Yosemite Mini Album

Ah..... Yosemite....
All i had were my impressions from Geography textbooks which hardly prepared me for what nature had created over millions of years.

Using Tattered Angels gatefold album, i played with distress inks, rub-ons, masking, cut-outs and stickers to create this...

close ups of the cover page...

the embossed tree as a subtle backdrop was just perfect for this album

of cos' I had to add the bling... :)

I wanted the album to also capture the "why(s) and how(s)"  of Yosemite's formation ... 

sneeks of some vistas

Kiddos at play...

But beyond the beauty, it was sharing it with family that counted :)

thanks for dropping by !

Ahhhh... what fun !

Put together a load of beautiful pix from our recent trip, fresh bling from the recent scrapbook expo in Tampa, and gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous kits from Blue Moon Scrapbooking - what do you get ?   PLAYTIME with beautiful outputs to boot !

My first try at a 6x12inch LO - and i think i am hooked :) 

some close ups ...

Then i copped out (heh!!) cos it opens into a more conventional 12X12 layout

of my 2 fav shots of the girls from Colorado ..

used some tissue paper here... and lots of Websters pages :) 

Think i went overboard with the bling and sparkles and the insects
but oh well, think i'm allowed !

thanks for dropping by !

Incredulous

Exactly ! this slip from blog world - tsk tsk tsk ..... inexcusable !!!

So no excuses. Simply a perfect reasoning of the ol' fashioned whirlwind of life mangled by long road trips, lots and lots of travelling, packing, unpacking and tons of stress. Luckily this was balanced by mesmerizing views , delighted kids, and (mostly) happy ME.

How not to be when its the Grand Canyon/ Monument Valley and Las Vegas we are talking about !

A childhood dream come true, it's wonderful seeing the girls lap it up too as they took in this view and 'sweated' in their bid to become Junior Rangers of the Grand Canyon National Park.

(Girls taking their ranger pledge)

Then there's Monument Valley - intensely spiritual, with its many mesas and buttes carved solely by nature's forces. The mammoth rock structures are deeply captivating particularly at sunset, especially when one is privileged to witness the peeking of the moon behind the crimson plateau across the desert

And some scrappy goodness to share too ! Just love how this wonderful hobby enables that release from the craziness of life. And better yet, a meaningful way to make someone else extremely happy too !

Here's a mini-album i did for my friend's mom's birthday ...


And one of C who is just soooooo grown up already - i want my baby back *wail * !!!

Almost Five

Bad...

i know...

ME that is, for being so slack in updating my blog :)
Sorry, friends ... guess you can call it a blog rut i was in, and events accumulated to such an extent that it was too tough to put it all down !

So here's the greatly condensed version to explain my lapse.....

San Francisco - here we come !!

While everyone back home was busy preparing for the mid-year exams, the girls here were living it up - on a road trip - driving many miles to San Francisco and San Jose and visiting R's Godma in Sacramento.

Finally some of their own kind (kids) that is to play with !! The girls have been soo deprived - socially that is - and missing all their friends back home. They've hardly any playmates here except each other. And me, YIPPPEE !! Some decent ADULT female company, as i caught up with my 2 friends living here. Plus really great homecooked Chinese food too ! BLISS !!

En-route the scenary up the California coast was breathtaking as we travelled up the Pacific Highway, hugging the vertical cliffs amid foggy clouds like these snaps show ...

R is now quite a dare-devil and will climb over boulders and rocks just to get to the top of a mount to gaze into the Pacific blues...

C was quite happy with other means of entertaining herself....

But their favourite - yea ... shell picking ... STILL

On the way, we said hello to some squirrels, deer and sea lions...

Back to the grind

Now back home, they're hitting the books while their peers are on holiday !! R's lao shi sent her a sample of a Chinese composition that is expected at P2 and i flipped !!! GOSH !! how AM I EVER going to help her to write to such a standard, when i can't even put a decent sentence in Mandarin together any more ! Panic....

Well guess i just gotta focus on what i CAN do... I try to do a core academic subject a day (be it Eng, Math or Mandarin) and a more general knowledge based one - be it geography, history, or literature. Yesterday, we covered the topic of pyramids and MUMMIES - one of my all time favourite subjects ... haahhaha...

here's a glimpse of our homeschool session ...
(that was C's spelling for the day on the top left side of board)

This was R's version of what she got out of it...

And this is C's (very proud of herself) version ...

AND I've been busy with lots of scrapping too for Apron Strings ! Check back for the DT reveal this 15th !!

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 !!