I finally managed to take some decent pics for my Etsy shop and have edited a whole bunch of them :) I will have some items to list over the next few days. Which does mean I have to think of new things to create. haha....

These photos are taken when we visited Griffith Observatory. Really beautiful place. Would love to check out the trekking trails in the near future :)

Eve

Title-less....

It's so hard to come up with a title for my posts most of the time. I blog about so many random things in one post that I sometimes am not sure what to title it :) So, I hope you can understand why today's post is 'title-less'.

I was experimenting with photo-taking indoors for my Etsy shop these two days. I don't have the luxury of a big window with very bright sunlight shining in now... so I have to improvise. Oh, it is very sunny outside here in LA, it's just not shining into my apartment... haha. 

I caught the right lighting yesterday but I decided I didn't like the background and tried to take pictures of my products again today... then I discovered (finally), why my product pictures aren't showing in the shop as how I wanted them to!! But Mr. Sun has left the 'building', figuratively.... cos he's still out shining bright just now... the light just wasn't streaming in through the window anymore. 

There has been a lot of trial and error but I have finally got it! I just need to wait for tomorrow to come to continue my photo-taking endeavors :) 

I can't wait for all the photos to turn out how I want them to.. haha... it's so easy to use instagram or some other apps but not for the shop. I have to represent the product in its actuality as accurately as possible.

Anyway, if you made it thus far reading about my adventure in photographing my notebooks and badges, here's a layout I would like to share with you! :) Actually, I think I completed this last month .. I am so slow in posting them up. I have a lot more backlogged now :P

I am having a lot of fun creating layouts now. 12x12 layouts used to be very daunting to me and I never really made any back in Malaysia, however, once I started, it seems more do-able now :) I am getting the hang of it. I created some 8.5x11 layouts too... will share them soon.

Eve

Geometric Pin-Back Badges

I've been seeing a whole lot of geometric shapes around me lately and I am *smitten* by them. So, I decided to make pin-back badges. This way, I can wear them on my t-shirt, blouse or even pin them on my bag!

I painted them with acrylic paint and then sealed and varnished them. The color of the wood turned darker after the sealant and varnish is applied... would have preferred it a lighter color but I wanted the badge to be protected :)

Pretty on the bag, isn't it? :D

I have some individual badges and some sets up for sale :)

I will be listing them in my Etsy shop tonight, 8pm PST. Go get them! :)

Eve

that little blue box....

You know... that little blue box tied up with a white ribbon that makes girls swoon? haha... I finally received my first one from my hubby sometime last month :) 

I have always admired Tiffany's jewellery from afar and it is a joy to actually own one now. Elsa Peretti's designs were always my favorite so it's no surprise that I went home with the open-heart necklace. I wear it lovingly everyday now :P

I made a simple layout with the photos I took with using the instagram app. I really love this patterned paper. I do hope they still have this over at Studio Calico. The background is already so pretty, all I needed was just to jazz it up ever so slightly :)

Eve

Venice Beach Park

We travelled to Venice Beach Park last Saturday and I must say, it is very different from Santa Monica Beach :) The two are completely different places even though they are just minutes apart from each other.

One is more 'proper' with it's fashion outlets, upscale food outlets and malls and the other is entirely 'colorful' with street vendors and their handmade wares, tattoo parlors, skateboarding park and even shops selling marijuana (the sign said 'medical' marijuana... hmmmmmm). Both have street performers but they are of different kinds too :) Very interesting..... 

That said, I love both beaches for their own unique, myriad differences :) I would love to spend more time in both places, just soaking up the atmosphere and immersing myself in their culture.

The palms scatter across the beach... so pretty!

Look at the amount of people! 

It was so cooling but the sun warms us up... I doubt I can ever get fairer than I was here... LOL.... maybe darker if I go to beaches more :D

I was trying my best to capture the seagull taking off with my iPhone 4s.... they were really near.. unfortunately the camera still has a little limitation. That said, I still think it takes excellent photos! I don't bring my Nikon out much now :P

 Graffiti art is on many of the buildings here in Venice Beach Park... :) Most of them are really nice.

I love the little 'cove' on the beach.... not sure if there's a proper term or if I got the term right... it's like this little enclave... I love it!

Fly free! Fly high! There's so much to see and experience in life!

Eve

June Gloom

The mornings has been gloomy and makes it so comfy to be tucked-in under the sheets and just stay there... it takes a lot of willpower to get my a*s out of the bed. Yes, I struggle to get out of bed... it's a daily affair.. haha....

Made this layout with a photo taken in Werribee Park, Melbourne. haha... I am still not done yet with the photos from that trip. I love that park and we took a lot of photos there  :)

Am trying out the 'banner' design on this layout... just some simple banners I cut out and assembled. I added hidden journalling on this layout too. Cut the tag out using a puncher and I 'divided' the photo into 3 as well just for some added dimension. 

I am needing those moments where I need to write down my plans on paper and prioritize again. They are all scrambled in my mind again... LOL... running around and making me dizzy.. haha. 

Eve

i.spy

Sometimes we craft so much faster and then we get lazy to take pictures or blog about them.... at other times, Mr. Mojo decides he needs a break and suddenly goes on leave and we're left with no ideas to craft and that said, no posts to blog about... 

I was on a roll about a week ago when I managed to scrap 3 layouts in one day! That is a big achievement for me because the reason I took so long to delve into 12x12 layouts is because I find them daunting. I am so glad that it's getting easier and I am beginning to love the 'white' space I sometimes get with the layouts :)

Here's a layout I made last week :)

I actually ran out of patterned paper to scrap before my June kit from Studio Calico arrived... LOL. But I think I have a lot of patterned paper to last me the entire month this round as I have 2 kits this time around.... and I managed to get my hands on my Mr. Huey's.... so, I can dress up my plain 12x12 paper now! wheeeeeee...!!! :D

Quirky

Stars are fun!

When my brother and his gf came to visit, we made a trip to the Griffith Observatory as well. It was a nice, relaxing drive on a Sunday morning and we had to walk quite a distance uphill to the observatory as it is located in the Hollywood Park and there were a lot of people out there trekking, jogging, having picnics and basically just enjoying the park!

We had a good work-out walking up the hill and it was great to be breathing fresh air and enjoying the scenery! We could see most of LA from up there :D

There were shows being, erm, shown at the Samuel Oschin Planetarium and at first we were thinking if we should but we were all glad that we paid and went for it cos it was awesome! The whole dome ceiling is our 'cinema' and the narrator was great. His voice was so pleasing to the ear and the show is very informative. Totally worth every single penny we paid :) 

Learned so many interesting new facts that I utilized during lunch.. haha... to which my brother shook his head and said something like, "this is what happens when we bring her to some place educational...."... LOL. Well, at least I remembered what I learned... duh :P

Anyway, I'm going to share a layout I made featuring my cat, Penny.. she's my absolute precious baby and I think secretly she's a princess... so maybe her 'longer' name should be Penelope instead. More regal, ya? :P

This picture was taken back in April, I think.. when it was still quite chilly and Penny enjoyed being snuggled up in the throw. haha... she actually crawled her way in between the throw on her own... that's how cute she is!!

Quirky

Summer time

For the first time in my life, I can say, 'it's Summer', and I am actually here to experience it :D It's fun to experience life in LA and like what my friend said, I may like it here too much to want to ever leave. And though it's only been 2 months plus since I landed in LA, I can say, I already fell in love with this place. 

I may be living in a much smaller space compared to back home, having to be a lot more independent than before (thank God I have been thrown into a lot of situations where I need to re-learn, buck-up and live) and having to create new friendships but I treat everything as new experiences :)

This picture was taken in Dec 2011, before I had LASIK... oh, I loved that pair of glasses .. haha... We were in Bangsar with my mum and grandma.

I created the banner using washi tape and glued some of them down using pop-dots to create dimension.. also dotted the page with some liquid pearls. I drew some hearts and then used glossy accent to make them pop :) 

Oh, and I've got some really cool art books to keep me company this summer. Every page I turn, I go, 'wow...' so, off I go now to admire those pages and attempt at some on my own :)

Quirky

Hollywood!!

My brother and his fiancee, Sue came over during the weekend and needless to say, we had a fun-filled time! We discovered another place to view the Hollywood sign from a friend and she was so kind to text me the exact location so, voila! there we go :D

It was a very winding ride and the road is really narrow but it was totally worth it. There are so many nice houses along the winding stretch uphill too and they are totally gorgeous! Imagine looking out to vast greeneries and hills all day long.... 

The weather was perfect and we took quite a few photos... the sign looked so much nearer with the naked eye... in the photos, it still looked far.. :P

Beware.... mountain lions... 

*roar*

The scenic point also overlook the reservoir :) I so love this spot. If only the drive is not so winding... I would want to go up all the time! :P

That's the 4 of us on the start of their mini vacation :)

Halloooooo.... from LA again! :) What can I say? I love LA!

Quirky