in I'm Just a Simple Girl she felt about the hype surrounding elaborate, embellished *professional* work for Design Teams, using very expensive tools and products. The Blog has not been updated for a while now, but there are still nuggets to glean.

She speaks from the point of having been through some Design Teams and knows how it all works,
I can totally see where she is coming from.

Well, what I think is : it's important to do all this with your eyes WIDE open and to make the experiences as positive for you as it is for the owners of the Design Teams. Bottomline, no one is going to give you expensive products and then get shoddy work in return or put up with missed schedules without notice. In addition, you have to be independent ..... you have to be savvy at managing the personalities in the team ...... and you have to be low maintanence, not needy, or take situations too personally.

For now, I am still enjoying the ride, there is something to learn everyday ......... yep it's still fun !!!



One wonderful piece of news : I am Scrap-Tastic's December Girlie !!
They have a fabulous, talented Design Team and it's a real thrill to be able to put my work next to them. Thank you Becky for this opportunity, I am so looking forward to working on the projects.






There's still one more news to share ........ that will have to wait just a teensy bit longer ......

Hey ..... I got featured in Aussie Scrap Source !!
Thanks for showing the Basic Grey tags !