Bangkok escapade

It was such a wonderful escapade where all we did was literally shop, eat and shop some more !!

We had planned this for many months now, but were disappointed several weeks ago when the airport was shut due to anti government protests. Really what were the odds of having a second honeymoon in nearly a decade - and they just had to decide to close down the airport ??!!

Nonetheless, we made our way there on Boxing day and the hotel (we stayed at Grand Sukhumvit Sofitel) kindly gave us an upgrade to a suite for the inconvenience caused. Happy :) :)

Food was good and cheap, shopping was a bargain as much of the items were going on wholesale prices and hotel a luxury - what more could one ask for :) ... a fantastic way to usher in the new year, I say !

My shopping stash is too sinful to show (hehhhee!!) so you've got to settle for some pix of the glorious food we had.

Selection of thai appetizers we had at Celadon Restaurant @ The Sukhothai

Grilled River Prawns -
these were soooo huge, i could only manage 2 and hubby cleaned up the rest !

Claypot sharks fin at Chinatown

Steamboat @ MK restaurant, a local steamboat chain.
The yummy green noodles and the roast duck here were just out of this world !

My New Year resolution - more roller blading to keep that tummy down !

Here's a toast to a wonderful, exciting and pleasurable 2009 for everyone ! Cheers !!

Sous Chef for Apron Strings Designs

WooHOOOOO !! I had been dying of anticipation having been away and what a wonderful Christmas gift to come back to ! So excited to be a 2009 Sous Chef for Apron Strings Designs !!

Thank you Lori and Kathy for picking me - halfway around the globe ! And the Sous Chef team 2009 is just amazing - what a privilege to create alongside these ladies :)

You must check out their kits which come in 2 sizes and are just so beautiful and fun to play with. There's even a card kit for those who prefer making tags and cards. My turn will come up in March, Jun, Sep, Dec - so keep your eyes peeled :P

Merry Christmas everyone !!

Christmas goodies !

Here's a peek of what has kept me busy the last 24 hrs - altered notebooks and storage boxes all lovingly embellished to be given away as Christmas pressies ! Will showcase details of them in the coming weeks :P

Here's one of them... and a close up...

Supplies:
papers (Making Memories),
gaffer tape (7G),
cutout butterfly (BasicGrey),
pearls (Kaiser),
glitter (Stickles, Ranger Industries)
alphas (American Craft),
chipboard frame (own)

Have a fantastic Christmas everyone !!

Am back !

Hey ! Hope everyone's been having a swell time, cos' we have !! The pix that follow would attest i'm sure.

We did a driving holiday to Malaysia with 3 pit stops at Port Dickson, Genting Highlands and Melaka.

This was where we stayed ....The water villa (which were on stilts) was really quite nice, and we were literally above the water during high tide. Waking up to waves and watching the sunrise... ahh.... bliss....

(Avillion Resort, Port Dickson, Malaysia)

Low tide was so much fun too ! Once the waters receded, thousands and i do mean thousands of little crabs and hermit crabs would be scampering across the sea bed. The kids were totally thrilled ! Isn't this cool ??!

My favourite shots of the girls that day at the beach... They were so busy picking "shells", I had to double check every single one of them to make sure they didn't actually bring back hermit crabs to the villa !

See what i mean ?! Rachel didn't realise what she had found til i turned the 'shell' around and she saw those legs !

Then it was thrill rides at the amusement parks at Gentings and the night market in Malacca that went on forever ! For those with kids looking for a short holiday, Holiday Inn (Malacca) where we stayed, is a good bet. Barely a year old, it had these kids suites that actually gave parents some 'private' space and kept the kids in their own 'room' with a double-decker bed and an easel too !


And I came back to happy news ! I'm on the design team for Never Been Kissed Scrappers (NBKS) ! Jana's idea to give unpublished scrap work a showcase is such a wonderful one, and i'm elated to be able to create alongside these ladies. Now I just gotta figure how to insert the NBKS blinkie (k... i'm still a little 'duh...' when it comes to blogging technicalities :P )

More tomorrow.... night night !

On holiday

Hey everyone

hope all of you are having fun back home !! Am writing this amongst misty clouds at moment - after two days of sun on a water villa - we are up on a hill ! Will post our holiday pix soon ! 

Til a couple of days ! love you all !

ps... i've got news to share tooo.... check back next week ya !

A need for speed

R met two of her friends for a blade-off today and they had a blast ! They all looked so cute in their gear and didn't want to stop, spending some 3 hrs at the park !

My favourite shot of R from today.

And check this out !
Without papa's hands to hold - C has also started moving off on her own !

Off to McDonalds to cool off with some Mcflurry after the work-out. What happy girlies !!

Dance on girls.. and a sneak..

R did her ballet, tap and jazz exams recently and did exceedingly well ! Great that she loves dance and has an outlet to let off some creative energy ! My dad never let me learn dance as a kid cuz he felt it was too girly :P

Little C seems to be following in R's footsteps at the rate she's going :)

Will leave you here with a sneak of a project i'm working on as a recap of the year past.....

Enjoy your week everyone ! We're off on a holiday this week, so catch up when we're back !
Ciao !

Ice skating

Without the real thing, we had no choice but to pay and settle for a synthetic version ! So envious of my friends enjoying the cold wintry season !! Sigh... hopefully sometime next year we'll get to enjoy real ice and snow :P

Nonetheless we had our fun especially since the girls had their aunties around to triple the fun ! And some random guy kept popping up in front of my lens .... hmmmph...

the Tree...

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.... and what better way than to put up the tree...
It was a small tree, and we were on an austerity drive.. so no new ornaments this year :p

Nonetheless lots of fun with my sisters joining the girls ... while the men, sat, gazed and drank their wine...

A lovely memorable evening...

Firsts....

It's been an interesting last 24 hrs for our family ...

from winning trophies,
to me taking to the dance floor last night in a bar - a first for me in like a decade (- gosh... now my geeky secret is out !!),
and little C volunteering and taking to the stage at a party this afternoon to be part of the magician's act :) (guess she's not that shy anymore ...)

hope your start of the weekend's been good too !!
leaving you here with some crafty goodness...

Journaling reads :

"Every laughter, word, tear.. you show me something about your world, a glimpse of who you are and what you will be... that's such a privilege"

Supplies :

Websters, Fancy Pants, American Craft, MME, Amy Butler, Sassafras Lass, buttons and trims....

Golf Champ

Yes, she's done it again !
For the finals, Rachel was required to play two 9-hole games, over these 2 days.
AAANNND ...... Rachel emerged Golf Champ for her age division - retaining her title - at the SuperJuniors Golf Championships 2008.

It was really wonderful to see her enjoying herself, really focused and intense while she played (from what dad- the caddy said; I was not allowed on the course.. hmmph), and very good bonding with daddy. In her words, while the trophy was a bonus, the highlight of her day was one particular hole where she almost scored a hole-in-one (ie. the kind where in some championships u actually win a car .... :P ), and finished it with 2 putts.

Some pix....

(Pro in the making ?)

(Rachel waiting to receive her prize)

(receiving her trophy from the tournament director)

Congratulations, sweetheart - we are all really proud of you !! Way to go !!

C's 4th birthday mini album

Starting this year, i had decided that instead of cards, i would do birthday mini-albums so that the girls would have something to remember at a glance, what that year was all about, when they were older.

Here's C's ... something quick and simple. I tried to incorporate polka dots on every page as C was (and still is) crazy about them at the moment. So retro - this girl ! LOL !

be warned - a pix laden post...

album cover
- the butterfly lights up at the press of a button
C loved it.

page 1&2 with a handwritten note from dad


page 3&4 - Confident Sweetie

page 5&6 - You enjoy, bloom and grow

page 7&8 - Just too cute

page 9&10 - hanging out with Dad

page 11&12 - Sisters

page 13&14 - Celebrate wonderful Friends

page 15&16 - So loved

Have a great week ahead... mine's going to be busy i know :)

what we've been up to...

a princess party

thanks to Nic and Neeta - the girls got to dress up and had such a blast !

a kylie concert

it was fantastic !!
the pyrotechnics, the sleek dancers and she's just sooo sooo soooo pretty !
thanks G, for the tix !
I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky ..

hama beads

finally, some time to lounge about at home
and we discovered what hama beads was all about.
Opening a gift from long long ago

i was quite impressed C could really get the hang of it, and do it on her own !

Hula Hooping

that's the other 'big' thing C learnt just chilling at home
Check this out... she was so happy she just couldn't stop - even in her jammies !!

have a great weekend everyone !

An award and new layouts

What an honour to be awarded this ...and from the uber-talented and cool Audrey Pettit too ! Do check out her creations - they are just sublime !! Thanks so much, Audrey !

And now i have the privilege to offer this award to these ladies who simply ooze creativity - Sasha, Anne-Marie, Jaz, Shir, Emeline, Aniza, Jane and Michele (the latter two for their amazing bento creations)


Here are some other recent layouts to share ...

A 2-pager after a long break. This was long overdue as C's sports day was in May this year !! But there were so many pictures i wanted to showcase, I thought perhaps a mini album would be perfect, and without the time or energy, this never got done. Finally, Picasa 3 had this wonderful amazing collage function, which simply fits automatically all the pictures you want resized in an A4 page (as you see on the left side of LO) ! It's so excellent !! Those who have not been acquainted with Picasa (a photo management and editing software) - go get it NOW !! I can't function without it.... :P

Here's another completed on the go while waiting for R to finish her dance exams .... sooooo love the new Amy Butler line ...

Am supposed to be away in 2 days, so if i'm blogging... u'll know i've been grounded ! :P
take care all !