[time out]

1st-ly: sorry for such a long hiatus from blogging! you know how life creeps up on you sometimes, both the little girls were ill with bad coughs over the weekend, which meant much less time for me to spend on the comp. Anyways, K's much better now, and G's still coughing quite badly at night, but is getting better. Now V's down with the cold :(
Owell, at least G will be enjoying her 3 yr old bday next week in good health!
What have i been doing these last few days :
made this bible cover for a returning customer :)

completed a 12 page scrapbook album for the gorgeous L :)

made some really cute LOs for this SITE where i've been invited to guest DT.



also bought some embroidery hoops to frame my embroidered pieces. I'm thinking of covering them up with scrap patterned paper, and modpodge them. What do you think? Do they look nicer raw like that?


I love it when my Etsy purchases come in the mail. This is a lovely pouch from HERE :) So versatile and good to use!

The other reason for the title of today's post is G's behaviour lately. Actually, i suppose it's the Terrible Twos and the Tantrum Threes all rolling up at the same time. This morning, we were told by her preschool teacher that she's been smacking other people in school. Surprisingly, it's not the other kids that she's hitting, but their parents / grandparents! Not surprisingly, they've been enforcing Timeout as the disciplinary method for G. As a parent, i feel both embarressed and helpless when she acts up outside of the house. I suppose as a firstborn and first-time parents, we are both learning what works best for her general well-being. I'm trying to stop putting across a direct 'no' to her requests, and yet instill in her which are the behavioral boundaries that we need to respect. It's been very trying, both for us and also my parents, but hopefully as she gets older, she will understand more and it'll be easier. She is definitely a very willful child, she knows what she wants, she knows which adult is an easy pushover, she can read emotional situations very well, which makes it all the more difficult to demand that she conforms to our set of rules. I find that now, more and more, i have to remind myself that she is beginning to be a person in her own right, with her own (very strong) personality. I'm just there to help shape the person that she will be, and not to demand that she has to be the child that i have in my mind. Moments that we share should be about enjoying her personality, and not a constant battle of wills. Easier said than done, i know, but i'm working at it!! :)

This weekend, i've these to look forward to:
1. Little E's birthday party
2. Making 50(!) party favors for G's school friends
3. Planning our Japan trip
4. Going on a duckie tour :)
5. Starting up a commissioned 'kid sized' blankie (as opposed to the baby ones in my shop)
6. More embroidery

Have a great weekend!

[some LT sneaks]

Gorgeous colours, gorgeous kit to be found HERE ; some sneaks of what i did..... (i had to finish these ones right away!!)... it also helped that the kids went to bed uncharacteristically early.....



The full reveal will be out on the 21st! watch for it!!! :)

[did you have....]

a good valentine's? :) heh heh... do feel free to share your fabulous V-day gifts in the comments here! (i promise i won't get jealous...)
So, i was rummaging around my craft stash, and hey, found these embroidered panels that haven't been photographed - so here they are :
i love that joel dewberry fabric....
i'm going to try doing more of those squiggly stitches - i love how they look... these were just randomly embroidered below the felt trees.
i really should use felt more often - i love the way it feels to stitch into it, and the lovely puckered texture of it when appliqued onto fabric.

in other crafty areas, i'm busy completing the 10 pages of commissioned work - which is why i can't post it here.... also, OA have just sent me a whole pack of product, which i have to do justice to by scrapping with them (not that it's a big problem, all the papers and stamps are so cool to use and i've been having lots of fun playing with them!) - BUT the only thing is i can't show them to you on this blog as the publications now all have this 'never seen before' rule. O well.... soon soon.... :) Plus, i've also been finishing up my cardigan - only 1 more sleeve left to go! :) yay....

now, i'm having a problem with too much multitasking..... i need to FOCUS on what i want to do - is it developing my Etsy shop with more products (embroidery and making baby clothes / blankies); is it putting in my everything for the scrapbooking industry (making LOs, keepsake pages, submitting for magazine calls, trying out for other DT positions); is it developing another sideline business of children related furniture (ok, this is just always at the back of my mind, i haven't really done anything abt it or thought about it much :P)
see what i mean! i really hope to be able to accomplish them all, but sometimes it really is pretty hard to focus, especially trying to juggle 2 kids and a full time job at the same time....

here they are again - K's getting really vocal nowadays- she loves to scream to get our attention! And i think she's ready to be turning on her own any day now! :)

[happy V day]

::::::happy valentine's everybody! :::::::::

it is so sad that due to the hype and commercialism, this day has turned into something that is actually abhorrent to most people. me and v have never really celebrated valentine's day. Nope, not even when we were dating, and probably would never celebrate it. I've never really missed it, now i see it more of a commercial advantage (to stock up my shop with something for those people who DO celebrate it) than anything else.
Anyways, to you all out there who DO celebrate it, this is for you :
and, just trying to backup my old pictures and i came across this one of G when she was abt 14 months old. How time flies!!!

She's super articulate now and here's a sample of her day-to-day randomness -
{listening to Jay Chou in the car}
G: why did he say "bar-ney"
me: no, he's saying "bang ni", which means Help You in chinese
G: o. You need help and hold hands when doing dangerous things.
me: yup, that's right
G: crossing the road is dangerous, need to hold hands
me: yes, that' right, so you won't get lost too.
G: when the little polar bear in the purple book gets lost, he couldn't find his mummy again, and the little eskimo girl brought him home (referring to a book we read recently); when i get lost will the stranger bring me home? mummy?
me: sometimes strangers are good, sometimes they are bad, we won't know.
G: (looking out of the window) that stranger in that car, is he good?
.....

and so on.... our conversations can take sharp turns here and there, but always really interesting to listen to her articulate herself, and making sense of the world through the things we talk about. :)

[scrappy stuff]

Lots of scrapping over the long weekend, here they are:
altered a box for my OA stamps


Did a mini album for the Hong Kong Trip :)
Another mini album for the girls and mine pics
i love what she says sometimes!
inspired by judi's "save the date" card at the gallery, this is for Valentine's day memories!
one of the LOs in my commissioned album (will show the rest once i get permission!)
got into a frenzy of making cards too :)
I love collage press papers!
just got this beauty over the weekend..... i'm not a techie, but even i think it's really nice :)

[CNY: more pictures]

yup, more pictures:
Chinese New Year [DAY 02]
i love taking pictures of little miss K :)
look how little her toes are! love this curled up cuteness of her little feet
whatcha looking at!
the 'huh?' look
my 2 girls - * no babies were hurt in the following pictures :)

see their feet? sooo cute!
G refused to cooperate throughout our family pics - pardon the unsightly facial expressions :P
love how she's looking so alert and cheerful.

a womanly miss P :)

yum - Yusheng....
lunch spread
a very sweaty, 'getting cranky cos she missed her afternoon nap time' little girl
More scrappy pics tomorrow.....
Has everybody seen the sneaks of October Afternoon's new range???? It's just awesome....
Go HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.......all courtesy of the OA DT girls!!! Can't wait to receive my stuff....... judging by all the sneaks - they are all definitely drool worthy!

[HAPPY New Year!]

We welcomed in the year of the RAT with lots of food and catching up with relatives. It was nice getting all kitted out in the new clothes (i still remember how it was like as kids, waiting for the 1st day of chinese new year to FINALLY be allowed to wear the new stuff) :) I guess my kids are oblivious for now, but i look forward to seeing them in their new clothes even more than wearing my own new clothes! :P
So, this will be a long post with lots of photos:
[DAY 01]
i love how everybody's looking bright and cheery!
G doing a little impromptu performance
Yup, the chair's our tripod actually
V giving G her 1st AngPow of the year
Family portrait
traditions
playing with aunt L
syrupy yummy boiled eggs in longan dates tea
serving tea to the grandparents
V caught this cool picture of grandma
family - F, 6th Aunt, P and R :)