chowchowscraps

Scrap-it-Lah December 2009 Challenge by Yatie

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:23:00 +0000

I was so glad that Yatie agreed to be our GDT this month at the Scrap-It-Lah site. For more information on the challenge details, please go head over to the SIL blog. I left it to the last minute to do my lo and this is what I came up with. I am also trying out more of a doodling and hope that I can become better at it.

Materials used:

Sassafras Lass pp, White Bazzill cs, Sassafras Lass Cardstock Diecuts, journalling diecut and chipboard, K n Co chipboard calendar, Thickers chipboard alphas, Black zig pens and loads of 3d foam tape.

Layout - Yums

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:27:00 +0000

Clarissa discovered her love for Thai Pancakes on our latest trip to Bangkok. She loved the ones filled with sugar sweet egg whites and shredded coconut. She managed to pig out on them at the floating market and I took these pictures of her digging into the pancakes. Using the 52 sketches sketch no 47, I created this layout of her munching happily into her Thai pancake.

Materials used:

My Scarlet Lime kit, Scalloped paper from ScrappingGlitz, Coredinations and Bazzill Cardstock, Ribbon by Momoyo, Stickers from SL kit, Zig pen for journalling, Butterfly button from Autumn Leaves and loads of 3d pop up dots.

Christmas Traditions

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:31:00 +0000

I believe in starting traditions. Sharon and I have been exchanging gifts for Christmas for 2 years now. In 2007, She made me an exploding box, last year - a canvas and I wonder what she is making for me. Hee hee... This year as usual, I have made her a canvas with lots of texture and using papers that I found from her store, Scrappingville. I hope that this little tradition of ours will go on for many years to come.

Materials used:

Normal canvas, Textured Paste with beads by Golden, Gel Medium by Golden, Jo Sonja White Acrylic Paint, Fibers - all from Lincraft, Australia, Raw Chipboard, Basic Grey Xmas pp, American Craft Xmas pp, Red Gorsgrain Ribbon, Blings from local haberdashery, lots of Elmer glue and 3 D pop up dots.

Spanish word of the month- Chicas

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:27:00 +0000

Yes, it's the time of the month again where I try to learn a couple of more easy spanish words. Hee hee... Spanish word of the month - Chicas! Chicas - I was told by Clarissa means girls. Found this photo of her with her girlfriends and decided to scrap it simply. Loved the colourful effect and I managed to use my lace trim which I bought in the local haberdashery when Sharon and Kristy came to visit. Gosh - that was like months ago. Love the treatment of the Heidi Swapp butterfly. I painted it white, ran through the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder and added some black Stazon ink. Hee hee.... Destashing feels great!

Materials used:
Rosa Moka pp, Prima flowers, Prima Pearl Blings, K n Co Diecut Cardstock, Autumn Leaves Buttons, Heidi Swapp Butterfly, Jo Sonja White Acrylic Paint, Cuttlebug Embossing Plate, Black Stazon Ink and loads of pop up dots.

Bangkok Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:31:00 +0000

We were away last weekend for a nice but hectic weekend in Bangkok. It was great to have bonding time with the family and in spite of the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, we did managed to eat and shopped. Here are some pictures in no particular order.

The Shark feeding at the Siam Aquarium in the Paragon Shopping Centre. Very fun and exciting. Check out the size of the shark!

The kids had a go with the small fishes nibbling at their feet to remove dead skin cells.

Nice Kobe beef at the Tokyo Grill in Paragon.

This grilled pink crab was also very yummy and fresh.

At the Floating Market at Damnuan Sadoek. This is the floating market made famous by the Bond movie. Was chaotic and the vendors were always hassling us with crazy exorbitant prices.

The only quiet photo I look. This is my favourite photo of the whole trip.

Clarissa and her new found love for Thai Pancakes.

At the wood carving factory, Sean was goofing around - pretending to be gored by an elephant.

Check our the details and the amount of work and patience to carve this table. Love the elephant bums. Hee hee...

These food photos were taken at the Seafood Market. Love the steamed Alaskan Crab.

I just love the gravy on this one - its a Yellow Crab Curry. Goes well with the garlic bread.

This was our lunch before we left for the airport. We ate at a Thai Restaurant at the Central World Shopping Centre. Loved this green curry.

Sean's favourite - fried pork neck with curry leaves.

Yummy Tom Yum Gong.

Scrumptious Pandan Chicken

The Xmas deco were out at the Paragon Shopping Centre. Love them all. So festive and really puts one in the mood for Xmas.

More yummy food at the food court at Paragon. I can stay here the whole day munching.

Layout - Snake

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:53:00 +0000

Gosh, its been a long time since I have updated this blog. Somehow I am not so motivated to blog but creating wise, I still do squeeze in some time to get a layout or 2. Was away for a short holiday last weekend in Bangkok and we had a great time there. For me - the best memories of the holidays are not what we buy there but more of the family spending together and bonding time.

Played with the Twisted Sketches No 24 and adapted it to my liking. I have used a photo of Sean holding on to a python. We paid Thai Baht 40 for this picture which converted to Malaysia Ringgit was RM4 or US Dollars USD1.20. Well worth the money as he liked holding the snake.

Materials used:
Corrugated Box, SSF pps, SSF Sticker border, K n Co Chipboard Flourish, Scenic Route Round Chipboard, DCWV Children Sticker Quote, Daisy D's Cardstock Stickers, Reminisce Diecut Boy Stickers, Thickers Foam Alphas, Distress Inks, Metal tab from Oz - sorry can't remember the brand cos it was bought in 2005!

Dance like no one is looking

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:22:00 +0000

I really am in love with Websters Pages. Made another simple layout with it and here it is.

Photography by Sarah Grasset.

Materials used:

Websters pp, Coredinations cs, Prima flowers, Prima Say it with Pearls, Prima Bubbled Embellishments (sorry can't remember the actual name), Prima burlap, Websters Pages ribbons and trims, Adirondack Crackle Paint, Vintage Brooch, Scenic Route Rub ons, 3d Lacquer, Glitzee Glitter Glue from Australia, Normal Twine and loads of 3d pop up foam.

Hermana y Hermano

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:08:00 +0000

Another simple layout using the latest DCWV papers. Clarissa has been teaching me some basic spanish and my 2 words for the day are Sister (Hermana) and (Y) Brother (Hermano). The Spanish teachers at both campuses, yes, they do expect the parents to learn some spanish too. I am practically dreading having to learn Spanish as my brains are all fried due to my old age. LOL...

Materials used:
DCWV papers, Black Acid free cs, Buttons from my Scarlet Lime kits, Thickers foam alphas, Trims from Australia, Zig pen from Momoyo and loads of 3d pop up dots.

A night to remember

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:57:00 +0000

It was great to catch up with my old friends at a reception. It was great to reconnect with really old friends and we had such a nice and fun evening. Both C and S met their old friends whom they have played with since they were really young. To think of it - they are all a decade old friends - its been 10 years since I met them all and I am grateful for having such good and loyal friends.

The girl that is dancing- I practically watched her grow up into a beautiful young woman. We are do proud of her achievements. All in all - we had a great night and look forward to more in the future.

Update and Desserts Galore

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:52:00 +0000

I have been plagued by more health issues lately. Maybe its the stress, I don't know but something is definitely not right. I saw the specialists yesterday, had an ultrasound and had my medicines adjusted. I am still feeling queasy and I have another procedure scheduled next week under general anesthesia. Sigh... I wonder when can I get better?

This disease is definitely taking its toll on my diet. I certainly love to eat and its taking away my ability o eat and sigh - to me - what is life without enjoying my favourite food? I took these 2 awful pictures with my phone. Can you guess which one is my favourite dessert?

A. Chocolate Fondant - all gooey and yummy with ice cream.

B. Japanese Mochi made from the best flour.

If you have guessed B, YUP - you are right! I do love Japanese Mochi and this one by the Kirishima restaurant is my favourite. Luckily - this is one of the desserts that I am still allowed to enjoy as my gastro imposes a total ban on milk. No lost there as I am not into anything too milky anyway but that would mean no more durian pancakes. Sob... But never mind, I will eat the real thing. Hee hee...

Scrapping wise, I am a little stuck but I will definitey come back with more creations the minute I get my health issues back to order. In the meantime, as Chris (Wati's hubby) says, Rojak and Out (his local way of saying Roger and Out!) LOL...

{I hope you never lose your sense of wonder}

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:12:00 +0000

Couldn't wait to start playing on these gorgeous Websters papers the minute I got them. I was going through my stash of photos since last weekend and I just couldn't decide what photo to scrap. Then I found this old photo of Clarissa in a long-forgotten box. Voila - the perfect photo! She is just looking up in awe - I have no idea why. My friend Sarah Grasset took this photo of her in her house and captured her in this way. I knew what I was going to do... Add all the hot air balloons as though she is looking at them in glee...

I had fun with these papers and loved working again with more Prima flowers.. Hee hee - I have decided that a girl needs loads and loads of PRima goodies.

Materials used:
Websters Page pp, Bazzill Cs, Prima flowers, Prima Blings, Sticker Alphas by Websters Page, Pearl centers, Prima green lace trim, normal thread, Blue vellum which I embossed through the Cuttlebug and loads of 3d pop up dots.

Scrap-it-Lah November 2009 Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:14:00 +0000

Photography by Sarah Grasset.

This month at Scrap-it-Lah, gosh - was a tough nut to crack for me. Wati, our Guest Designer came up with a challenge that had most of the designers quite stumped and some even saying that they were losing their hair! Hee hee...

The challenge was to scrap a title with the Scrap-It-Lah acronyms meaning - "S, I and L." I mulled overnight and finally came up with this title - "Sean It Loud". What does it mean? I just want Sean to life his life to the fullest and be brave and make his mark. Hope that makes sense.

Do hop over to the SIL blog to check out the challenge and to participate in it.

Materials used:

Scarlet Lime kit, Black Coredinations cardstock, Hambly red chequered transparency, Jenny Bowlin stickers and chipboard buttons, 7 Gypsies ephemera and sticker sayings, Thickers Alphas, Making Memories Alpha Stickers, Doodlebug Sticker Alphas, 3d pop up dots.

Halloween 2009 and a long hospital trip

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:13:00 +0000

Its Halloween again and this year - looks like it is a quiet one in our household. Sean has a football match in the morning and I have planned to ship Clarissa off to her friends to do trick and treating there. Must say that it feels funny that we are not doing a Halloween party this year as I have done it for so many years.

It was the Halloween Dress up Day at school today. The older one woke up wanting eye make-up as she has decided to be the "Emo" girl. I have no idea what emo is but she told me that she was supposed to be an emotional girl. Ahhhh.... The revelation as I am still in the mode whereby I know Elmo but Emo - hmmm...... So here she is in her "Emo" costume complete with a red scar on her arm. Your guess is as good as mine as why she needed a red scar. I blame it on the tween years and the generation gap.

This little one definitely looks like he needs more sleep in his ninja costume. Desperately needing a better haircut - I did bring him to one a fortnight ago but they did a lousy job as you can see.

My day was a relatively long one with bringing father-in-law to the hospital. His gait is getting worse and my fears were confirmed. His latest brain scan showed that he suffered a stroke within these 5 - 10 days. Sigh. Its a long story how he is always refusing to show up for appointments and the way he forgets about his medicines - thats another long story. Well I certainly hope that nothing untoward will happen to him. Its been a long day and I am ready for bed. Sean has an early match tomorrow and yup no rest for the wicked mummy. Toodles.

Little Pink Riding Hood

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:33:00 +0000

I had fun with Izzie tonight and took pictures of her in this pink hair band. Doesn't she look like the Little Pink Riding Hood? Hee hee...

Layout - Pedicure Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:40:00 +0000

Found these old pictures of the 2 monsters playing pedicure. This is hilarious. Sean will definitely be cringing in embarrassment when he sees this. He was merrily giving Clarissa a manicure and pedicure when I snapped these pictures. Back then I only had an automatic camera which I really didn't really know how to use. Hence the pitch black photos. But never mind, I ahve decided to choose the merry SSF pps to counter the photos. Hee hee...

Materials used:
SSF pp, Kraft pp, Thickers foam alphas, Buttons and Ribbons from Momoyo, Fabric Button from Sharon Chan, SSF chipboards, Versamagic Black ink, 3d pop up dots and Helmars Glue.

Layout - Adventures of a bubbly kind

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Sifting through my old pictures, I stumbled upon these old ones which I have taken of Sean ages ago way back in 2004 in the KLCC park. He was happily blowing bubbles and boy he looked so cute back then with his mop of hair.

Thought I would try something which I deemed new. Layering a piece of Hambly on top of a corrugated cardboard. My initial design was very plain but as I added on more embellishment, I am glad that I have managed to turn the layout into quite a colourful one. Definitely different than what I am used to but I must say that I am quite pleased with the results.

Materials used:
Hambly transparency, Normal Corrugated Board, Autumn Leaves Buttons, Francheville sticker alphas, Prima blings, K n Co 3d stickers, October Afternoon Stickers, 7 Gypsies stickers, grosgrain ribbons, 3d foam tape, Jo Sonja titanium white acrylic paint and 3d lacquer.

LAyout - Jiya

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:49:00 +0000

I took these pictures of Jiya two years ago and I still love them to this day. I loved howshe posed for me and how I managed to capture her charming and beautiful personality.

I have decided to use the Pencil Lines sketch No 154 for this layout. I have to admit that I heart circle sketches and I tend to scrap them.

Materials used:

Normal Corrugated Cardboard, Webster Page pp, Kaiser Wooden Flourish, K n Co Que Sera Sera border sticker, Plastic trim with bling and cotton lace trim from local haberdashery,

Adirondack Dimensional Pearl (Butterscotch), Pearl Blings from my local market, Jo Sonja Titanium White, Thickers white foam alphas, White coloured MM Sticker alphas and double sided foam.

Another 10 days flies by

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:41:00 +0000

It's been a very busy 10 ten days for me. The adjustment to a new school is taking longer than I thought. Parents are very welcome to help and I have done just that. I have gone in to help make Ondeh-Ondeh - which is a Malay Traditional dessert in conjunction to the Hari Raya Celebration. The Middle School Play just ended last Saturday and I have gone in to help paint the sets. Sean has had his first football match with the Japanese School - we lost 4-9 and it was amazing watching the Japanese kids as they are petite in size but don't let that fool you, they can FLY across the field like lightning.

We have started painting our whole apartment both inside and out. On the home front, the domestic engineer had created some problems but hopefully it is all ironed out. To tell the truth - I am quite fed up of her giving me so much problems. We will see how it goes otherwise I have decided that maybe she is not worth that much trouble.

Kids wise - I have one that is very happy - funnily enough Sean is wracking up more social engagements than Clarissa nowadays. He is enjoying school more and his parent conference meeting went really well and I was glad. Clarissa was in tears at hers as she scored a "B" for math. She is definitely learning the hard way that its not so easy to maintain the "As" as you proceed on to the Middle School and half-hearted work is definitely not appreciated by her teachers.

I had a very enjoyable day yesterday - made a sock puppet with my friend's daughter - she is such a doll. All that crafting made me want to scrap but I really do not know where to begin. I really need to sit down and start scrapping.

Izzie - wise - she is getting better. Just had her 2 annual jabs and she was house bound for 1 week. She is totally miserable and I wanted to bring her out for a walk but alas, the weather is not cooperating - its raining and being the sensible dame she is, I decided to take a rain check on that walk.

I read a post at Aida's blog and what she said is true for me nowadays. I have attend less social engagements nowadays as I really wish to concentrate on my kids. I scrap less but that does not mean that I will stop scrapping. At this point in time, I think I just want to take a step back and concentrate on myself for a change. Do what I enjoy and I realise that yes I do have some dear friends but some of them - I really have to change my views on them and re-evaluate. I make no apologies for being me and this is who I am - take it or leave it. As I have said before:

"I am me - I am the Me I want to be. I am not Perfect but that's just ME!"

Enough said - time for a quick think and start scrapping.

Layout -My boy breaks down when he is tired

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:51:00 +0000

This is a layout that describes Sean to a "T". We took these photos of him crying in Hong Kong Disneyland. Naturally after 1 day of fun and not getting his way at the Astro Blasters, he broke down one of the restaurants there. I just found these photos and thought that I better scrap it before I forget about them again. I feel that this layout is still unfinished (re: white circle that I drew). Maybe it would be nicer if I put something more 3D there. Will think about it.

Materials used:

Creative Imaginations pp, Making Memories Fabric Stickers and Tag, Pink Paislee Chipboard, K n Co Chipboard Flourish, SSF stickers, Thickers foam alphas, Blue DMC thread, Blue GRosgrain ribbon, White Sakura Pen, Making Memories Black Sticker Alphas and Momoyo Brads.

Pharyngitis no more {hopefully}

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:06:00 +0000

FInally after 3 months of suffering from pharyngitis - I went to see another 2nd opinion and voila - the answer is never what it seems huh? The ENT that I am currently seeing says that I have Gastro Reflux. That would mean that my stomach acids are actually regurgitated whilst I am sleeping and it burnt my esophagus and namely now - the back of my throat.

I have been unwell for so long and I am just glad that this third doctor I am seeing has managed to pinpoint the problem. Although it has only been day 1 since I started the medicine, I do feel that my throat is less painful and I don't cough and gag as much when I sleep. Last night I had a more restful sleep and I am thankful for that.

This is a life long disease with some adjustments to my diet. I can live with that and hopefully I will be feeling better and start to go back to my normal routines.

Scrap-it-Lah October Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:59:00 +0000

Jessy thought of the "SIMPLE" challenge this month. I was wracking my brain on how to expand this and explain to the rest what we wanted. FInally I decided on the interpretation of the word simple and added some quotes to the challenge.

As I started to think about scrapping for the challenge, I was also stumped by what we mean as simple. There were so many meanings and as I sifted through my photos - I have decided on cycling. Its a simple pleasure really. Everytime I ride a bicycle, memories of my childhood come flooding back. Ahhhh... such simple pleasure - you are carefree and wind in your hair.

Materials used:

Hamby transparency, 7Gyspies cards, Thickers Vinyl Black Stickers and teh rest is from my Scarlet Lime Kit this month.

Class with Sharon at SV

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 04:15:00 +0000

I haven't been scrapping and a class would be the best way to get back into scrapping. Sharon was here from Singapore and she taught us on various techniques on the canvas and boy the class was great and we all had so much fun. Here are my 2 canvases that I made during that class. Thanks Sharon for such a great time.

10 days later - Iz recovers

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 04:10:00 +0000

This the Iz we know. She is really boisterous and noisy in the morning. The minute she comes home from her morning walk, she will be playing with her ladybird squeaky toy and she will not rest until the toy squeaks a million times. Then she will off to drink up loads of water from her bowl and thus her beard will be all wet. Thats Iz for you. Here you can see that she is recovering and smiling happily for the camera.

Izzie alert - Fever and Liver problems

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 04:02:00 +0000

They say that it never rains, its pours. I do agree with that. We have hardly had time to digest the death in our family, here we have another health crisis with Iz. I have noticed that she had been sluggish and she was sticking to me like glue. When she woke up the next day with a fever, I was naturally shocked. Sent her to the vet and she had 2 shots - one for her fever and another a broad spectrum antibiotic to help her battle what she had.

The Vet took a blood sample from her and we now know that this time - its her liver that is giving her problems. I sincerely hope that with the current meds that she is taking - this will at least be sufficient to keep whatever is attacking her at bay.

I hate her being sick. This is how she looks like when she is sick. All listless and unhappy.

Cooking Soto Ayam ala Nad

noreply@blogger.com (Chowchow) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 03:56:00 +0000

I made this 3 weeks back. Its just chicken soup with various spices - namely, cardamon, cinnamon, star anise and cloves. The white chunks that you see are actually "ketupat" or compressed rice - it's a local Malay dish and one which I can never get enough of.

Nad gave me the recipe and I must say that I loved this simple dish very much. In addition, the "begedel" which is the brown nuggets you see in the right hand corner - most delicious when its home made. Its just mashed potatoes mixed with onions, beaten egg and minced beef. This soup complete with the rice and begedel and topped with hopped spring onions and coriander is such a scrumptious meal.