I've been busy....

...with a whole lot of things right now, thus the lack of layouts sharing and blogging.

Busy....
..with some Christmas card orders;
..making special handmade Christmas gifts for friends
..preparing for Grace's 3rd birthday party
..finding and visiting and finalizing a pre-school for Grace (yes, we are starting her soon)
..training Grace to sleep early and wake up early (in preparation for pre-school)
..following and watching a TVB drama (grin...grin..)

Phew...the list don't look too long but all are time consuming tasks.....

By the way, I'm also planning on making 2 mini albums, one for Grace's 3rd birthday, the other for Grace's first time at school kinda journal.

Here's how Grace gently turn down an invitation to play....

I was again at my parents place for the past 3 days. Well, this time is just for the fun of it. Grace got all crazy playing with her grandparents. Grandpa bought a toy truck (the kind that transport new vehicles) which also include 2 buses and 2 cars. (just in case you wondering, Grace loves cars....don't ask me why). Well, she was playing all sorts of things with this toy truck, car dealers, race car and truck, towing service.

Talk about the towing service, dad has an old Walkman, which was confiscated from his naughty students many years back. And so Grace took the Walkman, extended the aerial and viola....the crane or whatever that is used to tow the cars and truck. Her tow service number is "386"...she gave the number herself. And so, dad will pretend that there's an accident, then called the number "386" and she will answer and get to work.

Now, after playing this for some time, she shifted to other things, when grandma came and "dialled" the number "386". Note that she is now busy with other things, and this is how she turned down her grandma.
Grandma: "386", "386" there's an accident here. I need towing service now.
Grace: Err....she's now around.

Then during dinner, grandma tried again.
Grandma: "386", "386" there's an accident here. I need towing service now.
Grace: I no longer provide the service. I already sold off the towing thing.

We all had a good laugh.

G is for Grace

It had been almost 3 years since Grace joined us, my little girl will be celebrating her birthday on 26th of this month. Looking back these 3 years and the few years before I was pregnant, I can't help but proclaim that God's grace was, is and will be showering upon us.

Here I scrap on the word Grace. It's a challenge over at Scrapping out LOUD, using over sized embellishment and/or alphas. At the same time, I'm using Twisted Sketch #021 with the twist of "Alpha".




Many things happen on this layout.
1. I die-cut the flower border from Cosmo cricket early bird collection by using a die-cut machine called, my hand and craft knife.


2. If you see the sketch above, I replaced the photo on the top left corner with my over sized "g", running over to the lower row. I switch the photo placement a little to suit the flow.


3. I inked the edges of my journalling block and photo with Distress Crackle ink.


4. For the alpha, I'm using paint dabbers; and then heat it to create the raised "bubble"
Materials:
Cardstock - Core'dinations
Journalling blocks - Cosmo Cricket The Boyfriend, Early Bird and Nutmeg element cards
Others - Cosmo Cricket Early Bird border, Tim Holtz Distress Crackle paint, Adirondack Metallics acrylic paind dabber, Tim Holtz Grungeboard Alphas, Rose Moka mini alphas

Journalling:
Remember when...
...I was asking and begging God for a child, tears and frustration was always present. How little faith I have back then. God has His timing for everything and it was about 2 years of waiting for you to come into our lives. Numerous obstacles and tears along the way but was never lack of God's grace. He gave me comfort and taught me through 2 passage of scriptures; Psalms 23 and 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18.
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God;s will for you in Christ Jesus" 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18.
It was by:
-- God's grace that taught me to be patient and wait upon the Lord.
-- God's grace that gave me the surprise when I saw the positive test.
-- God's grace that help you grow big and strong in my tummy.
-- God's grace that gave me a comfortable pregnancy.
-- God's grace that gave me a safe delivery.
-- God's grace that brings you to us.
And it was to remember God's grace that we named you Grace!

New Hair Cut...

Not mine...but Grace's and in fact it has been almost a month.

Shorter hair = tidy. This is the principle that we hold, well, only applicable to kiddos. Thus when Grace's hair grow so long that it often get into her eyes, I "forced" her into cutting her hair. She's especially fear of cutting the front hair, other than that she's ok. She even said, "Mommy, cut shorter, so that I can become a boy!" LOL.

Anyway, here a photo taken on the very day she had her hair cut by her, oh so talented, mommy. (Ahem..) I've used sketch #43 from 52 Sketches 52 Weeks.




Materials:
Cardstock - core'dinations
Patterned paper - Cosmo Cricket Earth Love Repeat (Side B), Autumn Leaves Rhonna Farrer Black and White Twist, Heidi Swapp Invisibles (the colourful stripes)
Others - Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Worn Lipstick, Broken China, Spiced Marmalede), Cosmo Cricket Earth Love Element Card, Pink Paislee Office Lingo Collection die cut, October Afternoon Report Card Die Cut Stickers (the flowers peeking from the curled window), Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg Ready Set Chipboard Alpha

They say breastfed will breastfeed.....

...and here's Grace giving it a try and practicing.

Just for the fun of the play, Grace will take the pooh bear below, put it under her clothes (thus having a "big" tummy) and come to me saying, "Doctor, doctor, I'm going to have a baby! Help me!" Then the "labor" process took place (either a normal delivery or C-section)....yes we told her roughly how that took place, even told her the story of the umbilical cord (cause she asked what's the use of belly button). Anyway, back to the play. Then she will care for the baby that she "gave birth" to. Sometimes, the baby is put into an incubator.

Ok, now to the relationship side. I asked her whom am I to the baby and she said "Po Po" (grandma), what will the baby call Grace's daddy, "Gong Gong" (grandpa) and what about "Ma Ma" (in Cantonese Grandma), she answered "Cho Cho" (great grandma). Wow!

Alright, enough of talking and time for the photos.

Drooling over this.....

(wiping my mouth)...excuse me here....but isn't this yummy?? Mouth watering?!?


Won't it be real great to win this and be in time to start a mini album along side Irene aka Scrapperlicious next mini album tutorial at The Crop Spot? I don't know about you, but I'm definitely looking forward to November 13th, 2009 to see if I'm the one winning this yummy lovely kit!

What a great time to scrap on food now....

I guess this is the best time to scrap those photos of Grace enjoying her crepe lunch. After all, it was the same crepe (without the filling) trigger Grace to start eating again.

So, I used a Sketchy Thursdays sketch and made this "yummy" layout. I wanted to have a misty effect on the background but I do not have another glimmer mist in my stash (may cause a hole in the pocket if I start collecting these), nor do I have any re-inkers. Thus, I rub the distress ink (Mustard Seed and Fired Brick) to my non-stick craft sheet, sprayed it with water, mess up the whole area by "folding" (just a little) the craft sheet to make big coloured puddle. Then using a syringe to collect the puddle of liquid, pumping it into the mini mister, then sprayed it on my white cardstock. Love the final result.

Here's the original sketch and my take.



Materials:
Cardstock - unknown
Patterned paper - negative of Pink Paislee Outside the Box die-cut paper, Cosmo Cricket Earth Love Repeat
Others - Jillibean Soup journaling sprout, Prima flower, Little Red Cottage button, Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg ready set chipboard alphabets, Tim Holtz distress ink