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 !

SuperJuniors

R aced her golf with golds in both the qualifiers - so now on to the finals end of this week. This is the 3rd year she's taking part in Superjuniors but still... wow... my little girl is cool... i would be shaking at any measure of a competition of any sort, but she's really quite calm and collected. Lots of credit goes to hubby - in just the way he handles R, i guess.

To us, it was never really about the medals but the lessons she takes away from a competition such as this - what the values of sportsmanship are, the values of discipline, and others like complacency, focus, and the strength to pick up from pitholes. So bear with me as i am going to tell a little story...

There was once a little girl, very good at her sport, and won her first game (from what i hear from her dad who was the caddy ...) hands down. Going into her second game, she was slightly swell headed, and underestimating her opponents, hit a bad shot right from the first hole (into the bunker). Taking all the resolve a 7-year old could muster, she had to try her best to recover from it (of cos' not without some watery eyes in between) and trailed behind. She was down the first 5 holes behind the leader, and only began regaining her confidence from the 6th hole onwards, and evened the score at the 7th, after which went on to win the 9-hole game by just 1 point.

So we shall see what unravels as the finals take place next thurs and fri as they play and take the total score of the 2 games. ha haa... stay tuned :)

New Layouts - Pt 2

I love this picture of R running in the waves... Love Love Love her expression so i had to blow it up big big :) and really liked how it turned out.
Used a mix of Websters, Hambly and MME here...

Scrapped this while waiting for R to finish her dance class so had to make do with whatever i brought :) Great challenge for me since i usually need to have ALL my supplies around when i scrap.
Wanted a more pared down colour scheme but couldn't resist the dash of bright red :)
Butterfly was inked with brilliance copper, lime green and gold inks, and glittered at edges.




Pool Babes
A quick layout done of the girls in their favouritest sunday activity - frolicking by the pool.


Thanks for dropping by !

New Layouts - Pt 1

These were some layouts i had completed in the run-up to Clarisse's birthday - rushing to get that whole year's worth of memories scrapped :)

Strike a Pose
- using the ohhhh sooooo sweet Urban Prairie line with a mix of Sassafras Lass and some lace.


Dance Baby Dance
the pix were awful as i had to capture them from outside the studio mirror - but how could i resist that tiniest cutest dancer ?? i'm biased, of course :P
Used a mix of various bellies from K&Co, American Craft, Cosmo Cricket (rubons), Prima (bling), Urban Prairie (butterfly and border) and Hambly dotted transparency strip beneath...

more layouts coming up in next post...

Clarisse is 4 !

A blue and pink theme

With polka dots to add some groove
She had a blast

She didn't want the party to end, my little C
Clung on to me, and refused to play the last game
Upset it was coming to a close ....

Here are some sneaks of the party

the birthday Gal

Elated..

Say Cheese !


Games..

The gorgeous cake

Yums....


Goodie bags ...

Thanks again to all our dear friends who took the trouble to drive all the way to make C's day, and the awesome photography skills of my friend P who captured the most amazing shots .... you're just a gem !!

Personalised Diaries

Today was C's last day of school. As farewell gifts, i bought some 2009 diaries and personalised the covers for them. Was really fun to do, and they loved it :)

a memorable lunch

My kakis simply outdid themselves .... I was overwhelmed and a total basket-case !! Thanks so much ladies, you've made my year !! Hubby is now fretting cos' he says he you've set the standard too high !!! hahahaha !!

A little this and that...

Feeling a little reflective lately, so did this. All papers by Scenic Route.

It's been a busy couple of days lately with preparations for Clarisse's birthday under way - making invites, her birthday banner, and all the goodies for the goodie bags. So fun ! And C has been such a great help too - pasting buttons and the bling. Will post pix once her bday is over so as not to spoil the surprise for our guests :P

For those keen on children's drama - there's quite a few coming up. We managed to catch Wizard of Oz over the last weekend, and the girls really enjoyed it, though i found it too long. So now both can hum 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' fairly decently - must go get my hands on a CD soon...

Also there's Eric Carle's Hungry Caterpillar and Tooth Fairy coming up. Both promise to be excellent so go get your tix soon !

a little piece of good news

Yeah... i won the October challenge over at Groovie ! Can't wait for my prize to arrive :)

What a wonderful surprise to come home to today in between a really packed Sunday. Thanks so much to the girls over at Groovie. Do check them out and play along cos their challenges are too fun :)