A Quartet of Masculine Grandeur Cards

Bonjour! Everyone! It's the very last day of 2018 and tomorrow will be a brand new year. 2019 is just round the corner! And today will be my very last post for this year over at my blog. It's a card project I made in November. I'm sorry that it had took me this long to present here on the very last day of 2018. Due to my busy schedule, finding time in between has proven quite a challenge for me. Nonetheless, I still manage to make it before 2019!

These masculine cards are especially made for 4 brethren who came all the way from the United States to Singapore, who travel afar in order to preach God's Word. It's a show of earnest appreciation and gratitude in the kind of work they do for the benefit of mankind. For this year, I choose a theme of masculine grandeur using various collection from Graphic 45 to create this quartet. 

Red and Black are the chosen colours as my base, with gold as the main focus. Placing Victorian clock as the main central element of the cards is exactly what was planned for. Though the design seems relatively simple at it's first look, the search in finding the perfect match with synchronization was indeed a challenging task. It took me close to a week to get all the necessary papers with the right colours and patterns together. Matching them up was another challenge to me, simply because I want them to look like a quartet, yet unique and different from one another. Though each of them is gifted to 4 individuals, but all share the same kind of look. When they're gathered together, they're consider  as ONE body; like a quartet of individuals that have different personalities.

A quartet of 2 blacks and 2 reds, which can be paired up as duos. However, all of them possess the same clock face. The clock die from Graphic 45 was honestly the best chosen choice for this project; timeless and classy. What I really love about this die is the intricate delicate design that make the clock a very Victorian one when diecut onto metallic gold cardstock. What's really interesting is that the clock hands are designed as such that they can be made movable, giving some dimensions to your project. 

Heartfelt personalized messages

Close up details on the card

I'd suppose such intricate cards need some sort of instructional manual in place to retain their glory. Therefore, I decided to come up with my very own version of card care manual (with some biblical essence injected within) to go with this quartet; enclosed within the policy envelopes. The introduction might seems like I'm the one narrating about my creation when read initially. However, when one takes a little more effort to read further within, the expression does reflects biblically on the main essence of God and His creations, and how mankind are a reflection of His creation (Genesis 1:27). Something worth pondering about our existence... 

Some tiny messages around the policy envelopes

The quartet with their respective policy envelopes

Last but not the least, not forgetting the packaging! These cards are carefully packed into polyacetate bags and sealed. As usual, I'm not ashamed to tell people to share and flaunt my work with some disclaimer's clauses and a butterfly on top as a messenger of the message. 😄 

That's about it for this year 2018! Till next year we shall meet again! I hereby wish everyone the most merriest 2019 New Year ahead. Not much New Year Resolution for me as it doesn't really works on me. I prefer to refresh my day and have resolutions on a frequently basis rather than keep it till the end of the year. This makes much more sense to me as life is full of uncertainties. There's so little you can control. Below is the list of supplies I used for this project with links to where to get them if you're interested:

• Graphic 45 Deluxe Collections
• Communique
• Raining Cats and Dogs
• Botanicabella
• Graphic 45 Past Collections
• Typography
• Good Ol' Sports
• Graphic 45 Square Tag, Clock Metal Dies 
• Graphic 45 Policy Envelopes
• Regular Red
• Regular Black
• Scrapbook Adhesives 3L Thin Square Foam
• Tim Holtz Kraft Stock Metallic 8" x 8" Gold & Silver Cardstock (Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Own stash (brads, golden trim organza ribbon)

Rustic Nature Wedding Guest Book

On 3rd March this year, I've witnessed the wedding of a lovely couple I know - Ernest and Stephanie. As part of my wedding gift to them, I did a guest book for them. It was also part of Canvas Corp July Wedding Challenge this July. A long overdue project update here. This entry was on draft mode for very long till the birth of their son Theopilus reminded me on this book. Without much talking, here is what I've made for them.

The guest book itself is a vintage ledger book from 7gypsies Architextures which I purchased it for this purpose. I merely did up a mixed media layout for them on the front cover. I used quite a number of die-cuts for this layout, mainly from Tim Holtz steel dies. I tried to match up to the "look" of the photos they provided me and decided upon a rustic, dainty nature look. As always, I love to centralize my design focus as this is one of my most preferred layout.

Loads of floral and swirls, together with touches of twine, burlap, handwritten script and woodgrain effects which I transformed bits of chipboards into. Since the front is already quite dimensional, I kept the back of the book as simple as possible.

Wedding is just only a ceremonial indication of a marriage between a man and a woman, what's really important is the marriage itself. Therefore, I didn't just stop at the front cover, and think it'd be better to have one more layout of this lovely couple right at the very first page of the book which marks as the very new beginning for them after their wedding.

I hope the guest book has been filled up! 

Below is a list of supplies I used for this project with some links included. Unfortunately, not all are available and most 7gypsies and Tattered Angels products can be purchase at Canvas Corp website itself:

• 7gypsies Architextures 
• Vintage 12" x 12" Ledger 
• Mix and Match Bee 8.5″x 11″ Book
• Mixed Media Pack
• Tattered Angels 
• High Impact Paints (Antique Gold & Platinum)
• Naturally Aged Kit – Rusty Metal (Faux Finish Paint Kit)
• Color Wash Paint Faux Finish (Verdigris)
• Glimmer Mist (Key Lime Pie)
• Sizzix Tim Holtz Dies
• Flourish and Scroll
• Tattered Floral (Sizzix, Scrapbook.com)
• Garden Greens (Sizzix, Scrapbook.com)
• Styled Labels
• Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black (Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Own stash (burlap, jute twine, mini alpha chipboards, scripted handwriting & bark grain stamps) 

What's Really Brewing; a Merci Beaucoup Entry...

It's probably one of those period of time I went "missing" online; not updating my blog and other social media for an extended period of time. I was on a break for 3 months prior to my first entry for this month. Prior to that, somewhere last year, I was on a long 9 months break before I made my blog entry on November last year. Yet I left some traces of my digital footprints over at my personal Facebook and Instagram. For those who are curious on what I've been up to, perhaps this entry will probably fulfill your curiosity.

As such is life, things do happen. In as much when most of us tried to keep ourselves abreast to what's going on around us, certain things tend to happen that are not always within our control. For me, I'm no exception and sometimes I wish I can stay committed on one thing at a time. But we all know that's not always possible. Most of the times, we've to wear a lot of different hats - switching from one role to another - or even several hats at the same time. It can be hard to stay focus.

Like what I've stated above, things happened and it was a major one that impacted my life so greatly that God is all I have. In early 2017, I started to develop an immense interest towards the Bible and would want to "renew" my faith with God and decided to go through a series of self study of the Bible. That's the period of time I went "missing" between February to October last year. Never would I know, I was embarking onto a spiritual journey to seek a Truth that changed my life forever. I was a "Christian" for close to 13 years worshiping in a denominational church that my faith wasn't really there. Though there were Sundays I attended worships and services, I was there merely there for the sake of "refreshing" my faith.

Because I was brought to Christ via The Sinners' Prayer together with the doctrine of "once saved always saved", it was only natural for me to think that it's only rightful I'll be in Heaven after my death regardless of what I do in my current life which include sins of any sorts (from as small as telling a little white lie, saying things and don't mean it, passing awful remarks about someone behind their back, gossiping, calling God's name in vain to slandering, stealing, cheating, murdering etc. just to name a few - Romans 1:28-32). Whenever I didn't feel like attending any sort of services or even renege my words, I highly doubt God will fault me on that. Since my ticket to Heaven is already secured no matter what I do or say, does that really matter? Well, not till after a series of Bible studies and I found out that it's not true... God knows everything and He will judge (Hebrews 4:13)!

The more I study the Bible, it was even more scary and perplexing for me to find out I wasn't even saved to begin with. Because of my will and desire to honestly seek for Him (Jeremiah 29:13-14), I went through weeks of searching to get myself into the ONE true Church of Christ where Jesus built upon (1 Peter 2:9-10). I'm not going to go through all the details here for it's going to be way too long for a blog entry. Long story short, after coming to the knowledge of the Truth, I finally got myself baptized for the remission of my sins (Romans 6:4) on 16th June 2017 at Lim Ah Pin Church of Christ (LAPCOC), one of the faithful congregations under the body of Christ; I was officially born a Christian.

After my baptism, as a new babe of Christ (even I've done quite a substantial amount of Bible studies), I stumbled and fell several times in my life while trying to walk in the light. And this explains my second "missing" during the last 3 months here. Traces of me "disappearing" started from June onward, to be more accurate. I apologized that I've not been really updating and most of my DT assignments got stalled because of that. I was trying out certain things and got myself too overwhelmed by the things of the world. It was till recently, after a series of lectureships and Gospel meetings I attended brought me into perspective. I should say I'm at the period of readjusting and will be busy with the right things (I hope and praying hard for this). As some of you probably have known, I'd like to make my crafting interest into a full time career. It has always been at the back of my mind and every time I think about it I really want to execute them immediately. Alas! It didn't always happen. I'm always distracted and get caught up by things around me. I'm actually praying for this and hope one day it will really happen.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the faithful brethren (just way too many to list them out here!) behind WVBS, Apologetic Press and LAPCOC who has worked relentlessly to preach the one and only pure Word of God to the lost that I'm able to seek the Truth as a lost soul.

Certainly, for my avid followers of my works I'd like to thank you for your patience in waiting for my new works and to read my lengthy post as such (if you've reached this point)! If you ever wonder where I got the graphics from the image above, it's from one of my works that I used as a background artwork. It's one of the butterfly cards I made for John Moore and his wife, Carla. I watched his videos online to find my way to the LORD's Church. I also use them as part of my entry for Graphic 45 Ambassador Audition which you can click onto the link to read more.

Over here, I'd like to extend a 10% OFF OFFER to all my readers as their affiliate. No extra cost to you (I promised!) and this will certainly help me to earn some pennies when you purchase something via my link; a step closer to convert my interest into a full-time one. To redeem your offer for your next purchase, enter code: SBSAVE10 during checkout. Alright, before you head over to Spellbinders to redeem your offer, here are some fine prints that you may want to take note:

Save 10% OFF your next purchase. Must use provided coupon code at time of purchase. If code is not used at time of purchase then order will be ineligible for discounted rate. Offer good only on products purchased at www.spellbinderspaperarts.com. Offer is one time use; individual consumer use only; not for distribution; Clearance is excluded, excludes tax & shipping; not valid on any previous web, phone or retail purchases; cannot be redeemed for cash; cannot be combined with any other offer; void where prohibited. Offer expires 12/31/2018.

Enjoy shopping and crafting!!! LORD's willing, till next time...

A Bride-to-Be Card for the Gorgeous Bride

"Happiness blossoms where seeds of kindness have been thoughtfully planted."

I'm not sure who actually came out with that quote, nonetheless it's a thoughtfully penned phrase and I'd think it doesn't really cost that much to be kind. It's all about the thoughts that count. One of my lovely sisters-in-Christ, Sarah is getting married real soon, and in celebration of her upcoming Wedding, a group of us decided to throw her a bridal shower. I was therefore tasked to do up a card for her.

And here is what I've made for her, which was already presented to her 2 weeks ago during her bridal shower. Garden Goddess was my immediate choice of paper collection simply because ladies in general love flowers and have somehow wished we could be one of the most gorgeous ladies in a beautiful garden. I'd love to have such moment as such.  

"The flower doesn't dream of the bees. It blossoms and the bee comes."

~ Mark Nepo ~

That's the core message for Sarah. And this is how much I love to use this collection for weddings! Full of blossoms, flowers and quotes as such. For beauty blossoms from the inside, that's where happiness come within! When the flower blossoms beautifully, the bee just come. This reminds me of Proverbs 31:10-31, The Virtuous Wife which describes a woman of exceptional character and worth. This really serves as a very good guide for women in how to become like one. Likewise, a good search list for a man to seek after such woman.

To adorn and frame up those lovely messages, I pulled out one of my Spellbinders die kits and use them for the very first time. A little shout out here for Spellbinders lovers - get a 15% first for your first club kit subscription. Key in CLUB15 under promo during checkout. Don't miss it! It's only good till this month end.

Gold foil cardstock is my favourite friend now! Trust me, they are the MUST HAVE cardstock in your stash simply because they serve as very good matching base and elements for all your elegant cards. A touch of it will just sparkle the whole thing up.

A card itself is never enough to be gifted alone, and this is where the matching pattern and solids come in place to play a vital role - an envelope. I just felt "naked" for the card and perhaps some "coverings" will be good. When it was all done, I found them to be very good...

Before Graphic 45 discontinued matching alpha stickers, I've loads of them all given by them as part of my DT package previously before I make a come-back to re-join them for this year. It got so much that I just stored them in a huge box thinking it's probably one of the items that I hardly will use. Well, it came in handy at such a point that I believe it'd be good to personalize the card for Sarah. The alpha stickers came from the Time to Celebrate paper collection; the closest match I could find and it matches the whole theme seamlessly.

I've included some useful tips over at Graphic 45 blog. Do remember to hop over there to find out more. And yes! Sarah is glad to receive this! To end of this entry for today:

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy. They are charming gardeners who make our souls blossom..." 

~ Marcel Proust ~

Isn't that lovely? I just love how these quotes matches the paper collection. Below are a list of supplies I've used to do up this card which you may be interested to know where to get them:

• Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate alpha stickers
• Graphic 45 Garden Goddess Collection
• 12" x 12" collection pack (Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• 12" x 12" patterns and solids (Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Ephemera cards (Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Chipboard (Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Graphic 45 antique brass stamped metal brads 
• Spellbinders Club Kits (Fancy Floral Frame set)
• Tim Holtz Kraft Stock Metallic 8" x 8" Gold & Silver Cardstock (Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Finnabair Art Alchemy Metallique Wax in white gold (Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Golden trim ribbon (own stash)

That's all for today! And I know I've not been really updating as often, but I do honestly appreciate for all of you who are avid and faithful followers of my works, patient enough to wait for my works. I'll be updating really soon!

Always Love, Love Always - A Poppy Heartfelt Card

Alright, after months of delay with held ups, etc., finally my pilot Canvas Corp post went live. I'm sharing here today a poppy heartfelt card that I made for this month watercolour challenge. I also did up an easy-peasy tutorial in how to use various Tattered Angels products to watercolour stamped images. Click HERE to find out how.

I'm using the Poppy Heart stamp from IndigoBlu as the main focus of the card. Because poppies are red in colour, I contrast the background with a variety of blues, using the various texture papers from 7gypsies Architextures paper series as well a few drizzle touches of Frozen Berry Twinkle Me'lange, one of the complimentary goodies gifted by the owners of Little Birdie Crafts. Can you see how it sparkle that "special effects" on the card?

Well, aside creating this card for the watercolor challenge, I decided to gift this card to one beautiful couple from Texas I met 2 weeks ago while they were here for missionary work - John and Carla Moore! It was via John Moore's Searching for the Truth programme I managed to find my way to the LORD's church. The one True Church where I get to meet many Christians around world where we are all bound by one faith and one truth. Christ's Church is without border and that's the beauty of the LORD's church. It's indeed one such blessing to be part of this amazing big family of God. LORD's willing, I got to meet him this year together with his lovely wife, Carla. They are back to their home in the US, and till next time we will surely meet again...

Me with The Moores 😄

All the biblical virtues of Love which I dedicate to the Moores...

I hope this will be a refreshing idea in how to use various Tattered Angels mists and paints for watercolouring. Again, here is the shout out! The watercolour challenge is open to everyone till 4th June. The winner of the challenge will be invited to be Canvas Corp Brands Guest Designer. Meaning to say, you will get a box filled with goodies from all 3 Canvas Corp Brands to play with should you crown as the winner. Without much hesitation, do hop over HERE to enter the challenge.

Below is the full list of supplies I used for this project with various links in where to get them:

• 7gypsies Architextures™ Mixed Media Pack (Amazon, Canvas Corp)
• 7gypsies Architextures™ 8″ x 8″ Paper Pad
• Architextures™ Parchment Rub-On – Inspire
• Tattered Angels Naturally Aged Kit - Rusty Metal (Amazon, Canvas Corp)
• Tattered Angels Calendar Mist Kit - Kisses (Amazon, Canvas Corp)
• Tattered Angels Color Wash Paint Faux Finish - Verdigris (Amazon, Canvas Corp)
• Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Key Lime Pie (Amazon, Canvas Corp)
• Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Curious (Amazon, Canvas Corp)
• Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Cork (Amazon, Canvas Corp)
• IndigoBlu Poppy Heart A6 Stamp
• Little Birdie Crafts (Twinkle Me'lange in Frozen Berry, Chipboard Vine)

That about it for today and I shall see you very soon again for my next tutorial. Therefore, do stay tune!

Beautiful Magic Wishes Treat Bags

 "Wishes are the magic in your heart that cause beautiful things to happen..."

What a sweet sentiment that will make your heart flutter! Everyone loves to make wishes and wish for some beautiful magic to happen. It's a natural kind of hope humans have instinctively which make us wanting to wish for beautiful things to happen; somehow or rather.

Wishes do come true when you really hope for it and wanted it so much to happen. Things do happen and sometimes way beyond you could ever imagine. For the past year or so, some amazing things did happened in my life! One important event was the day I found myself added into the LORD's Church which led me to discover a lot of wonderful people around the world; a universal church that's so true and pure that transcends all humans' doctrines and creeds. It was also through a wish I had since young that I had finally found reconciliation with the ONE & ONLY true God that creates this universe, after decades of searching.

Beautiful sunset at one of the villages in Bacolod I visited. 

I was trying to "pinch" the sun away! 😄

In last September, I was on this unique privilege to be on a mission trip with some of brethren within my congregation to the Philippines. It was through this trip I got to see the beauty behind the LORD's Church and why we are so spiritually bonded via Christ regardless of our social status, background, culture, ethnicity and language. The young and old, men and women all gather together because of one unifying reason. It was because of this reason, we encourage and edify one another to grow. 

I personally had a wonderful experience via this mission trip which I learn so much about the LORD's Church and got to appreciate even more the beauty behind this Truth that binds us together no matter where we are. Prior in coming back to Singapore, I decided to buy some goodies from the Philippines and gifted them to some of the brethren within my local congregation. I packed them inside these brown paper bags where I stamped this sentiment from Tim Holtz Good Thoughts onto the front, and secured the bags with some jute twine.

Disclaimer: No nicotine was packed within.
It's actually a combination of the names of a lovely couple Nicodemus and Christine.

To ended off the packaging interestingly, I punched some small little round tags to get them to untie the magic here! Pretty much sums up on the message that's printed in the front.

#Ernestephanie

So far, it's very likely this is the most simplest and shortest project ever completed in less than an hour, with limited tools and supplies on hand. I made this well wishing card for a lovely couple who is going to get married this March. 

Today is a day for the bride-to-be after weeks of planning. Together with a few sisters, we organized a bachelorette party for her. And part of the programme was to do up a page for the couple, which forms part of an album for her retention. Most of the supplies are from my stash, which I gladly contributed for this party. If it's not due to this event, I wouldn't have dug out my Pion Design papers. Oh! How much have I missed for the past months no knowing these treasures I've in my stash?!? Nonetheless, I managed to do up something without any creative plan in mind. And this is solely on random mode - unprepared, unplanned and just jump in and do it!

It was indeed intriguing and interesting to do up a project as such. Without much other crafting tools with me such as 3D foam dots, glossy accents, etc. (the only tool I've was my precision scissors!), this is purely putting my creative mojo to a test. It felt so much like a sudden quiz where only nutty professors will provide, though we probably have been warned before hand. Still, at the end of the day I did enjoy the process and crafting together with my other sisters (whom probably don't have not much crafting background) together which made such a gathering a rather unique one. 

I hereby wish Ernest and Stephanie a blissful marriage ahead... God bless!!!

#Ernestephanie 

Let Us Eat Tarts To-Gather

Designing digitally is not really my kind of work and I very much prefer to create stuffs physically by hand. However, occasionally I do create stuffs digitally and my taste buds often gear towards Victorian and Regal style. I wonder why, perhaps I'm someone who love to tell a story behind everything I do, I just love vintage and old stuffs; the older the better, best with some history or stories behind.

Just very recently, I've done up an in-house poster for my congregation for an upcoming Ladies Fellowship event. Though I was asked to do up a simple one, I simply couldn't do up one that look simple enough as what they defined as "simple". At the end of the day even perhaps a simple R.S.V.P. attendance sheet has become something like this:

As we were going to make some pineapple tarts and an afternoon tea after that on that day, the quote "Let them eat Cake" (which is widely attributed to Marie Antoinette) came to my mind. While the story behind this phrase is widely controversial and denotes insensitivity and incomprehension towards the realities of the unfortunate and poor, the truth is this quote didn't come directly from Marie Antoinette herself. History aside, despite the original ill intention of such a quote that's widely linked to Marie Antoinette (granted it's insensitivity thought behind), I rephrased it to "Let us eat Tarts" to re-frame it's intention to "through thick and thick, we will gather and eat together no matter what" (Hebrew 13:1, Galatians 6:2). I replaced "cake" with "tarts" just 'cos we will be having pineapple tarts during tea. Hence, "Let us eat Tarts To-Gather" emerged as a new conceptual phrase in this setting. 

Because it's a ladies only event, I decided to use an image that will relate closely to Marie Antoinette's period of time. I found this French lady that came from 1870s costume book at Graphic Fairy, a website that's filled with tons of vintage clip arts and photos. Simple love this site! Of course, we do have several other fellowships as well, just that sometimes we'd want to have some "ladies only" events simply 'cos it's always better to keep men out of the picture for such events . 

I've digitally created the attendance sheet using several graphics from Graphic Fairy and other public domain websites such as Pixabay. However, though most of these images are freely available for personal use (some even commercially), it's always rightful to check the various copyrights and licensing terms before saving them into your computer. Though these are quite common for images and graphics, there's one aspect that I'd think a lot of us might miss out - fonts licensing. The fonts you use for your artwork especially for commercial usage is very much  neglected and often taken for granted. It didn't occur to me that fonts need licensing even I've downloaded several free fonts online during the past years. It's only recently when I was about to blog about this project then I start to take notice that I might have used a font that could be in conflict with the terms set by the author despite this is a non-profit project. As I've already transmitted it freely to publicize the event within the church, it caught onto me and I was thinking about this last night. To make sure I'm not in any conflict with the terms, I decided to write to the author, explaining my intention of this project and in hope permission could be granted. I was all mentally prepared that the author would say a "No" and I'll have to take down everything and further extend my apologies to my church. Thankfully, the author replied with much appreciation for my email and is more than happy to help me with this project. Thanks Maelle!

The thumb of rule, in general is to attribute to the original creator when using their creations within your artwork. I believe the creative community is quite generous to begin with and there're actually tons of graphics and fonts freely available for us to use for our personal projects and education. I think that's only legitimate to give them the credit as this respects their creation(s) for the time and effort they've put into. So below here are the list of digital graphics and fonts I've used for this project:

• French lady in 1870s costume
• Baroque printer ornaments
• Vintage fancy cake
• Silhouette frames and doodads
• Fonts used (Eternal Call, Felix Titling, Garamond, Nymphette)
• Vintage background from Pixabay

Disclaimer: Though these graphics are derived from the public domain and are consider royalty free in a sense, I cannot be 100% sure it's entirely free from copyright. This includes the fonts as well. Some of them I used are already pre-installed in my editing software (i.e. Photoshop) so the links I've linked to might not be entirely free. However, they're generally freely available for personal use, not commercially and you will need a license for that. Some has some angel policies behind. Nonetheless, do check and get yourself informed. Write to the author to clarify if in doubt. I might have miss something out and I can't be sure as well, so if there's any conflict I'd very much appreciated to be made known so that we can all learn together.

P.S. I didn't include the main poster for this entry due to privacy issues as it contains some personal information that out of due respect it's best not to disclose to the public in this kind of setting. 

#Throwback Monday - My Life with Graphic 45

On this evening, it's perhaps one of the unusual environmental history of all times in Singapore, under this really cool weather that made me feel like I was in San Francisco, I was "tidying up" my YouTube channel a moment ago.

Kinda random... I saw a couple of YouTubers having those little "pop-ups" on their videos and I wonder what are those. It was only quite recently I took notice that these are called "cards" as defined by YouTube and they are consider interactivity tools. OK, kinda not really use to know them as such so I think I should give it a try by adding some interactivity video links within some of my videos to suggest videos of similar context within my channel. Perhaps it may be helpful to my viewers.

As I scrolled through the 15 videos I've produced till date, it caught onto me that maybe I should watch my very first video. And... I did! My very first video was my final submission into Graphic 45 DT back in 2014. That was 4 years ago! Oh geez! Suddenly I felt really old, in comparison to my latest video I was so new in making video back then!!! My editing skills was really down to the most basic. I recalled I even got one of my friends to teach me how to use Window's movie maker to get me started. Those were the exciting days just 'cos I really want to make it into this dream team. Nonetheless, if it wasn't of such requirement for the final submission to gain entry into Graphic 45 Design Team, I wouldn't have done it and made it into the team. Neither will I establish my channel after that and started to make videos. For today's throwback, here is my final submission video aka my pilot video which I was talking about:

All thanks to Graphic 45, I should say if it wasn't an opportunity given at that point of time, whatever accomplishment(s) I've throughout these years will never happen, though it's not some sort of major ones. To me it's a great establishment for my creativity and perhaps a start of a possible crafting career in future (which I do not know where it'll bring me to). I'm so blessed to be in this journey and able to see how I much I've progressed despite of all difficulties I faced. Surely, being part of Graphic 45 DT was one of the most memorable chapter of my life. It was also a period of time that being part this team I won't feel so devastated and lonely in midst of all my trials and tribulations during those difficult days. Neither will I forget all of you, ladies and gentlemen who have been following my works till date despite my 2 years hiatus. Those kind encouragements and comments given to me means a lot to me and your words had made my day shine despite facing series of gloominess and darkness in my life. Though those days are over and I'm done with them, I'm glad I've managed to pull through it even I'm still facing some remnants of it. 

The very first g45 DT badge that I could finally proudly display in my blog.

It seems it has been all well planned and divinely provided for, I'm able to make a come back due to an unexpected request. And it was on this very special invite to do up a memorabilia for one of the oldest member (sister Baby Tan) in my congregation for her 90th birthday last year that kick start everything. Needlessness to say, Graphic 45 came to my mind, without a doubt for I've so much of their products with me during my 2 years term with them! Their generosity and dedication towards their DT was simply amazing. They're perhaps one of the most encouraging and generous companies I've ever worked with. Every member is abundantly showered with tons of their products and despite I've used up quite a lot for the memorabilia project, I still have most of them with me, all kept in huge boxes. 

Without much saying, I can only be deeply thankful to God and His providential care that allows me to develop this creative aspect of mine and able to do this for His Glory.

An Encouragement Card

As the title of this entry suggests; it's a card that encourages. And this card was specifically made for one of the sisters within my congregation, in hope the verses I quoted from the Bible can serve as a source of encouragement for her. Last Sunday morning, she lost her husband to cancer who was also one of our brothers. 

Though I didn't get to meet them in person (until the day of the wake last Tuesday), I had heard about this brother's illness since the very first day I entered into the LORD's church since last June and have been following through his progress via our Sundays' and mid-week services and prayer requests. The whole congregation was praying for them during those period of times and when the news broke to us that he has finally passed on, we were all deeply saddened. We weep, mourn and grief together as a family (Galatians 6:2).

Because she's an orphan and her husband is her only family, when he passed on I'd think it'll be especially difficult for her. I spent few hours thinking and searching through the Bible and manages to choose 2 verses (Deuteronomy 31:6 and Isaiah 41:10) for her that might be best for her. They were printed out and affixed onto in this 6" x 6" card, in hope God's Word can be a true source of strength and encouragement for her to cope with her lost. Together with this card, I also gifted her a book - Songs of Deliverance - hoping via reading and studying of this book is able to deliver her out from trials and tribulations. It might not be enough at this point of time, for I may not be able to fully comprehend the level of grief and pain she's facing. However, I do hope and continue to pray for her that she can pull herself up, altogether again and bravely face her life ahead.

I deliberately opt for warm pastel pink and beige floral and rose papers from Graphic 45 Portrait of a Lady paper collection as the main colours and theme for comfort. Roses are beautiful but they've thorns. Life is often not always rosy but it's definitely beautiful the way it is. Not overly exaggerating, I kept the card as simple as possible to bring the message across directly emphasizing on strength and courage. These are the 2 major intangible elements in life that we always yearn for in very challenging times. Though we can garner physical strength via food, courage is something that requires much more than the food we eat that gives us the strength. Bravery is not often manifested in times of fear, pain and grief. In order to get out of such pits of sorrows, one do need to pluck up the courage and be braved enough to move on. To do that, you just need the strength to do that. 

Perhaps it's one peculiar behaviour of mine, at times of such I'll eat to fill my stomach first so that I can get enough ATP (Adenosine triphosphate - our biology energy currency) to fuel my heart and brain so that I can have the energy to charge forward. This applies to all my creative ventures as well. Whenever I'm stuck, even I may face stress and run out of time I'll just snack a bit (not binge!) in between before moving on. Because I was previously trained in the area of biochemistry, I clearly understand how deprivation of food under such circumstances will do to your body. Sometimes by topping up your ATP bank at times of such might help you to make more sound and logical decisions towards your life. Perhaps not entirely, however in some ways; one way or another.