My Farewell Entry for Graphic 45

Alas! Finally... Today on 31st May 2016 is my very last DT entry for Graphic 45. As of today, it's also my very last officially day to leave Graphic 45 as their DT member. My 2 years with them is finally (and sadly) come to an end. Though I may be able to reapply into their team again in the future, I don't actually see that happening any time soon. I wish I could if I ever had the opportunity and chance to do so. If this ever permits, I hope to see myself being on the team again.

I was pretty inactive this year and hardly have time to create new projects, including updating my blog (my blog is still snowing despite summer is here! Alright giving you guys some coolness here! LOL!). Part of it due to the various unsettling draggy situations in my life (for those who frequent my blog probably know what's happening). Another part of it is due to my health; my back started to give me serious problems early this year due to long hours of sitting for extended period of time. I craft, blog and work on my desk seated and I can stay seated for hours without walking around. As a scoliosis sufferer, sitting for too long for extended period of time is seriously a bad thing as the spine takes more than 180% of your weight while you are sitting. Though my curve was pretty mild, just by sitting for hours for the past 2 years had indeed progressed my curve further and I started to develop secondary curvature. It reached to a point that I need to get myself to work physically in an environment that I need to move myself around to release some of my back tension, which somewhere this early February I started to work as a part-time service crew in a F&B cafe serving coffee and sandwiches. Eventually I was on SpineCor bracing to correct and prevent any further progression. However, it will only work best when I'm moving around with the brace on, not sitting and lying down. Be'cos of this, I've to allocate at least 7hr daily to work in the cafe with the brace on for a period of 12-18 months. It's tiring and physically draining but as I noticed a slight improvement on my curvature, I know it's worth the effort. 

My marriage, my dad, my health etc are various issues which have been impeding me from creating consistently. As much as I would love to have all the time devoted in creating, I'm unable to given the fact (especially) my health is at risk which I seriously need to make a choice. I can't possibly create effectively with so many things going on even I've tons of ideas at the back of mind, awaiting to be produced. I wish for another me who can manage all these aspects of my life so that I can continue to create and inspire wholeheartedly. Very unfortunately, I'm a mere human with very limited ability. This is the real facade of life and I just have to juggle it well and learn how to manage them. 

So away from all these, here I'm sharing some of my favourite projects I've done for Graphic 45 while I was with them for the past 2 years on today's entry. Can't bear to leave and I wish I could stay longer...

Coffee Express at Platform no. 9

Come Away with Me Stacked Suitcases

PDF tutorials of these suitcases can be purchased in my Etsy store.

Dr. Drake Lab Oratory

This piece can be purchased in my Etsy store here.

And here are some of my past projects that I'd love to showcase today however there're just simply too many to share so I decided to share a couple of them here on my blog instead.  

Time to Celebrate Patina Box

Come Away with Me Altered Postbox

Typographic Grunge Altered Bookend

Steampunk Altered Cologne Bottle

A Flourish Layout

A Fairy Door

A Fairy Loo Shed

This piece can be purchased at my store here.

An Eerie (Fairy) Tale Shop

 A Christmas Carol Advent Tags in Library Box

And here are all my obsessions with crates begins. Simply can't get enough of them that I had indeed created 3 projects out of it using the Home Sweet Home paper collection; another favourite collection of mine. One of them is a special tutorial I did for Graphic 45 which was recently being shared in their blog that I didn't manage to share it on my blog. But nevertheless, I still would love to share it here!

Vegetable Crate Holder

Home Sweet Home Kitchen Rack Hanger 

Farm Fresh Vegetable Crate

A PDF tutorial can be downloaded here.

Lastly, one of the previous Enchanted Forest garden project that I didn't manage to share on my blog as well as one new bathroom art project using Voyage Beneath the Sea paper collection that didn't get a chance to be shared on Graphic 45 blog. I should have included it as part of today's farewell's entry but it was too late to get it included. 

I wish I could have more time to elaborate more the above last 2 projects; how I get inspired and get them done out but it's getting a little too late right now and I need to rest my back. I still have outstanding projects to be completed and yet to be shared. Stay tuned and I hope after my crafting journey with Graphic 45, with more flexibility in terms of time I hope I should be able to produce more creative and quality works in the future.

I do read the comments over at the blog as well and I can't help to feel grateful for all the compliments and kind works g45ers have left for me. It's all these little encouragements that made my day and I wish I could have a daily dose of it to keep me going. As for now, I think it's inevitable to feel a little sad...

Mother's Day Inspire Tag

Mother's Day is just round the corner and it's happening this Sunday 8th May which is tomorrow! As I was thinking about it. We've reached May! That's seriously fast!!! I can't believe that we are almost reaching the middle of 2016!! Can't help it but time really flies too fast especially the older I get, I can feel my time is reaching the end pretty soon.

Oh well, in order to honour this Mother's Day, I made this simple tag using Graphic 45's Children Hour and Mon Amour paper collection on their latest Inspire ivory tag staple. Mothers are sources of inspirations, somehow or rather regardless how good or bad they are. At some point of our lives, I believe they do inspire us.

While my mum is not a perfect mother, she does inspire me somehow especially during some bad times we had together. Those are the times I resent, I hate, and even wish she's not my mother. As I grew up from a child to a teenager and gradually as a adult, things have changed drastically so as the era we are living in as well; time has indeed made the most changes. Between us, we do have very different views, values and opinions which made us highly incompatible most of the times. Yet the most irony part is we are mother and daughter biologically. There's hardly any character traits I take after my mum. Surprisingly, we managed to co-exist with one another for the past 30 over years. Amazing! Perhaps that's the unique bond between mothers and children.  

Here is one of my childhood pic with my mum, I was only 2 at that point of time. Well, we did hang out together and it was during the Christmas season when we took this picture. So we did celebrate Christmas at one point of time during our lives together!

I hereby wish all mothers a Happy Mother's Day!!!

First Guest Designer Blog Post with Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts - Goblin Door

It has been seriously quite some time I've been doing up Guest Designer's post. I was glad to be asked by Gina from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts to be their Guest Designer for the month of May. Despite my busy and hectic life recently, I've been trying my very best to squeeze some time out to get my creative brain cells kicking. Due to the lack of rest and time for myself, they are mostly in snoozing mode. Should I not wake them up, I might lose them forever! So it's time to get creative and inspiring again!

Alright, before I go non-stop chatting away my life, I better showcase my very first project using one of the fairy doors diecuts. OMG! They are way too cute! Instead of using them as fairy doors like they are intended for, I'm transforming one of them into a Goblin door. A door of a kind, on it's very own mounted at one little corner of my mum's house which is more than 30 years of age - a home I've grown up in for the past 30 over years.

Close to nature, the door was adorned with foliage, twigs, scrubs and leaves. Even the main door itself is built with some sort of bark from a trunk.

I hope this door can age well in subsequent years to come. Unless we've to move, this door will be there with a Goblin guarding our house.

Coffee Express at Platform No. 9

At certain point of my life, I can be a fanatic freak of something something; something that caught my eyes that I feel like owning everything of something I fancy. Oh well, I can never have enough of suitcase frenzies and I'm certainly obsess over them especially old suitcases. It's definitely undoubtedly I'll have some sort of old suitcases in my very own home in the future.

Last year I was really obsessed with stacked suitcases, and for this year to bring my obsession to another fantasized level, I'm doing up a cafe based suitcase fusing with a fan-fiction derived inspiration from Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Express at Platform 9¾. With my love for coffee and a fan of Harry Potter, I fused these two together and created this Coffee Express at Platform 9. While it looks rather magical on the outside, as you enter you’ll be welcome into a suite of modernized coffee cafe where mugglers hang out for a cup of nice coffee. It’s practically the reverse scene setting where witches and wizards travel to have mugglers’ coffee. They still have to board the train at Platform 9¾ to head back to Hogwarts, but it’s just ¾ platform away from Platform 9.

I built this medium size suitcase based on my stacked suitcases PDF tutorial and transformed it into runaway suitcase by adding some wheels. I've a separate mini magician matchbox suitcase tutorial, as well as a miniature magician wands Snapguide tutorial if you'd like to explore. To add some fun, most of the miniatures within are not fixed and free to move around. I've done up a video orientation to show how to "play around" with this suitcase. Something really fun to play with! Sit back and enjoy the journey!

List of Supplies:

• Graphic 45 Cityscapes 12" x 12" Paper Pad (Cityscapes, Global Odyssey, Passport to the World, Crossroads, Street of Dreams)
• Graphic 45 Staples (Stamped Metal Brads, Ornate Metal Keys, Ornate Metal Label Holder)
• Gypsy Soul Lasercuts (2” wheels, miniature bookplates, faux metal number plates)
• Tim Holtz Matchbox L Die
• Craft blank matchboxes
• Petaloo Flowers
• Coffee Stuffs (liquor, wine, honey pots, bag of coffee beans, coffee glitters, coffee grinder, bronze coffee cup)
• Other Cafe Items (industrial lamps, glass lamp, wooden spec, coffee time signage)
• Suitcase Items (top hat, magical books, magical wands, umbrella, pocket watch)

A Springtime Fairy Watering Can

This week is Graphic 45 and May Arts Blog Hop week, and today is the last day of the hop. I have this small watering can which I bought with the intention to alter it. Since Spring is here and today is Good Friday, I think it’s a good time to have an altered watering can as an add-on decor for my home garden for this Spring Holiday!

I did a generous amount of image transfer over the surface using one of the floral pattern papers from Once Upon a Springtim DCE and covered it with various chalk paint to tone down the colours. Those lovely greenish trims are from May Arts Ribbons, especially the leafy ones which make a perfect trim for garden theme based project.

Who doesn't love fairies? Certainly I do so I have to add this cute little fairy within a resin frame at the central spot of the watering can. A nice pair of wooden wings just make it more fairy-ing.