Food... & breakfast.

Supplies~
Cardstock: American Crafts
Alphas: American Crafts
Papers: American Crafts
Stickers: K&Company, 7 Gypsies
Ribbon: K.I. Memories
Flowers: Prima Marketing

[EDIT/23.10.2009: Details added now :D]

Okay I think I've to admit it. I am not perfect. I am a major photoshop nut. :D But not to the extent of mortifying myself on that program. I did tweak the layout above using Photoshop... and I might have went a wee bit too far with the brightness and contrast tools... which explains why my doily lace (guess what I got it from - improvise, people, I got it from a local diner... they must be thinking what was a teenage girl doing/thinking by asking for something like... doily lace. That is one big syndrome of being a scrapaholic) look so vague compared to the rest of the page.

Other than that, I also added typed journalling to the page on Photoshop. Then I printed the extra copy out and snuck it on the backside of the layout protector that lies inside my scrapbook album. :D I wanted to try printing on the cardstock itself but given my clumsy nature, I will mess it up for sure, and therefore, I didn't attempt doing so, heh. :D

Well, technique-wise, I played on major tone-on-tone (white on white in this case) in this layout! I think the effect that came out was pretty cool! :D

Now on to the journaling.. it says:

{Sometimes all we have to do is to just sit back and enjoy the first meal of the day heartily and happily... too bad I always miss out on them. I need to learn to be more appreciative in the future and start to enjoy the meals!}

Well, to be honest, when I was 5... I was a chubby lil' kid because of my large appetite. Chocolates were my preferred choice of food, as with every other young kiddo. :P I even have some photos to prove the above fact! But, when I was reaching 6/7, I don't know why, but my appetite took a major downturn. I hated eating. I had a sudden disgust and distaste for all food around me. Even all the chocolates that I loved before got affected as well. The sight and thought of food and them going down my gullet/oesophagus just disgusted me. I felt like I could puke anytime and everytime food enters my mouth.

It disgusted me to the state that sometimes I could just survive on a spoonful of rice/noodles for a day (and of course, water). If they tried to force-fed me, I will just breakdown or break out into tears. At least, that's what my parents whined to me about. Well, of course, my parents were dead worried about whatever that had happened to me and brought me to see a doctor to get a proper diagnosis, but the doctor said I had some kind of psychological barrier that hindered me from eating and subduing my appetite (Honestly, I had no idea what I did or heard when I was 5... so don't ask me about the details either :P I tried to ask my parents but they couldn't remember either)

But I still remembered clearly that during those times, I really hated food. Nobody truly understood why I was reacting that way towards food all of a sudden. Actually, I didn't know it myself either. No matter how my parents tried to force-fed me, I just can't eat much. That whole condition lasted for a whole month (though it got better gradually by the day), until my appetite was back to that of a normal person, to say the least.

Now that I think of it, could I have gotten anorexia when I was 6? That still remains a question, and a mystery, but definitely not one that I am desperate to solve. Just let bygones be bygones. At least those days are over now... or else all the troubles I could have caused to people around me would be distratrous if that continued till today.

Luckily, my appetite was restored. But I don't know whether it was due to me growing up or something, sometimes skipping meals doesn't come as a surprise to me anymore. I could survive easily without eating a meal (but I will still eat whenever I have to) for the day, such as breakfast, or lunch. (I am forced to come back home everyday on time to have my dinner though, I guess my mom wouldn't wish to see her daughter turn from a human being to being a virtual skeleton)

Because of the fact that I practically have to rush to school every single day, I often skip breakfast. Of course, as a biology student (albeit not a good one :P), I am highly aware that it isn't a recommended option, because several fatal stomach/gastric conditions can occur out of this habit of mine.

But sometimes, life just get in the way isn't it? I am not exactly an expert at time management either. Well, at least now I am trying to get rid of this bad habit of mine and learn to have proper meals/diets for the whole day... instead of relying just what is required.

Breakfast is extremely important. They give you the necessary boost of energy to assist you in whatever that comes in your way for the rest of the day. That probably explains for my restlessness in all of the days that I didn't take my breakfast. :D

On a sidenote, I am a huge fan of MacDonalds' Hotcakes breakfast meal. It's just simply divine when matched with maple syrup. Can you tell I have a sweet tooth yet? :P

Also submittted this layout for a challenge on American Crafts! Hopefully that gives me a chance to win some of the new Letterbox *AC's newest line that is just way too gorgeousssss* goodies.

Trust me, nobody would ever resists those pretty thickers...

(And it comes in my favorite texture ever - Fabric! :D)

I call myself a major thicker fan. I think I still have at least 10 packs of them left unused... don't even get me started on those that have been used! :P

Good news! :D (edited with picture+more information :D)

Just wanted to drop a note here that I'm one of the top 10 finalists on Prima's teen contest! *screams in excitement* I'm really really honoured to be selected as one of the finalists, and would really appreciate any votes coming through to vote for me as the eventual winner. :)

If you've missed my previous blog posts, this is the layout that I submitted for Prima:

Entry #4292: All About Me:

Supplies List:
Patterned Papers: Creative Imaginations, Prima Marketing (photo frame)
Flowers: Prima Marketing's Trellis flowers in pink and white (awesome shades)
Embellishments: October Afternoon, Prima Marketing (Donna Downey's "love" canvas tag, paper rose made from Flirty little secrets patterned paper, rose rubon cut into half for use on the photograph and frame)
Alphas: American Crafts
Border/Others: Prima Marketing's Sew Cute stitched mulberry paper.

Journaling reads (It became too small when I resized it) :
"All about me: 15, a little meek, a little emotional and a wee bit too sensitive sometimes... but absolutely loved <3"

Please vote for me if you've the time! More information regarding voting can be found here! (You can also view the other amazing entries as well at the same time!) My entry no. is #4292 if you're wondering! Please feel free to vote for other deserving entries as well if my layout is not your desired choice! :D

More information on my layout can be found on a previous post on this blog!

Please do check my layout out and vote for me if you can/wish! Thank you so much and I really appreciate your effort in voting for me! :)

(This post is gonna stay up here until 28th August before I delete it! Updates should continue as usual! Please scroll below for my updates!)

xx Shermin :)

Live, Laugh, Love

How nice it would be if I can "live, laugh, love" everyday. Although I know its virtually impossible, I will still try my best to make it happen.

That aside, on the aesthetic aspect, I just changed my blog background and header. Background courtesy of http://hotbliggityblog.com and well, I just made the blog header myself. Not that well-done since I wasn't feeling inspired.

Same goes for this card. I wasn't feeling exactly inspired and just rushed through one piece because my friend's birthday is just tomorrow. That's what you get for rushed work! It is also one of my first card-making experience and I used scraps to complete it, so yeah. :) As if it wasn't obvious enough, I really really loved the ribbon. The quote is so typical yet so meaningful. :)

Supplies:
Patterned papers: Pink Paislee, SEI
Ribbon: Ki Memories
Ribbon holder: Making Memories

(Photo wasn't well-taken because of rainy weather and dark clouds. Normally I would wait for better weather conditions before taking a photo, but not that much of a choice here because I have to send the card over to my friend by tomorrow, haha!)

I definitely hope that she will embrace the signifance behind this card. :)
Now I can't wait for my own birthday, lol! It's 24th September if anybody wish to know, *hinthint*

Please leave comments whenever you can! I will be sure to check out your blog back and leave some comments as well. :)

Almost a month

It has almost been a month since I've last updated this little small space of mine.

To sum it all up, the reason for me disappearing from the blogscene is because of life in general. Which of course inclues studies (the perpetual no.1 sorrow of mine on earth), as well as family, so on and so forth.

Anyhowdy, does anybody remembers the Prima teen contest that I talked about approximately 2 months ago? I finally got started on my entry on the 26th July. haha. I only submitted it on 30th July because I was frustrated of getting the 'right' photograph suitable to enter into the contest. Because of the dimensions of the Prima flowers, it became so hard to scan in the layout without it looking grainy or blur... so my only alternative is to photograph it.

I don't know whether my entry would be accepted because I don't know what constitutes as submitting it before July 31st (the deadline).... apparently, you have to wait for the Prima staff to verify your submission before it shows on the contest gallery. By the time that happens, I am not sure whether it would still be under the deadline of 31st July, because as you can see now, its already 1st August, and its still not appearing in the contest gallery....

Yeah I am a very impatient person. :(

Photographing it was a tough process. I had to wait for the suitable light setting and then capture it. Many times, I had blur edges, excessive amount of graininess/noise which irritated me to no end.

This is one of the decent shots. I tried to use as many Prima products as possible, but eventually the alpha, patterned paper and one rub on isn't from Prima. But basically everything else is from Prima. :)

One of the few layouts that I journalled! Feel so proud of myself right now, haha:

Supplies List:
Patterned Papers: Creative Imaginations, Prima Marketing (photo frame)
Flowers: Prima Marketing's Trellis flowers in pink and white (awesome shades)
Embellishments: October Afternoon, Prima Marketing (Donna Downey's "love" canvas tag, paper rose made from Flirty little secrets patterned paper, rose rubon cut into half for use on the photograph and frame)
Alphas: American Crafts
Border/Others: Prima Marketing's Sew Cute stitched mulberry paper.

Journaling reads (It became too small when I resized it) :
"All about me: 15, a little meek, a little emotional and a wee bit too sensitive sometimes... but absolutely loved <3"

Hopefully that constitutes as 70% worth of Prima products. :D The journaling really sums up who I am right now. As with every other teen, I have my emotional and sensitive moments. Also a little bit shy sometimes, but I do know, for sure that I have an awesome bunch of family and friends that I can count on, who love me for who I am. :D

That's all for now.
I am loving CHA at the moment... but I don't really buy festive lines (I normally just buy generic lines for obvious purposes) as some festivals are exclusively celebrated in America (or even if not, celebrated in certain countries only). Christmas, and Halloween are not as elaborately celebrated here in Singapore as compared to America, particularly Halloween. :(

This time round, a whole load of manufacturers had came up with festive lines, I can even think of a few on top of my head, Making Memories, Cosmo Cricket, Basic Grey, Crate Paper, SEI, Webster Pages, October Afternoon, etc all released either Halloween or Christmas lines... but good thing is, they also released some other generic lines, so I am good for now.

At least this meant that I don't have to splurge oh-so-heavily like before! That is a good thing, right? :D I saw so many online eye candies lately that I want to grab, but really, some are really not affordable at the moment. I already quit all my kit clubs cause my scrapping frequency dropped a lot... blame homework, not me. :D

Can't wait for Prima to update their blog with the top 10 finalists! Can't wait to see who got selected, and hopefully, I am included, lol! :D I already saw a few stunning entries in the contest gallery so Prima might have a tough choice to choose from, huh? :D

Has been long...

It sure has been long since I've last posted.

Vacations is now over and its now time to head back to school, ouch. :( I seriously can't bear with the days where I can spend my time lazing around and being a nocturnal creature. Now my biological clock isn't really working well, but I sure hope it's adjusting well to the new timing. :)

Had a few layouts done during the school vacations, and glad to say, one of them have won the Garden Girls weekly challenge over at TwoPeas sometime ago, only managed to check back now, but I am definitely glad to win (and of course, the shopping credit sure did grab me some good deals!) :)

It was the manicure one, if anybody remembers haha. :)
Just did another layout, it was meant for a challenge at my LSS, but I didn't win anyway, though it's alright as I had fun creating that layout. :)

Here to share if anybody's interested:

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics
Patterned Papers: Cosmo Cricket
Chipboard: Maya Road, Sassafras Lass
Tags: Tim Holtz (Ranger Industries)
Rub-ons: Rhoanna Farrer (Autumn Leaves)

I will be back to share some new projects when I am done recharging myself for the new school term, its so exciting, and just a little hint, it can be applied in real-life. Oh oh, CHA is coming soon, and I can't wait to see what the manufacturers come up with this season, oh man, that's gonna be digging a big hole in my pocket for sure. CHA always have this underlaying effect, heh! :)

Manicure!

Back to show a layout, I am on a blogging spree, wheeeee!

Supplies:
Alphas - Creative Imaginations
Stickers - American Crafts, Jenni Bowlin
Chipboard - Pink Paislee
Rub-ons - Autumn Leaves (Rhonna Farrer)
Journalling page - Making Memories
Mist - Glimmer Mist

I did this one real quick.
Really, within a span of 5 minutes, but yeah, I think you can see its rushed in this layout. All I did was to use the negative chipboard shape of my Pink Paislee topsiders and mist it. Add some of the shapes on, together with a few embellishments and then I called it a wrap. It's really trashy though...

I also only took the photo of the layout over the iPhone as my digital camera is not with me at the moment, le sigh. :( I have officially lost my mojo-ness, to the state that I can only churn out works of this quality. I am lamenting at that, realllll badly. :(

I'm also on my laptop right now, which means no photoshop, bleh. :( I always use photoshop to 'beautify' my photoraphs of the layouts because brightness, contrast, exposure, really do make a difference in presenting the layout!

I might replace the photograph with a newly scanned in tomorrow, I don't know, I just feel like sharing this one right now. Well yeah, weird lil' me I guess! :D

Mr/Mrs/Miss Mojo, pleaseee come backkk toooo meee sooon. :(
Btw, I was thinking of entering this for TwoPeas' weekly challenge of stacking the titles.But of course, I am having second thoughts about it for obvious reasons! :D

Edit [@ 3.54pm]: I just uploaded a new photograpph/scan of the layout, and hopefully, it looks more appealing now. There's a lot of 'bubbling' because I didn't use 'authentic' white cardstock. I just used the white side of a single-sided PP to do this... well, improvise when you've got nothing!

Maybe I can submit this for the TwoPeas challenge now, *laughs*:D

Prima teen contest?

As the fact that examinations have just ended up dawned upon me, I couldn't feel any happier!
Because, after exams are over, I can look forward to the following:

- More time for scrapping, of course
- Relaxation.
- Holidays (well, vacations were planned, but now these ideas have to be shelved thanks to the recent outrage of swine flu, talk about bummer!)
- More time to just stay at home
- Shopping!
- Sleeping - oh god, you have no idea how hard it is for me to crawl out of bed at the crack of each dawn before I get to school.

As usual, being the geek I ever am, I was bloghopping, message board-ing, pea-ing, and basically just adding an -ing to whatever scrapbooking is related to on the web. Checked out the new Studio Calico's reveal, and I FINALLY caved in and bought one kit. Ain't I proud of myself or what? I'm sooooo looking forward to receive it in my mail box. :D

In the midst of bloghopping, I happened to see this teen contest from Prima. I am like "BOOYAAAAAAA!" when I saw the notice. I mean, seriously, its so hard to have competitions catered towards teens to come by these days, since the main target group of scrappers are generally about the age whereby females take on the responsibility of motherhood, if you get what I mean, and now that it's restricted to scrappers between the age of 13-19 to focus on giving more chances towards the slightly younger group of scrappers (I am 15 going on 16 - I am perfectly in the midrange), WHO CAN GIVE THE CHANCE UP? :)

Oh lord, I am so excited now. Prima is so generous, just look at the prizes. I mean, while I am relatively sure I won't be able to win anything, I guess earning a feature on their blog (mind you, they get hundreds or even thousands of hits daily) would be sufficient to keep me grinning all day!

But of course, as every scrapper would dream, scrappy goodies for free if you do win the competition, for me, the chances are pretty low, considering there's still a huge bunch of talented young scrappers on there, let alone some 'diamonds in the rough'.

Do you see what I see? The 1st for this competition gets to earn a hefty prize of $200 (retail value) of Prima products (J'adore those flowers and papers!!), $100 barnes and nobles voucher (Prima sure knows how to encourage reading amongst us, huh!) and last but not least, guest designer spot on their design team, woots, sounds way too excitinggg, and even the runner-up gets to receive $150 retail value worth of prima products. That's enough to keep me hyperventilating all day long. :D

And the projects to be submitted are relatively simple, either a mini-book, layout or wall decor, and the theme is 'All about me'. A great chance for us, scrappers, as well, to get away from being the photographer and allow ourselves to shine through the camera lenses. It sounds like an awesome keepsake page for future memories as well. Maybe, 30 years later, when I chance upon the layout again, it will bring back those good ol' memories I had, and the crazy me when I was still an adolescent. Ah... :)

Even those layouts that are not selected for these yummy prizes get to be featured on Prima blog too, which is not a bad thing either, I mean, its PRIMA. Oh no, I almost sound like I am idolizing Prima now, which, in reality, actually, I am! The deadline is so loooong, and since I have a month full of vacation now, be sure that I will sink my heart and soul into creating something absolutely beautiful for the contest. And maybe, for the first time ever, my face would be seen, lol!

Home is where the heart is.

A simple and minimalistic layout with no photos. Also tried on a different sizing other than 12" x 12", breaking down into 8.5" x 11". I guess I really broke out of my comfort zone this time. This is created for TwoPeas+Hamblys contest and I just submitted this in, with only about 20 minutes to the deadline, I guess I was lucky that my scanner didn't act up!

"Home is where the heart is" - don't you just believe so much in that quote? Your family is the only place you belongs to, even if you're at age 80 or something. many of us takes our family for granted, including me as well, and I hope by making this layout, it can serve as a form of reminder as well as therapy.

I've just had a few bickers with my family (well, what can it be about again, my studies) and I really hate it whenever that happens. :(

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics (Kraft)
Embellishments: Jenni Bowlin, Prima , Lace (found from sewing kit, - to add an homely element, that's why)
Overlay/Transparency: Hambly Studios
Mist: Glimmer Mist (Watermeleon! :D)
Stickers: Hambly Studios
Rub-ons: Hambly Studios
Patterned Papers: Hambly Studios

I hope you guys will enjoy the weekend! Have a nice day ahead of you. :)

I apologize for the lousy quality - I had to photograph this instead of usually scanning it in because the scalloped edges were a b**** to scan in. :P One side gets cut-off no matter how I scan in the layout, because my layout is only 11" wide, sadly.

I've been creating quite frequently, lately, so here you go:

Supplies:
PPs: Crate Paper. American Crafts
Embellishments: Pink Paislee, Maya Rooad, Ki-Memories
Alphas: Pink Paislee
Bingo-card: Jenni Bowlin
Vintage ephemera: A page from an old storybook (got it from one of the craft kits in RedVelvetArt.com!)

Specially created this for a few of Studio Calico's NSD challenges, if you find this layout familiar, you probably have already found this layout in SC's member gallery sometime ago on NSD. Received a few positive comments, thank you so much ladies! :)

It's supposedly used for a few challenges:

Stephanie's "something old" challenge, that is, I must use at least one vintage 'something' in the layout, such has old stash, old photos, or just vintage ephemera or things that look old. :) Definitely a fun challenge to work with to explore your inner vintage side. :D

Tina's "white space" challenge, I'm normally a very 'layered' or 'clusters of hand-cut papers' person, and love to maximize every single space I have out of the 12" x 12" papers, so this white space enabled me to embrace the inner simple scrapper within me. :) Hopefully, I will be able to scrap more layouts that look much more uncluttered. (This layout is a vast improvement compared to my other layouts in terms of the 'white space' part, but there's definitely room for improvements).

Nicole's 3 PPs challenge, this is arguably one of the easiest challenge ever, and have the most number of scrappers submitting their work. I'm very much of a patterned paper person! (Seriously, look around this scrapblog and I bet you cannot find anything with cardstock as the base, Patterned papers just 'speak' to me the most! :)

I didn't win any of the challenges, but I am still happy that it actually manage to 'call' my mojo back!

That's all for now, hopefully I will be back soon with more layouts! Cheers and have a nice day!

xx
Shermin