Fussy Cutting

I scrap faster than I take pictures and post them up. There are times when I just scrap and then file them away and when the pile gets a bit too huge, I will take some out to take pictures. In a way, it's good, I guess.. then I will have things to post up as and when.

There are plenty more Hollywood pictures to scrap and so, I hope you won't tire of seeing them :) This one is me and Sue Chin with a yellow taxi! 

 I love the polka dot patterned paper. It's so pretty!

I fussy cut the bicycle and kites from another patterned paper. I love the image but I was not sure how to use it on the PP, so I fussy cut them and used it for this layout instead.

Just a simple layout with loads of fussy cutting and some misting :)

Eve

A visit to Santa Paula

Let me share my 'adventure' in Santa Paula with you. It was mostly to accompany my hubby on his hour & a half drive to his client's place as well as be his navigator. I did look up on the town the night before we went so that I will roughly know what to do and expect.

Santa Paula is 45 minutes away from Los Angeles and it is located in Southern California's beautiful Heritage Valley. This area was firstly settled by the Chumash tribe of Native Americans around 10,000 years ago and it has a long history in oil and agriculture.

If you love old architecture, you will most probably love Santa Paula. There are many old buildings that are so beautiful!

Below, I share some of the photos I snapped with my iPhone4s. I didn't bring my Nikon out with me as my bag is already full with my sketching supplies and I'm on foot the whole day. Didn't want to overload my bag.

I stopped in my step to admire this clock. It is working! :)

Unitarian Universalist Church

 Beautiful murals abound in this town

 Santa Clara Valley Bank. I love the building!

The owner has Gone Fishing!

The Commerce Center 

 More murals :)

Oddfellows Clocktower 

Car Wash... look at the cute structure :)

This is a quiet, quaint little town. There is no hustle & bustle like in the big cities and sometimes, it is nice to take a step back and enjoy a town like this.

Eve

Santa Paula

Hubby had to go to his client's place in Santa Paula and I tagged along. Mostly to be his navigator, also because I wanted to take the opportunity to explore anywhere I can (especially since I don't have to drive.. haha) and practice sketching. I have seen so many blogs of people keeping art journals and how beautiful they are and am fascinated with sketching on location. Great opportunity to try :)

Hubby dropped me at McDonalds' before he went to his client's warehouse. I ordered a Mocha and sat outside where the children's playground is and 'officiated' my journal :) I always find it a bit scary to draw on the first page... a lot of pressure! What if I botched it up?

Do you like my funky colored nails? haha... I love the blue polish a lot and felt the mint colored one is too bright, so I paired them together to tone down the brightness of the mint. It's kinda funky and I'm enjoying it. 

After I sketched my mocha and journaled a little, I walked 0.6 miles to the Theater Center. There is a little park there with lots of shade and I found a spot where I could sit and sketch the Theater Center with a nice view. It was really peaceful sitting there and sketching. Santa Paula is a very quiet town and there were not many people walking about. 

As I sketched and painted, the wind started getting stronger. And it was c-o-l-d! I didn't expect Santa Paula to be so cold in summer.. haha... it was 19 degrees in the afternoon and when I was sitting under the shade, it felt much colder! I was shivering at one point. 

I will write more about Santa Paula in my next post :) 

Eve

Shark Attack!

I adore the patterned paper I used as background for this layout and somehow the misting is nice too.. haha... sometimes I get it right, sometimes not so :P And oh, I used my vintage typewriter for journalling on this layout and I love it :)

So many more photos to scrap from the trip to Universal Studios... hope you won't get bored by it :P

Eve

Smile

Took this picture when we went to Universal Studios early in June. We were there really early to get the Front of Line tickets and I highly recommend anyone who's going to Universal Studios for the first time (or those who wants to enjoy all the rides without queueing) to get those tickets :)

I am so enjoying the Mr. Huey's mists that I got.... Misting a lot of my layouts now. I love the splatter it creates :D

Eve

Watching Waterworld

Took this photo when we were waiting to watch "Waterworld" in Universal Studios :) We got to sit in the VIP seats too and the view was spectacular! The set was awesome and the performance was perfectly choreographed. Definitely worth watching!

Eve

Pickled Japanese Cucumber

There's this little japanese ramen shop near where I stay and once in a while, we will drop by to have some kimchi ramen there. They will serve pickled japanese cucumber before the ramen arrives and I super love them! Unfortunately there's always only 3-4 slices... LOL.. and I gobble them up pretty quickly.

So, I decided to google and search for the recipe on how to make my own pickled japanese cucumber and I merged two recipes that I found online because of the taste I wanted :)

Here it is :

2-3 japanese cucumber (or seedless cucumbers)

3/4 teaspoon of fine grain sea salt (I used normal salt cos I don't have sea salt)

10 tablespoons water

4 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 glass jar 

plastic shrink wrap

1. Wash the cucumbers and pat them dry. Cut the cucumber into 1/2 inch slices and place them in the glass jar. Gently press down if the slices don't fit.

2. Mix the salt, water, rice vinegar and sugar in a separate container and pour them over the cucumber slices. Cover the top of the jar with plastic wrap and screw tight (the plastic prevents the vinegar from reacting with the metal on the lid and affecting the taste of the pickle).

3. Put the cucumber in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. Remember to shake the jar up and down occasionally to allow all the cucumber to be marinated well. 

4. Remember to reseal the jar with plastic wrap each time you take some of the pickles out of the jar to ensure freshness.

*I added sesame and sprinkles of japanese gourmet topping (furikake) for added taste :) You can add soy sauce, sesame oil according to your preference as well... 

Enjoy! It's really refreshing especially when chilled! :)

Eve

Home Girl

Contrary to how some people I know say they will *die* if they stay at home (either work from home or not working), I enjoy staying at home. I'm a home-girl at heart... LOL. There's always so much to do at home. So, like how the other category of people can't understand there's a lot we can do at home (be it reading, blogging, crafting, etc..), I can't understand how they will feel like there's nothing to do at home!

I believe it's up to us to choose how we want to spend our time. As much as I enjoyed wearing power suits and being a working girl, I enjoy being at home in t-shirts and shorts too (even if it's for long periods of time).

I'm pretty sure if I am out there in the working world now, I will miss my stay-at-home time... and vice versa. So, why not just embrace it? Whichever season we're in? :)

Eve